Fools Like Us

3-The Dreamers Get Punished Most By the Truth

Francis' bright blue eyes lit up, and he leaned in as if he had a secret. He practically squealed, "Gil and Toni are falling in love! Not with each other, but somehow at the same time!"

The light in Jeanne's eyes danced with mirth as she took in the information. "Are you going to tell me who they are now?" she demanded, her current, captive state making her hungry for news she usually let Francis concern himself with.

"Well," Francis began, sitting back again, "You remember Elizaveta, Gilbert's childhood friend?"

Jeanne nodded, watching Francis' face suspiciously for any sign that he was lying or making too much of a simple situation. "Yes..." she replied finally, "She just moved back to town, correct? He hasn't fallen for her, has he? I thought he wasn't interested in women."

"Non, non," Francis quickly corrected, absently waving away the notion with one hand, "He's taken an interest in her new stepbrother, Roderich Edelstein."

Jeanne let out a snort of laughter. Roderich was well known as a stuffy but talented young pianist. She wouldn't have thought a personality like that would even be worth Gilbert's attention, much less arouse the albino's interest.

"And Antonio?" she asked instead, choosing not to dwell on the situation that seemed to invite conflict.

Francis' smile turned warm and soft, the way it always did when he spoke about someone close to his heart. "Ah, Toni~" he sighed softly, "The poor boy has finally started to look at the available population, only for his innocent and misguided eyes to fall on my prickly young cousin, Lovino."

Jeanne couldn't help but frown in some confusion. She'd met Lovino only once, but to her he'd seemed the picture of a perfect gentleman.

Francis noticed her confusion and laughed softly. "Lovino tries very hard to convince himself that he only loves women. He treats them like the delicate, beautiful flowers they are, but with men he becomes the thorns. If Antonio is to win him over, it will be a long, difficult path."

Silence took over for a moment as Jeanne tried to reconcile this new information with the sweet younger boy she'd met before and Francis seemed to be musing over the situation itself.

"If anyone can get through to Lovi, it would be Antonio," Francis finally said softly, breaking the silence.

"You think?" Jeanne asked, frowning, "He seems so...Well, he's oblivious."

Francis chuckled softly. "I think that may work to his advantage," he admitted with an easy, practiced shrug.

Jeanne laughed again. She couldn't help but find Francis' friends strange, yet somehow refreshing. They all seemed so full of life, ambition, love...all things she knew she would be losing soon.

"Jeanne?" Francis asked suddenly, apparently noticing the sudden change in her demeanor. She looked up at him and smiled at his intense, beautiful, worried expression. The expression softened into an answering smile, and the older boy reached out and took her thin hand in his large, warm ones.

"How are you feeling?" he asked softly, his eyes fixed on her delicate fingers. The artificial light glinted off his golden hair and downy eyelashes, giving him the look of a concerned angel. Jeanne smiled to herself at the thought.

"I'm fine," she assured him, "You don't have to worry."

"Are you s-" Francis began, but the look she gave him cut him off. He sat back with a sigh instead, his bright, clear eyes sweeping over her emaciated form for a moment.

"You look better," he told her finally, his voice and face honest, "Too thin, but...stronger."

Jeanne managed to smile. Francis never sugar-coated things like everyone else, and she found it to be a welcome change. She wanted to be just as honest in return, but the fear of hurting him stayed her tongue every time she opened her mouth.

"Thanks. I'm feeling stronger too," she lied now, smiling sweetly and deceptively at him. Something in his eyes told her he didn't buy it, but he kept his mouth shut.

"So," she began, returning to their earlier topic, "have either of them made a move on the new boys in town?"

Francis snorted. "If stalking them at school counts, then yes. They both seem to have decided that that would be the best course of action."

Jeanne rolled her eyes. That was typical of the two idiots, wherever they had disappeared to.

"What about you?" she asked suddenly, finally daring to dive into a topic that made her heart shiver at the mere thought of it.

The mirth drained from Francis' face as though a valve had been opened. His mouth worked fruitlessly, but in the end, he merely stared helplessly at the girl watching him with a mixture of hope and dread.

"Jeanne," he began weakly, his voice little more than a whisper, "I can't-"

She heaved a heavy sigh, cutting him off. Her own crystalline eyes were bright with pain as she looked back at him. "I know," she admitted finally.

Silence followed, edging as close to awkward as things ever came between the two young French descendants. Their tacit agreement to never discuss their lack of resolution over mutual attraction weighed heavily on their thin shoulders. It physically hurt Jeanne to push Francis away, but she was able to do it if she reminded herself of the pain he would feel when she finally died. They were too close already, but there was nothing she could do about that at this point-or, at least, nothing she was willing to do.

Finally, she coughed lightly, breaking the silence, "Anyway, what are you planning to do to help those two lovestruck idiots?"

Francis' face lit up again, enticed by romance he could interfere with. "Lovino is my cousin, and I have connections to the music club. I'm sure I could arrange a few, ah…'chance meetings.'" He grinned at the thought.

Jeanne answered with a tiny smile of her own. "I think that's a wonderful idea," she assured him forcefully, "You'd have to run your ideas by me, of course—everyone knows women have a sixth sense about these things."

Francis grinned as if he'd just been waiting to hear her say those very words. From the bag slung over his shoulder he pulled a well-used notebook known as his "Romantic Idea Planner" and the two of them quickly fell on the project, attacking it with all the ferocity of French romantic stereotypes.

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews so far! They really help with the whole motivation thing.