Welcome Back

[François Laffont]

Recently, there has been a rumour going on. A certain very popular student has decided to return for his college years. Now, it was very confusing because Franck heard some say that no way Felix Nicholas would be back, that he was too busy making even more money working for his father, or with, whatever. Franck could have believed he was back, knowing how he never really wanted this job but whoever liked to say that he was also enjoyed mentioning he was trying to get back with Erika and that he could not believe. Erika wouldn't do that, she was happy with Everett and he couldn't think that his friend came back only to win Erika's heart. Maybe it was Elsa? People seemed to have a hard time recognizing them.

That is, until Erika sent him a text with a picture of herself with Felix, claiming he was back. And Felix replying to it also. Now, Franck was more than happy about this, of course. He had feared graduation would pull them apart and Felix had always been a very good friend of his. But he couldn’t help feeling hurt a little that he found out about Felix being back from rumours and Erika and not from the boy himself. Didn’t he want to see him again? Franck was ready to give him the benefit of the doubt, that he had a lot to do upon his return, get a room, deal with the many changes, get accustomed to his new schedule... still, he couldn’t help but to blame Felix slightly for not telling him he was back.

He was not thinking too much about that now however. They set up to meet in the student lounge and Franck didn’t want any resentment to cloud the joy he had to see his friend again. A lot changed indeed and not only within the school. Franck felt like he changed too. But all this didn’t matter when he recognized Felix who was already there when he entered the lounge. He went to his friend with a wide smile on his face. “That is so great to see you again,” he let out. He was nearly about to get him into a manly hug but he stopped. Reuniting with him by reading all of his emotions might not be the best thing to do. If Felix didn’t mind, he could but he preferred not to for now. He chuckled at the hesitation he had. “How do you like the way it is now?”

[Felix Nicholas]

Felix had been an idiot, and he knew that. The choice he made to leave the Academy without so much as a goodbye was one he would regret for some time; He'd been running, running from quite a lot of issues he wasn't prepared to face head on. He was a coward, and although he had come to terms with the events that had occured, had started his healing process, he still had some way to go... Anda lot of people to make things up to. One of those people was one of his dearest friends, Francois Laffont. The guy had stuck by Felix throughout, had even taken him to prom... A night that although he didn't exactly think on fondly, he still found comfort in the fact Franck had been there right beside him for the ride, never faultering... Yet Felix had left without even a word tossed in his direction. To Felix, it was a wonder the man even wanted to see him, but he was more then willing to give all he could in order to bring them both back to the point they had been... Felix had missed him, more then he could possibly say.

He found himself quite anixous as he waited in the student louge, biting his bottom lip and pacing a little, his gaze focused on the door; What if Franck chose not to come? Felix wouldn't blame him; He'd let the guy down, a notion which made his heart sink. He'd already been through meeting Erika, and Elsa... Yet it didn't make this any easier. He'd already had to explain himself more then once, yet the words would likely still catch in his throat. He took a deep breath, before sighing, running a hand through his hair nervously. He glanced away a moment, only to snap his gaze back to the door at the sound of it opening; And at once, a wave of relief swept over Felix.

Franck.
He'd come.

The radio host felt a grin stretch across his lips, an almost giddiness uplift his heart at the sight of the frenchman, especially as Franck was reutrning a similar smile. When he spoke, Felix's smile faded slightly; Had it been how they used to be, he would have hugged Franck without a second thought; But now... Well, it had been some time. "Well it's certainly different," He replied brightly, chuckling as he folded his arms. He fell silent after speaking, his expression softening. As he'd expected, his words were seemingly determined to catch in his throat. He took a deep breath, and sighed again, lowering his gaze towards the floor.
"... Franck. I want to you to know that I'm... Well, I'm sorry," He spoke, his voice laced with regret. "... I know I've messed up. You deserve so much better then me as a friend... But I want you to know that I'm going to do all I can to fix that." He slowly raised his eyeline, looking at the young man who was one of his greatest friends, even now. Seeing him again... It warmed Felix, and choosing to embrace those emotions despite his better judgement, Felix moved to wrap his arms around the Frenchman, hugging him with a grin. "... I missed you, man... A lot."

[François Laffont]

Meeting with Felix again brought back a lot of memories, some that Franck wished not to remember. The prom, for example, had been a disaster. The kiss after had been particularly humiliating for him, even though Felix assured him it was fine. There was a lot of guilt that Franck carried because of his actions around his friend. He didn’t want to blame Felix for running away. Franck acted like a drama queen for less than what the boy endured. He had been hurt to get not a goodbye from him before. A message now and then, to prove he still remembered his friends, would have been nice. But what really hurt Franck the most was that he returned without telling him. Still, he didn’t want to think about that now that he would meet with him again. He was much too happy to see him once more to really be angry for what he did. Franck was not one to hold a grudge.

He noticed how nervous Felix appeared to be. He did his best not to be all fidgety as well but Franck was also sort of nervous about this. Happy, but nervous also. This made Felix’s stress even more likely to rub on him. It was why Franck did his best to shield himself from his friend’s emotions. It justified why he preferred not to hug him, even though the happiness he would get might help. He got it even without touching the guy, it was enough.

He felt bad to watch the guy’s smile fade. Maybe the decision of not hugging him was not so good after all. No, it had to be so. He could still hug him later, when their emotions would calm down a little. He chuckled. Different was the word. “You get used to the uniforms. I think we look pretty good in it, don’t you think?” Franck said, determined to keep his smile. Of course, Franck could argue he naturally looked good in whatever he chose to wear. He was just one of those people who knew how to carry himself, providing him some charm no matter what he had on himself at the time.

He let his smile fade and took a more serious expression. “Felix,” he said. He was interrupting him but he didn’t care. He needed to be interrupted here. “I get you had a lot to deal with. And you told me for your father and how he wanted you to take over eventually. I’m not blaming you for leaving,” he told him. Well, maybe a little, but he wouldn’t say. He pointed a finger at Felix. “But don’t you ever run away again, alright? Or I’ll chase you down and give you a proper beating.” If that last comment was not enough to show he was sort of joking here, Franck put his smile back on his smile, even chuckling a little.

He didn't push Felix back when he hugged him. He wrapped his arms over his back. “I missed you too,” he assured him. He stayed like that for a moment but it was starting to get pretty intense for him so he pulled back. He was still smiling though. “So, college student now, right? How do you find it, you stay in the dorms or you got a place in town?” Franck didn’t want to talk about the reasons why he left, or even why he returned. He wanted to hear them, eventually, but, for now, he wanted to be happy to meet his friend again. There was still time to hear about those things later.

[Felix Nicholas]

Seeing Franck now... It brought back a rush of memories Felix would rather not recall, although at the same time it brought a flurry of ones which warmed his heart. The prom had been a complete and utter distaster, and notably one of the worst personal nights in the young man's memory. The kiss between them, an action of being in a highly drunken and emotional state, Felix had assured Franck time and again that it was fine and nothing to focus on or feel embarrassment or guilt over; But merely saying that likely wouldn't stop Franck's feelings about it, and Felix wouldn't be surprised if the man still felt a touch awkward around him because of it. On the other hand, in that horrible, chaotic scar on their lives, Felix took comfort even now from how Franck had treated him. He'd been his constant support, his pillar of strength, despite what he himself was going through. Felix held an undying respect for the Frenchman, and the idea of losing his friendship hurt him deeply.

Granted he wouldn't blame him though; Felix had left without a goodbye, without a word, and when he came to returning to the Academy he couldn't bring himself to simply phone him, Erika, Elsa... Any of them. To a point, Felix didn't feel as though he deserved them. He didn't deserve these people who had supported him, who cared for him.
He'd had every intention however of doing what he could in ways of an apology for each of them, and had planned to contact each of them upon returning to meet in their own time. None of these meetings had gone to plan however, especially Franck's. Erika had leapt to telling him before Felix had a chance to, and he couldn't help but worry that this had potentially been damaging.

Franck's comment however uplifted Felix heart; He'd missed his friend's smile, his laugh, more then he knew. "We both look pretty damn fine, don't you think?" He chuckled brightly, the light hearted reply coming naturally, almost as though the time apart between them hadn't occurred. The mood of their meeting however took a more sombre tone as Felix's smile fell and he began his apology, only to be cut across by Franck. The action surprised him, but he kept quiet, listening to the man with an apologetic expression as he spoke of not blaming him, that he'd been through a lot. Felix lowered his head a moment, staring down at the floor and closing his eyes as a fresh smile crept across his lips; Trust him. Trust Franck to forgive him without a moment's hesitation, without a second thought. He was truly one of the greatest men Felix had known. Still; Felix had every intention of making it up to him, in any way he could, no matter what it took. He needed to prove himself to be worthy of being this man's friend.
He snapped a gaze back to Franck, feigning being startled over dramatically by his beating comment, holding his hands up to his chest defensively. "Noted!" He replied, before grinning and running a hand through his hair.
The hug perhaps had been a poor idea, a touch inconsiderate on Felix's part due to knowing how badly the man's power could effect him, especially when the hugger was someone who was as emotionally charged as he currently was; Thankfully it seemed to have effected him little from what Felix could tell, but he mentally decided to avoid such close physical contact with Franck until they'd spent more time together, rebuilding their friendship. He'd changed the subject too, so perhaps he wanted as badly as Felix did to move on.
"I'm still living here," He chuckled. "I figured it would be a better idea for now. I'd like to move out eventually, get a place in town, but for now I'm just happy living at Bellefonte again."

[François Laffont]

Yes, Franck used to have a little crush on Felix. Who wouldn’t? The man was good looking, funny and kind. It turned out he was also straight, but that mattered little to one’s desire, it simply meant you couldn’t act on them with this person. Liking Felix was like having a celebrity crush: it was not likely to ever happen but that didn’t stop you from finding that person hot. He never thought he would act on it. Even the jokes about his orientation he might have done with Felix never sounded like actual pickup lines to him. He was glad that Felix had not been scarred by that kiss. He could have decided it would be too awkward for them to remain friends after this and Franck could hardly disagree with him, even though he didn’t want it to be the reason why they had t part ways. He was glad they apparently wouldn’t have to.

Although he was still a bit hurt he didn’t hear from Felix sooner, Franck didn't want to hear any apology or justification. He didn’t want to hear that things had been emotionally hard on Felix, that he had a lot of work with his father, that he feared Franck might not want to talk to him again after all this... Maybe later, when the joy of seeing his friend again would calm down and they would have caught up on what happened in their lives since. Until then, it would feel only like a bunch of excuses and this was not how he wanted to reunite with his friend.

He laughed as they joked about uniforms. It was easy to do so and it seemed to make a perfect ice breaker. “We do, but we look good no matter what we wear. I wouldn’t let myself appear disheveled,” he joked. He had some problem saying disheveled, he hesitated for a second as he was not sure it was the right word or that it was said properly. Felix probably forgot over time how Franck had an accent. If he did, it would sure remind him of it.

Franck could understand Felix wanted to make it up to him. If that was the case, he didn’t think it was by apologizing that he would achieve it. He wanted Felix to understand that. He didn’t want to hold a grudge against him. Franck believed he could be resentful and it might take a moment to fully trust Felix the way he did in the past but he still didn’t want to turn his back at the guy. They had been through enough already, they could use all the friends they could get.

“Well, there’s no rush right? It’s not like they will kick you out to get more room for other students. You can take the time to get accustomed to the place again,” he replied. He liked to hear the man wished to get a place in town. It meant he intended to stay for a while. “How is college? That much different from high school? I know a lot of things changed around here but at the same time, it kind of feels the same.”