Human au where Francis divorces Arthur and leaves with Alfred (6) while Arthur stays with Matthew (also 6) . Arthur is heartbroken and depressed and turns to alcohol, neglecting Matthew. Matthew is also heartbroken because he heard his papa said he was useless when arguing with his dad.
(fair warning: it's long af)
@fireandiceland there you go bitch. It's done. I think. 💜
Both isolate themselves until Arthur hurts Matthew while drinking and realisation hits him hard that he needs to stop drinking and taking care of himself so he could take care of his son. Matthew had been too much hurt in the divorce, Arthur couldn't bear to inflict more pain. He throws away all of his whiskey, vodka, beers and hopes for the best.
Except, it was the worst. Arthur went through hell, feeling nauseous, shaking, with a fever. He kept telling himself that's probably normal and temporary. It won't last. So he needs to tolerate the pain and sickness. He has to. He feels too weak to even get up and grab a glass of water.
Matthew notices his dad's weird behaviour and worries. He's not sure what to do. He doesn't want to call his uncle but even if he wanted to, he can't because he doesn't know how to do that on the phone. He tries to remember what his dad did to help him feel better when he was sick. He remembered about medicine but he can't reach the médecine cabinet nor he knows what to give to his dad. He also gave him water with the médecine. Maybe it'd help. Matthew grab a glass in the kitchen. He can only reach the counter whre his pokemon glass was in. He drinks the rest of the juice in it and fills the glass with tap water. He leaves a line of water on the floor on his way to Arthur's bedroom.
"Daddy?" Matthew's soft voice is really appreciated at the moment when he enters the room.
"Do you need anything, Matt-?" Arthur pants as he struggles to sit up on his bed. His weak arms can barely support him.
Matthew shows him the glass of water, now half full.
"For you." He adds.
"Thank you" Arthur breathes. "Put it on the table, next to me."
Each of his words is ponctuated with a pause. Matthew does as he is told, but waits in front of his dad. Arthur doesn't know if he waits for him to drink or something. His head is turning and he can't focus on anything. Despite only wearing trousers with no shirt, Arthur sweats heavily like he never sweated before.
Matthew watches his dad collapses.
He didn't think of any of this before. Matthew realising that his dad is not looking good finds a way to call the emergency. The first response person helps Matthew make his dad fell better with water and wet washcloth. Arthur however still feels feverish, nauseous, hot and dizzy so they send an ambulance for him. They even think that he is starting to hallucinate so best not to take any chance.
The ambulance people come in and asks Matthew if he know a family member or a reliable adult to take care of him during this time. He says that maybe his uncle but he lives far away in Scotland. He doesnt want Francis to know about this. It's not like he checked on him and Arthur during the last few months anyway. Since they have no better option, they call his uncle Alistair to come and get Matthew at the hospital. The ambulance people would just bring the child with them and his dad.
Eventually, Arthur feels better and can go back home. He realises that he still needs to fight the urge to go grab a beer and that he still feels depressed about his divorce but he keeps remembering Matthew. (Insert the Simpson picture with the caption "do it for him" but with pictures of Matthew)
Slowly and with medical help, he is starting to get better. He also wants to get Matthew checked out with a professional because he does look like he is going through some trauma as well and Arthur feels guilty that probably half of it is cause of him. He wants to help his son feels better.
------
Also, Matthew has autism and one of his stim is chewing stuff (totally not projecting at all)
-----
And Arthur does more activities with his son. They like to go on walks and Matthew likes to pet dogs on their walks. So Arthur thought it would be a great idea for Christmas to give him a dog. They went to rescue one and Matthew was so happy. He hangs with his dog a lot and talk to him. Kinda like a therapy dog for him. It's a Samoyed breed so it's big white and fluffy.
Both Matthew and Arthur's therapists want them to find some friends although it's hard for them for different reasons. Funnily enough, one of Matthew's teacher introduces him to another austistic kid, Ludwig. He's a German boy with blond hair and blue eyes. Younger than Matthew. He mostly "plays" by himself either in a sandbox or away from all the other kids. He usually doesn't talk to other kids because when he tried before, he got turn down right away since he would talk about one of his odd hyperfixation. At one point, it was trains.
At first when Ludwig and Matthew meet, they don't talk and Ludwig simply continues to play in the sand. Matthew goes and sits on the swim behind, only slightly going back and forth. When recess is over, they go back to class and Matthew thinks that Ludwig doesn't want to play with him, but actually, Ludwig comes back the next day during recess and plays next to Matthew.
When Ludwig notices that Matthew likes to play next to him too, he starts talking to him about construction trucks. Matthew happily listens without saying much but Lud appreciates his company and that he finally has someone who would listen to him.
They become good friends and Matthew invites him to his house to play one day. His older brother Gilbert drives him to Mathew's place where Arthur meet them. Gilbert is slightly younger than Arthur by 3 years and he immediately starts a friendly discussion about the football Arthur is watching. Matthew introduces his dog, Froufrou, to Ludwig, who is absolutely delighted to meet the dog. They both mostly play with Froufrou, who is excited to get all the attention.
Some years later, Matthew also meets Lovino at school since they are in the same class and end up working on a project together. Lovino decided that Matthew would do all the work while Lovino would present the work to the class at the end. Matthew doesn't think it's fair, but he likes not having to talk in front of the class so he agrees.
They end up going to Lovino's place, whose dad (Antonio) is dating *drum rolls* none other than Francis. Matthew doesn't know until he goes to lovino's house and sees him 💀 Matthew is NOT ready to face him, but he feels too socially anxious to ask to call for his dad or ask Lovino to avoid Francis. So he says nothing and follow Lovino to the house.
"Hola, chiquito!" Antonio grins. "How was your day? Ah yes. You were bringing a friend home to work on a school project today."
"ugh! Yeah." Lovino replies after untying his shoes. He walks past his dad and his dad's boyfriend, who are cuddling on the couch.
"you must be his friend, uh .. he forgot to mention your name." Antonio speaks at Matthew.
Matthew doesn't answer, simply greets him with a nod and follow Lovino.
"Allô Mathieu." Francis smiles at him.
"oh so his name is Mathieu? You know him?" Antonio asks his boyfriend.
"Yes. He's my son." Francis replies.
"How come you never mentioned him before?" Antonio asks.
"He lives with my ex husband." Francis shrugs. "I hope he raises you well, but knowing him, I doubt it. Poor thing. I'm sorry I had to leave you with him. You don't deserve that. I couldn't take you with me and he wouldn't let me talk to you after." Francis tells Matthew in french.
Matthew doesn't react much, but look around, feeling uncomfortable and close to a shutdown. He wants to scream and get out of this place, but he can't move or use his voice. Matthew feels a hand grabbing on his wrist and tugging on him.
"Ignore them. They are annoying." Lovino says.
Matthew is pulled by his classmate toward Lovino's bedroom. At least, he got pulled away from that situation.
As soon as they leave the room, Francis comments about how his son got worse since last time he saw him. Surely he can't be fixed and might as well live in a care centre or something. No future or useful to society.
Matthew, on the other hand, can't focus on their work while Lovino is playing video games on his phone. The game lovino is playing is too loud and Matthew regrets coming here. He forgot his headphones at home so he can't even muffle the sounds. There's too much going on and he can't read the book he brought from school. Lovino's game made explosion sounds from time to time and it startles Matthew every time. He would normally cry or get agitated during these kinds of situations, but Matthew forces himself to suppress his feelings. He tries to remember what his therapist told him to do during those kind of situation. He cant remember and he doesn't have anything to help.
He now just noticed that he has been chewing on his pencil while staring at the open book. Eventually, what seems to be hours to Matthew, he recieves a text from his dad asking if he's coming home for dinner. Matthew slowly texts back yes and asks Arthur if he can come pick him up soon. Arthur agrees and asks if there was something wrong. Matthew only replies with the word "noises". Arthur then texts him that he is coming.
After 20 minutes, when Arthur gets to Lovino's house, he is greeted to his surprise by his ex husband. A lot of feelings reemerge when Arthur saw those blue eyes. He doesn't have time to deal with them at the moment.
"I didn't realise I opened the door to the past. I must be at the wrong place." Arthur snarky commented.
Francis rolls his eyes. "I'm past your sarcastic comments and attitude. Get your damn stupid child and get out."
"I happily will. What are you even doing here? That's not your house."
"Maybe it is now."
Antonio unknowingly interrupts their tension by introducing himself to Arthur.
"Hello! You must be Matthew's father. I'll go get him for you. I'm Antonio by the way." He grins as he holds out his hand for Arthur to shake, who hesitantly and awkwardly shook it.
"Nice to meet you. Yes. Please go get him for me." Arthur said.
While he waits, Francis gives him one last evil glare and left for the kitchen. That actually went better than Arthur would have expected. Hopefully, he wouldn't have to encounter his ex husband too often although he feels eager to leave as soon as possible. He realises that Francis being there is probably the reason why Matthew wants to leave so quickly too. He recalls the times he was crying because he heard Francis call him useless and it honestly breaks Arthur's heart everytime. His son is worthy of so much love and support. Arthur is glad that they divorced now because he can't bear the thought of his partner thinking Matthew is anything but a brilliant and sweet child.
It takes Matthew a few moment to come out and ready to leave. Arthur says goodbye to Antonio and leaves with Matthew as quickly as he arrived.
Matthew haven't talked the whole trip back home, but Arthur isn't concerned about that for now. He knows what to do to get his son to feel better as he learnt from Matthew's specialised therapist. When they get home, Matthew immediately goes straight to his bedroom, grabs his headphones on the way and lays on his bed, without putting his headphones on.
Froufrou, who was previously napping on Matthew's bedroom floor, wakes up when he hears his masters coming home and goes lay next to Matthew on the bed.
"Would you like the heavy blanket, Matthew?" His dad softly speaks.
Matthew answers with a weak yes as he cuddles his dog. Arthur leaves for a minute to fetch the blanket and returns to carefully lay it on Matthew.
"Text me if you need anything else. I'll prepare soup and chicken nuggies for you." Arthur adds before leaving Matthew alone.
Slowly, the weight of the blanket, the familiar silence and the warm comforting fur of his dog makes Matthew feel calmer. Froufrou watches on him while Matthew rests from the nightmare he lived through earlier than day.
