Chapter Text
Streets of London, a long time ago
A small boy staggered through the dirty streets of London. This was a different side of the city, the side where the poor and hungry lived, the side that no one wanted to acknowledge.
The boy had no name, no home, no family, and no friends. He was alone, he had been alone for a long time now. He was simply a ragged boy with no other information about him, his only key features being his green eyes and blond hair which… were at some point uncommon but still a lot of people had those features too.
He has lived on these streets for as long as he could remember, only keeping track of the years through the vibrant Christmas decorations at the end of the year. Through this, he could estimate he was around 14 years old, he couldn’t recall his true age anymore. He couldn’t remember how he got here, his parents, his life before this if he ever even had a life before this one, and how he was still alive.
Well, he may not be alive for much longer anyway. The boy bit the rags he called clothes in pain as he sat by a wall, his bruised and injured body in such intense pain that even the chilling winds of winter couldn’t numb it. He had been injured badly by a group of older men who had taken the food he had stolen from a vendor earlier. They were bigger, tougher, stronger than he was and the boy was beaten without much of a fight.
Here he lay in a dirty alleyway surrounded by rubbish, probably about to die from infections or even the cold. The boy closed his eyes letting the chill and darkness control him, he didn’t even know if he was praying to live or die.
…
When the boy awoke, he was blinded by the feeling of warmth and the lights above him.
Muffled voices surrounded him as his consciousness went back to him. In his blurry vision, it seemed he was in some sort of garage or warehouse.
”He’s waking up!”
”Go get better clothes, now!”
“Don’t forget water!”
“Poor kid…”
Three different voices talked over each other as the boy sat up weakly, the softness of a cushion making his body relax too much and he fell back down.
The first person he sees is a kid who looks...similar to him. They had the same hair and the same eyes, except the kid in front of him looked a few years older and his hair was less ragged and more smooth.
"He has the same eyes as you, Dylan. Are you sure he isn't actually your brother?" A dark red-haired kid walked over to look at the boy closely. "The similarities are scary!"
"Nonsense, Connor." The blond kid- who the boy assumes is named Dylan, shakes his head. "Even if I wish he was my brother, my parents never had a second child."
"How curious." From further away, another kid grumbled. This one was tall, had dark brown hair, and overall a terrifying demeanour.
"Why are you standing so far away, Alasdair?!" The redhead whined, "It's not like this kid has rabies!"
"Are you okay?" Dylan crouched down next to the boy, he offered him a small glass of water- the boy backed away from it in fear.
He saw Dylan's face soften, his expression turning into one of pity. "We won't hurt you, we just want to make sure you're okay."
The boy hesitantly touched the glass and when nothing happened, he took the glass quickly and drank all the water, the liquid healing his dry and raspy throat.
"What's your name, kid?" Alasdair, the tall one, approached him slowly.
The boy shook his head, he didn't have a name.
"Eh? Do you not have one?" Connor, the redhead, asked in shock and immediately Alasdair hit Connor's head. "You fool, this kid looks like he was abandoned and he's younger than you!" Alasdair whispered that but the boy heard what he said. The boy didn't mind, it was probably the truth.
"Do you have any family? A home of sorts?" Dylan asked, the boy could tell that there was a lump in the kid's throat from the way he asked that question.
The boy slowly shook his head. He had nothing.
The three kids went silent, looking at each other in a way the boy did not understand.
Then, Alasdair asked,
"Do you want to live with us?"
An abandoned warehouse in London, only a few weeks after
"Come to think of it, we've only been calling this kid anything that isn't a proper name!" Connor suddenly said while the four kids were lying on a scratched couch. The boy had been living with them for a few weeks and although the living conditions weren't the best, it was much better than the streets. He had a roof over his head, he had food every day that wasn't scraps of someone else, and he had warmer clothes to protect him from the cold.
"That's true! We should give him a name!" Dylan nodded excitedly, looking at the boy with a smile and the boy smiled back.
"Not we, he should decide on his own name," Alasdair added, motioning for the boy to speak.
The boy didn't talk much, he only knew a few English words that he picked up from observing them. Alasdair had bought books to teach him language, math, and the sciences to the best of his capabilities. Connor would also help in that small homeschooling.
The boy looked around at his home. This was his home now, this run-down warehouse and the three people who took him in and cared for him like blood brothers. That was when his eyes landed on his favourite story, 'King Arthur and His Knight of the Round Table', the three brothers would usually read him this story on sleepless nights and it had grown to become the boy's favourite.
"Arthur." The boy decided. He liked how the name sounded, how it resonated with him, and how it reminded him of his brothers.
The three brothers looked at each other and cheered, celebrating the 'birth' of their brother's name. "Arthur!" They cheered, holding Arthur's hands and raising them to the world. On that day, in a warehouse and at a random time in the afternoon, Arthur had gotten his name.
"We should give him a surname too, just to give him a full name," Dylan suggested and the three brothers were in thought again.
"He should take my surname!" Connor argued, "Mine sounds better!"
"That's what you think," Alasdair grumbled, "He should take mine."
"I was the one who suggested it!" Dylan cried out, "It should be mine!"
The three looked at Arthur to choose but Arthur would not decide on only one brother's surname. Thus, the brothers were unable to settle on a proper surname.
The brother's warehouse home in London, Christmas evening
This Christmas was the liveliest of Arthur's life. The brothers had decorated the shabby warehouse with colourful lights and Dylan had somehow brought in a small tree decorated with ornaments.
Their Christmas was small but jolly as the brothers huddled by a makeshift fireplace and the small Christmas tree with a few gifts under it.
This would be Arthur’s first Christmas and the one he would keep closest to his heart for the rest of his life.
The first set of gifts were from Dylan, he had saved all the money he earned from his job that year to buy his brother snow globes of Edinburgh, Belfast, and London. Alasdair had come from Edinburgh, Scotland, and was forced to come to London under business from his parents even though he was only 16. Connor had come from Northern Ireland and was sent to London to study but was kicked out of his school not long ago for failing to keep his grades up. Up to this day, he still hasn’t had the heart to tell his parents that he was kicked out and they still send him cards believing he was still studying in school.
Connor immediately started to tear up when he saw his home again. It had been so long since he’s been in Northern Ireland and his parents told him to not come home until he’s finished his studies which right now was impossible. Alasdair put his arm around Connor and offered him a towel to wipe his tears, Arthur and Dylan also huddling near their brother in an effort to comfort him, the child who longed for his home.
The second gift was from Arthur. Although he didn’t have a job like his brothers and enough time to pile up money to afford expensive gifts, he had managed to make a small tapestry of him and his brothers, making said three brothers start to cry. Arthur had learned how to sew back when he lived in the streets after watching a lady repair her handkerchief and thought it would be useful to learn how to fix his broken rags. After numerous trials and errors, he eventually learned how to sew holes and rips in clothes and took joy in the hobby. When Alasdair found him repairing their clothes, he was shocked that Arthur knew how to sew and encouraged him to learn how to embroider things so that he could make beautiful things for himself. Alasdair also offered to buy him an embroidery hoop, threads, and needles to help develop the skill but Arthur refused knowing how much money it would take.
Of course to make his gift, he looked for an embroidery shop and waited for the old lady who owned the shop to throw away her scraps of thread. Eventually, he would watch her embroider from afar while his brothers were at work and even tried to copy her using his own needle and thread (although they weren’t embroidery threads and thus his work was much thinner than hers). The lady, having noticed the kid watching her embroider with such enthusiasm and determination in his eyes, had started leaving embroidery materials for Arthur and waited for him to watch her work to teach him the basics and the different stitches.
At last, he had made a beautiful tapestry for his brothers and had come to thank the lady for her help but she shook her head and said that Arthur had learned how to embroider on his own, saying he had a wonderful talent in the art and was willing to take him in as her apprentice. He would be working under her care during the day and would be given a salary for his work, Arthur agreed enthusiastically.
When he told this to his brothers, Alasdair pat him on the back happily and told him that they were proud of him. Connor and Dylan also rejoiced at the news and would encourage Arthur to continue his love for embroidery.
The third gift came from Connor. These gifts were unexpectedly large and kept in another location to keep them a secret. At one point of the year, the brothers had discussed becoming musicians as a side gig and would even learn how to compose and cover different songs but eventually had to give it up because they didn’t have any instruments. Connor never gave up on that dream and had bargained with an old school friend of his for two electric guitars, a drum set, and a keyboard.
The three brothers were shocked at how Connor managed to get ahold of these instruments but Connor explained that his old friend had been in a band but it failed and the band lost interest and time in music so they were looking for people to sell their instruments to.
Arthur eyed the red electric guitar with a wonder in his eyes. As the others ran to try out the other instruments, Arthur loved the gleam the guitar had and was drawn to it. Connor noticed him and patted him on the head saying that guitar was the one he really fought for because it reminded Connor of Arthur.
Arthur hugged his brother and cried a ‘thank you’ before dashing to the red guitar and running his hands through the strings in curiosity and wonder.
Connor sat beside him and showed him the different strings, how to play the chords, and how to tune the guitar. Arthur’s already calloused fingers were fine against the tough strings of the guitar and he learned how to play the chords in no time as if it was made for him.
“You’re amazing, Connor!” Dylan had cried out seeing that all the keys on the keyboard were all tuned and in perfect condition.
”I have to admit, this is…incredible.” Alasdair sat by the drum set in awe, “Thank you.”
The last gift was from Alasdair but at that point, there were no more gifts under the tree and no places that would be able to hide anything. Everyone looked at Alasdair who was fighting a smile on his face as he stood in front of them, hands clasped together.
”My gift this year…” he was trembling, holding back a smile.
Everyone held their breaths.
“…I have purchased a small house for us.”
The silence was so loud that Arthur would have been able to hear his needle fall on the floor.
Then everyone erupted into tears, laughter, cheers, and all kinds of emotions. Arthur was in the middle when all his brother had gathered to hug each other in joy, he smiled and cried too, they were finally getting a proper house but…
He looked around the warehouse- that had been cleaned more often now that he lived there. This was his first home, he hadn’t even been here for more than a year but the memories he’s made with Alisdair, Connor, and Dylan in this home…
As if reading his thoughts, Dylan held his hand and reassured him that they would still be together in the new house, and they would still make new memories together. Alasdair and Connor smiled and agreed, raising drinks to celebrate the new life.
“Since we’re starting a new life, why don’t we give Arthur a surname this time?” Alasdair brought the surname dilemma back up again but he quickly added, “It’s fine if he uses your surnames.”
Dylan shook his head, “I’m fine with that too!”
“It’s not fun if only two of us would have the surname…” Connor pondered for a while before he brightened up, “We could make a new surname that all of us could use!”
”Is this even legal?” Alasdair raised an eyebrow but Connor shrugged, “We can still use our own surnames legally but we can call each other this one all the time!”
Arthur nodded in agreement.
“Alright then!” Dylan clasped his hands, “What are we thinking?”
The four brothers sat in silence as they debated on a potential surname…
Then Alasdair snapped his fingers and whispered something to Dylan who paused before nodding enthusiastically and passed it on to Connor who shouted,
“Kirkland?!”
“Idiot! You were supposed to whisper it to Arthur!” Alasdair huffed and slapped Connor’s head.
“What’s the point if we were all going to know anyway?!”
“Kirkland.” Arthur repeated the name and smiled, “I like it.”
Thus, the four brothers agreed on sharing the surname Kirkland and Arthur was formally named Arthur Kirkland that Christmas evening.
A small house in London, a year after Arthur was taken in
It had been a year since Arthur was adopted by his three brothers and a few months since the four of them moved in a proper house. Alasdair had spent more time in his family businesses, Connor had begun to apply for different schools, Dylan had gotten a new and better job, and Arthur had been working in the embroidery shop.
Arthur didn’t see his brothers as often anymore but he knew that was because they were busy earning money to pay for the rent of the house. He was the one who came home the earliest and would be the one cleaning the house and taking care of the chores, the only thing his brothers forbade him to do was cook because of a small incident that happened a few weeks back.
When he was done with his chores, he would borrow some of Connor’s books and teach himself more advanced english, maths, science, and other subjects people would usually learn at school. Connor and Alasdair promised that they would help him understand the topics he couldn’t understand on his own when they had free time and Arthur trusted them on that.
His english had become better and he could formulate proper and coherent sentences, write them on paper, and speak to people. Although he made a few mistakes here and there, his brothers said he learned english very quickly and to their surprise, extremely accurately.
Arthur spent his childhood quiet, not knowing how to speak properly, not knowing what words meant and only understanding from context clues to help him in life, but now he could speak somewhat perfect english and his brothers would make him use his voice to stop their various tiny arguments about random things in the house.
In the times he still had time after doing chores and studying, he would practice his guitar skills. It wasn’t often he had the time but he couldn’t let Connor’s Christmas gift gather dust in the corner of his room (he had a room of his own now which he had decorated with pictures of rockstars and tapestries he made).
Connor, the other guitarist in the household, would give him sheet music to practice on, new strings, and everything that Arthur would need for his guitar. The bright red electric guitar was cared for beautifully, always cleaned and used every day, and it made wonderful sounds as Arthur would practice with such determination.
”Arthur?” Dylan knocked on his bedroom door and Arthur allowed his brother inside. “I heard you practicing! You play so beautifully!” his brother praised him. Dylan was always one to be praising the others and supporting everyone in everything.
”Thank you…” Arthur replied quietly, flustered at the compliment. “It was Connor who helped me.”
”Oh you play much better than Connor.” Dylan snickered, “but don’t tell him I told you that.”
Arthur nodded with a smile.
“You should play for people in the city, I’m sure they’d love it.” Dylan looked at Arthur’s fingers, already more calloused than it was before.
Arthur shook his head, ”I’m not sure, I’m not that good yet.”
”Well you’re much better than a lot of others and I can accompany you, I’ll sing with you.”
Arthur thought for a while, Dylan did have a wonderful voice. His soft way of speaking influenced the way he sang and so Dylan’s voice would definitely outdo Arthur’s guitar….
”I’ll do it.” Arthur finally agreed and Dylan smiled, “But you have to go with me.”
”I would never leave you alone, Arthur.”
Backstage of an arena, four years after Arthur was taken in
“Alisdair! Do you think you could have ever predicted that we’d become this famous?!” Connor yelled to Alisdair who was just a few steps in front of him but the noise of the crowd cheering for them and the adrenaline they felt had made communication almost impossible.
”No!” Alisdair yelled back, he couldn’t hide the smile on his face this time. “We have Arthur to thank for this!”
”Me?!” Arthur yelped in surprise, “The people love you!”
”Are you kidding?!” Dylan join in the yelling, “You were the one who attracted them first! Remember?!”
Three years ago, Arthur and Dylan started to busk on the streets of London, Dylan’s sweet angelic voice had drawn in numerous tourists and locals while Arthur’s fiery guitar skills made them stay for more.
At first, it was just covers of existing songs by other artists to earn some extra money. Then, people started to wait for them to start busking, and the money started to increase. As a result, Connor, Arthur, and Dylan started to compose original music although Alasdair was still skeptical. Arthur and Dylan started to integrate their songs into their performances and when people watching would ask who made those songs, the brothers would grin and say they made it. Eventually, Connor would join in every now and then switching between bass and drums to support Dylan and Arthur, and the crowds would multiply in number.
After a while, they were able to perform their own music with a consistently large number of people supporting them.
Curious, Alasdair reached out to music companies and took it to himself to see what else could be done about this new fame. A small producer then reached out to Alasdair saying he had seen their performances and would be willing to give them a shot and so Connor, Alasdair, Dylan, and Arthur took time out of their days to practice together and work on their skills and instruments.
This turns into that, time passes, the brothers made it.
What seemed like a dream, was now a reality.
The four brothers were on a stage in London, lights shining on them, thousands of people have come from all over the world to see them perform. Adrenaline was pumping in their bodies, sweat dripping down their faces, but what mattered the most was that they had each other and they loved what they were doing.
Suddenly the lights on the crowd dimmed and their cheers slowly faded into tiny cheers as Alasdair hit his drumsticks together.
”1..2..3..!”
The crowd screams again, Arthur feels alive.
After the show
”Arthur!! We have something for you!!” Connor and Dylan wiggle their way to their little brother who was taking a nap on a soft couch under the air conditioning.
Arthur looked up at his brothers, eyes half open from his nap, “What is it?”
Connor and Dylan look at each other with a giggle before raising a new and glossy leather jacket at Arthur.
“It’s yours!!”
The black leather jacket was new, beautiful, glossy, polished, and smelled like real pure leather. It must have been costly. Even if they were at the top of the world, Alasdair made sure they didn’t overuse money more than they should and the three brothers agreed to spend most of the money to send Arthur to have a proper schooling. Everything else was put into their personal banks snd necessities.
Arthur almost jumped out of his seat when he saw the jacket, it was the same one he had been eyeing at a really expensive store. He thought it would take him years of begging Alasdair to let him use some of his personal savings for that jacket!
“I told you he’d love it!” Connor yelled to Alasdair who was reading a book just nearby. “It took so long to negotiate with him to let us combine at least a fourth of our personal savings to buy this for you.” he whispered to Arthur with a giggle.
”That’s wrong. That was one fourth of all three of our personal funds.” Alasdair shut his book and made his way to the group. “And don’t think about that, Arthur. We bought it because it’s your eighteenth birthday.” he smiled warmly, behind that stoic face and personality, Alasdair cared about his brothers so much even though sometimes they were a bit of an annoyance in his life.
Arthur’s birthday had been decided four years ago when a whole year had passed and his brothers sensed that something was wrong. They realised that Arthur never had an actual birthday or birthdate so again, they let Arthur choose his own birthday and he chose the day that they found him and took him in.
Arthur hugged the jacket that his brothers gave him and tears formed in his eyes as he cried multiple thank you’s. The four brothers all went in for a tight celebratory hug as their manager stood behind holding a birthday cake for Arthur.
Before, Arthur had nothing- not a house, parents, or even a name for himself.
Now, Arthur had the world, he had loving brothers, he had a name, a birthday, and a family.
That was the time Arthur had it all.
London, five years after Arthur had been taken in
It had been five years since Arthur had been taken in by Alasdair, Connor, and Dylan- his brothers. It had also been three years since he and his brothers had formed a band and became a worldwide sensation. They had enjoyed about four years of immense success, they stood on top of the world, toppled charts, they were stars.
Then the day came when it had to stop because all good things have to come to an end at some point.
It all started when Connor’s parents found out that he had been in fact kicked from the school and he had been lying to their faces for years. Even though Connor was now an adult and a star, he was ordered by his parents to return home, finish his education, and find a stable job that wasn’t about music.
Connor, without a choice, bid farewell to his brothers and in a tearful goodbye at the airport, returned back to Northern Ireland.
The three remaining brothers continued to go onstage although a bit out of line after the sudden departure of Connor. The most affected was Alasdair, who knew Connor the longest and would become unsteady with his drum rhythm without Connor.
Eventually, Alasdair couldn’t handle the spotlight anymore and gave his farewells to the public saying he too would return to his home in Scotland and continue his business.
Then it was only Dylan and Arthur.
The two were steady at the top, after all it was the two of them who were the first to be noticed. Dylan, who only stayed on top to support Arthur, eventually had to step down after his voice had started to become damaged from overuse and strain from stress over the departure of Alasdair and Connor. However, Dylan stayed with Arthur in their small house while he recovered his voice and Arthur took great care of his brother.
Now, it was only Arthur on top of the world. Music had become painful for him, the stage felt cold and lonely. No one was there beside him like they used to be. There was no one he could turn to in the middle of performances and smile to. There was no one who could back him up if he missed a note.
Instead of three people waiting for him at the back of the stage, it was only Dylan.
Arthur ran and hugged Dylan, sobbing on his shoulder, crying on how much he missed Alasdair and Connor. Dylan could only share his tears and brush his hair to calm him down saying that Alisdair and Connor were surely watching the livestream and thinking about how proud they were of him.
”If they were here right now, they’d tell you how amazing you were up there. You were alone but you shined like a true star.”
A year later, Dylan returned home to Wales after finding a stable job, promising Arthur that he would still return to London to visit every few weeks.
At the age of 20, Arthur was now completely alone, still at the top of the world.
He was still an enormous success even without his brothers but he could only handle the fame for another year before ultimately retiring, making way for the next era of rockstars.
London, Present day
Arthur awoke from that dream in a startle, his breathing ragged and a lump in his throat when he remembered the faces of his brothers.
He sees them at least twice a year but the memories- those memories, they still carry a lot of weight in his heart.
It seems he hasn’t moved on from it yet, his brothers, what his life was before this.
He checked his phone, it was 2:16 am and he had received a notification from Francis three hours ago.
[Francis Bonnefoy: I’ll be there]
Arthur’s hand ran through his golden hair as he steadied his breathing. He had a meeting in a few hours, he needed to get a proper sleep.
He made his way to his kitchen and made a cup of tea to calm himself. It would be terrible if he showed up with eye bags and a horrid mental state to Francis, it would be embarrassing after their first encounter after he wore that leather jacket…even though Francis did say it looked good on him.
He sighed, a small smile forming on his lips. The jacket still looked good on him after all those years. If that fashion designer said it did, then it must have.
After finishing his tea, he placed the teacup in the sink and made his way back to bed, tucking himself in the sheets and staring at the ceiling.
He had another life now and that life would be calling for him in a few hours. His life was no longer stealing scraps, living in a warehouse, being under the spotlights, fame, money.
His new life was a humble one in a government office, working with a Frenchman who had beautiful golden hair and sapphire eyes, and waking up at 5 am.
He wasn’t complaining though. He had built this life on his own, he was now an adult and had a long life ahead of him. Arthur wonders what else will come to him in the future, he has already lived through things one person could experience in a whole lifetime, the only thing he was missing was…
Well, he told himself he wouldn’t worry about that yet. Let Cupid shoot his arrows whenever he wanted.