(I fought them all off)

Just To Hold You Close And Tight

By dr. Tea.

Chapter 1. - There Is Something About You, Merlin.

Merlin was in prison. Yeah, in prison. And it was only his first day after arriving Camelot. Well, it's not like it's MY fault anyway, it's all that dumb, royal, stupid... Merlin was thinking about the prince, obviously. He was the dumbest, most ignorant piece of something bad Merlin had ever met.

He had been throwing knives at a poor guy carrying a shield. What if he hit his legs or something? The poor servant had been scared, Merlin could tell. All he had done was ask Arthur to stop. He had even done it in a nice way.

"Hey, that's enough. You've had your fun, my friend." He had said. And that royal ass had just acted all mighty and... OH! It made Merlin so angry... And what WAS that annoying voice that kept saying

"Merlin, Merlin, Merlin" over and over again? Maybe he really was going mental. Hearing voices, attacking guys way stronger than himself... When was he getting out of here anyway? Well, he hadattacked the prince, but, but, but... That was for the sake of justice!

Finally, around mid-day someone came to the cellar. It was Gaius. Merlin had just known him a day, but he was already starting to care about the old man. When he told Merlin he had managed to get him out of prison, Merlin was so relieved.

A few minutes later, he found himself in the stocks. How the hell did I end up here? And he had to stay here for an hour! Rotten cabbage and tomatoes! ROTTEN! Merlin sighted as a tomato hit him right in the face. Right in the face.

Okay, it hadn't been that bad. The hour had been long, but at least he had made a new friend. Or... Someone had walked up to him and said hi. Gwen. A girl with tanned skin and dark hair. She seemed really nice, and since she was working at the castle, Merlin would probably see her often.

Merlin's overall impression of Camelot was quite positive. Well, except for the prat of a prince, and the really scary-looking king. Merlin just hoped he wouldn't have much to do with either of them. But, what-do-you-know, already the next day he found himself in a fight with Arthur.

Oh shit, oh, shit, oh shit... I'm so dead. Dodge, Merlin! GO. GO. GO! Move! If he hits you with that... eh... Thing, you're dead, now MOVE! He just managed to jump away from that big ball of deadly iron that Arthur threw at him. Why had he gotten himself into this again? Oh, yeah...

He had just been walking, minding his own business, then he had run into Arthur. Their eyes had met. Merlin hadn't stopped, he just wanted to get away from the prat. But the prince had other thoughts in mind, he had stopped.

It was the "Don't run away." comment that had annoyed Merlin enough to make him stop. I shouldn't have stopped...

He only had one chance at beating Arthur, and that was by using magic. It was the only thing he had, after all. And for a moment he actually thought he had one, but as he was looking around, cherishing the look on people's faces... He had been beaten. He thought he was going to be thrown in the dungeons again, but...

"No, let him go. He may be an idiot, but he's a brave one." Arthur said, and their eyes met again. "There is something about you, Merlin... I just can't quite put my finger on it." At that moment, something happened inside of Merlin. He wanted to say something, but... He couldn't. All he could do was look at Arthur, who now was smiling slightly, his blonde hair shining in the sun. And those blue eyes piercing through Merlin's. Merlin could feel his magic stirring inside of him, and he had to look away, because his eyes changed colour from blue to golden. Arthur turned around and left with his men. Merlin was standing there alone, his heart beating so fast... Something was wrong... Inside his body.

Gaius was furious. No wonder. But Merlin was immune to his anger at the moment. He could feel his magic inside of him. Literally feel it. It all ended with Merlin walking off to his room. He just had to lie down. The feeling of the magic had slowly calmed down, but when he thought about the sentence "There is something about you, Merlin." he felt it again. The feeling was hard to describe... He felt warm inside, and his heart started pounding, he also felt a bit dizzy. But not bad dizzy, more like... No, it was just too hard to describe.

Gaius obviously understood that Merlin was feeling down, and came up to give him some medicine, and cheer him up. Merlin only wanted one thing, and that was an answer. "Why am I like this? Please... I need to know." Of course, the old man couldn't answer.

After tending to Merlin's wounds, he left. Merlin sat there alone, and thought. He tried not to think about the sentence; "There is something about you, Merlin." but for some reason it just kept popping up in his mind. Merlin suddenly knew how to get his answer. He would follow the voice.

He had been hearing it at night ever since he came to Camelot. He was pretty sure it wasn't in his head. That's just the sort of thing you know. The voice had to be calling his name for some reason... Maybe he could get an answer. He just wanted to know the purpose for his gifts.

It was night time, and Merlin heard the voice again. It kept calling his name. He got out of bed, and dressed. When he walked through the main room where Gaius was sleeping, he remembered something he had said. Something about the last dragon, that was captured and held deep beneath the castle. What if... No, it was impossible. But, when he thought about it, it had to be something magical. If not, how could he hear a voice without seeing anyone? And, the voice was loud enough to wake Gaius up. Merlin put a blanket over the old man, and headed for the castle.

It was weird, but Merlin just kind of knew where he had to go. He kept following that voice, and again he could feel the magic.

Distracting the guards was easy. Merlin wasn't a genius, but he wasn't an idiot, even though that was kind of like a nickname he had. He kept following that voice. Walking down stairs and through tunnels, until he finally reached what seemed to be the end. But there was nobody there, and the voice had silenced too. Merlin almost called out in frustration.

No wonder he was a bit startled when a huge dragon suddenly appeared in front of him. "I'm here." it said. Merlin took a few steps back. It was a dragon after all. Not that he thought he had been brought down here just to get killed.

No. There is just no way. No. NO! I'm not going to protect that prat! NO WAY! Merlin was honestly disappointed. He had thought he would be happy about knowing his destiny, but he wasn't. Protecting Arthur? He didn't deserve to be protected. He didn't even deserve to be king. "There is something about you, Merlin." Seriously, Merlin, stop thinking about that. You don't even know what he meant. Yeah, that's right. What did he mean by that? Well, he had said that he couldn't put his finger on it. Maybe he could feel something too? Like Merlin could feel his magic coming to life when he thought about that sentence. Or, was it when he thought about Arthur? Both, I guess.

Deep down Merlin knew that the dragon was right. He knew that to protect Arthur was his destiny. He just wouldn't admit it. He knew because why else would his magic act all weird he thought about Arthur? It was just too many coincidences.

Merlin was on watch when he entered the great hall where the celebrations were to be hold. He wasn't too sure about what he had seen in Lady Helen's room. He had thought he could sense magic coming from the straw doll, and the book. But then again, he could be wrong. He hadn't told anyone about it.

Merlin looked over at Arthur. He looked cheerful there, standing joking with his friends. They were all knights. He was wearing a crown, and Merlin had to be honest with himself; he really did look like a future king. Arthur was laughing, and Merlin smiled. He couldn't help it, he just liked seeing him smile and laugh. He just did. Arthur was still in a conversation, but was now looking at Merlin, and their eyes met. Merlin quickly looked away, a bit embarrassed. When he looked back at Arthur, he was still looking at him. Their eyes met again, and Arthur smiled. Merlin could feel his magic starting to come to life inside of him. He is smiling for you. Arthur's gaze switched from Merlin to someone else. Merlin followed it, and saw that Arthur was looking at the lady Morgana. "She looks great, doesn't she?" that was Gwen. "Yeah..." Merlin answered, a bit absent.

"Some people are just born to be queen."

"NO." Merlin answered, on reflex. Gwen looked at him, a bit surprised.

"I hope so. One day. Not that I'd want to be her. Who'd want to marry Arthur?" They're gonna marry? Merlin didn't know why, but he... Felt a bit angry, or sad... Or irritated by Gwen. Why did Morgana have to marry Arthur? Why should Arthur marry her? Why am I so upset by this? He continued his conversation with Gwen. But his eyes were fixed at the blonde prince, who was now talking to Morgana. For some reason Merlin wanted to walk over to him and stop him from talking to her. He wanted to tell him that he shouldn't marry her. What the hell is wrong with me?!

Merlin stood there. He had managed to come kind of close to Arthur, he was standing in a corner, just a few meters to the right of where Arthur sat. Lady Helen had just started singing, and Merlin could feel the magic in her voice. The moment he saw people starting to fall asleep he covered his ears. He looked from the Lady Helen to Arthur, and his suspicion was confirmed. She was walking right towards him. Merlin didn't really know what to do. Was she going to hurt him? No. No. She was a friend of the king. She wouldn't hurt his only son... But when she took up a dagger, and aimed for Arthur, he had to do something. He looked desperately around, and his eyes landed upon a huge lamp, hanging from the ceiling. Like he always did, he performed magic by instinct, and the lamp fell down, crushing her and stopping her from throwing the knife at Arthur.

Just a few seconds later people woke up. Everyone looked confused. But the danger wasn't over. She wasn't dead. And with her last power she lifted her arm and threw the dagger at Arthur. It was thrown with the strength and speed of magic. Merlin had to act quickly. He slowed the time, using magic. He looked at Arthur who just sat there, in shock and unable to move. Merlin ran towards him and put his arms around him. Arthur was heavy, but he managed to drag him to the side before the knife hit him.

Arthur landed on top of Merlin, and knocked all the air out of him. Merlin held his arms tightly around him, for some reason he didn't want to let go. He obviously had to, and they both got up. The king was shocked, as well as the entire court. Merlin didn't expect to receive a reward, but when the king insisted, he couldn't exactly say no.

Being awarded a position as Arthur's manservant was both good and bad. The fact that he was now going to be closer to him made it easier to carry out his destiny. But Arthur really didn't seem too fond of Merlin. He had looked really annoyed at the announcement, and he had even protested. But, apart from that, Merlin was quite happy. He remembered the smile, and... He knew that this was what he was born to do. Protect the prince of Camelot.

Merlin coughed and knocked on the door. Not just any door. The door that lead to the prince's chambers.

"Enter." it was Arthur's voice. Merlin slowly opened the door and entered the room. Arthur was sitting behind his desk.

"You wanted to see me?" Merlin said, feeling a bit awkward with just the two of them in the room. Well, this is something you have to get used to.

"Yes. I just wanted to thank you. You saved my life." Arthur said, and smiled. Merlin smiled back. God, I just love that smile. He mentally hit himself for that thought.

"It's my duty."

"You acted so quickly. I never knew you could actually be that fast." Merlin smiled.

"I'm not all that useless."

"I guess you're not." Merlin nodded. Arthur just sat there, smiling. He is smiling for me again.

"Is that all?" Merlin asked, ready to leave the room.

"Yeah..." Arthur looked down, obviously thinking about something.

"Well... Eh... Goodbye." Merlin said, and turned around to leave.

"Goodnight, Merlin." Arthur said, still looking down.

"Goodnight." Merlin said softly. He said it so softly he wasn't even sure Arthur could hear it. But he did.

Thank you for reading the first chapter. I will update soon. I had so much fun writing this. Hope you stick around and leave some reviews. Thank you.

/dr. Tea.