AN: I've been in a writing mood this last week and I've been bad by using it to write new one shots instead of working on some of my works in progress. Oh well. Hope you guys enjoy this.
PS. I'm not a big fan of the name of this story, but I can't really think of anything more clever. If anybody has some good suggestions, I would be happy to hear it.
Merlin had never had any intention of becoming a stalker. In fact he had had to deal with quite a few stalkers in his lifetime and found them all to be really creepy. But running into your long lost lover who didn't recognize you even after thousands of years of waiting for their return apparently makes someone into a stalker.
Merlin sighed, putting his coffee down on the rickety table of the old diner across from the outdoor cafe Arthur was currently wooing a lovely young lady at. Merlin had become a regular at the diner just as Arthur was a regular at the cafe with his many ladies that he took out. Even though Arthur always wore a suit, Merlin was sure that some were for business as some for pleasure just by gauging the woman's dress. Today was one for pleasure. The woman wore a short dress the barely covered the curve of her behind and shoes so tall that Merlin wasn't sure how she could walk without torturing her feet. All of this was topped off with makeup too dark for a daytime meeting.
Merlin didn't like her. And not just because she was clearly leaning forward to entice Arthur with the cleavage from her massive fake breasts. Merlin didn't like her because he had taken a moment to read her mind before Arthur arrived and she was clearly only after his money.
Luckily, it didn't seem like Arthur liked her either by the way he was speaking to her. Merlin could have used his magic to listen in on the conversation, but the constantly glowing eyes would be a dead giveaway, so he only used it when he absolutely needed to hear exactly what was being said, so he had learned to read lips. That along with Arthur's uninterested posture was enough to put all Merlin's worries to bed for the day.
That is, until the girl said something that caught Arthur's interest and he leaned forward a little more.
Merlin scowled, then winced at the glimpse of his reflection that he could see through the window. He wasn't supposed to be showing emotions because he wasn't supposed to be watching in the first place. He sighed again and pulled out his phone. "She's not right for you," he wrote. "She just wants your money. Probably to get a bigger set." And then he pressed send.
When he first started doing this he would draft the messages, but hesitate and refuse to send them. He didn't really have a right to impose on this Arthur's life no matter how much he wished it. But then Arthur had been having s hard time on one of his business meetings and Merlin read the woman's mind to find the exact right thing to say just as she was leaving. He had sent the text without thinking and Arthur had followed his advice to form a successful deal. Then he had called afterwards, which had worried Merlin to no end, but left only a thank you on the answering machine. He had to thank everything that he had never bothered to set up a message for his voicemail. Ever since then, Merlin never hesitated.
Arthur dug his phone out of his pocket, glanced over the message, then over at the girl's chest, before nodding with a smirk. Cutting her off mid sentence, he stood and walked slightly away from the girl while putting his phone to his ear. It had become somewhat of a tradition between them that Merlin would text him and Arthur would call back knowing that Merlin wouldn't answer.
Merlin sunk deeper into his chair, studiously ignoring the phone that vibrated on the table before him. He had made scouted this diner for more than the fact that it was across the cafe. It was the perfect spot because not only was it generally empty, but the windows were tinted dark to keep the sun out and obscure the vision of anyone looking in. But Merlin was always cautious. He never sat in the same spot and never looked at his phone when Arthur was calling. He just let it ring through with every intention of listening to Arthur's message later. Besides, he could at least read Arthur's lips now to figure out the words.
"Obviously," Arthur said. Merlin could just barely make out the roll of his eyes. "Have you seen her makeup? Who wears that on a lunch date. I wouldn't even have given her the time of day if father didn't insist on it." The girl stormed off, having heard the words that Arthur made absolutely no attempt to hide, and Arthur shrugged before sitting back at his table. "So when are you going to actually answer my calls Mr. Stalker. Brave enough to give me your opinion, but not enough to actually show me your face."
Merlin itched to grab his phone. He wanted so much to reply to Arthur's taunts, to jest with each other just like they used to when they were both alive in Camelot. Instead he picked up his coffee mug and continued watching the scene before him.
"What's stopping me from ignoring all your texts. I could just block you you know." At one time that had almost worried Merlin, but then he had remembered that he could do many things to get around that including using his magic and it turned out that it had been an empty threat anyway. One that Arthur like me to constantly employ. Then Arthur frowned and it was so unlike their usual interactions that Merlin frowned in turn. "My father is pushing me to marry or he won't pass the company onto me, but I don't know who to marry."
Merlin's frown deepened. It looked like Arthur was seriously looking for his help, but still he wasn't sure if he should answer. He wanted to say that Arthur should marry him, but technically they had never met as far as Arthur was concerned and even if they had, Merlin doubted that his father would like a gay marriage even though it was finally legal. Merlin fiddled with his phone, not even realizing that he had picked it up.
"Come on," Arthur said, "I could really use your help. I don't know who else to talk to."
Mind made up, Merlin typed a name and pressed send. Arthur had once said that he thought he loved Gwen before he married her and that he probably would have loved her if Merlin hadn't come first. Maybe now, without Merlin in his life, he could truly love and marry her.
"Guinevere?" Arthur asked after glancing at his phone. He was obviously looking around him now at all the people eating at the cafe, trying to find the person that might be close enough to actually hear and respond to him. Sometimes Merlin wished he would actually get caught, but he ducked his head back to his coffee when Arthur's eyes began trying to peer through the windows of the shops across the street. "The secretary?" Merlin almost nodded, but held himself back. "She's dating Lancelot, though," he said and Merlin flinched. He should have known. It had always been one of their main regrets that Gwen couldn't be truly happy with Arthur and that she would have been much better of with Lancelot, but Merlin hadn't realized that she was dating anyone. He was only keeping track of Arthur's life after all. "Didn't know that then?" Arthur asked after a moment's hesitation to allow Merlin to respond. "So you aren't all-knowing after all." At least his smirk had returned now and he had gone back to his teasing. "I'm trying to decide if I should be surprised you didn't mention yourself," he said, "but then I remember that your still too afraid to face me and I'm not so surprised anymore."
Arthur flinched and removed the phone from his ear and Merlin realized that the time limit for the message must have rang. He wondered for a moment if Arthur would call him back, but Arthur only ever called him once a day. His once and future king sighed, out his phone back in his pocket, out a few bills on the table, and left briefcase in hand. He said a few words before he left, but his mouth was too distorted by him shrugging on his suit jacket for Merlin to make them out.
Merlin waited just long enough for Arthur to be out of sight before he snatched up his phone. It blinked with the notification of one new voice message and Merlin quickly opened it to listen to it. Of course, he knew every word that Arthur said but hearing his voice, even through the distortion of technology, was practically the highlight of Merlin's day.
Suddenly, his phone rang again and Merlin almost dropped the darn thing in his utter surprise, but it wasn't Arthur calling him. Instead it was Giaus. Apparently he was needed at the clinic. They were always a little understaffed and Merlin had offered himself as a doctor to help whenever their need was dire. He could just work for them, he knew, and Giaus has certainly given him several offers, but he had no need for money and preferred to have plenty of free time to stalk Arthur. Merlin winced at the way he phrased that in his mind, but refused to correct it because it was completely true. He gathered up his things and left the diner much earlier than he would have. Usually he would have waited a good ten or fifteen minutes after Arthur left before heading out just to make sure the two of them wouldn't bump into each other, but he hated to make Giaus wait. Surely them running into each other once, if they actually did, wouldn't be very suspicious when they had only run into each other once months ago at the beginning of this whole correspondence.
Then again, Merlin wasn't expecting to run smack into Arthur who was waiting just around the corner. "Woah!" Arthur said, catching Merlin before he could fall.
"Sorry!" Merlin said, without even realizing that it was Arthur he had run into. It wasn't until he looked up that his eyes widened and he froze. "Um-I'm-Um- Sorry. I'm kind of in a hurry! I'm already late." He scrabbled out of Arthur's hold, barely registering the sound of something technological hitting the ground and hoping that he didn't break anything of Arthur's that was too important. "I gotta go!" And then he was racing off again, more to be as far away from Arthur as possible so the other wouldn't see his morbidly flushed face.
Of course it wasn't until much later when the influx at the clinic died down that he realized the clattering that he had heard in the struggle had not in fact been anything of Arthur's it had actually been his own phone. The very phone that he always used for all his correspondences with Arthur and saved all of Arthur's voice messages. "I'm dead!" He practically yelled, throwing his hands over the mountain of paperwork that he would have to complete for the patients today.
"I'm sure it won't be that bad," Giaus replied. It had been him who had told Merlin about the missing phone because someone had actually called his father figure in order to return it. "The gentleman said he would return it here after his work."
"You don't understand!" Merlin waved his hands wildly, his eyes wide even as he practically slammed his head on the table before him. "What if it's Arthur?!"
"You mean Arthur Pendragon?" Giaus asked.
"You know him?" Merlin replied rolling his head to look at the old man questioningly. Giaus owned a free clinic in one of the harder parts of town and Arthur was the sone of a rich entrepreneur. They hardly seemed like they would ever been in the same circles.
"Not really," Giaus said. "I only know his father because of Uther's donations," which Merlin was sure only continued because they were a legacy left by Arthur's generous mother that Uther wanted to continue. "But the gentleman who called just now said that was his name."
"I'm so dead!" Merlin whined. It was already long past five, which is the earliest Arthur ever got out of work, and Merlin couldn't sneak out without the risk of running into the other again.
Suddenly the bell at the counter rang and Merlin's eyes widened. He jumped to his feet, pushing Giaus out of his office, which was more like a closer since he didn't technically work there. "Don't tell him I'm here," he said frantically. "He'll kill me."
"Merlin!" Giaus said, struggling against Merlin's frantic shoves up until Merlin closed the door on him. Then Merlin crawled under his desk and used his magic to heighten his senses so he could hear the conversation in the lobby.
"Mr. Pendragon?" He head Giaus say.
"You must be Gaius," Arthur said, probably reaching out to shake the old man's hand. "Where's Merlin?"
"Ah," Giaus hesitated. No wonder Arthur always thought he was at the tavern when Merlin went to perform magic. Gaius wasn't the best of liars. "I'm afraid you just missed him. I could take the phone for him if you don't mind."
"Yea," said Arthur. "Sure. If you'll just excuse me a moment." There was a moment's hesitation and Merlin sighed as he heard the rustling if fabric. Arthur must be pulling out his phone to hand to Giaus now. But then "Merlin!" was yelled just like Arthur used to when he was trying to find Merlin in the castle. It was so loud that Merlin's ears rang and he jumped, hitting his head on the bottom of the desk with a yelp. "Found him," Arthur said and Merlin could just hear the smirk in his voice.
Merlin scrambled out from under the desk with every intention of making a run for the back door, but only managed to trip over one of the many boxes littering the floor as the door opened to reveal his Once and Future King in all his glory. Arthur looked down on him with a raised brow and Merlin scrambled to his feet, wincing when a deep throbbing in his knee told him he would surely have a deep bruise there later.
"Can't hide from me now can you?" Arthur smirked. Merlin wished that his little closet of an office actually had a window so he could throw himself out of it and get away from this conversation. "Here," Arthur thrust a phone in front of Merlin's face. It lit up with the home screen and Merlin winced again. His home screen was one of Arthur that he had taken one day when he felt particularly confident. But the picture before him was not of Arthur, but of himself. He had been talking on the phone when this picture was taken, his eyebrows drawn in a perplexed furrow.
"Don't be a clotpole," Arthur said. "Take it."
Merlin snatched the phone that clearly wasn't his and almost dropped it. He just barely caught it but his finger swiped across the screen and the picture changed. This time it was of Merlin hanging out with Gwaine at one of the local bars. A local bar that he hadn't actually visited since finding Arthur. Merlin continued swiping through the pictures. There were occasional pictures of random things and some of Morgana, but the bulk of the pictures on Arthur's phone were of him. Both before and after they had bumped into each other a couple months prior.
Merlin looked at Arthur with wide eyes, clutching the phone close to him, and then the realization hit him. "Clotpole is my word," he said, his eyes wide and hopeful.
"And it fits you perfectly," Arthur replied. His smirk softened to a grin and his eyes glistened with tears that Merlin couldn't hold back anymore.
Merlin launched himself at Arthur, only staying upright by Arthur's strong stance, and clutched desperately at his clothes. "I've missed you so much!" He cried.
"I know," Arthur replied, pressing a kiss into Merlin's hair. "I missed you too."