Arthur Pendragon was indisputably the most popular man in Camelot College. No matter where he went, he had gaggles of girls following him around, begging him to lift up his shirt; some were even impertinent enough to grab his arse. This is just one of the reasons why Merlin hated the prat. Merlin had quite the list, including the fact that Arthur's hair was always just right, how his face was so defined and perfect, how he had the perfect six-pack, and how Arthur always got perfect grades without even trying. Merlin had the last one down to favouritism for the longest time, but Arthur was just toogood at everything. Merlin thought he shared these dislikes with his best friends Will and Gwen, until Year 5 when he noticed Gwen swooning over Arthur's looks. Merlin and Will and begun to distance themselves from Gwen, who had sneaked a place at Arthur's table. As a result, Merlin and Will had been spending much more time together, and if they were not at Merlin's, they were at Will's flat. The lines of their friendship had become so blurred, that they didn't know what to call themselves anymore. It went along for about a year, and then everything changed.

"Will, I-"

"Merlin, shut up, it was a kiss. You knew it was coming."

"It's not that, it's just, you were so passionate."

"Would you rather I was cold?" Will laughed, and noticed how red Merlin went. "Oh come off it, I thought it was just right." Merlin crawled over to Will and rested his head on Will's chest. "Merlin, you're so cute. Can I tell you something?" Will lifted Merlin's head up so they were staring each other in the eyes.

"Don't say it Will" Merlin warned. "You know what that could do to us?"

"You said us. Does that make us a couple?" Will pressed, and Merlin sighed. Merlin knew that he loved Will, but he couldn't decide whether it was brotherly love or thatkind of love. Nevertheless, he knew he cared enough that he could not hurt Will. Merlin clambered up and pressed his lips against Will's, and as he pulled away, he smiled, and Will beamed back at him, and their hands found their way together, and Merlin thought he could be happy like this.

-A FEW WEEKS LATER-

"Fuck! Merlin, why do I bother talking to you? All you do is mope around and then whenever I try to ask you something, you clam up and snap at me! I swear, I'd have better luck talking to a wall!" Will shouted at Merlin, and Merlin just glared across the room back at Will. Merlin was sitting on a chair in Will's room, his knees hugged to his chest. Will was pacing madly, his expression hard, but his eyes soft. "Why don't you talk to me anymore?" Will asked, his voice quieter. "Is it because we're more than friends?" When he didn't get an answer, Will flopped down on the bed. He faced away from Merlin to hide the tears of anger and sadness that were running freely. When he felt Merlin's arm around him he started to cry out loud, and bit down on his sleeve to try and hold back the tears.

"Will, you're my best friend, and you always will be, but I keep wondering whether moving forward was such a good idea." Merlin looked pained as he saw how sad Will looked. "I promise to be honest with you Will." Will nodded, and turned away from Merlin once more. "Do you want me to go?" Despite his feelings, Merlin knew he would have been upset if he spent a night without Will. Thankfully, Will shook his head vehemently, and Merlin stripped down, and climbed into bed. Will was still completely clothed, and lying on the covers. Merlin ran his hands up Will's back, and grabbed a handful of his sweater and yanked up, effectively removing it, and exposing Wills tanned back. Merlin's hands massaged his shoulders, then slowly moved down, and grabbed Will's belt. After the pants had been undone, Merlin went to pull them off, and realized that Will was sporting an erection. Immediately withdrawing his hand, Merlin turned on to his back, staring at the ceiling, blushing like mad. Will turned towards Merlin and frowned when he saw Merlin's face. Sliding off his own pants, Will climbed in next to Merlin, and cuddled up to Merlin, his cold body instantly warmed by Merlin, who seemed to run ten degrees warmer than everyone else did. "Will, you're hard." Merlin said plainly, causing Will to break out laughing.

"You make it seem like it's a bad thing." Will responded, after regaining his composure. Judging by the colour of Merlin's cheeks, Will decided to take a wild guess, and grasped Merlin, eliciting a moan from him. "Looks like I'm not the only one."

"Hey, Merlin!" Merlin turned on his heels to see Gwen jogging towards him. Rolling his eyes, he stood and waited as she waved frantically, as though he would disappear on her. "How are you? It feels like we haven't talked in ages!" Gwen lied, trying to mask the sadness in her voice. Merlin looked her in the eyes and then smiled weakly at her. "You don't actually hate me, do you?" Merlin felt a pang of guilt when he realized Gwen thought that to be the case.

"God, Gwen, no. We just realized we couldn't compete with Pratdragon. So we had to let you go. Will was more upset than I was, he felt like you had chosen Arthur over him." Gwen laughed, and then leaned in to whisper into Merlin's ear.

"It wasn't Arthur I was after." She took out her mobile and scrolled into her photo gallery. Turning the screen towards Merlin, she sighed. "Isn't Lancelot hot?" Merlin just stared, gob smacked. "By the way, Arthur has invited me to a party tonight, but he said to bring a couple friends. It's just his closest, and their mates. So tell Will to come too, okay?" Kissing Merlin on the cheek, she left the way she came, and Merlin grabbed his mobile, and saw his notifications were stuffed.

**** 2MISSEDCALLS:William****

**** 5 SMS MSGS : William ****

**** 1 VOICEMAIL : William ****

Shaking his head, Merlin dialled Will's number, and chuckled when Will picked up. "You rang?" "Didn't you get my messages?" "I've not had a chance to check them, why?" "I sent you a bunch! Just check them!" Merlin put the call on hold, then went into his messages, and saw the first was a picture message. When he opened it, he nearly dropped the phone. Switching back into the call, he heard Will moan and Merlin's knees nearly gave out. "What the bloody hell are you doing?" "What you should be doing to me right now! Come home quick." Merlin jammed the phone in his pocket, and grabbed his car keys out of his pocket, then ran to the carpark. Jumping in his Fiat, he remembered the party they had been invited to, and whether or not Will would want to go. Merlin decided he wanted to see what Arthur was like without the fans, but also to see Gwen. Pushing that out of his mind, he concentrated on what was waiting for him at home, and sped off.

In truth, Merlin knew that Will would respond poorly to the invitation to the party. But he didn't expect Will to get so pissed off that Merlin was scared for his life. Will lost his mind, shouting at Merlin, getting right up in his face, and when he grabbed Merlin by the wrist, Merlin reacted. His eyes flashed gold, and Will flew across the room. "Holy fuck. Will, are you okay?" Will looked up at Merlin, dazed, but with horror across his face. "I don't know what happened Will!"

"Leave!" Will shouted, getting to his feet, looking unsteady. Merlin backed out of the room, and ran to his car. What the hell just happened? I didn't push him, but people don't just fly around rooms by themselves. Merlin sighed and started the car, deciding to go to Arthur's party alone. Checking his mobile for directions, he headed towards the ring road that separated the estates from the upper-class living. He pulled up behind Gwen's car, and took a look at himself in the mirror. He looked terrible, his hair was a mess, and his cheeks were redder than tomatoes. "Oh well. It's just Arthur Pendragon." Climbing out of the car, Merlin saw Gwen talking with Morganna, and he waved, and Morganna smiled back at him. Did Morganna just smile at me? What the hell is happening around here?" Merlin hugged Gwen awkwardly, then followed her inside. Arthur was waiting by the door, and when he saw Gwen, he smiled.

"Guinevere, darling. So nice to see you!" Arthur hugged her too, and saw Merlin trailing behind her. "And you must be Merlin, right? Welcome, please don't steal anything." Gwen punched him in the arm, whispering something in his ear. "Where is your friend, William is it?" Arthur asked, and Merlin sighed.

"He isn't feeling well, and I decided to come alone."

"How risky, such an attractive man might get snapped up without his puppy-guard. Anyhow, the bar is in the drawing room, please feel free to have whatever you like." Arthur stated, and gave Merlin the once(or two)-over. Merlin sauntered off in the direction of the drawing room, and Arthur smiled knowingly at Gwen. "He's mine." Gwen sputtered and paled, casing Arthur to smirk.