17th September

Arthur woke up groggily to a place unfamiliar to him. It was warm, which was good, but there was a difference in the smell of the atmosphere. It smelt almost like pears with a hint of peach, which was odd. But still, the one thing he never liked much about some Saturday's was his killer migraine, which this morning's hadn't been as bad since the one he got a few years ago on his 21st Birthday. The other things that bothered him at points, was where he was and whom he was with.

"Hel-lo?" Arthur called to see if anyone else was around.

Merlin heard the call and took it that Arthur had noticed he wasn't at home, and went to the guest room to greet him.

"Morning Arthur. Rise and shine!" Merlin addressed as he opened the door.

"Merrlinn?"

"Yes that's me. You're clearly in a state of hangover. Hold on, I'll get you some water and aspirin."

"Where am I?"

"My flat."

"Oh god, what happened?"

…

After a shower and getting dressed into the clothes he wore the night before, because all of Merlin's clothes were way too small for him, Arthur entered the kitchen where Merlin had made breakfast for both of them.

"Sit." Merlin ordered and handed over breakfast.

"Thank you. So what happened?"

"Well one, you are a complete dollophead. You got yourself drunk last night whilst you were moaning about your relationship history. You said that you couldn't hold down a girlfriend and talked about your past relationships, which included Elena, Mithian and Sophia."

"And then?"

"Well someone needed to take care of you, so out of kindness I offered. I drove you back to my place and tried to sober you up through water, and here you are with a major hangover."

"Damn it! Maybe you aren't so much an idiot after all? Oh, and explain dollophead."

"Hmm, Arthur Pendragon."

They continued to eat breakfast in silence. Within a matter of less than a week, it was as if Arthur had known Merlin for at least half a year. To Arthur, Merlin was different from everyone else. Merlin was carefree and from day one acted himself, leaving nothing to hide. Also Merlin wasn't afraid to stand up for what he believed in. Merlin was also quite handsome, but Arthur decided not to trace his thoughts there, as surely they'd be no way that the feeling was reciprocated.

"How do you know Mordred?" Arthur asked out of nowhere.

"You heard yesterday. Mordred and I are friends at University."

"No really Merlin, when you pair saw each other there was a tension in the room that shouldn't have been there. Maybe you are friends and it's just me but…"

"Mordred is my ex."

"You are?"

"Yes, Arthur, alright. I'm gay. We were together throughout university. Don't get me wrong, he's an alright guy, but things didn't seem as powerful between us during our final year as undergraduates, you know, the spark had gone, so instead of living in a dull relationship we parted."

"And since then?"

"Single."

After breakfast there was a knock at the door, which Merlin opened the door to find Uther furiating.

"Where's Arthur?"

"Oh hi dad!" Arthur called in front whilst he was watching the morning news.

"Arthur, get these on. We're going!"

"Where?"

"Back to yours."

"Dad, what are you even doing here?"

"How dare you get drunk and then end up with a stranger!"

"Dad, I'm 23, going on 24. I know what I'm doing, and how dare you talk about Merlin like that. He's my friend, and he only tried to help, which he did. Thank you Merlin."

"Thank you Arthur. Look Uther you can come in and wait for Arthur or you can wait out there, but there's a draft and it's getting cold."

Uther chucked the bag of clothing to Arthur for him to get changed and sat on the sofa in silence. Merlin offered a cuppa but Uther declined. Once Arthur had got dressed and had put his dirty clothes into the carrier bag Arthur returned to the main room. Uther stood and led Arthur out of the door, but before Uther could close it, Merlin noticed Arthur's phone on the table, which he gave him, Arthur replying with another thanks and a hug, Uther having to tug him down the corridor towards the stairs back to the car.

…

20th September

The next time Merlin had heard anything from Arthur was Tuesday afternoon while Merlin was at university.

Hi Merlin!

Got your number off Leon. Sorry 4 Saturday, want to meet up later?

Arthur

No problem. Yeah, later is good. Say 7ish.

Merlin

All right, I'll pick you up at 7. No need to pay, my treat.

Arthur

Not knowing where Merlin was going, Merlin decided to dress in his best clothing on the night, not to impress Arthur or anything, but to look the part. When Merlin first met Arthur he took no notice of him, but over the last few days, Merlin had gotten to know Arthur quite well, and had developed the odd feeling for him. He knew Arthur liked girls, but he knew never to judge a book by it's cover.

About quarter to seven, Merlin was watching some documentary on the television when a knock came at the door. Opening the door, he let Arthur in whilst he turned off the TV and got his coat.

…

Posh might be the best word to describe the restaurant that Arthur took Merlin to that night. Expensive for sure, actually count that as the best word. Merlin and Arthur sat near the front of the restaurant near a window which, being on a hill, gave a view of much of the city. The restaurant offered a variety of cuisines, from Italian to Indian, Thai to French or just plain British, Irish and American, they offered it all.

Skipping starters because there was simply no point, they decided on mains and desserts, as well as drinking French wine. Arthur went for French cuisine and had Beef Bourguignon for mains and Chocolate Fondant for dessert. Merlin went Italian and went for Ravioli de Capra and finished out on Chocolate Melt for dessert.

"Why are you doing this?" Merlin asked whilst they were waiting for their dessert.

"To say thank you for last Friday night, and to say sorry for Uther's words the morning after."

"It's not you who needs to say sorry. There's also no need for this. Thank you is enough."

"Well maybe I want to take you out. It's nice being around someone you get on with."

Was it a date? Who knows? Maybe Arthur was trying to show taking Merlin out as a way to say that he likes him and he'd like to get to know him much more.

"I'm having a get together in late October."

"Sounds nice."

"It's for my birthday. I know it sounds weird having birthday parties at this age but it's close to Halloween, so we put the both together. The idea is, depending on who is going, all the names of the guests are put into a hat or paper bag or something, it's passed round and everyone has the name of a different guest or the host. Each person provides them with a costume on the day of the event, so it's an annual costume party, thus linking Halloween and Birthday together. The theme this year is the legend of King Arthur."

"What we're you last year."

"A Centurion."

"So when is the pick your dip day then?"

"Why you coming along?"

"Why not?"

"Well Halloween this year falls on Monday, and everyone is off work anyway which helps. Oh, and finally I ask of you a favour."

"What's that?"

"I'm doing a lecture next Friday for my second year students on introduction to heritage. Their task is by Christmas to produce a report from using primary heritage evidence to track their heritage as far as they can find. Since as you are a specialist in Heritage could you come in and talk to them about how to find out information? Also since as they are doing it, I'd like to do it myself, could you help trace my heritage?"

"Of course. You'll have to talk to Dr Gaius though to get Gwaine to take my shift on the coffee shop for the hour."

Both finished up their desserts, Arthur paid for their meals and drove Merlin back home.