*bzzz* Arthur's phone buzzed in his pocket, letting him know that he had received a text. He was in the middle of an important business meeting and would check it later, even though he figured he knew who it was and what it was about. His boyfriend, Merlin, had left for work in dread that day. He had made a horrible mistake on a huge project that had canceled out weeks of hard work, both from himself and from others. Merlin had a tendency to mess things up just as they were starting to go really well, which is why he never held a job for longer than a year. The only exception to this was his relationship with Arthur, which had been going extremely well the entire two and a half years they had been together. Arthur's meeting finished and he checked his phone. '1 new message from: Merlin; Can you came home early today? We need to talk.' It wasn't very often that Merlin was so serious, so Arthur knew this was really important. He poked his head out of his office and told his secretary to cancel the rest of his meetings. He texted Merlin and said he'd be home as soon as he could. He made one stop on the way back to his and Merlin's flat and was home within an hour of leaving the office. When he got home, he made tea for himself and Merlin and went to the bedroom and found his boyfriend exactly where he thought he would, under the bed. The dark haired man for whatever reason enjoyed laying under the bed, not on it, when he was sad. "Merlin, can you come out so we can talk?" Arthur said poking his head under the bed to look his beloved in the eye. Merlin shimmied out and sat on top of the bed with Arthur. Arthur handed Merlin his tea and looked at him expectantly. Merlin sighed and began to talk. "Well, as expected, I no longer have a job. As a matter of fact, I messed up so horribly this time, my boss assured me I wouldn't be able to get a decent job within a hundred miles of here. I'm so sorry, Arthur, I have no idea what I'm going to do." Arthur hugged his boyfriend close and just let him cry on his shoulder for a minute or two before pulling him away and looking him in the eyes. "Hey, it's okay. We can make it through this! God knows I make more than enough to cover the expenses for both of us. Maybe you don't need to worry yourself finding a new job!" This made Merlin borderline mad. "No, Arthur! I can't let you do that! I can't take advantage of you like that whilst I just lie around useless!" Merlin thinking he would be taking advantage of Arthur broke the blond man's heart. "Okay then run away. Run away like you always have. I've grown used to it. I just ask that you don't run away from me." Merlin was confused by this. "But, I can't run away without leaving you. I can't just ask you to quit your job and pack up and leave because /I/ messed up!" Arthur kissed Merlin deeply and tried to portray in that kiss just how much he loved him. "I would gladly leave everything if I didn't have to leave you! I'll call the office and quit and we can start packing tonight. But first there's something I've wanted to do for a while..." His face broke into a nervous grin as he reached into his pocket and grabbed what he bought on his way home from work. He opened a small black box to reveal a thick gold band and looked up at Merlin, eyes full of adoration. "I figured if we're really running away together, what bettered time to do this." Merlin's tears switched from stress and sorrow to joy as a huge grin broke out on his face. Arthur continued, "Merlin you are my life. You mean more to me that anything else in the world and I never want to lose you. Will you marry me?" Merlin didn't trust his voice so he nodded excitedly and threw his arms around his boyfriend, kissing him with all the love he felt for him. When they finally broke apart, they hugged each other close. "I love you" Merlin whispered. Arthur laughed "Well I would hope my fiancé loves me!" With that Merlin went to look for boxes to start packing and Arthur called his boss to quit. That night when they fell asleep in each other's arms, there was a different feeling about it. A shared feeling of never ending love and excitement to take the next step in their shared lives.