Freshers Week

A/N [show-me-your-tardis]

Plot – Merlin's first few weeks at University don't go as planned. His roommates are great, his course is great, everything would be great, if he could just get that stupid Pendragon boy out of his head.

SO some background information on this story: It is a collegeAU (well university since I, like the BBC, am British.) It will be split into four parts (autumn, winter, spring, summer) each with a different conflict/resolve, okay? The chapters are only about one thousand words each.

And also there will be SMUT. all hail the smut. So let's give this a lovely M-rating. It's a Merlin/Arthur slash fic, so if you don't ship them I suggest you do not read.

Do enjoy and tell me if you like it, via follows/favourites/reviews/kudos/bookmarks whatever it be, thanks!

Prologue

Merlin sat down on the bed causing it to creak audibly. He stared at the piles of boxes that were now his only possessions. It felt weird, he could go home whenever he wanted, but he didn't live there anymore. This new, empty and plain, room was his home. This room with the off-white walls and the stained floor.

He wouldn't be able to eat Gaius' cooking on a daily basis, he'd have to cook for himself. Now that was going to be a train wreck. He'd never really cooked much at home, toast and instant noodles were going to be his future meals. At least he'd get the full student experience.

Gaius had left a few minutes ago after an embarrassingly emotional goodbye. He just hoped his new roommates hadn't heard them.

Merlin, clearing his throat to stop himself crying, stood up and walked towards the mirror. In front of him he saw a pale eighteen year old; with raven black hair; sticky-out ears and storm blue eyes. He adjusted his dark blue jacket and took a deep breath.

Time to meet the flatmates.

He opened his bedroom door and the sound of laughter drifted down the corridor. Laughter was a good sign, at least. He had arrived only two weeks before lectures start, whereas his flatmates had arrived two weeks earlier than him, they were all already friends. He was the outsider.

What if they hate me?

He locked the bedroom door behind him and walked towards the lounge, towards the laughter. When he rounded the corner, the laughter ceased. It was like high school all over again, he was the loser. He almost spun around and marched back to his bedroom, but he knew that would be worse. So he took a deep breath and stopped at the edge of the kitchen, looking into the lounge. The two rooms were adjoined.

A large black leather couch dominated the living room. On either side of it were two matching chairs, facing towards the silver coffee table. A small TV sat in one corner, currently playing some cheesy sitcom. The walls were an awful salmon pink colour and the floor was deep red carpet. It wasn't the nicest room Merlin had ever seen, but he hadn't expected much anyway.

Feeling his heart beat hard against his ribs, Merlin looked at the three people staring up at him. Two girls, one boy.

The boy stood up and grinned at Merlin. His skin was tanned, he had dark stubble, and his brown hair was slightly curly. It was sort of an organised mess look, like he had just rolled out of bed, and spent ten minutes perfecting the look.

"Hello." He said, his voice had a slight accent Merlin couldn't place.

Merlin's legs felt weak, they were all staring at him. Why did they have to stare at him?

He raised one hand and waved slightly, "Hello." He quickly cursed himself, why had he waved?They probably all thought he was an idiot.

Oh God.

The boy laughed and stepped forward, offering his hand to Merlin, "I'm Lancelot."

"Merlin." Merlin replied shaking Lancelot's hand.

Lancelot gestured to one of the girls, with brown curly hair and dark skin. She looked up at him with a smile on her face. She wore a lilac dress and seemed to be the friendliest of his flatmates. Merlin felt like she was already his friend.

"This is Guinevere." Lancelot said.

"Gwen." Guinevere corrected, "Nice to meet you, Merlin."

The other girl, with long raven hair and pale skin (similar to Merlin), looked up at him with wide green eyes. She didn't have a smile on her face but she didn't seem unfriendly exactly; just curious.

"And this." Lancelot said, pointing to the other girl, "Is Morgana."

"Hello." Merlin said.

"Hello." She replied, her face breaking out into a smile.

Merlin smiled back at them all, exhaling. The three of them weren't half as scary as Merlin had expected.

Lancelot returned to his seat and ate a spoonful of cereal. Morgana turned back to Lancelot and they fell back into conversation, all eyes off Merlin. Feeling his heart slow to a normal rate, Merlin sat in the leather chair, next to the couch. Morgana and Lancelot were deep in conversation, something about costumes and fancy dress. Merlin found it hard to concentrate, he was too nervous.

"When did you move in?" Gwen asked.

"A few minutes ago. Still haven't unpacked." Merlin replied.

Gwen laughed, "Yeah neither have these two. They've been living out of boxes ever since they came here."

Gwen went on to explain where everything was around the building, what the three of them had been doing, and funniest of all, what they had all imagined Merlin to be like.

Gwen spoke to him with ease and it helped Merlin relax. His flatmates weren't as horrible or as mean as he had imagined.