The line was long, much longer than Merlin had expected. It had at least a dozen people in it, all eagerly waiting to get to the front. Merlin crossed his arms and tried not to glower at them all.
He knew the kissing booth would be popular. After all, Arthur is an attractive man, and it's not like it's his fault he has extremely kissable lips. Merlin just hadn't expected it to be this popular.
A group of three girls reached the front of the line. The first of them, a small giggling blonde, laid her dollar on the counter and puckered her lips.
Arthur smiled at her, devastatingly handsome, and pressed his lips to hers. Merlin counted one, two, three seconds exactly before Arthur leaned away and invited the next girl forward.
Merlin picked at the chips in the paper container on the picnic table in front of him. It had been two hours since the start of Arthur's shift, which meant Merlin had to wait another hour before he could grab his boyfriend and whisk him off to the tunnel of love where he would take back each and every one of the kisses Arthur had given to the carnival goers.
He looked back up. More people had joined the line. A girl who looked way too young to be participating was generously applying lip gloss.
It wasn't that Merlin was jealous. Oh no, he knew these kisses Arthur was giving out were just kisses, nothing more. Merlin would know, he's been counting. Arthur had told him that the kisses will last three seconds, no more, so Merlin has been carefully watching each and every one to make sure they last exactly that long.
No, he's not jealous at all.
The girl who had been applying lip gloss smiled shyly as she handed Arthur her dollar. Arthur grinned at her and she swooned and giggled, a bit hysterically in Merlin's opinion. Merlin definitely didn't scowl as Arthur cupped her face. He didn't cup anyone else's face like that. Normally he kept his hands planted firmly on the counter separating him and the customer, no touching.
One, two, three seconds. Arthur smiled briefly at the girl before he called "next" to the next person in line.
The next person in line was Cedric. Merlin knew Cedric. Cedric had gotten in line to kiss Arthur four times.
From Merlin's place at the picnic table, he saw Arthur say something along the lines of "ah, you again!" as he accepted Cedric's dollar.
One, two, three...four. Four seconds. Merlin held a chip in his hand and squeezed it into dust.
Arthur laughed nervously as he pulled away from Cedric. As he left, Arthur looked over and caught Merlin's eye.
Merlin lifted one eyebrow. Arthur shrugged and made a face.
Damn him. He knew exactly how irresistible he was. Of course if Arthur Pendragon decided to volunteer for a charity, it would be in a way that would feed is ridiculous ego.
Merlin checked the time on his phone. There were still forty-seven minutes left until Gwaine would take over the kissing booth, allowing Merlin to get Arthur all to himself.
Merlin sighed. He'd already been around the fair on his own. He'd played the shooting game, but it hadn't been much fun without Arthur there to make fun of his aim. He'd gone on a few roller coasters, eaten a snow cone, but none of it was much fun when he was alone and Arthur was off manning the kissing booth.
So he'd been sitting here for the last twenty-six minutes, eating chips and watching Arthur kiss a bunch of other people.
The next person left and Arthur looked at Merlin again and waggled his eyebrows. Merlin couldn't help but smile back. He supposed he couldn't blame all the people for wanting a kiss from Arthur. He was utterly gorgeous, especially with the way his T shirt clung to his torso, the words "Kiss me for charity" stretched across his chest in pink. His lips were slightly puffy from so much kissing, and they were shining with a generous layer of chapstick. They looked delectable.
Arthur turned back to the next customer and leaned in to kiss them. One, two, three seconds of closed-lip contact with a stranger.
Merlin narrowed his eyes at the line. It hadn't shrunk. In fact, it may have grown by a few people. There at the end was Cedric, again, counting change in his hand.
Alright, Merlin decided, that's it.
He got up, dumping the rest of his chips into a garbage can and marching over to get in line.
He tapped his foot impatiently as the line moved forward. Arthur kept looking over at the picnic table Merlin had just vacated and frowning. Apparently he hadn't noticed Merlin was waiting in line.
As the line inched forward, Cedric appeared to be rooting around in his pockets and recounting the change in his palm. Distressed, he turned around.
"Have you got a dime? I'm about ten cents short."
Merlin scowled at him. "No."
"Ah, please? It's just a dime."
"No."
Cedric sighed. "Marvelous lips on this one," He said, licking his own lips. "I've been four times."
Merlin bit his tongue. I've had my tongue down his throat more times than I can count, he didn't say. Instead he just lifted his eyebrows and said "So you won't be too disappointed if you can't find that extra dime, then."
Cedric shrugged. "Maybe he'll do it anyway, since it's for a good cause and all."
"Somehow I doubt it," Merlin said coldly.
Cedric reached the booth. "I've only got ninety cents left," He said, "Think you can let me have a kiss anyway?"
Arthur paused. "I'm not sure that'd be quite fair," he said, but he was smiling.
"Oh, come on," Cedric said, "nobody has to know."
"It wouldn't exactly be fair to the charity either, would it?" Arthur replied.
"Oh, fine," Cedric said, "maybe I can meet up with you later, then? When's your shift over?"
"Actually," Merlin said, stepping out from behind Cedric, "I think he has plans later."
"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed, looking surprised and delighted.
"You two know each other?" Cedric asked, eyes flitting between the two of them.
"Yeah," Merlin said shortly, "And actually, you're holding up the line."
Cedric gaped at him. Merlin didn't wait for him to respond before he slapped a dollar on the counter. He grabbed Arthur by the back of the neck to haul him in for a kiss.
One, two, three, four...Merlin counted all the way to ten before he pulled away. He leaned back but kept his fingers threaded through Arthur's hair.
"I'll meet you by the tunnel of love in half an hour, yeah?"
"Mm," Arthur hummed, grinning, "Can't wait."
Merlin pecked Arthur's lips one more time for good measure, and he couldn't help sending a smug look at Cedric, who was standing there looking gobsmacked.
"See you around," Merlin said lightly, before turning and walking away.
He didn't look back to see whether Arthur gave Cedric the ninety cent kiss or not. It didn't matter, Merlin thought to himself, as long as he was the only one who got to kiss Arthur for free in the Tunnel of Love.
AN: Thank you for reading!