CHAPTER 1: THE NEWS
(AU: I DON'T OWN MERLIN, AND THE FOLLOWING EVENTS ARE MERELY FICTIONAL AND THE EVENTS NEVER OCCURRED IN REAL LIFE).
Merlin groaned when his butler opened the curtains, and the sunlight came filling his whole room.
"James, mind you not doing that for me? It's Saturday morning for crying out loud." Merlin grabbed his other pillow and covered his face with it.
"Milord, rise and shine because today is a meaningful day for you." His butler shook Merlin's shoulders, and grabbed the pillow away from Merlin, but Merlin was pulling it back.
"James, give me twenty more minutes alright?" he groaned.
"Master Merlin, your twenty minutes is not twenty minutes. It ends up being two hours." He argued. "I will time you, and if you're not up by then, then I will tell Lady Hunith about this." He threatened.
"Can't you think of something else to threaten me by?" Merlin whined, but he was up after hearing his mother's name. Hearing his mother's name made him cringe, and terrified.
In Arthur's house, the young man was already awake even before his butler went inside.
"Good Morning Richard." He greeted him, and handed him the book Richard gave him the day before. "It was a very good book." He smiled.
"Master, you're already done with it?" his butler couldn't believe how his master read the book that fast; it was a pretty thick book.
"I couldn't put it down. Each chapter was a cliffhanger, and I terribly wanted to know what happens next." He explained. "Anyways, why are you here so early? It's Saturday morning."
"Ah, well, your physical trainer was dismissed by your father because you there are people coming milord." Richard explained and Arthur got it right away.
Back at Merlin's house, Hunith gasped when he saw her oldest son in a proper suit.
"Now this suits you more than your usual casual attires that screams: BAD BOY." She was proud.
"What's the occasion anyways?" Merlin asked stopping midway because he was uncomfortable wearing a suit.
"It's a surprise, and your father should be the one to say it. Merlin please promise me that you will behave in their house." Hunith warned while pointing a finger at him.
"Yes, mother."
In their limousine, Merlin, Balinor, Hunith, William (his brother here), and Freya (his sister) were sitting to their usual spots, and Merlin couldn't be more bored that he grabbed his red Dr. Dre's headphones and put his rock music.
"Freya, stop giggling over there." Hunith hissed at her daughter.
"I can't stop giggling after finding out what Merlin is up for." Freya giggled once more, and Merlin just looked at her with furrows brows.
"You're such a creepy sister, Freya." He muttered and put the music louder.
"How can they be such complete opposites?" William sniggered in amusement. "I mean, Merlin is so… bad, and Arthur is so… good."
"Shush!" Hunith hissed at William. "He doesn't know yet."
Arthur, his sister Morgana, Uther, and Ygraine waited for the arrival of the Emrys, unknown to Arthur of course by their mansion's entrance steps.
"Father, who are the guests? Why did I not know of this until this morning?" Arthur wondered, while Morgana and Ygraine hid a smile.
"It passed my mind. I'm sorry, son." Uther lied.
"Of course, father. It is alright because I have days where I do not remember everything that I do or needs to remember." Arthur politely answered.
The limousine finally pulled up their driveway, and Uther smiled. The Pendragon's driver approached the door and opened it for their guests.
"Uther." Balinor got out of the limousine first, and reached his two hands at Uther for an embrace.
"Balinor!" Uther chuckled and gladly took his embrace. They both chuckled and pulled away from each other. "Welcome to our humble abode."
"Of course."
Ygraine and Hunith planted cheek-to-cheek kisses at each other, and chatted a little.
"Don't tell me Merlin is here." Arthur's mood became down all of a sudden when he saw a dashing man stepping out of the limousine with his spiked hair, and dashing suit.
"Arthur." Merlin said his name with a hint of hatred.
"Merlin." He spat back.
"Merlin, it's been a while." Morgana gave Merlin an embrace, and Merlin pulled away afterwards.
"How is my lovely best friend? How was Paris?" Merlin flashed his boyish smile, and glanced at Arthur for a moment and back to Morgana.
"Excellent of course, but I wanted you to be there with me."
"Well, sorry about that by the way. Maybe next time?"
"Definitely, when you're my brother-in-law." Morgana winked.
"Stop staying that because Arthur is not my type. I would rather be straight, than marry Arthur." Merlin looked directly at Arthur to tease him.
"Well, I should say the same. I'd rather marry a woman than a man that is as bad-mannered like you." Arthur was more than mad; he was furious.
"You know, you like me." Merlin flashed his smile again, and Arthur inwardly blushes.
"Come on kids, we shall go inside for brunch." Uther suggested, and they all went inside to eat.
"Merlin, sit beside Arthur." Hunith said in absolute authority.
"But mom I—" even before Merlin could finish, Hunith gave him the stare. Merlin couldn't argue back, and just sat beside Arthur.
"So you're scared of your mother." Arthur whispered to piss him off.
"I am. And you should piss off." Merlin sternly said, and gave him a cold gaze.
"Shut up, Merlin." Arthur sat down, and put the cloth napkin on his lap.
"Really now?" Merlin smirked, and Arthur gasped when he felt something warm on top of his clothed member. "Did you say something?"
Arthur looked at Merlin with the blankest expression, and he couldn't say anything more.
"I thought you said something." Merlin finally got his hands off him, and smiled.
"Kids, we are here today to tell you something about the joining of our two families as a family." Balinor started to speak.
"Family?" Arthur raised a brow. "You don't suppose William and Morgana right?" Arthur is gay, and his family knows it. They couldn't possibly ask him to marry Freya.
"No! Heavens no!" Ygraine giggled elegantly. "You and Merlin, my dear."
SILENCE…
"WHAT?" both the young men stood up, and stared at their parents and then at each other. "HIM? MARRY HIM?"