Evermore

Chapter 1: You at First Sight

Characters~ Arthur & Merlin

Disclaimer~ Yeah—don't own Merlin in any way, shape, or form. (Arthur does XD)

Warnings~ young prince!Arthur and young poor!Merlin, some OOC because they're kids, and fluffy slash/shounen-ai ~wO

Notes from the KIT-chan~

The first chapter of yet another multi-chapter fic in progress. ^^"; Right now I don't really have anything much to say, other than how much I'll hope that you'll all enjoy reading this. XD

Regards,

.::.*~Kitsune Shadow~*.::.

~o~

That day had been sunny the way Merlin had remembered it, when they had been welcomed inside the grandiose mansion that stood across the street from their home.

He frowned shyly, peering down at his two feet for a moment as they were taken through different rooms of the manor.

The home had belonged to the King of Wales, who had purchased the household not more than a few days ago.

As far as the young raven had known at that point from his mother, he had brought his family with him for the summer to spend quality time away from England and the paparazzi for once to be in a more…calm and tranquil setting.

Recently Merlin's mother had been hired by the King himself to work as a maid in the royal household. At the moment, one of his servants had been showing her around the home, introducing the kitchen and the laundry room as they walked through the vast and grand halls with Merlin playfully tagging along behind them.

But not long after a while, the raven had abruptly stopped in his tracks for a second as soon as he'd begun to hear laughter coming from outside. Almost immediately upon hearing this familiar sound, he'd wandered off on his own to peer through the nearest window to see a group of boys playing catch outside in the backyard with big smiles on their faces.

"Over here!" a dark-haired brunette had called distantly, darting over to one side.

Merlin closed his eyes and let out a sigh as he absent-mindedly watched all the other children playing his favourite game, contemplating to himself as he instinctively reached for the smooth glass in front of him.

How very much this had reminded him of his own friends and how they'd play together like this. After all, it felt so long since he'd last seen Will or any of his other companions, who'd gone to summer camp a month ago, leaving the young raven behind. Ever since the day they'd left, it had been very lonely for Merlin to spend time outside on his own.

He frowned, slowly shaking his head. At that moment, he'd really felt like playing a round of kickball just about now…

But that was when he'd heard a ball being kicked and more cries coming from outside.

"Arthur!" another boy had called that instant.

At that moment, Merlin looked up to see a tall boy with dark blonde hair and a fair complexion running across the field to catch a red dodgeball.

For a minute, the young one froze as the latter stopped a few feet in front of the window with his back turned and watched as he lowered his head to catch his breath before looking up to stare at the other children on the field. At the same time, the raven couldn't help but fix his eyes on him as his shoulders heaved up and down.

"Give it here!" another one of them had shouted, waving at the blonde that instant.

Merlin swallowed, then stared blankly as the boy named Arthur swiftly threw the ball to his playmate, dashing quickly to the right.

Though he couldn't have helped but notice instantaneously…how the latter had briskly glanced over his shoulder in his direction, which had made the raven's jaw drop.

His eyes had been smoldering pools of magnificent sapphire, scintillating under the bright sunshine as he just barely met the other's gaze.

And for a moment, all thought had left the young one's eyes, leaving him speechless.

But then he turned away and continued to sprint back towards the other side of the field.

At the same time, it seemed almost a coincidence when Hunith had returned with the servant to make sure he was all right after disappearing without notice from either of them.

She had found her son wide-eyed and awed as he gazed through the glass before shifting her eyes from him to the boys that were playing outside in the tall grass.

"Is everything all right, Merlin?" Hunith had carefully asked, comfortingly placing her hand on his shoulder.

The raven flinched slightly, turning his head to face his mother with a timid expression on his face. "Yes, Mum," he replied nonchalantly.

At that moment, the servant had walked up next to her to look down at him kindly. "Is he hungry?" the man had asked. "We have plenty of snacks in the kitchen."

"Do you want to go outside and play with them?" Hunith asked with a tentative smile on her face. "It looks like they're having a lot of fun out there."

In that instant, an image of Arthur staring at him flooded his mind, and Merlin shrank back at the idea, curtly shaking his head. "Er…no—that's quite all right. I'm fine," he spoke sheepishly, looking straight into his mother's eyes. Then he shifted his gaze over to the servant standing next to her. "And a snack would be very nice, thank you," he added, nodding once out of respect.

The kind man chuckled softly, glancing at Hunith to grin amusedly at her before turning to walk into the kitchen. "Such a polite young lad you have, Mrs. Emrys. I'll have a good sandwich and a cup of fruit made for him momentarily."

She chuckled back and smiled at the servant. "Thank you very much," she replied humbly.

After that, he nodded in agreement and left.

~o~

By the time Hunith shifted her gaze over to look at her son, she had still found him staring out the window with his palms pressed up against the glass, an intent and curious expression on his face.

At that moment, her eyes had softened, and she knelt down next to Merlin, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Are you sure you don't want to join them? They're playing your favourite game…"

Immediately, the nine-year-old vigorously shook his head. "No—that's okay. Will's gonna be back before I know it," he replied, his cheeks slightly flushing.

In that instant, Hunith closed her eyes and sighed. "All right then, honey." She paused for a minute, then got up to her feet and glanced back to look at the antique wall clock behind her.

After that, she shifted her gaze towards Merlin and spoke again. "We'll be leaving in a few minutes, okay? I just need to get my schedule from Miss Margaret. Let me know if you need anything, all right?"

Merlin turned to stare timidly at his mother and nodded earnestly. "Yes, Mummy," he replied obediently.

Hunith smiled back and gave him a small kiss on the forehead before turning to leave.

~o~

As soon as she was gone, Merlin closed his eyes and exhaled sharply. Then he raised his head and began to approach the window, staring longingly out at the vivid sky.

Dear God…he'd been itching to go outside for fresh air, and he knew that, as ironic as it was. It was just he was only barely restraining himself from doing so that he wasn't already enjoying himself with that bouncy red dodgeball in his hands.

Had it not been for the blonde that had looked at him earlier…

The minute he'd slightly lowered his gaze down towards the tall grass again, he was more than startled to see a pair of great round eyes even bluer than the heavens above staring intently into his very own.

At that moment, Merlin flinched and fidgeted to compose himself again by the windowsill, his pale cheeks now as red as a tomato. Then he took a deep breath and peered through the glass again to see none other than Arthur himself looking at him with an amused expression on his face.

In that instant, Merlin's cheeks flushed even redder, and he had begun to pout at the latter, somewhat embarrassed.

And before he knew it, the blonde was laughing at him, his golden hair glistening under the bright midday sun.

Almost immediately, the raven had paused, staring curiously at the boy before him. For a second, he had begun to feel a particular warmth deep down where his heart was and pursed his lips, glancing down at his feet.

Never in his life had he ever felt anything like this before, more or less in the presence of a boy like him. Neither did he have a clue to why all this was happening so suddenly.

But it feels…nice,Merlin thought to himself, as he eagerly raised his head again to meet the other's gaze.

Arthur was smiling now, waving to him from outside on the field.

At first, the nine-year-old's face almost lit up with joy, in the hopes that he was possibly inviting him to play with them.

But then another blonde ran over and suddenly swiped the ball from Arthur's hands, giving him an impish smirk.

In just seconds, a competitive look grew on the latter's face. He was already running after him and didn't look at Merlin again.

At that moment, the raven's heart somewhat sank, and he turned to walk away with a slightly disappointed expression on his face.

And so we look to see their paths had crossed for the first time in their lives…though this would not have been the only chance they'd have to look into each other's eyes once more.

To think, it would only be the mere beginning of a fate far greater.

~o~

One could say here in this situation that it definitely had been some coincidence that the royal family's summer abode was so close to the small and humble house that Merlin and his impoverished family called home.

In the days that passed, the young raven had no longer gone along with his mother during the times that she'd leave for work at the Pendragon household, for he'd been given the responsibility of taking care of his younger brothers and sisters considering the fact that there had been no one else available to look after them.

Ever since their father had left them when Merlin was only about four years old, Hunith had always been the one tending to their needs at home. But the years had gone by, and times had changed when it had come to a point where she had needed to find a sensible job in order to support the large family of children she'd been left with.

So Merlin, well…one might say that he was already used to being treated with big responsibilities as he was, indeed, the oldest of his siblings. Every day while his mother would be away, he would be put in charge of taking out the trash and making sure his brothers and sisters were fed occasionally.

Often he'd even go outside for brief minutes to scrummage for food in the trash cans that stood out in the streets, considering how poverty-stricken his family was as well. But most of the time, when the young raven would set foot out onto the vacant sidewalks, nowadays...he'd notice something—or rather someone—quite peculiar about the mansion that stood so majestically across on the other side of the street.

Every single day, whether he'd be closing trash cans or playing with his younger siblings, Merlin would almost always glance back to see that same pair of sapphire blue eyes staring at him from the front window of the manor, never glancing away for even a second. And of course in due time he'd recognised the familiar blonde's condescending gaze half hidden behind the curtains—the complexion whom his mother had told him later on belonged to the one and only Prince Arthur Pendragon of Wales.

It had been like this for quite more than a while now, and during that same time, Merlin had begun to think peculiarly about the boy that lived across the street from him. But all this was really less than necessary to him in reality, for he'd have other things to do, especially for his family, so he had often put his thoughts to the side and ignored them until new ones would pop up in his mind the next day.

Arthur was the Prince of Wales. There was absolutely no way that someone like him would ever have anything to do with him in his life.

~o~

Of course, there had been a day when things had changed quite dramatically and rather quickly for Merlin to grasp.

It was an occasional afternoon, when he'd left his siblings home to go to the local market in town to run an errand for his mother by picking up the food surplus that Mr. Adams had generously scavenged for them at his stand.

~o~

It's all right, Merlin thought to himself as he closed the door and locked it. Molly should be able to handle things from here…

He closed his eyes and sighed as he turned to step down on the sidewalk.

Molly had been the second eldest of the family, as she was a bit less than two years younger than Merlin. But despite the fact that she was merely seven years old, she was quite smart for her age and already responsible enough to know the rules of the house. She was pretty much the closest and most trustworthy to him, for all he knew. Besides, he would only be gone for a few minutes.

At that moment, the young raven reached into his satchel to check if he had everything, then turned to make his way down the sidewalk.

It was quiet this time of day, now that everyone had finished doing their laundry. But even so, Merlin couldn't help but glance over at the grand mansion that stood on the other side of the road—at the window where he'd usually expect to see Arthur staring at him from behind the glass.

He paused, then exhaled sharply as he focused his gaze on the manor's front window.

Nothing.

In that instant, Merlin turned away and slowly shook his head in disbelief as he walked down the path with an amused expression on his face.

Huh. Now that's definitely odd. Maybe he's finally gotten sick of looking at me live my boring life day after day. Goodbye, stalker, he thought to himself, though somewhere in the back of his mind, he couldn't help but wonder a little where the young prince could probably be at that moment.

~o~

It hadn't been long before Merlin had reached the market and picked up a basket of food from the merchant his mother had befriended for so long. He nodded once as he waved goodbye to Mr. Adams, then turned to make his way back home.

The market had been rather crowded today, despite the fact that it was only Wednesday. Everywhere the young raven had looked, numerous mobs of people were clumped by the local fruit and vegetable stands around him, waiting impatiently to get the cashier's attention so that they could pay for their groceries and move on to the next stand.

There had also been a close call when a woman had rushed past Merlin, nearly knocking him over with the enormous food basket in his hands.

"Sorry!" the lady had cried briskly over her shoulder before running off to chase after her little boy, who had wandered off not more than a minute ago.

The raven fumbled to regain his balance, then let out a relieved sigh as he continued down the congested path.

For a moment, it was like the basket had grown even heavier at that point.

If only Will were here to help me out like usual… Merlin thought sadly to himself. Otherwise this wouldn't be so hard to carry around.

He closed his eyes and exhaled sharply as he turned to walk down another path that had been more vacant unlike the previous one.

In that instant, Merlin opened his eyes and started to smile.

Phew…finally—some peace and quiet now.

He laughed softly to himself, fixing his grip on the basket at the same time.

…but that wasn't until he'd begun to hear rapid footsteps from behind, as if they were rushing over in his direction.

Immediately, Merlin froze in his tracks and turned to glance at the person whom he was just about to encounter…

Thud.

Or rather now… the one whom he had been more than close to bumping into.

~o~

Before the young raven knew it, he had already found himself sitting on the ground, clutching the back of his head with a pained countenance, the bread and produce in the basket scattered all over the place.

But at that moment, that really hadn't been Merlin's only concern.

"Ow," a voice in front of him had hissed. "Do watch where you're going, will you?"

In that instant, Merlin groaned, raising his head up to look at the latter. "Sorry—I was just—"

Blue eyes.

Suddenly, before the raven could finish his sentence, he gasped and gazed wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the blonde that was scowling at him at that moment.

~o~

I never did get to finish that sentence, really—especially not after I'd seen the person's face.

My eyes widened as soon as I'd opened them.

He was a boy about my age or a bit more, with mussy blonde hair and a fair complexion. And he was sitting on the ground almost in the same position as I was, rubbing his forehead gingerly with a slightly annoyed expression on his face.

But the only thing that did captivate me at that moment...was his big, sapphire-blue eyes staring right back at me.

"Hey," the blonde said all of a sudden, in a somewhat concerned tone. He was leaning over me that instant, a long black cloak draped over his shoulders. "Are you all right?" he asked anxiously. "Can you stand up? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

I gaped for a moment with wide eyes, speechless there for a minute. All that I could do at that moment…was mumble unintelligibly at him.

"Um…" I managed to utter just above a hushed whisper.

But I didn't get to say anything more.

All of a sudden, I heard footsteps running towards us, and immediately the boy stood up on his feet to jump behind a nearby fruit stand.

At the same time, my mind snapped back to reality and I sat up in that instant, rubbing my eyes as two men dressed in black suits and sunglasses rushed right past us.

"There he is!" one of them had cried as he ran right past me at that moment.

I groaned, getting up on my feet, then turned to see the blonde peer over the counter behind me with a hood covering the top of his head. I let out an exasperated sigh and walked behind the stand to look at the latter.

I paused, then spoke in a soft, reluctant voice. "Are you hiding from them?" I asked curiously.

In that instant, he rolled his eyes. "What does it look like, you dummy? Of course I am. Now get out of here before someone sees," he retorted, peering over my shoulder to make sure the soldiers had disappeared.

At that moment, I frowned at him, then glanced over my shoulder and stared back at him. "Why?" I continued, tilting my head eagerly. "Did you do something wrong?"

The boy let out a sigh and lightly pushed me over to fix his hood. Then he turned to look at me and spoke in a slightly bitter tone. "If being the King's son is a crime around here…then yes—I did do something wrong," he replied.

Immediately, my eyes widened as I'd heard these words come out of the latter's mouth. "Wait—but…" My mouth gaped in that instant. "You're—"

Before I knew it, he'd already covered my mouth with his hand and briefly glanced back with anxious eyes. Then he turned his head to look at me with a cautious look on his face.

"Yes—I'm the Prince," he whispered briskly. "You don't have to scream it to the heavens."

In that instant, I frowned at the blonde as he reluctantly lifted his hand away.

"What are you doing here in a place like this?" I shot back, irritated.

"None of your business," he replied. He exhaled sharply and carefully stepped out on the path, eyes darting down both directions. Then he glanced over his shoulder to look at me.

"Look—I really don't have time to play with you right now, but do you know if there's a good place to hide around here? I can't let them find me," the Prince spoke apprehensively.

At that moment, I raised an eyebrow and walked right up to his face. "And why should I help someone like you hide? I'm not as special as you are, your Highness."

The Prince sighed and rolled his eyes. "Because it's important, you twit—and when I get caught later on because you didn't help me, I'll tell them that you were the reason why I turned up missing in the first place, and your mother will end up taking some of the blame for it. Besides—you look like someone who actually knows your way around here, so why don't you put your talents to at least some use, then?"

Wow…he really is a prat. I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned. "Oh—is that so? And if I don't—"

Suddenly, rushing footsteps could be heard from around the corner, and before I could say anything more, Arthur had already disappeared.

.~o~

What in heaven's name was that? Merlin thought as he walked home by himself with the basket of food in his hands.

Even then, he still couldn't shake off the past events that had happened just more than a few minutes ago.

Of all the people to run into today…

Had that really been the Prince of Wales who had bumped into him earlier? It really had to be more than a coincidence now that their paths had crossed again like that, but why was he running from the King's guards?

The young raven frowned in that instant, contemplating hard on the latter's words.

And what did he mean by he'd done something wrong by just being the King's son?

At that moment, Merlin closed his eyes and sighed exasperatedly as he had begun to near his house, only a few feet away from it now. All this had rather been confusing to the nine-year-old at that point, and he struggled to push the thoughts away from his mind again as he'd usually done before.

But that wasn't until he'd passed the Prince's house and couldn't help but overhear two of the King's maids outside talking discreetly to one another on the front porch.

~o~

Of course, Merlin wasn't eavesdropping that instant, but his ears were quite sharp to hear the gossip that was being exchanged between the servant girls.

"Did you hear about the King's son? He's been missing for hours now…"

"I know—they haven't found him yet, have they?"

Immediately, the raven froze and stopped in his tracks as soon as he'd heard the word "missing."

What? he immediately thought to himself while he continued to listen to the women's conversation.

"The King has already sent hundreds of his guards searching for him…do you think the child's all right? The poor thing…"

Merlin held his breath and turned to walk up the front step to his house, remembering the cautious look on the blonde's face previously. He'd just seen him not more than a few minutes ago…

"…where do you think he's run off to? He could be anywhere by now…"

At that moment, the nine-year-old sucked in a gulp of air and reached for the doorknob in front of him.

All right—that's it. What's going on already? he thought uneasily to himself.

It really didn't seem like the Prince of Wales to go off running alone in a vast neighborhood like this…

What could have possibly happened for him to—?

In that instant, Merlin exhaled sharply. That's enough. It's not any of your business, Merlin. Just leave it alone already…

After that, he absent-mindedly turned the knob and pushed the door open, stepping into the threshold and putting the basket down to the side.

"I'm home—" the raven had begun to say.

But he'd never got to finish that sentence, either—not after he'd raised his gaze to see none other than the blonde himself sitting at the kitchen table in the middle of the room, his azure blue eyes still shimmering even now.

In just seconds, Merlin had stiffened where he was and had already found himself open-mouthed and wide-eyed all over again.

No…way. You've got to be kidding me.

~o~

Music on My Mind~ L'amore by Sonohra

Notes from the KIT-chan~

Lawl—there'll be more interaction between Arthur and Merlin in the following chapters to come, in addition to the gradual development of their friendship with each other. XD

Hope you're enjoying this so far—reviews would be much appreciated! :D

Thanks~ =^w^=

.::.*~Kitsune Shadow~*.::.