Merlin was always a daydreamer. He could be sitting on the bus but in his mind, he was soaring high above the clouds on dragonsback. In the shower, he was caught in a tropical rainstorm or plunging through a waterfall to a cave to find a treasure. Anytime he was alone, and that was most of the time, he was off somewhere in his head, doing good deeds, saving the princess…well ok, saving the prince, from evil sorcerers and griffins and questing beasts and really any kind of peril Merlin could dream up. His schoolteachers despaired of him. He spent most classes gazing out the window and dreaming about being a hero, or having someone to be his hero. Lately, that prince had a face. He had long, dark, curly hair. He was always smirking, always laughing, and always joking, and his eyes were the dreamiest things Merlin had ever seen. He bitterly regretted never having the time to properly get lost in them.

In the summertime when school was out, Merlin was also a barista at one of the busiest Starbucks in London. He likes to think that he and this man have had a few moments over pound notes and cappuccino orders. The man's name is Gwaine. It had taken a long time to decipher that. He was one of those people who liked to make the barista call out embarrassing names; "panty-dropper" and "socksucker" had both been rather memorable. But he finally figured out his real name when Gwaine got his Starbucks gold card. Suddenly he had a name for the daydreams and it was getting far more difficult to get out of his head. He was frequently substituting caramel for vanilla and skim milk for whole and his boss was not happy but one memory of Gwaine's smile was enough to send him back into his fantasy world and hang the consequences.

Today felt different. Merlin had managed to get his hair to the perfect amount of tousled. The sun was shining and he had had an excellent night's sleep and he was just feeling brave. Gwaine sprawled a little on the counter, the way he always does, and winks at Merlin.

"The usual, love," Gwaine drawls, smoldering at Merlin.

And Merlin is still feeling brave. "Coming right up," he manages to speak without squeaking. "And what name am I putting it on today?" he asks before finally getting up the courage to wink back.

Gwaine looks surprised and then slightly predatory. "Surprise me, sweetheart," he whispers before putting exact change in Merlin's hand with a very unnecessary caress.

This, this right here was the biggest moment in all their history of moments and truly, Merlin was really, really feeling brave. He thought about it only for a second before blushing deep red to the roots of his hair and quickly scrawling his own phone number on the cup. He quickly finished the drink, and took another order, surprisingly the exact same order as Gwaine's usual. He quickly finished it and set it next to Gwaine's unclaimed drink. Gwaine was chatting to a girl who was also standing and waiting for her drink and he had not yet noticed his own was ready.

The other man grabbed his drink from the counter, muttered "thanks" and was heading out the door.

Gwaine finally stopped chatting and grabbed his own drink. "Arthur? Not particularly creative, but I'll take it," he grabbed it and took a sip. "Cheers, mate."

Merlin looked up in horror to see a blond head vanishing out the door, the cup with his phone number clutched in his fist. And it was too late. The writing of the phone number had taken up all that bravery and he just couldn't speak up and tell Gwaine he had the wrong drink. It was what he had ordered and he would have to tell him…out loud…why it matter that he had the wrong cup. So Merlin frowned miserably and went back to work, hoping he hadn't lost his chance completely.

He finally finished his shift at 11:00 and grabbed his things from the staff room. He had a text on his phone. His heart jumped into his throat as he realised something he had failed to before when he was so disappointed at missing his chance. His number didn't disappear into thin air. He had given it away…to a STRANGER! Merlin couldn't even remember his face. What if he was a complete ass? Or worse, what if he was a pedophile? Maybe he was part of the Russian Mob. Hadn't he been blond? There could be a hit out on him already. Is that what members of major crime families did when hit on by their nerdy, shy baristas?

He didn't want to look but he was curious and his phone couldn't hurt him. It's not like he had to respond.

so normally i wouldnt text random strangers but m new 2 town and dont have friends so wth

Ok, so not scary. Also not part of the Mob. Although if he was, he probably wouldn't open with that. He shoved his phone into his pocket but didn't delete the message. He biked home and grabbed the cookies his mum left out for him. He climbed the stairs, undressed, and crawled into bed before looking at his phone again and wondering. On the one hand, this wasn't Gwaine and was a total stranger. On the other hand, he sounded lonely and all the princes in his daydreams before Gwaine had taken over had been blond and blue eyed. Obviously this guy knew where he worked but he didn't know where he lived so there was really no harm. He took a deep breath, typed quickly and sent a text back.

My name is Merlin and I don't generally do this either.

He tried not to hold his breath but he was still relieved when he got a text notification almost immediately after.

hi merlin im arthur nice 2 meet u. i like ur name. reminds me of density.

Density?!

sry.. DESTONY! u know cuz king arthur and merlin his wozard

What's a "wozard?" Some kind of wombat lizard?

lolol sry…wizard morg sys I type 2 fast and I just dont care.

i thinkq I would prefer a combat lizard.. im not sure how womats hold out in stressful situations.

Probably not well. What would your ideal lizard hybrid be?

dunno.. maybe a kangaroo cuz I would def run away from a lizard that could stand up on its tail and kick me. wbu?

I think I would rather just have a straight up dragon. Nobody would mess with you and then I could fly to school.

fair enough. oh but what about a narwhal? the lizard bit would let it go on lanf and it could be like a spiny unicorn.

Only if it was big enough to ride.

well…. narwhals are…obvi

Lizard/elephant? Bring the dinos back.

oh def yes. I would ride a dino every day if I could

Me too. Listen man, I work early tomorrow so I should go to sleep. I'll text you later though.

wut time r u done? I could come pick u up. continue this convo irl

Yeah sure. I'm done at 4 tomorrow.

cool cool c u then. night.. sleep tight and all that crap

Yes, goodnight to you too.

The next day goes by slowly. Gwaine comes in again during the slow period after lunch and Merlin has another random fit of bravery and asks him, "so what would be your ideal lizard hybrid?"

Gwaine looks at him in confusion. "Why? Do you breed them?"

"What? No! I…" and Merlin's courage deserts him again. He finishes making Gwaine's drink and hands it over with a red face. Gwaine gives him an odd look as he leaves and Merlin feels hollow, like something is missing and even in fantasy, Gwaine suddenly isn't quite enough. Merlin is very focussed for the rest of his shift. His boss comments on it in the last half hour, wondering if maybe he is finally growing out of his daydreaming phase.

Finally 4:00 rolls around and Merlin rushes downstairs to change and back up in 30 seconds. He was excited for most of the day but now he just feels nervous.

"Excuse me, are you Merlin?" A voice came from the side.

Merlin turned and his hello got caught in his throat and turned into a squeak. Arthur may have been the most attractive boy that Merlin has ever seen. His hair is bright blond and looks as if he maybe runs a comb through it once a week or so. His eyes are clear blue. His smile is wide and perfect with one little crooked eyetooth that just adds to the charm. He's gorgeous and he's everything Merlin ever wanted in a handsome prince.

"Sorry, you're not Merlin? Can you tell me where I can find him?" The voice continues.

This is enough to jolt Merlin back to awareness. "No, sorry, I am Merlin. I'm just awkward."

Arthur looks amused. "Yes, I can certainly see that. Shall we go?"

Merlin nodded dumbly and followed Arthur out the door. He wondered where they were going but felt too shy to ask.

Arthur led him to one of the parks in the area. He took him to a secluded place by the river and into a grove of trees.

Merlin laughed nervously, "is this where you tie me up and kill me?"

Arthur laughed. "That wasn't the plan. I was thinking picnic but tying you up is always an option."

Merlin blushed. "Sorry, I have a really wild imagination."

"I can tell, but really we are going on a picnic." Arthur lifted up the bag that Merlin had been too dazed to notice. "I made sandwiches and I bribed Morgana to make me some brownies. Is this too cheesy? We can do something else. I just don't like to hang out at restaurants and movie theatres. It makes it hard to get to know a person when they have menus and proper manners to hide behind. But if you're uncomfortable we can go."

"No, it's nice. It just wasn't what I expected," Merlin smiled shyly.

"Oh good, cause I make a mean ham sandwich and I don't want them to go to waste."

Arthur pulled out a giant checkered quilt. Merlin flopped down on it with his usual grace and reached for one of the sandwiches Arthur set before him and with that, the awkwardness was gone. Merlin quickly realized he had never met anyone else quite like Arthur. He was funny and charming. He played sports and was good at them, unlike Merlin, but he also was not afraid to play around and imagine. They continued their conversation about Lizard hybrids, eventually concluding that a spider lizard would be the most terrifying and that they both wanted to own a kitty lizard because it could be both cuddly and badass. They also had a long argument over, in a peril filled situation, who would be the damsel in distress.

"Obviously I would be rescuing you, Merlin," Arthur laughed. "Look at these biceps. I'd like to see you try to wield a sword. You would probably chop your own nose off. I would cut such a dashing figure in Camelot red. I would walk in and my foes would give up in sheer terror."

Merlin laughed. "You're forgetting that Merlin is the one with magic and your sword won't protect you from that. All it will take is one intelligent sorcerer and you'll be done for. But don't worry, I have more power in my little finger than most sorcerers do in their entire body. I'll be able to protect you while you're running around with your pointy stick like a total dollop-head."

"So that's the way things are, is it?" Arthur tackled Merlin to the blanket, pinned him down and started tickling and kept tickling until they both were sporting inconvenient boners. Merlin was embarrassed but Arthur didn't make a big deal of it. He just flopped onto his back beside Merlin and pointed up the sky. "Look, it's your kitty lizard."

Merlin laughed and the awkward moment was broken. They watched the clouds until it got too dark to see them and then Arthur walked Merlin home. They walked close to each other, hands and arms brushing lightly.

Merlin thinks he wants Arthur to kiss him but Arthur just puts his hand on his shoulder, looks into his eyes and sincerely says "thank you, Merlin."

"Are we going to do this again?" Merlin asks.

Arthur smiles. "Most definitely."

That is the beginning of a beautiful friendship that grows stronger as the summer goes on. Any time Merlin doesn't spend working is spent with Arthur. Hunith makes Arthur's favorite cookies for when he comes over and Morgana teases them constantly. Uther just rolls his eyes and lets them be. All of Merlin's friends know to expect them as a unit. They hold hands when they walk home.

The night before school starts, Arthur packs them another picnic and they eat it in the same place as their very first picnic. Arthur seems nervous. Merlin asks him why but Arthur just brushes him off.

Later, the stars come out and the two of them are lying side by side on the blanket, hands clasped tight. Arthur props himself up on his elbow and looks down at Merlin.

"So, what are we?" he asks.

Merlin looks up at him, confused. "Um…teenagers? Or do you mean something more existential?"

"No, I mean this…us? Is this a summer fling or can I go to school tomorrow and hold your hand and call you my boyfriend?"

"What do you want it to be?" Merlin held his breath.

Arthur flopped back down and looked up at the stars again. "Last summer, I met a boy right at the beginning of the summer. It was great. I really liked him. But we went to the same school and the moment I walked up wo him, exactly the same way I had been with him all summer, he pushed me away. He told me later that he had an image to maintain and it simply didn't include me. I don't want to make a fool of myself like that again. But I really want you to be more. I joked about destiny in our first conversation but the more I get to know you, the more I think it's true. I feel like I've known you for centuries, through all my past lives, like whoever or whatever we are, we were always meant to find each other."

Merlin grinned. "Oh good."

Arthur propped himself up over Merlin again and finally kissed him for the first time. Merlin felt a rush of …something run through his body. It felt like he was part of something old and powerful, like something buried deep inside was finally waking up. And it felt like coming home.

"What? Your eyes…" Arthur started to talk.

Merlin grinned and just kissed him again.

The next day at school, he saw Gwaine again.

"Hey, you're that kid from the coffee shop," Gwaine said.

"Yeah," Merlin answered. "But I've quit now that we're back to school. Mum doesn't like me working during the year."

"Well, I guess that means I won't be able to see you that way anymore. Best give me your number. I'd like to take you out sometime."

And Merlin thought about all the daydreams he had had that featured Gwaine's face and how much he had wanted this at the beginning of the summer. Then he realized that he hadn't been daydreaming in a month or more because reality was finally better than his imagination. He grinned brilliantly up at Gwaine. "No thank you, I have a boyfriend."