Title: The first, and only
Summary: Gwaine feels that Arthur spends too much time with Merlin. He's allowed to feel that way, since Merlin is his friend, right?
Warnings: OOC, AU-ish, horribly cliché
Disclaimer: I have no rights to claim Merlin and its characters as mine. Because if it did belong to me, there'd be only slash in there...

Author's Note: I'm sort of ignoring almost everything that happened in season 4 here. This idea just popped up in my head and I had to write it. I don't think there are any spoilers in here... Enjoy!

Merlin was his first friend. His first real friend. And he hadn't even needed to do much to become Merlin's friend. And he was grateful, so very grateful, to have met Merlin and settled down in Camelot and found a goal with his life. Because with Merlin and Camelot came Arthur and the knights. And now he had more friends than he had ever had before. But, out of all of them, he treasured Merlin's friendship the most.

"What do you say Merlin, want to accompany me to the tavern this fine evening?"

"Oh, hey Gwaine. Sorry, I can't, Arthur needs me", Merlin answered, looking like he'd rather go with Gwaine.

"Oh come on, if the princess won't give you an evening off, then you just have to take one for yourself."

Merlin looked like he considered it, but then shook his head with an apologetic grin:
"Some other time, yeah?" and then he walked away.

And Gwaine watched his friend walk away while he cursed King Arthur for taking all of Merlin's time.

There had been many changes since Arthur had become King and married Gwen, they were all good changes: One of them were that Merlin had been appointed Court Sorcerer, no one had been really surprised when they had found out about Merlin's magic. Lancelot had already known and Gwaine had suspected it for quite a while. The rest of the knights had taken it in stride, they had also suspected it for some time. It was Arthur's reaction that had surprised everybody; instead of throwing a tantrum and accusing Merlin of treason he had instead embraced Merlin and had been glad that the secret was out.
These days it was hard to keep a secret from the King.

One would have thought that Arthur wouldn't need Merlin as much now that Merlin wasn't a servant anymore, but to Gwaine it seemed like Merlin was always at the King's side. And he found it so bloody unfair, Merlin was his friend too and he had every right to spend time with Merlin.

They were at the training grounds now, Arthur and the knights always participated in the trainings to set an example to the youngest recruits. Gwaine was sparring against Arthur and gave as good as he got, Merlin was watching from the sidelines and this made Gwaine try a bit harder to beat Arthur. He wasn't sure where this energy came from, but for some reason he wanted to impress Merlin. But, of course, no one could beat the King. He had been close though, but Arthur had used a dirty trick and tripped him. Arthur gave him a small smile, seeming to be impressed with his unusual motivation to fight, and offered him his hand to help him up. Gwaine took it and stood up and Arthur patted him on the shoulder:
"Mind if I borrow Merlin for a bit", Gwaine asked silently so the others couldn't overhear.

Arthur looked a bit surprised but nodded in consent, and Gwaine turned and walked towards Merlin. Merlin smiled at him and something fluttered inside his chest. He wondered about that for a second, had he eaten something bad lately?
"Care for some ale?" he asked with a bright smile.

"Sure, as long as you pay", Merlin asked with a teasing smile.

Gwaine just laughed and slung an arm around Merlin's shoulders as they went towards the tavern.

Gwaine was pretty sure that he was in love. In a way it was ironic, Merlin had been his first friend and was now his first love. He had never been in love before and found it to be a peculiar feeling, not unpleasant but it made him feel like an idiot around Merlin.

He had first realized it when had been out with Lancelot and Leon, having captured a few bandits who had been terrorizing a small village half-a-day's ride away. He had been complaining on the way back about how he never saw Merlin these days and how he wished the king would stop monopolizing all of Merlin's time. His friends had given him knowing looks which he had pondered about for two days until he had realized his feelings.

Now there was one question left; what was he supposed to do about it?

It was the Queen's birthday, and a feast had been set up. It was nothing too extravagant, but Arthur loved to surprise his wife. Merlin was sitting next to Gwaine with Arthur on his other side. Merlin and Arthur seemed to be arguing about something and Gwaine wanted to do something drastic to make Merlin pay attention to him instead. He had never been taught how to share.

"Well, it's been a long day. Do you mind if I retire early?" Gwaine heard Merlin say to Arthur and Gwaine panicked.

Merlin got up from his chair and started to walk towards the exit. As he passed Gwaine's chair Gwaine grabbed his hand and stopped him. Merlin turned towards Gwaine, eyebrows raised in question. Gwaine faltered for a second, unsure of what to do and feeling more eyes staring at him:
"I... uhm... Please don't hate me for this", he begged.

"Hate you for what? Gwai-mmph..."

On a whim Gwaine had risen from his chair and interrupted Merlin by kissing him. Merlin stiffened for a second, but then he relaxed and responded to the kiss. Gwaine felt like he could fly and lost himself in the kiss. Unfortunately, the king's loud cough interrupted his pleasant thoughts and he turned to glare at the prat(as he called Arthur in his thoughts when the king particularly annoyed him):
"As glad as I am to finally see the two of you getting together, I think it's a bit inappropriate of you to do that in here", Arthur pointed out and Gwaine noticed how tousled he and Merlin looked, both with swollen, red lips and hair askew.

He smirked at the king and winked before he gave a mocking bow:
"Then if you'll excuse us, my liege, we will retire to my quarters now."

Then he proceeded to drag Merlin out of the room, Merlin following him willingly.

Later Gwaine found out that Merlin had been in love with him for a few years now, and their mutual friends were quite tired of hearing Merlin going on and on about how brave, strong and funny Gwaine was, and how beautiful his eyes were and... Gwaine interrupted Merlin's ramble with a kiss. He quite enjoyed doing that actually, it was a productive and pleasant way to shut him up.

And even though his friends were happy for him and Merlin, it still didn't stop them from coming up to Gwaine and warn him that if he ever hurt Merlin, he'd have to deal with them. Gwaine had no idea why they thought him able to do such a thing, Merlin was his best friend, his lover, and he would never, ever hurt him.

The End

Author's Note: Yes, I know, horribly cliché. But needed to write it, had to. I had taken quite a liking to this pairing and feel that more fics about them are needed. Though I still like Merthur, I really think these two have quite a lot of potential. Any thoughts?
(Sorry about spelling mistakes...)