Just a quick warning, this IS an Arthur x Merlin fic! :)

Merlin and all it's characters do not belong to me.

This is my first MerlinFic, and my first fanfiction in a really long time, so I hope it turns out alright! I got this idea by thinking how Merlin always does really selfless things, but sometimes they completely blow up in his face. This is one of those instances. I was going to make it a really quick one shot at first, but I think It's actually going to be quite a few chapters. This first chapter is really long, but I hope you enjoy! Haha!

Don't be shy, leave reviews, I'd love to hear your opinions!

Love,

Apocalyptic Masquerade

Something About Love Potions

No matter how many times he had been told to, Merlin could never mind his own business.

"Merlin, what are you doing?"

The voice had startled the young warlock, and instinctively he shut the very thick and very dusty volume of Medicinal Herbology and Clinical Therapeutics. Damn it all, acting so jumpy like that was only going to increase Gaius' suspicion! The last thing he wanted was his plan to be spoiled before he could even begin it! "Nothing. Nothing at all. Just-ah-Doing some light reading. About herbs and all that. I find it all very interesting, really!"

Gaius' already wrinkled face scrunched almost impossibly further in scrutiny. The old man should have known better than to trust an excuse like that, but this time he would let it slide. This time, he would give Merlin the benefit of the doubt and hope he really was simply interested in learning something. "Oh, I see. Well, very good, then…" He nodded, crossing the cluttered room to grab his satchel from the nearby table. "Don't forget to run those errands like I asked you to." He said it as if Merlin had the choice of going whenever he pleased. Ah, but those blue eyes half hidden behind his droopy brow sang a different tune. The little twinkle they held made it obvious he would have liked Merlin to hop right to work. "I need to visit a few patients, so I will see you again sometime late this evening."

"Right! Goodbye, Gaius. See you!" A big goofy grin was plastered on his face until the door finally shut and he was free once more! Heaving a relieved sigh, Merlin whipped open the book again—nearly giving himself a lovely papercut in the process—and continued the research he had been doing. No matter how many times he had been told to, Merlin could never mind his own business. Gaius had gotten onto him again and again for getting involved when he shouldn't. How could he not, though? It always felt like it was up to him to get things set right! First saving Arthur, then the king, then Camelot (and of course Arthur once more), and now even LOVE! Honestly, Merlin was usually quite modest but he felt like he deserved a big pat on the back this time. He was going to make love blossom. Pure, unadulterated, real love. It was possible with the right kind of potion. There were potions that forced another to fall in love with someone, and then there were potions that simply 'awakened' dormant feelings. Such a concoction would make those feelings impossible to ignore. Oh yes, by the time he was done Arthur was going to be so infatuated with Guinevere that their feelings could no longer hide in the shadows.

No longer could Merlin sit by and watch his two close friends pine away due to their star-crossed affections. He was going to do what any loyal friend would do: give them a push in the right direction. True, he was using just a touch of magic to do so but whatever they didn't know couldn't hurt them.

This whole idea had come to him while he was flipping through the old pages of the grimoire Gaius had given him. Deep inside its contents he had stumbled upon the recipe. Oh, and Merlin couldn't pass this up! Thanks to the Herbology book, Arthur knew how to properly identify the right ingredients that the potion called for. Just a little Hyacinth, a pinch of Cyclamen, and a bit of Balm of Gilead…Under the right conditions and along with other choice ingredients the potion would be complete. Easy enough. Why, this was probably going to be the easiest thing he had ever done while being there in Camelot. Besides getting yelled at, or making Arthur so angry he'd throw things at him, or being locked in the stocks and having endless supplies of rotten fruit thrown at him. Yes. Besides all those things.

. . .

Unfortunately, making the potion took a little longer than Merlin had anticipated. He was supposed to be in Arthur's chambers by now. Even though he knew a scolding was awaiting him by the time he would get there he couldn't help but smile gleefully. With a bit of pep in his sprint, he hurried down the stone corridors—dodging other servants every so often—to avoid being later than he already was. Merlin wasn't particularly graceful, however, so it went without saying that he couldn't dodge every one of the servants. In a blur, the young sorcerer crashed into someone and the fine sheets they were holding flew into the air like celebratory confetti. "Merlin!" The servant exclaimed, frantically trying to make her way out from under one of the sheets.

"Oh! Gwen! Sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going." Even as apologetic as he was, his expression still looked nothing short of ecstatic. After scrambling to stand he quickly helped her up to her feet.

"You seem to be in a rather..good mood today." The dark skinned beauty mused, giving an entertained half grin despite her exasperation. It wasn't necessarily strange to see Merlin so chipper, but he seemed to be even more so than usual. "Why is that, I wonder?" Gwen laughed, glancing at her friend as he quickly began helping her pick up the sheets.

"Well, it's a secret." The lanky young man winked.

"A secret..?" she repeated skeptically.

"Don't worry, though," he assured her while he folded the last and handed it to her, "you'll know it soon enough. More or less."Ah! But I've got to go! Arthur's probably steaming."

"Merlin! Wait..!" But he disappeared around the corner in a flash. Once again, Merlin was being strangely cryptic. By now Gwen had merely accepted that about him but still her curiosity was boiling over. Well, if he said she would find out eventually she would trust in that.

. . .

Merlin arrived at Arthur's chambers as quickly as he could. Swinging the door open, he hurried inside and readied the excuse he would use to get out of trouble. The moment he stepped past the doorway, an object suddenly stuck out and tripped him with ease, sending him toppling to the ground. He nearly busted his face against the stone floor since he hadn't much time to catch himself. After glancing behind his shoulder he saw the culprit. There his noble prince was, leaning back against the wall with his arms crossed and one leg stuck surreptitiously out in front of the door. "You're late."

"Ngh…Good morning to you too, Arthur."

"Morning? The sun is hanging in the middle of the SKY, Merlin. It's hardly morning anymore."

"Ah, well, that all depends on a person's perspective of the—"

"Don't make me kick you while you're down there, Merlin."

"..Right." He nodded quickly, knowing Arthur wouldn't feel bad about doing it at all. It was time to shut his snarky mouth for now. "Sorry I'm late…Sire."

"Of course you are—Even though you're always late."

"Not always.."

"Always."

'Well, you'd thank me if you knew why I was so late today.' Merlin was used to never being thanked for his efforts, though. Still, it would have been nice to be appreciated at least once! Over the time he had spent with Arthur, however, he became less and less worried about that. It was less about praise and more about keeping his friend safe. Sure, Arthur was abusive—verbally and physically, he was a bit of a prat, and extremely bull-headed…but he was still a good person. And they were still friends, whether it was said out loud and officially recognized or not. Which it hadn't been. However, it was one of those instances where it didn't need to be said. That was what Merlin believed. Despite their bickering, in the end they really could get along well and a sort of bond was formed between them. A bond, Merlin knew, he would never share with another human being.

"Anyway, hurry and get off the floor. I have things for you to do. And I still expect you to get them all done, even if you did get a late start." Arthur then commenced in listing off the endless amount of chores he wanted Merlin to do. Oh, the sorcerer dreaded this. If only he could use magic—he would have been able to get it all done before dinner. Damn, and he still had all of Gaius' chores to do as well. Perhaps he would meddle in magic to help him out again. As long as no one saw and Gaius didn't find out it was fine. Still, he wasn't too eager to get started with those chores right away. Not to mention he wanted to try out the little elixir he had concocted.

"Wouldn't you rather eat first? I mean…You must be hungry! Lunchtime is here, after all. I can go fetch you something. Can't have you starving." The potion could be taken any way whether it was straight from the bottle or added to something. Honestly, this was perfect timing. He could put the potion in with the food and Arthur would be given the little push he needed before the day was even over!

"I didn't realize you cared.." The prince murmured, though still not quite convinced. Oh, ever the skeptic. Merlin wished Arthur would trust him sometimes. He knew what was best, really he did. "Alright, fine. I am rather hungry. Hurry it up, then, Merlin. Then you can begin shining my armor."

"Sounds great—"

"Oh, and Merlin..?"

"…Yes? Sire?"

"Be quick about it."

"Your wish is my command." Merlin replied facetiously. Luckily he got out the door before Arthur succeeded in hitting him with one of his boots.

. . .

'There. Let's see him complain about this.' Merlin was very proud of the lunch he managed to get together for Arthur. The iron plate consisted of bread, two types of cheeses, a generous amount of ham, tomatoes, and even some strawberries for desert. Before opening the door, he whipped out the tiny bottle of the love potion. Just a few drops was all it would take, so it was only a few drops that he sprinkled upon the strawberries and the ham. Those were the things with the strongest flavor, so Arthur wouldn't have possibly been able to taste if there was any difference. Balancing the plate on one hand, he opened the door and announced his presence. "Alright, time to eat up!" He happily set the plate down and waited for Arthur to sit before it. The prince couldn't help but be slightly perturbed by Merlin's giddy attitude. Perhaps he had slept in and he was still merely delirious from feeling tired? Well, in any case his personal servant had done a very good job with Lunch that afternoon. He began to eat right away…but he could practically feel Merlin's eyes locked onto him.

"Merlin? Must you stare at me while I'm eating? It's a little disturbing." He mumbled, a small little cherry tomato stuck in his cheek like a squirrel. It was really comical, actually, and the dark haired young man really wanted to bust into laughter at the sight.

"Ah, of course. I'll…start cleaning your boots then?" He hurried to grab a pair of boots that were placed near the trunk by the bed. If he looked busy, then he could still observe Arthur in the meanwhile. Merlin was very curious to see If the sudden change would be apparent or not or if it would be more subtle than that… His legs were practically shaking in his boots he was so excited. How long would it take for Arthur and Gwen to get married, he pondered. Oh, he loved weddings. Sadly, their marriage would probably not happen until Arthur became king. Now they would both have the strength to hold on, at least. He still had a few drops left…perhaps he could sneak those to Gwen to even the playing field..?

"Merlin?"

"Yes? Does everything taste alright?"

"Absolutely. It was wonderful."

"Oh, that's good to hear! Did you eat it all?"

"Every last bit. You did a good job getting it prepared."

Merlin was ecstatic. Only time would tell if the potion was effective or not. He glanced behind and saw that, indeed, every bit of the meal had been devoured. "I'll get this out of the way for you, then." He said, standing and reaching for the plate. Before he could pull away, Arthur took hold of his wrist with one hand. With the other, he hooked a finger inside of the red bandanna around Merlin's neck and tugged him closer. Not knowing any better, Merlin didn't fight back and bent closer to follow Arthur's pull. Was he in trouble again? He really hoped Arthur wasn't going to bump his head against the table for stalling in doing his chores.

No, no. Arthur did much the opposite.

It happened way too fast. It took Merlin several seconds to recognize just what was going on. But it was too late. The space between their faces had already diminished, and he felt the unbelievable warmth of Arthur's lips against his own. Merlin quickly jerked away and created as much space between them as possible, dropping the plate on the ground with a deafening sound. "W-what..was that!"

"What was what?" Arthur shrugged, leaning back in his chair looking both amused and utterly pleased with himself. "Oh, you mean that kiss?"

"Yes, that!" Merlin gasped, his whole face beginning to burn hot. What in Heaven's name had gotten into Arthur?

"I had to reward you for a job well done, of course. " The prince reasoned, as if it made perfect sense. Obviously a change had occurred in his prince, but not the change he had been meaning to achieve at all. Merlin was utterly mortified.

"Your ears are as red as your scarf, Merlin. Are you that embarrassed? That's adorable."

Hearing that coming from Arthur gave him chills.

There you have it! The first chapter! Was it as good for you as it was for me?

Well, let's hope so. Let me know what you think! In the next chapter, we'll see and learn more of the big blunder Merlin has made~

So I hope you liked it enough to be eager for the next one!