You Really Are the Worst Roommate
Chapter 1
"Arthur please, I'm just really tired… can't we discuss this tomorrow?" Merlin sighed heavily as he got up from the couch and moved toward his room.
"No, I want to finish this now, don't just walk away from me!" The blond man demanded in a childish tone. Merlin was done.
"I'm not having this discussion now, you utter… prat! If you want to talk about this, it's going to be tomorrow." He slammed the door of his room shut and locked it, flopping down on his bed and waiting for the inevitable knock.
"Merlin," Arthur called through the door, "Merlin, open this door." The slim, dark-haired man ignored Arthur, feeling his throat close in as he made his decision. The blond finally got fed up and stomped away to his own room, slamming the door closed and locking it out of spite. Neither man went to sleep for hours, each lost in their own thoughts.
When Arthur awoke, it was late afternoon the next day, a Saturday. He stretched and wandered out of his room to find Merlin. The common area was still a cluttered jumble of Arthur's possessions, which made him frown. There was no food to be found in the kitchen, and Arthur's towel from the day before was still in a moist heap on the floor. He looked around in confusion for a moment, "Merlin?" There was no response from his roommate, who was normally up hours before Arthur. The blond stumbled across the apartment to Merlin's room and knocked on the door, pushing it slightly ajar. The entire space was immaculate, and there was no sign of Merlin.
Arthur frowned and returned to his room to hunt for his phone. He found the desired item in his jeans pocket and called Merlin. The call went to voicemail, "Merlin, you idiot. You've left the flat a mess, and there isn't any food. Where are you? You really are the worst roommate ever." Satisfied with his message, Arthur wandered back into the kitchen and looked for something to eat that didn't require culinary skill to prepare. He settled on beer and pretzels. Arthur sat on the couch and flipped on the television, finding a channel he liked and lying back to wait for Merlin to return.
Arthur tried to call Merlin three more times, and each time his messages got less and less jovial as he grew genuinely concerned for the smaller man. Arthur had a massive secret crush on the brunet, and by the time midnight came around, Arthur had called all of their mutual friends to track down his wayward cohabitant. They all claimed not to have seen Merlin, so Arthur camped out in front of the door to the flat and waited. If Merlin hadn't returned by the next morning, Arthur decided, he was going to call the police and hospital.
On Sunday morning, Arthur came to, only to see the door of the apartment in front of him. It was still morning, 10 AM precisely. He did a quick circuit of the flat to find that Merlin had not returned. Arthur tried calling the brunet and left a frantic message on his phone. He called all the hospitals within a ten mile radius with no success. Arthur finally called the police, who politely informed him that missing persons had to be out of contact for 48 hours before a case could be opened.
Arthur paced through the apartment restlessly, his leonine hair whipping around at the slightest sound that might be Merlin returning. He ignored the fact that he had work in the morning and hadn't finished the report his boss had requested. He ignored the fact that he hadn't eaten a proper meal in almost two days. He stayed in the apartment and fretted until late at night, when he once again fell asleep in front of the door.
On Monday, Arthur woke to the dual sounds of his and Merlin's alarm clocks going off, informing him that he needed to get to work if he wanted to keep his job. As he was dialing Merlin's cell phone number one more time before he had the police open a file, the blessed sound of keys in the door caused him to cut off the voicemail message. He wrenched the door open.
"Hello Arthur," Morgana said acidly, "Merlin asked me to drop by for some of his things. He wants you to 'stop calling him and go fuck yourself, you insensitive, childish prat.' His words, not mine," Arthur followed her to Merlin's bedroom, closing the door behind him as she started to retrieve some of Merlin's personal items and toss them into a bag.
"Where is he, Morgana?" Arthur demanded, "Why hasn't he been answering his phone?"
Morgana threw an icy glare in Arthur's direction before dramatically pulling her phone out and dialing, "Hey Merlin, where did you say your extra laptop battery was?... ok thanks, I've got it… you too, bye." She snapped the phone shut, "He answers his phone, just not when you call."
Arthur growled and clenched his fists, "What is his problem? Why hasn't he been back to the flat in two days? Why are you collecting things for him?" Morgana paused and rounded on Arthur.
"Listen, brother dear, the fact that you have to ask, clearly indicates that nothing has or will change. Merlin is sick of being treated like your personal servant, so he's moving out. Don't try to contact him if he doesn't try to talk to you. Frankly, we all feel that this has been too long in coming. You are an insufferable, stuck up, lazy, entitled arse. You're clearly in love with Merlin, but you act as if you're six and shoving him on the playground. Maybe if you ever show signs of getting your act together, Merlin will deign to speak to you again, but I wouldn't hold your breath."
She shoved him aside and stalked to the bathroom, loading all of Merlin's items into her bag. Arthur was speechless. He was in love with Merlin, but had never confided in anyone, how did they know?
"I'm not in love with Merlin." He said defensively.
"Whatever, I don't care." Morgana pulled Merlin's class schedule from the fridge and crumpled it up into the bag, she then turned and stalked to the door.
Arthur blocked her getaway, "I want to speak to him, he's just angry. He'll come around and change his mind about moving out, just tell me where he's staying." Morgana laughed bitterly.
"What you don't realize, Arthur, is that nobody is encouraging Merlin to talk to you, we all think he's too good for you. You can't even man up and tell him you love him, you can't even tell yourself. Nobody is going to help you find Merlin, because we all think he's made the right choice." She crossed her arms and glared, "Are you going to let me leave? Or do I have to call Gwen's boyfriend to remove you?" Arthur stood petulantly in Morgana's way.
"I'm not letting you leave until you tell me why. This seems like a huge overreaction to me, you aren't telling me everything."
Morgana sighed, "You just aren't listening. He's sick of being at your beck and call, picking up after you, cooking for you, helping you with work. He just wants more… he wants someone better than you, and we're going to make sure he gets it." She shoved the tall blond aside and yanked on the door, purposely bashing it into Arthur as she slipped through the narrow crack and let the door swing closed.
Arthur stood forlornly in the hall in front of the door. He wasn't sure what he should do without Merlin around. They had been roommates for almost four years. Arthur was completely dependent on the other man to remind him of appointments, do the housework, and cheer him up when he was down. Arthur leaned heavily against the wall, letting his head fall back to hit the plaster. He slid down, trying to comprehend life without Merlin. He curled into the fetal position and shuddered as he lost consciousness from the stress.
Tuesday, Arthur didn't go into work once again. His phone died as he was trying to leave yet another pleading message for Merlin. He ate saltines with ketchup and sat on the couch staring at a painting of Merlin's until he fell asleep, thinking about the younger man.
Wednesday, Arthur recharged his phone and found that he had one voicemail. Arthur's boss threatened to fire him, so Arthur quit. He paced around the apartment all day hoping that Merlin would come back or call. He did neither.
Thursday, Arthur stayed in bed and tried not to think about Merlin coming home, remembering idioms about watched pots.
Friday, after one week without seeing Merlin, Arthur had almost given up on ever hearing from the younger man. He heard the key in the lock once more and vaulted out of his bed. He threw the door of his bedroom open and interrupted Will and Mordred as they brought in boxes to pack up the rest of Merlin's belongings. Neither man would speak to Arthur about Merlin, Will told Arthur he smelled bad, which was the product of a week of not showering. By the time Arthur came out of his extremely quick shower, there was no sign of Merlin in the living room or the kitchen. The boys were in Merlin's bedroom packing up the last of the clothes. Arthur begged them to tell him where Merlin was, but they stanchly refused and merely finished stripping the bedroom of anything Merlin owned. It took an hour all-told for the two men to take everything of Merlin's from the apartment, leaving behind an empty bedroom, and various gaps in shelves and cupboards that indicated items that no longer lived in the apartment. Arthur felt sick. The key lying on the kitchen counter taunted him with Merlin's acute absence.
On Friday night, Arthur called Merlin one last time, hoping against hope that the younger man would pick up the phone, "The number you have dialed is not in service. Please check the number and dial again." Arthur sobbed in the frustration and agony of heartbreak as the last tangible line of communication was finally cut off. Merlin was gone and he wasn't coming back.
A/N What do you think? I've always felt that Merthur fics rely too much on destiny and gloss over the fact that Arthur is kind of a horrible person. He treats Merlin like dirt most of the time. This fic might end up being a redemption fic, or it might be a "Merlin dumps Arthur's hunky ass for being a terrible person and finds love elsewhere", it depends on what you all want :D R&R
(Possible pairings, Merlin/Gwaine, Merlin/Mordred, Merlin/Lance… all three? Yum… Not really a fan of Merlin/Will, so I won't go the direction)
