A soft knock on the door. Arthur walked over to it, opened it slowly. Outside was Merlin, waiting patiently for Arthur to let him in.
Merlin usually clamped in without ever bothering to make himself known, since Arthur could always tell anyway. So this was quite different. Merlin stood awkwardly with his hands behind his back, not uttering a word. Arthur felt his cheeks heat when he stepped aside and opened the door wider in invitation. Merlin stepped inside, still awkward. He took his time before speaking. "I wanted you to know that whatever happens – no matter if you marry Gwen or some other girl – I'll still be here. Like your friend, by your side. I... I'll probably never stop loving you, but you already know that, don't you? I mean... As long as you're happy." With Gwen were the needless, unsaid words. Arthur stood dumbstruck. They had talked about this before, but this, this was different. This was a whole new of different. Merlin had a sad look about him, even though he said things were okay, as long as Arthur was happy. But was he?
"Uh, Gaius told me to give you this remedy, for your back..." Arthur was like petrified. He couldn't move to take the remedy, he couldn't speak. Merlin sighed and took the last step between them, taking Arthur's hand in his own, placing the bottle there and closing his own over it. Words were not necessary at this point, they had always had this special bond where they rarely needed conversation to understand each other in situations like this.
Arthur looked up from their joint hands and into Merlin's glossy and sad eyes. He watched helplessly as an invisible tear slid down Merlin's cheek. It wasn't invisible to him though, he knew Merlin. And he knew this hurt the man in front of him more than anything, even if he wouldn't admit it. Arthur opened his mouth to say something, anything, to make Merlin's sadness go away. He found that he couldn't. Merlin took a deep breath and strode out the room. Arthur's breath hitched. And then he made a decision.
"Merlin!" Merlin didn't look back, so Arthur kept running. "Merlin!" he yelled again, a little louder this time. The dark haired man kept walking.
Pushing harder and harder to catch up with him, Arthur was finally close enough to grab Merlin's shirt and swirl him around.
"What?" he snarled. Arthur stood still a moment catching his breath. Merlin was turning back around again, "Forget it." Arthur gave a displeased noise, and grabbed Merlin's waist. He pulled him closer and situated himself so they were facing each other. Merlin was about to throw another snidy comment, but was silenced my Arthur's lips. Arthur kissed passionately and Merlin responded, for a brief second. Then he fiercely pulled back. He was panting, even if it hadn't lasted for long.
"Your wedding. Gwen-" he began, frantically. Arthur put a hand on Merlin's neck, caressing it. Merlin let him. "I told Gwen yesterday that I couldn't go through with the wedding. Not when my heart belongs to someone else." Arthur gave Merlin a pleading look. The servant stared at his King for a long time, as if trying to figure out if he was speaking the truth or not. When Arthur's features didn't change, Merlin's face softened and he relaxed into Arthur's touch. Arthur took that as permission to once again dominate Merlin's mouth. And Merlin opened up to Arthur right away, granting access. Arthur laughed softly and quietly, mumbled "Finally," against Merlin's lips. Arthur heard faint noises of applause before losing himself entirely into the kiss.