Arthur, Merlin had come to notice, wore a lot of sweaters.
They were nice sweaters, cashmere, usually. He rarely wore old and ratty sweaters, like Merlin usually did. In fact, the only time he ever did was when he wore one of Merlin's old sweaters, which he stole.
Granted, he was the prince of England, heir to the throne. So of course he had to look nice.
So, Merlin thought it was well within his rights to be surprised when Arthur showed up at his door just a little past mid afternoon, wearing an old band tee-shirt and soaking wet from the rain. They stared at each other, and Arthur had just opened his mouth when Merlin sighed.
"Get in here."
Arthur gave him a grateful smile as he stepped into the foyer. He took off his sneakers, which Merlin was sure were full of water, and he followed him into the upstairs bathroom. He sat on the edge of the counter while Merlin took a towel to his hair. Once it was relatively dry he went in search of some dry clothes, and when he came back Arthur had stripped down to his boxers.
Merlin rolled his eyes, throwing the clothes at his boyfriend. "Weren't you supposed to meet the prime minister with your father today?"
"Yeah." Arthur spoke quietly as he slid the shirt on. It was one of Merlin's, and Arthur ran his fingers over the frayed hem before he ventured into Merlin's bedroom. Merlin followed more slowly, and he wasn't all that surprised to find Arthur lying face down on his bed.
Merlin fell down on his side next to him, and Arthur rolled up against the wall to make room. They stared at each other for a little bit, and then Arthur asked "Is that my sweater?"
Merlin looked down at what he was wearing; a gray cashmere sweater, and then he looked back up at Arthur. "It is."
"It looks good on you." Arthur let his hand rest on Merlin's hip, and Merlin let his own hand fall on top of Arthurs.
"While I appreciate the flattery, I'm sure you didn't come here to look at me."
Arthur smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. "It's always an added bonus."
Merlin stayed silent, and finally Arthur said softly "He wants' me to break up with you."
He shouldn't have been surprised at Uther, he had never fully approved of his son dating a man (let alone Merlin), but Merlin still felt a sting. A small part of him had always thought that what he had with Arthur wouldn't last, he was a prince after all, and he couldn't help but feel something in him start to panic. "Do-do you want to?"
"No! No, I lo-" Arthur stopped. Neither of them was sure if they could speak those words yet. They felt that way, they knew that, but they didn't know if it had been long enough.
"No." Arthur repeated softly. "I don't care what he says. I'm not going to break up with you."
They were both a little scared to say them too.
"So you snuck out?" Merlin felt some of the panic leave. "Into the pouring rain?"
"Yeah, well," Arthur pulled Merlin against him, hands wandering up and down his back, legs tangling together. "He was a lot harsher than just 'break up with him'."
Silence fell around them. Merlin's mother and Gaius had always supported Merlin and Arthur, so he had no idea what to say or how to comfort Arthur. So instead he said "so, are you gonna go back or wait for one of the guards to come find you?"
It was more like 'drag back kicking and screaming' rather than find. All of Arthur's guards knew where he went when he snuck out of the palace. It was just a matter of when they wanted to come get him.
Arthur scoffed, and then leaned in to kiss Merlin. Merlin happily complied, letting Arthur take the lead.
When Leon finally stopped by Merlin and Arthur were finishing washing dishes from dinner. Hunith had to work late, and Gaius hadn't stopped by, so Arthur was still in the tee shirt and boxers, and neither of them had bothered to hide their various bruises and bite marks.
Leon just raised his eyebrows and said, "Your father wants' to talk to you."
About an hour after Arthur left Merlin got a text from Arthur saying that he was coming back over.