Merlin was woken from a pleasant dream, involving a whole basketful of kittens, when his alarm went off. He reached out blindly, hitting at the place where the sound was coming from, only to be met with a loud yelp. He sat up and looked blearily around him. In the bed next to him was a blond haired man, swearing and clutching his nose.
"What the fuck was that for?" yelled the man.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry."
As he looked at the man, the previous night came flooding back. He'd gone out clubbing with Will, but before long Will had hooked up and disappeared. Merlin had been going to go home, when the blond man had come and sat next to him. Next thing he remembered, he'd been getting a taxi to the man's apartment, and then, Merlin blushed to remember.
The man, whose name Merlin couldn't remember, was sitting up now, staring in shock at the blood on his hand.
"Fuck. I think you've broken it!"
"I'm really really sorry. I was just trying to turn the alarm off. Let me get something for your nose. Do you have ice?"
Merlin scrambled out of the bed, ignoring his nakedness in favour of trying to help the other man. The other man sighed.
"Just grab me some loo roll or something. There's probably some frozen veg in the bottom of the freezer."
"Right."
He grabbed the loo roll first, then went to the kitchen to search for the frozen veg. As described, it was right at the bottom. He grabbed a tea towel to wrap it in, then made his way back to the bedroom.
"What took you so long?"
"Your freezer is full of crap. I had to unpack the whole thing!"
He handed the man the loo roll as well as a pack of ibuprofen he'd grabbed at the same time.
"I thought you might need something for the pain."
"Thanks."
The man took the loo roll and attempted to dab ineffectually at his nose and chest, but the blood was still gushing out.
"Just hold the paper to your nose and pinch it. I'll grab a flannel or something and clean you up."
It felt weirdly more intimate than the night before, mopping the blood off the man's skin and feeding him painkillers. Once he was done he handed him the frozen veg, wrapped in a tea towel.
"What am I meant to do with that? My hands are already full."
"Oh right. Sorry. I'll just hold it there for you."
The man just grunted.
They sat there in awkward silence for a while.
"Do you really think it might be broken?" asked Merlin in a small voice.
"Well it definitely fucking hurts! Does it look crooked?"
Merlin briefly removed the ice pack and grimaced.
"It's definitely swollen and maybe a bit squiffy."
"Great. All I wanted was a shag, and I end up with a broken nose. That's bloody perfect."
"Look, I said I was sorry. It was an accident."
"Yeah, well, if I find blood stains anywhere, you're paying the cleaning bill."
"That sounds reasonable," conceded Merlin. "Is it still bleeding?"
The man moved the tissue slightly, then quickly replaced it.
"Yes. Fuck."
"Right, just wait there. I'm going to get my phone check what google says about broken noses."
"Fine. And maybe put some clothes on while you're at it. As pretty as you are, it's kind of distracting to have you sitting there completely naked."
"It's not as if you're dressed either," said Merlin as he got up to find his clothes and phone.
"At least I'm mostly covered by the duvet, whereas you're on full view, not that I'm really complaining."
Merlin blushed.
He got dressed then retrieved his phone.
"It says here that you should probably just visit the GP so they can straighten it. You probably don't need to go to A&E unless it doesn't stop bleeding."
"Great," replied the other man sarcastically.
Merlin was just thinking up a retort when his phone started ringing.
"Sorry. It's my mate Will. I'll just be a minute."
He went into the hallway to answer the call.
"Hi."
"Merlin, where are you? I've been ringing your doorbell for five minutes. If you're just lying there in bed ignoring me..."
"Sorry, Will. I'm not home."
"Where are you then? It's awfully early for you to be out, unless you didn't come home last night? Mate, did you hook up with someone last night?" Will sounded gleeful.
"Yes I did, and it was great, but I may have broken his nose."
"I didn't know you liked it that rough!"
"No Will. I accidentally hit him because I thought he was my alarm clock."
Merlin had to hold the phone away from his ear so he wouldn't be deafened by the guffaws of laughter from the other end.
"Only you Merlin. Well if he hasn't kicked you out yet that must be a good sign."
"I think the only reason he didn't kick me out straight away was because of pain he was in."
Will teased him for another five minutes before eventually hanging up.
"I'm surprised you haven't already scarpered," said the other man.
"I couldn't really leave you here on your own after possibly breaking your nose. The least I can do is wait until it stops bleeding."
"Thanks."
Merlin kneeled on the bed and replaced the ice pack.
"So how long do we wait before going to A&E?" asked the other man.
###
An hour and a half later, a taxi was dropping them off at A&E. The other man, whose name Merlin had worked out was Arthur, was now thankfully fully dressed, but his nose had refused to stop bleeding and was throbbing with pain. They signed in, and waited to see the triage nurse. Luckily, due to the amount of blood lost, it wasn't long.
"So how did this happen then?" asked the nurse with a strong Irish accent. "You get in a bar fight or something?"
"Sadly not. This prat here thought my face was an alarm clock," sighed Arthur.
Merlin could see the nurse trying to hold back the laughter. He turned to Merlin and raised his eyebrows.
"Looks like someone's going to be sleeping on the couch for a while then."
"Oh, we're not..." Merlin began, but the nurse ignored him, and began questioning Arthur some more about the injury.
Arthur was given some stronger pain medication, and then they were once again sitting waiting.
"If my nose is permanently wonky because of you I am going to make your life hell, just so you know."
"And how would you go about doing that? You don't even know where I live."
"I'm sure I could hunt you down. I have friends in high places."
"Sure..."
"I'll have you know that I have Prince Harry's private mobile number in my phone. I could always ring him up for a favour."
Merlin scoffed disbelievingly.
"And how would you have got that?"
"I met him in the army," explained Arthur.
"You were in the army?"
Merlin hadn't pegged Arthur as a military man.
"Only briefly. I never made it past training. I was knocked off my motorbike by some drunken idiot while on leave. It shattered my leg and I had to have major surgery to have it fixed. That kind of scuppered my chances with the army, so I became a solicitor instead."
Merlin learned that Arthur had only one living parent and a scary sounding half-sister. When he was younger he'd had a pet labrador called Leon, which he'd loved so much that when he'd died he hadn't been able to bring himself to get another pet because it would feel to much of a replacement. His favourite colour was red ("That doesn't mean I appreciate you covering me in blood though.") and he was a secret Doctor Who geek. In return Merlin told him about his mother and his friend Will, and about growing up in rural Wales.
They were so engrossed in conversation the almost missed the doctor calling out Arthur's name.
###
Arthur had been examined by a friendly doctor who introduced himself as Lance. He was helped by a student doctor called Gwen. After a quick assessment, Arthur was carted away to have his nose re-set and Merlin was sent back to the waiting room.
He felt anxious waiting there. He'd known the man for less than a day and yet he already cared about him, though maybe that was just the guilt speaking. He texted Will to pass the time, but Will just mocked him.
He must have been sitting there for at least three quarters of an hour before he heard his name being called. He looked up and there was Gwen.
"Arthur's out of surgery. Everything went fine. He's nose is back in place and they've stopped the bleeding. He's a bit out of it from the local anesthetic and pain meds. He's going to need to ice it for 10-15 minutes every few hours to help with the swelling and he'll need to sleep with extra pillows to keep his head elevated. I'd advise he take the next few days off work and rest up."
As she'd been talking she'd been leading him through the hospital corridors to where Arthur was. Arthur was sitting up on a bed, a bandage over his nose.
"Ah, Merlin! I was wondering whether you'd run away yet."
"I wasn't going to abandon you!" objected Merlin.
Lance came over and gave Arthur a quick once over before deeming him fit to go home.
"Make sure he doesn't do anything too strenuous for the next few weeks. No contact sports for six weeks. He'll need to come in for a checkup in a week to make sure everything's okay. I'd probably advise you not to share a bed for a while just in case there's a recurrence of this incident. Either that or swap sides so you're closer to the alarm clock."
"Um, we're not actually..." Merlin tried to explain, but Arthur interrupted him.
"Thank you Lance. My sister will be here in a few minutes so we'd better get a move on."
"Your sister is coming here? Why?"
"To give us a lift home idiot."
Merlin caught Gwen grinning at the two of them.
"What?" he asked.
"The two of you bicker like an old married couple. It's amusing to watch."
Merlin raised his eyebrows but didn't bother protesting. They got Arthur up out of the bed and into a wheelchair. He was still in a hospital gown, his clothes in a bag on his lap.
When they reached the waiting room again they were immediately accosted by a pale skinned woman with long dark hair who Merlin assumed must be Morgana.
"How are you?" she asked.
"I've been better," replied Arthur.
She turned to Merlin.
"And you must be the culprit. I'm Morgana."
Merlin took the offered hand.
"Merlin. I'm so sorry for hurting your brother. It was an accident."
"Don't worry. Maybe it'll teach him not to sleep around so much. You never know what these strangers are going to do to you! You came to A&E with him so that's definitely a point in your favour."
Merlin blushed.
###
TWO YEARS LATER
Morgana tapped her spoon against her champagne flute to get everyone's attention.
"Hello everyone. I hope you've all had a good time so far. Now it's that time when I get to tell embarrassing stories about our happy couple. I'm sure most of you have heard the story of how they met. It's just the typical boy sleeps with boy, one accidentally breaks the other's nose the morning after, then they fall in love. I have to say, when I first heard that my brother's one night stand had probably broke his nose, I didn't know whether to be concerned for him or to laugh at him. When I met Merlin later, picking them up from the hospital I knew straight away I didn't need to worry about him. Even then, despite the fact he'd only just met him, I could see the concern in Merlin's eyes, and I knew from that moment that even if he didn't stay in contact with my brother, I wanted him as a friend.
"Before he met Merlin, my brother was somewhat of a; what's the polite way of saying this; an uptight prick. I mean, he cared dearly about his friends and family, but anyone else... I'd come to despair that he would never settle. He used to have a different person in his bed every week! I remember one time where he called me up at 3am because the girl he'd gone home with had kicked him out, he didn't have any money on him for a taxi, and he was miles from home.
"Anyway, today is not about the past, but rather the future. I wish you both every happiness, and Merlin, good luck putting up with him. I don't envy you!"
The room was filled with laughter and applause as Morgana sat down. Merlin laughed at Arthur's indignant expression, pulling him in for a quick kiss.
Will wolf whistled at them, but they just ignored him.
"I'm so glad you accidentally broke my nose that day," said Arthur grinning fondly.
Merlin grinned back.