Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin
Thanks 4 the reviews : ) This is my 1st modern day merthur fic so I'm glad you like
Chapter 2-The Morning After
Confused and feeling slightly hurt, Arthur crawled off of the bed and located his boxers. He slipped them on before pulling his shirt back on. Not wanting to return to his own room wearing jeans covered in dried puke, he moved to the wardrobe and selected a pair of Merlin's jeans to wear. They were a little small for him and hugged his ass tightly but they would do for now. Shoving his feet into his shoes, Arthur picked up his dirty jeans and left the room and walked down the corridor, turned left before fumbling for his key and opening the door to his own.
He dumped his dirty jeans in the wash basket that was beginning to overflow and shrugged his shirt off and added it to the pile. He then toed his shoes off, stepped out of Merlin's jeans and tossed his dirty boxers onto the pile of dirty clothes.
After taking a quick shower and cleaning his teeth, Arthur pulled on some fresh clothes before making his way down to the canteen. He selected a bright green apple and a glass of orange juice for his breakfast. He spied Gwen sat at a table with Lancelot and Sophia so he moved over to join them.
"Morning." Arthur greeted letting out a slight wince when he sat down.
"Good morning." Gwen replied brightly as she tucked into her sausage, bacon, eggs and fried toast.
Lancelot, a tall, dark and handsome boy with slightly tanned skin and a chin peppered with stubble, nodded to Arthur in greeting as he ate his own cooked breakfast.
Sophia, a slim red-haired girl with ruby lips smiled tentatively at Arthur as she nibbled on her dry toast. She wasn't much of a talker first thing in the morning, but past lunch time it was often a great difficulty in getting her to shut up.
"Where's Morgana?" Arthur asked as he sipped on his juice and idly juggled the apple between his hands.
"Hung-over." Gwen replied. "She won't be getting up to gone twelve at least."
"She didn't go home with anyone last night did she?" He questioned.
"No." Gwen assured him. "She kissed a cute guy though."
Arthur shuddered at the thought.
"You shouldn't be so protective dude." Lancelot told him. "Morgana's a grown woman; she can take care of herself. She's not a baby anymore you know, she has breasts and wears a bra and has periods and everything."
"Well she's still my baby sister." Arthur replied even though he was only two days older than her. "And if I hear you mention her breasts again I'll staple your eyelids shut."
"Easy man, I was just saying." Lancelot replied holding his hands in the air defensively.
"Whatever. Have any of you seen Merlin this morning?" Arthur asked.
"Nope." Lancelot answered whilst Sophia shook her head.
"No, I thought he'd be with you." Gwen said.
"Well I got him home last night." Arthur replied. "But I haven't seen him this morning." He added thinking it was best not to mention the fact that his best friend had fucked his brains out.
"Maybe he's visiting his uncle." Gwen suggested.
"Nope." Lancelot said as he pointed across the room. "He's over there."
Arthur looked up to see Merlin picking out his breakfast. Tray in hand he weaved his way through the tables. Arthur held his breath wondering how he was supposed to act when Merlin sat with them. However, Merlin turned in the other direction and sat at a table beside Will and Nimueh.
"Why's he sitting there?" Arthur asked trying to keep the hurt out of his voice. "He always sits with me and Gwen."
"I guess he didn't see us." Gwen replied with a shrug.
"Yeah…I guess." Arthur said looking down at his apple and finding he had no desire to eat it.
As he heard Merlin's sound of laughter he felt his heart clench. It was usually him who made Merlin laugh like that. He felt his dislike for both Will and Nimueh suddenly intensify and took it upon himself to glare daggers at the back of their heads.
"You ok dude?" Lancelot asked noticing the expression upon the blonde's face.
"Fine." Arthur lied as his intense dislike for the far too pretty Nimueh morphed into hatred as Merlin leaned in to whisper something in her ear and she giggled before looking up at Merlin through her lashes in blatant flirtation.
"If you say so." Lancelot replied clearly not believing him but not pressing the matter. "See you later."
"Bye." Gwen called as the handsome boy she so obviously had a crush on walked away.
"I'm finished." Sophia said placing down her half-eaten toast. "Bye for now."
"See you." Gwen said frowning at how little the redhead girl had ate. "I'm really starting to worry about Sophia."
"Why?" Arthur asked still staring harshly at the dark-haired tart practically hanging on Merlin's arm; did she really have to lean forwards like that so her cleavage was on full display?
"She's barely been eating." Gwen told him. "And she's losing so much weight. Her bones are starting to poke through her skin. I think she may have an eating disorder."
"I hadn't noticed anything." Arthur admitted.
"What should we do?" Gwen asked.
"Don't ask me." Arthur replied. "I'm useless with this kind of thing. Wait to Morgana's sobered up; she'll know what to do."
Gwen nodded before following Arthur's piercing blue gaze to where Merlin was sat with Will and Nimueh.
"They are so flirting." Gwen commented referring to Merlin and Nimueh just as Will got up and left. "It's sweet isn't it?"
"It's disgusting." Arthur mumbled.
"Oh my gosh." Gwen laughed. "I can't believe I never realised before."
"Realised what?" Arthur asked as the sound of someone dropping a glass was heard before laughter and a round of applause.
"You fancy Nimueh." Gwen exclaimed.
"Err…no I don't." Arthur told her slowly.
"Oh of course not." Gwen replied sarcastically. "Don't worry Arthur, your secret's safe with me."
Arthur didn't even bother to deny his supposed crush on the whore again. He merely took a bite into his previously untouched apple and felt the citrus explode in his mouth before the chunk got lodged in his throat and he began to choke.
"Arthur?" Gwen asked nervously as she saw the blonde's face turn beet red and his blue eyes start to water. "Arthur!" She cried in panic as she jumped up and down hysterically not knowing what to do.
Hearing her panicked cries, everyone turned around to stare and saw Arthur clutching at his throat.
In a matter of seconds, Merlin was by his friend's side and thumping him on the back hard until the piece of apple flew out of his mouth and on to the floor.
"Arthur?" Merlin asked in concern. "Arthur, look at me, are you alright?"
Still coughing and spluttering a little Arthur nodded before a slightly calmer Gwen handed him her water. He drank it down slowly and his skin gradually returned to its normal colour.
"Thanks." Arthur managed to get out as he looked his friend in the eye.
"That's what friends are for right." Merlin replied with a grin.
"Are you alright?" Nimueh asked as she came over to join them standing much to close to Merlin for Arthur's liking.
"I'm fine." Arthur gritted out.
"You saved him Merlin." Nimueh gushed. "You're a hero."
"Oh well, I don't know about that." Merlin replied modestly.
"Oh you are." Nimueh assured him. Surely it was too cold to be wearing a skirt that short, Arthur thought, or was it just an overlarge belt? "So, about this evening…"
"Yeah." Merlin replied before she finished her sentence. "I'd love to go out to dinner with you."
"Great." Nimueh exclaimed with a devilish smirk. "I can't wait." She pressed a kiss to Merlin's pale cheek leaving a smudge of bright red lipstick before walking away.
"You're going on a date?" Arthur asked.
"Yeah." Merlin replied not quite meeting the other boy's eye. "What's wrong with that? I really like Nimueh, she's smart, she's funny, and she's beautiful."
"Nimueh, smart?" Arthur scoffed. "When Mr. Hamilton asked her how many edges a cube had she asked him what a cube was…and she isn't even that pretty if you scrub off all that cheap make-up and she wouldn't know funny if it danced naked in front of her wearing a dragon mask."
"Well I like her." Merlin said.
"Um…I'm going to go check on Morgana." Gwen told them uncomfortably. "She might be awake by now."
"See you round." Merlin said before making his way towards the double doors.
Arthur shoved his chair out of the way and followed after him not even noticing that he stepped into somebody's spilled cranberry juice. He jogged after Merlin and yanked him into an empty classroom determined to talk to him.
"You were gone." Arthur snapped.
"What do you mean?" Merlin asked playing dumb which infuriated Arthur.
"Fuck sake Merlin you know what I mean." Arthur retorted as he kicked the leg of a table before focusing his attention on a poster depicting Shakespeare's face complete with large white collar. "This morning I woke up and you weren't there."
"Look I'm sorry alright." Merlin replied as he chose to fix his eyes on a battered copy of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice that had been left out on one of the desks. "I just didn't know how to handle it."
"Well it's not difficult." Arthur told him. "You just had to wait for me to wake up or wake me up yourself."
"I felt awkward ok." Merlin sighed. "I mean it was just a stupid drunken mistake I didn't know how I was supposed to act."
"A stupid drunken mistake." Arthur repeated bitterly before turning back to face his best friend. "So that's all it was to you, a one night stand?"
"It just shouldn't have happened mate." Merlin answered as he ran a hand through his raven hair. "I was drunk and horny and you were just…there."
"Oh thanks, that makes me feel so special." Arthur drawled sardonically.
"I've already told you I'm sorry." Merlin said. "What more do you want? I'm sure you've had one night stands that you've regretted the day after."
"You regret it?" Arthur asked in a tone just above a whisper.
"Of course I do." Merlin replied. "You're my best mate and you're a bloke. I mean fuck, I'm not gay you know. Neither of us are, we'd just had too much to drink. Look nobody has to know about last night. Let's just forget about it ok."
"I wasn't drunk Merlin." Arthur told him. "I didn't drink anything last night because I was driving. I was stone cold sober."
"You were?" Merlin asked in shock and the blonde nodded. "Fucking hell Arthur, if you were sober why the fuck didn't you stop me."
"I tried." Arthur replied as he stepped closer to Merlin who backed away from him. Arthur felt a stab of pain at Merlin's reaction but chose not to comment. "I told you you were drunk and that we shouldn't but you wouldn't listen to me, not that you ever do. You made a move on me Merlin not the other way around."
"I was drunk." Merlin interjected defensively. "I didn't know what I was doing."
"You knew exactly what you were doing." Arthur told him. "You wanted it Merlin and you enjoyed it as much as I did. I know you did."
"You're wrong." Merlin replied in disgust. "It was a mistake and that's all there is to it."
He turned around to leave the room but Arthur's next comment stopped him.
"It was my first time."
"Mine too." Merlin said quietly. "I swear, I've never done it with a guy before…you were just…it just happened."
"No Merlin." Arthur said softly. "I mean, it was my first time…with anyone."
"What? You mean…you were a virgin?" Merlin asked in disbelief.
Blushing slightly Arthur nodded.
"Sorry." Merlin apologized. "But like I said, it was a mistake yeah. Forget it. I won't tell anybody, you don't tell anybody and we never mention it again."
"I don't think it was a mistake." Arthur said quietly. "I liked what we did."
"Fuck." Merlin swore. "Arthur, mate, if you're gay then…whatever, yay go gay, cheer for queer, you're still my best friend and everything but…I'm not gay. I love the girls and I love the pussy."
"But…" Arthur tried to object.
"Don't Arthur." Merlin sighed as he opened the door and stepped out with a look of guilt written all over his face. "Just…just don't."
The blonde sighed as he watched his friend go and he hung his head in his hands.
To Be Continued
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