A/N I could never imagine how much joy your reviews would bring me! So thanks to everyone who read my story! Feel free to express your opinions about the second chapter. Hope you'll like it.
It's a hard life
Chapter 2. Friends Will Be Friends
Seeing his friend like this made Arthur smile, though it was little bitter. Merlin always could fall asleep in the most inappropriate places.
When they were at college Merlin fell asleep on every horizontal surface he could reach, like tables at classes, street benches and, of course, floor. Even when they both found themselves as surgeons at the General Hospital, his friend didn't give up on his strange habit – once Arthur found him asleep on the empty operating table and several times – on top of the wheeled beds, which stood near the OR. Most of the times it was out of exhaustion and Merlin usually wore his scrubs. That's why this time Arthur was worried, he had never seen Merlin asleep in the Hospital wearing his own clothes.
"Merlin Emrys, if you don't wake up this instant you'll be late again!" This was the wake-up call Merlin's mother Hunith told Arthur to use to wake Merlin up, when he didn't want to get up. And just as always, it worked like a charm.
"I'm up! I'm up!" Merlin sat up on the couch immediately and looked around searching for his mother. When he saw no one, but Arthur, he relaxed a bit.
"Very funny, Arthur. I didn't think you still remembered 'The wake-up call'. So what happened of such a great emergency that you decided to wake me up?" Judging from his voice, he was still very tired and annoyed.
"Nothing really" Arthur grinned "Just wanted to say "hi" and learn how you're doing"
"I always knew you were a prat" Merlin sighed and laid back down closing his eyes.
"And what do you think you're doing?" Arthur asked in an amused voice.
"God, did they not teach you anything in that Medical school? I though even the first-year student could say that when a person lies down and closes his or her eyes it means they are going to sleep."
"Really? I should remember that" Arthur smiled, if Merlin was making witty retorts, everything was fine. "So tell me, Great Doctor, why are you sleeping in the waiting room when, as far as I know, you have a perfectly nice bed at home?"
Merlin was silent for a moment, then sighed and said:
"It may be perfectly nice, but I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep in it or just see it. Hell, even thinking about that bed makes me nauseous."
"What are you talking about? Something happened between you and Freya?" Now Arthur was seriously worried. He knew how madly in love with the girl Merlin was and he couldn't imagine what happened between the two of them to make Merlin sound like that.
"It's more like something happened between her and some huge guy. On our bed. Which is perfectly nice, by the way" Merlin answered his eyes tightly shut and his hand covering them. His voice was soft, but angry and hurt.
"Oh man, I'm sorry. When did you find out?" Merlin suddenly set up and stared at Arthur.
"Hm, let me think, I'm sleeping on the couch in the waiting room instead of having dinner with my girlfriend. When do you think I found out?" His friend flinched away and looked at Merlin sympathetically. Merlin sighed once again and slumped on the couch. "I'm sorry Arthur. I'm just mad at her and at myself. And I don't know what to do anymore."
"Listen, right now you need to have some rest…" Merlin interrupted him with a slight smile
"That's what I was trying to do when you woke me up."
"Yeah, right. Anyway, I assume you have no place to go, seeing that you decided to sleep in the Hospital. So I suggest you stay at my place for a while, till you decide what to do next. What do think?"
"I think that one of your one-night stands would be really disappointed to find me in the guest bedroom"
"Hey, don't worry about them. Besides, what would any of my girls do in the guest bedroom when I'm in my own?" Arthur grinned "So will you come with me or do you prefer to live in the Hospital?" Before Merlin could even open his mouth Arthur grabbed his hand, pulled him up from the couch and started pulling his friend towards the elevator.
When they reached the underground parking lot Merlin had no choice when Arthur practically pushed him into the passenger seat of his black Porsche Cayenne.
"Listen, I have to make one phone call, so just relax and listen to some music, okay?" with that Arthur turned on the stereo and closed driver's door to his car. Merlin watched him walking around the parking lot talking with someone and then closed his eyes and tried to follow his friend's advice and relax. 'Right, if that's even possible'.
Meanwhile Arthur dialed the number of his date for this evening and tried to sound apologetic. He didn't want Merlin to know that he was cancelling the date or he would insist on Arthur leaving him alone in his flat or even leaving him in the hospital. When he told what's-her-name that his friend needed help and he couldn't meet her she became furious and hung up.
The blond was a little disappointed but he knew Merlin needed him right now, even if he would never admit it. Putting on his best reassuring smile he climbed into the car and started the engine.
"Had to call home and ask all my girls to leave so that you could stay" he said smugly glancing at Merlin.
"Just how many women do you need to satisfy your endless libido?"
"Don't know yet. I guess I have never slept with that many girls at once"
"You're awful, you know that?"
"But you love me anyway" Arthur grinned
"Yeah, I guess I do" after that Merlin closed his eyes again and the rest of the car ride was quiet with only voices of the radio DJs filling the silence.
Arthur tried to concentrate on the road ahead, though they've missed the rush hour and there wasn't much traffic, so he allowed his mind to drift back to his friend. Arthur was worried, it was usually Merlin who did the reassuring and supportive part when Arthur was heartbroken or had a fight with his father or was just in a bad mood. His friend always used to be optimistic and energetic even on his worst days, Merlin was still the same strange but sweet clumsy Merlin. So right now Arthur was at a loss of what to do.
If Freya was a guy, Arthur would kick her ass, but she wasn't and that was a problem.
His only idea so far was to take Merlin to his place, pour as much alcohol into him as possible and then let him sleep in tomorrow. This way he won himself some time to come up with a plan to bring his friend back to his usual cheery self. Because if he couldn't he wasn't sure what he'd do. Somehow during the years they've known each other Merlin wormed his way into Arthur's heart. They turned from enemies to friends and he couldn't even tell how.
Arthur clearly remembered their first encounter. He arrived to the university late on his first year of Medical School, because he had a terrible fight with his father who wouldn't allow him to study history and instead enlisted him to Med school to study surgery. So to say Arthur was pissed when he finally got to his room at the dorm would be a severe understatement. At least that's how he explained his horrible behavior to himself later when guilt started to set in.
He slammed the door open with his foot, barged into the room and turned on the lights. He was greeted with a startled boy who jumped on his bed, apparently he was asleep, and considering it was 2 am.
"I like your side of the room" Arthur stated without greeting.
"What?" the boy's voice was hoarse from sleep and he was sitting on the bed rubbing his eyes like a child.
"I said I like your side of the room. And I didn't know there were deaf doctors. Anyway, move, now!" He finished in a commanding voice, clasping his hands as if everything was set.
"As flattered as I am that you like my bed, feel free to take another one, as the first one to get to the room gets the privilege to choose the bed first" the sleepy boy was finally awake, but after stating his point he turned in bed facing away from the intruder and decided to go back to sleep.
Arthur stood there stunned by the way this boy treated him. Apparently he didn't know who his roommate was, but Arthur was not used to be treated this way and after the legendary fight with his father he needed to blow off his steam. So the next moment he grabbed the figure on the bed wrapped in the blanket, lifted it and practically dumped on the floor outside the room. Before the boy even had a chance o protest, the door was slammed shut and locked and he was left to his own devices.
It was next morning that Arthur first found his roommate sleeping on the floor outside their room. He felt a little guilty, but when he saw other people watching him, he lightly kicked the sleeping form and grumbled "Rise and shine, idiot!"
And that was the way they communicated: Arthur would humiliate Merlin during their classes and leave him outside of the room on the nights he decided to take some girl to his room. Merlin took all the abuse always answering with witty retorts but never complained to any of their professors. Very soon Merlin made friends with Will and Lance and he no longer had to sleep in the hall when Arthur wanted a quick fuck.
It was one autumn night when Arthur warned Merlin not to come back to their bedroom. He didn't really have a date that day he was just angry and wanted to torture his roommate some more. He decided to go to the local pub, where he drank far too much than he should have. Years later he was thankful for that coincidence that made him meet an angry boyfriend of one of his one-night stands and five of his friends. They were all slightly drunk and their eyes read murder. Arthur knew he didn't have a chance against six guys when he was that drunk, so he prepared for the inevitable. When he received a couple of first punches he only hoped to pass out soon.
Suddenly he heard the familiar voice and everything stopped
"If I were you, I'd leave him alone. Sure, he's an ass, but I think he got enough for today" Merlin was standing near the bench covered with a blanket and held his mobile phone as if he was taking a video. "I've already sent the video to my friend and if I don't call him in five minutes he's going to post it on youtube. So I highly recommend you to take your leave"
Arthur couldn't believe his eyes when he saw the mob stalking away glancing back angrily but not able to do anything.
"I thought you were supposed to fuck some random girl today" Merlin stated matter-of-factly taking Arthur's hand, grabbing his blanket and leading his roommate to their room.
"Erm… Well… You know…" It seemed like Arthur had lost his speech
"Trying to thank someone for the first time in your life? Must be hard for you, but with some practice you'll learn to do it as any normal person" Merlin led Arthur into their room, made him sit on the bed and then left for a while to fetch a cup of cold water and a towel.
When Arthur was finally able to say something he muttered "Shouldn't you call your friend? I would prefer my face not to appear on youtube in such a video"
"Surely not, seeing that it's not porn" Merlin smirked "But there's one problem – there's no camera on my phone" Arthur was shocked
"You were bluffing? I can't believe you stood up to six huge drunk guys with nothing but a cheap phone"
"Hey, it's not that cheap, you know." Merlin knelt in front of the bed and started cleaning Arthur's scratches and bruises.
"You're an idiot" Arthur flinched when wet towel touched a particularly sensitive area.
"You haven't thanked me yet and now you call me an idiot. I think I already regret my decision to save you. Maybe I should have allowed them to hit you a couple more times for you to be more grateful."
"So you could have stopped them earlier but decided not to? Well you're not as harmless as you look".
"I'll take that as a compliment" Merlin smiled and started applying band-aids on the large gashes and some salve for the bruises.
"Why were you sleeping on a bench anyway? I thought you found some friends who were stupid enough to let you stay at night." His words were harsh, but his tone was soft.
"Will has to study for a test and Lance went home for the weekend and there's a party downstairs so I couldn't really sleep in the hall. And some people really like me however hard it can be for you to believe." By this time he finished attending to all Arthur's wounds and put away all his supplies. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd like to catch up on some sleep" with that he took his blanket and went for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"My bench is waiting for me" Merlin didn't turn around but Arthur could hear his bitter smile. Merlin put a hand on the doorknob, but didn't have a chance to open the door, as Arthur grabbed his wrist.
"Listen, I'm sorry. I know I acted like an ass and I didn't deserve your help. And I don't know how I'll ever be able to repay you for what you did."
"Now you sound like some knight in the shining armor from the Middle Ages" Merlin turned around to face the blond and smiled. "But in case you're serious about repaying you could spend a few nights sleeping in the hall"
Arthur looked surprised but he knew Merlin had a right to ask him do it, so he took Merlin's blanket and open the door.
"Oh, God! I was just kidding!" Merlin almost doubled over in laughter. "Did you really think I would send you to sleep on the floor?" He quickly grabbed the blanket and pulled Arthur back to the room.
Watching his roommate's fun Arthur couldn't help but smile.
"Seeing as you're so friendly today, maybe we should start our acquaintance from the beginning." Merlin knelt near his own bed, then bent down and fished a bottle from under it. He grinned cheekily and waved the bottle in the air. "Care to join me for a drink?"
After all the adrenalin that rushed through his veins Arthur felt sober enough to agree so he held out his glass while Merlin poured them both generous amounts of what smelled like whiskey. After that Merlin reached out with his right hand and said "Hi, I'm Merlin. I study surgery because I want to save people's lives" Arthur smiled and took his hand.
"I'm Arthur. I never wanted to come here but had no other choice".
"Nice to meet you, Arthur"
"Likewise" and after that they downed their glasses.
After a few more shots, both roommates sat on the floor leaning their backs on their respective beds and just talking. They discussed their families and friends, their professors and favorite books.
"Hey, Arthur, you told me you didn't want to come here, right?"
His blond roommate only silently nodded. He felt too relaxed and didn't want to break the feeling. Arthur couldn't remember last time he could simply sit and talk with someone sharing a bottle of whiskey.
"So why did you apply for the Medical School?"
"I didn't. That was my father – Uther Pendragon. You must know him, he works at the Health Ministry"
"Yeah, I've heard about him. I assume you have a strained relationship" He noticed Arthur tense but decided to push his luck while it was possible "I just wanted to suggest you a kind of solution"
"So you're a professional psychologist and you can make him allow me do what I want?"
"Not really" Merlin smiled "But you know, next year we'll have to choose a specialization. I'm going to choose general surgery, and as long as you're not fond of the opportunity of saving lives, you could go for cosmetic surgery"
Arthur frowned, but the more he thought about Merlin's idea, the more he liked it. It was perfect – he would be able to see beautiful women and his choice would definitely piss his father off. But that was what he deserved for not letting Arthur do as he pleased. So he smiled and brought his glass up to meet Merlin's
"Merlin, I think it's the beginning of the wonderful friendship."
When Arthur finally came back from his memories he found that they had reached his apartment complex and Merlin was looking out of the window with sad eyes. The blond shook himself and opened the door.
"Let's get in. You really look like you could use some sleep"
Once they were inside, cosmetic surgeon went to the kitchen and Merlin trudged to the living room.
"Have I told you that your flat looks like a true bachelor's house?" Merlin tried to joke when Arthur gave him a glass of something alcoholic.
"Yes, you have and I lost count of how many times you did"
"So now you're trying to get me drunk and pull me to bed like one of your girls?"
"As if I would ever use such an advantage and on you, no less. Just tell me where do you hear all those stupid rumors about me?"
"Well, you know our nurses, they speak all the time and they share everything."
"Are you spying on them when they're changing?" Arthur couldn't help but smile, their usual banter sounded reassuring. He hoped that if Merlin could joke he would be fine. He just couldn't bring himself to talk about Freya and as Merlin didn't touch the subject, he decided to wait.
After a few more glasses Merlin felt like his eyelids were getting heavier every second, so he silently put his glass down and went to the guest bedroom. Thankfully he visited his friend's flat enough times to find it on his own. He hoped he had enough to drink to fall asleep soon and have no dreams. He was grateful that Arthur tried to take his mind of his problems and once again gave himself credit for saving the prat's life all those years ago.
Arthur watched Merlin's departure and poured himself another drink. After he made sure his friend was safe and drunk enough to stop thinking about Freya he allowed his rage to show itself. His hand squished the glass so hard his knuckles turned white.
'How could that bitch betray Merlin? How could anyone want to hurt him?'He knew he had to find a way to protect his friend. First thing tomorrow he was going to pay a visit to Freya and have a nice talk to her, but right now he would follow Merlin's example and have some rest.