a/n: Here's part two. Just more build up really. The more interesting stuff will happen soon. Promise! All previous warnings still apply although not really for this chapter. Thanks for reading!

Arthur probably should have realized what happened the night that Merlin left. He didn't realize how long he had been staring at the door until he got a phone call from Gaius asking why an extremely upset Merlin had just barged through into his house and ran to his old room without saying a word. Arthur had to try a couple times to get his voice to work before replying that he had no idea what happened.

"Gaius, this isn't Merlin. He's… I don't know. I think he left me. He thinks I've been cheating on him, but I haven't! Honest! I don't know where he would get that from. I don't know what I did." Arthur would have been ashamed at how broken he sounded if he didn't just watch the man he loved walk out of his life, possibly forever.

"Arthur, calm down! I'll talk to him in the morning. I'm sure it's just some sort of phase or something. I'll be back with him tomorrow and we can sit down and talk. You guys can get through this; I know how much you two care about each other."

"I don't know Gaius." He could almost hear the raised eyebrow on the other end of the line. He sighed. "Ok, see you tomorrow."

Arthur didn't go to bed that night. It wasn't like he could sleep anyway, with all his thoughts shoving around in his head fighting for dominance. He sat in Merlin's favorite beat up chair in the living room. He could see the entry way from his perch and just stared at the door, trying to figure out what had happened and, to be honest with himself, waiting for Merlin to come back, to come back and tell him what was wrong. To come back and let everything be alright again.

Arthur didn't get a visit from Gaius and Merlin the next morning, but he did get a phone call. He had finally left his post long enough to make some coffee and get cleaned up. By the time he had gotten out of his shower the red light on his phone was blinking with a message. He played it and poured himself a cuppa. Gaius's voice rang through the air and Arthur felt himself tense.

"Arthur, Merlin refuses to leave his room. But I'll talk to him and call you when he comes out. Keep your head up and don't worry too much. This will turn out fine. You'll see. Don't do anything rash, yeah? Talk to you later."

Gaius didn't call for the rest of the day.

That was the first night Arthur bought alcohol in 3 months. He and Merlin had decided to keep drinks out of the flat since their fateful anniversary where Merlin tried to out himself as a sorcerer to the entire country by writing 'Merlin 3's Arthur' in the sky. In stars. Of course they were both completely pissed and thought it was ridiculously funny at the time. It wasn't so funny the next morning when the papers came out, and they had to deal with killer hangovers, and Uther and Gaius shouting at them, and lots of questions coming their way all at the same time. Thankfully, senior Pendragon had connections at News-printers all across the country and contacts in the scientific field that backed his claim that it was just a romantic, albeit distasteful, prank his young son and his lover had played and not some mystical happening. Arthur was immensely thankful both for his father's help and for the fact that the people actually bought it as some sort of rich heir's entertainment. It was the one time in his life that he was kind of relieved he was viewed as some sort of eccentric, playboy rich kid who hadn't quite grown up yet. He would rather he be seen as something less than he was than have Merlin under that kind of scrutiny, the kind that he would never be able to escape from. It was just another testament to how much he loved that kid. No one had ever made him feel that protective before, and something told him no one else ever would.

Arthur didn't hear from Gaius for two more days and when he did, what he heard shot through his alcohol flooded thoughts like a bullet, sobering him up more than any amount of time ever would.

"Arthur, Merlin's gone missing. He just left. I don't know where he went."