Alice: New chapter!
Emily: Thanks for reading and reviewing!
Alice: Here's the next chapter. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
Merlin followed Arthur out of homeroom and into the vacant hallway. Great, he thought to himself, no witnesses if he decides to murder me. Still he sucked it up and followed him until they were far from their class. Many of the students obnoxiously stared at them as they were walking out, and Merlin knew they most likely would have eavesdropped if they stayed near. "Alright," Arthur sighed, turning around to Merlin. "What the hell is going on?"
"How should I know?" Merlin countered.
"Because you're a part of this!"
"So are you." He stubbornly crossed his arms.
"Yes but I'm important," he obnoxiously replied. "I can't have the whole school thinking I'm gay! Or worse, that I'm gay with you!"
Merlin scowled. "This is inconvenient for me too! I don't want people thinking I'm your boyfriend!"
"Why not?" Arthur's tone changed. He sounded confused. "Everyone wants me to be their boyfriend. This works out well for you considering it's me."
He could instantly feel the headache coming. Merlin rubbed his forehead, wondering how anyone could be so idiotic and obnoxious. When Merlin raised his head to meet Arthur's eyes, he was surprised to see Arthur expected an answer. Merlin merely rolled his eyes. "Look it's just inconvenient for me, okay?"
Arthur shrugged, not bothering to push Merlin into admitting anything. For once, he actually appreciated something Arthur did. He knew if Arthur asked, he would start to blush and stammer out a ridiculous lie. "It's bad for both of us. We just have to prove the article wrong."
Merlin frowned. "And how are we going to do that? I already tried telling one of my best friends that it was a lie, and she didn't believe me!"
"By ignoring each other," he supplied. "If we don't give them any fights or interactions, they'll eventually forget about the article!"
Merlin opened his mouth, prepared to protest, but instantly closed it after the comment. It was actually a good idea. If the school saw a lack of interaction, they'd become bored with the "couple" and forget about the article. It was actually brilliant. He grinned. "That's not a completely dumb idea!"
Arthur raised an eyebrow. "Thanks?"
"Sorry I just figured you'd have a dumb idea," he replied honestly.
"You're an idiot," the blond mumbled under his breath. "Come on, let's go back to homeroom."
Merlin nodded and silently followed Arthur back to the classroom. Their plan was going to work. It had to.
When they made it back to homeroom, the entire class stared at them. It wasn't subtle, and Merlin instantly flushed at all the attention. Arthur must have noticed, and he rolled his eyes at the boy. Glaring at him, Merlin was about to say something about Arthur's look, but he shut his mouth. They couldn't interact. The class would think their fights were fake. Instead of fighting him, Merlin just walked to his seat where Gwen was. She smiled at him. "Well? How'd it go?"
"I don't want to talk about it," he grumbled, sitting at his desk.
Gwen's gaze became sympathetic. "Did you fight with him?"
"He's not my boyfriend!" Merlin argued. "Honestly, Gwen, why would I date someone like him?"
Gwen pretended to think about it. "Well he is quite handsome."
"He's a bully!"
She snorted. "He hasn't been a bully in years. I'm guessing you had something to do with that?"
When she outright winked at him, Merlin let his head fall into his hands in embarrassment. It would definitely be a while before people deduced the two of them weren't dating.
Merlin walked into his biology course, silently cursing everyone who stared at him. Wherever he went, both students and teachers were watching him. Some people even had the nerve to try and talk to him about his relationship with Arthur! A couple of girls shyly approached him and asked how he'd managed to make Arthur fall in love with him. When he answered that they weren't in love, the girls just sympathetically stared at him and claimed they supported the couple. They thought he was scared to come out!
He was already out, for goodness sake!
At one point, a group of Arthur's ex-girlfriends approached him and asked if Arthur's father knew. When he had tried to explain they weren't dating, the girls cut him off and warned him how mean Mr. Pendragon was towards Arthur's girlfriends. "He refused to let me into Arthur's house!" One girl, Mithian, had exclaimed. The group of girls nodded their heads in agreement and talked about their individual horror stories involving Arthur's father.
"Just be careful!" Vivian had told him. "You and Arthur make such a cute couple, and we'd hate to see Mr. Pendragon ruin it!"
It was one of the strangest interactions he'd ever experienced.
Sighing, he glanced at Gaius, the teacher for the biology course. Unlike the majority of teachers, Gaius insisted on being called by his first name in the classroom. He was one of Merlin's favorite teachers, and he desperately hoped the older man wouldn't have conservative views on his sexuality. Before the article, he kept his orientation quiet. While he wasn't in the closet, he didn't blurt it out to everyone he knew. Now the newspaper did that for him.
Merlin took a seat at his lab table and glanced at the empty seat next to him. Arthur was originally supposed to sit next to him, but due to their fighting, Gaius moved Arthur closer to the front of the room. Now the two of them had to sit alone, without any lab partners. At the time, Merlin had been furious that Arthur ruined his chances at having a proper lab partner. Now he was thankful. If they didn't sit next to each other, no one would be constantly watching them.
When the bell rang, Merlin jumped. He was so lost in his thoughts he didn't realize class was about to start.
Gaius walked in front of the classroom and awkwardly glanced at Merlin then at Arthur. "Arthur," Gaius coughed, "given the discovery of… you relationship, would you like to change you seat?"
Arthur flushed and turned around, glaring at Merlin. "No," he gritted his teeth together. "I'm fine where I am."
Gaius frowned at the statement but eventually shrugged it off. "You can always change if you want."
With that statement, Gaius turned to the chalkboard and began instructing the students. Merlin eagerly listened and jotted down everything Gaius wrote on the board. In a few short minutes, he managed to forget all of the drama from this morning. Until Gaius's phone rang from his desk. Blinking, Gaius walked to the phone and picked it up. "This is Gaius," he answered professionally. "Yes. Alright. I'll send him over."
Gaius hesitantly hung up the phone and turned to Merlin. "Merlin?" he spoke up. "Mr. Pendragon would like to speak to you."
Merlin blinked, "Um… now?"
"Yes." He replied as though it was obvious. "Now."
Merlin immediately sought out Arthur in the class. Arthur just shrugged at him, but Merlin could see the underlying panic in his eyes. Standing up, Merlin reluctantly walked out of the classroom and towards the principal's office. He really, really hoped this wasn't about the article, but he highly doubted it. What else could Mr. Pendragon possibly want to see him for?
He slowly walked into the office and told the secretary his name. Nodding her head, she lead him to Mr. Pendragon's office and wished him good luck. Somehow that did not make him feel any better. She closed the door behind her, leaving Merlin to stand in the middle of the office.
Mr. Pendragon was facing the window, not even looking at the poor boy. "S-sir?" Merlin stammered.
Mr. Pendragon turned to him. "Merlin," he smiled. "Sit."
Nodding his head, Merlin immediately made his way to the seat, plopping down and staring fearfully at the man. "Sir?" he asked.
"Merlin," Uther made his way across the room and sat behind his desk. "Some teachers have brought a certain newspaper article to my attention. I assume you know the one I am speaking of?"
Merlin nodded, his hands shaking. "I'm pretty sure I do." He stated, trying to look braver than he felt.
"Our school prohibits such… personal articles." Uther folded his hands together. "I was told that the original article was supposed to be about the upcoming football game between our rival school. Yet this morning it was about you and my son."
"I know." Merlin flinched. "Well, I know about the article. I didn't know it was tampered with… although I did guess."
"Did you write the article?" Uther's eyes narrowed.
Merlin frowned. "Of course not! Why would I publish an article like that?"
Uther nodded. Whatever he saw in Merlin's expression, he found it sincere enough. Merlin sighed in relief. At least he wasn't in trouble for hacking into the school's computers and changing the documents. "I read the article," Uther confessed, leaning back on his chair. "It… surprised me."
"Me too," he grumbled.
Uther narrowed his eyes at the comment and leaned forward, almost intimidatingly. "I have seen you fighting with my son on multiple occasions. Both of you have been sent here due to your disputes. Those seemed far too real to fake. Am I correct?"
Merlin nearly cried in relief. Of course Uther would see through the lie of the article! He was a smart man and the father of Arthur. He'd know this whole dating rumor was a lie! Merlin nodded eagerly. "Of course!" He blurted out. "I mean, no offense, but your son's a prat! I mean, he's not a terrible person, but he's too used to getting his way and can be really rude and spoiled. If I don't call him out on it, who will?"
Uther nodded, searching Merlin's expression once again for any sign of a lie. Finding none, the man suddenly grinned, and it made Merlin feel extremely uncomfortable. He was happy Merlin called his son a spoiled prat?
"I am happy we had this conversation," Uther grinned. "Are you free tonight?"
"T-tonight?" Merlin questioned. "Yes? Why—"
"I'd like to invite you to have dinner with my family." Uther declared. Judging by his tone, it wasn't an invite but a demand. "I'd like to get to know my son's boyfriend a little more."
"What?" he exclaimed. "But—"
"Go back to class," Uther grinned. "I'll have Arthur pick you up at around six."
"But Mr. Pendragon—"
"Call me Uther." He declared. "Now go back to class. We can continue this discussion over dinner."
Knowing there was no point in fighting, Merlin numbly stood up and walked out of the office. What just happened? For a second, Merlin thought Uther definitely saw through the lie. It seems he bought it, just like everyone else in the school. As he walked through the halls, he wondered how his life became this dramatic mess.
When he finally made it back to his biology class, he wasn't surprised at the blatant stares everyone gave him. Even Arthur appeared pale and worried. Gaius watched him as he made his way to his seat and didn't bother saying anything until he sat down. Once Merlin met his eyes, Gaius instantly turned towards the board and continued his lesson.
A few seconds passed, and suddenly Arthur grabbed his bags and textbooks. The blond literally dashed to Merlin's table and threw himself in the seat next to him. "What happened?" Arthur whispered. "What did he say?"
The two boys ignored the entire class watching them.
Merlin hesitantly turned to Arthur. "He… um… he invited me over for dinner."
Arthur blinked. "What?"
"I tried telling him that we… but he kept interrupting me," he explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "He thinks we're dating, and he invited me over for dinner, and should I be scared?"
Arthur parted his lips, silent for a moment before shaking his head. "I don't know," he confessed. "He's… he's never invited any of my girlfriends over. This is the first time he's done something like this."
"So either he really likes me or he really hates me?" Merlin clarified.
"Basically."
"Great," he grumbled, turning his eyes away from the board. "You're picking me up at six, by the way."
"I am?"
Merlin nodded, writing his address and cell phone number on a sheet of paper. Handing it to Arthur, he stated, "Please make sure your dad's not going to murder me."
Arthur slowly nodded, taking the sheet of paper in his hands. "I'll try."
Tonight was going to be terrible.
Alice: Thank you for reading!
Emily: Let me know what you think!
