"Please wake up! Why didn't you come and talk to me?" Arthur cried. "Help! Somebody please help me!" He shouted so loudly his voice broke into more cries.

Meanwhile Gwaine was wandering about the castle. After standing at his post for so long he liked to walk about the place to loosen his legs. On his wander he suddenly heard someone shouting. He ran following the shout to Arthur's chambers. He stopped at the door listening. The shouting had broken into painful sobs. He slowly pushed the door open, completely unprepared for what was on the other side. There lay his best friend in the arms of his king, blood seeping from under his sleeves. "Arthur, what happened?" Gwaine asked his voice full of emotion.

Arthur looked at him tears filling his eyes once again. "I... I don't know. He came to tell me something, but I didn't hear it and then he..." Arthur paused his emotions threatening to fail him again. "He collapsed." He cried looking at Gwaine and then back at Merlin. Arthur then stood up with Merlin still in his arms. He'd never realised how thin and frail Merlin was. "We better get him to Gaius. Maybe there's a chance he can save him."

Gwaine held the door open as Athur hurried towards Gaius' chambers.

"Gaius! Gaius!" Arthur shouted as he pushed open the door.

Gaius had awoken about a half hour ago and was now at his book shelf when he heard Arthur practically screaming his name down the corridor. "Sire, what is going on?" Gaius asked turning round to greet his king. Arthur ran past him towards Merlin's room. Gaius followed Arthur, very lost as to what was going on.

Athur lay Merlin down on his bed, not noticing the note addressed to Gaius at Merlin's foot.

Gaius stopped at the door post now understanding the commotion. "Arthur, what happened?"

"I'll explain later." Arthur began in a slightly irritated tone. He knew every second was vital to saving Merlin, seconds that should not be wasted on pointless questions. "I think he has lost a lot of blood. Is there anything you can do?"

Gaius gave Arthur an unsure look. "I don't know Sire. I will have to inspect the source of the blee..." Before Gaius could finish Arthur rolled up both of Merlin's sleeves revealing multiple deep cuts on his wrists, and several red scars along his arm. Arthur felt the blood drain from his body. "Oh Merlin." Gaius gasped covering his hand with his mouth.

"Can you save him Gaius?" Arthur asked holding his breath.

Gaius abruptly left the room. He returned in what seemed like a lifetime to Arthur with a bowl of hot water, a cloth and bandages. Gaius knelt down beside Merlin and began cleaning his wounds.

Arthur watched Gaius intently, neither of them uttering a word. As soon as Merlin's wrists were bandaged Arthur spoke, releasing the breath he didn't relise he was still holding, "Well?"

Gaius sighed, "I'm afraid there's nothing else we can do, but wait." Gaius then got Arthur to help hold Merlin up while he removed Merlin's blood stained jacket. As he did Gaius felt a weight in one of the pockets, he reached his hand in and pulled out a vial. That's when it hit him.

Arthur watched as Gaius' eyes filled with tears. Arthur had never seen the man before him cry, so to see it now terrified him. "What? What is it Gaius? Arthur asked his voice filled with fear.

Gaius sat down on the edge of Merlin's bed and looked Arthur dead in the eye. "Merlin was trying to kill himself."

The moment the words left Gaius' lips Arthur stumbled back against the wall, looking as though he had been stabbed in the chest. He slowly let himself fall to the floor and held his head in his hands. "That explains the scars on his arms and the cuts on his wrists." Arthur mumbled. "I didn't realise he was so depressed."

"Nor did I Sire, but he didn't entirely succeed." Gaius said calmly.

"What do you mean? That vial is poision, isn't it?" Arthur replied inquisitively.

"I am happy to say that it's not. It is but rather a strong sleeping remedy."

"Thank heaven for that then." Arthur said feeling relieved.

"Sire you should return to your chambers and rest. Merlin will be asleep for at least another 24 hours."

"You'll wake me if there's any change?"

Gaius simply nodded and then he stood up to bow to his king.

"Well okay then." And with that Arthur left.

Gaius found himself sighing again, so he grabbed a chair sat down beside Merlin. "Why didn't you come to me? I could have helped. You were never alone Merlin and you never will be."

About an hour later Gaius decided to get some rest himself. As he went to leave he turned around to glance at Merlin before he did. That's when he saw a bit of paper poking out from under Merlin's blanket. He pulled the paper out from under the blanket an sat back down in the chair beside Merlin's bed. He turned the paper over to find it was a letter addressed to him. Eager to know Merlin's reasoning behind his suicide attempt Gaius quickly opened the letter.

Dear Gaius,

Words can't even begin to describe how sorry I am for what I am about to put you through. You have been much more than a friend to me these past years, you've been like a father to me. And despite all of my screw ups you continued to stand by me. So you must know that this has nothing to do with you. Now that Arthur is king, and that Mordred and Morgana are dead I shouldn't have to lie to about my magic, but I do. If Arthur knew I'd lied to him all these years I would lose his friendship and trust, never mind my own life. And I can't lie to him anymore. It hurts too much to the point where just get really depressed. It's not worth the aggravation. So I'm going to tell Arthur that I have magic and I'm going to make sure that I die on my own terms once I do. I think death would hurt that much more if it were at a dear friend's hand. And honestly my life just isn't worth living anymore. I'm sorry but there is no other way.

All my love, Merlin.

P.S. Tell the prat not to blame himself. It had nothing to do with him, and tell him I believe in him.

Gaius starred at the fragil, raven haired boy. Tears streaming down his face, he cried so much that eventually he found himself drifting off to sleep.

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Chapter 3 will be on it's way soon. Also I apologize for any typos, my microsoft word needs renew which I don't have the money to do right now. So I'm using word pad and it doesn't have spell check.