Title: I Will Still Love You Tomorrow
Disclaimed: Sadly, I don't own Merlin.
Warning: AU, BROLIN, MERTHUR, VIOLENCE, and CHARACTERS DEATH
Special Thanks to: scheiGuy for being the AWESOME beta!
A/N: Okay remember to pay attention to Date!
Chapter 3
Wilmington, North Carolina
September 09, 1917
A bump on the road made the car rattle forcing Merlin Emrys to wake from his nap. He groaned and rubbed the portion of his head that bumped into the window where he was resting it. His friend, William Elias Vanderwood – Merlin called him Will for short – was also thrown into consciousness by the same reason Merlin was. Adam McLoving, the Vanderwood's butler, was the driver of the car and quickly apologized to his passengers, as they headed toward the private school the two young boys would be staying until winter break.
"Where are we now?" Will asked, rubbing his sleeping eyes.
Merlin looked out the window and shrugged. "I don't know."
From outside the window of the car all one could see were landscapes of corn crops that could go on for miles and miles. There were some fields that had red or brown farms scattered about, but there were no houses in sight.
"Can't believe my dad actually sent us off to private school," Will whined.
Merlin grinned. "Well, he wouldn't have if you hadn't nearly torched that old Simmons's house," he pointed out.
His friend scoffed. "Yeah, she deserved it. That stupid old crone," he snickered. "But you didn't have to bear this torture with me. You could have stayed with your mom."
Merlin smirked. "You really think she would have said no to your father when he offered me an education to one of the best private schools in North Carolina?"
"He's only doing it because he thinks you're a better son than me."
Merlin frowned. "You know that's not true, Will. Your father loves you," he assured his friend.
"Sometimes I wish that were true," Will confessed. "Well, at least you're an honest friend to me and for that you've earned respect from my father, unlike those who like to kiss up to him."
"Nobody likes to kiss ass, Will. Besides, it isn't really fair for the other kids when we've all known each other since birth. I'm pretty sure some of them genuinely want to be your friend," Merlin said, smiling, but Will only scoffed at the comment. Then Merlin noticed the large building coming into view that looked like a giant castle, making it feel like he had been transported to another time in history – the Medieval Times. "It's beautiful," he said, truly astonished.
Will only saw it as a prison and sighed dreadfully. "Where all the rich and snobby brats have lived their entire lives," he added.
Merlin laughed. "I'm pretty sure they're not that bad, Will. You're rich but you're kind."
"That's because my father taught me how to think, not what to think. Not all within the rich society is as wise as my family. I mean, come on – who in their right mind would secretly marry a white woman and a black man in the state of North Carolina?"
"A kind one like Mr. Vanderwood," Merlin said, firmly.
Will smirked. "I know." He added, "And Merlin, if one day you fall in love with a black woman, I will definitely help you two get your secret marriage."
"I will hold that in your account, Will," he said with a grin.
The car stopped in front of the gate. A security guard came to confirm their arrival with Adam. Merlin was going to miss Adam, along with his mother and the Vanderwood family. Adam was a very loyal butler for the Vanderwood family ever since Merlin met them. He was very skinny and old, probably in his early sixties but he was still very strong and an open-minded person. His hair was gray and he had a bald spot on the top of his head. His eyes were light green and his skin was wrinkling. He was the person Mr. Vanderwood trusted most. Merlin thought Mr. Vanderwood hoped that Merlin would be Will's loyal butler someday, but a year ago tragedy struck, and that hope shattered. Merlin had been diagnosed with tuberculosis, much like his mother. The doctor said there was no way to tell when exactly this disease would claim his life, which was not really reassuring in any way. He was told that as long as he kept up his healthy lifestyle, his happiness, and took his medication, he could live a long, fulfilling life. This wasn't 100% accurate, of course, but if Merlin was anything in this life, he was a fighter through and through.
The security guard finally went into his booth and opened the gate for their car to enter. They drove for at least another two miles on the pavement before they were in front of the school's entrance. The castle-look-a-like school had the school name "Camelot Private" imprinted in stone on top of the large door entrance, with two giant dragon statues railing down each side of the case of stairs.
A round man around his mid-forties with well-groomed brunette hair and narrow brown eyes with a very thick pair of glasses came out from the entrance with a few of the school servants. They came to help Mr. McLoving carry Will and Merlin's luggage into their dorm room. He was not very tall, probably only a few centimeters taller than Merlin. He was wearing a tan-collar shirt with a black tie, red blazer, and black trousers. Merlin could see the round man was smiling and looked very jolly as he approached them, but he sensed that this man was going to be very domineering and rude. He met people like him before and defining them was now easy.
"This must be the young Mr. Vanderwood," said the round man, smiling from ear to ear as he shook hands with Will. Then he turned to Merlin and his eyes changed from kind ones to lusty ones, which Merlin thought was disturbing. "And you must be Merlin Emrys," he said with interest. "I've heard so much about you from Mr. Vanderwood." He reached out his stubby hand for a shake and Merlin reluctantly took it but quickly pulled back when he realized the older man was actually caressing his hand.
Will saw what happened and pushed Merlin behind him protectively. "I'm sorry, but, who are you?" Will demanded.
The man gave them a crocodile smile. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me-"
"Yes, it was," Will snapped, angry eyes shot daggers at the older man. Will did not appear to be a very intimidating person but he was very skilled in hand-to-hand combat.
"I'm Gilbert Roland Porker, the vice principal of this wonderful school," he said matter-of-factly, still eyeing Merlin while gesturing to the grand building. "I will assign a student to show you around after school hours. Right now, Mr. Kilgharrah, your principal, is waiting for you young boys in his office." He finally broke his lustful contact with Merlin and walked up the stairs, expecting both of the boys to follow. "Come on, boys," he said, gesturing his hands for them to come up.
Merlin and Will exchanged apprehensive looks before following the pervert up the stairs and all the way toward Mr. Kilgharrah's office. Will leaned close to Merlin as the older brunette man chattered away about how wonderful the school and the staff were in a faked polite voice. "It hasn't been five minutes and we already meet the biggest perv' in Wilmington," Will whispered loudly to Merlin.
"I know…I think he thinks that he can take advantage of me just because I'm poor," Merlin scoffed, agreeing, shaking his head.
His friend gave out a muffled chuckle. "Don't get yourself kicked out on your first day, Merl'."
"Ha, unlike you I have nothing to lose," he reminded Will, causing him to frown.
"If you get kicked out then so will I."
Merlin smiled and playfully elbowed Will. "Friends till the end, huh?"
"Merlin, there is no end for us. There is only-"
"Infinity!" Both of them said in unity with a laugh, which stopped the perverted vice principal from his chattering, turning to the two boys.
"What is so funny?" Porker demanded.
Both of them gave him identical sly smiles. "Nothing," they said, and as the pervert turned away to continue his rambling of nonsense both of them rolled their eyes in annoyance. "And he calls that courting," laughed Merlin.
"Do you think he has sexually harassed any of the boys here?" Will asked curiously.
Merlin rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Probably…but if he did, we will-"
"Make sure he gets kicked out," Will finished for him, both boys nodding in agreement.
"Come on, let's meet this principal," Will said as he wrapped his arm around his best friend's shoulder. They followed the rambling pervert the rest of the way to the principal's office. As they entered, Porker greeted a slender and attractive young secretary, who was sitting behind a desk by the principal's office entrance. In front of the desk there was a holder for a nameplate, imprinted was the name Aithusa Tarragon. Merlin wasn't sure if Aithusa's hair was either white or platinum blond but it made his pale skin look tanner. His eyes were attractively stormy-blue. He had a round face with a soft chin and elegant cheekbones. His body looked very edgy as if he had never worked out his whole life.
Aithusa smiled attractively toward the two new students, excusing the perverted vice principal as he spotted them. "You must be William Elias Vanderwood and Merlin Emrys," he said politely with a smooth voice. They nodded shyly at him. "I'm Aithusa Tarragon," he introduced himself as he rounded his desk and opened the principal's entrance door for them. They entered. "Mr. Kilgharrah will be with you two shortly," he informed them before he went back out.
They could hear Porker try to flirt with Aithusa but the beautiful secretary dismissed him in the most gracious way. When they heard the door slam outside, Merlin and Will couldn't help but laugh quietly at the continued failure of the vice principal's attempts. They soon came to a stop as a tall, older man with bright golden hair matching his golden eyes came in with another tall, handsome boy with wavy dirty blond hair. They already assumed the older man was the principal since the boy was about their age, wearing the school uniform: crisp, black dress shorts, a tan-collared dress shirt with a red vest covering it that held the patch of a golden dragon, raised and poised for attack, sown onto his left side – it fit nicely with his well-built body and long legs, with a black tie wrapped around his muscular neck. Meanwhile, the golden-haired principal was wearing black trousers, a white-collared shirt with a gold tie and a black blazer.
"Greetings, gentlemen. I am Mr. Kilgharrah, your principal," he introduced himself, smiling cheerily; Merlin and Will were no fools to that smile, as they've seen those kind of eyes before: the kind that seemed permanently fixed with intimidation. "This is your dormitory head boy, Leon Knightly, and he will be the one to show you around the school, as well as your room."
The handsome boy smiled charmingly at his two new classmates.
Mr. Kilgharrah went around his desk to sit in his black Georgian wingback chair before pulling two red folders from a drawer and dropping them onto his desk. He opened Will's file first and scanned it quickly before scanning Merlin's file. After five short minutes, he put the files down and looked up to the boys. "So…you torched your last principal's house, huh?"
"Almost torched," Merlin corrected, but Mr. Kilgharrah was not amused.
He sighed. "Because Mr. Vanderwood is a very old friend of mine, I will turn a blind eye on this unfortunate event, but…" He give both of the boys a grimly stare. "If you ever try anything like that on my school grounds, I will make sure you will not be able to attend any other schools. Is that clear?"
Merlin knew both he and Will didn't care much about their education. Ever since they were little, they never dreamt of becoming someone who would sit behind a desk in a boring office and do boring paperwork. Their plans were to travel around the world, living off the money they earned with their talents in painting, writing, and music – a world with no greed or materialistic-attachment, only freedom. Unfortunately, they had to wait until Will turned eighteen to inherit his late grandfather's wealth before they could begin their journey.
"Yes," both of them answered at the same time, but knew that threat wouldn't stop them if the tides turned that way.
Mr. Kilgharrah slowly nodded before turning to Leon. "I will put them under your care, Leon. Be sure to take care of them – especially him." He directed the last part specifically to Merlin.
Merlin grimaced at the tone the principal was using. Why do they worry so much about him when the one they should really worry about was Will? Will was the prankster of their dynamic duo: the one who could ruin everyone's day with a simple word, while Merlin was more like an acquaintance to the trickeries his friend created. But this is Camelot Private, first-rated school of the first class society. Will was already accepted as a human being among the first class society, due to his father's good-standing, but Merlin had met snobby know-it-all brats before and they are certainly ruder than any of the people living on the street. "Don't worry about me. I'm sure I can manage," he assured his principal, confidently.
Will smirked and nudged his friend's elbow lightly. "Yes, he may be not look like it but he is more capable than you think," he said, encouragingly.
Mr. Kilgharrah still looked wary but nodded. "Then carry on. Mr. Tarragon will give you two your schedules at the front desk."
All three of them bid Mr. Kilgharrah good-bye and went out the door. Aithusa handed them both a card with their class schedule printed on it as they were leaving.
As they came out from the office, the two friends looked at each other as if they were reading the other's mind: they both wondered if this Leon was going to be a stuck-up rich boy like the others. "So what does your family do?" Will asked, breaking the silence. Usually, snobby brats will start gloating about their family's fortune.
The handsome dormitory head boy simply grinned. "My father is a journalist for the New York Times while my mother is a housewife," he answered, politely. "But I wouldn't want to talk about my family."
"Why not?" Merlin pressed on, curiously.
"Well, you two are rich boys, I'm pretty sure it is nothing new to hear," he clarified as they walked around the long halls, though the statement wasn't exactly true, Merlin was not eager to tell him otherwise. They noticed the floor underneath them had a diced carpet of the colors red and gold, while the white walls surrounding them had red, silky curtains that fell freely where there was no entrance door to a classroom. There were oil paintings of some supposedly important and old professor. "Today, I'm just going to show you the school and the dormitory. So, if you would just follow me," Leon said as he lead them upstairs. "Camelot Private is a remarkably big school; has six five-story buildings, but it didn't start off like that. A very rich British duke named Taliesin Alastair Galashiels first built it in the early 1800s for his friend…"
Will turned to Merlin, rolling his eyes, obviously not interested in what the handsome dormitory boy had to say about the history of the school. As Merlin turned to him, Will gave him a nod and he knew it meant that it was time to ditch the tour guide. "Me first," Merlin mouthed.
After a long minute of a mouthing argument on who was to sneak away first, Will finally mouthed back, "Fine."
Slowly, Merlin smiled victoriously and turned to look if Leon was paying any attention to them. When he was assured the other boy wasn't, he slowly paced backward to escape. Luckily, he was not wearing the flat-heeled shoes his mother bought him with the little money she had or Leon would have heard him walking away as he carefully stepped onto the marble floor nearby. He knew he could get lost in the large school, but he was pretty sure he could find himself around: a sense of direction was always one of his greatest abilities.
As soon as he knew he was in a safe location, he took out a quarter from his pocket and scraped silver patches onto the wall so Will would know where to find him later. While he was walking around the school unsupervised, he came outside the building and into a very wide and long-stoned pillar passage. Merlin was astounded by how vintage the brilliantly white pillars looked. The volute wasn't sculpting in leaves like the pictures in most books he read but was well-defined by nude cherubs. As he looked closer at the pillars, he could see whimsical marks of stems, leaves, and flowers. Between each pillar there was a stone banister with green vines beautifully curled around it, further escalating its beauty. On his right side there was the large school garden, filled with all kinds of different colors and types of flowers. The six buildings were built circularly around in the garden. On his left side was a simple open field of clean cut grass with a large tree nearby. There were some outdoor wooden tables and benches underneath the tree and he could see some students hanging out there.
Merlin's attention turned back to the pillars. As he walked toward the middle admiring it, a voice said, "The pillars were designed by Taliesin himself."
He looked up, startled, as his eyes laid upon a boy with short dark hair in the same school uniform as Leon sitting on one of the stone rails with his back on one of the pillars; on his lap rested an opened book, faced down. He smiled beautifully at Merlin with his brown eyes twinkling. "His father was an architect so he grew up in some interesting buildings."
Merlin broke their gaze. "It's beautiful."
The dark-haired boy's eyes glanced toward the tree for a split second before he stood up from where he sat and straightened his uniform.
Merlin looked to where the boy had glanced and saw a skinny boy with curly dark hair was running toward the group of boys that was sitting by the tree with a steaming cup of liquid. Merlin eyed them curiously.
"I'm Lancelot Du Lac, by the way," he introduced himself, turning Merlin's attention back to him.
"I'm Merlin Emrys. I'm new here."
"Really?" he said, amusingly as he studied the new classmate's clothing. Merlin forgot he was wearing his casual brown hand-me-downed pants and tan shirt. "Then where is Leon?" Merlin's lips thinned with an awkward and guilty expression as Lancelot quickly grasped what happened. "You ditched him," he said, a tiny laugh escaping his lips. "Well, he is a kind person but he can get too into the details sometimes." He walked passed Merlin. "Well, don't get lost, new kid." He left and disappeared behind the door.
Merlin sighed and was about to walk away when he paused as the curly hair boy yelled, "…but you promised you would give it back!" He could see and clearly hear the other boys were laughing at this weak boy's request. One of the six boys – no, seven boys – was holding a black leather bag, which Merlin believed belonged to the weak boy. He knew he shouldn't get involved but he hated when it came to snobby brattish bullies acting like…snobby brattish bullies.
As he was making his way over, the boys were throwing the bag around to one another, out of the weaker boy's grasp, as they laughed and called him nasty names. Unaware of Merlin approaching, he managed to catch the bag before one of the bullies caught it. "Hey, that's enough," he said, handing the bag to the weak boy.
The smaller boy tried to make a run for it, but the other bullies blocked his way. One of the boys, a blond one, came towards Merlin, giving him a curious look. To Merlin, the blond boy was extremely handsome, more handsome even than Leon and Lancelot combined. His blond hair was straight in thick strands, small bangs drooping over his forehead, nearly concealing his brilliant ocean-blue eyes. His nose was Romanesque in shape, accompanied by his chiseled jaw and full, red lips. His posture was…royal, almost: strong and determined. His eyes conveyed the same subtle power. Merlin's breath hitched at the boy's beauty, but quickly reigned in his emotions and hormones before the stranger acknowledged him.
"What?" The blond probed, simply.
"You've had your fun, my friend," Merlin answered, civilly.
The blond boy, Merlin assumed he was the leader of the group, was obviously not amused, as he stepped closer to him, eyeing him up and down. "Do I know you?"
Merlin didn't understand why but he reached out his hand and introduced himself. "I'm Merlin Emrys."
He didn't take Merlin's hand. "So I don't know you," he stated, humorlessly.
Merlin grimaced and pulled his hand back. He should have known how a rich brat would behave; he shouldn't have tried to be nice. "No."
"Yet, you call me friend?"
"That was my mistake."
"Yes, I think so."
He scowled at the blond. He may look like a prince but he surely wasn't acting like one. "You're right: I'd never have a friend who could be such an ass," Merlin said, smugly, with a smirk and turned to the weak boy who was trembling like a mouse now. He smiled a friendly smile at the boy and pulled him along as he attempted to walk away.
The blond boy scoffed and said, "Or I, one who could be so stupid."
Before Merlin could respond to his criticism, his face met the blonde boy's fist. He landed on the ground but quickly got up and punched the blond right back. Before they knew it, they were throwing each other punches while the other boys were cheering. He didn't know exactly when Will appeared but at some point he did and began backing Merlin up, but both of them combined were obviously losing, being no match for the lone blond.
Merlin worked his aching jaw as the nurse applied ointment to the bruises on his cheeks after she had attended to Will. The blond wasn't speaking or facing them as the school doctor attended to his wounds. Merlin knew he landed some good punches to that pretty face, though his face received more damage.
"How the hell did you get involved in a fight?" Will hissed at his friend with a quiet voice after the nurse had finished.
Merlin sighed. "He was bullying a kid. I couldn't just stand by."
Will laughed, wryly. "I should have known," he said causing Merlin to grin, but it faded as soon as the nursing room's door broke open and in came a very angry-looking Mr. Kilgharrah.
His fiery eyes threw daggers into theirs, ignoring the blond completely. "Mr. Williams Elias Vanderwood and Mr. Merlin Emrys, what did I specifically ask you two to do? It wasn't even your first day and you get into trouble? Now, explain to me why I shouldn't send you two packing!" He demanded angrily.
Merlin could see the blond was eyeing him with a smug smirk on his face. "He was bullying-"
"There is no proof," the blond boy said, interrupting Merlin's defense.
"Mr. Arthur Pendragon, don't you dare-"
"Yes, there is proof," Merlin snapped, cutting the principal off, glaring at this Arthur Pendragon daringly. "If you could just find the black-haired boy with blue eyes… he was carrying a black bag pack."
Mr. Kilgharrah swept his long, almost scaly-looking fingers through his hair, frustrated. "Do you have any idea how many boys have dark hair, blue eyes, and carry a black bag pack in this school?"
Merlin gave him a confused look. "He didn't report it?"
The principal turned to Arthur with the same fiery eyes but the blond remained confidently placid which irritated the principal the most. He knew well the blond boy was a bully in the school but because of his father's high status everything went his way. All the other students who fell victim to Arthur's entertainment would not come forth because their family status would come to ruin. Mr. Kilgharrah wanted to help these students but he couldn't when no one would speak up. "No," he answered. "No one reported it."
As he looked at Merlin, he realized something: no one had ever stood up to Arthur like that before. There was no fear in his actions and now Mr. Kilgharrah finally found hope. He pretended to sigh, disappointingly. "I promised your father, young Vanderwood, that I would take care of you and your friend here," he started walking around the three boys. "But I can not let this event go unnoticed. I don't want any more fights in my school. So therefore, young Pendragon…" He turned to the blond who merely stared back blankly at him. "Emrys here will be your new roommate."
All three of the boys jolted up in rage at the same time. "What!"
"No, I am not sharing a room with…with him!" Arthur shouted angrily.
"Now, Mr. Pendragon, you should have thought of that before you got into a fight with Emrys."
"Surely, there is another way," Merlin said, disagreeing.
"Yeah," Will jumped in.
"No. Until you two get past your differences, I will not change my mind," he stated, clearly as he took his leave.
Arthur followed him out. "My father will hear about this!" he threatened, but the principal no longer paid him any attention.
Merlin and Will exchanged disbelieving looks as Arthur came back in, giving them a look of disgust.
Wilmington, North Carolina
July 24, 2012
"…he gave us a look of disgust. I shot the same look back at him. And that is how I first met Arthur Pendragon. Merlin Emrys," Bradley finished reading the first segment of the diary, which took twenty pages and half an hour to read. He looked up to Angel, who was obviously astounded by it.
"He knew Arthur Pendragon," she said, anxiously.
"Well, we're not sure," he said, closing the book. "I mean, for all we know, this Merlin could just be making this up. He was an artist, and from what I know about artists, they tend to have large, extravagant imaginations. Plus, this person might not even be Merlin Emrys."
She frowned at his cynical tone. "Then…should we make sure this is real?"
He looked at her curiously. "How?"
Angel smiled, slyly. "My brother's best friend's father is an archeologist."
A/N: Let me knows your opinion of the story :D
