Merlin - Arthur
Arthur slid out of the front door of his and his boyfriend, Merlin's, house, and into their silver, 2014, Nissan Oz van. He slid into the driver's seat, not needing to adjust the seat since him and Merlin are roughly the same size, Merlin being admittedly taller, by a few inches. After turning on the ignition and feeling the cool air sift through his goldenrod hair, Arthur leaned back in the seat and closed his eyes.
They'd been planning a trip to Pennsylvania for months now, the Ohio atmosphere driving Merlin, quote unquote, "insane," out of his mind. Although Arthur didn't mind leaving the cheery state of Ohio, – he didn't mind doing much for Merlin, considering he always puts his needs and desires before his own – he still questioned why Merlin had chosen Pennsylvania of all the fifty states on this godforsaken country. They could have gone to Paris, Rome, Italy. But Merlin chose Pennsylvania. Arthur didn't question this, because just seeing a smile on the blue eyed boy made him happy enough to do whatever he asked of him.
Patience running out, however, Arthur glanced at his wrist watch, and sighed, honking at the wheel slightly. "Where are you, Merlin?" He asked, speaking to no one in particular.
And just before he was about to honk again, almost as if Merlin had read his mind – which he had no doubt that Merlin could do, he was capable of almost anything – Merlin slipped out of the front door, locking it behind him with the dirty golden key. As Merlin climbed into the passenger seat of the silver Oz, he smiled cheerfully up at his boyfriend, the same smile that had caused Arthur to fall so hard for him when they had first met.
"Ready to go?" Arthur asked, placing one hand on the steering wheel, and checking in the rear view mirror to make sure no cars were pulling out of the neighboorhood. This was highly unlikely, since they lived on a small town on the outskirts of Ohio, and almost nobody left, but old habits die hard for the city boy.
Merlin nodded, and reached down for Arthur's free hand, taking it in his own. Arthur's nerves were alive where Merlin touched him, still not accustomed, and he wasn't sure if he'd ever be, to Merlin's touch, "let's go," the black haired boy breathed, ocean-blue eyes trailing back to the garage door, almost as if saying bye to the old, reliable, and comfy house of theirs.
Arthur smiled, a wide, sincere grin turning the corners of his lips upwards, and pulled out of the driveway, and out onto the road. Instinctively, Arthur reached out towards the radio, and turned it on. A fast paced 80's song, which he was more than sure was Bon Jovi, almost silently carried on through the car. Arthur couldn't help but smile as Merlin mouthed the words to "Wanted Dead or Alive," by Bon Jovi dramatically.
"This song," Merlin said with a small chuckle, blue eyes wandering over to Arthur.
Arthur shivered under his boyfriend's stare, and he felt a brief moment of serenity.
But that moment was short lived.
"Arthur," Merlin mused, a small, tight smile on his face, "I need to go to the bathroom." He muttered quickly under his breath, giving Arthur's hand a tight squeeze, almost as if reassuring himself that Arthur's hand wouldn't leave his.
"Merlin," Arthur sighed, his voiced tired, annoyed almost, "are you sure?" He asked finally, glancing quickly over at the boy with the midnight-black hair.
Merlin nodded, and looked at Arthur, "yep. One-hundred percent." He breathed, feigning urgency.
Arthur chuckled, "alright, look up there, there's a QuickTrip, we'll stop there. Maybe we can get some snacks to eat on the way there." He suggested, sighing in relief once his boyfriend approved of the idea.
Arthur pulled into the QuickTrip, and exited the car, walking to the front of it and waiting for Merlin to walk side by side with him, hand in hand. Merlin quickly caught up, and took his hand, lightly jogging to the entrance, and sighing in relief once he spotted the men's restroom.
"I won't be long," Merlin said, handing Arthur twenty dollars, "buy whatever you think is best." He said, taking off in the direction of the bathroom.
Arthur scoffed, stuffing his hands in his pockets, and searching the aisles of the surprisingly clean gas station. He picked out a few chips, water, drinks and several other snacks for the road, and waited for Merlin to leave the bathroom, standing by the door. He was taking a longer time than he should have, even for Merlin, but he dismissed the thought once he realized that he's probably just profusely washing his hands, "afraid of the diseases he could contract from the bathrooms."
But oh, was he wrong.
Arthur was only alerted when he heard crashing noises coming from inside the men's bathroom. He quickly pushed himself off of the wall he was leaning against, but hesitantly made his way to the bathroom door. It was then that Merlin flew out of the door, his body landing on the floor with a heavy thud, head hitting against the floor with a sickening crack. Arthur's blue eyes widened in horror as he saw the monstrosity above his boyfriend, and his best friend, and wasted no time tearing the thing off of him, it getting stuck as it topples over onto some food racks, and pulling Merlin onto his feet, dragging him into the car.
"What in the bloody hell was that, Merlin?" Arthur asked, peeling out of the QuickTrip parking lot, chest rising and falling rather quickly, still in shock.
Merlin shook his head, blue eyes wide, and voice shaking, "I-I don't know. He just-he just attacked me, I didn't even do anything." The blue eyed boy explained, his voice showing truth, and fear.
Arthur slid his hand into Merlin's, and gave it a reassuring squeeze, "don't worry, you're okay," Arthur said, bringing Merlin's hand up to his lips, planting a quick kiss on his knuckles, "you're okay," he repeated, almost as if reassuring himself that it was true, and that Merlin really was okay.
In a few minutes, Merlin's fear and shakiness subsided, and he was back to his cheerful self, which in turn, calmed Arthur's nerves a whole lot more. Still hand in hand, and quiet as the dead, the boys made their way to Pennsylvania.
After a couple of hours, Merlin sat up in his chair, regaining his upright composure and squinted his eyes. "Arthur, stop the car!" He commanded, rather urgently, which, no doubt, frightened Arthur.
"What?" Arthur asked incredulously, "why, Merlin?"
Merlin gestured wildly at a group of stranded people and their black minivan, lying on the side of the road, two girls pointing their thumb in the direction of Pennsylvania. "They need help," Merlin pointed out, almost as if it was obvious to everyone, but Arthur.
Arthur groaned in anger, and pulled out on the left side of the road, both boys climbing out of the car almost instantly. Merlin began offering help, and he was greeted by a married couple that couldn't have been older than them.
"How bad is it?" Arthur asked, making his way over to the engine.
When he opened the hood of the car, a pummel of black smoke hit him, and went into his lungs, drowning out almost all of the oxygen their, drowning him without water. Arthur coughed, and the tall, thin woman backed away from the car. Arthur grimaced at the sight of the broken engine before him, and closed the hood of the car, so as to not get pummeled by anymore smoke. When he made his way back to the group, Merlin talking away happily to the newcomers, he sighed, and wiped his hands on his jeans, and standing next to Merlin.
"Well, there's no fixing the engine on that thing, so why don't you just come with us?" Arthur offers, nodding backwards at the large van behind them, there was more than enough room for all of them, "we're Pennsylvania bound, and there's plenty of room in our van."
Merlin smiles proudly up at his boyfriend, and nudges his arm lightly. The strangers waste no time, and climb into the van. One of them, a pretty girl, shorter than most of them, with goldenrod hair, looks a little dirty, almost as if she had fallen, and Arthur can't help but let his mind drift back to the idea that maybe they were attacked too, not forgetting how that monster had attacked Merlin.
But it is what it is, and everyone climbed into the new Nissan Oz, and continued on their trek to Pennsylvania.
No one spoke the entire way there.