Disclaimer-I do not own Merlin, wish I did though
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Chapter 3-Italian Food
A hung-over Morgana finally dragged herself out of bed just after two pm. She had a pounding headache, her make-up from the night before was smudged and her hair was a frightful mess. She took a headache tablet and then hopped in the shower. By the time she emerged from her room she looked as beautiful and glamorous as ever.
She made her way to Arthur's room and knocked on the door twice before entering. She found her step-brother sprawled on his bed hugging a pair of jeans to his chest and his eyes looked puffy and blood-shot as if he had been crying.
"Arthur?" Morgana asked gently as she moved towards him. "What's happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it." Arthur grumbled as he rolled onto his side turning his back on her.
Pursing her lips slightly, Morgana sat on the edge of the bed and lightly placed a hand on his shoulder feeling him tense at the contact.
"Tell me." Morgana encouraged gently.
"It's nothing important." He replied.
"Would you like me to get Merlin?" Morgana offered.
"No." Arthur responded quickly. "He's probably getting ready for his date tonight."
"Date, what date?" Morgana asked feeling annoyed that a few hours of extra sleep had left her out of the loop.
"He'll be taking Nimueh out for dinner this evening." Arthur informed her, his voice thick with envy.
"But why does that bother you? You don't even like Nimueh."
"No, I don't." He replied as he twisted onto his back.
His step-sister surveyed him for a while with a confused expression on her face. She studied the jeans Arthur had cuddled to his chest and after a few moments she recognized them as Merlin's.
"Oh." Morgana said as her mind comprehended what was going on. "You like Merlin."
"Yeah, I guess I do." Arthur sighed as he reached his hand out to his bedside table and clasped hold of the photo frame there. He held it in front of his face and looked at the photographic image of himself and Merlin with their arms around one another's shoulders and smiling at the camera.
"How long?" Morgana asked wondering how this piece of information had skipped her attention. "How long have you had feelings for Merlin?"
"Since I met him I guess." Arthur replied as he set the photo frame back in its place. "I just never really allowed myself to think about it, at least not until last night."
"What happened?" Morgana asked.
"I gave him my virginity." Arthur told her looking her directly in the eye so she knew he was being serious.
Her mouth formed into an O shape and her eyes widened almost comically. She opened and closed her mouth a few times as she searched for the right thing to say.
"I'm confused." She admitted after a while. "Start at the beginning tell me everything."
Letting out a sigh, Arthur ran through the details of the previous night and the events of this morning.
"He left you to wake up alone?" Morgana asked in shock. "That doesn't sound like Merlin at all."
"Well I'm not making it up." Arthur snapped. "He just freaked out ok. He said it was a mistake."
"What? But…but you said he made the first move."
"He did." Arthur replied. "But he was drunk remember? It's all my fault; I should have just left as soon as I'd helped him to his room."
"You shouldn't blame yourself." Morgana said. "So…you're gay then."
"I must be." Arthur answered. "I mean I've never really been interested in any girls, or guys for that matter but Merlin…he's different…he's special."
A gust of wind blew in through the open window sending a chill down Morgana's spine as a wave of hair whipped her face. She climbed over Arthur and shut the window.
"Have you told Merlin how you feel?" She asked.
"I told him I enjoyed what we did but that's it." Arthur answered. "To be honest I'm not even sure what I'm feeling."
"Why do you have Merlin's jeans?" Morgana asked tentatively gesturing to the garment in the blonde's hands.
"He puked over mine last night." Arthur groaned sounding like his regular self for a few seconds. "So this morning, I wore a pair of his until I got back to my room. I suppose I should take them back to him later."
"Do you want me to do it?" She asked. "I could have a word with him."
"Morgana don't, please." Arthur begged her. "If he finds out I told you he'll fucking hate me."
"That's not true." Morgana objected. "Merlin could never hate you; he's your best friend."
"Yeah, my best friend who used me for sex." Arthur muttered darkly. "I suppose it's my fault for being such a whore."
"One shag doesn't make you a whore Arthur." Morgana told him.
"Whatever, it doesn't change the fact that Merlin used me."
"Give him a day or two to get his head around it and then talk to him." Morgana suggested.
"What's the point?" Arthur asked. "Merlin's straight."
"Ballshit." Morgana replied. "If he slept with you he must at least be bisexual."
Arthur just shrugged and stared up at the ceiling. The dark-haired girl watched him in silence for a while waiting to see if he would say something more. Eventually, she realised he wasn't going to talk so she squeezed his shoulder comfortingly before leaving the room.
On her way down the corridor she bumped into Nimueh.
"I hear you have a date with Merlin." Morgana said without preamble.
"Oh, yes." Nimueh replied sounding excited. "It just sort of happened you know. I've been trying to catch his eye for a while now and today he seemed to get the hint."
"Sweet." Morgana replied her tone a complete contrast to the sentiment.
"I know, Merlin's so adorable." Nimueh said obviously not noticing Morgana's cold attitude. "And I hear he's great in bed."
"Who told you that?" Morgana asked as she raised a perfectly plucked eyebrow.
"Everybody says that." Nimueh laughed. "Amy Johnson, Amy Carter, Cara Jones, Ella Harding, Fiona Bruce, posh Haley, little Haley, Laura White…the list goes on."
"Are we talking about the same Merlin?" Morgana asked.
"Of course." Nimueh replied. "Merlin's hardly a common name now is it? Haven't you ever slept with him?"
"No." Morgana answered finding the idea absurd. "Merlin is my friend I don't see him like that and I didn't realise he was so popular with the ladies."
"Oh he is." Nimueh swooned. "Every girl wants to be the one to tame Merlin. He never goes in dates, usually he just sleeps with a girl and that's it so he must really like me to be taking me out to dinner."
"How is it I've never been aware of this?" Morgana demanded to know.
"Well nobody bitches about Merlin behind his back." Nimueh explained. "He's too sweet for anyone to be so harsh and girls know what they're getting into when he takes them to his room. I'm surprised Arthur isn't the same."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Morgana asked defensively.
"Well, Arthur's gorgeous." Nimueh pointed out as a group of younger students past them. "He could have any girl he wants but he hardly even looks at anyone other than you and Gwen."
"Have fun on your date tonight." Morgana said before walking off with her mind buzzing with all the new information.
It just didn't seem right. How could someone as innocent looking and gentle as Merlin be such a player? In fact, Morgana had always assumed that Merlin was still a virgin, the idea of him having sex with anyone just seemed wrong. She felt a strong urge to seek the boy out and confront him about his active sex life as well as his night with Arthur but upon remembering the distraught look on her step-brother's face she managed to restrain herself.
In his room, Merlin was sat at his desk chair staring at the bed as flashes of the night before played before his eyes. The bed-sheets were still tangled and for some reason he couldn't bring himself to change them just yet.
He felt an odd sensation in the pit of his stomach, like thousands of tiny creatures were biting into him trying to eat their way out of his body. Guilt perhaps. He couldn't fully believe what had happened but at the same time he knew it to be true. He had shagged his best friend.
"It was the alcohol." Merlin told himself for the millionth time that day.
Merlin felt weird. He couldn't really explain why or how but he just felt different. He just needed to forget about the previous night's events, after that everything would return to normal. He'd go his date with Nimueh, bring her back to his room and they'd have sex. When the deed was done Merlin was sure the images of himself buried inside of Arthur would disappear.
There were several hours to go before his date so he took a shower before sitting at his desk to complete some of his class assignments. After finishing an essay on Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' he dressed himself for his date. For some reason he couldn't find the jeans he was looking for. He shrugged it off thinking they must be under the pile of dirty clothes somewhere before pulling out his black corduroy trousers instead. He pulled on a button up blue shirt with it that brought out the colour of his eyes and loosely tied a black neck tie around his throat and put on his smart black shoes.
Before leaving to meet Nimueh, Merlin fixed the sheets on his bed and grabbed all his dirty clothes off the floor and shoved them in the bottom of his wardrobe out of the way. He then kicked the odd pen and notepad under his bed so the navy blue carpet was visible.
He knocked lightly on Nimueh's door and waited a few moments for her to open it. She smiled at him and he grinned back before offering her his arm and escorting her out of the school to the parking lot where the taxi he had booked for them was waiting.
"You look good." He told her as he admired her knee length blue dress that hugged her slim waist and showed off her cleavage.
They arrived at the Italian restaurant and Merlin paid their driver before leading the way. A kind faced waiter greeted them and handed them a menu each before showing them to a table for two.
"I love this place." Nimueh gushed. "It's my favorite."
Merlin merely smiled in response before looking through the menu. If truth be told, Merlin hated places like this. It was all too formal for his liking. He'd much rather order a pizza or sit on the bonnet of Arthur's car as they shared a portion of chips or a kebab.
A short while later a young waitress came to their table with a pen and notepad in hand ready to take their order.
"I'll have the Torta Rustica and a glass of red wine please." Nimueh said. The waitress nodded before asking to view her ID.
Satisfied, she turned to Merlin waiting to hear what he wanted.
"A cheese and tomato pizza will do me thanks." Merlin said. "I'll take a pint of Guinness with it please."
She asked for his ID before hurrying away to place their order.
"Oh I love this song." Nimueh told him as she began singing along.
Merlin watched her with a smile surprised that she had such a good singing voice. However, the music was not at all to his taste and he once again found himself thinking of Arthur and how the blonde would sing at the top of his lungs and badly out of tune in the most random of settings. One time he had burst into song when they were on a class trip to the local Art Gallery and they had been escorted from the premises.
Shaking his head to rid the thoughts of Arthur, Merlin struck up an easy conversation with his date. As they talked, Merlin realised that Arthur was completely right with what he'd said in the school canteen that morning; Nimueh wasn't even remotely funny and she didn't seem to have more than two brain cells to rub together. He supposed her parents had offered Mr. Pendragon a generous sum of money to grant her a place at Camelot boarding school.
Their meals arrived and Merlin picked up his first slice of pizza with his hands and took a bite. Nimueh looked shocked but didn't comment as she placed her napkin on her lap and picked up her knife and fork to cut up her own food.
Merlin was very aware that some of the people on nearby tables were throwing him disgusted looks at his table manners but he didn't care. He found it rather entertaining and deliberately made slurping noises as he gulped on his beer.
Nimueh looked a little embarrassed at the attention they were receiving but continued to consume her food in a dignified manner.
When an older lady glared at him beadily Merlin opened his mouth to reveal the mushed up food inside. She looked highly affronted and turned away muttering something about the youth of today to her companion.
"Merlin." Nimueh whispered. "You're embarrassing me."
Merlin just shrugged not at all bothered. His mind strayed to Arthur again; he would have found Merlin's behavior hilarious and would have probably joined in.
"Would you like some pudding or do you want to head back?" Merlin asked once they'd finished their main meals.
"Let's just go back." Nimueh answered hurriedly.
Merlin nodded and paid for their dinner before leading the way out of the restaurant and he took her hand in his as they walked back to the school.
They'd made it about half way when Nimueh began to complain about her shoes hurting her feet. Merlin chuckled lightly as he looked down at the six inch stiletto heels she wore.
"Come on, I'll carry you." Merlin told her before lifting her into his arms with surprising ease; the slender boy was clearly a lot stronger than he looked.
He carried her the rest of the way back to the school and up to his room. As soon as his bedroom door was shut Nimueh moved in for a kiss. Despite his earlier display at dinner it seemed that she was still keen to be in the boy's bed.
With experienced hands, Merlin slipped off her dress and then unsnapped her bra freeing her breasts. She giggled slightly and Merlin had to suppress a wince, he hated when girls laughed during these situations as if they were innocent school girls.
Reaching her hands up, Nimueh unfastened Merlin's tie then unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off of his arms. Her fingers were just fiddling with his belt when there was a knock at the door.
"Just ignore it." Nimueh told him trying to kiss him again.
"It'll only take a second." Merlin said as he offered her his shirt to cover herself.
He pulled the door open a small fraction to find Arthur stood on the other side. In his hand he had the pair of jeans Merlin had been looking for earlier.
"I borrowed them." Arthur explained. "Since you puked on mine."
"Oh, right." Merlin replied as he took them from him.
"Merlin, I'm waiting." Nimueh called seductively loud enough for Arthur to hear.
The expression of hurt on the blonde's face was so heart wrenching that Merlin had to look away.
"I'm a little busy." He said.
"So I hear." Arthur replied in a voice laced with pain before turning around and walking away.
Merlin watched Arthur go before closing the door and dropping his returned jeans onto the chair. Nimueh was spread on his bed completely naked now but Merlin felt no lust whatsoever.
"You should go." He told her quietly.
"What?" She asked in complete shock. "But I thought…"
"Look I'm sorry, I'm just not in the mood." Merlin apologized.
Nimueh glared at him before angrily putting her clothes back on and then shoving past him and slamming the door shut behind her with such force that it shook the whole room.
Looking at the bed Merlin once again found himself attacked with memories of his night with Arthur. Trying to push those thoughts aside, he flicked on his T.V and began idly switching through the channels looking for something to capture his interest.
To Be Continued
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