A few sharp knocks on Merlin's door woke her up the next morning. She glanced at her alarm clock: 6:45am. Merlin rubbed her eyes and magically summoned her glasses to her waiting hand. She rolled out of bed and pulled on a sweater to see whoever was knocking at her door at this time on a Sunday.

"Yes?" Merlin squeaked as she opened the door. A tall man with a buzz cut and long nose was standing in front of her. His shirt lacked any sleeves and he was wearing bright green trainers.

"Good morning, Ms," He said, his voice gruff. "Arthur wants to go rock climbing."

"Arthur wants to what?" Merlin's brain wasn't functioning at full speed just yet.

"Rock climbing," he repeated.

"Right," Merlin pulled her sweater around her tightly. It was mighty cold out of the covers. "And who might you be, Mr No-Sleeves." She eyed his arms. They seemed statuesque, like they had been carved to match the statues of Greek gods.

"Percival, Ms" No-Sleeves replied, trying to hide his amusement at his nickname.

"Right, Percival, what does Arthur wanting to go rock climbing have to do with me?"

"Under the conditions of the King's order-"

"Oh yes, that." Merlin heaved a sigh. "I'll dress. Do I have to partake in this rock climbing adventure?"

"I recommend it," Percival answered. "It's good fun."

"Is there any particular reason why rock climbing has to be so early on a Sunday?" Merlin asked Arthur when she and her no-sleeved escort had arrived at the gym.

"It's best to make use of all the daylight we are given," Arthur said as he stretched his arms out. "Exercise is good for you as well."

Merlin found a bench and sat down. She sleepily watched Leon, Gwaine, and Percival stretch and don rock climbing harnesses. She noticed that the harness had a knack for showcasing a rather private area on the boys. Merlin had to fight herself from giggling at the bulges on all the boys. Oh but those harnesses did highlight their arses nicely. Merlin decided that this morning adventure to the gym had its perks.

Gwaine and Percival were the first to go up with Arthur and Leon as their spotters, respectively. They made rock climbing look easy, which made Merlin feel quite self conscious. She had never been too athletic aside from running on occasion.

"No Sleeves is pretty fast," Merlin said after she realised that Percival was more than halfway up the rock wall.

"Who?" Leon laughed.

"Oh, er, Percival," Merlin corrected herself.

Arthur laughed. "No Sleeves, that's clever." He cupped a hand around one side of his mouth. "Get on with it No Sleeves, Gwaine is on your tail."

"Shut it," Percival called back. Percival ended up beating Gwaine to the top by a few feet and they both came sailing down by their safety rope. They switched places with their respective spotters. Instead of starting on their feet, Leon and Arthur started sitting down.

"They're a bunch of show-offs," Gwaine called back to Merlin. "Starting sitting down is no different from standing."

"Sure it is," Arthur called down. "It's more of a challenge."

"Whatever you say," Gwaine smirked. "Hey, you should give this a go, Lin."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Merlin said squirming a little. "I've never rock climbed before."

"That's no matter," Arthur was little under halfway up. "It's fairly simple."

"I'm sure it is," Merlin replied. "But I lack upper body strength."

"Come on, Lin," Leon called down. Merlin gave in because she realised they were not going to stop asking. Arthur and Leon finished their climb and sailed down to the floor. Merlin braided her hair back and left her glasses on the bench.

"I'll climb with you," Arthur offered. "And Percival can spot you." Merlin nodded. She was handed a harness and instructed on how to put it on by Gwaine.

Gwaine examined the harness around her waist. "Looks...good!" His cheeks flushed a bit. Merlin realised that the harness had the same effect on her bum as theirs. Percival hooked her up to the rope and showed her which side of the rock wall was easiest for a beginner.

"Up we go," Arthur stood to Merlin's right. "And no pressure, just take your time." Merlin grabbed a red painted rock a few feet above her. Placing her left foot on a rock that was at knee level, she began her ascent up the rock wall.

"Can you see alright without your glasses?" Arthur inquired. He was matching his pace to hers, which was quite slow.

"I can, actually," Merlin pulled herself up a little. "They're for reading mostly."

"Ah," Arthur said. "I'd hate to think you're climbing blind. But no worry, Percival is a good spotter."

"I'm not worried about falling," Merlin grunted. "I'm worried about my arms giving out. I told you I had no upper body strength."

"You're doing quite well," Arthur praised. Merlin looked over at him. He had a big smile on his face, showing off slight dimples in his cheeks. "We're almost halfway up."

"Are we really?" Merlin dared to look down. She laughed when she realised her progress. Percival waved at her and flashed a smile. Pleased with herself, Merlin proceeded upwards. Her arms couldn't take much more by the time she had nearly reached the top of the wall and called down to Percival that she wanted down. She kicked away from the wall as instructed by Arthur and she slid down to the floor.

"That was more fun than I expected," Merlin admitted to Percival as he unhooked her from the rope.

"Told you," No-Sleeves winked. Arthur came down a few minutes later. The each did a few more climbs as Merlin watched back on her bench. Her arms ached. When the boys' attention was elsewhere she whispered an incantation to 'magic away' the pain, as Gwen would put it.

"Right," Arthur clapped his hands. "I feel like I've been a bit selfish in dragging you here, Merlin. Is there anywhere you would like to go or need to be?" Merlin was quite taken aback by this statement. From the trend of events, Merlin was expecting to be drug around all day at the will of Arthur.

"Well I...um," Merlin fumbled. "I need to do some reading for my courses."

"Reading it is!" Arthur declared. "I think Leon said he has some business at the library so we shall do our respective coursework there."

"We, uh, we don't have to do reading," Merlin said quickly. She suddenly didn't like the idea of subjecting people to coursework. "We could do something else. I mean, sitting around reading isn't all that exciting."

"Ah, but it still needs to be done." Arthur rested his hands on his hips. "We are at university, after all."

So Merlin found herself at the library an hour later with Leon and Arthur. She quickly noticed what kind of company she was forced to keep. Everyone at the library had their attention turned toward Arthur and even Merlin. She spotted people putting their heads together to whisper something, no doubt about Arthur and maybe this mystery girl. Merlin led them to a part of the library that was less occupied by students for the want of privacy.

"This will do nicely," Arthur remarked. Leon had wandered off to take care of something, leaving Merlin alone with Arthur. Prince Arthur. Merlin's mind whirled at this realisation. She flipped open Canterbury Tales and tried to read. But their entrance to the library had caused quite a commotion. Students, mostly female, kept wandering by to look at Arthur.

"Tell me something, Arthur," Merlin whispered to her royal study companion. "Do you frequent the library?"

"No, why?" Arthur looked up at Merlin then to the group of girls who were not so stealthily walking past and giggling. He smiled and waved, causing more giggles.

"Thought not," Merlin sank into her chair and hid behind her book.

Arthur knocked on her book. "Who reads Chaucer these days?"

Merlin peeked over her book. "People in my literature module do."

"I've heard it's quite dull," Arthur said flatly.

"It has its moments," Merlin replied and ducked back behind her book.

"And why are you hiding?" Arthur pulled down Merlin's book.

"I'm not...I don't want people to think we're...you know..."

"No I don't know,"

"Dating,"

Arthur stifled a laugh. "So the prince can't keep female company?"

"Yes he can," Merlin defended her answer. "But that's not what people are going to think."

"Yeah, well, don't flatter yourself," Arthur rolled his eyes. Merlin nearly dropped her book.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Merlin hissed.

"Just that," Arthur suddenly realised he had just insulted her. "You know, we're friends. Granted, friends under odd circumstances, but only friends."

"Do you think we couldn't be friends otherwise?" Merlin tested.

"No..." Arthur said slowly. "I'm just saying-"

"Shhh!" One of the boys sitting at a table next to them had turned around and hushed them, looking quite cross. Arthur gave him a face and returned his attention to his book. Merlin was fuming on the inside. Arthur was back to being the prat she had assumed him to be. Leon returned a few minutes later with a stack of books and a grim look.

"Essay," He said, looking quite put upon.

"Better get started," Arthur said, trying to hide a smile at Leon's academic situation.

"Oh, the head of security called me while I was looking for books," Leon said to Merlin. "You're off the watch list." This was the best news Merlin had heard all day.

"Lovely," She said, snapping her book shut. "Thank you for your company, Leon."

"Not a problem. I hope we'll be seeing more of you," Leon said with a friendly smile.

Merlin looked at Arthur who hadn't taken his attention off his book. "Maybe," Merlin said simply and left.

Gwen and Freya were in the common room of their residence hall when Merlin returned from the library.

"Hey, where's your body guard?" Freya asked when she spotted Merlin.

"The watch is off," Merlin said curtly. She threw her books down on the table and sat in an arm chair facing her two friends.

"Uh-oh, what happened?" Gwen asked.

"His Royal Rudeness, that's what happened," Merlin said. "Apparently he doesn't think I'm dating material."

"Ouch," Freya said almost as a whisper.

"Oh, Lin, sweetheart," Gwen got up, sat on the on one of the arms of Merlin's chair and hugged her. "We know from past experiences he's not exactly a nice person."

"Yes, but he had some really charming moments," Merlin insisted. "Like this morning, he was very nice and sociable. At least his friends don't seem to flip from arse to charming like that."

"Maybe he's just not good with women," Freya offered.

Merlin laughed. "I doubt it."

"No really," Freya bounced in her seat a bit. "He only really dates people who have to put on a front, like him. He probably doesn't spend much time around women who don't have to pretend to be perfect. You probably mess with his poor little head because you're more down to earth."

"Ah, Freya, voice of reason," Gwen smiled at Merlin.

"Shouldn't you be at crew practice?" Merlin said, noticing it was weird to see Freya on a Sunday morning.

"No, season's over," Freya looked a bit sad. "But swim practice starts this week."

"You definitely have a thing for water sports," Gwen observed.

"My mum calls me the Lady of the Lake back home," Freya tilted her head and smiled sheepishly. "I spend a lot of my summers swimming in our lake by our house.

"Sounds nice," Merlin smiled at her friend. "I should get to my course work. I didn't get much done at the library."

"Staring at the handsome prince too much, were we?" Gwen teased.

"No, hiding from the Prince Arthur fan girls." Merlin yawned. "I think a nap may be in order as well."

Merlin went a week and a half without setting eyes on Arthur. She did see Percival and Gwaine on a few occasions. They seemed quite pleased to see her. On one occasion, Gwaine invited her out to the pub with the guys, which included the prince. Merlin declined, her feelings still hurt by Arthur's snub at the library. She was touched to see that Gwaine was saddened by her answer.

She was walking with Gwen and Lance, who seemed to be hitting it off quite well, when she saw the prince again. Lance still hadn't asked Gwen out on a date, but Gwen didn't seem to mind this minor detail. But the way they flirted they might as well be dating in Merlin's eyes. Lance had stopped to talk to a classmate in the Union when Merlin noticed Arthur and Leon talking to short, blond haired girl, dressed in a yellow dress and green shoes. She had books in the crook of her arm, hinting that she was a student. She was giggling profusely. Arthur seemed to be shamelessly flirting with the girl.

"So that's the kind he likes," Gwen had spotted Arthur as well. "Air heads."

"She certainly looks like she's enjoying herself too much," Merlin mumbled. Then the girl looked over at Merlin with a threatening stare. Merlin could have sworn she saw Blondie's eyes flash red. Oh no, Merlin thought to herself, more magical trouble. She told Gwen she had to leave and quickly exited the Union and ran to the alley next to the building. She watched people walk past until she spotted the girl in the yellow dress walk by.

"Hey!" She called after the girl. Blondie snapped her head around and hissed, exposing long fangs. She smiled slyly at Merlin and kept on walking.

Vampire.