You were in the kitchen working with your mother on baking some snickerdoodles, per the King's request. As you kneaded the dough you noticed your mother smirking at you. "What is it mom?" You ask her.
"All of the servants have been talking about how smitten the King is with you." She mentions and your face heats up.
"I'm not so sure about that..." You stutter and try to put all your attention onto the dough in front of you. "We've been best friends since we were children. We're just very close, that's all."
"That is true. You two have been through a lot together." Your mother says. "Which explains why he would want to make you his Queen." She says and you drop the dough cutter in your hand and it clatters on the floor. You quickly pick it up and rinse it.
"Mother..." Your face was red as a tomato and your heart was pounding. "I can't be Queen. I don't know how to run a Kingdom, be royal or do all of the things that would be expected of me as a Queen. I'm just a simple-minded villager. Arthur deserves more than that."
"Rank and how someone was raised have nothing to do with that." Your mother tells you. "Honestly I think Arthur fancies you quite a bit. The moment he saw you again he brought you to the castle and has been trying to get close to you again."
"He probably just missed our friendship and wanted it back." You tell your mother.
"Or does he want more?" She adds and you blush again. "He seems to think you deserve him. Why else would he spend so much time trying to get close to you again." Your mother had a point. Honestly, when you were children, you had a small crush on Arthur. It wasn't anything deep. Just a sweet childhood affection. You would give him flowers every now and then and playfully tease him on his height, in the way that little girls used to show that they liked a boy. But now next week Arthur would be of age to marry, and he would need to pick a woman of nobility to rule at his side and produce an heir. Perhaps if he wasn't King, there would be a chance you could marry him. But now, all thoughts of that possibility were thrown out the window. Camelot needs a strong woman of nobility who has been raised for this task and can do it well. You wouldn't know the first thing about running a Kingdom. You'd do a terrible job and then everybody would hate you. You watched the cookies bake in the brick oven and wondered if Arthur really thought you could be a Queen. I mean it came as a bit of a surprise to a lot of people that he became King. Perhaps the same thing would happen for you...You pulled the cookies out and let them cool before putting cinnamon and sugar on them.
"Are you sure this is going to work Sir Meliodas?" Arthur asks, unsure of himself as he lays on the table in his bedchamber.
"Of course it will!" Meliodas insists. "Nothing can seduce a woman quicker than the right mood lighting and a man with muscles." Meliodas says and punches Arthur in the bicep. Arthur rubs the spot gently. "Don't worry. One look at you and she'll throw her panties at you! Guaranteed." Arthur's face turned crimson.
"I'm not sure if I want her to do that Sir Meliodas!" He stammers and starts to sweat a bit.
"Really?" Meliodas asks. "But you're a teenager! You haven't thought about how soft her skin feels against yours, or how squeezable her breasts are and how the flesh would feel being massaged in your hands." Arthur started to sweat more as he thought about how he had swam with you naked yesterday and how embarrassed he had been when he realized you were naked. He of course froze and didn't move at all but now he was starting to think about what might have happened if he didn't freeze and if Merlin hadn't walked in on the two of you. "Those angelic noises of pleasure coming from her lips as you move your hands down her curves and grip her wet-" Arthur covered his mouth cutting him off.
"Please stop Sir Meliodas you're making me nervous!" He exclaims and Meliodas sees just how freaked out he is.
"Wow no one has ever talked to you much about sex have they." He notes and the King shakes his head. "Don't worry. I'll give you plenty of advice someday." He says and pats Arthur's head. The two hear a knock on the door.
"She's here!" Arthur exclaims softly and his face heats up.
"I'll hide, you get into position!" Meliodas says and runs into the closet and Arthur gets himself ready. He coughs a few times to get the nervousness out of his voice.
"Come in!" He calls and the door opens to reveal you, holding a plate of cookies.
"Why is it so dark in here?" You ask and shut the door. Your eyes went wide and you nearly dropped the plate when you saw your King before you. He was in his training clothes (the pic above) and reading a book, while laying in a seductive pose on a table. He looked up at you and smiled. His bangs slightly covering one of his eyes and he smirks. Your face was red and you felt a tightening of your core.
"Hey-whoa!" He exclaims as he falls off the table and onto the ground. You couldn't help but laugh. Meliodas smirked. That had been his plan all along. You offered your hand to the King and helped him up.
"What was all of that about?" You ask.
"I-Well I-" Arthur stammers and blushes. "I was just trying to see if I could read better in the dark?" He lies and you laugh, relaxing him.
"You're such a dork." You tell him and playfully punch his arm. He smiles at you and blushes slightly. Then his face lights up when he sees the cookies.
"Cookies!" He exclaims and runs over to them.
"Careful they're still-" You warn but it's too late. Arthur drops one from his hand shaking it.
"Ow! ow! ow! That's hot!" He says and you giggle a bit.
"Hey guys what's up?" Meliodas asks as he comes out of his hiding place. You look shocked.
"Sir Meliodas!" You exclaim. "What are you doing here?"
"Merlin sent me here to teach Arthur some more sword fighting." Meliodas lies.
"In his bedchamber?" You question. "That seems like an odd choice."
"Yeah it is isn't it!" Meliodas laughs, trying to distract from his lie. "Well anyway I'll leave you two to enjoy your cookies. Don't get too naughty you crazy kids!" Meliodas says and opens the door to reveal Elizabeth. "Elizabeth? What are you doing here?"
"Merlin sent me to help teach Arthur how to dance for his birthday ball." Elizabeth explains.
"Wait I have to dance!?" Arthur exclaims and you look shocked.
"You didn't know that!" You exclaim and laugh a bit. Gosh he's so adorable... "What do you think happens at balls? Don't tell me you have no idea how to dance."
"Uh...well...not really." Arthur explains and blushes. "Do you?"
"No..." You tell him. "I'll never have to go to one so I never learned how."
"But you're going to be coming to my ball." Arthur says and your face heats up again.
"What?! Really?" You seem surprised.
"Yeah! You're my best friend of course I want you there!" He says and takes your hands. "It'd be no fun without you." You blushed.
"Well then I guess I'll teach both of you." Elizabeth says. An idea forming in her mind.
"That's a great idea!" Meliodas says from underneath her skirt, making her squeal. Arthur's eyes go wide and you find his innocence adorable. Meliodas goes from squeezing her butt to groping her breast and smirks. "Maybe later tonight I'll teach you something." He smirks.
"Okay...Sir Meliodas..." Elizabeth says breathlessly, her face red as a tomato as he leaves.
"Okay." Elizabeth says, calming down. "Let's start with the position. Arthur hold Y/N." She says and you both blush. "Go on. You two are friends. Arthur hold her waist." You looked up at Arthur. Your heart rate quickened as he gently slid his arm around your waist. "Not like that. You need to have your hand on her." Elizabeth corrects and comes over and takes his hand and moves it so it's resting on your back, just above your rear, his fingers touching it ever so slightly, making you both turn crimson. "Great!" Elizabeth says. "Now bring her in closer." She says and Arthur brings you in a little closer to him. "More than that." Elizabeth says and Arthur only pulls you in a smidge more. She face palms and strides over to the two of you and takes Arthur's arm and pushes you into his chest. You both blushed at the proximity. "Good. That's essentially how close she needs to be to you. Now Y/N you're going to take his free hand." You do so. "And hold it up." You both did so. "And now you're going to find the right place to put your hand. Don't actually do this at the ball but for practice, take your hand and place it on the side of his head." Your heart was pounding as you did so. Neither of you were looking at Elizabeth, both of you were staring into each other's eyes. You felt a small jolt run through your body as you touched the side of his face. "Now gently move it down his neck to his shoulder and you should find the perfect place to put it." Elizabeth instructs and you gently caressed the King's skin as your hand made it's way down, past his jawline and down his neck.
Even after you met him again, you still saw him as that little boy you used to play with when you were children. He even still had that same sunflower smell you found charming, and his hair hadn't changed much at all, and you could see in his eyes that he still regarded you the same as he always had. But now, you had to look up to him. He was taller than you. And stronger. If you had tried to wrestle him now like you used to when you were kids he would surely beat you. And as you felt his strong jawline, and muscular features, it really started to hit home. Your friend wasn't a boy anymore. He's a man. He's a King. And after his birthday next week he'll start searching for a Queen. Your hand found a resting place, halfway between his neck and shoulder. Elizabeth noticed the tone in the room had changed. Both you and Arthur were focused directly on each other, like the entire room, all of Camelot, Britannia, the world had melted away and it was just the two of you.
Little did you know that Arthur was thinking the same. He remembered a time when he was younger that he had to look up to you, and now he was looking down. So little about you had changed, and yet everything was different. His status made certain things that he used to do with you improper. And you were a bit more shy around him now than you used to be. He had grown, and so had you. You weren't that playful little girl anymore. Now you were a woman. His woman. His advisors, including Merlin had instructed him that at this ball he should mingle a lot and try to find a suitable noblewoman to be his Queen. But he knew the minute he met you that you were the only girl for him. And now, when he looked into your eyes, he knew that he had found his Queen. Elizabeth instructed them to start moving and they did so. At first there were some complications. You stepped on each other's toes, and at one point Arthur tripped and fell on top of you, knocking you over onto his bed. Thankfully neither of you were hurt but it left you both in a very compromising position that had you both turn red again. Eventually you both got the hang of it. You were both moving together effortlessly around his room, perfectly in-sync, as if your minds were connected somehow. Arthur even lifted you up and spun you around. He would dip you occasionally too. Elizabeth very quietly started to slip away to give you two some privacy. You and Arthur didn't even notice her leave. You giggled as he set you down. "It's so strange..." He says with a smile. "I never thought I'd ever have to look down to see you." He laughs and you do too.
"And I never thought I'd have to look up." You say and he smiles.
"You know Y/N..." He says. "It's still me." He was getting serious. "I may be King now, but that doesn't change the person I am. You don't have to be so shy."
"I'm not shy around you Arthur." You smile. "It's everyone else...You're friends with such important people now and I'm just-"
"Don't call yourself common." Arthur insists.
"But it's what I am Arthur." You tell him. "I wasn't adopted by a Holy Knight. I know nothing of royalty."
"I'll teach you." Arthur says and you feel your face heat up at his words. Your heart was pounding. He was so close, you could feel his breath on your face. "Remember when we were little, and you got lost trying to find that cat that always came by your mother's door for scraps." You laughed.
"One day it just stopped and I was so upset..." You think back on it. "I ran out into the woods to find her and you and the whole neighborhood went crazy looking for me."
"And then I found you with a sprained ankle under a tree root..." Arthur says and gently wraps his other arm around you. "I cradled you in my arms..." He re-creates it now, never leaving your gaze. "And cried because I thought I had lost you forever." His voice cracked. "I made you promise that from that point on, we would do everything together. Wherever you go, I go."
"Until you got adopted." You say and a tear runs down your cheek, remembering that day. The worst day of your life. Arthur shed a few tears too. "And I never saw you again." He gently brought your head to rest on his chest and he rested his head on top of your shoulder.
"I missed you so much..." He says.
"Me too." You say and he holds you tighter.
"And now you'll never have to miss me again." He says and gently holds your chin to look at you. "Because now you're here in the palace with me. And I'll never let anyone take you away from me again milady." He started getting closer. "You're my one and only girl..." He promises and your eyes close as your noses gently brush against each other and you can sense his lips getting closer. You take a breath and prepare yourself to have your first kiss. Arthur tightens his grip on you to pull you close, closing those extra few millimeters, and he pulls and just as you feel his lips gently brush yours you both fall over when something shakes the whole castle. You groan and rub your head gently as the shockwaves die down. "Are you alright milady?" Arthur asks and you nod.
"I'm fine." You take his hand and he stands you up. He holds it as he makes his way over to the window to see what was going on and his grip tightens when he sees what's happening.
"I need to find Merlin and the other Sins." He says urgently and grabs his sword from the side of his desk, and picks up a shield. He looks at you and holds out his hand. You had a flashback to when you were both kids.
"I don't know about this..." Arthur says when he looks at all of eyes peering at him from the bushes in the woods.
"It'll be fine!" You promise the boy as he cowers behind you. "We need to get those raspberries on the other side for my mom." You hold out your hand to him. "Come with me, let me keep you safe." He took your hand and you both went through the bushes.
"Come with me milady, let me keep you safe." Arthur said, a pleading tone in his voice. You didn't hesitate to take his hand and then you both ran out of his chamber.
