The rest of the day ran really smoothly. He dii have one run in with a boy in his Psychology class who tried to claim that Merlin was 'eyeing him up'. (He wasn't even that good looking.) But the boy quickly shut himself up when Gwaine, and even Arthur stood up for him. Merlin felt like a damsel in distress but Gwaine had just laughed it all off and entertained him with anecdotes about previous Friday nights where Arthur had danced on table tops and stripped himself naked in front of everyone. Arthur blushed but played it off by countering the embarrassing Arthur moments with embarrassing Gwaine moments, which apparently happened quite a lot.
At the end of Psychology class, Arthur pulled him to one side and offered to pick him up tonight. Merlin explained that Morgana was already doing that and the poor blonde looked really disheartened for a moment. Merlin nearly felt guilty.
"How about I take you home, then? We could order some food and have a little pre-drink and then both go with Morgana?" Although it seemed like a really risky idea, Merlin agreed and was glad he did – the smile Arthur gave him was bright, shining and just plain gorgeous. Merlin felt like if he could receive that smile every time he said yes to Arthur, he was going to be accepting every single offer with no questions asked.
He was very much aware now that he was attracted to Arthur. Arthur was irresistible – his eyes were bright, seemed to dance in the light and almost gave Merlin butterflies. Okay, they turned Merlin into a fucking butterfly house. Ever since their kiss that morning, Arthur was all Merlin had been thinking about. In fact, Merlin suspected he'd been head over heels for Arthur much earlier than that. Maybe even when Arthur had said "as if your name's Merlin!" to him.
It was bad, he knew it was bad. But he couldn't help it, especially when Arthur was asking to spend time with him, instead of his own girlfriend! Merlin almost felt bad for Gwen, until he realised that Gwen had the equally gorgeous Lance after her affections. If Merlin hadn't quickly distinguished his type was blondes (but only those that were called Arthur and kissed him in crop fields), Merlin could have easily seen himself falling for Lance, or even Gwaine if the bloke wasn't so heavily invested in Morgana.
Part of Merlin wished that his remaining lessons, Geology with Lance and Sociology with Morgana and Gwen, would go really slowly so he wouldn't have to get in the car with Arthur again. But another part of him was longing for a repeat of this morning, and that part was winning the battle in his subconscious. In Sociology, Gwen mentioned that her and Lance were going to drive home with Morgana and then Merlin didn't feel as bad for getting a lift with her boyfriend. He didn't mention it, though. And when Morgana offered him a lift too he politely declined, saying he had to visit the library after college.
When the end of the lesson arrived, Merlin hung behind for a good five minutes before walking to the car park to meet Arthur.
"Took your time," Arthur joked, grinning at Merlin when he sat in the passenger seat and apologised for being late. "It's cool Merlin, no worries."
Merlin couldn't deny that it was awkward between them. Arthur hadn't started driving yet because he was looking for something in the glove box, reaching over Merlin and rustling about. Merlin held his breath the whole time, because it meant Arthur's head was hovering awfully close to Merlin's body and he could smell Arthur's shampoo, blended with his cologne. The smell was intoxicating. In fact, Merlin even noticed the knots in Arthur's hair from where someone had ran their fingers through it. That totally wasn't him this morning.
Merlin was blushing furiously and when Arthur returned to his seat – with a fucking ipod lead, that's what he'd been looking for! – Merlin's mind was sufficiently head first in Hell. Arthur looked at him strangely and then realised the blush that Merlin's face, ears and neck were splattered with.
"Hey, Merlin," Arthur spoke softly, dangerously softly, like liquid sex was coming out of his mouth. Although Merlin willed himself to stay looking down, he couldn't help what happened next. His blue, shining eyes connected with Arthur's equally blue ones and they launched themselves at each other, grabbing hair, necks, any hot skin they could reach just so their lips could collide together. And it was fucking gorgeous, the collision. All hot breaths, dark moans and teeth and tongues and saliva.
The only time they broke apart was when they realised they were still in the college car park, so they left each other alone for an excruciating ten minutes whilst Arthur drove to Merlin's house.
When they arrived, it was locked meaning Merlin's house was empty, and that meant it was just Arthur and himself. He unlocked the door with nervous hands and opened it for the both of them, closing it behind him with a careful click. He was scared to turn and face Arthur, because when he did he was faced with a strong, dark demon of man that had possessed Merlin in his dreams. Arthur pressed him against the door with his body, the strength of it making Merlin groan because it meant that his bruised side was bring crushed between the door and Arthur's chest.
"Shh, Arthur, I'm okay, I'm not fragile." And with those words, Merlin boldly pressed his lips to Arthur's and pulled them into a long embrace. Arthur ended the embrace, only to lift Merlin up and carry him to the sofa, where he laid Merlin down and clambered on top of him, kissing him passionately into the cushions of the sofa.
Regardless of how amazing and sexy this moment was, and the fact that they were both teenage boys with raging hard-ons in their trousers, Merlin's mind couldn't help but remind him that Arthur had probably done this with countless girls, had probably carried Gwen across the room, or up the stairs, had kissed her with a passion equal to the one Merlin was receiving right now.
Merlin used all of his will power to push Arthur away and sit himself up. "No," He said firmly, holding his hand against Arthur's chest, feeling the rippling muscles beneath his shift – Oh God. Arthur looked absolutely mortified and began to apologise once again.
"Was I hurting you? Is the bruise really painful? Was I too"—
-"Arthur, we shouldn't be doing this. You have a girlfriend, who's our friend," Merlin pointed out, looking at Arthur whilst trying to regain his breath.
"Who fancies one of our mates," Arthur countered, returning the strong gaze.
"Yeah but she's not making out with him and taking him home, Arthur, you need to break up with her, or come out, or both. This-" He said, gesturing between them, "-isn't fair on anyone."
Arthur hung his head and nodded slowly. "I know, Merlin, I know. But you can't deny the connection we've got, can you? You're all I've been thinking about all day, you're driving me fucking crazy."
Merlin nodded, biting his lip and breathing hard. "I know, it's the same with me, Arthur. How about we have a drink? Maybe when you're a little more relaxed you'll be able to make sense of things, and speak to Gwen tonight?"
"Yeah, yeah okay," Arthur replied, standing up and heading into Merlin's kitchen – or what he thought was Merlin's kitchen – to get some drinks.
"Arthur, that's the bathroom."
When Morgana came by to pick Merlin up, she walked in to see Arthur and Merlin watching something on TV on the sofa. Merlin lifted his head and smiled brightly, a little blush covering his cheeks to signify he'd had a bit to drink. "Hi Morgana! Are we ready?"
Morgana nodded and led the boys out to her car. Arthur was able to hold his drink a bit better than Merlin, but they were both sober enough to get in to places tonight. If they were too drunk, they'd just be left on the kerb. Both Merlin and Arthur sat in the back, aware of each other and comfortable, but they weren't looking at each other.
"You guys alright?" Morgana asked, as neither of them were speaking. Merlin bit his lip and smiled, nodding his head.
"We're fine Morgana, you look really pretty tonight by the way. You're gonna be #1 on the Wanted List." This made Morgana giggle and they finally reached town, parking along the road and waiting for everyone else to turn up.
Lance and Gwen appeared arm in arm. Gwen was wearing a cute white dress with a little bit of lace on the arms, and Lance was in a simple dress shirt and jeans. Arthur smiled at the pair, nerves obvious in his eyes. Merlin nudged him in the side. Tonight was the make or break moment.
Gwaine appeared next, with Leon trailing after. They were dressed similarly to Lance and Arthur. "Wow, Morgana, you look gorgeous!" Gwaine expressed his adoration straight away, and Morgana rolled her eyes at Merlin, but she allowed Gwaine to take her arm.
"Right, let's go!" They went to a couple of different clubs until they found one with real cheap drinks and a good music taste. Everyone was dancing in a group, but Morgana and Arthur were attracting male and female strangers. Morgana was lapping it all up, but Arthur was quite rigid and awkward around the girls that were gravitating towards him. Merlin was also feeling the same, his eyes locked on what Arthur would do. Would he push them away, would he come over to Merlin instead?
Arthur suddenly decided it was time. He grabbed hold of Gwen and took her to a quiet area of the club, with seating. Some of the girls turned their eyes to Merlin and were about to come over, until he held up his hands and mouthed "Gay, sorry". Soon enough they were gone.
Lance and Merlin were dancing together, laughing about and watching Gwaine fight off the other men around Morgana. She seemed quite impressed with it all. Merlin tried to look subtly for Arthur and Gwen but he couldn't see them anymore.
"Want a drink?" Merlin asked Lance in the loud music and they made their way over to the bar. They had a couple of shots each, pulling faces and taking photos of the reactions. They didn't notice when Gwen appeared by Lance's side, her arm around his waist with a quivering smile. Merlin's head flashed warning bells. If Gwen was back, where was Arthur? He looked around quickly, and say a blonde haired man leave out the front door.
He followed quickly and when he got outside, the sudden intake of shots hit him and he staggered, almost falling to the ground. Except someone had grabbed hold of him before he fell. Warm, strong hands, a nice smile. Merlin gazed up and saw a gorgeous, blonde man was holding him.
"You alright?" He said in a thick, cockney accent and then Merlin's mind told him it wasn't Arthur, leave, get away. But this man just looked so nice, smelled so good. He finally got to his feet and stared at this man with glossy eyes. His hair was longer than Arthur's, and he wasn't as muscly, but he had a cheeky grin and was flashing it at Merlin.
"Yeah, yeah I'm good," Merlin croaked out into the evening air, which was quite cold. "I'm looking for a friend." He managed to say, glancing around for someone that wasn't this man. This man was trouble and he knew it.
"Well, you're gonna fall again at this rate. Come and sit down," The blonde man said, patting down on a bench. Merlin followed him like a lost puppy and put his arms around himself, shivering a little. "Cold are you? What's your name?"
"Merlin," Merlin said without thinking, and the man had placed a hand on his cheek. Merlin was shocked, looking at the blonde with wide eyes, a deer in headlights expression, and the guy started to lean in. Merlin started panicking and was looking for a way out, until he – Thank God – heard a familiar, strong voice. His saviour.
"Excuse me," Arthur said, pushing this blonde man away. "I'd appreciate if you don't touch him, thanks." Merlin's brain was melting, Arthur was coming to his rescue, it was like some drunk, swirling fairy tale.
The blonde man looked like he was going to try for a fight, but he was smart and noted that Arthur looked awfully strong. He stood up and left, waving to Merlin and blowing him a kiss. Merlin shuddered.
"You look cold Merlin," Arthur said softly, and Merlin moulded into Arthur's arm.
"I am," He weakly replied, and Arthur got his phone out.
"Come on, let's take you home." Arthur called a taxi and sent texts to everyone, saying that he was going to take Merlin home. And, true to his word, Arthur did, dropping him off at his house and letting Merlin in. In the taxi, Merlin had nearly drifted off to sleep. Arthur helped him up the stairs to Merlin's bedroom and laid the boy down, kissing him on the lips tenderly.
"I'll come and see you tomorrow, okay Merlin? Sleep well," He whispered, leaving with another kiss and allowing Merlin to have sweet, drink-induced dreams involving Arthur in shining armour, fighting the golden dragon.