chapter7

Merlin smiled as he walked inside the restaurant, thinking of everything that happened on the date... was it a date? He and Arthur shared one of the most sweet... not sweet as in innocent, sweet as in "oh my god! Arthur's lips were soooo sweet". Merlin flinched when his arm was grabbed suddenly.

"Sorry." Morgana said quickly.

Merlin sighed in relieve. "That's ok." He whispered back. He didn't want to catch the attention of the people he could hear in the restaurant.

"How did it go?"

Merlin could tell the woman was anxious by the sound of her voice. This made Merlin smile. "I thought you didn't like him?" He teased.

Morgana suddenly smiled. "You had fun, didn't you?" She teased back. She suddenly held onto his arm. "Tell me! I want to know!"

Merlin laughed.

"Excuse me? Some service!"

"I'll be with you. Tell me Merlin, where did you go? You were gone so long, not even you can eat for three hours straight."

Merlin frowned. "I don't eat that much."

Morgana stood silent.

"I can feel you glaring at me Morgana."

The woman laughed.

"Service!"

"Hold on!" Morgana said annoyed. "Tell me, Merlin? Pleeeeease?"

Merlin laughed. "We should take care of the customers."

"Fine, but talk to me while we doing it." She grabbed his hand and pulled out a small pad then pulled him towards the woman who wouldn't stop calling. "What would you like?" Morgana asked.

"A cup of coffee and a slice of pound cake."

Morgana stared. "That's it?"

The woman nodded.

Morgana sighed and shook her head. "She interrupted out talk for a meal that's not even going to cost $5." She walked over to the coffee machine. "So tell me, Merlin."

The boy licked his lips and followed his friend's voice. "Well, he took me to this restaurant, where I later found out he and Uther own."

Morgana nodded. "That's not surprising. Go on."

"The food was good." Merlin said. "Very satisfying. But the snobs there..." He scoffed and shook his head. "Anyway, I thought we were going to come straight here afterwards, but he surprised me by taking me to this park."

Morgana looked at him. "Sounds romantic."

"It was wonderful." Merlin agreed, suddenly seeming dazed. "Especially the kiss."

Morgana's gaze snapped towards him. "You kissed Arthur Pendragon!"

The place quieted and Morgana gulped nervously when all eyes landed on her and she chuckled. "My... friend... asked me..." She said just as nervous then waved her hand. "And I told her of course I didn't..."

Merlin stood with wide eyes, slightly glad that he couldn't see the people around him. He exhaled a breath he was holding when he heard the people starting to talk again. "Thanks alot." He said sarcastically.

Morgana just pulled him down until he was sitting on a stool. "Arthur kissed you?" She whispered.

"Actually... I kissed him... then he kissed me... and I kissed him again."

Morgana stood with her mouth open.

"... He asked me out to dinner tonight," He gulped dryly. "And I'm going."

Morgana nodded. "As long as you're careful Merlin."

"I'll be fine, Morgana. I was fine after lunch, and after the walk. I'll be fine when I come home tonight. You and me only, we'll eat ice cream until we get brain-freeze, and cake until our stomachs hurt."

There was a suddenly whimper.

Merlin laughed. "You too, Cheeto."

XOXOXOXO

Merlin was again holding Cheetos' leash with one hand, and Arthur was holding his other. "Arthur, can you please tell me where we're going?" He said with a smile.

The blond only smiled. "No. It's a surprise. And we're here, so don't worry."

Merlin heard a door open and he was gently pulled inside the unknown place. His ears were met with low playing music, and his nose was met with the most nice smell of flowers and the smell of... "Is that... ground beef?"

Arthur chuckled and walked forward, leaning into Merlin's ear as he passed, making the boy shiver at the warmth on his face. "It's meatloaf, actually."

Merlin smiled as he listened to the footsteps getting further away.

"Welcome to my palace!" Arthur said loud.

"Palace?" Merlin asked laughing.

"Well, not really it's just a mansion." Arthur said lower. He eyed Merlin before slowly walking over. "Before I went to pick you up, I put a meatloaf in the oven so it could cook while we come back."

"Meat loaf?" Merlin repeated with that same smile. "Who made it?"

Arthur frowned. "I did. With my own two hands."

Merlin let go of Cheetos' leash, the dog ran straight towards the very comfortable looking couch, while Merlin took small and slow steps towards the sound of Arthur's voice. "You can cook? Now that's hard to believe." He teased.

Arthur hummed and couldn't help but lick his lips at the site of the thin, luscious body. He wanted to ravish it. He smiled when Merlin came a few feet from him and the younger man slowly reached out to make sure Arthur was in reach. The blond smiled again, lovingly and grabbed the smaller, paler hand. He entwined their fingers and pulled Merlin's body closer to his own, resulting in a breathy gasp from Merlin. Arthur frowned at the thought of Merlin being so scared of literally almost every touch, almost like a small child who has been abused.

"Merlin, how old are you?"

The boy only looked straight at Arthur's chest as he spoke. "I'll be 21 in six months."

Arthur's brows lightly narrowed and he hummed.

"What is it?" Merlin asked concerned.

Arthur shook his head. "You're 20, I'm 22 almost turning 23," He gulped nervously. "How...how is it I have my site... and you don't?"

Merlin shook his head. "I... don't like talking about it."

"You're so young." Arthur whispered sadly. "You literally have your whole life ahead of you, and you have to live it like this." He ran a finger down Merlin's cheek and to his chin gently raising it so he had a perfect view of the sky-blue eyes. Arthur frowned when instead he saw a long mark on Merlin's neck. He just as gently pulled the corner down, sending yet another shiver through Merlin, and Arthur saw a very noticable mark, looking a lot like a gash. "Oh, Merlin." He whispered and brought his lips to the mark gently kissing it. "What happened?"

Merlin only gulped nervously. To tell or not to tell?

"Arthur?"

Merlin suddenly froze.

Arthur turned towards the door. "Father? What are you doing here? We were going to meet for dinner tomorrow."

"Yes." Uther said, glancing towards Merlin in his son's arms, just like the photos he was given, in the house, just like Uther's man call and told him about. And just like both times, Uther found anger, jealousy and even hatred. "What is going on?"

Arthur gently pulled away from Merlin, who took a suddenly step behind the blond. Arthur cleared his throat. "Father, you remember Merlin, from the restaurant a few weeks ago?"

"Yes. If I may say, I think I also may have seen him somewhere before that. But, it may just be my imagination."

Merlin blinked, suddenly his breathing seemed to pick up.

Arthur shook his head slightly annoyed with the rude interruption. "So... are you going to leave?"

Uther gave a dark gleam. "No. I plan to spend the night, actually." He smiled darkly when Arthur groaned then walked towards the kitchen.

"I'm going to check the meatloaf." He groaned again.

"I'll come with you!" Merlin reached out, trying to grab the blond's hand, but missed by an unknowing inch.

"It's ok, I got it." Arthur whispered then left.

Merlin help his breath as he literally felt the other pair of eyes burning into his skin, he took a cautious step back. "...Cheeto?"

The wolf's head snapped up from her deep sleep and she looked towards Merlin. After a few long seconds the dog barked then looked towards Uther and started snarling and barking.

The man flinched, and quickly ran towards the kitchen.

Review Please :)