Ok, i am doing an alternate ending. This is chapter 8a. There will be a chapter 8b and a chapter 9a but not 9b if that makes sense? I know that some of you won't like the ending of this but this is what I had planned to do. However, since some reviews have said that they want Arthur and Merlin togther, I will be doing another chapter for them.

As Arthur crept back into his room, Merlin was just where he had left him. 'What was that about?' Merlin asked, tired. He stretched his hands up and then flopped them back down on the covers. 'Come back to bed Arthur,'

Arthur, stunned, managed to find his way back to bed where he climbed in beside Merlin and kept re-reading the letter. Merlin snuggled up to Arthur's chest and moaned his pleasure. 'I got a letter,' he mumbled.

'What does it say?' Merlin asked, his eyes closed and purring like a kitten. 'Tell me, Arthur. What does it say?'

'It…it says I'm going to be married by sunset tomorrow,' he said reluctantly, as if by not saying it, it would somehow not be true.

'What?' Merlin asked, incredulously. 'How can you marry the woman? She isn't even in Camelot!'

'It seems that she arrived this evening' Arthur said, still staring at the sheet of paper.

'What are we going to do?' Merlin asked suddenly. He pushed himself up into something vaguely resembling a sitting position and violently shook his head to get himself thinking clearly. 'Are you just going to marry her? What will happen to me?' he asked, he was clearly upset.

'I'm not going to marry her. But everybody has to think I have.' Arthur sucked in a breath while he thought and thought and thought about what to do. 'Merlin, can you do me a favour?'

'Not if it involves moving from this bed,' he murmured.

'Tough' Arthur said shortly. 'I need you to go and have a look at the dress. And there are two things you have to remember, does it have a veil and does it look pretty?'

'Why do you need to know if it looks pretty?'

'Because I want to know if Morgana has done a good job' Arthur pulled a puppy dog face and Merlin melted.

'Fine, I'll go.' Merlin pulled himself out of the sheets. 'I hope you're not thinking of putting me in the dress,' he laughed. 'Because that would never work,' The door shut behind him.

'Crap' Arthur said to himself. Putting Merlin in the dress had been his exact idea. Arthur got out of bed and made it. He got changed and went down to see Gwen.

Arthur knocked on the door of Gwen's house and entered straight away. 'Who is it?' Gwen called from the back room.

'It's me,' Arthur said.

'Well who is me?' Gwen asked. Arthur could hear the scraping of a broom along the floor.

'Arthur' Arthur replied. He came around the corner and saw her sweeping away. 'I need to talk to you. If that's alright?'

'Of course,' Gwen said, propping the broom up against the wall and leading the way through to the kitchen where there were two chairs to sit on. 'What is it?'

'Well. I have to marry Juliana tomorrow-'

'Really! Congratulations! I hope I can come-'

'Gwen, that is not the point,'

'Oh, sorry,' Gwen said 'I got a bit carried away, what is the point?'

'The point is that I still love Merlin. I don't want to marry Juliana. Especially with Merlin right here. What can I do?'

'Pull out of the wedding? Or somehow make it so that you marry Merlin instead?'

'We were thinking about the second one but we weren't sure how to do it? Besides, if my Farther found he would kill me!'

Gwen sighed, 'Really Arthur?' she fiddled with a loose bit of hair. 'Really? You are about to be bound for life to a woman you do not love while abandoning the love of your life and you are worried about what Uther will think if you don't go through with it?' She looked incredulous 'Try and think about what your people will think if you do go through with it. Who would want a king who would marry someone they did not love because Daddy wanted them to?'

'Well the people don't have to know,' Arthur said, shiftily.

'I am the people. And I know. You have to stop the wedding.' She said seriously.

'What do you think I am trying to do?' Arthur shouted. 'I only found out about it ten minutes ago!' Arthur was on his feet, as was Gwen.

'Oh, come off it Arthur. You have been living with her for six months! Everybody knew there was going to be a wedding!'

'Yes. But as a distant, never quite real thing. Not what I am doing at sunset tomorrow afternoon!' Arthur pounded his fist on the table.

'Arthur. I have offered all the help I can. Now, if you stay here any longer I think we are going to rip each other's throats out.' She indicated the door. Arthur swallowed and left.

'Thank you, Guinevere. You have been very helpful,' he said quietly, as he left.

Arthur walked back up to the castle and back into his chambers. He sat on the bed, what was he going to do?

Merlin arrived back in Arthur's room. 'Well, the dress does have a veil. It is beautiful. It has a v-neck right down here' Merlin pointed out the spot in his own chest. 'And three quarter sleeves.'

'Shit' Arthur said angrily.

'What?' Merlin asked.

'It's going to sound stupid. But I thought that if she was completely covered up, veil, long sleeves, high neck. We could get you in the dress,'

Merlin laughed. 'Arthur, I don't sound a bit like her, I have arms with hair on them because I'm a man,' Arthur pulled a face. He had never thought of Merlin as a man before. 'And I wouldn't get into the dress'

'Merlin. You are slim, you could easily get in it. But is doesn't matter anyway because it shows too much flesh. Only a woman could get away with it from what you described.'

'So what are you going to do? What is your other plan?' Merlin asked nervously. There had to be another plan. There had to be another way out of it.

'What can I do?' Arthur asked 'What can I do Merlin? Please tell me? I can't do anything and neither can you.' He couldn't look Merlin in the eyes anymore. 'This is it. Tomorrow, we go our separate ways.'

'So. You're just going to give up?' Merlin asked in his defiant voice. 'You, Arthur Pendragon are giving up on me. On us,'

'Merlin we have no choice,' Arthur said, standing up and walking towards Merlin. Merlin took a step backwards. Away from Arthur.

'You have a choice Arthur. You can tell the king how you really feel. You can go up to Uther and tell him that you love me.'

'Merlin you don't understand-' Arthur began.

'I understand perfectly. You are too scared to admit it to anybody other than me.'

'Merlin. If I told Uther that I loved you, he would have you burned as a witch for putting a spell on me. It would do no good' he tried to reason with Merlin.

'Of course, there is no good in being honest,' Merlin said coldly.

'I was honest with Gaius. I was scared to tell him but I did. And my mother. But you can't tell one person.'

Arthur thought about saying that he had told Gwen but he knew Merlin would say that Gwen didn't count.

'You know what Arthur?' Arthur looked up from the floor. 'I don't need to stay here arguing all night. I love you so much and I can't bare this. Have a good marriage,' Merlin turned and left Arthur stood in his chambers alone and miserable.

The next day went by in a matter of minutes. First, he was getting dressed; the next minute he was having his lunch. And before it should have done, the sun was setting. Arthur looked out of the window and saw the sun staining the sky a thousand colours. On the hillside, in the distance, he saw a man with his hand held up to the sun.

Arthur didn't know that it was Merlin. Merlin had slipped out in the late afternoon, two hours before sunset and walked up the hill. He made sure that he was far enough away from Camelot so that he couldn't be recognised. Merlin held his hand out to the un and whispered. He dragged the sun down, closer to the horizon with his hand. He wanted this day to be over. He wanted Arthur to be gone, so he would never have to see him again. He had stayed away from Arthur all day. He had planned everything. He would bring the wedding forward by a few hours so he wouldn't have to wait too long; that was pulling the sun down. He would then go to Arthur and say his goodbyes. Arthur would be gone in two days and he wouldn't be back until Uther died and he became king. That would be a long time yet. Long enough for Merlin to have properly moved on at any rate.

The wedding would start in nearly an hour. Merlin was walking back to Camelot as fast as he could. His feet found their back to Arthur's room without him really looking where he was going. He walked through the door as if it were smoke, nothing could stand in his way now. Arthur was stood at the window, watching the sun going down and shedding a tear.

'Arthur?'

Arthur turned around. Merlin wanted Arthur to run into his arms but he didn't he just stood there, watching Merlin with an intensity that made in feel awkward.

'Arthur. I'm sorry,' Merlin said, honesty beaming through his eyes. Since Arthur wasn't going to do the running, Merlin was going to have to. He ran forward, Arthur opened his arms and enveloped Merlin in them. 'I'm sorry. I'm sorry,' was all Merlin could manage to whisper.

'I know, I'm sorry too.' Arthur whispered back.

Merlin looked into Arthur's handsome face 'I love you' he said again.

'I love you too,' he replied. 'I won't be back until I have to be, when I become king. That could be a long time,' he said.

'But you will be fine, you will have a wife, and maybe a few children by then.' Merlin sniffed, unaware of the tears on his face. 'What will you name your first son?' he asked.

'Merlin,' Arthur replied in a split second. 'Wasn't that obvious?'

Merlin laughed.

'Merlin? Will you do me a favour?' Arthur asked 'Find somebody to love you. Somebody you can love too. And make sure that person will treat you better then I did,'

Up until this moment, that had been Merlin's plan. 'No. No. I'll wait for you. I'll still be here when you come back. And when you are king, you can have me. All of me.'

'But Merlin, that isn't fair on you,' he said.

'If I choose to wait for you then it is completely fair on me,' Merlin replied fiercely. 'I'll wait for you and I don't care if you don't want me. I'll still wait,'

'I love you so much you know,' Arthur breathed in Merlin's ear.

'Arthur?' came Morgana's voice from the passage. Merlin jumped away from Arthur just in time. 'Arthur. We are ready for you now. Merlin, you aren't in your clothes. I laid them out for you in your chambers.'

Merlin looked confused. 'M-m-my clothes?' he asked.

'Of course silly,' Morgana laughed. 'You are the best man' Merlin looked shocked.

'What?'

'What?' Arthur repeated.

'Merlin go and get changed quickly,' Morgana flashed.

'No, don't,' Arthur contradicted. 'Merlin. You will be fine just as you are,'

The three of them went down to the great hall where all of the guests were waiting for them. Arthur stood at the altar with Merlin beside him. But it felt like Merlin should have been on the other side of him, marrying him. As Juliana walked up the aisle, Merlin squeezed Arthur's hand gently. As soon as the service was over, he left for his chambers and didn't come out until three days after Arthur and Juliana had left as newly weds.

Arthur wanted the chance to say goodbye to Merlin. But he never got it.