A/N: Sorry about the wait D: just like before though, i split this chapter into two parts cause it was too long. I'll upload the counterpart tomorrow or friday! Forgive the time skips during the chapter; i didn't feel like writing every single detail. Enjoy, nonetheless, R&R! Thanks for waiting, again :')
We snuck out of the school without an issue. It was during passing period, when people were running to their next classes; it's not like we were out of place. Merlin was smiling the entire time, so it struck me that he probably hadn't done something like this before. He was excited and it was because of me, so I was smiling the entire time as well. That probably stood out more than us exiting the doors and escaping from school; both of us trying to keep our smiles less obvious, trying hard not to laugh. Because Merlin always made me happy, even the little things like that.
Of course, though, the kid protested to going out straight away. It was apparently absurd and stupid to go drinking in the afternoon, as we would be too early and bars get boring after a couple hours. So we had gone out to a coffee shop of all places to waste a couple hours. Not a famous one like Starbucks, but a local one that I hadn't really caught the name of yet. I hadn't even bothered to read the sign; Merlin just gave me directions and I drove there.
The coffee shop wasn't that far from the school, in fact it seemed close to where I had dropped him off at his flat the other night. The place was in between a furniture shop and an old-fashioned looking pizza store. Talk about location. But as much as I had against the small coffee shop for standing in my way of clubbing with Merlin, it had its compensations... there was a set of chairs and a table delicately set out front, and when you entered, a welcoming warmth seemed to wash over you. We sat down in the back corner of the shop, away from the blabbering couples and businessmen typing away at their computers. I had ordered a white mocha, which was appropriate as we were in a coffee shop. Unsurprisingly enough, Merlin had bought a cookie and a small peppermint coffee, setting aside the actual drink and unwrapping the treat instead.
"They already have peppermint coffee, huh?" I commented, taking a sip of my hot drink. "It's not even past Halloween yet."
"It's the food that's better than the drinks here, to be honest. The drinks could be better." Merlin savored the colourful sprinkles on the white-frosted cookie for a moment, before biting off a corner. I watched him eat it, little crumbs of the frosting lining his lips. "These are the best." He took another small bite, wanting to make the cookie last as long as possible.
My fingers twitched as he took another bite of his treat, a crumb or two lingering on the side of his mouth, urging to wipe them off. It took strength not to, to hold my hands steady, the flakes of white frosting budging at my nerves. I stuffed them in my pockets hastily, not taking any chances, for fear of my hands acting on their own. Merlin managed to realize why I was staring so intently at his face, and pulled down his sleeve into his hand, wiping the crumbs off his face. I relaxed a bit, looking away.
"That's the only reason you wanted to come here, I bet. Those damn cookies, right?"
Merlin nodded shamelessly, putting the sweet gingerly onto the wrapper and taking a drink of his coffee to down it.
"Have a bite, it's good," he smiled, breaking off a tiny piece for me.
"Nah, I'm fine. The pink-and-white frosting is horrible as it is."
"No, try it!"
"Mer—" He ended up mushing the cookie onto my mouth, which turned out pretty ineffective, as it just crumbled onto the table. I spat out whatever crumbs had actually gotten through my lips, wiping my mouth and pushing Merlin's arm away as he laughed.
"Aw, you wasted it."
"The frosting is fucking disgusting. How can you eat that?!" The sickly sweet flavor hit me as I licked my lips.
Merlin shrugged, putting the remaining half of the cookie back onto its wrapper on the table.
"What time is it?" he mumbled to himself, going to check his phone. Out of sheer satisfaction for myself, I got to my watch before he pulled out his phone and answered him.
"Almost four."
"Well, we have a lot of time to waste, then."
"Or we could go right now," I offered, already knowing Merlin's response.
"That's way too early!"
"Then when do you want to go? If you don't want to, you only have to say so. Don't be shy." He ignored me, rolling his ridiculously blue eyes, like the brat he was.
"After we eat dinner or something. Not earlier than seven."
"Seven?" I stared at him tryingly.
"It's only right! Who goes clubbing before it gets dark?" I couldn't exactly argue with him, but we had a lot of time to waste if Merlin expected to get there at seven by the earliest.
"Fine. Seven it is, then. What do you suggest we do?"
"Here's rather nice." Merlin shrugged.
"I'm not sitting in a coffee shop that smells like bread for… nearly three hours."
"Well, were going to eat, aren't we? And do other things."
"But it's stuffy in here."
"Deal with it."
"This is kind of like a date, huh?" I muttered under my breath.
"What..? Come on, Arthur, you need to speak up."
"It's nothing. But you're new here, last time I checked, right? Transfer student or whatever."
"Yeah. From up north, Manchester." He gestured upward, metaphorically. I still wondered what brought the kid down here.
"So then you haven't really seen around here."
"Not exactly. I haven't had time," Merlin admitted, taking another quick bite. "School and shit."
"Well then I'm showing you around."
"Would you do that? Really?"
My phone buzzed, catching me off guard, so I was slow to answer him.
"Of course! I mean, you've been here for a month at least, and you don't know your way around..." I said. This was exactly like a date. I wonder if the thought crossed Merlin's mind.
"Well, yeah I do, I know the school and my flat. And your place. And the grocer."
Another two vibrations, and I bothered to slip my phone out of my pocket, still addressing Merlin.
"Just knowing where your school and where your flat is doesn't cut it. That's just sad, Merles, come on." I clicked the envelope icon, the messages popping up.
[Gwaine: 3:01: whered u buzz off to, hmm? ? ? ? ) ]
[Gwaine: 3:01: I saw merles was missing 2. Huh can i assume the worst?]
Another buzz, and I watched the icon of the envelope entering my inbox.
[Gwaine: 3:02: SEX SEX SEX SEX SEX ;)))) ]
Fuck, I think I was blushing... what an asshole. I ignored the texts, turning off my phone- I just hoped the twat wouldn't bother me again.
I let Merlin finish his drink and treat, stuffing my hands back into my pocket and looking away while he ate. Dragging him out of the coffee house, he seemed to make it a necessity to say goodbye to the worker at the counter, waving while the bell on the door chimed as we left.
I hauled him around the city, although not knowing this part of the area that well. We killed time, talking and visiting random shops, leaving with nothing. It was 5:00 by the time we had checked our clocks again, whether it was a watch or a phone. He said we needed to eat, while I argued that he was stalling for time, and he retorted that it was ungentlemanly to go to a pub at such an hour. So we ate at a McDonalds, of all places, wasting more time and fooling around.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
We entered the first place I could find; I'd been waiting for this far too long now. As promised, I dragged Merlin there only after seven on the dot, much to my own disdain. Several people (but not many), who had assumedly gotten off of work and gone straight to the bar, were already here. Other than that, the music was low, and the countertop of the bar mostly empty. This was good; knowing this place, it would fill up fast soon. One it hits the mark where people finish eating their supper, this place would be packed and uncomfortable. It was good to grab seats early. I had parked my car in the valet across the street, not trusting the public parking spaces on the side of the road with my Maserati.
"How much do you think?" Merlin asked, pulling out a worn brown wallet, probably to count how much he actually had. Maybe to second guess his judgement of going clubbing tonight.
"You can put that away," I said casually, pulling Merlin onto the stool right of me. "I'll pay tonight."
"Because you can, huh?" Merlin rolled his eyes, but nonetheless slipped his wallet back into his trousers. He began fiddling with a stray bottle cap, turning it over between his fingers.
"Because I don't want you vomiting all over tonight. At least if you're eating up my tab, you'll feel guilty about it."
"Who said I'd feel guilty?" Merlin grinned, balancing the bottle cap on his nose.
"I wouldn't take you for the kind to stumble into your door at four in the morning."
"More like two in the afternoon."
"Wouldn't take for you as that kind," I questioned, doubting whether he was just trying to impress me, or if he was serious.
The barmaid came to our end, setting down her washrag to slouch against the counter. She was pretty, with light skin and wearing a complimentary red dress with the standard black apron.
"What can I get for you two?" she asked. Merlin let the bottle cap slide off his nose onto his palm, as if in courtesy to give the stranger his attention.
"I, uh, whatever's on tap, I guess," he said quietly, with a smile that I only felt jealousy of as it was pointed towards someone other than me.
"Fosters," she replied in an awfully snooty way. A frown appeared on my face; she shouldn't talk to a customer that way.
"Thanks, that'll be fine," Merlin said, not batting an eyelash at her rude tone. I bit my lip not to say anything, as... yeah, Merlin would get mad at me.
"Ah, a Pendragon," the barmaid nodded at me in recognition, not that I remembered her. And for the odd reason of reputation age wasn't exactly an issue for most places in the area. Conveniently enough. It was stupid, but... ah, "And what for you?"
"Pint of whatever," I shrugged, trying to ignore her former disregard for Merlin. "Take your pick."
"A pint?" Merlin mouthed at me. "You know, I fancy a pint myself. Start the evening off strong, right?" he smiled at the barmaid again. I raised my eyebrows at the challenge, turning back to the lady in her slutty short red dress.
"I remember you have fine vodka, right?"
"Yes? Imported."
"Screwdriver, then, miss. Largest glass you have."
"Right then?" The barmaid looked amused, glancing between the two of us. "Pint of...tap beer and a Screwdriver?"
"Hold on a second." Merlin tapped his lips with a finger, thinking. "What's the strongest drink you've got here?"
"You know, if we're going to go there, might as well go to shots," I reasoned.
"That's a challenge then."
"Nevermind all that," I almost sympathized to the barmaid who had gotten that sweet smile. But who am I kidding, I still hated the thought of her. "If you could grab us some shot glasses."
"I'm assuming more than just two," she muttered, and walked off, probably not too keen for two boys to drink themselves to death on her countertop. I stared after her, a thought snapping forefront.
"I'll be right back; I've got to tell her which liquors to bring."
"Don't get lost." Merlin nodded to my joke even in it's clarity as I slipped off the stool and walked left down the bar top.
Others had gotten smart and grabbed stools before the rush showed up, as the best service was in front of the one who dealt the drinks. I found the barmaid scribbling down someone else's orders on a napkin, smiling to him and then catching sight of me.
"Ah. I'll get you glasses in a minute," she addressed me, then turned to get the next person. I cleared my throat, tapping my fingers twice on the counter.
"Yes? What can I get you?" She snapped her attention back. It's not wise to keep someone like me waiting, she knew it-
"I'm driving that lanky little thing home tonight. It would be helpful if you could fill some empty bottles up with water; I'd rather not crash my car." She glanced at my 'lanky little thing', then back to me, giving me a wary smile.
"You better be ready for him tomorrow morning, Pendragon, when he realizes you duped him on your little bet. That's rude."
"He's cute when he's angry," I smiled, glancing back over at the subject of conversation. My smile dropped.
"Might want to keep an eye on him, too," she whistled, leveling her pencil in Merlin's direction.
"Thanks." I rapped my knuckles on the counter, walking briskly back to where I had been sitting. The key idea being past tense, because someone had quickly taken my seat. And that someone was talking to my lanky little thing; they key idea being my possession and no one else's. How many idiots did I have to frighten off before I could have just one night with him to myself?
"Hey, Merlin." I flashed a noticeably fake smile at my friend, and then tapped the new guy's shoulder. "And who might you be?" He turned, surprised that the pretty little noirette hadn't ventured into a loud pub alone, as he had hoped.
"I, uh-"
"I don't care and I don't think he does either," I gritted my teeth, nodding to Merlin, and staring the new problem down. The nameless bloke got the point impressively fast, sliding off the stool and giving Merlin a small, disappointed wave as he left. I sat down, ignoring my friend's glare.
"Good god, you didn't have to be so rude," he muttered.
"He didn't have to take my seat in the couple seconds I was gone."
"Did you tell her gin and scotch or something?" Merlin sighed, flipping the bottle cap again in turn with changing the subject.
"No."
"You can back out now, if you want," he grinned, propping a leg up on my chair. "I won't blame you." I kicked his leg off my stool.
"I told her to bring the strongest poisons she's got. Don't get too cocky."
I stopped for a moment, a familiar buzz in my pocket. That was my phone.
"Who's driving tonight, then?"
"I'll call a taxi," I replied, frowning when my phone buzzed again. And again. I would usually ignore it, but now it had gone off three—make that four times now, as it buzzed yet again. I got my phone out of my pocket; the screen was already lit with the predisposition that I had a text.
"Back to your house?"
[Gwaine: 7:11: Princey, where r you? ? ? ?] The multiple question-marks. It was Gwaine again.
[Gwaine: 7:12: Where.]
[Gwaine: 7:12: ARE.]
[Gwaine: 7:12: YOU.]
He had actually texted me four times in the past minute. I turned off my phone, shoving it back into my trouser pocket without replying.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Your flat is probably closer, though, right?"
"Well, yeah. But you don't want to go to my flat," he said fretfully. "It's messy and you probably won't like it there…"
"I'm sure it's fine, Merlin. Just give me directions."
"You sure your father won't be mad or anything?"
"What, you think I haven't done this before? I used to go out with the Lance, Gwaine, Gwen, and Morgana, but we always had to carry Morgana home…so we stopped bringing her."
"Oh, I know Gwen. She's sweet," Merlin smiled. "Morgana? That's the dark haired girl, right?"
"Yeah. Our parents were good friends, so we're close too, but honestly…" The buzz in my pocket again. Another text? "…she can't hold her liquor."
[Gwaine: 7:14: ARTHUR WHERE ARE YOU EVER1 IS ASKING ME CAUSE I CN USUALLY GET YOU TO ANSWER BUT YOU R NOT ANSWERING]
Another message came and I was done with the bullshit.
[Gwaine: 7:14: STOP IGNORING MEE ]
I held down the power button on my phone, turning it off for good. Gwaine could wait. Everyone could wait a goddamn couple hours while I was with Merlin, alone, just with each other. It would be fine.
"Who was that?" Merlin asked.
"Gwaine. Nothing important."
"So what's the plan?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well…" He looked around at the people starting to collect in the bar. "Are we club jumping? What's the deal?"
"We'll do whatever. It's a long night, remember?"
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
We ended up doing the shots. By that time, I had fended off more people trying to hit on Merlin. And me. Mostly Merlin, cause of course he held that "innocent little brunette" shitty look. The barmaid stayed true to her word, no doubt trying to get a good reputation for serving me drinks. Music played loud, and the floor behind us was crowded with people dancing, who had trickled in until around 8:00, when a mass of people decided to barge through the doors. After probably three shots over the span of ten minutes, Merlin had downed another two shots in a row before balking to make a face at the harsh taste of liquor. I only drank four shots in total, as mine were just water and I didn't want him to get suspicious that I was cheating him.
"Oh shit, that's bloody sharp..." he coughed, his eyes widening as he looked at me. I was ready with a fixed smirk, making him attempt to take back his comment. "W-well, it's not—"
"I thought you said you were such a drinker." He flushed, picking up another shot glass and downing it.
"What the hell is this?" he picked up the bottle the barmaid had given us, identical to mine, but filled with strong vodka. "Xellent? What kind of a name is that?"
"Imported, remember?"
"It's strong," he groaned, face flushing under the influence of alcohol. "Really strong."
"You can stop if you want. I've had enough too," I sympathized, stacking at couple shot glasses in front of me.
"Don't pity me," he wrinkled his nose, going to fill another glass, but I stopped him, taking the bottle of liquor and placing it on the other side of me. He half-heartedly reached for it, and I batted his hand away.
"Let's go. It's too crowded in here anyways." It was true; this place lost its luster after staying for too long.
"But—" He almost protested. However, a second later when a girl much too young to be there appeared next to him seemingly out of nowhere, he complied to leave with me, as she started to drawl about how blue Merlin's eyes were. He shooed her away, muttering how she even got in here. "Fine."
I left cash on the table, under the bottle of real vodka (not my fake one), and we pushed our way to the exit, shouting to each other over the loud music about where to go next.
He could still walk when we ventured to the next club, a couple blocks over. This one was of a much higher class; nice leather couches in the back, for reserved seating. Merlin looked around, stunned, at the lights and the substantial array of liquor gingerly organized behind the granite counter.
They really only served name drinks there. Merlin didn't really know any drinks by name, so I ordered for him a fruity Madras, which he turned out to enjoy. This time, I got myself a nice, simple screwdriver, which I had actually been craving all night since I had tried to order one earlier. It wasn't too bad if I just had one drink. Merlin didn't exactly like that pub. It was "too snobby, like you are" he slurred at me, poking at my face to my own utter annoyance. I agreed to move on, having to support his weight a bit, after the shots and vodka cocktail he had inhaled.
The next place was nice looking on the outside, and not too crazy-looking for ten at night on a Friday. There weren't multicoloured lights blinding the public, but there was certainly music. The only issue was, as soon as we sat down at the counter, everyone took notice, because the kids there were mostly, it seemed, from Camelot High School. They whispered to each other, beaming at us together. A couple seemed to want to talk to me, but held back, settling with a satisfied look on their faces, as if saying "ah, so that's where he ran off to today". Which I couldn't stand for, so I dragged Merlin out before even ordering a drink. I wondered where Lance, Gwaine, Elyan and the others had gone off to tonight, and hoped to avoid them. I almost considered turning my phone back on to text Gwaine back, but decided it better not to. Merlin was beginning to cause a scene as we left the club with familiar faces, whining about my hair and how it was so blonde. I laughed at his utterly serious face, as he scuffed at his own, messing up his hair while I listened to him rattle on about how I was so girly for spending time to fix my hair every morning.
He kept talking nonsense as I led him to the next place, which I had high hopes for. I felt like fucking Goldilocks, except instead of porridge and chairs, I was choosing which club was the best. I lost track of how many we jumped, each time we left, the lights on the street becoming brighter as time passed and alcohol flooded our systems. Merlin much more than I. He threw up once in the fourth pub we visited, and when we had walked ten minutes to find the next one, he ran straight to the loo. The host saw the poor brunette rush into the back, and gave me a toothbrush and some toothpaste to "help my friend" as I followed Merlin's steps. He had just gotten up from the toilet, flushed it, and attempted to rearrange his disheveled hair while I laughed at him. He insisted that he could brush his teeth by himself, but I insisted on helping him. I remember at that point, I stopped ordering him drinks. That's all I know; I got a bit concerned about how much he was drinking. And judging by how he handled it, Merlin was trying to impress me. It was cute, the way he tried to order even more liquor, when you could tell he was looking in my direction the whole time. The bartenders would smile and chuckle at Merlin's requests, raising their eyebrows at me in question for why the kid was ordering "a bucket of tequila".
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
