A/N Thank you to all my lovely reviewers!! Now, this part is completely Arthur centric - in part to make up for the last bit being completely Merlin centric - and is also a lot of angst. Please don't hate me, once you've read this, the happiness is coming, I promise.


Roommates

Part 9

Friday

Fresher's Ball

Friday evening seemed to be hurtling towards Merlin with irrefutable speed. Formal dinners and dancing were never his idea of fun, and he felt like this night was not going to do anything to change that. It was, therefore, inevitable that he left it to the very last moment, before he even thought about changing into tux.

The girls, of course, seemed to have spent half the afternoon using up all the hot water, and the other half in their room 'getting ready', whatever that meant. Surely it didn't take anymore than five minutes to put on a dress, and drag a brush through your hair. Even Arthur had got in on the act, heading for the showers as soon as he had arrived back from his afternoon seminar, and now he was wondering around there room, in his white shirt and black trousers, trying to decided which pair of shoes looked best, and how to do his hair. It was almost as if Arthur was nervous, but about what Merlin did not know.

"Merlin, you are coming tonight, aren't you?"

Arthur finally stopped occasionally staring at Merlin, and decided, in stead, to initiate a conversation.

"Yes, Arthur."

"Are you going in your jeans?"

"No, Arthur?"

"Then might I suggest you have a shower and change?"

"And might I suggest you stop being such a condescending prat? Besides, there's another half an hour yet, before we have to leave."

"Suit yourself," Arthur shrugged, but Merlin did concede that he should probably jump in the shower about now, and tried, quietly, to slip out the room.


And might I suggest you stop being such a condescending prat? Arthur hadn't meant to annoy Merlin - he was only trying to offer some advice. From an almost promising beginning, the two men had fallen out that week. When they did see each other, which appeared to be as infrequently as they could manage, all they managed to do was snipe. Arthur didn't know why they had become like that. In his mind, he was thinking about how he liked Merlin, liked him as more than just a roommate, more than just a friend, but his mouth kept coming out with ridiculous, snarky comments; it was as if he could not help himself.

If he had been completely honest with Merlin, he wouldn't have asked him to change out of those jeans, or the black top Merlin was wearing, they suited him so perfectly. Tight, without being too tight, and Arthur knew – he was constantly having to fight himself, to prevent those sneaky looks at Merlin's tight arse, when his roommate's back was turned.

But now, they were constantly fighting, and Arthur really wasn't sure what to do. Morgana had been trying to drop hints, but Arthur would be damned before he understood them, and Arthur had resigned himself that, whilst they might eventually form an unhappy truce, it would be little more than that.

He finally decided he had enough product in his hair, and decided to liberate his beer bottles, from the locked cupboard they were kept in. One or two before the ball wouldn't hurt.


Merlin passed Arthur, sitting in the kitchen area, chatting to Gwen and Morgana, on his way back to his room. They all appeared to be ready, well before they were due to leave, and he wondered if he could prolong things enough, Arthur and Morgana might go off without Gwen and himself. He wasn't sure why they were going as a foursome; both Arthur and Morgana have many other friends that could have arrived at the ball with, but Gwen and Morgana appeared to have hatched this plan, and roped Arthur in to going with Morgana, all by themselves. Honestly, those women.

It didn't take Merlin long to dress, nor to artfully dishevel his hair, in a way he hoped looked vaguely sexy. He had decided tonight was the night he was going to put this stupid crush on his prat of a roommate behind him, and at least pull someone else. Although the event was called the 'Fresher's Ball', it was actually attended by every student of the university, and, since few of them knew him or his background, it could be exactly the night he needed to blow off some steam.


When the four of them were finally ready, a process with more hitches than one might have expected, especially since the girls kept rushing back into their room for cameras, to re-do their hair, and to make sure they had the 'perfect' lipgloss on. Of course, then Morgana had to have a photograph session in which they all had to appear multiple times; Merlin, Gwen, Arthur and Morgana separately, Gwen and Merlin together, Arthur and Morgana, and then the two boys, and then the two girls, and Merlin began to wonder whether or not they would ever make it to the feast, but they did eventually leave the flat.


The Great Hall, Camelot University's formal dining space, was decked out in the university colours – red and gold – as was the antechamber Merlin, Gwen, Arthur and Morgana were now standing in. They quickly located the bar – serving complementary champagne, although each student was limited to two glasses – and all four were drinking speedily for different reasons, casting furtive glances around the room.

Merlin found the person he was searching for, first, Jack from the sorcery society. He smiled at the tall blond boy, looking well turned out in his tux, and walked over to greet him.

Arthur, meanwhile, followed the exchange. He couldn't help the feeling that was brewing in the pit of his stomach, as he watched the two boys chatting happily. When the other boy – Arthur did not know his name – touched Merlin briefly on his shoulder, Arthur realised they were flirting and the envy he was feeling began to grow.

"Jack," said Morgana's voice, at his side. He turned to look at her, raising his eyebrows, and gestured at Merlin and his companion.

"How do you know that?"

"I know everything, Arthur. And you should really tell him soon, you know. Your chance is going to slip away faster than you think."

By the time Arthur had had time to mull over those words, to comprehend Morgana's implications, she had gone. He looked quickly around the room, but he could not see her anywhere. His eyes, however, did manage to find Gwen, talking to a handsome man, he didn't know either. He suspected Morgana did.

"Hey, mate." Suddenly Arthur found Gary, who was also on the rugby team, standing in front of him, and he was happy to engage in a conversation that would distract him from thoughts of Merlin.


When dinner was called, Morgana and Gwen magically appeared to find each other, and Merlin and Arthur, and suggested they all sit together, since they had come together. Their various conversation partners, Jack, Gary, Gwen's friend, and a large group Morgana had been chatting to, all gravitated to the same portion of table, and they ended up eating together. Arthur, was sat between one of Morgana's friend, an air-headed blond names Chelsea, and Gwen's friend, who he discovered was named Lancelot. Lancelot seemed like a good chap, and was fun to talk to, especially since Chelsea was unlikely to provide him with any stimulating conversation, but Lancelot seemed much more interested in Gwen.

Arthur tried talking to Chelsea, but when he realised he could watch Merlin and Jack's animated conversation, by looking slightly to the right of Chelsea's ear, and still keep up his well honed flirting technique, he fell into a pattern that served him fairly well through dinner.


"Arthur, I'd like a word."

Uther's voice, echoing through Arthur's body from just behind his left ear, made him turn sharply, just as he was exiting the Great Hall.

"Yes Father," he replied, trying to hide the contempt from his voice. He was trying to enjoy himself, what did his father want with him now?

"Arthur, I have given you fantastic opportunities, nurtured connections with some of the most elite and powerful students in the university, and yet you chose to spend dinner with scholarship students and a cheap lay?"

They were alone in the Great Hall now, the staff wouldn't come in to clean the place until they left, and Uther could raise his voice.

"Is it your aim in life to disappoint me?" Without letting his son breathe, let alone speak a word in his defence, Uther swept past him, out of the Great Hall. Arthur pulled a hip flask out of his jacket pocket, for the first time that night, and managed to down almost half the contents in one swig.


Arthur continued to get drunk, as the evening wore on. He tried to amuse himself; to talk to the people his father would want him to talk to; to dance with the girls his father would want him to dance with, but it didn't work. Everywhere he looked, he could see Merlin and Jack, enjoying themselves, enjoying each other's company. And, as yet another slow song came to an end, Arthur finished the rest of his hip flask, and decided now was the time to talk to Merlin.


He was drunk, Arthur knew that much, as he walked, slowly, towards the male toilets. He had seen Merlin walking that way, and had decided, with conviction that surprised him, that this was his chance. So, when those adorably goofy ears, and the absurdly sexy messy hair, and the piercing blue eyes, oh, those blue, blue, brilliantly blue eyes, appeared, Arthur just said the words he'd been holding in for a week.

"I like you Merlin."

"Really, well you've got a funny way of showing it," deadpanned Merlin.

"No, I mean, like you, like you, you know."

"No, I don't know Arthur. Why don't you go back and be pissed with your mates, and just leave me alone?"

"But I like you, Merlin."

"You've said that."

"As in, I think you're hot. And sexy. And I want to…"

"OK, is this some stupid dare, Arthur. What did your Avalon mates bet you, eh, to embarrass me, or was the plan to seduce me?" Arthur had never seen Merlin so angry, he was positively explosive, now. "Did they dare you to sleep with me, Arthur?" He almost screamed those words, but then he whispered his next, "Did they dare you to break my heart?"

Merlin and Arthur's eyes locked, and for a moment, Arthur felt as if they were the only two people in the whole world, and he wanted to lean in a meld his lips into Merlin's and let go and succumb to all these feelings, these desires. Briefly he the thought that Merlin might be this passionate in bed crossed his mind, and he felt himself beginning to go hard, but then Merlin broke the silence.

"Go back to her, whatever her name is, tonight's disposable blond bimbo," Merlin said, pointing to Chelsea, who was standing only a few feet behind Arthur, "And. Just. Leave. Me. Alone."

And with that Merlin was gone; Arthur spun around, and watched him walk straight over to Jack. And plant a kiss on his lips. Suddenly, Arthur was completely sober; all effects of the, copious amounts of, alcohol he had consumed that night had been having on him, were erased by the surprise. He was fixed to the spot, had no idea what to do, and when Chelsea walked over to him, and led him onto the dancefloor, where "I Don't Wanna Miss A Thing" was now playing, he just let her. His eyes were transfixed on Merlin and Jack, now slowly moving across the dancefloor, as he was. He watched as the pair kissed again, and then Jack whispered something into Merlin's ear. He watched as Merlin replied, and they linked their fingers together. He watched as they left the dancefloor, and he knew exactly where they were going.

He pushed Chelsea away, and followed, far enough behind that they wouldn't see him, but Arthur followed them, all the way back to Castle Hall.


Arthur was seated in the kitchen area, a bottle of vodka clutched tightly in his hand. He was trying, desperately, to block out the noises coming from his room, the noises, he knew, Merlin and Jack were making. Even when they eventually went quiet, Arthur could still hear those noises spinning around his mind.

When Gwen came in, she didn't see him, when she slipped into the flat; a tall, dark and handsome stranger followed her into her room. Morgana, he knew, would not be back for hours yet, and he needed those noises to stop. Was this really how thin the walls were? Was this how Merlin had felt, night after night, when Arthur had done the same thing to him, and taken a stranger into their room. He took a swig from the bottle, grimacing as the cheap and nasty spirit burnt the back of his throat, and yet relishing the pain at the same time. He had missed his chance now, and he wasn't sure he'd ever get another.

Slowly, with little coordination, now he was well and truly plastered, he pulled his phone from his pocket, and sent a text message to a contact beginning with M.

morgana, I fucked up. made a total cock of myself tryin to tell Merlin how I fee, but now hes fucking sum othr guy .u were so wrong whn u told me he likd me 2. wtf do I do nw? A

And somewhere in the flat, Arthur heard a phone bleep.


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