a/n: this chapter has a sex scene in it but it's not very graphic. It's the first one I've ever written so I apologize in advance if it's terrible.

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Thirty-six months after the break-up and

Four months after starting over

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Saturday night, Arthur and Merlin went to Arthur's flat after a romantic dinner out. They took off their shoes and got settled on the sofa to watch a movie, with Merlin leaning against Arthur and Arthur's arm around his shoulders.

After awhile, Arthur got up to get them drinks. While he was gone, Merlin decided to stretch out and he took up the entire sofa. Arthur came back, set their drinks down on the side table and tried to move Merlin. "I'm comfortable. You can sit at the other end and rub my feet."

Instead of taking Merlin's suggestion, Arthur sat down on the edge of the sofa by Merlin's waist and started tickling him. Merlin tried squirming away but Arthur kept it up. He attempted to grab Arthur's hands to still them but Arthur twisted his wrists quickly and had Merlin's hands pinned above his head on the arm of the sofa. Once they both stopped laughing and Merlin stopped squirming, Arthur bent over and gave him a passionate kiss. He released Merlin's hands, stopped and looked at him. He didn't see any hesitation from Merlin so he laid down on the sofa beside him as they continued to kiss. Arthur was rubbing his cheekbone and Merlin had brought his hands up to run his fingers through Arthur's hair.

After a while, they were both breathing heavily and Arthur couldn't stop himself from pushing his groin against Merlin. Merlin pushed back causing them both to groan. When they separated for air, Arthur looked into Merlin's eyes and saw desire along with love and trust in them. Arthur signed, "I love you Merlin. If you want to stop..."

Merlin shook his head so Arthur quickly met his lips for another deep, passionate kiss.

Arthur slid off the sofa, stood and reached down and helped Merlin up. When Merlin was standing, Arthur pulled him into a hug that was anything but innocent and their mouths met again. Arthur started walking backwards towards the bedroom never breaking contact with his lips.

Once in the bedroom, Arthur moved his hands to Merlin's chest so he could unbutton his shirt while Merlin's hands were pulling at the back of Arthur's shirt trying to get it unstuffed so he could run his hands over Arthur's bare back. Once he successfully had Merlin's shirt unbuttoned, he ran his hands over Merlin's exposed chest and up to his shoulders where he pushed the shirt down his arms and off.

Merlin was still working on Arthur's shirt, so Arthur grabbed it by the hem, pulled it over his head and let it fall to the ground not far from where Merlin's shirt landed.

Next was their jeans. They were both reaching for the others belt when Arthur caught Merlin's hands and stilled them. Merlin looked at him confused before Arthur signed, "let me."

With that he scrambled out of his remaining clothes and turned his attention to Merlin. He grabbed Merlin by the belt and pulled him in for another deep kiss before his fingers made their way to the buckle. Once is was undone, he made quick work of the button and zipper. He then took a step back so he could maneuver Merlin's jeans and boxer briefs down his legs. He knelt down in front of Merlin to help him get the jeans and boxers the rest of the way off. He then grabbed him by the hips and gently stroked the soft skin there. Before taking Merlin into his mouth, he looked up for permission which Merlin granted with a nod. Arthur leaned forward and slowly engulfed his length. Merlin's hands instinctively went to Arthur's hair while letting out a groan. Arthur's hands moved around to cup his ass. After a few minutes he stopped, not wanting this to end yet.

Arthur stood up and backed Merlin up to the bed and when the back of his legs touched the mattress, Arthur gently lowered Merlin down onto his back. Once he was on his back, Merlin moved over into the middle of the bed with his head on the pillows. Arthur crawled onto the bed, drank in the wonder that was Merlin naked before he slowly lowered himself on top of Merlin.

They were touching skin on skin from head to toe. Their lips met for another heated kiss.

Since this was their first time together after too many years, they both knew they wouldn't last very long. Arthur prepared Merlin with such gentleness it was like he was afraid Merlin was made of glass and would break.

When he finally got the condom on and slid into Merlin, it was like heaven. Oh, how he had missed this, they fit together so perfectly. He didn't know how he had been able to survive without this. He started off slowly, just rocking into Merlin, but it quickly became frantic. He grabbed Merlin's cock and started stroking in rhythm to his thrusts.

They both came at the same time calling out the others name. Arthur thought hearing Merlin call out his name was the most beautiful sound in the world. They just laid there and held onto each other tightly while trying to catch their breathe.

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Finally, Merlin got out of bed and went into the bathroom to get a wash cloth to clean them both up. When he returned a minute later it was to see Arthur had rolled onto his side with his head turned into the pillow. At first, Merlin thought maybe Arthur had fallen asleep already but then he noticed Arthur's shoulders shaking. Merlin climbed on the bed and gently touched his arm. "What's wrong?"

Slowly Arthur rolled over and Merlin saw his tears. He bent over Arthur and pulled him into a tight hug trying to comfort him from whatever was upsetting him. His compassion made Arthur sob even harder. Finally, Merlin pulled away and wiped his thumb over Arthur's cheeks to remove the tears from his beautiful face.

Arthur fought to regain his composure as quickly as possible because Merlin was worried about him. He sat up and moved Merlin so he was leaning against the headboard. He then moved over in front of him, grabbed his hands and brought them up to his lips for a kiss. He then turned so Merlin could clearly see him as he signed in the faint light streaming in from the bathroom.

"I love you so much and I know I don't deserve you Merlin. You could do so much better than me. I'm afraid you'll open your eyes and see that for yourself and leave me like I left you." He put his head down trying to hide his tears.

Merlin grabbed Arthur's face with his hands and slowly brought it up so he was looking directly at Merlin. "Arthur, I don't want anyone else, only you. It's always been and always will be only you."

Arthur leaned over and gave Merlin a kiss, trying to pour all the love he had for him into it. When they finally broke apart, Arthur asked Merlin to stay with him tonight.

"I should go home."

"Why? Please just stay. We can take a shower then go back to bed."

Merlin finally agreed to stay and Arthur gave him a kiss before crawling off the bed, pulling him into a hug and then leading him into the bathroom to share a shower which led to another round of sex, but this time it was Merlin pushing into Arthur who was pushed up against the tile. After they finished with their shower, they helped dry each other off.

They walked back into the bedroom and Arthur opened a drawer and pulled out a clean t-shirt, a pair of boxer briefs and a pair of sleep pants for Merlin. Merlin expected all the clothes to be too big on him but, instead, he was shocked to see that everything fit him like it came from his own wardrobe. He looked questioningly at Arthur who gave him a shy grin, almost like he was embarrassed. He told Merlin, "maybe I went out and bought a few things that would fit you to keep here in case you ever needed them."

Merlin's heart filled with affection for Arthur and without giving it any thought he spoke the words, "I love you." To Merlin it wasn't a big deal because he knew he had fallen back in love with Arthur weeks ago so when it slipped out he didn't think much of it. That was until he saw Arthur's face.

Arthur stood there frozen for a second, like he was afraid that maybe he hadn't heard Merlin correctly, but when he saw the smile on Merlin's face, he realized that Merlin had actually just told him that he loved him. He knew he looked dopey but he really didn't care because Merlin loved him again. With that he grabbed Merlin's face between his hands and looked him straight in the eyes and said "I love you so much."

He then proceeded to kiss the living daylights out of him. Arthur felt happier than he thought he had ever felt in his whole life.

After that they crawled into bed and snuggled together until Merlin fell asleep. Before Arthur joined him in slumber, he made a promise out loud to Merlin, even though he would never hear it. He promised that he would love him til the day he died and make him feel loved and valued every day for the rest of his life.

He then pulled Merlin impossibly closer and drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face and the love of his life in his arms.

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Arthur woke the next morning to an empty bed. At first, he panicked, thinking maybe Merlin had second thoughts about being with him, but then he heard noise coming from the kitchen so he knew Merlin hadn't left. He got up and walked down the hall and into the kitchen. He came up behind Merlin and wrapped his arms around his waist. The sudden touch caught Merlin off guard and he accidentally knocked the frying pan off the stove, causing the hot grease in it to splatter down the front of him. He yelled out in pain and Arthur quickly released him before pulling him away from the stove so he could look at his stomach and legs. He rushed Merlin into the bathroom, stepped into the shower and pulled Merlin in with him, both still in t-shirts and sleep pants, before he turned on the water.

Merlin kept insisting he was okay but Arthur wasn't taking any chances. Finally, he turned the water off, stripped Merlin out of his soaked clothes so he could look at the burns. They didn't look nearly as bad as Arthur feared they might. There were red marks and a little blistering but nothing serious enough to warrant a trip to hospital.

Arthur got out of his own wet clothes and dried them both off before having Merlin lay down on his bed. He got some lotion out of the medicine cabinet to rub on the burns to try to soothe them.

The whole time this was going on, Merlin tried to get Arthur to stop babying him but Arthur couldn't help it. He hurt Merlin and he felt absolutely horrible. He just kept repeating, "I'm sorry" over and over.

Once the lotion was all rubbed in, he dug into his drawer and pulled out another set of clothes for Merlin in his size. He just laughed, "how many sets of clothes do you have in there for me?"

Arthur had the good sense to look embarrassed as he signed, "maybe two, three at the most."

Merlin laughed and after they were dressed, he gave Arthur a hug and kiss. "Thank you, for taking care of me."

Since breakfast was ruined, Arthur took Merlin down to the cafe on the corner where they grabbed a muffin and coffee. They talked for awhile before Merlin told Arthur he should go home. Arthur didn't want this weekend to ever end but since Merlin had stuff he needed to get done for tomorrow, he took him home.

They were standing just inside the door of Merlin's flat, when Arthur pulled him in close and kissed him until Merlin gently pushed on his chest. Merlin knew if he didn't stop this now, he'd never get his work done for tomorrow. Arthur kissed him once more and told him he loved him.

"I love you too."

Arthur then pulled him in for a final kiss before he turned and left. He dreaded going back to his flat because he knew it was going to feel so empty and depressing without Merlin there with him.

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Thirty-nine months after the break-up and

Seven months after starting over

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Arthur asked Merlin if he'd go with him to look at flats on Saturday. Arthur had been talking about wanting to move so Merlin agreed to go with him.

They met the realtor at the first flat she was going to be showing them. It was okay but nothing special. They looked at one after another and Arthur asked for Merlin's opinion on each flat they saw, "do you like how the kitchen and living room are set up?...do you like the size of the bedrooms?...how about the master bathroom?...do you think it's large enough?...do you like the building it's in?..."

Finally Merlin stopped him. "Arthur, it doesn't really matter what I think of the place. You're the one that's going to be living here."

Arthur turned toward Merlin and raised his hands to sign. "Merlin, it does matter what you think about it because I want this to be our place, not mine. Will you move in with me?"

Merlin looked at him with wide eyes, "are you serious?"

"Yes, I'm serious. I love you Merlin, and I can't stand being away from you."

"Arthur, this is a big step."

"Not really, we already spend most of our nights together. We'll just be changing it from staying at your flat or staying at my flat to staying at our flat. So, what do you say? Move in with me?" he signed looking so hopeful.

"Yes," he said causing Arthur to smile from ear to ear. Arthur pulled him into his arms and gave him a long kiss.

Finally, Arthur let him go and signed, "let's go see the next flat because we have a home to find."

Merlin noticed that all the flats were much closer to the School for the Deaf than they were to Pendragon Inc. Arthur must have told the realtor to find them something in this area.

As soon as they walked into the twelfth flat of the day, Arthur knew instantly they'd found it. It had a nice living room that opened to a beautiful modern kitchen. It had two bedrooms and two baths, a wonderful view and most importantly, it was only six blocks from Merlin's work.

Arthur looked over at Merlin to see his reaction. He seemed to love it too. "What do you think of this one?"

"It's beautiful."

"So, is this our place?"

"Yeah, it's great."

They held each other close while sharing a passionate kiss. Arthur thought to himself, 'I'm home at last.'

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Forty-one months after the break-up and

Nine months after starting over

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It had been close to two months since finding their flat before Arthur and Merlin moved in. Arthur wanted to make some changes to it first. He added door signals that lit up when someone rang the door bell, he had the smoke detectors changed so they'd flash as well as send out vibrations. He also put in some motion sensor lights so Merlin would be able to tell if someone was coming up behind him.

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It had been an exhausting day spent moving furniture and boxes with Morgana, Leon, Gwen, Lance, Percy, Freya, Gwaine and Elena. When the last box had been moved in, they all sat around on the floor eating pizza. Before their friends left, Arthur and Merlin thanked them all profusely for their help and promised to have them all over for dinner as soon as they got settled.

They were finally alone, just the two of them in their new flat, and even though they were surrounded by boxes, they couldn't have been happier. They spent that first night on the sofa, Arthur on his back with half of Merlin's body resting on top of him. He wrapped his arms around Merlin holding him securely in place while entangling their legs. Merlin had his head on Arthur's chest and Arthur had his nose buried in Merlin's hair.

They looked absolutely adorable snuggled together on the sofa, which is why Morgana took their picture after she entered their new flat the following morning. She knocked but the two of them were apparently so tired they didn't hear the bell or see the flashing lights. She went over to offer them her help unpacking but instead she just slipped out the door before sending the picture to all their friends.

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One chapter left. Thanks for reading.