A/N: I own nothing.

I am never moving house again, packing is such a time suck. Why am I such a hoarder?

Anyhoo, I've been trying to write this all weekend, but aforementioned packing and fiancé being overly attentive...argh...finally managed to get rid of him and get writing!

Chapter 9: 'For now'

"I feel like a naughty teenager coming here like this," laughed Arthur as Merlin opened his front door to him and he slipped quickly inside, throwing his rucksack on a nearby chair and sweeping Merlin into his arms.

Thank fuck it was Friday night. Merlin would barely have been able to function much longer; he wanted...needed Arthur like an addict needs a fix. It shouldn't be like this, having to hide and sneak around, and for what? He hadn't had a moment alone with Arthur all week; there was one obstacle after the other to jump over just for a glance of his drug of choice. It was as though something or someone was plotting against him, trying to keep him away from Arthur.

Luckily, one thing was finally working Merlin's favour, and he was going to grab the opportunity with both hands. His Mum had gone to the spa for the weekend with Morgause, and Gaius had left for the weekend to visit an old friend in Exeter. Merlin had the place to himself. Fortune really was shining on him; uninterrupted time with Arthur...

"I missed you," sighed Arthur into Merlin's hair as his arms slid around Merlin's slender waist and inched under his t-shirt to pull him closer.

Obstacle number one: Morgana, Arthur's step sister, had spent all week sitting in on Arthur's classes as part of some kind of internal audit, thus lingering after class so Merlin couldn't get Arthur alone...thus scuppering his plans to wear down Arthur's resolve. For now.

"Missed you too," Merlin hooked his legs around Arthur's waist and let his lover guide him back against the worktop and set him down before capturing his mouth in a hungry kiss. This was good; this was a perfect start...

Obstacle number two: Lance. The insufferably good looking prick had been dropping Arthur into work in the morning and had picked him up again more than once...not to forget Arthur was living with him. The git got to spend time with his boyfriend. What if Arthur was being worn down by the omnipresence of the man? Arthur may have told him that he loved him, but what did love even mean to Arthur? Merlin didn't know because they hadn't spent any time together.

Merlin tightened his legs around Arthur's waist and ground against him, letting him know how much he wanted him, showing him that he was his lover...not Lance. "God Merlin," groaned Arthur against Merlin's lips, his tongue exploring Merlin's mouth as though they had been apart for months not days. "Where'd you learn to kiss like this?" he pulled back and rested his forehead against Merlin's, breathing heavily.

Obstacle number three: Mordred. Merlin's ex had taken to stalking him everywhere, waiting for him after classes, trying to hold his hand, walking home with him... Merlin had managed to tell him today that he only ever wanted to be friends and Mordred had pretended that he knew that all along and that he was fine about it: Merlin knew he was lying but didn't call him on it.

"Doesn't matter...never going to be kissing anyone but you from now on." Merlin carded his hand into Arthur's thick blond locks and pulled him back in to mesh their lips together again, running his tongue over Arthur's lower lip, holding back a grin, tasting him and loving that Arthur tasted of cherry chocolate...Merlin had managed to sneak a bar of Arthur's favourite Lindt into his desk drawer earlier that day.

Obstacle number four: technology. Merlin's laptop had gone kaput. Well, truthfully, his magic had gone a little crazy on Monday evening when he'd been picturing Lance and Arthur having a cosy dinner for two and all the electric in the house had gone off and after that the laptop wouldn't come back on again...so no more mutual wanking...for now. Merlin had to make do with text messages, which were the least satisfying form of contact with someone you want and need and the odd quick phone call...he never had any credit and Arthur hardly had any signal at Lance's...so even the texts were not getting through instantaneously.

It was so good to touch Arthur. Those few days apart were a few days too many. Merlin's nimble fingers began to make light work of Arthur's shirt buttons, pushing the offending item over his shoulders so Arthur could shrug it to the floor allow Merlin access to his glorious smooth shoulders and the perfect toned chest and stomach...how on earth had he got so lucky that someone so incredibly flawless like Arthur wanted to be with him, someone so scrawny and pale?

Obstacle number five: lack of transport for both Merlin and Arthur, hence Lance playing chauffeur to Arthur. Merlin had an old mini, a gift from his Grandpa, but he had yet to start his driving lessons due to lack of funds and it would be another couple of weeks until Arthur could ride his bike again.

"We're trapped here all weekend," Merlin managed as he nibbled Arthur's neck and ran the pads of his thumbs over his newly exposed nipples. "Alone." Arthur stilled Merlin's questing hands with his own, leaning back slightly to look into his eyes. Merlin felt a coil of satisfaction at the arousal he saw reflected back at him in those blue globes.

Obstacle number six: Merlin's magic. From fucking up his laptop to being responsible for the constant drizzling rain the last few days, he was struggling to rein it in. The only time it was under control was when he was with Arthur, only then did it seem to settle down like a cat in front of a fire and purr contentedly.

"I meant what I said Merlin, no sex," Arthur gently unhooked Merlin's legs from his waist and stepped back, picking his shirt up from the floor and shrugging it back on. He kissed Merlin's forehead and held out his hand to help Merlin down from the counter.

Merlin ignored the hand, frustration coursing through him. People in love had sex. Why did he and Arthur have to be any different? He jumped down off the counter without assistance. "Shall we order a take-away for dinner?" he said quickly, trying to mask his disappointment. The contented cat got up from the fireside and stalked sulkily to the door; his need to touch Arthur briefly sated before he was deprived again.

"Merlin," Arthur ignored Merlin's question about dinner. "I need to try."

Arthur was here, in his house, standing before him all dishevelled from Merlin's attentions and so fucking beautiful...how could he stay mad with him? Merlin didn't want to be shallow and be all about the sex, because this relationship was so much more than that...but he was 17 years old, he was supposed to be horny! Abstaining from sex was clearly Arthur's way of proving something to himself about this relationship. For the first time Merlin began to truly appreciate what this must be like for Arthur. He sighed and nodded, "I know."

That didn't mean he wouldn't be trying again; let Arthur have this victory, Merlin intended to win the war.

xxx

This was so much harder than Arthur had ever anticipated, and yes, the pun was intentional. Just being close to Merlin made Arthur hard most of the time; the classes he taught with Merlin present were unadulterated hell. How was a sane man meant to teach when those big blue kohl rimmed eyes were upon him? He'd wanted to throw everyone else from the room and take Merlin over the desk. The week had been made worse by the fact that Morgana was his shadow for the week; surely she must have noticed how he changed when he was teaching year 13? By today's class he could barely function; thank heaven for his suit and its ability to cover the excitement certain parts of his anatomy were displaying.

How pathetic! He'd only been over the threshold for thirty seconds and he'd already lifted Merlin onto the kitchen counter, and the thoughts running through his mind did not have anything whatsoever to do with cooking!

He knew he would never last until December. He was close to giving in already. Merlin really only had to look at him and Arthur was lost. When had he become such a...such a bloody – what? Fool? Pushover?

He was pleased when Merlin seemed to acquiesce to Arthur's attempts at calling a halt to the intimacy...for now at least.

What he wanted more than anything else right now was to spend a quiet cosy evening with Merlin, talking, getting to know one another better...being a normal couple and not a student and teacher breaking the rules. He needed some kind of normalcy more than anything tonight.

They ordered a delivery of Chinese food and ate at the kitchen table, talking comfortably about their week. Arthur admitted to he was missing his own home, living at Lance's had only served to remind him what he had left behind. He told Merlin about his childhood, how Uther had treated him as a mini version of himself; tutoring him to become someone 'important' in business as he was, and how it had taken him until his early twenties to break away and find what he really wanted to do...only Morgana was privy to this version of his life until now.

"Oh yeah..." teased Merlin as they settled on the sofa after dinner, Arthur wanting to put his arm around Merlin and pull him close but felt restricted by his earlier retraction of contact. Merlin had no such qualms, waiting for Arthur to take his seat he lay down with his head resting on Arthur's lap. "...when were you going to tell me your Dad is Uther Pendragon?"

Arthur looked down in surprise at Merlin who was grinning up at him with a raised eyebrow, "I thought you already knew?" He remembered asking him if he knew who he was when they first met and Merlin had said yes.

"No. I mean I do now, Gwen told us the other day." Merlin bit his lip and looked guilty as he confessed, "I'd never heard of him until then – sorry."

Unable to doubt Merlin's words Arthur felt a weight lift off him. That teeny niggle at the back of his mind about people only wanting him for his family name abated. That was past, and Merlin clearly didn't care who his father was and what that might mean for them in the future.

He laughed in relief and found his hands in Merlin's hair, threading through the soft raven locks in wonder at its softness. "What do you know about him now?"

"He's Über rich. Über Uther!" he giggled at his own joke. "TV star on a programme where people vie to better each other for his approval and a job working for him... I've never seen it so -"

"Neither have I so you're not alone," Arthur said sadly. It kind of hurt to watch his father on TV so he never did. "I haven't spoken to him in years."

"Oh. Do you want to talk about it?"

Arthur told Merlin all about his broken engagement, his father's threats and his own severance of contact. "He's tried to get in touch over the years but I haven't responded," sighed Arthur, feeling exhausted once it was all off his chest. "He doesn't even know I'm gay yet. That would be the next disappointment for him. Morgana sees him sometimes and has tried to persuade me to forgive him, but I can't. He treated me like a commodity to be traded on the open market."

Merlin wriggled to a sitting position and hugged Arthur. "I'm sorry."

Arthur melted into him, enjoying the comfort of his boyfriend's embrace. Even then arousal coursed through him. His resolve was doomed.

xxx

Merlin wasn't sure whether to be impressed or offended at Arthur's ability to resist him. They had slept two nights in Merlin's bed, waking up wrapped in each other's arms and Merlin was behaving himself...for now. He was quietly proud the other man had such resolve to the extent that Merlin was resisting his own instincts to push and get what he wanted; for today he wanted what Arthur wanted...plus just being close to him kept his magic quiet, and that was reward in itself.

So, that was how their weekend was; cosy, comfortable, intimate without being physical...not a single moment spent apart other than when nature called. Merlin was dreading Monday, back to school, back to being apart. Back to being out of control. With no other convenient weekends with an empty house to look forward to, Merlin felt the despair creeping under his skin; he knew they would find time to spend time together, but not like this. This was the last time they could be like this for a long time.

Hunith was due back from the spa early Sunday afternoon, so with the weather having cleared up and with view to spending as much of the day together as possible, they decided it was safe enough to risk a walk to Watersmeet, something that could easily be achieved from their current location without the need for transport.

They left the hotel grounds separately, meeting up a few hundred yards up along the path once the last few houses had been left behind. The rules were simple: no holding hands, no contact whatsoever...if they met anyone they knew they would claim they had just bumped into each other. It was a feasible excuse...and necessary.

It was no longer raining, but the weather was overcast and there was a chill in the air. Unusually for the weather in the area lately, the current clime was had no relation whatsoever to Merlin's mood, the whole country was suffering from this late September chill.

The trees were starting to turn and some leaves were already falling, autumn was coming. As they walked in mostly companionable silence for the first half an hour they both drank in the beauty of their surroundings; the fast flowing narrow river as it gushed over huge boulders and rocks as it rushed towards the sea, the surrounding forest that protected them from the sunlight and the whooshing sound of the water, the birds in the trees, the smell of the damp earth...it was heaven. Even though Merlin had walked this route many times and seen the views in all weathers, he had never seen it with Arthur, and he spent as much time watching Arthur as he enjoyed the scenery as he did enjoying it himself.

A few people passed by from the opposite direction, no one they knew, and Merlin's hand was twitching to take Arthur's. He was pleased when they finally arrived at the visitor's centre, an old hunting lodge set next to the spot where two rivers met. Merlin had worked there in the summer, in the cafe. He glanced at Arthur. "Hungry?" Due to the cooling weather only the diehard walkers would be out today.

Arthur glanced at the looming building and shook his head, "We can't be seen sitting about having lunch together," he sighed. He fished in his pocket and came out with a £20 note and offered it to Merlin. "How about you go in and get a sandwich and a drink and we eat later?"

Merlin shook his head, "You better do the shopping. If I go in I'll never escape Kathy; I'll be hugged to death." Kathy was the cafe manager who thought Merlin was unbelievably cute and who mothered him to within an inch of his life. "There's a bench a couple of hundred yards up there, round the bend, I'll wait for you there." He gestured upstream.

Arthur nodded and Merlin couldn't fail to miss the way his arms twitched as he tried to control himself from embracing Merlin. Merlin smirked at Arthur's departing figure as he headed to the cafe, mmm; his arse looked good in those jeans...damn! Arthur's resolve was still intact even if his wasn't – for now – but Merlin knew it wouldn't take much to break him. Gods, he was looking forward to breaking him!

He wandered slowly upriver to the bench he was to meet Arthur at and settled down to wait; the service in the cafe was painfully slow even when it was quiet so he didn't Arthur to reappear too soon. He began to daydream about how he was going to break his boyfriend's resolve and didn't hear approaching footsteps behind him.

"Hello. It's Merlin isn't it?"

Merlin jumped several inches off the bench at the sound of the unfamiliar voice behind him. He stood up and turned around to see the current bane of his life standing before him. Fucking Lance. The dark haired man was looking mouth-wateringly sexy in his ranger's uniform, windswept with sweat sheened tanned skin...bloody wanker. Merlin narrowed his eyes at the intruder.

Lance looked confused at Merlin's lack of answer and hesitantly prompted, "Erm... We met at the pub the other week. You're in Ar-Mr Pendragon's class?"

Merlin's heart plummeted as reality set in. Fuck fuck fuck. Arthur would walking round that corner any moment now with their lunch. How the hell would they get out of this?

xxx

Naughty Merlin is emerging, but you won't see him just yet – he wasn't quite ready, and Arthur needed to make some kind of an effort at restraint first me thinks.

Apologies if this story lacks any kind of plot...this is primarily a love story, and I felt it did not need any other subplots on this occasion. It's about the two of them and their struggles. (I'm saying this as I had a conversation with the other half about it and he's made me doubt myself!)

If you want to see where they are walking as my descriptive talents are rubbish just add the dots: www nationaltrust org uk/main/w-watersmeet

Review?