Merlin was still in shock when the bus stopped, and Arthur had to push him out of his seat and off the bus. Neither of them had said more during the bus ride, and Arthur didn't look like he was about to. He did, however, roll his eyes when they arrived at his house, and Merlin stopped and stared at it in awe.

"Come on," he muttered coldly, keeping his gaze off Merlin. "I haven't got all day."

"You live here?" Merlin managed to choke out, still gawking at the house. The word 'castle' would be more descriptive.

"Yes, I do." Arthur sounded extremely bored, and Merlin sighed as he started walking to catch up with Arthur, and was showed in through the front door. He decided there and then that he would keep his eyes on his feet and not look at the rest of the house.

The entrance hall was bigger than Merlin's living room. He didn't have a clue as to how someone could afford living in such a big house, unless, of course, they were royalty. Merlin allowed himself a short smile at the thought of Arthur as a prince.

To add to the effect of perfection, the entire place was shiny and flawless. Even the doormat was unusually clean. It looked almost as if someone cleaned it about every fifteen minutes.

Merlin didn't fully manage to stick to his promise of not looking at any part of the house. He kept looking up from his feet every once in a while, and he caught small glimpses of paintings, a statue, a woman with a vacuum cleaner, and, through an open door, a room with a wall covered in mirrors.

When Arthur finally led him into a smaller room and closed the door behind them, Merlin was relieved to see that Arthur's bedroom was fairly normal. There was a bed (no matter how big it was, a bed is a bed), a wardrobe, a desk with a laptop placed on it, and a small sofa in front of a TV. At least it seemed reasonable to Merlin that filthy rich kids got to have TVs in their bedrooms, so it was probably normal by Arthur's standards. Oversized and expensive as shit by Merlin's.

Arthur dumped down on the sofa and turned on the TV, and Merlin was surprised by the obvious lack of orders. He looked around the room some more, noticing posters of rock bands on the walls and a guitar standing in a corner. He'd never really thought Arthur was the type of guy that was into any kind of music at all, least of all rock, but he refrained from asking.

"Umm, sire?" he asked tentatively. "What should I do?"

Arthur looked at him with a bored expression on his face. "I don't know. But for God's sake, don't just stand there like a moron. Don't you have some homework or something you can do?"

"I finished your math assignment yesterday, sire, and your homework for Spanish and History. There is still the essay for English, but I didn't bring your books."

"Then do your own." Arthur shook his head before returning his attention to the TV. "I suppose you haven't had much time for that, lately."

Merlin nodded numbly and sat down by the desk, finding the math books in his bag. He only had a couple more problems to solve for the assignment that was due in two days. It would be good to just get it over with and not have to worry about it anymore (he barely had enough time to do all his homework now that he was working for Arthur), but his mind kept straying from the task. His hand kept writing, though, even when he was only half aware of what he was doing. He'd done it all before, after all. The night before, in fact, and the solutions were all fresh in his memory.

He glanced over at Arthur a couple of times. The blonde sat with his back towards Merlin, his eyes obviously on the TV screen. An old episode of Doctor Who was on, with David Tennant as the Doctor. Merlin had used to like that show, back when he had the time to watch TV. Before he started spending all of his time covering up the bruises that Darren was so fond of giving him, and later moved to his uncle and became Arthur's slave.

With only one more math problem to solve, he decided he'd finish it up later. Being in the same room as Arthur was too... distracting. And as much as he hated himself for that thought, he didn't try to deny it. There was something different about Arthur, something that Merlin found himself attracted to, no matter how insufferable Arthur was.

Arthur turned his head lazily as Merlin closed his books and put them back into his bag, which hung neatly from the chair he was sitting on. "Done already?" Merlin felt as if there should have been a mocking tone in that question, since it came from Arthur, after all, but there wasn't.

"I don't have all of my books with me. There is nothing more I can do right now," Merlin replied quietly. It really wasn't that far from the truth. He had almost finished his math assignment, and the books that he needed to finish the rest of his homework were at home.

"Hm. Alright, then. Well, make yourself at home." Arthur looked him in the eye for a short moment, and turned back to the TV.

Merlin remained sitting awkwardly by the writing desk, his eyes studying one of the posters on the walls. The background was mainly white, and there were three men – all dressed exclusively in black – posing, their shadows drawing grey outlines on the plain white background. The words 'Green Day' were printed in capital letters above the band, together with what looked like a hand grenade shaped like a heart.

"Arthur?" he asked, without thinking, and he mentally punched himself once the word had left his mouth.

"What?"

"Why did you bring me here?" Merlin looked over at Arthur, not sure if he should be scared or not, only to see Arthur's usual bored expression looking back at him. He was quiet for what seemed like forever, but he eventually opened his mouth to speak...

...only to be interrupted by a knock on the door. Arthur sighed and rolled his eyes, muttering a 'come in'. The door opened to reveal a man that looked like he was in his early fifties.

"Arthur," the man said, almost tentatively. "We need to talk."

Arthur looked like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world. "Dad," he said tonelessly, not even bothering to look at the man. "You're not blind, are you? I have company. We can talk later."

"I'm leaving tonight, and I won't be back for a week."

"Chances are, both of us will still be alive when you get back. We can talk then."

"Fine." Uther Pendragon sighed, glancing over at Merlin with a friendly yet tired smile. "Nice to meet you. I'm Uther Pendragon, Arthur's father."

Merlin smiled politely back at him. "Likewise, sir. I'm Merlin Emrys."

Uther nodded courteously, still smiling, before stepping backwards through the door and closing it.

Arthur let out a sigh once his father was gone. "Finally got rid of him. He'll be out of the house within the hour. You can leave then."

Merlin nodded numbly. He was just an excuse so that Arthur wouldn't have to talk to his father. Why he would go out of his way to get out of a conversation with Uther, Merlin didn't know, but he couldn't have helped realizing that Arthur really couldn't stand his father. It was clear as day, really. But still, he felt his heart sink a little as the realization of why Arthur had brought him to his house hit him. Deep down, he had probably had some hope that maybe Arthur saw him as more than someone who did his homework; that maybe, just maybe, Arthur could think of him as something resembling a friend.

That was ridiculous, though. Arthur didn't care about anyone, least of all Merlin. But he just couldn't help hoping that there could be something more to their relationship than there was. Because for some sick reason, Arthur was a person that he wanted to be close to. More than he loved hanging out with Freya, more than he looked forward to seeing Will again, he wanted Arthur to care about him.

He ended up sitting next to Arthur on the sofa, after the blonde muttered something about 'not sitting there and stare at the wall like another fool', staring at the TV screen without really noticing what was going on in the show.

Eventually, the episode was over and the commercials started. Arthur stood up and went over to the corner where the guitar stood, picking it up and sitting down on the bed with it. And without caring that Merlin was there, he started playing. Merlin was quite sure he heard the word 'fuck', after two chords that he assumed Arthur had played wrong, before the blonde started playing for real, without stopping to grumble over mistakes. And when he began to sing... God, his voice sounded amazing.

"Another turning point, a fork stuck in the road. Time grabs you by the wrist, directs you where to go. So make the best of this test, and don't ask why. It's not a question, but a lesson learned in time..." His voice sounded like that of an angel, though slightly rough. His fingers played tenderly, yet firmly over the strings, and his lips looked perfect as they formed the words for that glorious voice. Arthur looked amazing when he sang, even more so than usual. Like nothing else existed in the world, and he was... happy. Merlin had never thought he'd use that word to describe Arthur.

"Did you..." Merlin cleared his throat, looking nervously at Arthur as he finished playing the song. "Did you write that?"

For a moment, Arthur looked as if he was going to smile, but then he just shook his head and said, "No."

"Oh." Merlin bit his lips. "Well, it was really good, anyway. You have a great voice."

"Right." Arthur snorted. "What would you know about it?"

"Well, I..." Sighing, Merlin turned his gaze down. "I wouldn't really know much about music, but... I really do think you're good." Just a shame you're such an ass.

Arthur looked unimpressed. He had that look of his again, that made him look both bored and arrogant. Once again, Merlin wondered how he did it. "I would have said thanks, if your opinion mattered to me."

Merlin frowned. He was getting sick of Arthur acting like a spoiled brat. "Look, I know you think you're better than everyone, but that's no excuse to treat them like they're nobody."

Putting the guitar aside, the blonde got up from the bed, walking dangerously slowly over to where Merlin sat, grabbing the other male's shirt and pulling him up. "Who are you to tell me what I'm thinking?" he said, his voice dripping with poison. "What do you know about me? That I'm the spoiled brat of a son that the richest man in town has? Do you really think my life has been perfect? Do you think I don't have my problems? What do you really know about me, Merlin? Nothing!"

Merlin was sick of it. Did Arthur think his life was bad? Even with his so-called problems and whatever issues he had with his father, Merlin would gladly trade it for his own life. Merlin didn't have a father. Merlin barely had a mother, because she spent all her time working, because being a single mother was far from cheap. Merlin had been beat up in school every day since he was ten. And Arthur thought his life was bad? Merlin had had enough. Enough.

"You know nothing about my life!" Arthur shouted, so loudly Merlin was sure the whole town could hear him. "You know nothing about me, of my family, or my problems. You have no idea–"

"No," Merlin cut him off. "You have no idea. You have no idea how much you hurt me every fucking day. You have no idea how much I hate you. Do you know why I came here? Do you know why I live with my uncle instead of with my mother?" He laughed bitterly. "Of course you don't. I was bullied, Arthur. I was beat up every day. Every day. You have no idea how hard it was to hide all the bruises. But I had to, because I thought it was my fault, and my mother would be crushed if she ever found out." He was screaming by now, but he didn't care. It felt so good to finally get it all out, to get to yell at Arthur, to get to cry without feeling like a wimp for it. No matter what might happen afterwards. "But it's not that easy to hide when you end up in the fucking hospital! She sent me away so that I could get some peace, so I could live my life without being afraid of going to school, and then you showed up, and you started turning me back into the self-hating emo kid that I've been trying so hard not to be. Fuck, I hate you so much."

And still, I can't get enough of you. Still, I don't want to be apart from you. Still, I'm well on the way to developing an unhealthy crush on you. Merlin felt ashamed at his own thoughts as he wiped away the tears that had been running down his cheeks.

Staring at him in disbelief, Arthur slowly let go his grip on Merlin's shirt. He took a hesitant step back, biting his lower lip briefly and turning his eyes away. "I didn't know." His voice was so quiet, Merlin could barely hear it. He wasn't sure if it was supposed to be an excuse or an apology, but it didn't matter. Either way, it wasn't enough.

Finally, Arthur gathered the strength to look at Merlin again, and he said firmly (though not so angrily as before), "Go."

Feeling strangely empty after his rant, Merlin nodded, grabbed his bag, and headed for the door. With his hand at the doorknob, he halted, looking hesitantly at Arthur over his shoulder. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, right?" He cursed himself for saying it, but he knew deep down that despite the things he'd just said, he liked Arthur... somehow.

"Sure." Arthur's voice sounded hollow, and it didn't do much for comforting Merlin, but it would have to do. For now, at least.

When he stole one last glimpse of Arthur on his way out, the blonde looked pained.


Sorry about the extremely late update, etc, etc. I'm guessing you all know I'm lazy by now... Anyway! Merlin finally stood up for himself! Kind of. Even though he was a dumbass and gave in to his Arthur-addiction in just a couple of minutes. But still.

Oh, and the song Arthur plays is Good Riddance (Time of Your Life) by Green Day. I figured, if he had a Green Day poster, he might as well play a Green Day song. He's turning out to be more and more like me... o_x

Oh, right, and please review. :)