Hello, everyone! I'm back with a new chapter of He's My Friend!
This chapter was requested by battlemaiden518. Thank you for the support, m'dear! :)
I wasn't really sure what kind of fight Merlin and Arthur would be having, but this popped into my head first. Warning : Contains some Mergana. No lemons or whatever, but if you don't like Mergana, skip the bits with Mergana and just go straight to the Merlin and Arthur cuteness.
With that said, enjoy!
Arthur Pendragon had come to expect a lot of things from his best friend, Merlin. It wasn't very strange – the two young boys had known each other since they were nearly five years old, and now, at the age of fifteen, Arthur felt as though he knew Merlin like he did with the back of his hand.
Arthur had come to know Merlin's habits and ways over the time that the two had been friends. If the young Pendragon found out that Merlin had fallen down the stairs on the way to the bedroom, he wouldn't have been very surprised.
If he found out that Merlin had been accepted to one of the world's most famous colleges early, Arthur wouldn't have been very surprised.
Hell, if he found out that Merlin had crashed a car into a tree, Arthur wouldn't have even batted an eyelash, because that's just how well he knew his friend. (However, Arthur suspected that he would feel a bit worried if Merlin did crash a car into a tree…)
However, Arthur did not expect to find Merlin kissing his half-sister in the living room.
Arthur knew that Merlin crushed on Morgana Pendragon – he really did. In fact, Arthur remembered purposely pushing Merlin into Morgana underneath a table back when they were younger.
But Arthur never knew that Merlin would…well, actually making his own move on her!
Of course, that sounded a bit pathetic, really. Arthur should be happy for Merlin – his friend was finally getting out of his shell and taking a few steps forward.
Then, why did he feel so annoyed?
It had all come so fast, for one. Arthur had been told that Merlin would be visiting after tutoring some other students, (Arthur wasn't surprised – Merlin was always one of the brightest boys he knew, though he would never admit it out loud,) and for three entire hours, Arthur had done nothing except lounge around his room and wait.
Finally, Arthur decided to go downstairs and maybe head to the library in the large mansion that he lived in. Of course, Arthur wasn't very interested in reading at the moment, but he figured that it was better than not doing anything at all.
Then, as Arthur made his way across the hall to the library, he saw it.
The living room door was open by a small crack but the noises coming from inside made Arthur freeze in his tracks. He frowned and pressed one of his ears against the door.
See, Arthur had thought he heard kissing sounds – the gasp for air, the lips touching against someone else's, the entire nine yards.
Arthur wondered who the mysterious kissers were – it couldn't be his father, seeing that he hadn't picked up a girlfriend or shown any interest in other women, and it couldn't be the servants, since they knew better than to kiss in the living room of the royal family.
So, that only left his sister, Morgana.
Arthur slowly slid down to his knees and peered in through the crack between the doors. He made out the couch and, sure enough, sitting on it, was a familiar, curly, dark-haired head bobbing up and down passionately. Arthur grimaced. He started to stand up only to slide back down to the floor again, for something else had caught his eye.
First, Arthur's eyes widened.
Then, his mouth dropped open.
He closed his mouth.
And his jaw clenched.
And he glared.
Why was he reacting like this?
It was because he had seen Merlin – his Merlin – sitting up and kissing Morgana's lips. Judging by his position, Arthur guessed that Merlin had been on the floor.
Merlin and Morgana were rocking back and forth on the couch, their eyes closed and their hands resting on each other's shoulders, neck…just about anywhere.
Arthur couldn't take it any longer.
He quickly stood up and slammed the doors opened with a loud, angry bang!
Merlin and Morgana's reactions were immediate. They quickly separated and tried to look casual.
Well, Morgana succeeded – all signs of pleasure quickly vanished from her face and she pretended to be interested in her nails.
Merlin, however, wasn't quite as good as acting as Arthur's half-sister. He yelped in surprise and slid off the couch.
"Arthur!" The dark-haired boy exclaimed from the carpet, looking up at the prince with a sheepish smile. "Er…how are you?"
For a second, Arthur couldn't breathe. Was Merlin actually trying to act casual about this situation? Was Merlin thinking that he could actually get away with this?
Merlin, looking up at Arthur properly for the first time, frowned. "Arthur? Are you alright?"
Morgana stood up. She seemed to already know what Arthur was about to do.
Good, Arthur thought angrily to himself. He took a couple of steps towards the two.
"Merlin, you might want to take a couple of steps back," Morgana murmured, clasping her hands behind her back. Her eyes met Arthur's and for a second, the young prince could have sworn he saw fear in his half-sister's eyes.
Then again, Arthur might have imagined it, because as quickly as the look came, it went.
Merlin didn't take heed in Morgana's warning. Instead, he simply stared back at Arthur, his feet rooted to the ground. His face was pale and his hands were clasped together, but Merlin's voice was steady when he spoke.
"Arthur, please say something." He said quietly. "You're not acting like yourself. We can talk somewhere else, if you want."
Arthur couldn't bring himself to speak. He managed to give a small, single nod. He quickly strode back out of the living room, not bothering to wait for Merlin. He heard his friend murmur something to Morgana, which only lit another flame of anger in his chest.
He walked faster.
"Arthur!" Arthur heard Merlin yelling. The sound of Merlin's boots running down towards Arthur filled the empty hall.
"Arthur!" Merlin yelled again. "What's wrong? Why did you just…your face, it wasn't…what happened?"
Arthur turned around, his eyes bright. The anger and shock was still boiling inside of him. Merlin quickly stopped in his place, keeping his eyes on the prince.
"Arthur," Merlin said, this time, his voice quieter. "Arthur, why are you acting like this?"
Arthur took several large, angry steps towards his friend. Without thinking, he pushed Merlin – hard.
Merlin staggered a couple of steps back, his eyes wide. "Arthur?"
"What – were – you – doing?" Arthur asked, punctuating each word with another shove. Merlin backed into a wall, his brows furrowing together and his lips slightly parted in shock.
"Arthur, I was –"
"You kissed Morgana! You kissed my half-sister! And here I was, thinking that you were tutoring other students! You were here this entire time, weren't you? You were here early just to see and kiss Morgana!" Arthur yelled furiously. Merlin flinched at the loudness of Arthur's voice.
"Arthur, I'm so –"
"I know you like Morgana, Merlin!" Arthur cut him off indignantly. "But you lied to me! You went behind my back so you could…so you could spend time with her? Why couldn't you just tell me?"
Merlin lifted his hands in surrender. "Arthur," he said slowly. "I wanted to tell you – Morgana and I really were about to," Arthur scoffed, but Merlin continued, "but we were both afraid that you would act like this."
Arthur shook his head. "Why would you be afraid?" He asked in a hard, cold tone. "You should have known that keeping a secret like this from me would only get me angrier."
Merlin looked down at the floor meekly. "I know," he mumbled. "I'm sorry."
Arthur turned around, crossing his arms. "I'm going to go," he said. "You can go back to…Morgana, if you want." Without giving Merlin a second glance, he stormed up the stairs to his bedroom.
He knew that he was being silly for yelling at Merlin and he knew he was being silly for getting angry at his best friend.
However, there was a small part of Arthur that kept nagging him, whispering that Merlin had lied to him. How long has Merlin been seeing Morgana? How long has Merlin been lying to him? Were Morgana and Merlin really going to tell him about their relationship, or was that just another lie?
Arthur reached his bedroom at last and with a moan, he flopped onto his bed. He kicked off his shoes and threw them across the room. Arthur buried his head in his pillow, feeling exhausted and worn out. He couldn't believe Merlin.
He really couldn't.
Ugh.
And then, Arthur did what most boys his age would do.
He squeezed his eyes shut and for the first time in what seemed like forever, he screamed in frustration, "Son of a bitch!"
That felt good.
That really did.
Arthur's father would probably have his hind for acting so improper, but he didn't really care right now.
He kicked at his blankets angrily, his jaws clenched together and his hands curled into small fists. Arthur just needed to take his annoyance out on something – anything.
Arthur slid off the bed and without another second of thought, he kicked his bedroom wall, his feet covered with nothing except for his socks.
"Ow!" Arthur yelled loudly, immediately crouching down to the floor, holding his foot gingerly. He slowly lowered the rest of himself to the ground and cringed, yanking off the sock and examining his foot. It was already swelling up.
Suddenly, the door slammed open and before Arthur could clearly process what was happening, Merlin was by his side, already holding an ice pack in his hands.
"Hold still, you clot pole," Merlin muttered, gently placing the ice pack on Arthur's foot. The prince winced and managed to say, "You came in here pretty fast."
Merlin shrugged, his eyes fixed on Arthur's foot. He adjusted the ice pack and looked back up. "I thought that you would do something like this."
"Kicking the wall?" Arthur asked.
Merlin shrugged again. "I thought that you would hurt yourself. You always do when you're angry about something." He stood up, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Well…I'll leave you to it, then," the dark-haired boy mumbled, turning around to walk away.
"Wait," Arthur quickly called out. Merlin froze in his tracks. He turned around to look at Arthur expectantly.
"Yes?" Merlin asked.
Arthur gave his friend a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry, Merlin. I was shocked and I…acted foolishly."
Merlin snorted, shaking his head. "That was an understatement," he said lightly. "I thought your head was going to explode."
Arthur cringed and adjusted his position on the ground. "I really am sorry," Arthur continued. "I don't know what came over me. I know that you wouldn't ever hurt Morgana and I was wrong to doubt you like this."
Merlin gave Arthur a small smile. "I'm sorry, too," he said, walking back over to the prince. He sat down next to Arthur and went on, "I should have told you about Morgana before."
The young Pendragon shrugged. "It's alright," he said quietly. "I know that you'll be good to Morgana."
Merlin smiled. "Thank you."
Arthur shrugged again. "Yes, well," he mumbled, trying to return to his usual swagger. He quickly cleared his throat and said, "Now, help me up – I can't get up with this foot."
A/N: I'm sorry if it wasn't my best. I tried. *winces* However, I hope you guys enjoyed it. :)
Oh, and a little announcement - one of my friends here on FanFiction dot net has started a contest forum where you can write up challenges (that she will give you, of course,) from one of the following fandoms : Merlin, Sherlock, Doctor Who, Star Wars or Star Trek [reboot]. You get to choose your fandom, of course. I think the due date is around the end of June, but all info can be found on her forum.
The link to her forum is on her profile page, and her user name is Shining in the Darkness. Seriously, doods, she's one of the coolest people I have EVER met and her challenges are always interesting. [And yes, I know that I spelled doods d-o-o-d-s instead of d-u-d-e-s. This is what I get from watching certain Youtubers all day.]
Please review and give constructive criticism if you have any! Seriously, guys, I would love to hear what you guys have to say - I know that if you guys can fave/follow this story, you guys can take two more seconds to write a quick thought. Please? Pretty please? *flashes Merlin and Arthur puppy dog eyes*
Oh, and no flames, please! :)
Next chapter : Ten years old Merlin and Arthur are running around the mansion with only their swim trunks on. Apparently, Arthur has to get back at Merlin for shoving water down his shirt.