Disclaimers & author notes – see prologue.

Thank you to casualtheatrics for the beta.

Warnings for this chapter: Contains explicit sexual content and alludes to past non-violent domestic abuse.

Thanks again for comments. At this rate I'll never get my head into my wedding dress! (But don't let that stop you, :-P !)

Week Ten

When Merlin woke up the next day, following a disturbed night of nightmarish dreams of Arthur running for his life, Will was sitting at their kitchen table, hands wrapped around a mug of coffee, glaring at Merlin. "What the fuck have you done?" he accused. Merlin had already been in bed when Will had come home the night before, which had suited Merlin perfectly, the inevitable showdown delayed until morning.

"I've had enough, I've quit," Merlin huffed padding barefoot into the kitchen and pouring himself some coffee – a necessity if he was going to survive the rest of this conversation. "They don't know I'm not going back yet."

"You idiot. What on earth for?" Will's eyes followed his every move and Merlin knew there was no escape from this interrogation. "Don't tell me they've found out about you and Pendragon Jnr and asked you to leave? Man, that's -"

"No Will, they haven't found out about me and Arthur," he pulled out a chair and sat down opposite his best friend. "There is no 'me and Arthur' anymore anyway so none of that matters."

Will sighed, "What happened?"

Merlin took a long swig of his coffee and told Will about Morgana's telling Arthur about Cen hitting on him and Arthur punching Cen. When he moved on to tell him how he'd told Arthur to stay away from him, Arthur's face flashed into his mind, his shock, and the way he'd tried to get Merlin to look at him during the boardroom. He pushed it away, not wanting to be reminded of how he had royally and spectacularly fucked things up.

There was nothing like an abundance of thinking time to get things in perspective, and yes, he realised he'd totally messed up.

"Let me get this straight in my head," Will said. "This Cen bloke jumps you and scares the living shit out of you, yeah?"

Merlin nodded with a shudder. "I already told you that."

"Pendragon finds out and lamps him one?" Will was shaking his head incredulously. "So – you fucked him over for defending you."

"What? No! Yes. It wasn't so much his hitting Cen, it was what he said to me afterwards; he said he didn't want me spending time alone with him again – exactly what Edwin told me about you."

No one had told him that it would hurt this much, that being away from Arthur with no prospect of ever seeing him again would feel like this; as though someone had casually reached up and batted the sun out of the sky and left him only with darkness.

Will's face softened, "Edwin is a total prick. Pendragon sounds like someone I'd like to meet and you know I never like anyone until they've bought me a beer. I tell you now, I feel like heading down to London and knocking this Cenred's block off for what he did; Pendragon clearly cares for you if he's being this protective. Not every bloke is gonna be like Edwin. You know that Edwin was a special case, that he'd never have got to you if he wasn't a little magic as well."

"That had nothing to do with it," Merlin protested.

"Mate, you were awestruck by him because you'd never met anyone who was like you."

Will was right, Merlin knew that; it had been the magic that had attracted him to Edwin – magic could sense the presence of other magic users apparently – and Merlin had wanted to impress the older man. He'd been in too deep and too fast; what he'd thought was love had been infatuation; the attraction had been the magical energy, not to Edwin himself. Edwin had been a manipulator; Merlin his naive young victim.

Never again. "I thought – it felt like for a while that Arthur wants to keep me all to himself, wants to tell me what to do – I promise you Will, I'm not falling for it again. But – I've 'slept' on it," by which he meant 'lain awake all night staring at the ceiling'. His twisted thoughts and his protesting magic had ensured he had no rest; the magic was keyed to his heart, not his brain. "I know Arthur's different. It just scares me how much I feel for him Will. I'm afraid of being hurt again."

"So you're not hurt now? Mate, you know I love you, but sometimes you can be really dense. So Arthur got a little possessive and protective – would you rather he stood aside and let some other guy maul you again? The man is crazy about you, and I can tell that without even having met the dude."

Merlin couldn't find the words to articulate a reply.

Will checked his watch and stood up, peering out the window and down into the road. "It's half day closing today but, I think I'll close for the whole day – I'm taking you back to London. You've got too far in the competition to give up now! You're almost there!"

He'd wanted to go back the minute his adrenaline fuelled journey home was over and he'd realised how much he missed Arthur already: so much for his decision that he never wanted to see Arthur again. Like he could do that: it would be easier to forget to breathe. He groaned and face planted the table.

He loved him. He, Merlin Emrys, was in love with Arthur Pendragon.

When had that happened?

o0o0o

Will wasn't easily persuaded, but Merlin managed to convince him to at least open the shop that morning; he wanted to go for a walk to clear his head and where better than the hills surrounding his hometown?

Will was right, he was dense. How had he not noticed a little thing like falling in love? Not in love with a possessive control freak who wanted to keep Merlin locked away but with a strong proud man who would do anything to protect those he cared about.

Merlin hoped his realisations were not coming too late. He remembered how protective he had been over Arthur; Kanen's magically induced ailment, various people with boils on their noses. He recalled promising himself that he would turn Morgana bald if she hurt Arthur. He had no doubt that he still would if she turned out to be anything other than who she'd said she was.

Just because his own methods were less obvious didn't make him any less guilty.

Arthur's protectiveness hadn't only been using his fists against Cenred; he'd looked after him when he was injured, the way he'd made love to him that time in Morocco, how he'd told Merlin he was beautiful to him, how he was always reassuring Merlin that he wanted him above anyone else.

Merlin's own tool of choice was magic; Arthur didn't have that, he had his strength and courage; his methods of defending Merlin were from the resources he had available to him.

If someone had jumped Arthur the way Cen had jumped him, Merlin would have blown their balls off...and then done his very best to keep that person as far away from him as possible.

He knew all this, was slowly coming to realise it; but had he already blown it? Arthur hadn't as much as tried to call him. His phone had remained depressingly silent, and this time no technical error was to blame. Arthur simply hadn't tried to make contact.

He'd probably lost him. Oh God. Arthur was the one person who could make him feel like he was someone worth loving in this bleak wilderness that had become his personal life.

Merlin sat down on the grass at the highest point he could find on Herefordshire Beacon, the world splayed below in all of its glorious greenery; a beautiful sight displayed from the top of a hill that had been there for millions of years and would be there for as long after he had gone.

This spot had always offered him perspective, from up there all his problems could seem to insignificant and petty. The world still turned, the sun still rose, and Merlin still loved Arthur; and whilst it was so liberating being up there, Merlin knew in that moment that it was time, that he had to go back to London and face Arthur if it was the last thing he did, because if he didn't, then what was his life worth in the grand scheme of things? Nothing – nothing at all.

Sighing heavily he began the long walk back into town, down the winding footpaths that criss-crossed the hills, finding St Anne's Road and letting it lead him back to his flat, intending to let Will off the hook by getting the train back to London; they went every hour from the main station in Worcester, he could be back at the house by early evening.

He came to a standstill as he rounded the corner of the approach to the Will's shop and the entrance to their flat. Will was outside talking to a tall blond man who had his back to Merlin, balancing a box in his arms. Arthur. His magic soared in joy, before plummeting back down into misery again when the man turned and revealed that he was about fifteen years older than Arthur and was probably just a customer taking a purchase to his car.

In that moment, when he'd thought Arthur had come for him, he'd been ready to run into his arms and tell him he was sorry, that he hadn't meant what he'd said, that of course he wanted him near to him.

Morosely he clomped up the stairs to the flat and threw himself onto the sofa, head in hands.

Arthur hadn't come for him. Merlin probably wasn't worth coming for was he? Not worth the petrol money when for Arthur they may not be any sex in it for him when he got there if Merlin hadn't wavered. The voice in his head screamed at him, told him that he was a fool for letting his thoughts go down that route – and he listened to it, he really did, because he was getting better at believing in himself. He just wished that the new found confidence he'd discovered didn't teeter so precariously on a knife's edge.

Merlin had to take strength from the fact that he had survived nine weeks of 'The Apprentice' without being on the other end of the firing finger, and that was something to be proud of. He'd won the two tasks he'd project managed! Arthur wanted him, had been trying so hard to get to know him... He didn't add 'Cenred wants me' to his list; he wanted to forget all about that and what could have happened.

Would he have followed Arthur if the shoe had been on the other foot? Merlin doubted it; in fact, he knew he wouldn't have, because if Arthur rejected him he wouldn't have been able to go back for more. He thought back then to how Arthur had been when Merlin had missed all those messages from him; confident businessman Arthur Pendragon wasn't so full of it when it came to Merlin was he? Arthur actually seemed to suffer from similar insecurities about Merlin's feelings for him.

Merlin couldn't believe he hadn't seen it before.

He had to get back to London now.

"You ready to go now?" Will let himself into the flat with a clatter of keys and called in to Merlin.

He should never have left. Go and win the contest; and make things right with Arthur, if he hadn't fucked it all up beyond repair. "Yes I'm ready – but I'll take the train."

"No you bloody won't – I'm delivering you right to the door – I'm not giving you a chance to change your mind. Remember Will knows best."

Merlin rolled his eyes, but didn't argue.

o0o0o

"Congratulations to those of you have made it to the tenth week," Sir Uther boomed. "This is the final task, and for one of you this is the end of the road." They were standing in the middle of the beauty department in Selfridges, the air full of a thousand different scents.

Merlin swallowed nervously. The final task. There were seven candidates left. How the heck had he made it this far? To think that he'd nearly quit the whole thing a couple of days ago; sometimes he really did act before thinking things through.

Arthur stood to his father's left, groomed to perfection and as handsome as always, though he looked exhausted, as though he hadn't slept in a month. He was staring straight ahead, and Merlin knew he was deliberately avoiding his gaze.

Merlin instantly regretted not trying to talk to him the night before, not going over to his place immediately; but it had been late, and he hadn't wanted Will to have to drive back that night. Then Cen had sought him out, reeking like he'd fallen in a barrel of lager; and maybe he had been going to apologise, or he was looking for the same from Merlin – but Will had been there, and had slid a protective arm around Merlin and glared daggers at him, and Cen's eyebrows had lifted as he turned pale and muttered something under his breath before storming out.

Merlin shook his head to clear out the memory and tuned back into Sir Uther, "Perfume is big business; your task today is to create, brand and market a new scent which you will then present to the industry. It can be aimed at men or women."

Merlin inwardly groaned; he'd hoped they'd got away without doing this task this year as it often came earlier in the series. It was the one where candidates bigged themselves up as experts in pitching or marketing and inevitably made dicks of themselves.

"Leon, move over to Sorcery please, Cenred to Phoenix," Sit Uther instructed, and the tow swapped places. There were four candidates in Sorcery and three in Phoenix. "Sophia, you'll head up Phoenix, Gwaine, I want you to manage Sorcery."

Merlin heard Gwaine hiss, "Yes!" under his breath.

Merlin had hoped Morgana might have managed this task as she worked in advertising whereas Gwaine was a lawyer.

It transpired that this was a three day task, much like the one with the beauty products they sold at the market – days one and two: create the scent, start on the branding, plan a strategy, three present it to the industry.

Merlin was relieved that Arthur was observing his team again this task. He needed to talk to him as soon as possible. Should he have called him last night? A phone call just didn't cut it did it? He hated this rift between them, knowing that it was his own doing only added to his remorse.

The task began with them gathering around a table in their designated office in the upstairs of Selfridges. Gwaine was bobbing in excitement. "I love this task! We're gonna win this, no problem. If anyone knows about aftershave it's me."

All Merlin heard for the next few minutes was blah, blah, blah, because Arthur was sitting behind him, and Merlin could feel him staring at the back of his head. He could hear his heartbeat, his magic reaching out to him. The magic was pleased to be in Arthur's vicinity again, but it was not liking the wall that had been erected between them. He pushed it back inside when it came close to the surface. Now was not the time for another magical mishap.

At least Cen was on the other team; he could relax and not worry about any awkward confrontations with him for a while.

Tuning back into the goings on he realised he'd been assigned the task of going down to the shop floor with Morgana to do some market research about what scents were the most popular. He followed her out of the room, the camera close on his heels. Arthur didn't follow, staying behind to keep any eye on the other two.

This was Merlin's first time alone with Morgana since his return from home; she'd been out when he and Will came home and had only returned in time for the cars that morning. She beamed at him and seemed to be bursting to talk, but the cameras were dogging them, so instead they set about sniffing scents and talking to sales assistants about what sold well.

Merlin felt quite sick by the time they returned to the office with their findings. Perfume overload; and to him it all kind of smelled the same. However, the best sellers at the moment were aimed at the young twenty-something male. Gwaine commented that he'd rather do a women's perfume; but admitted that was because he'd hoped to do the model casting and eye up the girls – however, he wanted to win the task and agreed that they should go for the best selling option.

There then followed a discussion about scents, and Merlin again tuned out, reaching out and wrapping his magic around Arthur – Arthur who had still been unable to meet his eye. He'd never tried that before – yes, he'd used his magic to sense someone's presence – but never like this. He could sense Arthur's mood, his feelings.

Arthur was wretchedly miserable.

Merlin suddenly felt like crying as he submerged himself in Arthur's aura. Arthur was fighting with himself...

"Merlin – are you awake?" Gwaine teased, jerking Merlin into reality, drawing his magic back inside of himself.

"Yep – sorry!" he smiled brightly, feeling like a big fat fraud.

"Well trying looking it huh? Now, I want you to be the model for the campaign..."

"What? No!" Merlin gasped. "I can't model. Isn't advertising supposed to be about selling an image to the consumer? No one's gonna buy it if it's me!"

Gwaine rolled his eyes, "Merlin, you're what – 24? – you're the right demographic, and you've got the exact look that young men your age would aspire to."

Had someone hit Gwaine over the head with the loony stick?

"Merlin you really have no idea how you look do you?" sighed Morgana fondly. "Good thing you've got me to style you then. With a bit of a trim and the right clothes - move over Britain's Next Top Model!"

"Isn't that a girls contest?" Merlin argued weakly.

"Not the point," Morgana said. "Now, lets get downstairs and get you sorted as we're going to do the shoot this afternoon."

Shit, arguing was going to be pointless. He was going to get fired for being too ugly to model and failing the task for gurning in the photo shoot. There was a reason he preferred being behind the camera.

"Don't we have to design the fragrance first?" he protested as Morgana tried to steer him out of the room.

"Have you listened to anything at all?" Gwaine grumbled. "Leon and I are heading over to the lab now – I need those photos for the packaging as well as the advertising, which is why we're doing it today."

No, Merlin hadn't been listening, which is how he ended up, ten minutes later, sitting in a hairdresser's chair in Selfridge's salon. Morgana instructed the stylist as to what she wanted.

"If I'm the demographic for this scent shouldn't I be helping design it?" he muttered to Morgana, not caring at that point that camera was on him.

"Gwaine's only twenty-eight himself," Morgana replied. "He's hardly out of the loop, he knows fashion and he wears cologne – you don't do you?"

No, he didn't. Soap smelled nice enough!

Morgana leant forward and whispered in his ear, "I haven't told Arthur yet – I was going to after the last task but, he was looking for you and -" She pulled away as the Ev appeared with the camera to film his make-over, patting his shoulder sympathetically. Merlin mentally finished her sentence, 'and I ended up telling him that Cen almost forced you.' He should be annoyed with her but she'd only been looking out for him so it was pointless.

He watched in the mirror as his hair began to change shape. How long was this going to take? He wanted the day to end so that he could get Arthur alone. None of this really mattered anymore.

Arthur meant more than any of this.

o0o0o

When Merlin and the team arrived back at the house that evening, Merlin felt like a different person entirely. His hair had been cut shorter and was in a just got out of bed kind of style. Morgana had dressed him in tight dark blue jeans that sat low on his hips, a close fitting royal blue t-shirt with a scarf around his neck. His shoes were Converse – which he actually approved of and hoped he could keep, because his were falling to bits.

"Wow Merlin!" squeed Gwen as he walked into the kitchen. "You look hot."

Even Sophia eyed him up and down approvingly.

Cen glared at him and went back to studiously ignoring him, staring into the bottom of his glass of wine. Merlin supposed he should talk to him at some point, for the sake of the competition, but he really didn't want to waste time there when he knew Arthur would be here soon...no, he was here now. Merlin sensed him coming in the front door with Gaius.

"Arthur!" Morgana greeted as he walked in the kitchen. "What do you think of the new Merlin?" Her hands were on Merlin's shoulders then, turning him to face his estranged lover.

"Good enough to eat, eh Arthur?" Cen said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I think he looked just fine before," Arthur said tightly, shooting Cen a cold glare before turning and walking out of the room.

"My boy, I think you look amazing," Gaius said, seeming oblivious to the tension that had invaded the room.

"Thank you," Merlin muttered miserably. He sat down at the table and helped himself to a slice of the pizza that someone had just plated up and put down in front of him. He would have to wait a few minutes before following Arthur, although how much of a secret was their fling now? Morgana knew and Cen must have worked it out...

He nibbled the pizza, not really tasting it or wanting it. Something squeezed his heart, his magic pushing him out of his chair and towards the door. Misery swamped him; Arthur was losing it. He managed to mutter a vague excuse, leaving his pizza abandoned on his plate, and headed for stairs.

Arthur's door was locked, but Merlin dealt with that, letting himself in and locking it behind him. Arthur was on the floor, his back against the side of the bed, head in his hands, and all over the floor around him was broken glass. Merlin could smell the whisky where it dripped down the wall – Arthur had obviously hurled the bottle at the wall.

The air was full of Arthur's pain. "Arthur?" he began, tentatively.

Arthur didn't look up, "How did you get in? Go away."

Merlin ignored him and with a wave of his hand, banished the broken glass and the spilled whisky.

He walked over and sank down beside the blond. Arthur's head jerked up, "Careful! There's glass -" He pointed at the floor. "Wait – where..?"

"It's all gone now," Merlin said. Wanting to show Arthur he wasn't going mad, he blinked and levitated all the things off the chest of drawer – Arthur's phone, a lamp, some paperwork.

Arthur gasped, "What the fuck was that?"

"I'm a little bit magic," Merlin understated. "It cleaned up the glass – and I used it to let myself in."

Arthur was looking at him now, "I'm asleep aren't I? I've manifested you into a magician in my dream. Either that or someone's slipped something into my tea."

"You're not dreaming. I really can do magic." Merlin let his magic undo Arthur's tie and float it over to hang on the back of the chair.

"Right," Arthur said disbelievingly, sounding defeated. "Something else you've been keeping from me then."

"It's not something I just come out with to everyone I meet you know; you're only the fifth person to ever know."

"Lucky me," Arthur folded his arms over his chest. "Now – was that all?"

Merlin didn't know what to say next. Arthur was hurting, that much was clear. His instincts – magic – told him this was down to him now; Arthur had no idea where he stood with Merlin – he had stood up and defended him against someone he saw as a threat to Merlin and had been rejected because of it. Arthur didn't want to put himself out there for Merlin to trample all over him again.

"Do you really think I looked better before this make-over?"

Arthur sighed heavily, "I think you're beautiful no matter what your hair looks like or what you're wearing. You're my -" He stopped and slapped the heel of his palm against his forehead.

Merlin raised his own hand and took Arthur's, bringing it back down and threading his own fingers through it. "I missed you," he said, looking down at their entwined hands, taking heart that Arthur hadn't pulled back. "I went home, intending to never come back and I missed you so much..."

Arthur buried his face in Merlin's neck and Merlin could feel his heart pounding where his chest rested against his shoulder. "I'm not sorry I hit him," he finally said. "He'd already tried it once, and he'd got you alone again – I wasn't going to give him a chance to try it again. I've never hit anyone before."

"Arthur it's OK -"

"No, it's not. I freaked you out. I was trying to look out for you and you ended up more afraid of me than you were of him," he sighed. "It's just that...you'd been acting funny around him, and I knew he had a thing for you; and when Morgana told me – for a moment when I saw you go into that room together that maybe...that you had... I was jealous."

Merlin coughed, "Seriously?" he glanced down and saw the set of Arthur's jaw and realised he was. "Oh." He pulled back and stared at Arthur.

"You think I would do that?"

"I – no, no I don't," his mouth twisted. "I wasn't thinking straight, and when I went in there, I knew you weren't... I couldn't stand the thought of him touching you again."

"I can take care of myself you know – my magic knocked him out the first time."

"Remind me to buy your magic a caramel latte tomorrow to thank it," Arthur reluctantly chuckled, letting the back of his hand trace the path of Merlin's cheekbone.

"I know you want to know why I reacted how I did, and I promise, I will tell you – just, can you be patient with me please? I'm not -" he trailed off, trying to think of how to word it without sounding as though he didn't trust Arthur.

"Merlin, in case you haven't realised it yet, I'm head over heels in love you with you; have been since the first moment I saw you -"

"Was that before or after you rode off into the sunset in my taxi?" Merlin teased, his heart hammering like crazy in his chest at Arthur's declaration.

Arthur laughed softly, "After – but I'd just had a huge blow up with my father and I was in a vile mood; I didn't even see you through the red mist. But -you've had me in the palm of your hand since day one, only you were too insecure to notice."

"Oh," Merlin liked the sound of that.

"And what I was trying to say is, I'm not going anywhere, and whatever it is you can't tell me yet, well, I can wait. The – er – magic is enough to take in for one day."

God it felt good to be here. Merlin turned his head and kissed the corner of Arthur's mouth.

Arthur gripped the back of Merlin's neck fiercely and opened his mouth to draw him into a deep, instantly frenzied kiss. Clothes were swiftly discarded, Arthur dragging Merlin to his feet and pushing him back onto the bed, coming down on top of him, straddling his thighs.

"You're mine," he muttered as he licked a trail between Merlin's nipples. The possessiveness in his tone didn't so much as cause a flicker of panic in Merlin, his magic tingling pleasantly beneath his skin. It was the truth.

He was Arthur's.

"Show me," he breathed, bucking his hips and winding his legs around Arthur, pulling him closer, their cocks brushing together teasingly. Merlin reached between them and fastened his hand around them both, slowly stroking up and down, making sure not to break eye contact with Arthur. "Show me."

"God Merlin," Arthur hissed, his cheeks flushing pink as Merlin's pace picked up. He managed to lean over to the drawer by the bed and retrieve a condom and the lube, somehow opening it with shaking fingers and coating his fingers liberally before tearing the condom packet open with his teeth. He knee walked backwards, drawing his gaze raggedly over Merlin as he lay panting in front of him.

Merlin licked his lips and realised that he hadn't given a second thought to how naked he was in front of Arthur, or worried that the light was too bright, or even had a self-conscious thought. He felt a sudden flush of love, stronger that the lust that pulsed under his skin.

Arthur's fingers were pressing into him now. Merlin welcomed the burning sensation, letting his thighs fall open further, canting upwards eagerly, enjoying the feeling of being stretched. "Show me," Merlin repeated when he felt ready for Arthur's cock.

Arthur was on his knees between Merlin's legs, and at Merlin's command he pulled Merlin down, bringing his arse up over his knees, letting Merlin's feet land flat on the bed behind him as he eased himself into him. "Merlin -"

Merlin stretched his arms above his head and gripped on to the headboard, "Come on, fuck me."

Arthur grinned and with unsuppressed groan, pulled out almost the whole way and slammed back in. Merlin moaned, Arthur repeated the motion; Merlin loved it, he could see Arthur's cock as it pushed into him, the angle perfectly aligned, adding to the intensity. Watching the expressions chasing across Arthur's face would have been enough to make come Merlin on its own – but watching Arthur as Arthur fucked him – fucked him – he was so close, his own cock flat against his stomach, the language emanating from his lips and the groans all belonging to the other Merlin as he began to lose control.

He could feel the moment that Arthur's orgasm began to rise, see it in his face, hear it in his breathing. Oh God Arthur. His own climax took him by surprise, rushing through him; taking his consciousness for a brief second as his muscles clenched around Arthur, come coating his stomach and chest just as Arthur's thrusts turned erratic and he came, Merlin's name on his tongue.

"Fuck," said Merlin as Arthur slowly lapped the come off his chest and tummy. "We should fall out more often."

He let his magic pull the duvet over them and wound himself further around Arthur, listening to the combined sound of their breathing as they came back to earth.

As he was dozing off he realised he hadn't told Arthur he loved him back.

o0o0o

Bottles of the terribly named (in Merlin's opinion) Fæger Cologne were packaged in black and white coloured boxes with Merlin's picture on the front in side in profile. To say he didn't recognise himself was an understatement. The man on the box wasn't how he saw himself.

"Wow," Gwaine said when the boxes were delivered the morning after the photo shoot. "I knew you'd be perfect."

Morgana kissed his cheek and said, "You look bloody hot!"

Merlin felt himself blush furiously. He wasn't used to such praise regarding his appearance. He glanced at Arthur and received a wink from Arthur's otherwise perfectly schooled expression.

Unfortunately, Merlin's torture wasn't over. Today they were filming the TV advert. Morgana had Merlin in a similar outfit from the day before and had coiffed his hair back into the desired style. It was supposed to look 'just fucked', which amused Merlin no end, as he and Arthur had enjoyed a last minute fuck over the back of the dressing table chair that morning, yet still his hair needed re-arranging into the desired look.

He hoped he wouldn't have another panic attack in front of the cameras today, but as this was not live he hoped he would survive in one piece. Gwaine was directing the ad, and all Merlin really had to do was stand there. However, the 'there' was to be several different places – a windswept beach, a hillside, a festival – which meant green screen, wind machines and goose pimples. Oh, and pouting, lots of.

He was the only person in the advert; the strategy for marketing the product was to make it as ambiguous as possible so that it would appeal to straight and gay men. Hence there was no clingy woman in an evening dress swooning at his feet.

When the actual perfume finally arrived, Merlin thought it smelled like the Old Spice Uncle Cill favoured, and didn't spray any on himself – it's not as though this was for smelly-vision.

When they took a break from filming in mid afternoon, Merlin managed to grab a few minutes alone with Arthur, looking to the outside world as though they were enjoying an innocent cup of coffee together, whilst Arthur told Merlin in a very matter of fact way what he planned to do to him when they got back to the house.

Merlin couldn't wait for the day to be over, but he knew that once filming was done they were practicing their pitch. He wasn't happy about Gwaine's idea that Merlin should come along in his 'model' outfit and represent the brand in person; it was difficult enough trying to play the part of a brooding metro-sexual type for the cameras without having to try and pull it off in person.

Arthur thought it was hilarious, "I wonder what your team would say if they knew I'm the one who's going to peel that t-shirt off you with my teeth?"

God Merlin wished the day would move quicker! "Well, Morgana probably suspects that something like that might occur, but I think she's the only one."

Arthur groaned, "This show is so fucked up. We're together, Sophia's got three blokes on the go, Cenred's hot for you, Gwen's pining for Lance, Leon's trying to woo Joe – and this is the stuff we know about. I've a feeling our old friend Valiant was blackmailing Mordred as well."

"Do you really think so?"

"Why else would he not have taken him into the boardroom that time? He was either blackmailing him or threatening him with violence. I doubt we'll ever find out for sure."

Merlin sighed, "You had to go and spoil it didn't you?" He took a long gulp of his coffee, enjoying watching Arthur watching him swallow the liquid. It was a wonder the whole world hadn't twigged by now; Merlin was only just starting to realise how much Arthur watched him – and how much he liked it. "You couldn't just let me enjoy the vision of you, me, your teeth, my t-shirt – you had to go and mention Valiant."

o0o0o

"Are you sure this is a good idea – I've no idea how to 'look sexy', particularly not in front of a load of industry experts. Can I not just wear my suit?" Merlin nearly begged Gwaine.

"Merlin, could you please stop being so negative," Gwaine huffed as he scribbled notes onto the flip chart, his handwriting a mess due to his cast. "However, I'm a fair man, let's vote on it. All those who think Merlin should come to tomorrow's pitch 'in character' raise your hands." Gwaine raised his hand, Morgana patted Merlin on the shoulder and kept her other hand at her side.

Leon, the evil traitor, put his hand up. "Sorry Merlin, I think it's a good idea – you'll be standing there, a living and breathing example of our target client, Morgana and I will be giving the pitch – it'll be fine."

Merlin felt himself deflate. It had been a long enough day filming the advert and trying to channel Will's confidence and Arthur's handsome looks as he did so. He didn't think he could do it again in front of a live audience.

"Try not to worry Merlin," Morgana placated. "You look the part; they'll never know you're not a real model."

"Alright, I'll practice my pout while the rest of you practice the pitch shall I?" he joked, but sat down anyway and read through the product info, committing it to memory in case he got asked any questions tomorrow. He then spent time reading through Gwaine's research statistics and info on where they thought this product would sit in the market place. Once done, he pretended not to be looking at his watch and wishing the time away; Arthur was no longer observing, and Merlin just wanted this meeting over with. They had been practicing without stopping for dinner, Merlin was full of Kettle Chips and coffee. It was after ten when Gwaine was finally satisfied that the pitch was in the bag, and Merlin could escape upstairs.

Arthur was watching the TV in Merlin's room wearing his boxers and one of Merlin's t-shirts that was far too tight for him and just made Merlin want to snuggle him.

"Well, if it isn't my very own Charley Speed," he drawled, pointing the remote at the TV and switching it off.

"Who? Is that a drug cocktail or something?" Merlin frowned, moving across the room and flopping down on the sofa next to Arthur, dropping his head on his shoulder.

"You idiot, he's a model – like you," he teased.

Merlin groaned, "Fuck off. That joke is getting old."

"Aw, is someone in a bad mood?"

"No," Merlin grumped. "Yes. I don't know. I'm just dreading tomorrow, that's all."

"For what it's worth, I think you'll do just fine. In the meantime, I know a way to take your mind off it," Arthur planted a soft kiss on Merlin's lips and stood up. "I'm just going to run you a bath."

Merlin grinned and waved a hand towards the en suite, letting Arthur see his eyes change colour, and said, "No need."

Arthur stuck his head around the bathroom door, "Christ, Merlin, this magic thing is amazing!"

Merlin shrugged, "You're taking it all pretty well I have to say."

"The concept that magic exists isn't entirely new to me," he admitted. "When I was a kid one of my nannies used to do tricks to entertain me – puppets that danced by themselves that kind of thing. I convinced myself later that I'd imagined it but I didn't."

"What happened to her?"

Arthur rolled his eyes, "She married my father, though it only lasted a couple of years; she had her eye on the main chance all along."

"I sympathise," Merlin joked. "I have an eye for the main chance's son." Leaving a trail of his clothes he led Arthur into the bathroom and settling himself back into the tub, splashing the water in front of him to indicate Arthur should join him.

Arthur climbed in behind Merlin and pulled him back against his chest. "What first attracted you to me?" Merlin mused and covered Arthur's hands with his own.

Arthur laughed, "Well I heard you before I really saw your face – although your arse was certainly worth a second – possibly a third or fourth – look." He continued to chuckle. "You were talking to Ewan and trying to be diplomatic about my Father's age. Then, you turned around and I – well if I'm honest I don't know what it was – I just wanted you. Instantly. You then proceeded to call me a thief and I was quite put out that you hadn't noticed my, er, charms..."

"Oh I noticed," Merlin confirmed. "If you wanted me, what took you so long?"

"Reality TV isn't the best basis for any kind of relationship; I kept talking myself out of my attraction to you, but I couldn't stop thinking about you. By Manchester I couldn't deny it any longer," he released Merlin's hand and began to tickle him. "You got under my skin."

Merlin was ticklish everywhere. "Stop it!" he gasped, wriggling at Arthur's attack, water splashing over the sides of the bath. Arthur ignored him, going for the armpits. "Mercy! Mercy!"

"I never show mercy," Arthur laughed, but stopped anyway and dropped a kiss on Merlin's shoulder as he struggled to get his breath back. "Idiot."

Merlin had been half hard already, but the tickling had finished the job. Arthur closed his fingers around Merlin's length and stroked slowly as his other hand somehow found its way along the crease of Merlin's arse. "On second thoughts, I could be persuaded to show mercy to this."

o0o0o

"...so we recommend a retail price of £34.99 for a 50ml bottle. We strongly believe that this fragrance...blah, blah, blah," Morgana said as Merlin zoned back out again. This was torture. He knew he should be paying attention; that his neck would be on the line if they lost because really, what had his contribution to the task been? Yep, standing around 'looking pretty' if you could really call someone with his ears 'pretty', and a hired model would have done a better job. He'd had nothing creative or strategic to offer this task, and mainly because he had been stressing over his rift with Arthur, and once that was sorted he found he didn't much care about the task.

He'd been the whinge-tastic candidate of this episode, when the show aired there would be a whinge-centric montage of him on 'You're Fired'. Luckily, when he'd been to do his fillers, he'd perked up and not moaned; he thought that Gwaine was doing a good job, as was the rest of the team – he was just moody because he felt so exposed as the 'face of the brand'.

"As a young man in the target demographic, would you buy this product?" someone from the panel of industry experts was addressing him, and Merlin's first thought was, 'don't mention that it smells like old men.'

"With my face on the box, how could I resist?" he joked, earning a titter from the panel. "Seriously, I would definitely buy this product; it's sexy, it's fresh and the ingredients are all organic so it's ethical too." Thank God he'd read the blurb and wasn't so lost in his own world that he didn't simply answer them with an honest, 'I never wear cologne' whilst wrinkling his nose.

Arthur did wear cologne and Merlin rather liked the smell on him.

"Are you wearing it now?" another asked, and Merlin's heart sank because no he most certainly was not. To lie or not to lie?

He lied. "I most certainly am," he bluffed. "Would you like me to spray some on my wrist so you can smell it on?" When a couple of the executives nodded, Merlin walked over held out his wrist for Morgana to spray and tried not to pull a face at the smell, before walking over to the execs and letting them sniff his skin.

The questioning moved back to Morgana and Leon and Merlin sighed with relief. He hoped his skills in lying had improved. Will could spot one of his lies effortlessly. He'd stopped bothering most of the time.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, they were being thanked by the industry people and could leave. Merlin was craving coffee like an addict.

Instead he found himself enduring yet another debrief when they arrived back at the house. Gwaine became tetchy when Merlin offered to fetch some drinks; the lack of caffeine just made him want to sleep. To make things worse, Sir Uther was hosting a cocktail party at an exclusive hotel in London that evening, and all of the remaining candidates were expected to attend. This debrief was seriously cutting into Merlin's nap time.

He thought he was home and dry when the meeting broke up. He estimated he could have three hour snooze, take a shower and then get dressed into the evening suit that had been provided for his use.

He didn't bargain on Morgana following him to his room and somehow managing to persuade him to do two things to help her, in exchange for one tiny favour which he was sure he could have done with magic anyway.

She would come over before they left and fix his bow tie for him; in exchange he would tell Arthur about her being his sister, and then if Arthur wasn't totally horrified by the idea, he would bring him to Morgana's London house tomorrow for him to meet the kids.

When she wanted to be, Morgana was a very persuasive woman.

o0o0o

Arthur was in full Pendragon businesslike mode at the cocktail party, spending a short amount of time mingling with the candidates before having to circulate the hundreds of allegedly important guests. Merlin watched him hungrily, fascinated to see him working the room, stopping to greet a never-ending stream of sycophants with his professional hat firmly planted on his head.

"I'm getting really nervous now," Morgana confided as she snagged her third glass of champagne off a passing waiter. "Look at him; he's got the world at his feet. He doesn't need a long lost sister complicating his life."

Merlin didn't mention that he'd been looking at Arthur for most of the evening; well, in between avoiding Cenred, checking that Gwen was holding up OK without Lance, and dropping hints to Joe about Leon.

Arthur looked their way then, tipping his head slightly at Merlin before turning and making his way slowly to the exit, stopping to say hello to anyone who tried to waylay him on his way past. "Looks like that's my cue," he said to Morgana. "I'll be back soon."

He followed Arthur out into the jumble of corridors outside of the ballroom in which the event was being held, and found himself bundled through a fire door just out of sight of the main entrance, forcing them out into the warm evening air.

"Art -" Merlin was cut off by Arthur pressing him into the wall and kissing him slowly. "Mmmng."

Arthur stepped back, raised a hand into the air, and Merlin turned to see a taxi pull up to the kerb. He happily let Arthur encourage him into it. Arthur gave his address and relaxed back against the seat, snagging Merlin's hand in his, "God I hate those things," he sighed.

"I wasn't loving it myself," Merlin agreed, although the watching Arthur in a new surrounding part had been nice. "But won't I get in the shit with Ewan for doing a bunk?"

"No, the crew left just before we did, the rest of the night is ours."

"Oh, well, good – because I really need to tell you something," Merlin knew he had to tell Arthur about Morgana before they moved on to any bedroom activity. Arthur's arse was far too distracting.

"Oh," Arthur let go of Merlin's hand and scooted to the other side of the taxi. "Is that the same as saying 'we need to talk' right before you break up with me?"

Merlin searched Arthur's face in disbelief, Arthur wouldn't quite meet his eyes, "No you prat, it means I want to tell you something." He slid down the seat and reclaimed Arthur's hand.

Arthur blushed. Blushed. "Oh – right – well, good."

Merlin rolled his eyes.

o0o0o

"Thank you Merlin, I owe you one," Morgana said as she handed Merlin a much needed cup of coffee and leant back against the kitchen unit to watch as Arthur, flat on his back in the small back garden, was being attacked from both sides by two three year old whirlwinds that were Morgana's daughters, Florence and Millie. Both the twins were giggling, Arthur was out of breath and belly laughing; his nieces had taken to him instantly.

When Merlin had told Arthur about Morgana the night before, it was clear that Arthur was immediately enthralled to find out he was both a brother and an uncle. He'd insisted on calling Morgana right away, and the two of them had spent nearly an hour on the phone before Arthur promised that he and Merlin would definitely be round the following day.

Merlin felt immensely proud of Arthur. It hadn't even occurred to him to be jealous that his mother had had another child, or annoyed with Merlin for keeping it a secret from him. The only dilemma now was to tell Sir Uther and somehow extricate herself from the show.

"I still think there would have been a simpler way to do this," Merlin teased. "You know this is going to be all over the papers when it gets out, right?"

"I know, I never was one for doing things the easy way," she sighed. "I could say the same for you if you carry on seeing Arthur."

Merlin groaned.

o0o0o

"The brief was simple," Sir Uther stated, dragging his gaze over the remaining candidates. "Create and market a new fragrance. Nothing is ever simple on this show though is it?"

There was an audible gulp. Had the reaction to their campaigns really been that bad?

"Phoenix, talk me through your thought processes in tackling the brief – Sophia?"

Phoenix had gone for a women's fragrance and aimed it at young teenage girls, and once Sophia had outlined the ideas behind and Sir Uther had questioned the other two team members, they showed the advert. Everyone watched in silence as it played out, and by the time it was done, Merlin was cringing – so was the rest of his team, Arthur, Gaius and Sir Uther.

The advert had shown a thirteen year old young girl in a very sexualised manner as she tried to capture the attention of a blond school boy hottie. It was highly inappropriate.

The packaging was passed around, bright pink, the perfume named 'Adore', and when the perfume was passed along for the board to sniff, all three of them recoiled back.

Sir Uther and Gaius raised eyebrows in sync before the attention was turned to Sorcery, letting Gwaine explain the ideas behind their campaign, showing the advert; Merlin tried not to sink down in his chair at the sight of his own image on the screen. It was a relief to note that no one was cringing when the ad had played out.

Sir Uther looked suitably impressed at their packaging, but less so when he sniffed the scent. "Sorcery, the experts liked your advert and the packaging, and were very satisfied with your pitch," he began. "They thought using one of the team as a model was a nice touch, and Merlin, they were impressed by your product knowledge. Less impressive was the smell of the product itself."

The atmosphere grew impossibly tense as Sir Uther turned to the other team, "Phoenix, some of the panel of experts were extremely offended by your advertising campaign. They called it crass, and the overall consensus regarding the packaging is that it's garish and would not appeal to the target market. To top it off, they said it smelled like the Lion enclosure at the zoo."

"With this is mind, the choice is an easy one," he sighed. "Sorcery, I've laid on a treat for you at Harrods. You'll be drinking champagne and enjoying chocolate fondue in the Chocolate Bar whilst enjoying a short acoustic set from Jónsi & Alex."

Merlin and Leon began to bob excitedly in their seats. This was the best prize ever.

o0o0o

When Merlin returned to the house later, he and Leon were ever so slightly tipsy on champagne and from the excitement of getting to meet Jónsi & Alex. Morgana was a convert, Gwaine simply looked baffled and stated that they 'weren't his thing'.

After letting Morgana almost force-feed him coffee – the flippin' woman was behaving like he was her long lost younger brother, not Arthur – they waited, all eyes on the door, to see who would be missing when the other team showed up.

They would then become the final six; and within a few days they would be whittled down to the final two. It was almost over.

Gwaine and Morgana started to argue over who they thought would have been fired – Gwaine was convinced of, and hoping for, Sophia's demise. Morgana thought it would probably be Gwen.

They were both wrong. Sophia and Gwen returned; Cenred did not.

Apparently for the last couple of months Cenred had managed to hide a drinking problem; however over the last few days he had upped his dosage, and when they had returned to the boardroom and Sophia had pointed out that he had been drunk during most of the task; Cenred had denied it, and then promptly loudly burped.

After that it had all been downhill.

Merlin shuddered - that explained a lot. He just hoped the other man got the help he needed.

o0o0o

Merlin slept fitfully that night, disturbing images of Arthur running away from an unseen assailant swamping him again when he did manage to nod off.

He hadn't spent the evening with Arthur; understanding that he needed some time alone with Morgana. The two of them had gone out for a meal to do some sibling bonding.

When there was an urgent knock at his door in the early hours he used his magic to feel who was there, jerking it open immediately when he sensed Uther Pendragon.

Sir Uther looked him up and down, taking in his half naked and dishevelled appearance before sweeping into the room. Merlin vaguely noted that Sir Uther didn't look his usual pristine self either.

"Get dressed," he bit out urgently. "Arthur's been kidnapped."

o0o0o

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