DISCLAIMER: I do not own Merlin

Chapter 11: Graduation

Merlin wasn't even in remission for a year when his cancer came back. It wasn't like last time where his rash came back and he got ill. This time, he went in for his routine check-up and found out the results were abnormal.

Four months. Merlin was only four months from graduation. Even if he wasn't going to be out of the hospital to walk for high school graduation, he was getting that diploma.

Merlin doesn't think he's ever done so much work in his life. Clearly senior year meant overwhelming students with homework. Arthur and Gwen came to the hospital almost every day, just so they could spread out on the floor or on the spare bed in Merlin's room and do homework. It wasn't an uncommon sight for the night nurses to check on Merlin and see all three of them asleep amongst a spread of textbooks and notes and homework.

Most of the time, the nurses let it go. It wasn't unless they had to wake Merlin up to administer another round of medication that they woke Arthur and Gwen up and asked them to leave.

The nurses went through high school. They understand how difficult it can be to get all that work done, especially when you are worried about a friend in the hospital, or in Merlin's case, are in the hospital.

Even more common was to see all three of them awake, groaning and grumbling over their homework while they worked.

Despite the fact that he had to do all his classwork and homework while in the hospital. On top of that, he had to deal with having to take his medicine, which sometimes left him feeling too ill to do his homework. While Merlin would never admit it, those were his favorite days. It meant that he, Arthur, and Gwen would be able to do something normal. Something that didn't leave him wanting to throw a textbook at the wall. It was on these days that Morgana would join them. She point blank refused to do homework in a hospital.

It was four long months of schoolwork and chemo, but eventually it was all done. Merlin took his last final observed by his teacher, and it was official. Merlin had finished all of the work required to graduate. He just had to hope he got good enough grades to actually get his diploma.

Merlin couldn't figure out why he cared so much. He had long since given up on the idea of college. If he even survived that long, it just wasn't likely that he would be out of the hospital in time to start college.

The day before high school graduation, Merlin was particularly glum about his future.

"Cheer up Merlin," Gwen said in her normal bright and cheery voice.

"There's nothing to be cheerful about," Merlin said grumpily. "Cancer has literally ruined my life."

"You don't know that," Gwen chastised.

"How am I supposed to go to college from a hospital?" Merlin asked.

"You could take online classes while you're in the hospital and then when you are in remission, you could enroll in actual classes. Have you given any thought to what you want to do?" Gwen asked him.

Merlin blushed slightly. "Erm… well," he said.

Arthur looked up at him curiously. "You picked a career path and you didn't tell me?" Arthur asked, pretending to be hurt by Merlin's secrecy.

"It's dumb," Merlin muttered.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Well you're an idiot, so I guess that makes sense," Arthur told him sarcastically.

"Well, you're a prat. Does that mean you're picking a prattish career?" Merlin asked.

"Naturally," Arthur agreed good-naturedly. "I'm going to be a lawyer."

"What exactly do you want to do Merlin?" Gwen asked curiously, shoving Arthur gently to quiet him.

"I want to be a doctor," Merlin admitted. "An oncologist. I want to help kids that are going through what I went through. What Freya went through. What Will went through."

"I think that's brilliant!" Gwen said enthusiastically. "You'd make an amazing doctor."

Arthur was just smiling at Merlin. He would never admit it out loud, but he was proud of Merlin.

"Yeah. Assuming I actually graduate from high school and make it to college," Merlin said.

"Of course you're going to graduate. You got better grades than me junior year and you missed have of it," Arthur pointed out.

"I wasn't otherwise distracted," Merlin pointed out with a wink.

Arthur could feel himself blushing. Damn Merlin and his infuriating ability to get Arthur to be honest with him and confide in him about his relationship. Arthur rolled his eyes, pretending he didn't know what Merlin was talking about. He didn't miss the suspicious look Gwen shot him.

"Are you sure you won't be able to get out for a few hours to go to graduation tomorrow?" Arthur asked Merlin, trying to change the subject.

Arthur already knew the answer. He had personally asked the nurses if Merlin would be able to leave. They had point blank refused to even entertain that notion.

Merlin shook his head sadly. "I wish," he said miserably. "I know how much you want me there."

"Well, I always thought I was going to graduate with my best friend. But it's not about me," Arthur said.

"Of course it's about you," Merlin pointed out. "If I weren't sick, do you think I would actually sit through a boring high school graduation if it weren't for you?"

Arthur looked at him shocked. "Surely Hunith would want you to," Arthur said.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "You're practically her son too. As long as one of us walk down that aisle, she'll be happy," Merlin pointed out.

"Merlin, we're graduating, not getting married," Arthur pointed out.

Merlin chuckled. They talked for a few more minutes before Arthur and Gwen had to leave. "Have a good graduation," Merlin told them.

"We'll miss you," Gwen said kissing his cheek.

"We'll see you soon Merlin," Arthur promised.

Merlin let out a sigh of relief after they had gone. Merlin was awful at keeping secrets from his friends. He was grateful they just thought he was upset about missing graduation.

The next day, Arthur got dressed in the suit Igraine had picked out for him. He met Gwen at the school before they had to board the buses. Naturally she fussed over him and told him he looked gorgeous. He had to roll his eyes at that. He did the normal boyfriend routine. Told her, her hair was amazing and her dress was beautiful. He didn't really care what she was wearing. She could be in a hoodie and sweatpants and he would still think she was beautiful.

They were silent the entire ride to the stadium they were graduating in. Gwen rested her head on Arthur's shoulder and Arthur had his arms wrapped around her. Arthur always felt like he could sit like this forever. Gwen just felt so right in his arms.

When they got to the stadium, before they separated to go sit in alphabetical order, Gwen squeezed his hand. "Try to enjoy yourself. You are graduating," she whispered to him.

"Enjoy graduation? What graduation have you been to that has been pleasant?" Arthur shot back.

Gwen chuckled. She kissed Arthur lightly. "I'll see you after the ceremony," she promised.

Arthur nodded and went to sit with the P's.

The speeches were as he expected. The principal had some long speech about how he was proud of all their accomplishments and how he enjoyed being given the opportunity to watch them grow up throughout the years.

Then there was the valedictorian and the salutatorian. The class president. Their speeches weren't too bad, but they just tried too hard to sound interesting and funny. It sounded forced and faked.

Finally, as Arthur was about to fall asleep if he listened to the class president say one more word about how people are like milkshakes, the speech was over. It was time to hand out diplomas. Arthur's class wasn't too big. Only about three hundred students. Despite that, the call seemed to go on and on and on. It seemed like everyone in the class had a last name that began with an A or a B or a C or a D.

When they got to E's, a few names were called and then finally came the name Arthur had been waiting for. "Merlin Emrys," the principal called. It was customary to call every seniors name, even if they aren't here to accept the diploma.

Arthur closed his eyes and listened to the applause for Merlin. He wanted to be able to tell Merlin about it later. But then, suddenly the applause and cheers picked up in volume. People around him began to stand up. Arthur opened his eyes and his jaw dropped.

Merlin was making his way up the steps to get his diploma. Arthur's eyes widened. In his peripheral, he saw Morgana stand up and make her way to the end of the aisle. Arthur mimicked her actions, his classmates moving out of his way. He couldn't see her, but he was sure Gwen was doing the same. The second Merlin was down those steps, Morgana had captured him in a hug. Then Gwen hugged him. And finally, Merlin turned to Arthur.

Arthur threw his reputation out the window as he gave Merlin a hug. If asked about it, Arthur would claim for it to be a manly hug, but there were too many witnesses for that argument to have any credibility.

When they broke apart, Arthur was shocked to see that they were still in a crowded stadium. People were still smiling and clapping for Merlin, but they didn't understand. They didn't understand how much this meant to Arthur and to Merlin. It meant the world.

It took Arthur another moment to realize they were holding up the graduation ceremony. "We'll talk later," he warned Merlin.

Merlin nodded and sat down in the seat that had been empty the entire ceremony, up to that point. Arthur, Morgana, and Gwen went back to their designated seats. The rest of the ceremony passed in a blur. No one could compete with Merlin's entrance.

After the ceremony was finally over, and they were all graduates, Arthur hunted down Merlin.

"How?" He demanded.

"I got permission to leave for a couple of hours so I could attend my graduation," Merlin said with a shrug. He was sitting down in a wheelchair right now. Walking to the stage and up those steps had been more exercise than he had gotten in months.

"That's not possible. I specifically asked the nurses…" Arthur started to say.

"I had the entire hospital staff behind me. They all agreed to keep it a secret from you so you would be surprised," Merlin said grinning victoriously. "I have to admit though. I wasn't sure if your mother would be able to keep it from you."

"My mother knew?" Arthur asked incredulously.

"Of course. You didn't think that the hospital was going to let some eighteen year old out of the hospital? I don't think so. You're mother convinced them that this was a good idea," Merlin explained.

Arthur shook his head, unable to believe that Merlin was actually able to keep this from him.

"Look, we'll talk more tomorrow," Merlin said sadly. "I'll give you all the details. I probably should be heading back to the hospital."

"I don't think so young man," Hunith said, shaking her head in mock disappointment. "We are going out to dinner."

"But the nurses said–" Merlin started to say.

"They don't know how long this graduation ceremony was going to last. What's a few more hours," Hunith pointed out.

Merlin's entire face brightened. "Fair enough," he agreed.

Needless to say, Merlin enjoyed his stolen hours of freedom.