Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or any of the characters in the series, I'm just borrowing them from their respective owners to play with a little and I promise to give them back when I'm done. No copyright infringement is intended and I don't make any money from writing fanfiction.
Jealous jerk
Merlin's not happy with the way Arthur has acted and he's not afraid to show it…
Merlin stormed into Arthur's office and glared at his boss with so much contempt that Arthur was secretly relieved that looks couldn't actually kill. If that would have been the case then he'd surely been a pile of dust on the floor by now, judging by the way Merlin scowled at him.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Merlin snapped, crossing his arms over his chest. "How the bloody hell could you do that?"
"Do what?" Arthur snapped back, trying to sound innocent and like he had no idea what Merlin was talking about.
"Don't give me that crap" Merlin retorted. "Will just happened to get arrested the same night as we were going out, which you very well knew since you asked Gwaine about it. Not too hard to put the pieces together then."
"Surely just an unfortunate coincidence" Arthur shrugged, attempting a causal look. "You're not telling me that you're really surprised, are you? It was bound to happen sooner or later with his … life style."
"Life style?" Merlin echoed furiously. "He fights for what he believes is right!"
"Bloody tree-hugger!" Arthur scowled disdainfully before he could stop himself. Truth to be told, Arthur didn't have anything against Will, apart from the fact that he dated Merlin. As long as he dated anyone but Merlin he could very well hug all the trees in the world, and sing sweet lullabies to the lakes or whatever these environmentalists were up to.
"Trust me Merlin, you're better off without him."
"I knew it! You know what that is, you jealous jerk? It's a crime of passion, you possessive prat!" Merlin yelled, staring accusingly at Arthur.
"Don't be stupid, Merlin" Arthur sneered. "It's not like I killed anyone."
"You killed my love life!" Merlin shouted and Arthur couldn't help it, he started laughing to the point where he was nearly crying. It was no use trying to contain himself because that would prove impossible when Merlin was standing in front of him, shouting angrily while making wild gestures, his normally pale face now a bright tomato red colour and his black hair in a downright mess. Arthur took one more look and then collapsed in a heap on the floor, gasping for air.
Furiously Merlin turned on his heel and ran from the office before Arthur had the chance to put himself together and at least try to apologize. He hadn't meant to be that mean but he just hadn't been able to stop himself when he learned that Merlin was seeing someone, and as for the laughing, Arthur was certain that not many people could have kept a straight face with Merlin looking like that.
"Killed his love life…" he chuckled to himself when he went back to his laptop and tried to concentrate on whatever it was that he was doing before Merlin came storming in.
Two hours later Arthur still hadn't seen Merlin coming back and since it was getting close to lunch time he felt his concentration slipping. He decided to get some fresh air and grab a sandwich, and look for his missing paralegal at the same time. Surely merlin would've calmed down by now and if not Arthur supposed that he'd have to apologize and the matter would be solved. As he exited his office he noticed Gwaine glaring at him but that didn't strike him as odd, at least not until Gwen, ever friendly sweet Gwen, gave him a hard look instead of the usual smile and Lancelot only nodded in return to Arthur's greeting.
Slightly puzzled Arthur continued out on the street and when he'd entered the coffee shop on the corner he knew that something was wrong. Not only had thy sold out on all the sandwiches that he wanted, nor did they have the ingredients to make him one, but the coffee machine was also broken and he couldn't get a hot drink either. It wasn't until Arthur returned to the office, a bit late, very annoyed and slightly out of breath, that it his him. It was the same coffee shop that delivered the pastries and cookies to the office and Merlin had become a good friend of both the owner and his staff. No wonder he was given the cold shoulder, as everyone seemed to regard him as some sort of insensitive jerk. With a frustrated sigh he looked at the dry and not very appealing swiss on rye that he'd bought and hoped that they'd soon forgive him. Besides, if they thought that it was so damn easy to have Uther for a father they were very welcome to switch life with him for a week to see what it was really like to never be good enough and always have to strive harder but never receive any praise for it and be forced to hide his true self and...
Arthur was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't registered what was going on around him. It wasn't until he bumped into one of the secretaries that he realized that the whole office seemed to be standing lobby, looking various degrees of upset and distressed. He muttered and apology while looking around and managed to locate Leon, squeezing in beside him.
"What's going on?" he asked quietly but before Leon had the time to answer the crowd parted to let Lancelot through. He carried a box with a few personal belongings and quietly handed his employee ID card to the security guard on duty. The crowd fell silent as he turned, waved and gave them a shadow of his usual smile. Then he exited the office.
"Make sure to escort him outside the building" Uther harshly commanded and Percival, looking very uneasy, followed Lancelot out.
"What are you all staring at?" Uther barker out, looking at the people around him. "Get back to work!" Everyone snapped back into action and got busy, or at least tried to look as if they were, and soon the crowd had thinned enough for him to see Gwen crying behind her desk, and a group of people, Merlin included, tried to comfort her. When Merlin looked up and saw Arthur staring at him his lips stretched into a thin line and his face hardened. Then he slowly and deliberately turned his back.
"Leon, tell me what the fuck's going on?" Arthur demanded desperately and all but dragged his friend into a quiet corner.
"You're not going to like it" Leon warned.
"Just spit it out, will you?" Arthur snapped and Leon took a deep breath.
"Lancelot's been fired."
