Merlin's phone beeped loudly. Morgana glared at him and then turned back to watch the film. They were watching Elf with Ygraine. It was number three on their Christmas film list, next up was The Grinch which Merlin had to admit, was one of his favourite films.

Without Uther here, everyone seemed a lot more relaxed. They had been spending the day eating ice-cream and watching Christmas films. A day that Arthur would probably envy, considering he was now out in the snow fishing in a lake that was probably frozen over. Merlin wondered why Arthur and Uther were fishing now, there was very little chance they'd catch anything.

Merlin felt sorry for him, he pulled out his phone and glanced at the text from Gwen.

"How's it going?"

"Oh great, Arthur's dad thinks I'm Morgana's boyfriend and thinks Arthur is still dating that psycho ex-girlfriend of his." Merlin replied.

He switched his phone to silent so Morgana would stop glaring at him.

Gwen texted back, "Haha. Poor Merlin. Is their dad really as bad as Morgana says?"

"Worse. Trust me. I feel like I'm a slave in ancient Rome eating dinner with the Emperor."

"That's... Very specific. I take it ancient Rome is part of your course?"

"It might be. Anyway I'll text you later, I'm trying to watch Will Ferrell play an elf."

"Merry Christmas, anyway!" Gwen texted back.

"You too." Merlin replied.

He glanced up at the TV screen, there was at least another hour of the film left. He scrolled to Arthur's name and sent a text.

"Have you told him?"

There was a good ten minutes before Arthur texted back.

"Not yet." He finally replied.

Merlin held in a sigh, "You need to tell him, Arthur."

"We're on our way back."

"What? I thought you were out all day."

"Merlin, it's Christmas Eve. There are no fish."

"Are they all out celebrating with their families?"

"Possibly, more likely they're just too scared of my dad."

"I know the feeling." Merlin texted back.

"Yeah, me too. I can't tell him..."

"But Arthur!" Merlin texted back, his typing sped up as he got angrier, "You need to. I can't be Morgana's boyfriend forever."

"Not forever... Just for the next few days."

"Arthur, tell him right now. I swear I will kill you if you don't."

Arthur didn't reply. Merlin sent a few more, similar texts but Arthur still didn't reply. He shoved his phone back into his pocket and continued watching the film.

Ygraine stood up and walked towards the kitchen, "I'm going to get some popcorn for us all."

"I'll help." Merlin said, standing up.

Merlin followed Ygraine into the kitchen. He pulled out a large bowl while Ygraine searched for the popcorn packets. Eventually she found them and put two packets into the microwave.

"Merlin, I'm terribly sorry about my husband." She said, watching the microwave bags spin in the microwave.

"Oh, it's no problem." Merlin said casually.

"If it helps, I think you suit my son. You clearly make him very happy."

Merlin blushed, "Thank you."

"How did you meet?"

Merlin paused. Thankfully before he had to answer, the microwave dinged and they walked back into the lounge with the popcorn, where Morgana had turned off Elf and put on Home Alone instead of The Grinch.

"What about The Grinch?" Merlin complained.

"Home Alone is better." Morgana shrugged, taking a handful of popcorn.

Merlin stuck his tongue out at her.

The film was twenty minutes to the end, when Uther and Arthur walked into the lounge. The two of them were covered in snow and shivering slightly. Arthur's cheeks and nose were pink again and Merlin wanted to warm him up, preferably with some activity they could both enjoy...

Arthur shook his head once at Merlin when he walked in. Merlin sighed quietly, he hadn't told him.

"How was fishing?" Ygraine asked, suddenly speaking in a much more formal voice than before.

"Terrible, as usual." Uther said, he swung his arm around Arthur's shoulder before continuing, "But it's not about the fish, it's about catching up with my son."

The change in Uther was tremendous. He was in an excellent mood, dinner tonight might not be as terrible as yesterday. Arthur calmly took a seat next to Merlin and ate one of the final pieces of popcorn.

"Don't each too much popcorn, you three!" Uther told Morgana, Merlin and Arthur, "Dinner will be ready in half an hour."

He kissed Ygraine quickly and left to take a shower. Ygraine went into the kitchen to prepare dinner. When both his parents were gone, Arthur wrapped his arm around Merlin and kissed the side of his head. His nose and lips were cold when they bumped Merlin's skin.

"I'm sorry." He whispered.

Merlin shrugged and leant against Arthur. If Uther stayed this happy for the rest of their stay, it didn't matter if he knew about him and Arthur or not.

Merlin's hand made it's way along Arthur's thigh. Arthur struggled to keep a straight face as he ate his dinner. Merlin had to look down at his food, because the look on Arthur's face was going to make him burst into laughter.

Uther was telling some story about his work, but neither Merlin nor Arthur were listening. They were too busy testing whether Merlin or Arthur would break first. One of them would laugh soon and give the game away, the question was who.

Merlin's hand was at the top of Arthur's thigh now and Arthur knew he had to do something drastic or he would lose. He wouldn't allow himself to lose.

He picked up his knife and as casually as possible, dropped it to the ground. Ygraine, Morgana and Uther turned to look at him. Merlin couldn't bring himself to look at Arthur as his fingers trailed across the skin above Arthur's trousers.

"Oops." Arthur shrugged.

Uther watched him for a second before continuing his story. Arthur's head bobbed down below the table, he had a few seconds before people would get suspicious. No time to play. He reached out and pressed his hand to Merlin's crotch.

It had the intended effect, Merlin jumped and kneed the table loudly. Arthur moved back into his seat, holding in his laughter. Arthur's family stared at Merlin.

"Sorry, I, erm, got a cramp... In my leg."

Arthur couldn't help it, he burst into laughter. Merlin scoffed and busied himself with drinking some of his water. Uther looked thoroughly unamused.

Eventually, Arthur gathered himself, his cheeks flushed, and took a deep breath.

"Um, may I be excused?" He asked.

Everyone was finished eating anyway.

"Yes, it's your turn to clean the dishes." Uther said, before leaving.

"Right. Merlin, fancy giving me a hand?" Arthur asked.

"I can give you a hand." Merlin replied, smiling innocently.

Merlin helped gather the dishes and followed Arthur into the kitchen. When the door swung closed behind them, their lips met and they had to hush each other's giggles.