A/N: Merlin belongs to the BBC and Shine and meeee.

Thank you for all the reviews for the last chapter...sorry I have not replied to any of them yet...but I will.

Chapter 14: 'Intentions'

"Oh Gods Arthur, ignore it, don't stop..." gasped Merlin at the distant sound of the doorbell, not that Arthur looked as though he was about to abandon his current activity of slowly giving Merlin the blow job of his life – at least the part of his life that Merlin could remember. Arthur hummed around his mouthful of Merlin, as if to answer him, and the doorbell was forgotten as Arthur increased the pressure of his tongue. Merlin's toes curled and his hips arched off the bed as he came hard into the hot warmth of Arthur's mouth.

Arthur licked Merlin clean and crawled back up to lie flush with him, pulling him close and burying his face in his neck. Neither of them wanted to move, but Merlin felt as though duty was calling him; that duty being his Mum.

"I suppose I should go home," Merlin sighed, his words muffled by Arthur's chest. "Mum will be worried." He didn't want to take the piss with his Mum's good nature; and she had cranked up the worrying since Merlin's hospital holiday.

Arthur chuckled, tightening his embrace around Merlin, "You've been here for one night; she knows where you are." He absently stroked circles around Merlin's tattoo with his thumb. "You know, I can't believe how good Lance has been about all this. He's not disparaging any rumours about you and him; to protect me."

"Did I really hate him?" asked Merlin. "I can't believe I would ever not like someone like Lance; he's so nice."

"You loathed him. You were totally jealous."

"I suppose I would have been if I thought he wanted you. You're mine."

"I like it when you get all possessive, even if you have forgotten who I am."

"I know who you are. My magic wouldn't let me forget you even if my stupid neurones or whatever are trying their best to keep us apart." Merlin twisted round, resting his head on his elbow to look at Arthur. "I'm shagging my teacher; how hot is that?"

"Yes, well, about that..."

"What about it?"

Merlin knew Arthur had been doing a lot of thinking these past few days when Merlin was in hospital. Now Merlin was almost up to speed on with how they met and their relationship. Arthur also made Merlin call Doctor Ginger to admit his memory loss, cue Merlin being told off before the doctor reassured him that it was likely temporary, but for him to go in tomorrow anyway.

They'd also talked about Merlin's magic and what he could do with it; Arthur raising the subject then apologising profusely when he'd realised it wasn't just parlour tricks, it was real power. Merlin had left out the part where it felt like his magic was pulling the two them together, like powerful magnets; he didn't really understand what that was, though he was glad for it because it had made him get Lance to turn the car around. As a result of that he was back where he felt he belonged.

Merlin's mobile phone started ringing and he groaned. "I bet that's Will again. I don't know what's got into him, he won't leave me alone." Merlin scrambled out of bed and rummaged around in his long forgotten jeans for his phone.

"Hello? Oh. OH. Okay, I'll be right there." Merlin threw the phone onto the bed. "Shit. Arthur, get up!"

"What's the matter?" Merlin was hopping on one leg trying to get his boxers on.

"Grandpa's come to visit."

"Oh Merlin, that's great. You were really looking forward to seeing him this week. It's OK, go and spend -"

"No Arthur, I mean he's here. Downstairs, at the front door. He just told me off for ignoring the doorbell."

"Fuck." Arthur sprang out of the bed. "Busted?"

"Er, no...maybe. It's Grandpa. He's kind of not like other Grandparents." Merlin had a feeling that Grandpa wouldn't be a problem for them. "I'll go and let him in; you stay up here and I'll come and get you if I need you – not quite sure how this is going to pan out just yet."

Arthur frowned, but didn't argue. "I'll grab a quick shower." He grabbed a towel off the back of a chair and headed towards the en suite, pausing to peck Merlin on the lips.

Merlin watched the door close behind him and quickly crossed his fingers as he descended the two flights of stairs down to the front door. He opened the door and there was no one there. "Grandpa?" he called, stepping outside and trying to see where the older man might have gone.

"Boo!" Kil Emrys appeared out of thin air. "Got you!"

"Grandpa! How did you -" He was swept into a strong embrace.

"You look well Merlin, for someone who took a bash to the head just to avoid visiting me." He ran a tentative hand over his grandson's forehead, lifting his dark hair out of the way to inspect for injuries. "You look like you had a run in with an angry kitten not a tree." He ran a finger over the healing cut on Merlin's hairline.

"You didn't tell me you were coming," accused Merlin, trying to sound annoyed but only managing petulant.

Kil laughed, "I didn't know myself until yesterday, damned cabin crew strikes. I wasn't going to miss out on seeing you though kid. From what you've been telling me lately you need a good face to face talk with your old Gramps."

Merlin snorted. "You make yourself sound ancient. You're barely fifty."

"Thank you Merlin, fifty-five if you don't mind."

"Whatever. Does Mum know you're here?"

"How do you think I know you were here?" replied Kil with a roll of his eyes. "I could have scryed I suppose but asking is a lot quicker."

"Er - do you want to come in?"

"Yes Merlin, as lovely as the view is from here, it is November and I'm used to Arizona temperatures these days."

Merlin opened the front door and led Grandpa inside, hoping Arthur was still upstairs in the shower. He sighed as thoughts of Arthur in the shower made certain parts of his anatomy stir, and he cursed under his breath; how could that be springing back to life so soon after the earth shattering orgasm he'd enjoyed not ten minutes earlier?

Kil followed Merlin inside and looked around the living area curiously, "This is an impressive piece of real estate," he opined, walking over to the window to admire the panoramic view of the ocean.

"I know," agreed Merlin, joining him at the window. "Lance won the lottery and bought this house with his winnings."

"Hmm."

"What do you mean 'hmm'?"

"Who's this Lance your Mum told me about? I thought your guy was called Arthur -"

"Fuck Grandpa – you didn't say that to Mum did you?" Shit shit shit, Merlin hadn't thought of this possibility. He'd obviously told his grandfather about Arthur, even if he couldn't remember doing so.

"Do I look stupid? No – don't answer that," he laughed. "Of course I didn't say anything to Hunith, though I must say she's taken the gay thing very well, and seems very enamoured with this Lance person. Again – who is Lance?"

"Arthur's friend; he lodges with him." Merlin scratched his head and tried to look innocent. "Mum may have got it into her head that I'm with Lance, not Arthur... I'm not gay either, I'm bi."

"Hmph; same thing. Why would you continue to let her think that?" He walked back into the room and sat in the armchair near the fireplace, resting his foot on his knee as he continued to inspect the contents of the room.

Merlin sensed he wasn't going to get away with any fabrication with his grandpa right in front of him and the object of the discussion just upstairs.

"Because Arthur is a bit older," Merlin confessed in a low voice, half hoping he wouldn't be heard. He'd drop in the teacher thing later if Grandpa was OK with the older thing. "Er, haven't I already told you this?"

Kil's eyes narrowed, "You know very well you haven't. How much older?"

"Thirty."

"What? He's thirty years older!"

"No! He's thirty years old." Merlin watched him closely for reaction but found no recoil or instant disapproval.

"Oh, is that all? You had me worried there for a minute. Not that I would try to talk you out of it."

"You'd be ok if I was dating a bloke in his forties?" Merlin tried to imagine what Arthur would look like at forty-seven, and wondered if he'd have felt the same about him if he had been thirty years older, thinking he probably would... It always came back to Arthur, even when he couldn't actually remember meeting him he still wanted him. Merlin decided Arthur would be a hot older guy.

"Well, I wouldn't love it, but we've...I've...established this man is your soulmate, though I may have worded it slightly differently the first time round; you couldn't ignore that pull even if he was in his nineties."

"Eww." He didn't want to imagine any of them being that old. "Er – soulmate?"

Kil frowned again. "Is there something else you want to tell me Merlin? You seem to have forgotten some very significant conversations we've had in recent weeks."

How could Merlin have forgotten how well his grandfather knew him and how bloody astute he was? With a groan Merlin threw himself onto the sofa and explained about his memory loss.

"You haven't told Hunith? Merlin -"

"The doctor reckons it will come back by itself. I've only lost a couple of months; it's not the end of the world." It felt like it sometimes though, like when he couldn't remember meeting Arthur, or the things they had done together. He couldn't help wonder what would have happened if he hadn't felt that strong urge to go back to Arthur, even when he didn't really understand why. "Besides, I'm over 16, doctor patient confidentiality and all that. I don't want Mum to worry; she's got enough on her plate."

"So can I meet Arthur?" Kil changed the subject. "He's waiting upstairs I assume?"

xxx

Arthur heard the door inch open and smiled as Merlin's face appeared in the gap. "Grandpa wants to meet you," he said with a nervous frown. The rest of this body followed his head into the room. "I told him how old you are and he's fine about it. Haven't mentioned the teacher thing though; I think he'll be cool with it but..."

Arthur grimaced, knowing they were heading into muddy waters. Merlin genuinely revered his grandfather though, and Arthur had to take Merlin's lead. If Merlin thought it would be OK then Arthur had to have faith. "Come here," he sat up on the bed where he had been lying nervously waiting for a summons and held out an arm. Merlin hurled himself at him, curling into the waiting embrace like a thirsty man at the oasis, nuzzling into Arthur's neck. "It'll be fine OK?" He felt as though he needed to reassure Merlin, even though he was the one with everything to lose if this went badly. Someone being OK about their seventeen year old grandson being involved with a thirty year old sounded like a liberal sort and Arthur wanted to be optimistic about it.

Together they climbed off the bed and Arthur smoothed out his clothing and checked his hair in the mirror before following Merlin downstairs. Merlin slipped his fingers through his and Arthur felt possessiveness course through him. He wished that he'd had chance this morning to talk to Merlin about what he had decided to do about teaching. Hell, he wished a lot of things, but a person couldn't always have what they wanted could they?

Merlin's grandfather was in the chair near the fireplace, clearly getting impatient for his first glance at his grandson's boyfriend. Arthur's stereotypical grandfather with a big white beard and a pipe flew out of his head immediately.

"Grandpa," said Merlin proudly. "This is Arthur Pendragon."

Arthur felt as though he wanted to bow or something. He held out his hand instead, "Pleased to meet you Mr Emrys." The older man took his hand and offered what looked to be a genuine smile.

"Call me Kil," he offered. "Pleased to meet you too Arthur." He firmly shook Arthur's hand. Arthur relaxed slightly.

"I'll, er, put the kettle on," said Merlin as the two men sized one another up and left for the kitchen.

"So, Pendragon? Unusual name. You must be Uther's son?" Arthur's heart sank at the mention of his father.

"For my sins," he replied. "You know of him?" He had kind of hoped that with Kil having spent a lot of time in America these last few years the whole rise to fame of Pendragon Senior had passed him by.

Kil laughed. "Oh yes, I know him. We're old...acquaintances you might say." When he didn't elaborate Arthur decided not to press it. He wasn't sure how he felt about that connection.

"How was your flight?" Polite enquiries about travel, how very English of him. Arthur hated small talk.

"Long," came the reply with a twinkle. "Now Arthur, tell me your intentions towards my Grandson. I'm fine about you being a man and much older so don't worry about that; I just want to know that you won't hurt my boy."

Arthur felt the colour drench from his face. He was tempted to look have a poke around to look for hidden cameras. "My intentions Mr Emrys..." Total honesty could be the only way past this. "...I've never met anyone like him, I want to be with him 24/7, take care of him, keep him safe and love him. We belong together."

"Hmmm, I don't doubt that you do," said the older man musingly, not seeming at all put out by Arthur's sugary sentiments, in fact Arthur thought he looked quite pleased about it. "What do you do for a living?"

Well, this was going to be the worst kept secret in history. "At the moment, I teach," he stuck with the honesty; if Merlin was in his life then so was his grandfather and he couldn't get off on the wrong foot with him by lying. "Though I wouldn't technically say I do it for a living as I'm not actually getting paid. My 'normal' job is writing; I'm just taking a break for a few months to help out my step-sister." What was it about this man that made him want to tell him his life story?

Merlin chose that moment to back into the room, opening the door with his backside as he carried a tray with three mugs of tea into the room, handing one out to his grandfather and another to Arthur who immediately placed it on the floor near his feet.

"So Merlin, Arthur's your teacher?"

Merlin blushed redder than the mug he was about take a sip out of and shot a flustered apologetic look at Arthur. "Er -"

Arthur wished he could bang his head against the nearest wall. "Mr Emrys I -" Was he laughing at them?

"Oh dear, you should see your faces!" he wiped a tear from the corner of his eye as he collected himself. "I'm OK with it. I get why all the secrecy now Merlin – but you still should have told me. I'm the cool grandpa remember?"

"How could I forget?" groaned Merlin, suppressing a grin.

Arthur watched Kil interact with Merlin and decided he liked him; Merlin clearly adored him. He couldn't help wonder though: was this guy for real?

xxx

Merlin left an hour later with his grandfather in tow, not worrying about kissing him goodbye in front of an audience of one. After an hour in the older man's company, Arthur had seemed to relax and realise that his gramps really didn't mind their circumstances. Merlin had hoped for such understanding, but he hadn't completely expected it.

During their drive home, Grandpa pulled over near the Valley of the Rocks and the two of them went for a short walk, finding a bench with a clear view of the sea; Grandpa proceeded to fill in some gaps starting with Merlin losing control of his magic quite frequently of late.

"So do you think that branch hitting me was the magic? Arthur told me he reacted badly when I first said I was magic...I might have lost it."

"It does sound likely, as I understand from Hunith that it was a clear day, no wind at all. She seems to think your moods have been controlling the weather around here somewhat."

Merlin huffed, "What? I can change the weather?"

"Apparently so. It seems to link to your more extreme moods; neither your father nor I ever had that kind of power." That was new; and somewhat scary. A lot seemed to have changed in the couple of months before he lost his memory.

Merlin wasn't quite sure what to say that wasn't a Jedi joke.

"I really liked Arthur," Grandpa broke the silence.

Merlin felt some of the tenseness he had been feeling abate. "Yeah me too," he joked lamely.

"In fact, I'm utterly fascinated..." he watched Merlin closely as he spoke and Merlin stared right back at him with a raised eyebrow. Fascinated by what? "...that even though you've got some memory loss you still recognised him as your soulmate."

"Are you going to explain this soulmate thing, because this is the second time you've mentioned it today and I know you love being all cryptic and all, but I need to know!"

"When you first told me about Arthur, you won't remember this right now obviously, I told you that he was 'significant' and to keep fighting for him." He put his arm around Merlin's shoulders, reminding Merlin of when he was a little boy spending weekends together watching stargazing. "Are you sure you're ready to hear this?"

"Spill it, old man."

Kil chuckled. "Your magic is an innate part of you Merlin; it recognises your soulmate or your one true love, destiny...however you want to word it."

"So you're saying Arthur's my destiny?" Merlin liked the sound of that.

"From what you've been telling me, it sounds that way...why else would I not have screamed blue murder at him when I found out he's your teacher?" he regarded his grandson earnestly; it was one thing to fall in love, and another to accept the inevitability of it.

"It sounds like we don't have a choice; I want Arthur to love me because he wants to not because -"

"I had similar concerns when my father explained it to me, but Merlin, everyone has a soulmate; nature ensures they come into contact with each other, but man has lost his innate ability to listen to his intuition, in the same way he no longer listens to the changing of the seasons. Our magic makes us different; it helps us recognise the one person who can make us truly happy."

Merlin was torn, "So I don't really love Arthur?" Even as he said it his instincts recoiled.

"You do love him, what you feel is real. I felt like this with your grandmother, your father did for your Mum; the magic is just helping you out." Kil had been happily married to Cathryn for thirty years without one single days regret. "I debated whether to tell you this Merlin, for this very reason. You shouldn't question it."

"What if your soulmate doesn't love you back?"

"They still have free will Merlin; they don't have to accept you...sometimes fate can be cruel and circumstances are such that being together is impossible; or maybe they don't realise what they are feeling." He squeezed Merlin to him. "You're one of the lucky ones, you've found him."

"Oh heck," sighed Merlin. "I think I've totally missed the point when I told Arthur I had magical powers; moving things with my mind is a lot different from destinies, soulmates, weather anomalies and invisible forces..."

"Not so much. Now, let's get you home to your Mum before she reports us missing. I've got a few techniques I want to teach you about controlling your magic now it's growing more powerful."

xxx

Arthur was sitting on the balcony with a cup of coffee when Lance came home in the early afternoon. It was quite mild for early November and Arthur wanted to make the most of the daylight now that the nights were setting in.

"You look happier," Lance commented, hovering in the doorway, beaming from ear to ear.

"I'm not the only one. What's put that huge smile on your face? Or should I ask who?" Arthur watched Lance closely as he often held his cards very close to his chest and was pleased to note he flushed slightly under his tan. "Who is he?"

"I don't know what you mean," said Lance with a shrug. "I've merely had a good day at work."

"Sure, whatever you say," Arthur teased before soberly adding, "You deserve to meet someone who can make you smile like that."

"Arthur, you're being a girl again," he countered. "If you must know, I do have a date tonight."

Arthur opened his mouth to ask Lance who his date was with, Lance held up a hand, "Don't bother asking who with; I'd like to maintain some privacy before you and Merlin jump all over it." Arthur closed his mouth and sighed in disappointment.

"Do I know him?"

"Arthur!"

"OK, OK, just trying to show that I care."

"I already know that you prat."

xxx

Lance gave Arthur strict instructions not to answer the doorbell or nose over the balcony when his date came to collect him that evening. He tried to distract himself, quite successfully too, with a rather fast and furious mutual wank over the webcam with Merlin; Merlin only taking the time to push his skinny jeans to the top of his thighs rather than getting naked, offering his naked arse to the camera as he watched Arthur pleasure himself through his open legs, wanking himself hard before flipping himself over so Arthur could see him come.

Arthur was very glad he'd mentioned that this was one of their favourite activities on evenings they were apart.

At seven-thirty sharp the doorbell went, and Arthur was pottering about in the kitchen looking for something to have for dinner; another distraction tactic lest he give in to his desire to see who Lance was going on a date with. He felt an almost brotherly desire to approve of this person; make sure they were good enough for someone as great as Lance.

He was surprised to hear footsteps on the stairs and Lance calling his name. Maybe he'd decided to introduce his mystery date to Arthur after all?

Drying his hands on a tea towel he pushed the door open with a welcoming grin, ready to give the man a quick top to toe appraisal before Lance noticed. The smile fell off his face when he saw who Lance was standing next to the window with, showing off the view.

Arthur felt his barriers coming down and his arms instantly crossing over his chest.

The man turned away from the view to greet him, "Hello Arthur, it's been a long time."

"Hello father," he replied coldly.

xxx

Phew. This is a chatty chapter! I wrote most of that soulmate stuff ages ago then cut it out of chapter 4 thinking it should come later...but then I think I had forgot I had cut it out so if it's a slight plot hole many apologies I will sort it if I can find it (had a quick look at where I thought I'd referred to it again but I can't find it so maybe I didn't..!)

I'm never happy unless these two are getting a lot of loving, but sometimes some sort of plot gets in the way. *Huffs.*

If you have time please go to my profile and vote on Arthur's profession for a one shot I'm writing.

Review?