Merry Christmas, you guys. And, if you don't celebrate Christmas, merry whatever you do celebrate. I hope you all had a lovely day!

And yes, I know it's not Christmas anymore, and I wanted to upload this yesterday, but ff wouldn't let me on the doc manager, so it's a touch late and I apologize for that.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin. And, I will have you know, Santa Claus did not leave Colin Morgan under my tree this year, so I don't own him either. Maybe next year...

31 Days of Christmas

Day 25:
Christmas Dinner

Fic:

The Christmas tree was beautiful, the eggnog was cold, hot chocolate hot, the food looking delicious and settled on Gwen and Lancelot's ridiculously large table, plates and silverware in front of everyone, Christmas music playing softly in the background, mistletoe and other various decorations strung in almost every inch of the room—it was the perfect Christmas setting, as far as everyone was concerned.

Gwaine, Percival, Gwen, Lancelot, Leon, Elyan, Morgana, and Arthur were all seated around the table, making small-talk and sneaking sly glances at the slowly cooling food every few moments, everyone trying to hide their annoyance at the empty seat next to Arthur, Merlin's absence the only thing putting off the delicious looking meal.

"Can't we just eat already?" Gwaine whined, just across the table from Arthur.

"Not until Merlin gets here," Gwen told him tiredly.

Arthur shook his head, sympathizing with her. Everyone had been there all day, getting in the way, getting on her nerves, and hardly lifting a finger to help prepare the food unless she or Morgana threatened them into it. And now—now—they couldn't even enjoy the meal she had spent so long preparing, because Merlin had been out all day, doing God knows what, and still wasn't there. Sure, Merlin was known to lose track of time occasionally, but he would never be late to something like Christmas dinner with their friends.

Arthur would be lying if he said he wasn't beginning to worry.

"Where the bloody hell is your boyfriend, mate?" Gwaine demanded, wide, hungry eyes on Arthur accusingly.

Arthur raised his hands in surrender. Standing between Gwaine and his food was almost as bad as standing between him and his alcohol. Not done unless you were feeling particularly masochistic at the time.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "He left the house this morning in a rush and only said he'd be here in time for dinner. I've tried texting, calling, I think he's turned his phone off." He said, took a drink of his eggnog to wash down the concern. It wasn't like Merlin to turn his phone off, either. Wasn't like him to let Arthur wonder and worry about his whereabouts like that.

"Don't worry, Arthur," Morgana cooed, petting his arm as though he were a child who had lost their favorite toy. "I'm sure he's just been caught up. He'll be here soon enough." She assured him, a special sort of twinkle in her eye that made Arthur wonder if she knew more than she was letting on.

He opened his mouth, about to call her on it, but before he could, the front door was heard clicking open, all eyes darting to the doorway as Merlin entered, kicking off his snow-covered boots and shrugging out of his coat and scarf, apologizing profusely for his tardiness as he laid the spare key to the front door down on the coffee table and then took his seat next to Arthur.

Arthur gave him a look, his relief melting into slight irritation as Merlin pecked him hello, offering up a sheepish sort of grin and a shrug to the question in Arthur's eyes.

"Where've you been all day?" he asked.

"Uhm, just... Out and about. Had some errands to run, gifts to pick up," he shrugged again, averting his eyes to Gwen and Lancelot as a silent change of subject.

Still annoyed, Arthur let the subject drop in lieu of Gwen's spread: turkey and ham, because Leon and Morgana didn't like turkey, stuffing, dressing, potatoes, cranberry sauce, and a plethora of other holiday foods. They were allowed to tuck in then, much to Gwaine's obvious relief, after Gwen said some words about family and friends and holiday togetherness and the spirit of the holiday and all that fun stuff.

The meal was eaten in good spirits, everyone laughing and joking, drinking, eating, enjoying the company of their closest friends and the delicious food they were provided.

Soon after, it was time for desert, with the food cleared off the table by Lance and Leon and the pies and cake and coffee brought out by Gwen and a suddenly nervous looking Merlin.

Actually, now that Arthur thought about it, Merlin had been off through-out the whole meal. Bumping his elbow into Arthur's, dropping food, spilling his drinks down his chin, his eyes catching on Arthur's and then looking away with a blush. He was always a little awkward due to his stupidly adorable long legs, and over-all gangly stature, but tonight... Well, he was acting more like a love-sick teenager than a grown-man in a committed relationship, if anything.

When Gwen picked up the knife, cut into the cake, Merlin was slicing into one of the pies, grinning about something or another that Percival was saying as he looked around absent-mindedly. When his eyes caught on Arthur's again, he, once again, looked away, grinning and blushing, his godforsaken cheek bones looking marvelous against the color. What the hell was going on with him tonight, damnit?

"What is it, Merlin?" Arthur demanded at last, his aggravation getting the better of him. Merlin snapped his attention to him, narrowly avoiding slicing his finger open as he locked eyes with Arthur, determination written on his face now instead of whatever the hell was there during the meal.

The conversations all lulled at once, everyone sensing something was about to happen before Arthur himself even did.

Merlin placed the knife on the table next to the pie, walked around the table, hands fumbling for something or another as he stood, grinning shyly down at Arthur.

"What are you doing, you dollop—"

"Arthur." Merlin interrupted pointedly.

"Merlin."

"Look, just," he ran a hand through his hair, a nervous gesture he'd picked up from Arthur himself, he was proud to say. "You know how much I love you, don't you?"

"Yeah, Merlin, of course," he nodded, taking in his bottom lip.

He'd heard this speech before, and there was only one place it was leading to. Merlin was going to break up with him. But why here, why now? On Christmas and in front of all their friends? For gods sake, he should at least have done it privately, given Arthur a chance to give him mind-blowing head to help change his mind or grovel or whatever he would need to do to keep Merlin...

"No, I don't think you do," he shook his head, sat on the edge of his chair facing Arthur. "Arthur, I have loved you since—since we were just kids and you were a stupid prat and I could barely tolerate you—yes, I know one statement contradicts the other, you smart-arse—and these past few years have just... Been so amazing," he shook his head, laughing nervously as he blinked back tears.

Arthur gave him a curious look, okay, maybe he wasn't breaking up with him. And if Morgana and Gwen's squeaks of surprise and elation were anything to go by, he might have had an idea of where else Merlin might be going with this...

"I have never been happier than I am when I'm with you, Arthur, and I hope you can say the same?"

"Of course, you idiot." Arthur smiled. And he would not cry, damnit. Pendragons did not cry. No matter what Merlin said next, he would not cry.

"So, will you," he fumbled around in his pocket, pulled out a small, black box, got down on one knee, his smile shy but still there.

Arthur's breath caught in his throat, heart thudding in his chest, anticipating Merlin's next words. He had imagined this scene before, had thought of what it would be like to ask Merlin to be his forever—of course, in his version, it was always him doing the asking, not Merlin, but, well, he couldn't be picky about such fine details at a time like this.

"Make me happy for the rest of my life?" he popped open the box, and thank God it wasn't some girly diamond or something or he might have said no on principle alone. It was a thick silver band, the design simple and elegant all at once.

The girls made some sort of noise, happy and surprised, probably on the verge of crying themselves, while the guys shushed them, wanting to hear what Arthur would say. They all must have known his answer to the question, Arthur was sure, but they probably couldn't be sure how he would say it.

"God, Merlin," Arthur shook his head, blinking away tears, ignoring the sight of all the cameras that were pointed at them by their friends. "I always figured it'd be me asking you." He admitted. God, this moment—this amazing moment that he would share with his best friends for the rest of his life—didn't seem to be lasting long enough.

"That's not an answer, you prat." Merlin teased, fear flashing in his eyes for the briefest of moments before Arthur took his face in his hands, wiped away a stray tear, kissed him softly, lovingly, hopefully answering his question.

"I'm going to need a verbal response." Merlin grinned after the kiss.

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes. God, yes. Before I change my mind, anyway."

Merlin smiled wide, losing the ring for the briefest of moments when Arthur tugged him up, kissing him passionately for a moment before he felt the band slip on to his finger. And then he kissed him again, happier, perhaps, than he had ever been before.

They were quickly swept up in a parade of hugs and congratulations, discussing over their late dessert the road leading to their Christmas dinner engagement.

Fin.

So I've read a lot of modern day AUs where there's a Merthur proposal scene, and, usually, it's Arthur proposing to Merlin. I mean, it's cute and all, but I do like to see Merlin take charge in their relationship. So. That's where this came from. And I've always wanted to write a Merthur proposal anyway.

Always,
Hisa-Ai.