The two men took things slowly, neither wanting to rush, the first thing Arthur did was make a tea while Merlin walked round the flat looking for changes since he'd lived here. The bathroom had the most changes with new shower fitted out so Arthur could sit while he showered. Other than that there was very little that had changed, even the furniture looked the same. Merlin went into the room he had used as a study room and touched his mother's sideboard lovingly. It wasn't a posh one but held so many memories. "I think that should go into the living room" Arthur said from the door "So you can see it and use it"

"But it doesn't fit with your stuff, you always said that" Merlin protested

"I was wrong, this is our flat it should be filled with our stuff not mine, I've moved past having to have everything perfect" Arthur handed Merlin his tea "I think it was the army in me, but when I lost you I realised just how little of you was here and that made me sad, I should have thought of you more"

"But I didn't have much"

"No but the sideboard was important to you and we put it in here! That said something to me about how I treated you" Arthur sighed "I had three years to think Merlin"

Merlin put his tea down and taking Arthur's off him he leaned in and kissed the blonde. "If we're going to make this work we have to look forward not back, that's what my counsellor says. He told me you learn from the past not live in it"

"Sounds a good guy"

"He is, I hated it at first, thought it was a waste of time but he was right" Merlin left Arthur's side and drank his tea "drink up then we can finish the tour"

"Where haven't you been?" Arthur said as he finished his tea

"The kitchen and master bedroom. I don't need to see the other bedrooms do I" Merlin gave Arthur a nervous smile as his breath hitched at the thought.

"Merlin we don't have to do anything yet, I mean it"

"We'll see" then pulling himself together "Kitchen first, let's take the cups back" Merlin walked ahead and went into the kitchen "You've still got the same cooker!"

"Not much call to cook for one, lots of ready meals or eating at the café next door to work at lunchtime" Arthur admitted.

"We'll change that now, Lance says I must eat properly so we'll eat together!" Merlin looked in the cupboard "After we've gone shopping"

"Let's sit in the lounge for a bit" Arthur suggested. Merlin could see he had smoothing on his mind so agreed, it would be best to talk everything through before taking the next step. As they sat side by side Arthur put his arm round Merlin's shoulders, but made no other move nor did he speak. Then Arthur suddenly said "Merlin…..I know this will sound strange but I need to say it…"

Merlin looked at Arthur who suddenly looked nervous. "Anything we need to get this right for both of us" the younger man said "Are you having second thoughts?"

Arthur head snapped up "No! never….but…well I haven't not since before this." He waved at his legs, he sounded really uncertain of his self, so unlike the Arthur Merlin knew.

"You haven't what?" Merlin prompted not understanding.

"I haven't had sex" Arthur blurted out "I'm not sure how! Not without my lower legs" he was blushing

Merlin suddenly understood what Arthur was saying, the blonde had almost always topped before and the logistics would be different now. Merlin gave a nervous grin "I'm sure we can work it out if we can't it will be on the net somewhere"

Arthur laughed Merlin's comment has broken the tension "I guess you're right."

"Arthur I love you, if it meant we never had sex again I wouldn't care, I want to be with you" Merlin looked at Arthur "It's taken us this long to admit we need each other, you put so much effort into this morning how did it get to stop here?"

"I didn't think about that part before" Arthur admitted "I just wanted you with me again"

"Some Captain, you always planned everything to the minute detail, come on bedroom and we can have a cuddle if nothing else"

The two men finally made it to the bedroom where once again nothing had changed, Merlin saw a photo of him by the bed where it had always been. "You know the one that was this side of you" he asked Arthur "I carried it in my inner pocket, never looked at it, it made me cry but I knew it was there"

"You telling me I was so ugly I made you cry?" Arthur said with a grin.

"Prat!" Merlin retorted

"I've missed that" Arthur grabbed Merlin and pulled his shirt off over his head it wasn't long before they were almost naked. Arthur still had his prosthesis on. Trousers round his artificial ankles. Merlin looked at Arthur "Can I take them off" he asked timidly

"You can if you want to" with that Merlin knelt down before Arthur and after studying what needed to be done carefully removed the prosthesis one leg at a time, taking care as he did each stage. Once they were off Merlin jumped into bed next to Arthur and hugged him. Arthur started to plant little kisses all over Merlin's face and neck working downwards. He pulled the covers of Merlin to look at his body.

"Don't" Merlin said "I know I look horrid, I'm all bony still"

"You once told me you were slender not bony" Arthur told him "You do need to get more weight on but I love your body, you kissed my stumps earlier Merlin I think my body is in worse shape. We love each other warts and all. Now come here I want to fill that Merlin sized hole in my life"

It took the men over an hour of kissing and caressing before either of them was ready to take the next step. But Arthur solved their immediate problem by pulling Merlin on top of him and grinning "You can do all the work this time" he grinned "I'll just lie here and let you bounce up and down. I'll talk to my doctors at my next appointment there must be another way"

They spent the afternoon and night between sleeping and just enjoying being together they had all the time in the world. Merlin made them eggy toast with the contents of Arthur's fridge for supper and they just relaxed and made the most of being together. The next morning they showered together before getting dressed and heading to the supermarket where they stocked up on food and cat litter and a tray. Dragon would have to be kept indoors for a few days to make sure he didn't run away.

Then they made their way to Gwen and Lances. Merlin was a bag of nerves when they arrived he didn't want to face his friends. Arthur went in with him and once in Merlin spoke to the couple who had been so kind to him. He gripped Arthur's hand like it was a life line.

"Gwen, Lance I have something to tell you…..I spent yesterday and last night with Arthur" he blushed "We have sorted things out and I'm going to move back in with him at the flat"

Gwen looked surprised. Lance less so. Gwen spoke next "When? And are you sure"

"Now, it seems silly not to, yes I'm sure" Merlin looked up at Arthur "We have both agreed we never stopped loving each other"

"We should never have parted, Merlin has forgiven me, and we've wasted enough of our lives" Arthur told Gwen "We know it won't be all clean sailing, but we need each other. I'd like to thank you for all you have done for Merlin. I'm not sure what we would have done without you both and Megan of course"

Merlin looked at his friends "Please give us your blessing, it would mean so much to me" Merlin had begun to hunch over, he hated upsetting people.

"As long as you're sure that's great news, we're here if you need us, I hope I will still be your doctor Merlin" Lance asked "I'm pleased for you"

Merlin looked at Lance and smiled, so pleased to have his blessing at least.

Gwen seemed less enthusiastic "This isn't about the baby and moving out is it? Because we wouldn't have made you leave with nowhere to go"

"No it isn't Gwen! We love each other, alright we've both been idiots but we will make this work!" Merlin protested.

"Gwen we would like your support in this, I've wanted Merlin back from the beginning, you and Lance have helped him get to a place where he wants the same thing. You will always be very good friends, please support Merlin in this!" Arthur didn't want it all to slip away now he was so close.

Gwen made one last attempt to ensure her friend was making the right decision "It's not that I'm against it, it's just sudden, and wouldn't it be best for you to take more time? See each other a bit first"

"We dated before we got married Gwen. It won't change anything. Please…" Merlin wasn't sure what he was asking but he knew he didn't want it to end like this.

Gwen made a decision and hugged her friend "I'm please for you, but you must come and visit Megan she'll be lost without you"

"I will, and you visit us! Look I'll go and get my stuff and Dragon. Thank you so much both of you!" Merlin went up to his room.

Once Merlin left the room Arthur turned to Gwen "I know when we got married you thought it was hasty, and I know you're not happy now, but I promise to look after him, and he'll look after me, we've both been damaged by what happened but we belong together. It will make him happy if he knows you support him in this, it's a big step for both of us but it feels right"

Gwen looked at her husband then Arthur "You both have it, Medlin is like my brother and I swear if you hurt him again I'll kill you Arthur Pendragon!"

"Get in line Morgana will be there first! I swear she loves Merlin more than me!" Arthur told Gwen "And I'd rather go back to Afghanistan than have my sister after my blood. Thank you Gwen and you Lance, and to put your mind at rest I'm taking a couple of months off work, I'm owed it, so we can remake our lives together"

Merlin came downstairs with a couple of bags of clothes and a cat case with Dragon "If I've missed anything I'll collect it another day. Where is Megan?"

"She's gone to the shop with Lance's sister. You go and come back soon, she'll cry if she sees you and Dragon go" Gwen told him

"If she can have cat I'll take he to get one next time we come" Arthur offered "But I can't buy her a Merlin those are priceless"

Lance laughed "We'll think about the cat, but hopefully the new brother or sister will help her recover from losing Merlin"

Lance and Gwen hugged Merlin and Merlin promised to see Lance after the New Year for a health check "Make sure he eats well" Lance threatened Arthur

"Look in the car! We've just brought enough groceries to last a month" Arthur complained.