Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the BBC show Merlin, the characters, plots, or actors/actresses.

Okay, so, I didn't realize some of you were rather invested in my love life :D So, I went to the movies. He never showed up. Found out later that a relative had been in a car accident and he forgot to let me know he wasn't coming. We still haven't actually had a date, so...who knows? Lotsa texting, flirting at work, got him a Christmas present, might see him tomorrow...fingers crossed it'll go somewhere haha


Merlin was trying not to have a panic attack as he walked in between his boyfriend and his mother into The Sunset Café Sunday evening. Why did he ever agree to meet Uther? He hadn't heard one good thing about the man, from anyone. He'd mentioned it to his friends and Gwaine looked positively horrified. He'd even started to make contingency plans should Merlin need to escape. Understandably, it took quite a bit from Lance and Arthur to calm him down.

"Relax, honey," Hunith said, patting his arm. "It'll be fine. I've been waiting for a chance to talk with him. The man needs a lesson on how to treat his children."

"Mum, please don't," Merlin pleaded. That just had the opposite effect; he reached up to loosen his tie a bit. He felt like it was choking him.

Arthur slipped an arm around his waist and pulled him close. Arthur kissed his cheek and said, "Your mum's right. And, remember, we can always leave if it gets to be too much." He opened the door as Merlin tried to get his breathing back under control.

Arthur was right. They could always leave. He didn't have to stay if he didn't want to; he just had to remember that. Merlin followed his mother inside, Arthur behind him. Merlin reached back for Arthur's hand, holding it like a lifeline.

Arthur gave it a squeeze as he told the host, "We're part of Uther Pendragon's party." The guy nodded and led them off through the tables to one near the back, right off the dance floor that Merlin was surprised to see. He didn't think posh places like this had dance floors.

Merlin didn't have much time to think about that, though, as he got his first look at Arthur's father. Uther stood up as they arrived. He was wearing the most expensive-looking suit Merlin had ever seen and he stood stiffly, as if he didn't really know how to act around non-rich people.

Uther stuck out his hand. "Arthur. Good to see you."

Arthur let go of Merlin to shake his father's hand. "Father." He pulled his hand back, took hold of Merlin's again and introduced them. "This is my boyfriend, Merlin, and his mother, Hunith."

Uther nodded but didn't offer to shake their hands. "Shall we sit?"

Arthur frowned at his father but Merlin was just happy to sit before his legs gave out on him. That would not make a good impression. Somehow, the seating arrangement ended up putting Uther and Hunith on one side, Merlin next to his mum, with Arthur on his other side. The other two chairs were empty for the moment.

Merlin tapped his fingers nervously against his leg as Uther studied him.

Uther abruptly said, "What is it that you do?"

"I, uh, work at a bookshop."

"Hmph," Uther dismissed it.

Arthur added, "He's also going to school for his master's degree."

Uther looked mildly impressed. "In what concentration?"

Merlin swallowed. "English." There went the impressed look.

Just as Merlin was wondering if it would be okay to run off to the bathroom, Morgana and Leon arrived. She swept up to the table in her deep green evening dress and smiled at them all.

Uther frowned. "Morgana, what are you doing here?"

She winked at Arthur. "Arthur invited us."

Uther glared at his son. "You did what?"

Morgana and Leon took the two empty chairs. Arthur shot his father a defiant look. "Yes, I invited them to make things more comfortable for Merlin."

"I agreed to his mother coming; I did not agree to your sister and her boyfriend."

"We didn't have to come, and we sure don't have to stay," Arthur retorted.

Hunith intervened before voices could be raised. "Now, is this really the way we want to start this meal? With arguments?" She shot both Arthur and Morgana pointed looks and then said, "Now, why don't we all order our dinner and try to have a civilized conversation?"

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe inviting his mum was a good thing.

Their waitress came by then and they all ordered, the conversation halted until their food was delivered.

Hunith opened the conversation up again by asking Morgana, "Do you work for Pendragon, Inc. as well?"

Morgana gestured towards Leon and said, "We both do. I run Personnel and Leon works for Arthur. Ah, well, he's taken over Arthur's former job."

"How do you like it?" Hunith asked Leon.

Leon looked quickly at Arthur and said, "It's tough filling someone else's shoes, but tougher when it's your best friend's job you've got."

"But he's doing wonderfully," Morgana said, leaning over to kiss him.

Uther scowled. "Must you do that here, Morgana?"

She kissed him again in answer.

Leon turned to Merlin. "How have you been, Merlin? We haven't talked in a while."

Merlin swallowed what he was chewing and said, "Well, um, semester finished a couple weeks ago. I've been working more, taking on more shifts since we lost a couple people for vacations."

"He got all A's on his finals, though," Arthur said proudly. Merlin felt his cheeks redden and looked down.

"Congratulations," Morgana said, beaming at him.

Merlin mumbled a thank-you, feeling Uther's eyes on him and it unnerved him. Arthur leaned over and whispered in his ear, "Say the word and we're gone."

Merlin whispered back, "Not yet."

Arthur pulled back and gave him a reassuring look.

The four young people started to talk about their friends, movies, things like that and Merlin gradually started to relax. Of course, that was when Uther started to take more interest in him.


Arthur was wondering if his father was ever going to talk to Merlin when his father finally spoke up, making Merlin tense.

"When exactly did you and my son meet?" Uther questioned.

"Um," Merlin glanced at Arthur, who was actually unsure of when exactly it was. "Four months ago? Or was it longer than that?"

Arthur frowned thoughtfully, trying to remember. "I think it was more like six. It was near the beginning of the semester, wasn't it?" Merlin nodded.

"And you never saw fit to tell me about this, Arthur." Uther made it sound more like a statement than a question.

"I tried, Father. You were always convinced it was a phase and you just had to wait it out," Arthur said. He brushed his leg against Merlin's, trying to get him to relax. He'd been doing little things like that since they sat down.

Uther glared at him, then returned his gaze to Merlin and said, "You are the reason Arthur broke off a lucrative arrangement, then."

"Father!" Morgana and Arthur said at the same time.

Morgana continued, "That's hardly his fault. You sprang it on them without any warning. I warned you not to force it and what happened next is your fault."

"Morgana," Uther warned.

"So, Merlin," Morgana said, ignoring their father, "what do you think of us, as a family? Be honest; Father needs to hear it."

Arthur glared at her. Merlin did not need the pressure. He invited her to take the attention away from Merlin, not add to it.

"You're rather intimidating, all at once," Merlin said quietly.

Leon nodded knowingly. "I felt the exact same way when I started dating Morgana, mate. Even worse, since they already knew me."

"You just had to go out with my best mate, didn't you, Morgana," Arthur said. She grinned.

The meal continued to be tense with little bits of lightness thrown in by arguments between Arthur and his sister. That was why he'd invited her, for god's sake. Merlin was so unbelievably tense, though. Arthur didn't think he'd fully relaxed since he'd pulled into the parking lot.

Arthur kept brushing their arms and legs together, squeezing his hand under the table, even kissing his cheek to get him to relax. He caught his father frowning every time he kissed Merlin's cheek and he wasn't brave enough to kiss Merlin fully on the lips in front of him yet. Hunith did step in every now and then when she felt the questions were more of an accusation than an inquiry. Mostly she was quiet, just there as a barrier between Merlin and Arthur's father.

The conversation hit a lull as Arthur thought his father seemed to finally have run out of questions to ask. Music started playing a song he really liked. Morgana caught his eye and started tapping her nails against her glass in time to the beat. She liked this one, too, he knew.

After a moment she stood up. "I want to dance. Leon?"

He stood up. "Love to."

"Great." Morgana turned to Arthur and Merlin, raised an eyebrow at them and asked, "How about you two? I know this is one of your favorite songs, Arthur."

It wasn't a favorite, but he did like it and he knew Merlin needed the breather. Arthur stood up. "Come on, Merlin. Let's go dance."

Merlin stood up as well, rather reluctantly, Arthur noticed, and said softly, "Are you sure?"

Arthur leaned over and said quietly, "You need a break from my father. This'll be perfect; come on." Merlin nodded gratefully as Arthur grabbed his hand and led him out onto the dance floor after Morgana and Leon.

There were already several groups of people out on the dance floor, mainly older couples, but Arthur was happy to see that there were plenty of younger people for them to hide amongst. The four of them came to a stop in the middle of the dance floor, completely hidden from their table. Morgana and Leon were wrapped up in each other, so much so that Arthur had to turn away. But that was okay, because Merlin was stiff as a board.

Arthur laughed and shouted over the music, "You need to loosen up!"

Merlin glanced at Morgana and Leon and shot back, "Like your sister?"

Arthur shivered. "God, no! Just…come here." He grabbed Merlin's hands and started spinning him around; making silly movements with their arms until he felt Merlin finally, fully, relax for the first time.

Two songs later, they were dancing with another group of people around their age, all moving with the beat of the rock song. Then a slow song started to play, a few members of the group left and the rest paired up. Leon pulled Morgana close and Arthur quickly looked away as she leaned in to kiss him, her arms wrapped around his neck. They may be dating, and he might be okay with it, but that did not mean he had to watch it.

Instead, Arthur pulled Merlin close, slipped his arms around Merlin's waist and smiled at him. Merlin smiled back, his blue eyes sparkling in the dim light. Merlin twined his arms around Arthur's neck and touched their lips together briefly.

He pulled back and said, "I know you've been dying to do that all night, Arthur."

Arthur tightened his grip on Merlin's hips, leaned in so their mouths were an inch or so apart, and whispered, "It's been killing me, but I didn't want to push my father too far too early."

Merlin closed his eyes as Arthur fitted his mouth to Merlin's, kissing him as they spun slowly around the floor. They finally pulled apart and Merlin leaned his head on Arthur's shoulder. Arthur tightened his grip again, making it so that there was now no space whatsoever between their bodies, and lowered his own head to Merlin's shoulder, his eyes closed as they moved in circles on the same spot on the dance floor.

A hand on his shoulder alerted him to the fact that the song had ended and he and Merlin were still holding each other. He looked up into his sister's fond gaze.

"I think Merlin's mum finally talked some sense into Father; he's waving for us to come back," Morgana said gently.

Arthur nodded. "We'll be right there." She smiled and led Leon off the floor, Arthur wondering vaguely if he ever had any problems with Morgana being the leader instead of him. He shook his head and stopped moving, making Merlin look up, confused. "Time to go back, love."

Merlin sighed, "Okay." They headed for the table, arms around each other's waists. They had just reached the edge of the floor when Merlin abruptly said, "Thanks, by the way. I haven't danced in a long time; it was fun."

Arthur grinned. "You're welcome. We should definitely do it again some time."

"Agreed."

By now they had reached the table and walked around to their seats, Arthur surprised at the topic of conversation. Although, with Morgana around, he shouldn't be surprised at anything that came up.

"So you're actually fine with it? Or are you just saying that because he's your only son?" Morgana was asking as Arthur and Merlin sat down.

Hunith frowned at her. "Morgana, be nice to your father."

"I'm just trying to clarify, for Arthur's sake."

Arthur interrupted. "What, exactly, are you trying to clarify, Morgana?"

"Whether Father is just saying he's accepting your relationship with Merlin or he actually means it," Morgana explained.

Leon tiredly said, "She's asked this three times, now, Arthur. And gotten the same answer, all three times."

Merlin surprised Arthur by asking, "What was the answer?"

All eyes went to Uther, expectation heavy in the air. Uther shot one last glare at Morgana, turned to Arthur and Merlin and said, "Hunith and I talked while you were dancing and I'm realizing that there's a lot I have to learn about your…situation."

"Situation?" Morgana interrupted.

Arthur kicked her under the table and returned the glare she shot him.

Uther looked mildly amused at his children's antics. "Fine. Learning you were gay, Arthur, was not something I had ever expected to hear from you and I reacted poorly."

"I'll say," Morgana muttered.

Arthur kicked her again and added, "Shut up, Morgana! I, for one, would like to hear what he has to say without any interruptions." She looked pissed, but settled back in her chair and Arthur was satisfied that she would keep quiet. For a couple minutes at least. "Continue, Father."

"You are my only son and I had hoped that you would be able to continue the Pendragon line and takeover the company one day. I apologize for not realizing sooner that I had burdened you with far too much. I had hoped you would marry Sophia and be happy together, but, as it turns out, you found someone else who makes you happier than I've seen you in years. Having met you, now, Merlin, I can see that you are not who I thought you would be. You are intelligent, honest, hardworking, and clearly very much in love with my son, despite the different worlds you come from." Uther turned from Merlin, who was looking about as stunned as Arthur felt, and met Arthur's gaze. "I cannot promise that it will be easy, but, I approve."

Arthur felt his mouth drop open. He was serious. Everything Arthur had ever hoped his father would understand one day had just come true. "Thank you," was all he could manage. He was aware that Morgana was smirking but Merlin had just turned to look at him, relief written across his face.

Arthur couldn't help it; he wanted to see if his father meant it. No more disapproving looks at his choice of partner; he couldn't begin to explain how much it meant. He impulsively leaned forward and kissed Merlin on the lips for the first time in full view of his father. Merlin was, understandably, reluctant, but after a second he returned the kiss.

They pulled apart and Arthur glanced at his father. No reaction other than a strained smile which Arthur returned. He and Morgana shared a look of relief at Uther's words. Arthur grabbed Merlin's hand and squeezed it, smiling at him. Everything worked out alright after all.

"You are welcome to come back to work at the firm, Arthur," Uther ventured.

Arthur shook his head. "No, thanks. I'm happy working where I am."

"Where is that? I was unaware you had a new job," Uther said, surprised.

"Gwen got me a job at the British Museum as a researcher/tour guide. It's actually really great, I love it there," Arthur said.

Uther nodded thoughtfully. "I might have to come down for a visit, then."

Arthur blinked. "That, that'd be great, Dad."

Hunith said, "Well, I hate to say goodnight, especially now that everyone seems to be finally getting along, but it is getting kind of late and I do have to be getting back to Ealdor before the trains stop running."

Uther said, "You're welcome to stay with me until the morning, if you'd like, Hunith. I wouldn't mind talking with you some more. You've had longer to get used to this than I have."

Merlin shot Arthur a worried look and whispered, "Your dad wants to talk with my mum; he wants her to stay at his house! Arthur-"

"Hey, hey, hey, relax. This is why we invited her, remember?" Arthur whispered back.

Merlin nodded. "Right. But still…"

"Merlin, dear," Hunith spoke up. Merlin turned to her and she continued, "Why don't you and Arthur head back home? I think I'll take Uther up on his offer; it is a long way back to Ealdor."

"Are you sure, Mum?"

Hunith patted his cheek. "I'm sure, sweetie. It was nice meeting all of you."

Merlin still looked worried, but everyone was starting to get up and Hunith was hugging Morgana and Leon, which was totally weird. She came over to them last and pulled Arthur into a tight hug. When Hunith let him go, she said, "It'll take a while but your father will come to completely accept who you are. Just have patience."

Arthur nodded and said, "Thank you, Hunith, for coming and for explaining things to my father."

Hunith smiled at him. "It was my pleasure, dear. Now, you and Merlin go on home and don't worry about me." She kissed Arthur on the cheek then turned to her son.

Arthur stepped to the side as Merlin hugged her tight.

"Thank you so much, Mum. I really appreciate you coming all the way out here just for a few hours."

Hunith cupped Merlin's cheek and smiled lovingly at him. "It was important to you; of course I came. Now, anything you need, you just let me know, okay? And don't worry about me; I'll let you know when I get home." Merlin nodded, Hunith kissed his cheek and then turned to Uther. "Ready?"

Uther said, "Just a moment, if you wouldn't mind." Hunith nodded and he came over to where Arthur and Merlin stood. "Arthur, I am sorry for how I acted but it's hard to be a single father to two adult children; particularly when they are so opposite each other and myself. Forgive me?"

How could he not, when he asked like that? Arthur nodded. "Forgiven, Father. And thank you."

Uther nodded and turned to Merlin. Arthur knew that was all the touchy-feely stuff he'd get for at least a week, but, hey. That was his family. "I understand I've put you through a lot as well, Merlin, and for that I also apologize. I will make sure your mother makes it to the train on time in the morning. Good night, Arthur, Merlin."

Merlin said, "Thank you, sir. Good night."

"Good night," Arthur echoed.

The parents left the restaurant together. The two young couples walked out together, splitting off in the parking lot. Arthur and Merlin silently climbed into Arthur's Honda and drove off.


Merlin followed Arthur into their flat and collapsed on the couch without changing out of his suit. Arthur sat down next to him, looking relieved to be home. Merlin could sympathize. The dinner with Arthur's father had been nerve-wracking, to say the least.

"So," Arthur said.

"So." Merlin glanced at him, unsure of what to say.

Arthur shook his head. "Was not expecting that to be the outcome of the night."

"Which one?" Merlin asked. "Your father being okay with us, his apologies, or him inviting my mum to spend the night and her agreeing?"

Arthur looked over at him. "Yeah. All of it? But I think his apologies were the most surprising, at least to me. Dad never talks about feelings, and he sure as hell never apologizes. For anything. Even when he knows he's wrong."

Merlin felt bad for him having to grow up with that as the norm. He snuggled into Arthur's side, feeling Arthur wrap an arm around him. "It was worth it, though. Going to dinner with him."

He felt Arthur sigh. "Yeah, I guess so. Really wish I hadn't invited Morgana, though. Leon was fine; quiet as usual. Should've just invited him."

Merlin chuckled. "She'd have come anyway, whether you invited them both or not."

Arthur laughed. "True." He looked down at Merlin. "So, still want to be a part of the super messed up Pendragon clan?"

Merlin could tell he was teasing and teased him back, "I don't know. After all the drama of tonight, I'm not sure I could handle more of it. Maybe I should just pack it in before I can't get out."

Arthur's grip tightened. "Too late," he said brightly. "You're stuck with me."

Merlin sat up, raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh, really? How exactly do you plan on making sure of that?"

Arthur smiled mischievously and stood up, pulling Merlin along with him as he headed for their bedroom. "Oh, I have my ways, Merlin, my love."

Merlin followed. He was happy to have found someone he couldn't live without and wondered just where they might find themselves in, say, five years. Hopefully still happily together, but only time would tell.