After Arthur paid, and Merlin had been right about the rings not being cheap. They exited it the shop together and found Gwen just sitting on a bench by the entrance, arms crossed and foot tapping on the ground impatiently. She had the expression of a very angry footie mom whose kids were running late. She cleared her throat as they got closer.

"About time," she barked, as she stood up. She looked between them and glared. "Well, where are they?"

"I am having them resized," said Arthur and Gwen's glare got bigger.

"You didn't even let me see them first?" she said offended.

"I wanted it to be a surprise," said Arthur, but that seemed a bit like bullshit to Merlin though, because Arthur hadn't said anything before about that. Gwen sighed then and looked over at Merlin, who didn't make any move to speak or even look like he was actually there at all. Gwen looked away and wrapped her arms around Arthur's shoulder's then.

"Well," she said, a bit more loving now. "Now that the ring's are taken care of and we are here...we might as well go find you two a suit."

Oh no, Merlin thought, but wasn't given an option about what he wanted to do. He was forced to follow along. Luckily, it only took four hours to find them both suits and get tailored to fit into them. Yes, four hours. Merlin was starving by the time he got back to his flat. He could only focus enough to make himself a sandwich before he fell onto his sofa and didn't want to move for the rest of the night. However, some people seemed to think that Merlin was not both physically and emotionally drained, so instead of letting him rest, his phone rang every five minutes.

First it was Gwen, asking about all the details that had happened in the jewelry store. Merlin didn't really think that there was much to any of it, but she hummed along and then yelled at Merlin when she found out how much the rings had cost and how, apparently, Merlin needed to treat Arthur with more respect. He somehow found a way to get off the phone with her. Something about schoolwork and then he happily laid back down on the sofa, only for his phone to ring again.

This time it was his mother, offended that he had not asked her to go to pick out rings with him and Arthur. He told her he hadn't thought she would be interested in going, as she didn't seem keen on the marriage in the first place. Hunith then went into a speech about how to respect others. Because clearly Merlin didn't know how to do that, and then she went on and on about what would be expected of him as a proper husband. He had to think though, as he lied to her about the same nonexistent schoolwork as Gwen. What did she know about being a husband? Merlin wasn't sure...but he bet it was a hell of a lot different than being a wife.

Merlin closed his eyes, lying deep in his sofa, fit to take a nap until he woke up way too late to cook dinner and would be 'forced' to order out. That was when his phone rang for a third time and Merlin let out an angry scream. He pressed the green talk button without reading the name and pressed speaker, so he didn't have to be bothered to move positions.

"What?" he barked into the phone, there was a long pause.

"Wow...that's how you answer the phone for your future husband?"

"Arthur...?"

"No, it's Tim Gunn."

"Was that the gayest person you would think of?" asked Merlin, peeking his eyes open and smirking. He didn't exactly know why Arthur was calling him, they had just spent the whole day together.

"Yes..."

"Wow," retorted Merlin. "You're so...straight."

"I'm marrying you, aren't I?"

"Because you have to."

"Rude."

"Apparently I am very disrespectful," said Merlin then. "My mum and Gwen both think so."

"I can't say they don't have a point there..."

"I am not disrespectful!" argued Merlin, he could hear Arthur laughing on the other end. "I'm going to hang up on you!"

Arthur continued to laugh. "Point proven..."

"Leave me alone..." he muttered now, sitting up. Sleep was lost to him at this point, he might as well give up. "Why did you call me, unless you want to insult me too?"

"No, believe it or not,-"

"I don't,-"

"Shut up," said Arthur and Merlin smirked again. "I was calling you to see if you wanted to come 'round my place for dinner."

"Is that code for something?"

"Code for what...?"

"Ah...you really are straight," said Merlin, standing up anyway and looking for his shoes. "And old..."

"I'll take that as a no then..."

"Maybe," said Merlin, as he slipped back on his shoes. "What are you cooking?"

"I don't cook," said Arthur. "I'm a businessman, I'm carrying out."

Merlin laughed. "Loser."

"Are you coming or not?"

"Yes."

Arthur gave Merlin his address and it only took ten minutes to drive there. In all the time Merlin had known about Arthur, because they never had a reason to interact until now, Merlin would have never guessed they had lived so close together. Merlin had expected Arthur to live in some high-rise, fancy, pearly white palace. What Arthur did live in was a terraced house, similar to the one Merlin grew up in, with two floors. But unlike his, Arthur's was an end lot. The garden was taken care of but Merlin had a feeling it wasn't done by Arthur. There was a long drive and a shed in the back garden. The house was very nice, it had red brick and white siding. But it was not something Merlin expected to see Arthur living in, maybe a single mum, but not a single businessman. Or so Arthur called himself. The inside of the house was homey, as well. Another surprise. Arthur had rich, warm red sofa's in the sitting room and golden throw pillows around. In a rickety looking chair, there was even a pillow with the English flag on it. Merlin found that amusing, as he carried himself through the house. The kitchen was L shaped, as if whoever owned the house before Arthur had done some remodeling and the cupboards were blue, which Merlin liked and Arthur commented on.

"Blue, you should be happy," he said, as he opened a cupboard and pulled out two white plates. Merlin had half expected Gwen to be here too, but she wasn't. It made Merlin kind of wonder what Arthur was playing at. But he didn't ask, as they sat in the dinning room and Arthur flopped several pieces of pizza onto Merlin's plate. "Do you like the house?"

"Yeah," Merlin nodded, looking around as if to make sure he wasn't lying. He wasn't.

"Good," said Arthur. "I know it isn't much, probably not what you were expecting...I'm really not like what you think of me, honestly."

"What do I think of you?" promoted Merlin, before he shoved pizza into his mouth and Arthur shrugged.

"That I am some high-brow asshole, who thinks he's too good for everyone else," said Arthur. Merin nodded.

"I might think that a little."

"You should stop," said Arthur then.

"Give me a reason to."

"I'm trying," said Arthur. "Get passed all of the work related bullshit, that Arthur and this Arthur are two different people..."

"I don't know how you expect me to believe that."

"Have I treated you poorly once since we started being around each other?"

"Because you are getting something from me," said Merlin then. "Why would you chance me backing out?"

"You can back out any time you want," Arthur told him. "I'm not forcing you into anything. It wont matter to me either way."

"But you want to stay here," offered Merlin. "You don't want to go back to America."

"No, but that isn't your problem," said Arthur. "I'm not trying to make it your problem."

"But it is my problem now," Merlin explained. "I'm the one that is supposed to marry you and fix it. If I don't...you'll have to go and that will be my fault."

"I wasn't the one that made this be your problem, that was your sister..." said Arthur, seriously. His tone was gentle but Merlin could tell he was kind of irritated. "I would have never dreamed of asking you such a thing, it was her and I told her no, but she does what she wants anyway."

Merlin didn't say anything at this, he titled his head and looked at Arthur for a long moment. At first, the first time that Arthur had told him this he hadn't believed it, because he was angry, but he did now. "I want her to be happy, you make her happy...she loves you," Merlin smirked then, because he didn't want this whole dinner's conversation to be so heavy. "I don't know why, but she does."

"You don't know why she does?" Arthur retorted, but he smirked now too, understanding what Merlin was doing. He obviously wanted the same thing. "Maybe because I am handsome, charming...incredibly smart-"

"Ha!" Merlin cut in. "I don't think so...who told you any of that stuff?"

"My mum..."

"She lied."

(A/N: Back again with another update. About five chapters to go now. I am really super excited to start posting part 2 of this! I love it even more than this one and I really love this one. Anyway, I hope you enjoy and thanks for stopping by!)