Even once they had finished cleaning up, ate dessert, which was some very delicious warm apple pie and vanilla ice cream, even if it were cold out, it was still wonderful. They then cleaned up again after that and even after all this Merlin was still unsure of what he should do. There was no part of him that actually wanted to keep Gwen's secret, because no matter how he looked at it, none of this was actually fair to Arthur. She should have told him she stopped taking her birth control, he should have had an opinion on this, and now she might very well be pregnant and that pregnancy could go alright or something bad could happen and putting Arthur through that when he had thought he was practicing safe sex isn't fair. And it was true that Arthur didn't want to have a baby right now, it wasn't for the fact that he didn't want a baby, Merlin knew very plainly that he did, he wanted to be a father very badly. But it was a bad time, what would they do if Gwen did have his baby? He and Merlin were still married. She could say she was a surrogate for them, but then she would have to sign over her rights to the baby to Merlin and he knew she would never do that, he wouldn't even want her to. She could say it was an accidental pregnancy and she didn't know who the father was, but Merlin knew she wouldn't do that either, she wouldn't do anything that might make her look unsavory. So now Merlin was just standing in his parents kitchen, staring at the floor trying to figure out how he managed to get in the middle of this. He was always in the middle of their messes and he understood that he really had no choice and he had kind of signed up for this, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it all too much.

You all'right there, Merlin?" asked the voice of his father and Merlin looked up at him, trying to blink away his stress and look like a normal person again. "What's on your mind?"

Merlin shook his head. "Nothing," he lied. "I was just tired...I've been trying to get though all my finals this last week."

Balinor smiled at Merlin and patted him on the shoulder. "Soon, and it'll all be over. Then you can take over my business."

Merlin made a face, "I'm not really...good with fixing things. Arthur is though, give it to him."

"That's not a bad idea, I think he'd do better with the numbers anyway..."

"Oh, thanks a lot!" Merlin retorted, but his father was probably right, so he wasn't really offended.

"I've seen your report cards, son, you know I'm right!"

Merlin was starting to feel a little offended now, but then Arthur was walking in from the sitting room, where he and Elyan had been streaming football games. He walked closer to Merlin, as he was putting on a jacket. "I'm going for a walk," he announced. "I ate way too much..."

"That's when you sleep, not walk," said Merlin. "I've been telling you, you've been doing this all wrong..."

"I've survived this long," retorted Arthur, as he zipped up his coat. "I assume that means you won't be joining me?"

"It's cold!" Merlin argued and Arthur just rolled his eyes and walked away. As he was leaving through the archway to the hall, he bumped into Gwen. She grinned like a treasure cat who found something interesting to play with and Arthur paid very little mind to this, only said he was sorry and continued on. She watched him go, as she stepped further into the kitchen, and placed a hand over her very, obviously flat belly. All of the irritating things Merlin was thinking before, came crashing back down on him all at once and he suddenly thought a walk might not be so bad, if that meant he didn't have to stay here and be around this utter bullshit. Merlin knew this was also the real reason why Arthur took walks too, to get away from the party and the people. Merlin walked quickly into the hall, but Arthur was already gone, outside already. Merlin flung open the door so he could catch him before he was too far down the sidewalk. Arthur was already almost to the neighbors, which was rather close, Merlin wasn't going to lie. But he took the few steps of the porch quickly and then ran after him. It was just starting to get dark out, the sky was a pink, purplely orange color. Arthur turned around right as Merlin started running down the walk way. He didn't even have to shout.

"I figured you would change your mind," said Arthur, but he smiled at him as he got closer. Maybe Arthur had wanted him to come with him, but if he did he should have just said that, then Merlin wouldn't have even questioned it.

"What made you think that?" retorted Merlin. "I might not have..." He might not have if Gwen hadn't been there acting like an insane person, but he didn't add that part. Arthur looked over at him and shrugged.

"You always do," said Arthur knowingly. "Which is why I tell you...and because it's respectful."

"Well," Merlin felt as if he needed to defend himself slightly, for really no reason, but he still did. "It's just loud and...busy, at least you're calm, you don't make me feel like I'm going to loose my mind...at least not all the time anyway."

"I'll accept that," said Arthur, and as they walked down the street he stepped a little closer to Merlin and bumped their shoulders together, Merlin tried his best to ignore it, at least on the outside. They walked further and further away from Merlin's family home, down a few different streets and maybe accidently or on purpose, they were heading toward a park Merlin used to play at as a kid. "Look at the sky," said Arthur, after a few minutes of walking. "The sunset is beautiful."

Merlin looked around at the clouds, the sun was just below the horizon and the clouds were a deep, reddish, pinkish color. Merlin did have to agree with Arthur, it was beautiful. "Yeah..."

"This reminds me of sunsets in Florida, they call these clouds cotton candy clouds, or candy floss here, I suppose...because of the colors," explained Arthur. "It's even better by the ocean. Maybe one day we'll go and I can show you." Merlin let out a huff of a laugh, not because anything was funny, but because he liked that idea and he wished it could happen. But most likely, it never would "I'd like to take you on an airboat, so you can see how I grew up."

"Like a hillbilly..." said Merlin and then he suddenly shivered so aggressively that the billy of his tease came out weird. Arthur looked over quickly and frowned. He and Merlin both realized at that exact second that Merlin was not wearing a jacket. "I might have forgotten to put on my coat before leaving..."

"You don't say?" retorted Arthur and he unzipped his, as if he were going to offer it to Merlin, but Merlin stopped him by grabbing his hands.

"No, it's okay...I'm fine," said Merlin.

"Let's go back-"

"No!" argued Merlin, no matter how cold he was, he was enjoying their walk and listening to Arthur talk, he didn't want to go back and deal with Gwen. "I'm fine."

"You'll catch your death!"

"I'm fine," Merlin repeated, and then pointed ahead of them. "Look, the parks just up there, let's go in!"

Arthur frowned with a growl, as if doing what Merlin said was against his better judgment and it probably was, but he listened and they headed through the gate either way. The park had a few small play areas for kids, which were empty as it was basically dark outside now and cold. The park was mostly just a walking trail, that was heavily covered by trees. They walked along the path of the walking trail, passed the kid areas and benches, Arthur would look over at Merlin every so often as if he were dying. Merlin ignored the shiver on his skin, as they carried on.

"Around this time everyone would be getting ready to go shopping," Arthur said then, and Merlin looked over. He was talking about more American traditions.

"On a holiday?"

"Thanksgiving is kind of a cash grab, everyone wants the Black Friday deals," said Arthur. "Which is kind of like Boxing Day, but way more deadly..."

"Sounds like fun," said Merlin sarcastically and Arthur laughed.

"Until your mum gets into a fight with an old lady at Walmart..."

"Your parents scare me," admitted Merlin, which made Arthur laugh again.

"Don't be scared of them," he said, as he looked over at Merlin once more. Merlin had been keeping his hands in his pockets for warmth but that wasn't really working anymore so now he was rubbing his hands together and blowing hot air on them. Arthur noticed this as he finished talking and reached over and took Merlin's right hand in his own. For someone who was also outside, his hands were a lot warmer than they ought to be. They had reached a small lake area where a lot of people had picnics on summer days, and they stopped there, standing still on the path. "Are you sure you don't want to go back?" asked Arthur then, obviously concerned about Merlin being cold. "You're hands are like ice."

"I don't want to go back," said Merlin. "I want to stay here...with you."

Arthur smiled, a bashful kind of doofy looking smile, and he nodded, "Alright," he agreed and took hold of Merlin's left hand then as well. He pulled Merlin a little closer, rubbing both of his hands, trying to warm them. He then pressed a kiss to the back of each of Merlin's hands. He had way too warm of lips too, which honestly made Merlin have way too many thoughts he was too cold for.

"Am I a princess now?" he offered.

"You weren't before...?"

Merlin stuck out his tongue as Arthur dropped one of his hands and unzipped his coat all the way, Merlin was about to protest that he didn't want Arthur's jacket, but he didn't offer it this time, instead he pulled him into a hug and Merlin understood what he was doing. He supposed if they were going to stay here, then Arthur had to improvise. Merlin wrapped his arms around Arthur's middle, on the inside of his jacket and Arthur ran his hands up and down Merlin's very cold back. It was then, almost all at once, that the heat engulfed Merlin. But it wasn't just heat, it was also something that was just completely and entirely Arthur, and it swept over him so much so that it overwhelmed him. It took his breath away and made his heart beat just a little bit faster. Whatever it was, and Merlin knew exactly what it was, it didn't allow for thoughts to pass through Merlin's mind, no thoughts of the make-shift Thanksgiving party, no thoughts of his sister or a sneaky baby. Nothing, and Merlin liked it that way, he really did. He burrowed his face into the crook of Arthur's neck. He didn't care if he wasn't allowed to, he didn't care what anyone might say about it, even if that they were just two grown men, hugging in a child's play park by a lake, Merlin didn't care about any of it. Because nothing else and nobody else mattered, and if they stayed here forever, well...that would be perfectly fine by him, even if he was cold.

(A/N: Yes, it's been a month again, but It was November and I wanted to give all my energy to Nanowrimo. Which is over now, so I can hopefully start posting that story and this one again, I have bulk chapters of this so we have plenty of chapters coming. Again, sorry for the long wait. Enjoy!)