(A/N: I know this was a week late, I am just very busy with work and school starts this week. I however, hope you enjoy this first chapter. It doesn't much explain anything, so you will have to have read the first one "Bells Will Be Ringing" to understand the plot going forward. Further, as of now, since the last one, nothing much has changed. Though, things will start to get more complicated really, rather soon here, Enjoy and I do not own anything as always!)

On a scale of one to ten, Merlin would rate being married to Arthur a six and a half. It really wasn't so bad, Arthur was kind of funny and sometimes a little too serious, and Merlin had to remind him to clam the hell down once in awhile. In the three months they had been married it had been pretty okay. Arthur sent in the papers for his immigration and got a visa so he could work again, which he hadn't found a job yet but he was at least looking for one. Merlin had started fall classes and although missed an interning session this year, he was looking for other's. The two made dinner almost every night together and Merlin always at least tried to remember to wash his dishes. More than half of these dinner's also involved Gwen. Actually, most of their relationship also involved Gwen and Merlin found it a bit annoying, but he was used to it either way, as he had grown up with Gwen and at least he liked her company most days.

Unless she was being a bitch, like the time right after Merlin and Arthur had gotten married and she told Merlin he needed to start paying rent. Merlin had been pissed for three days after, as A- he didn't have any money and B- he was doing a rather large favor for Arthur, did he really need to pay rent, too? Arthur had told him no, that he had more than enough savings to cover the bills and not to worry about it, which lowered Merlin's level of anger, but increased Gwen's. After this, they had a four day long fight that still didn't mean she went home. She was still there, giving dirty looks and telling Arthur he was an idiot. Arthur started to ignore her after the sixth or seventh argument that ended the same way.

Other than the fact that she was always trying to make decisions on things that shouldn't involve her. Like where to plug in the plastic, glowing pumpkins Merlin got, and the fact that she never, ever went home. Merlin liked having Gwen around, too. It almost felt like a little family they had created, that Merlin was just slightly removed from, all the time. Gwen made sure Merlin knew who Arthur belonged to, not that he ever tried to make Arthur belong to him. Merlin wouldn't do that, Gwen just liked to make Merlin aware of it as much as humanly possible. She really didn't like when they did anything together, not cook alone together, not watch a movie, not even to go do the shopping. About a month ago they had tried going shopping together. Arthur thought it would be a good idea and it had been fun at first, it almost felt as if they were really married. Merlin pushed the cart and Arthur made a list, yes...a list, which Merlin made fun of him endlessly for.

"Paper towels...dish soap...milk and-"

"Why do you have that thing?"

Arthur turned to him, "What thing?"

Merlin leaned over the shopping cart and plucked the list from Arthur's hand. "Oi...this," he said, looking over the paper at Arthur, with a raised eyebrow and a smirk on his lips. "Would be a real shame if Daddy forgot his milk..."

The look Arthur gave him, one of utter disbelieving dishevelment. It made Merlin laugh a little bit, but he struggled to keep his face straight. He was waiting for Arthur's argument, which wasn't a very good one. "Listen, if you're trying to say I'm old because I bring a list to the store so I don't forget something-"

"Yes, that is exactly what I am saying," cut in Merlin, Arthur glared.

"Bugger off..."

"Make me?" offered Merlin in return. It was a very childish rebuttal, so perfect for the argument at hand. "Stop being eighty-four years old and live a little."

"I'm not eighty-four years old because I like structure and not to forget things!" argued Arthur on and Merlin smirked at him once again, biting his lip a little as Arthur glared at his smirk. "And really, with how many times you've called me Daddy, I'm beginning to think you have a problem."

Merlin laughed now, openly. Laughed really hard actually. So hard, a passing old woman stared at him with confusion as she walked passed them forcefully fast. "You mean like a kink?" offered Merlin, after controlling himself a little bit. Arthur was just staring at him, not angry or amused, just kind of staring. "A Daddy kink..." he grinned at Arthur now, who stopped staring once he did. "If you want me to, Daddy..."

"Oh, fuck you," he retorted and walked off. Merlin followed him with the cart. This became a bit of a game for Merlin after that, every few minutes or so he would just call Arthur daddy, as loudly as he could, thus making Arthur turn redder and redder as the minutes ticked on. After a particularly loud one, in the cereal isle, the likes of which caused a great deal of alarm to the same old woman as before, who once again forced herself to all but run away from them down the isle. "Would you..." said Arthur, turning around and pointing a finger at Merlin, who was once again biting his bottom lip in some form of dangerous glee. "Stop that! We're in public!"

Merlin picked up the purple box of cereal, one that just so happened to say Fruit-N-Fiber, he pushed it toward Arthur, as he spoke. "I know how much Daddy loves his bran..."

"I really hate you sometimes!" said Arthur, not looking too much like he actually hated Merlin, but more so deeply embarrassed. "Are you perpetually six years old?"

Merlin shrugged a shoulder. "Devoice me then," he retorted, voice so utterly clear and full of slyness that Arthur was only stunned into a silence for a long moment, staring at him. Well, he knew he couldn't do that, so. "I thought not...might wanna get used to it then."

"Get used to it?" offered Arthur, his eyebrows rose so far on his forehead they might be reaching his hairline. "Alright, if you want to act like a child, I'll treat you like one."

"Ooh, what are you going to do?" retorted Merlin, still slyly. "Punish me, Daddy?"

Arthur walked toward him, chest puffed out and eyes narrowed, and Merlin accidently dropped the cereal box he was still holding. And by accidently, that means more got nervous and tossed it, taking a step or two back. Arthur got close enough and grabbed Merlin's hands, which were trying to push him away. Just at this exact moment however, Arthur's phone began to ring. He let go of Merlin and fished in his pocket for his phone, without saying a word, and he was still very close.

"Hello?" he offered into the phone, Merlin watched him closely. "Yeah, we're out...doing a bit of shopping."

"Who is it?" asked Merlin, in a loud whisper and Arthur shook his head and when Merlin reached up to grab the phone, Arthur slapped his hand away. "Who is it?" he demanded this time. and Arthur leaned forward and pinched Merlin in the side. It wasn't a very hard pinch, more so it was telling Merlin to shut up, but he still yelped and slapped Arthur's hand anyway.

"Yes, we're at the one by our house...it won't be too long, maybe an hour?" Merlin hoped they wouldn't be an hour, he didn't like shopping enough for that. Arthur sighed and hung up the phone then, without saying goodbye to the person. "That was your sister," said Arthur then, kind of darkly. "She's annoyed we went shopping without her."

"Why?" asked Merlin and Arthur shook his head, forgoing whatever he was going to do to Merlin before, and instead walked off. Merlin followed with the cart. For some reason Arthur was just really against pushing the cart, he just refused to do it all together. "What did she say?"

"She says she needs corn and it was wrong of me not to tell her we were going shopping, and not invite her, because I knew she needed corn all along," said Arthur, in a rather dry tone. "As you may remember me mentioning several times about my girlfriend's corn needs..."

"We can just buy her some corn..." offered Merlin, and that had been the plan, just buy her corn and continue on shopping. Which, is what they did, they got her frozen corn, along with a frozen lasagna for them to try later. But then something else caught Merlin's eye, something cheesy. "Should we do the lasagna or the cheesy enchilada?"

Arthur paused at this, turned away from the varying ice creams he was now fancying and pouted. "Just bloody pick one, Merlin, we've been standing here for ten minutes!"

"But are you in the mood for Italian or Spanish?"

"Oh...Jesus Christ," said Arthur and at first Merlin had thought he had been talking to him, but he was looking far too passed Merlin to mean him. Merlin turned and looked too, lasagna and enchilada still in hand, and there she was. Gwen was rushing down the frozen food isle, at a rather fast pace. Merlin felt something cold run through him and it wasn't the frozen foods he was holding. Gwen walked right passed Merlin, as if he wasn't even there, and walked over and pulled Arthur into a kiss.

"...I told you I was only a few minutes away," said Gwen, rather cheery, and not at all like she had just barged in and not at all as if fifteen minutes ago she had just told off her boyfriend over the phone about corn. She looked over at Merlin and glared at him. "What on Earth are you doing, Merlin?"

"Picking which one we want for dinner," he offered back, feeling just a tad bit perturbed all of a sudden.

"Oh no, you're not feeding that to Arthur, those are rubbish meals!"