"What are we doing now?" I asked Arthur as he dragged us, Percival and I, towards the upper floors of Camelot Enterprise.
We were laughing as we used to do when we were teenagers and were about to get into trouble. How fun were those days... However, now we are adults and we can't get away with acting like children anymore.
"We are doing nothing, I am going to talk with my father. You two just decided to follow me" he replied grumpily.
I shared an amused smirk with Percival, who as always was a man of a few words. So, I was left to do the talking.
"That's because you look as if you were charging into a battle, and as your loyal knights we will always follow you to war" I teased, but honestly meant the words I said.
Arthur is our leader, we love him and admire him. We would follow him anywhere, even against Uther... something that would end leaving us without a job. I was very angry at my sister for cheating on him, with his best friend! But now that he found Merlin I know that it was for the best. Those two just click, and Merlin falls perfectly into the place of our other leader. My sister, no matter how much I love Gwen, was never an equal to Arthur or the equivalent of our female leader. Merlin just fell perfectly in it.
"You know how I thought that my father was dating Merlin, and then they broke up. I always felt guilty for starting dating an ex of my dad's. So, I asked you to keep it quiet, today I woke up to my girlfriend telling me she never dated my father and the simple idea disturbs her" he chuckled.
Even if he wanted to hide it we both noticed the relief in his voice. We smiled, relived ourselves. We liked Merlin very much, she has became a dear friend to us, no wonder why Gwaine and Lancelot were so protective of her. However, we never liked the fact that she would jump from on family member t the other and not seem to care that she might cause very serious problems. Now that we knew that it was all a misunderstanding, we had nothing against her.
Our relief was cut short when we heard the angry screaming coming from inside Uther's office. We looked at each other confused, it's been months... hell, almost a year since Uther acted like an asshole. Why would he start again now? Knowing that we all were thinking the same we got closer to try to comprehend what was being yelled. And goodness do I wish we never had...
"Uther you need to tell her?" Gaius demanded.
What was doing Merlin's uncle here? I thought confused, then I remembered that he was also Uther's oldest friend. This is really a small world.
"And what do you deem is that I tell her?!" snapped Uther angrily "Do you think that she would receive me with open arms? And let's not start in how will my kids react".
"But you can't keep it quiet any longer!" exclaimed Gaius.
"I can and I will" stated Uther as if he were a king, really his son takes the dramatic from him "Think of how Morgana and Arthur would react . I can't just come and say: 'Kids you see, I love Merlin. And by the way she is from now on your sister'. Arthur and Morgana used to get along so well before they knew I consider them both my children, that's when the rivalry began. I can't stand the same happening with Merlin..."
We didn't hear the rest, we couldn't. Not when Arthur got the bloody hell out of there. I looked at Percival, and he was as pale as I think I were. After a while we found him at the deserted male's restroom, no one was at the building this late. He was emptying his stomach, looking pale and sweating. He looked awful, as if his heart was tore out of his chest... and maybe it was.
"Arthur..." surprisingly it was Percival the one that broke the silence.
"My sister..." he chuckled humourlessly, almost darkly, sending shiver down my spine at how broken and shallow he sounded "The love of my life is anoTHER BASTARD OF MY FATHER!" Percival and I jumped when he suddenly raise of his voice "How can I have such a bad luck in love?" his last words were so low that I wouldn't have caught them if it weren't for the complete silence in the restroom.
My heart ached when I noticed the silent tears rolling down his cheeks. I forced myself to contain my disgust and not empty my own stomach along side of him, to help him fix himself.
Oh goodness, they are siblings! They had sex... repeatedly and they are siblings! I screamed in my head, while silently helping Arthur out. I looked at my other friend and notice he was as disturbed as I were.
We didn't say another word, we just drove silently towards Merlin's café. She has as much right as us of knowing the truth. When we got there Arthur took a while to gather his courage, before getting off the car and heading towards the café. The slumped shoulders and defeated expression on his face broke my heart... but it had to be done. It wasn't right for them to be together.
I thought of Gwen and almost threw up right there at the idea of being romantically involved with her... of being desperately, deeply and madly in love with her. As Arthur is with Merlin... I can't imagine what he was going through right now.
When we got there, Merlin seemed to be filling in for an absent waiter. She turned around and broke into a huge smile, making my heart break at the thought of ruining her happiness by this new disturbing truth. She rushed towards us, something it doesn't happen usually but as the café was almost empty she didn't have to act as professionally as she normally has, and jumped on Arthur to give him a passionate kiss. She seemed in a very good mood today, more than normally.
Arthur kissed her back, but instead of passion there was desperation coming off him in waves. The kiss was long, hard and fast... as if he was saying goodbye with that kiss. My heart broke all over again. But what was the worst was how perfect they looked together. It was a curse that such a perfect couple had to break apart... but it has to be done, it's what's right. However, the sadness I saw in Arthur's face almost made me doubt my resolution... almost.
"Are you all right?" Merlin asked my friend when they finally broke apart, arms still around each other, she was still smiling but now it was a bit tense, not as carefree as it was when we entered. She must have sensed our awkwardness.
"Yeah..." Arthur replies, forcing himself to smile slightly "Let's get you home" he changed the subject quickly "I have something to tell you".
"Ok" she replied "Will! Tonight you close the café" she ordered, before following Arthur outside "Bye Percival, Elyan".
I hope you survive this Arthur... I really hope you do. I thought to myself sadly.
