For the rest of the day, I made sure to keep my distance from Arthur. I ducked around hallways, I hid behind pillars when he walked by, and I tried to stay out of the castle for as long as I could. It was going well until about dinnertime. Gwen came down to me in the stables and told me that Arthur requested my presence in his chambers at once. My stomach instantly did a flip, it would be the second the time I was alone with Arthur in his chambers. I took as long as I could to get there, stopping to talk to other servants and practically walking at a snail's pace. Once I got to the door, I took a deep breath and knocked before slowly entering.

"You called, sire?" I asked once I was in the room completely.

"Oh come here, Merlin," Arthur said, grabbing me by my hand and leading me to his wardrobe, "I need your help preparing for the dinner tonight."

Him taking me by my hand is exactly what I was avoiding. It's not like it was necessarily a bad thing. I mean, just affection from anybody in general are welcomed in my book. It had been awhile since I've had anyone to call my own. I didn't ask for Arthur's sudden fondness, and as much as it confused me, it didn't disturb me as much as it should have. I was worried that I'd do something that could come back to bite me so I tried to keep my distance.

Arthur continued, "My father is having some company from an outlaying kingdom over for dinner and I need to look presentable."

He opened the door to his wardrobe, showing me all of his clothing. Most of it consisted of typical day clothes that he would wear under his chainmail or around the castle. He lifted the first few folded shirts, pulled out a reddish orange long sleeve shirt, and held it out in front of him. He tilted his head to one side and nudged it down towards the shirt expectantly. I nodded back as a response and he threw the shirt on his bed. He then walked over to the hooks that held his jackets and plucked off a red one with a collar. I nodded again and he threw the jacket on the bed to join the shirt. Then, he pulled his blue shirt up and over his head and threw it at me. I caught it and began to fold it when I looked up to see Arthur looking at me through his eyebrows. He licked his lips ever so lightly and looked at me up and down. I don't think he knew how obvious he was being or how uncomfortable he was making me. I slipped around to the other side of the bed so at least most of my body was covered. Once I was done folding his other shirt, Arthur was completely changed but everything was a bit messy. His buttons weren't buttoned completely and once side of his collar was up and the other down. Plus, his hair was askew.

"Come here," I laughed lightly. Seeing the future king of Camelot all disarray like that was pretty ironic.

Arthur smiled and walked over to me. But he kept walking until he was, what felt like, an inch away from me. I swallowed and flashed a quick tight lipped smile at him.

"You know, Merlin," he started as I was patting down his collar, "I really like you and your company."

My hands froze on his collar. I shot up and looked at Arthur's serious yet calm face. We were about the same height so our eyes were at the same level. Once they met, I felt very nervous all of a sudden. Why as I nervous? We've been this close before, it shouldn't be a big deal! He was looking deeply at me with dilated pupils. My cheeks felt hot. Was I blushing? I swallowed before faking a small laugh and looked down to hide my reddening cheeks.

I used the opportunity of looking down to button the remaining buttons on his shirt and I was about to do the last button when Arthur said, "You're something I look forward to when I wake up."

I fumbled on the last button and almost choked on my own spit. His voice was soft and-and so smooth. It was so out of character, especially towards me. I held my breath and I stayed completely still. Arthur's breath was steady and relaxed while mine was practically nonexistent. I finally let out a shudder and I darted my eyes around while my head was still down, trying to say something but I couldn't think of a thing.

Suddenly, I felt a hand under my chin. He gently lifted my chin up to meet his eyes, "It's only the truth, Merlin," he whispered, "No need to get flustered."

I widened my eyes and was completely drowning in his. His eyes were mostly black with a sliver of blue outline. His gaze was darting back and forth between my eyes and my lips. Was he going to kiss me? Of course not. I swallowed hard and my lips parted as I took quick, shallow breaths. He tilted my chin a bit closer to his face. Oh god, he is, isn't he? I couldn't even move away, I just froze. Arthur looked one last time in my eyes and moved his lips towards mine. I squeezed my eyes shut and prepared for impact when there was a knock on the door. I sighed with relief and dropped my shoulders. I didn't even know how tense I was. When the door slowly began to open, I scrambled back away from Arthur and walked away from him as nonchalantly as I could, considering what just happened.

"Sire, dinner is about to be served," said the guard standing in the doorway.

"Tell them I'll be there in a second," Arthur sighed, looking obviously irritated at the interruption.

Once the guard left, he looked over to me. "Don't think I'm done with you quite yet," he almost growled.

I sharply inhaled and shakily smiled at him. He looked into his mirror and began patting down his hair. I looked into his reflection through the mirror and felt uncomfortably helpless and angry. Not only was I annoyed at whatever Arthur was trying to pull, but I was starting to annoy myself. As all of this was happening, the only thing I could manage were shy smiles and laughs. I don't know why, but I couldn't manage anything more! Refusing the attention might cause me to lose my position in the castle. As I said before, I could have worse jobs. Who knows, this could all be one big joke on me. See how much Merlin can endure before Arthur breaks character and tells everyone how I once let him try to kiss me. Yuck. The best thing I could do is ignore him and his advances. I won't play a part in his petty game.

"Well come on, Merlin. It's time for dinner." He broke me out of my train of thought and was standing in the doorway, holding the door open for me. I strode past him, without so much of a look. I guess Arthur wasn't too fond of me ignoring him because he swung a hand down and got me right on my, uh, arse. I looked back at Arthur and he just mischievously smiled at me. I stood there dumbfounded as I watched him walk down the hall towards the dining room. How far was he going to go to make me look like an idiot? I hoped this was the farthest but knowing how the day had escalated, I didn't know what to expect.