(18)

"She's pretty," Merlin, his new roommate, commented. He pointed at a picture next to Arthur's bed. Arthur glanced over, his heart dropping slightly when he saw what picture he'd been referring to.

They'd taken the picture at the park a year ago. Morgana's arms were wrapped around his neck, lounging lazily on him. She took up most of the picture, which was just as well. His face was focused on her in an expression that could only be described as… smitten. She'd teased him about it for weeks, until Arthur caught her chasing off one of his girlfriends.

It had been a good memory, but all of that was long gone now. Arthur rubbed his temple. "Yeah, she really is."

Merlin thoughtfully bit into his sandwich. "Who is she, anyways?" He asked; mouth full.

Arthur doesn't answer.

(Uther walks in, his boots making hollow noises as they hit the floor. "What are you doing?" He is steel, he is iron, and he is the God that plays with their future as though they were puppets.

Arthur's voice dries out in his throat and he's never felt so hyperaware of every second that passes. Morgana answers for him, her voice strong and it echoes in his ear. However, he hears the way her voice cracks on the last syllable and it shatters any semblance of poise in him. "It's obvious isn't it?" Her tone isn't mocking, simply a statement of the facts. He counts the goose bumps on her pale skin, terrified to look at Uther's face.

He doesn't see the hand move; he hears the crack, the sharp twist of Morgana's neck. There's a red mark on her cheek and his feet are frozen in place and he's distinctly conscious of the loud thuds his pulse is making. Her scream pierces the air, shrill and broken. Hands grab at her, Uther's bodyguards digging their rough hands against her. "Take her away," Uther demands coldly, as he is no father, he is a stone pillar.

"You're going home," Uther says to Arthur, but Arthur does not hear. He can only see the purpled bruises Uther's bodyguards make dragging her out the door. The skin where he kissed her, marking her as his, are now covered in entirely different bruises. Something in his world feels tilted and so incredibly wrong.

"Let her go," he pleads. "Let her go, and I'll never see her again. I'll break up with her and I'll stay at boarding school and get perfect grades, just leave her be! I'll do anything!"

Uther's features contort in disgust, hands motioning to the closed door separating him from Morgana. "You value her that much?"

"I'd sacrifice my life for her."

Uther shakes his head, his eyes not fully comprehending the Arthur he sees before him. "Pendragons," he whispers gutturally. "Do not love.")

(He doesn't ask Uther what that makes him.)

Arthur rang the doorbell and tried to ignore the incessant pounding of rain outside. "Hi Fa-" His voice died out as the door opened to reveal someone who was most definitely not Uther. "Morgana. I thought you were at- you know, boarding school." One of the conditions of her release had been for her to go to boarding school, like Arthur had. Arthur had been thankful for that, because truthfully, he wasn't sure he could see Morgana again without breaking any of the rules Uther had placed.

She'd grown a bit taller and her eyes seemed greener than when he last saw her. She was dressed casually, but Arthur avoided looking down, where it seemed her legs stretched on for miles. "Uther graced me with the privilege of returning home for the holiday." Her tone was bored, as though she couldn't care less if he'd shown up. His sudden inability to form proper sentences seemed to indicate Arthur felt differently however, so he simply slid past her into the mansion.

"Do you know if Father's still got some of my old clothes?" He gestured to his body, damp from the heavy rain. Morgana waved her hand aimlessly.

"You can check." He nodded in acknowledgement and walked up the stairs to his old room. Everything had been cleaned in his room, fine-tuned to the point of perfection by their housekeeper, but all of his original belongings remained. Arthur reached into his closet, pulling out a shirt and a pair of jeans. He began to undress, sliding the damp material off of his skin. His old jeans still fit him, but the shirt was slightly harder to put on.

"Have you still not learned to dress yourself?"

Arthur turned and found Morgana staring at him. "The shirt's kind of tight," he explained, trying not to blush.

Her mouth quirked at the corners. "Are you sure you haven't gained weight?"

"I'm perfectly fit!"

"Then why can't you button your shirt?"

Arthur had no reply to that. "Look," he huffed, mortified. "Are you going to help me or not?" She merely rolled her eyes and began to button his shirt. He could feel her hands through the thin fabric, radiating ridiculous heat. It unsettled him for some reason, so he concentrated on her hands, trying not to think about how close they were.

"How's school?" He asked, trying to make small talk. He felt the shift in her hands as they moved down to the side. He forced himself to look at her.

"Lovely," she answered, and a stray hair fell to frame her face. It bothered him, and before he could stop himself, he brushed the hair from her face. The touch made her stumble backwards and the loss of her heat almost pained him.

"What was that for?" She asked, and Arthur could only make vague motions.

"Your hair, it was in the way-"

"In the way of what?" There's sharpness in her tone that reminded Arthur that he can't just kiss her and make her love him again; this time there are rules to the game and these are the only rules that he can't seem to follow.

(He answers the door and she's standing there. He just got out of bed and her smile is tentative, like she's not sure whether she's allowed to come in or not.

"I think-," they both start at the same time. Morgana gestures for him to speak first.

"I think," he swallows, willing the words to come of their own accord. "I think we should stop seeing each other." Everything seems to still and she's the only kinetic thing in the room. Her mouth opens and closes, like she's somehow forgotten to breathe. Don't make me do this to her, he thinks, trying to telepathize his thoughts to Uther. Don't make me take away the only person she has left. His prayers go unanswered however, so Arthur closes the door, hands tight over the knob as he tries to remember how to inhale and exhale. He sinks to the floor, burying his hand in his hands. For a while, he just cries and cries.)

(Oh, how the mighty have fallen.)

Arthur watched Morgana from the top of the stairs. She was yelling at Uther and he in turn was rubbing his forehead, evidently already tired of the argument.

"Morgana," Uther commanded, voice hard. "I don't care if Gwen is the most qualified person on the planet. She will not, I repeat will not, get the internship. She is not of the Pendragon lineage and is therefore, not qualified for shit."

She shook her head, her voice strangled and thick. "Then the company is doomed. Because one by one you make enemies of us all." Uther's mouth twitched and Arthur can see it; he can tell what will happen next. It's déjà vu, the way Uther backed Morgana up against a wall, hand on her throat.

This time he is certain of his movements because there is a line and Uther has just crossed it. His hands grabbed Uther's jacket and he pulled, harder than he ever has before. The old man crumbled at his touch and Arthur feels drunk on anger and there is searing red wherever he looked. "You lied," he screamed through gritted teeth. "You promised to leave her alone."

There is a sudden fear glaring through Uther's eyes and Arthur can see every one of Uther's veins. His hands closed tighter around Uther's neck, and Arthur can tell that he's choking him but this all felt too surreal to stop. "Don't you dare," Arthur bit down on his tongue and he tastes blood. "Touch her again." He released Uther in a fluid motion, and then grabbed Morgana's hand, pulling her through the door.

"What are you doing?" Her tone is accusing and he stopped moving, turning around to face her.

"Don't you remember? I'm never going to leave you." He pulled her towards him, nearly crushing her with his weight. "We're going to leave, okay? We never have to come back to this house ever again. School ends in a month, and then-," The words were falling out in rushed jumbles and Arthur stopped for a moment to catch his breath.

"And then," Morgana finished. "And then we can do whatever we want to." She released herself from his embrace, and he's almost unsettled by how confident she is. Even his breathing's ragged by now, yet she stands tall and firm, still unwilling to yield. She seemed to catch the way he looked at her, and her tone softened. "What?"

This time, when his hand brushed the stray hair from her face, she didn't flinch. "Uther promised that if I stayed away from you, he'd never hurt you again."

Her voice turned bitter. "Uther lies."

He placed a protective hand around her and backed her up against his car. "I'm never leaving again."

"Never ever?" She rested his hand on his cheek.

"Never," he replied roughly and pressed his mouth to hers.

("You can't just break promises and repay me back in sex," Morgana grumbles, tracing a pattern on his chest.

Arthur shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know- it's working pretty well…" Morgana laughed and punched his shoulder, turning around and pulling her body close to his.

"Tell me you love me," she demands. He draws constellations with his finger on her back and measures the contrast of his skin against hers.

"I love you," he whispers in her ear. "I love you more than- MERLIN!"

Merlin stands red-faced, the door swinging behind him. "Sorry to uh… interrupt you two." He walks towards Morgana and awkwardly offers her his hand. "I'm Merlin, Arthur's roommate."

Morgana giggles and pulls the sheet up to her chest as she shakes Merlin's hand. "I'm Morgana." Merlin makes excitatory gesticulations, jumping up and down.

"You're the really gorgeous girl in that picture!" Arthur glares at him. Merlin sobers a bit, blushing again. "Sorry," he addresses Morgana.

She laughs again. "I like your roommate, Arthur." Arthur simply rolls his eyes.

"Merlin's an idiot."

"An attractive one," Morgana scolds him. Merlin seems unsure how to reply to this and he stares at his fingertips shyly. Arthur narrows his eyes and makes shooing motions with his hands.

"Merlin, can you leave? I've got a girl I'd like to do things with and Morgana, for the love of God, STOP FLIRTING WITH MY ROOMMATE!" Merlin scurries off, muttering something about "how come Arthur gets to bring pretty girls home but I can't even bring Gwen home for dinner". Morgana simply gives Arthur a disappointed look before pinning him to the bed.

"You suck," she pouts. "Now tell me how much you love me."

He whispers something in her ear and she collapses beside him and they build themselves houses of cards under the sheets and let them crumble.)

("I love you so much that I hardly know how to stop.")

END