Arthur
It was the first day back at shitty school and Arthur was not in the mood to get into arguments, so when Morgana barged into his room and started screaming at him. He shoved her out and slammed the door in her face.
Arthur didn't even know why she was so pissy anyway. It's not like she had the stress of school, and she still had a couple of weeks before her first year of uni began.
He wasn't even ready to go back. Stupid football, stupid schoolwork, stupid expectations. He just wanted to tell everything and everyone to fuck off.
And so the unavoidable before-school prep began.
He pulled up his socks and slipped on his uniform, which included an ironed white shirt, dark grey trousers, navy blue blazer and dark blue tie. He rubbed on some aftershave and spritzed some perfume. And after applying a tad of hair gel to get the desired messy-neat effect, he grabbed his stupidly heavy school bag and walked to the dining room.
"Good morning, son." Uther greeted him, sipping his coffee and flicking through the notes of his latest case.
"Good morning, Dad," Arthur replied, monotone as he grabbed an apple of the fruit bowl.
"Did you get enough rest?" Uther asked.
Arthur nodded just as Morgana stormed into the room.
"You should be ashamed of yourself." She snapped.
"What the-?" Arthur began.
"Alright, what's wrong?" Uther asked.
"What do you want?" Arthur nearly shouted at Morgana.
God she was so infuriating at times.
"Are. You. Kidding. Me?" Morgana gritted her teeth and left.
"I seriously don't know what I did," Arthur commented.
"Perhaps you should go after her," Uther suggested.
"I'm going to be late for school if I do, I'll talk to her later tonight." Arthur sighed.
"I'll see you later then, remember, I don't want to see your results dropping, we don't want last year to happen, do we?" Uther said.
"No, not at all." Arthur replied sarcastically.
He slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and stalked right out of the house.
It was a short walk to the school, roughly around five minutes, and Gwen usually joined him, as her house was a few doors down from his own.
He had caught her just in time; she walked happily towards him, the silver pendant he gave her contrasting against the dark blue of the school jumper.
She looked pretty as ever, gazing at him earnestly, flicking a strand of her curly black hair behind her ear.
"Arthur," she beamed.
"Gwen," Arthur smiled guiltily as she reached forward to kiss him.
Why did he keep doing this to her? What has wrong with him, because she certainly didn't deserve this.
But he was such a mess that the line between acceptable and unacceptable seemed a blurry one and Gwen was the only good thing he was clinging onto.
She was always there with her warm embrace after he'd done something stupid like snort a line or shag a guy at the bar further in town.
She never suspected.
He hated himself.
He wished he could break up with her but he couldn't lose her.
He wished he could tell everyone about him, about everything. But he couldn't lose his image. He'd worked way too hard to lose that too.
Arthur pushed those thoughts the back of his mind and he placed an arm around her waist as they walked through the school courtyard to the Lower Sixth form area.
He could see some of the younger kids stare at him curiously, staring at him in awe. At the corner of his eye he could see some of the girls whispering to each other in excitement. He rolled his eyes clutched Gwen tighter who giggled and leaned up to press a kiss on his cheek.
And soon his teammates were rushing up to him, clapping him on his back, greeting him, ruffling his hair.
"I'm going to go see my friends," Gwen murmured in Arthur's ear.
Arthur got the impression that she didn't really like his friends, but he didn't mind, there were times where he didn't like them either. So he kissed her cheek, promising her that he would talk to her later.
He could hear Gwaine wolf-whistling loudly, approaching him from behind.
"Shut up," Arthur snapped, spinning around and punching the young Irishman in his arm.
"Missed you too, Princess, now, want to ditch this sorry lot and head to the form room?" Gwaine snickered.
"Yeah, alright," Arthur agreed.
Gwaine swung an arm around his shoulder and the two of them began walking ahead of the rest of their friends, who seemed in close pursuit.
But they were in another form room; Gwaine was really the only friend he had in his one.
The two of them wandered late into class, stifling their laughter as they collapsed onto the chairs of the nearest study table.
Mrs Morgan, their teacher, coughed pointedly.
"Nice to see that you've finally joined the rest of the class. I was just talking about the year level assembly we're having later on today, so-"She began just as some tall boy stumbled breathlessly into class.
"I am so sorry I'm late, I'm new, I just moved here, I got lost walking, I hope I've got the right room." He panted.
"It's quite alright, you must be Merlin Emrys, welcome, why don't you go and take a seat next to Gwen?" Mrs Morgan replied kindly, tapping on the spare seat next to Gwen's.
Arthur just realized who he was right when he spun around and plopped himself on the empty seat next to bloody Gwen's.
It was the same guy who had accidently caught him with the waiter in the bathroom. The one with the big ears and high cheekbones. The one that had those big dark blue eyes and really pale skin.
Now that he got a better look at him, he was actually oddly attractive.
Arthur internally kicked himself over and over for thinking that.
Of course he'd go to this school and be in Arthur's year level. Of course he'd be in his form-class. It was just his luck.
And if he told anyone what he had seen. His life would be ruined. It was already damaged from the inside, but his whole appearance would be tarnished. Forever.
This was not good.
But Merlin, it was such a strange name. There was something familiar about it, but he just couldn't quite place a finger on it.
The situation was rapidly escalating.
Mrs Morgan rambled on and on about locker procedures and various school rules but Arthur wasn't listening. He was too focused on Merlin and Gwen sitting next to each other and smiling.
"Oh, I'd like to get in there," Gwaine remarked quietly in his ear, cutting off his train of thought.
"Who, the new kid?" Arthur whispered back.
"Oh yeah, just look at him, those cheekbones could cut through glass." Gwaine smirked.
"Is he even interested in, you know, guys?" Arthur muttered.
"Trust me on this one, I've had enough experience to know if..." Gwaine snorted.
Arthur wanted to ask how he even knew, but refrained hesitantly and gave his friend a tight lipped smile. It's not that he felt jealous or anything towards Merlin, well perhaps- no, he refused to think that. But mostly he pitied the other boy. Gwaine had already slept with half the student body. He could charm the pants of anyone and then break their heart. He just didn't do relationships.
Arthur was so glad that bloody Gwaine didn't know his secret. The endless teasing and constant disbelief would not stop.
Arthur made a mental note to speak to Merlin later about the toilet incident.
He would, correct a 'misunderstanding'. He already had to focus on getting perfect marks and scoring perfect goals and keeping a perfect girlfriend all while sneaking out at night and doing the unexplainable.
He didn't need to deal with a problem like this Merlin idiot.
And he didn't know how this school year would turn out. He just prayed everything wouldn't be as screwed up as his expectations were.
Merlin
He could feel Arthur's stare on his back as he tried to focus on what the teacher was talking about.
"I'm Gwen," Gwen whispered. "Nice to meet you,"
"Hey, I'm Merlin," Merlin whispered back, trying to ignore the awkward fact that he'd learned a bit about her from Gaius. "It's nice to meet you too,"
"Mr Lotsson," Mrs Morgan suddenly barked. "Stop talking! And since you're paying such avid attention, why don't you do the honour of handing out each of the student schedules!"
Merlin could hear the guy next to Arthur loudly groan and stagger up to collect the pile of white sheets Mrs Morgan was pointing at on her desk.
He swept his neck length brown hair back and grabbed the pile, attempting to find every student and pass the paper to them. When he finally reached Merlin, he realized the taller, tanned boy was hot. Not Arthur hot but he was a different kind of sexy.
And that's when he smirked right at Merlin, giving him a small wink as their fingers briefly touched in the passing of paper.
Merlin flushed in embarrassment and looked away just has Gwen glanced at him empathetically.
Arthur
When they were dismissed from class and were told to put their belongings in their lockers before the assembly, Arthur confronted Gwaine.
He could not believe what he had just see before. What the fuck was Gwaine doing, brushing the other poor boy's fingers like that. He was pissed off. So when Gwaine returned to his spot, Arthur sent him a murderous look.
"What are you doing?" Arthur hissed.
"Why do you care?" Gwaine snickered.
"He's new, come on, give him a break." Arthur pleaded.
"Look, Princess, I hardly ever get anyone in this 95% hetero school, he's a treat, and the chances are, he won't refuse me, so I don't have to go down to Sonic tonight," Gwaine said.
"You're really fucked up," Arthur said angrily.
Sonic was a gay bar situated in the shady part of Camelot and he knew Gwaine liked to go there when he felt like it, accompanied with his fake ID and confident smile. He looked eighteen anyway, so they barely asked for his ID card.
Arthur went there some Friday nights, because that's when he knew Gwaine had theatre rehearsals/practice. But he rarely went there in case someone he knew turned up, Camelot was a small town and even though kids from all over the UK came to his school and usually didn't stick around after it had finished. Arthur could not simply take the risk.
Besides if he really did want a shag, he'd drive to London and check out some of the sights from there.
"You jealous, Princess?" Gwaine asked sarcastically.
"No," Arthur grumbled, and as he was putting his things away in his locker he quickly scanned the area of crowded students for Merlin.
He saw him disappear out the glass doors with Gwen by his side, most likely heading for the assembly.
He prayed to god he wouldn't utter a word to her.
Merlin
He'd been taken to a large patch of shade underneath a leafy tree by Gwen when the two hour 'welcome back' school assembly had ended, insinuating the beginning of Lunchtime.
"Guys, this is Merlin," Gwen announced, flinging herself on the soft grass.
"Hey," Merlin gave a small smile, sitting down next to her; as she had insisted he spend lunch with her and her friends.
There was a straggly blonde girl with a dreamy expression on her face as she lay on the grass. Sitting next to her was a handsome boy resting against the tree with a book tucked behind his hand.
"So you're the new bloke," Elena, the blonde, commented. "Nice to meet you. You have very nice eyes you know,"
"Thanks," Merlin grinned. "Nice to meet you too."
"I'm Lancelot, but you can call me Lance." The boy said kindly.
"So you're from Ealdor, yeah?" Elena questioned.
"Yeah I am, I just moved here yesterday." Merlin replied.
"I've never been there," Lancelot added.
"It's a long drive though," Elena said. "Did you drive up or catch the train?"
"The train," Merlin was beginning to like Gwen's friends. They seemed nice enough.
"It ages away." Elena pointed out.
"I know right, hey, is that Jane Eyre?" Merlin blurted out.
"Yeah, why?" Lance seemed genuinely happy that Merlin had taken an interest in what he was reading.
"Nothing, just it's a really good book," The words rushed out of Merlin's mouth before he could stop himself.
"It is, it is …" Lancelot agreed.
"Are you gay, Merlin?" Elena suddenly piped up
"Elena!" Gwen scolded, nudging her friend roughly.
"I'm sorry! I just heard Gwaine rambling on about how gorgeous you looked. I guess he was right."
Merlin's face began to heat up, a pool of flattery and nervousness swirling around in his stomach.
"Um, yeah," Merlin said embarrassedly.
The whole situation had escalated to another level of awkward. Sure, Elena's questioned seemed a bit intrusive but it was the truth. Who was this Gwaine bloke anyway?
"Who's Gwaine?" asked Merlin, fidgeting with his tie.
"A sexy Irishman who's slept with half the female population of our school and more guys you could ever account for." Elena smirked.
"He was the one handing out the schedules this morning, and he's not that bad!" Gwen protested.
"Oh okay, so he wasn't actually mocking me?" Merlin asked cautiously.
"Nup. He's a tosser at times but he's honest." Elena confirmed.
"He's not that badlooking I suppose…" Merlin blurted out, why was saying this to this people he barely knew? They seemed trustworthy enough.
"Oh my god you like him." Elena shrieked.
"Calm yourself woman," Lancelot suddenly cried out. "He's only been here two seconds."
Gwen giggled.
"I like you, Merlin." Elena piped up. "Let's be friends 5ever yeah?"
"Sure thing." Merlin laughed heartily, pulling out an apple from his back pocket and biting into it.
"So, do you have a boyfriend?" Gwen giggled.
"Uhh, no, I don't." Merlin replied.
"Shut up Gwen, just because you have eye candy at your arm doesn't mean everyone else has to have one." Elena said loudly.
"Hey! How does that relate to anything?" Gwen protested. "Besides his name's not eye candy, Merlin, it's Arthur."
"Yeah and I'd smack that arse any day." Elena snorted. "What about you, Merlin?"
"Um, no, not really my type." Merlin lied.
"Elena shut up and stop making my boyfriend's arse the topic of discussion." Gwen defended.
Merlin suddenly noticed Lance's quietness concerning that topic and his sad eyes.
He didn't know the other boy very well, but he began to suspect it was because he liked Elena or Gwen. He felt sorry for him.
"So, I have History after lunch. Do any of you?" He interrupted.
…
Merlin had discovered that he shared the same history class as Gwen, so when the school bell rung loudly, signalling the end of lunch the two of them walked up to the lockers together. Elena and Lance waved them off, since they had a free period.
He decided he rather liked that odd group. They seemed genuine, and Elena was blunt and a tad crazy, but she was funny and could make situations less awkward.
It took a couple of minutes to reach the spacious classroom where half the students had already taken up the seats.
Merlin and Gwen shared one of the desks at the end of the classroom.
When more students began piling in, their teacher, Mr James, began the lesson by explaining a brief synopsis of events that had triggered the French Revolution.
There was a brief sound of a door opening and Arthur sauntered in lazily, searching the entirety of the classroom for a place to sit. He saw his friends, Bors, Mike and Owen smirk at him from the front.
And then he saw Gwen, smiling softly at him from the end of the classroom, sitting right next to this Merlin fellow.
He began panicking as he quickly swept his eyes around the room and came to realization that there was only one spot left, the one next to Merlin.
He cursed the desks for oddly seating three.
"Mr Pendragon!" The teacher, Mr James, barked right at him. "Go sit down. I'll speak to you about this tardiness later!"
….
The rest of the lesson was horribly quiet and awkward among the three of them. Gwen didn't understand what was wrong. Her phone was under her pencil case and she was texting Arthur, asking him if he was alright.
Simultaneously, her and Merlin kept passing notes, about facebook and twitter and his opinion on Kirstin Dunst in Marie Antoinette.
It seemed neither of the three were paying much attention to the lesson.
Arthur was too focused on typing 'yes/no' replies back to Gwen and glancing at the tips of Merlin's huge ears, which were bright red.
They were actually quite adorable.
But he ignored that irritating observation and tried to figure out how he would handle Merlin.
How he would even speak to Merlin.
And honestly, he did appear quite harmless. But Arthur was well aware that appearances could be deceiving.
He did after all; know that fact better than anyone.