Merlin

Arthur rang him first thing in the morning, it was just past seven and Merlin was rolling around tiredly in bed when he sleepily answered his phone.

"Hello?" Merlin yawned.

"Merlin, sorry to wake you," Arthur said clearly. "Um, I just wanted to apologize about last night."

"Yeah, you're sorry, you regret what happened, it won't happen again, blah blah bloody blah." Merlin mumbled into the phone, he was really pissed off.

He nearly crashed Arthur's car a few times last night, as he bumpily drove into the giant drive way.

And then, after mothering Arthur and making him a hot chocolate and tucking him into bed, he had to walk home in the fucking cold.

He felt so done.

"I wasn't going to say that!" Arthur protested.

"Yeah, you were." Merlin snapped. "Now, bye."

"Wait, wait, wait, and don't hang up." Arthur begged. "What I said last night, it was true. All of it."

"What?" Merlin barked.

"The truth is I don't know if I have feelings for you, or not, I just don't know, I don't know if there's something more than attraction, Merlin." Arthur confessed.

"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" Merlin replied, irritated.

"Wait," Arthur said simply. "Wait for me."

"I can't make promises that I may not be able to keep, Arthur," Merlin expressed furiously.

"I don't want to hurt Gwen. I don't know what I want." Arthur responded sadly.

"Well, figure it out." Merlin grunted and hung up.

Arthur

Merlin had been avoiding him since the morning. He didn't even glance in his direction. And now it was just past two, and he was sitting in the school Library as he had a free period, and so did Merlin, it seemed. Because the raven-haired boy was sitting on the other side of the room, alone on an empty table.

He had waited most of the day for him to at least acknowledge his presence, but since that was not happening, Arthur picked up his biology books and walked up to Merlin, pulling up a chair next to him.

Merlin just stared at him in utter disbelief and continued scribbling notes and highlighting in the column of the English poetry book. Well, at least he had gotten some kind of reaction.

"Merlin?" Arthur asked. "Talk to me."

Merlin didn't say anything. Arthur reached out and touched his hand, Merlin flinched away.

"I'm trying to make an effort here!" Arthur snapped.

"And you win all the awards." Merlin said sarcastically. "Now leave me alone so I can fucking revise this poetry before my Lit class."

"Let's just go for a walk." Arthur suggested.

"If I agree, then will you let me study peacefully?" Merlin rolled his eyes.

"Yup." Arthur agreed.

The pair picked up their books and headed out of the library, slowly walking around the school grounds.

"Well, what do you want to talk about?" Merlin questioned awkwardly.

"Us." Arthur answered, staring vaguely at the concrete.

"There is no, us." Merlin motioned with his hands.

"I want there to be, I just need you, to give me time." Arthur replied weakly.

"You mentioned that before. And I stand with all I said." Merlin clutched his books tighter.

It was silent as they approached the bike shed, turning around the corner to sit at a rickety old bench at the back. Merlin chucked his books down and sat, while Arthur did the same.

"I'm sorry I kissed you." Arthur said genuinely, leaning against the brick wall. "Thank you for driving me home with minimal damage on my car."

"Ha. Ha." Merlin responded. "Well I couldn't let you drive, and so what, you kissed me, no harm done. Just don't do it again."

"If I were to be perfectly honest, Merlin, I'm scared of you. I'm scared of what this is, because it's something new, something that I have personally, never felt." Arthur paused. "As you probably, know, I'm a wreck."

"But, then you came, and for some reason, I like you. You kind of inspire me to not do that kind of shit. And I know I did it last night, but, I can't," Arthur continued. "It's confusing to explain, but I don't want to see disappointment in your eyes, I can't bear it. You're something new."

Merlin's emotions were haywire. He felt angry and flattered and excited and nervous and surprised all at once.

He didn't even know what to say to something like that.

"Merlin?" Arthur said quietly.

"I don't know what to reply to that." Merlin replied. "You know, you're practically a stranger, I haven't known you that long…"

"Don't say something cheesy like 'but it feels like I've known you forever'…" Arthur warned.

"No, I was just about to say thank you, and that you're still a prat." Merlin laughed.

There was a brief pause.

"What happens now?" Merlin added.

"Well, first…" Arthur said suggestively.

"No, firstly, you're going to break up with Gwen," Merlin pointed out.

"I will, when she gets back from Paris, I swear, I just don't want to end things over the phone." Arthur promised.

"I'm willing to wait," Merlin said, before darting his eyes around their surroundings for any signs of any students.

"But I'm not, I just, I don't think I can wait any longer." Arthur breathed.

"I'd rather not either," Merlin answered honestly. "But will you promise me, promise that you'll break up with her as soon as she returns?"

Merlin sharply took a breath of air. He did like Arthur, he really, really did. What if the same thing that happened with Gwen, was going to happen to him? What he really worth all that risk? Not to mention the massive secret they'd have to keep, how careful they'd have to be around their friends.

But before he could think any further, Arthur's hand was cupping his jaw, and he was firmly planting a kiss on his lips.

"I promise, Merlin, I promise," Arthur whispered, against the other boy's warm mouth.

Lancelot

Lance was having the worst day, his head ached like hell. He just wanted to go home and sleep it off, because taking two panadols clearly hadn't helped. So after going to the office and grabbing a notified-leave-of-absence note, he was about to leave the school.

After grabbing his bag from his locker, Lance made his way to the bike shed at the end of the school. As he began getting closer and closer, he heard rustling and whispering from behind the shed.

Curious, Lance silently stuck his head around the corner.

He could not believe what he was seeing; he even blinked a couple of times to ensure that he was seeing sane things.

It was Merlin, nice, kind, his friend, Merlin, and Gwen's prick boyfriend Arthur.

What the hell was going on?

He didn't know whether to make his presence known, or back away. He didn't really want to confront them. So he backed away and quickly slipped inside the small building.

Of course it would bug him till he found out why they were doing what they were doing. He assumed that it was most likely Arthur's fault. It was always his fault.

Gwen was kind, loving, smart, how could anyone have the heart to do this to her? He had loved her since he had first laid eyes on her, but she was completely in love with Arthur and saw right past Lance. All the time.

He unchained his bike. He would try to talk to Merlin about it later, try to understand the reason behind all this.

Arthur

He pulled away, eyeing Merlin's adorable blush and tousled hair and flushed lips. He swore he heard someone in the bike shed; hence the subtle creaking and clanking noises.

"It's probably just the wind." Merlin eyed the shed.

"Yeah. Probably." Arthur shrugged it off.

"Anyway, let's go back to the library." Merlin suggested.

"What's the point, the bell is about to go in two minutes-anywho, do you want to come back to my house afterschool, hang out?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Merlin smiled hastily, he couldn't get rid of the fact that he was getting into some deep shit with Arthur, and it probably wouldn't end well.

But he couldn't pull away now. He just couldn't.

First off all, I would like to apologize for the absolutely heinous amount of time I took to update this story. I can promise you that it won't happen again, I am going to update faster now. Also Happy (belated) New Year, lovely readers!

Thank you for all the feedback, I really appreciate it. I love you all.

I hope you have enjoyed the chapter, and thanks for adding to favourites/story alerts etc.

Leave a review telling me what you think! ;) xxx