Arthur
Arthur was innocently lying on his bed, on a Friday evening, texting Merlin and having all his maths books spread out around him, staring at the ceiling when Morgana flung open his bedroom door and announced that she was actually bringing someone home to their house for dinner, to introduce them to Uther.
"We're doing the same course." Morgana explained. "If you're not on your best behaviour, and don't treat him like royalty, I swear to god I will kick my foot so far up your arse you…"
"Yes," Arthur cut in. "Yes, I get it. As if you're introducing him to Uther, it must actually be serious this time."
"Shut up." Morgana said abruptly. "He's a good bloke. Decent. Have you ended things with Gwen yet?"
"Yeah." Arthur lied. "Yeah, I have."
"Good." Morgana replied, with a satisfactory smile. "Are you going to tell her about, you know, your big gay secret yet?"
Arthur's thoughts immediately went to Merlin, and after a brief internal panic attack, he assumed she meant about him being into men.
"No, not yet, she's in Paris for exchange at the moment." Arthur said.
"Fair enough." Morgana sat next to him on the bed. "Are you seeing anyone?"
"No, not really." Arthur smiled, as Merlin's face clouded his mind.
"You spend an awful lot of time with that Merlin bloke," Morgana insisted.
"No, no way." Arthur responded uneasily.
"Gwaine?" Morgana asked.
"OH GOD NO. MORGANA. NO." Arthur shouted.
"Well, he's into everything so, and you're his best mate, so I had to ask, since this revelation!" Morgana said meekly.
"What time is your boyfriend coming?" Arthur changed the subject.
"He's not- we've never- I just don't call him my boyfriend." Morgana frowned. "But he's coming around 7; Rita's coming early to prepare dinner, so we're paying her extra."
"What's his name?" Arthur questioned.
"Leon." Morgana answered before flouncing back out of his bedroom and leaving him in silence with a load of overdue Maths homework.
Merlin
Gwaine had insisted that Merlin come out for a strictly 'friendly' dinner with him and after a long while of nagging Merlin, he finally gave in.
Merlin changed into a V-necked dark blue shirt, and slipped on his jeans while replying furiously to Arthur's texts about the 'awkward' family dinner. God, he was such a drama queen.
As soon as the doorbell rang, Merlin shoved his phone and wallet into his pocket and bounded down the stairs before Gaius could open the door. He desperately wanted avoid the potential awkward situation involving the three of them.
"Merlin!" Gwaine exclaimed, winking at him.
"Let's go, go, go." Merlin hissed, ushering Gwaine out of the door before Gaius could catch them.
"Alright, we're going." Gwaine winked.
"Bye Gaius, I'll be home around 11." Merlin called out before slamming the door shut and racing to Gwaine's black four wheel drive.
"Fuck, that was close." Merlin said as Gwaine unlocked the car and they jumped in.
"Why, what's wrong?" Gwaine started the engine.
"He thinks that we're on a date." Merlin scrunched up his nose.
"Well, aren't we?" Gwaine looked at Merlin's horrified expression. "I'm kidding, baby-doll, calm your tits."
"I am perfectly calm. So, where we heading?" Merlin questioned amusedly.
"Sonic." Gwaine smirked.
"I've never heard of that, where is it?" Merlin questioned.
"Further down town." Gwaine answered.
"Is it any good?" Merlin smiled.
"Would I take your beautiful backside there if it wasn't?" Gwaine winked.
Arthur
Arthur had worn his best shirt and tidied up his hair, Uther was sitting at the table dressed in his work suit and Morgana was wearing a short blue dress and had done her hair up in a bun. They sat there in an awkward silence, waiting for Morgana's boyfriend to arrive.
And when he finally did, since he was running fifteen minutes late, Uther welcomed him curtly and showed him into the dining area.
Arthur had a massive shock when he actually saw Leon, because Morgana usually went for muscly-tanned pricks who thought that they were top-shit when they really weren't. No, Leon had curly dirty-blonde hair and he looked sensible, and actually decent.
"Hello, sir," Leon said to Uther nervously. "It's a pleasure to meet you,"
"You too, Leon, I'm afraid Morgana hasn't really told me much about you, so you'll have to do that yourself. Won't you sit?" Uther had replied with a firm smile.
Arthur flashed a polite smile at Leon.
"So, you're doing the same architecture course as Morgana then?" Uther asked, dishing out roast vegetables into everyone's plates.
Their cook had prepared them a huge meal.
"That's right, that's how we met." Leon said politely.
Arthur saw Morgana flash him a comforting smile.
"So, do you live in Camelot?" Arthur questioned kindly.
"No, I live in Caerleon, the same place as our Uni." Leon answered.
"Oh, right." Uther said. "How did you two get together?"
"Um," Morgana began. "It was in the Campus Library, he was charming, he really was, why don't you tell them the rest of the story, Leon?"
Merlin
A large neon sign saying 'SONIC' was flashing at the front of a building merged in with other dodgy looking shops.
"Um, where are we Gwaine?" Merlin questioned suspiciously. "This does not look like a restaurant."
"Oh!" Gwaine said aloud. "Did I restaurant, I meant gay bar!"
"No, Gwaine, no." Merlin groaned. "I'm starving, so thanks for telling me."
"They have food, nuts and chips and stuff." Gwaine replied apologetically.
"I really don't think this is a good idea." Merlin commented. "There's a fucking security guard at the front, how can you even manage to get in?
"By using, these!" Gwaine shuffled through his wallet and pulled out two fake ID cards.
"Eoin Macken, and you're Colin Morgan." Gwaine continued.
"The fuck, Gwaine? They don't even look like us!" Merlin rolled his eyes. "Let's just go back, and have tea."
"Trust me on this. We're going to have fun tonight." Gwaine winked.
Merlin groaned, and unwillingly followed Gwaine out of the car.
They started walking up the road, his thoughts went directly to Arthur, since the prat would be really pissed at him. It wasn't as if Merlin was cheating or anything, he was dragged along by Gwaine, and he was curious to see how it was inside and everything. He'd never been to a gay bar/nightclub before, this was new to him.
Arthur
Soon the tension had died down, Uther had started laughing. Arthur was recounting old childhood stories about Morgana to Leon, embarrassing ones, and Leon was poking a blushing Morgana's shoulder.
Arthur had never seen his sister like this; she was acting flustered and not over-confident like she usually was. She must've really liked this Leon bloke. Arthur liked him too, he respected him, and they talked football and shitty teams and the night actually turned out to be not bad.
While Leon and Uther were in a rapid politics debate, Morgana kicked Arthur under the table and mouthed a 'thank you'.
Arthur wondered what Merlin would be doing right now, hanging out with Gwaine probably, Merlin had mentioned it before. Since gossip spread like wildfire around Camelot, they would most likely be mistaken as a couple. Arthur couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealously. But his relationship with Merlin, had to be a secret, there was no other choice. And that was his own fault.
Gwaine had invited Arthur and a couple of other people over to his house tomorrow afternoon to 'study'. Arthur nearly scoffed in disbelief, but he had agreed to go anyway because his best friend was stupidly persistent.
Merlin
It was rowdy inside, fast paced music playing in the background, loud chatter and laughter, people dancing in the disco-ball lit up centre, rubbing up to each other and everybody seemed to recognize Gwaine, and approach Merlin with sultry glances as they winked at Gwaine.
The walls were painted black, red and silver and the bar table and high stools were glossy white.
Gwaine propped himself up one, and Merlin sat next to him.
"I'm not getting drunk." Merlin commented.
"Not even one martini?" Gwaine teased. "I'm not getting either, because, I have to drive home."
"No, but I will tell you I will have those salted peanuts." Merlin said.
"So has anyone popped your big gay cherry yet?" Gwaine asked teasingly, ordering a pina colada.
"Gwaine!" Merlin hissed, as the bartender lady with shocking pink and white hair winked knowingly at him and placed a bowl of peanuts between them. "You can't just ask that!"
"Yeah I can. So, tell me…?" Gwaine grinned.
"No," Merlin laughed. "Not yet, I guess I'm just waiting for the right person I guess."
Merlin had strictly told Arthur that there would be no sex, at all, until Gwen returned and Arthur had broken it off with her. Even though he struggled with his urges, most of the time, Merlin didn't want to feel used in that way if things didn't end well. He had doubts about their relationship; every day and he couldn't help but have them. But the more time he spent with Arthur, the more time he seemed to forget. And that was a good thing.
"What're you thinking about, eh?" Gwaine smirked. "Got someone in mind?"
"Nah," Merlin smiled.
Suddenly, the bartender placed a bright red drink with whipped cream and an umbrella right in front of him.
"With regards from that gentleman." She winked provocatively.
"What, who?" Merlin blurted out to Gwaine, who pointed at a handsome man wearing a fancy leather jacket at the other end of the bar.
The guy was older, hot, definitely, but Merlin wasn't particularly interested. His smouldering gaze burned into Merlin, making him feel slightly uncomfortable.
Merlin sipped the drink; taking in the too-sweet taste that ended with a bitter tang.
"You got your first drink." Gwaine laughed. "Join the club."
He pointed his finger towards the various shots and martinis splayed out beneath him which Merlin had barely noticed before.
Merlin rolled his eyes, removing his blazer because of the heat, and then downed the rest of his drink.
"That's it; I'm not drinking anymore." Merlin began but Gwaine grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the flashing dance floor.
Merlin laughed. There were men in every direction; it was so new to him. He felt s rush of adrenalin and confidence. It was boiling and uncomfortable as bodies thrust against each other's, unwanted hands travelled to Merlin's backside and Gwaine was drawing him towards his body.
"Just follow my head," Gwaine smirked, and spun Merlin's body around.
He gripped Merlin's waist tightly and moved their bodies together, in a circular rotation, then backwards and forwards. He grinded up against Merlin's rear, and Merlin was blushing uncontrollably. His own body was so damn awkward, gangly limbs that stuck out everywhere. It was so embarrassing.
But he couldn't deny that it was actually fun.
Gwaine's lips were on his neck, giggling against it. Merlin pushed the other boy off him and Gwaine simply laughed as another guy whirled him around. Merlin was attempting to get past the crowd when the guy with the longish hair and leather jacket who had sent him a drink before, grabbed his buttcheek.
Merlin swatted the hand of him and the guy held onto his waist and pulled him back into the whole thing all over again.
"My name's Cenred," He said in a low voice. "And yours, gorgeous?"
"None of your business." Merlin tried to push past.
"Don't be like that." Cenred commented. "Dance with me love,"
"One dance." Merlin warned.
So he danced with Cenred for a little while, surprisingly getting the hang of how to move his body.
And then somehow he was pulled away from Cenred and right in the middle of the crowd. A lot of people enveloping him. He was out of breath, really thirsty when Gwaine grabbed his wrist and dragged him out of the crowd.
"What did you do that for?" Merlin panted.
"It's past one; Gaius is going to murder you." Gwaine stated. "You look like you've had fun."
"Yeah, we're not doing this again." Merlin barked.
"I never thought you'd be into this kind of scene. Why don't we grab your blazer, and then we'll go." Gwaine replied, laughing at his friend.
"I'm not into this kind of scene." Merlin enunciated with air quotes.
"Sure, sure," Gwaine smirked.
…
"What's that on your arm?" Gwaine asked while they were driving back in the car.
Merlin stared at his arms, which had inky black marks smeared everywhere and faint traces of people's numbers. They must've smudged off with the sweat. He hadn't even realized people had written on his body. Merlin banged his head against the car seat, and pulled out his phone from his back pocket.
He'd gotten over thirty missed calls and even more text messages from Gaius. He felt so bad.
"You're popular." Gwaine winked, signalling at his marked arms. "Might even be able to beat me one day?"
"Yeah, yeah." Merlin rolled his eyes.
Gwaine pulled up outside his house.
"Merlin!" Gaius screeched as Merlin unlocked the door and slipped in. "Where the hell have you been?"
"We ended up going to Gwaine's house for desert after, I'm so sorry, I should've told you." Merlin lied through his teeth.
"We'll talk about this tomorrow morning, I just hope that you and Gwaine used protection and proper-" Gaius started.
"No!" Merlin cut him off, too tired to feel embarrassed. "We didn't do anything like that, now if you excuse me Gaius, I'm going to bed, and I'm really tired."
"Where's your jacket then?" Gaius challenged. "But I will talk to you tomorrow, let us both be off to bed now."
Merlin stomped up the stairs, angry at himself for leaving the blazer in Gwaine's car.
He threw off all his clothes and pulled on grey sweats and a comfy jumper and checked his facebook.
He'd received about three different messages, one from Gwen about 'Paris', one from Elena about 'catching up' tomorrow before they headed to Gwaine's, and one from Arthur about a funny video he'd found on YouTube.
He typed a quick reply to Elena's message, he'd definitely go, he could rant to her all about his night. She was a good friend.
Merlin slammed his laptop lid shut and crawled into bed, pulling the covers over himself and closed his eyes.
I must thank you all for reading, leaving feedback, adding to faves/subscriptions. I hope you've enjoyed the chapter. I love you all!
Reviews are precious :) xxx