The curtains of Arthur's bedroom window had not been drawn with sufficient care, and there was a tiny gap between them situated at just the right angle to make sure Merlin was awoken by the sunrise as a sharp ray of light hit his eyes without warning. After the initial grimaces and muffled cursing, though, he was actually quite glad. This way he had some time to lie awake and watch Arthur sleep beside him, something that rarely happened with all the secrecy they'd entangled themselves in. He appreciated the profile of Arthur's face, the curve of his nose, the softness of his lips, his smoothly shaven cheek. He wished this moment could last forever, that he could just lie here, in bed, watching Arthur's chest rise and fall with the rhythm of his breath. He knew exactly what conversation loomed once they were both awake.

As if stirred by Merlin's very thought, the sleeping eyes abruptly fluttered open, and after crossing for a moment in surprise at the re-appearance of the real world, they focused in on Merlin's face. Despite his heavy heart, smiling at Arthur's daft morning face was not difficult.

"Hi," said Merlin quietly. He got no smile in reply.

"We both know this can't go on," Arthur asserted, finally breaking the loaded silence across the breakfast table. "We knew it was a temporary solution, and now we have to make a decision. You have to make a decision."

"So you're giving me an ultimatum."

"If that's how you'd like to put it. Yes, I'm giving you an ultimatum."

"Either we tell your father, and I'll be out of a job and out of a career. Or, we break it off and I lose you."

"That is about the gist of it."

"You know I can't choose you."

"I know."

"I would. I want to. But I swore - You know - I'm not going through that again. If I sacrifice one thing for you, then the snowball will keep rolling, and I'll… It would ruin everything I've worked for."

"I don't want you to sacrifice anything for me."

"Then I think we're on the same page."

It probably the most painful thing Merlin had ever experienced. He had known it was going to be painful, debilitating, that it was going to break his heart. But after all, the decision was made on very solid grounds, based on what he knew he needed and what was best for him. In the long term. In spite of his preparations to grit his teeth and get through it, however, the severity of the blow was a shock to his system. He stumbled through the world as if he wasn't quite there, numb to anything but the loss. When the time came to return to the office and Uther's watchful eye, Merlin tried his best to act as normal as possible, but he knew full well he was being unusually silent, glum, and unsmiling. His reduced countenance brought on the worry of Elena, who came over for a chat as she so often did.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked, running her fingers through his hair as if he were a disgruntled puppy.

"Not really," he mumbled, and she nodded. She disappeared for a second, and when she came back, she placed a warm cup of coffee and a biscuit by his side before returning to her own post. That gesture did warm him a bit, but no sooner had a faint smile worked its way onto his face than a summons from the lion's den wiped it away.

"Emrys, could I have a word with you, please?"

Once inside Mr. Pendragon's office, the boss motioned for him to take a seat. He had probably noticed Merlin's upset, he was not blind, but Hell would have a cold day before he'd deign to be concerned.

"Now, tell me, how did our little plan work out?"

"I can safely say that Arthur is not in a relationship anymore."

He could feel his soul leaking out of him with each syllable, and by the end of the sentence he wanted to curl up and die, but Uther took no notice and broke into a rare, wide grin.

"Excellent. God knows I shall not ask for the details. Great work, Emrys, you can expect renumeration for your efforts."

Merlin didn't have it in him to muster a reaction to that.

"If that is all, sir?"

"Certainly."

For nearly an hour after the meeting, Merlin sat at his desk doing absolutely nothing. Saying it out loud, that they were over, had reduced him to a point where staring blankly at the memos in front of him was all he could do. Lifting his eyes or even focusing his gaze to take in whatever the papers said was too steep a mountain to climb. When he finally managed to tune in to the world again, he noticed the cup of coffee Elena had so graciously fetched for him. It had long since gone cold now. With a gargantuan effort he managed to get up and take the cup with him. From there, the journey to the break room was feasible, and he cheered over his victory in silent triumph when he poured the cool beverage into the sink. Baby steps, he thought to himself.

The first thing that happened when he exited the break room, of course, was that he ran straight into Arthur. Narrowly avoiding major spillage from his fresh cup of hot coffee, he could do nothing to stop his hard-won resolve from crumbling into nothing. Especially when Arthur wasted no time for conversation, or even awkward staring, and proceeded to kiss Merlin without explanation or context. He was careful at first, kissing a question. When Merlin didn't object, he grew more determined.

As if he was going to object. Arthur had gotten to him when he was at his weakest, and he ignored the vision of his old therapist shaking his head in favour of kissing back. It was the terrible relief of giving up, the comfort of relapse, and he revelled in it, as he revelled in Arthur and in having him there, having him back. At least Arthur had been the one to crack first, that was something.

One or two people in the office landscape were applauding, which brought a endearing blush to Arthur's face.

"We'll talk later, yeah?" he mumbled, and Merlin nodded. They both fled the scene, Arthur presumably back to his office, Merlin to get a breath of fresh hear and wrap his head around the implications of what just happened.

Merlin was unsurprised to return to an obnoxiously grinning Gwaine sitting on his desk. Theirs was an office with a diligent jungle telegraph, so the not-exactly-news about him and Arthur were probably common knowledge already, and Gwaine would want his side of the scoop.

"Merlin, my boy! Congratulations!"

"Er, thanks."

For someone so young and handsome, Gwaine had a curious tendency to sound like a hammy uncle.

"About fucking time as well. Now, I need to settle a matter of utmost importance. How long?"

"Pardon?"

"How long since you and Pendragon Junior went from rivalry to passionate love affair? Please say more than a month, I've fifty quid running on it against Elena."

"Sweet love af - Er, two years."

"Oh! Oh. Well, that is more than a month."

"Yeah."

"Emrys. My office. Now."

Merlin winced.

"Ah. Here come the consequences. Congrats on your fifty quid."

"I'll pray for you."

"Thanks."

"Providing you promise to tell me the full story, of course."

Merlin groaned at that, but the supportive slap on the back he received from Gwaine upon leaving was surprisingly helpful. After the all encompassing despair he had let envelop him earlier, the dread that came with facing his hitherto blissfully ignorant "father-in-law" was relatively easy to subdue. Even in his determination, though, he had to admit that the look Uther gave him could probably have burned a hole through at least six feet of steel.

"Sit down."

Merlin did as he was told.

"There is an interesting story going around the office, Merlin."

"Is there?" Merlin replied, trying to keep his voice from shaking. Mr. Pendragon never used his first name. Ever.

"I don't know what you think you are doing, but it goes without saying that such… Displays are unacceptable."

"Ah. News travel fast. That was what, five minutes ago?"

"Anything that might have happened between you and Arthur should have been ended well before that. This is not what I asked of you. You will break it off immediately."

"No."

"Excuse me?"

"I said no. I'm sorry. I'm not letting go of him."

The expression on Mr. Pendragon's face suggested that his gums might have been unexpectedly replaced with grapefruit.

"Then it should be obvious that you cannot continue in my employ. You will get severance in accordance with your contract, but I do not wish to see you after today. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

He fled the office immediately, refusing to look Uther in the eyes. He kept them trained on the floor until he was back by his desk. He looked it over - his papers, his belongings. He had a lot of packing to do.

"What are you doing?"

Merlin reemerged from the cardboard box which he had been filling to see an annoyed Arthur looking down on him.

"What does it look like I'm doing."

"You're not packing. He didn't fire you."

"Not sure how you reached that conclusion from the evidence provided."

Arthur swore, and marched towards the door to his father's office.

"Arthur, what - ? Arthur, no!" Merlin commanded before following suit.

"You can't fire him," Arthur asserted as he flung the door open. His father looked up from the paper he had been inspecting - Merlin recognised it as the Hanson contract. They were interrupting important reading.

"I suppose that is correct, as he is no longer my employee to fire."

"I won't let you."

Uther sighed, put down the contract and took off his reading glasses.

"Mr. Emrys, would you be so kind as to close the door? This is hardly a discussion for the whole workforce to hear."

Fuming slightly, Merlin pulled the door shut.

"Arthur," Uther continued, "How I manage my employees is completely outside your jurisdiction. To come in here and cause a scene serves no purpose."

"You can't fire someone for being in a relationship."

"He is - was - my personal assistant. He is supposed to have my trust, and he betrayed it. That is more than enough reason to let him go."

"Rehire him, then."

"Arthur, I keep telling you. You have no say in the matter."

"Rehire him, or I'll leave."

"You'll what?"

For once, Merlin completely agreed with Uther. They both stared at Arthur as if he'd grown an extra head.

"I'll leave," he repeated.

"That is preposterous. If you think that it will look good on your resume - "

"You have been training me to be able to take care of my own company eventually anyway. I could set up something. I have the contacts. We've a loyal workforce, father, loyal to us both, but if they were forced to choose, how many do you think would continue in your support? And how many would be mine - ours?"

At this point, he took hold of Merlin's hand, although the latter was uncertain whether he wanted to be labelled accomplice in this threat. Apparently not finished, Arthur added,

"You'll be seeing Merlin anyway. He's part of the family now."

That was a thought that set off about a hundred alarm bells in Merlin's head, through which he could barely hear Uther's reply.

"You would dare? You would ruin everything our family has worked for, or the sake of… Merlin?"

"I don't want to. But if I have to, yes, I will. For the sake of love."

Merlin didn't know which urge was stronger, to cringe in shame, to punch Arthur in the face, or to kiss him senseless. None of them seemed to befit the moment, so he settled for shivering while squeezing his hopeless boyfriend's hand. Uther's murderous gaze shifted towards Merlin.

"Very well. There will be no need for that."

Merlin could feel Arthur's relief.

"Do continue packing, though, Emrys. I will have you redistributed." He pointedly looked back at his son. "If only to avoid even further accusations of nepotism."

Arthur's grin when they were finally safe back in his office was insufferable.

"I saved the day," he proudly proclaimed.

"You had a course of action ready."

"Yep."

"All this time."

"Yep."

"You sod." Merlin hit him on the arm. "If you ever pull a stunt like that ever again, I'm out."

Arthur's self-satisfied expression fell a bit at that.

"But it all worked out."

"Well, granted. But you didn't think to ask my opinion, give me a say in this, or even, you know, the tiniest heads up?"

"I thought you'd be relieved."

"I am. I think. Also a little bit terrified at the prospect of being part of your father's family. I - I - Just, you know. You're a bit of a prat."

"If there is anything in the world that I really thought you knew…"

Merlin could no longer hold back a smile. He rolled his eyes and pressed a brief kiss to Arthur's lips.

"Just tell me beforehand next time you plan on doing something stupid and dramatic."

"I think you mean heroic."

"Prat," Merlin repeated.

"Your prat," Arthur specified, "For as long as you'll have me, that is."

-End.