"Arthur?"

There was no response beside the blonde man's shallow breathing. Merlin shifted awkwardly in the darkness as he tried to accept that his boyfriend was sleeping. He rolled into his belly, making sure he didn't rock the bed and wake up the other man. He huffed into the silence that surrounded him.

"Arthur?" He asked louder this time in the hope of getting a reply.

The Warlock lay stock still as he listened. There wasn't even a change in the shorter man's breathing pattern. Feeling fed up, Merlin crossed his arms in frustration and turned until he was facing his partner.

"Arthur?" Merlin was at normal speaking volume now causing the sleeping man to stir, "Wake up."

Arthur groaned and threw an arm over his eyes as he started to begrudgingly come back to consciousness. He rubbed his eyes and peered across at the Warlock, who was looking pretty smug, lying beside him.

"Morning, Arthur." Merlin chirped happily.

Arthur groaned. Clearly it wasn't morning, if the darkness was anything to go by anyway. He cast his eyes over the clock.

"My God, it's 2am. What do you want?" He couldn't help but snap slightly.

"… I can't sleep." The man whined.

"And? What am I supposed to do?" Arthur turned away from his partner and pulled the blanket back over his shoulder to stop the cold biting at his skin.

"… But I'm cold." Merlin whispered quietly.

There was a moment of silence as Arthur thought about the other man's statement. It was quite cold that night despite them being inside. He thought about the ice and snow that blanketed the world outside the window. Merlin could imagine Arthur chewing his lip in thought as he came to a decision.

"Fine," The blonde man muttered as he turned onto his back and lay his arm out, welcoming the Warlock.

Merlin happily accepted the invitation as he slipped next to his partner in the bed. The taller man clung close to Arthur, absorbing the body heat, as he tucked the blanket tightly around them.

"Arthur…"

"Merlin," The elder man said sternly. "Go to sleep."

"It's just... I love you." Merlin spoke softly as he rested his head against Arthur's chest to hear the comforting thump thump of his heart.

They had both drifted back to sleeping within minutes of the warm embrace and stayed that way right through until morning.