Twenty-three, and feeling a lot older for his age, Arthur sat on the bar counter, watching his friends make an absolute fool of themselves. Gwaine was already on his way to being absolutely drunk and dancing on the dance floor, gyrating his hips in a way he no doubt thought was sexy, but with his poor co-ordination while sloshed, looked downright ridiculous. Lance was a cheesy drunk, who was by now proclaiming his undying love to Gwen, who was giggling like a schoolgirl; Arthur was pretty sure neither of them will remember it in the morning.
This was their graduation party.
Its been 4 years, since he came back from his so called quest-to-find-himself. 4 years since Merlin had said it was time… 4 years that him and Merlin had lived together in the same world, breathed same air, looked at the same moon and the sun!
During that time, Merlin wrote to him almost regularly, except rather than reading the letters sitting under a tree in Avalon, Arthur read them in his bedroom, or college, or wherever he is when the letters are written. Its as natural as breathing, Arthur always felt like he was being called,felt a gentle pull,closed his eyes for a moment, and read a letter as if it was in his hand. Many a times his friends had caught him sitting on a table, smiling at nothing, and made fun of him till he flushed and had to excuse himself. They told him he was in love… the thing was,it was kinda true!
Gwaine choose that moment to come to him wobbling, stinking of sweat and beer.
"Come on Arthur, dance with us!"
"No thankyou, i would rather not get trampled down there"
"What is it that you're drinking!" Gwaine snatched Arthur's drink,took a sip, and spluttered. "Is that apple juice! That's preposterous! You can't drink that!"
"Well i can't now!"
"Come on Arthur, have some fun! Look there" Gwaine points towards the other side of a counter where a young, fairly good looking man was sitting. "He has been eyeing you for the better part of an hour!" Gwaine told him in a mock whisper
Arthur turned back to look at him,the man raised his glass and smiled. He was tall and lean, with ginger hair… And that was as good a turn off for him as anything.
"Not my type Gwaine" Arthur said, turning away.
"Nobody is your type princess! What happened to the playboy we knew and loved? If i am not wrong you haven't gotten laid in the last 4 years! Come on!"
"I am waiting…" a smiled crept on his face!
"Yeah? Waiting for whom?"
"I am waiting Arthur, I am waiting for you" Merlin had said two days ago, when Arthur was in middle of lunch.
"Princess! Stop going into your fantasy land! Waiting for whom?" Gwaine snapped his fingers in front of him.
"Someone special…" Arthur said fondly, and ignoring the weird looks he got in return, he paid his bill and got up to go home.
Arthur didn't know what destiny has planned for him, but he had taken up administrative studies in university, so it was only natural to join his father's company after graduation. He figured whatever destiny wanted him to be, if it was important, Merlin would've told him.
Waiting for Merlin to find him was excruciating, but at the same time it was weirdly exciting as well. Arthur couldn't stop staring at every person while walking to his office, on the tube, in a park, at restaurants… looking for the familiar mop of dark hair (even though he had not seen them before in his life) , for the thin bony figure he was sure he could recognize from a mile away, and for those eyes, those distinct blue eyes. Sometimes he thought he would go mad with the anticipation of finding Merlin; in a crowd of hundreds and thousands of ordinary people,finally finding the sorcerer that waited for him for ages.
He thought of Merlin all the time. Couldn't really help it. Merlin had decided to adapt himself to the new century when he realized that Arthur had been born at long last. Arthur chuckled while opening the door to his car, remembering Merlin's reaction to the modern means of transport when he first travelled in a bus…
"I am riding in a tiny box of metal! A TINY METAL BOX WITH WHEELS AND GOING AT THE SPEED OF LIGHT! I might not survive this journey Arthur, and if that's so...this is goodbye!"
And later when Merlin passed his driving test…
"I am the most powerful wizard to be born in this world, and i have never felt as powerful and as out of control as i do when driving this piece of metal."
The idiot! My idiot… Arthur thought on the way to his office.
Arthur knew Merlin worked at some library in London ; the fact that he was in the same city as him still sent a shiver of anticipation down his back! Merlin loved books, he always had, and after getting the job he couldn't stop talking about them for weeks!
"So many books Arthur, and i can read them for no cost at all. I am getting paid for sitting in a cozy chair and reading stories of civilizations, of love and of war, of little animals and of magic! My favourite thing to do is reading history books and spotting the mistakes and the lies. If spot-the-wrong-fact was a drinking game i would be drunk on the first chapter!"
"Of course you would be drunk on the first chapter", Arthur thought, shaking his head fond exasperation, "You never could hold your liquor."
Merlin had opinions on everything and he liked to keep Arthur informed about them! From the way ice-cream tasted, "too sickly sweet, but i like it!", to how ridiculous modern music was, "It gives me a headache! Its so loud!" . He hated things with a passion, "I absolutely hate ties! I want to find the person who invented them and strangle him with it, and then strangle his entire family! These things are an abomination." And loved things with just as much dedication, "I have finally found something i love more than you! Coffee! Heaven on earth. "
And because of that, even though Arthur had not had a relationship for years and only had a handful of friends, he never felt alone -no matter how much of a loner Morgana taunted him to be. He just had someone unorthodox, didn't mean he was lonely.
After having an uneventful but exhausting day at work, Arthur drove back to gym. No matter how much he craved to just collapse into the bed, he remembered Merlin saying a couple of months back,
"I bought a blue shirt and a jeans today. I look kind of good in them...i think?..or at least i hope. Now that i know i am gonna meet you soon, i can't stop thinking about how ridiculous i look. You have always been so gorgeous, i can't help thinking you won't want me!"
That night Arthur had stood in front of a mirror. He had always been called handsome, and had always thought of himself as a fairly good looking person, but now all he saw were flaws! His teeth were crooked and his muscles too soft and there was that little bit of flabby extra flesh on his belly. This wasn't the Arthur Merlin remembered. The Arthur Merlin knew used to practice sword fighting for hours everyday, he won all jousting challenges, he was fit and built. Arthur had never before felt self conscious, until that night. Since then he had made it a point to hit the gym everyday!
At night, Arthur laid down on bed, tired but feeling accomplished... feeling good, and hopeful. Staring at the ceiling he whispered , willing Merlin to hear it... to hear him.
"Come on Merlin, come home. Come home to me."
Arthur was waiting in line at a little cafe for his usual morning coffee. He had never been a coffee fan until Merlin had confessed to liking coffee more than he liked him, and then in jealousy had started trying it, and then fell in love with it much to his chagrin. He was late for work and that made him unusually impatient and irritable.
Paying for his coffee he turned quickly, taking out his cellphone to text Leon that he will he there in ten minutes, and crashed into the person standing in front, spilling hot coffee all over them.
"Would you watch where you're going!" Said a disgruntled voice.
"Why don't you watch where you're going, blind idiot!" Late, impatient. unusually asshole-ish, remember?
"You ruined my clothes you arse, i am gonna be late for work!"
"What about my suit ,you dolt! Do you know how much it even costs!" Arthur was still cleaning his suit with a tissue-paper and didn't even look up to see who he was talking to.
"You… you are such a privileged pretentious prat!"
Something about the way the person had said prat, made him look up! Arthur's breath caught in his throat at the sight that greeted stood Merlin. He really hadn't changed all that much since Arthur saw him last. He still had those same strikingly blue eyes, even though they looked much older and wiser, and were currently looking furious with rightful anger. His hair were in the familiar disarray, his lips the same pink and soft looking, except rather than a smile, they were currently pulled down in an extremely displeased expression.
"That's right! You're a Prat! A prat a prat a prat! I can say it as many times as you want .You can keep staring at me in shock and indignation but its not gonna change what i called you!"
With that Merlin huffed out an angry breath, turned around, and stomped out of the cafe while Arthur was still rooted on spot!
Merlin had not recognized him. Was it because Arthur had changed so much, or because everything he had seen till now was a delusion after all? Was Arthur going mad? Or maybe Merlin was being his usual dense self and will realize his mistake later.
Arthur opened his phone, called Leon and told him he is taking a day off, ordered another coffee and sat down in the corner of the cafe. He was on his 2nd cup an hour later when he felt the familiar pull of Merlin writing to him, so he closed his eyes and began to read,
"I am so angry right now! I got coffee spilled on me by an absolute prick today! It ruined my clothes and burnt me , but the git didn't even have the decency to even apologize. He called ME a blind idiot instead. God! I could have punched him, but he looked so much like you even through the haze of anger that i couldn't bring myself to. Same blue eyes and same blond hair and same crooked teeth. I swear nobody have managed to incite such rightful indignation in me ever since you died, and this lordly privileged bastard..."
Arthur could literally hear the gears turning in Merlin's head!
"Oh my GOD, THAT WAS YOU WASN'T IT..."
He knew it! Merlin was just being the dense slugbrained fool as usual. Nothing new in that. Sipping his coffee he waited.
Ten minutes later the door of the cafe slammed open and Merlin stumbled inside. He looked out of breath, like he had ran all the way. He was also looking straight at Arthur. Slowly, Arthur rose up from his seat to stand up, and Merlin slowly stepped closer, keeping eye contact, as though Arthur would vanish if he blinked.
A finger poked into his rib cage.
"Ow, what was that for?"
"Arthur?" His voice was barely a whisper.
"Yes its me."
"Arthur? You are Arthur? Arthur Pendragon!" Merlin sounded lost, so Arthur took his hand into his.
"Yes i am Arthur... Your Arthur."
"My Arthur"
"Yes."
Merlin snatched his hand back, balled it up and punched him in the chest!
"What?" Arthur was shocked!
Another punch hit him in the ribs, and then another, until Arthur raised his hand and gripped Merlin's wrist tightly.
"Let me go you bastard" Merlin said, and Arthur did.
Next second his arms were around him, choking him with surprising strength, but he didn't mind. He clung to Merlin just as tightly.
"You're back" Merlin said after what felt like hours,his voice wet, his grip loosened and it felt like Merlin had lost all the fight he had in him.
"Merlin..."
"I waited...i waited for so long...i waited." He was openly crying now.
"I know Merlin, I know..."
"I am sorry, Oh God i am so sorry for letting you die. I am sorry." Merlin was babbling between sobs.
"It's okay, shhh, its okay." Arthur rubbed his back, trying to sooth him.
He knew they were causing a scene, so he slowly pushed Merlin away, which only made him cling harder.
"Hey...I am not going anywhere, lets just get out of here okay? We can go to my place. Let go Merlin..."
Slowly, Merlin untangled his hands from back of Arthur's coat, and let him drag him to the car. As Arthur drove towards his house- one handed because Merlin had refused to relinquish his hold on the other hand- Arthur knew that there were a lot of things they had to talk about . But he couldn't bring himself to care about them right now, with Merlin sitting right beside him,their fingers entwined had beat all the odds, waited longer than anyone could even count; and now that they were together, the rest of the world could burn, it could be the freaking apocalypse,but Arthur just didn't give a damn.
A/N: I am not that happy with this chapter, i dunno why! But well...its done! Next chapter would be the last! Do let me know what you all thought..:D