Hey guys!

So, I know that last chapter was also very short, but this one, I GUARANTEE you, will be longer. Thank you for all of your kind reviews and support, it really does mean a lot. This fic has already almost reached 100 reviews, and is almost at 100 followers, and that means a lot!

These were some questions that were asked;

Tallulah Edwards - "How long till Merlin figures out that Arthur's A?"

xPrinceArthurx - "How long until Merlin finds out it's Arthur?"

I can't really say for sure, but the fic will be longer than 15 chapters, I know that for certain now. Merlin will find out/figure it out in the last few chapters of the story. When I know for sure how long that will be, I'll tell you.

- "I want to know what the fight between Arthur and his dad was about."

It was just that Arthur finally stood up for himself, telling his father that he can make his own decisions, and he's not going to be ordered around anymore. And, well, Uther didn't take that so well. If you want, I could do a flashback, showing you what happened, if that's what you guys want. But I prefer the mystery.

WishIwasthere - "A little overboard there, huh?"

I know, but Merlin's words needed to really needed to hurt Arthur, and that was the only way I could think of to do it. It probably wouldn't have seemed as bad as it did, if I'd introduced Arthur bullying Merlin a little more, showed you the pain he caused him for all those years. But, don't we all go a little overboard sometimes, and say things that we don't really mean? :)

Cloud9 - "Why didn't the teacher do anything?"

I think because, first of all, it happened kind of fast, and also, because they were just so shocked that someone was actually standing up to Arthur.

That's all for now, I think, but if any of you have any other questions, let me know, because I love to answer them!

Enjoy!

Megz

oxox

The next day, Merlin was sat in Science class again, waiting for the minute the lesson would be over, so he could go to lunch. Arthur hadn't showed up to any of the lessons that day, and Merlin was beginning to worry. He knew he'd gone too far, he knew that, and the moment Arthur returned, he was going to apologize straight away, and beg for his forgiveness. But it was unlike Arthur not to come to class. For one of the most popular boys in school, Arthur was one of the only ones that attended every class, and never skipped school. So that made it even worse.

He already regretted everything he'd said to Arthur, no matter how true some of it had been, it was uncalled for. But that was what happened to Merlin sometimes, and it was his own fault, really. He spent all his time bottling up his pain, keeping it inside, and never telling anyone, or letting it out. And then, in one single moment, it would all come spilling out in a furious rage. And he was often unable to control it.

Arthur had bullied him for years, and it had taken this long for Merlin to tell him even a small part of how it felt. There were so many times he'd wanted Arthur to understand. Thinking that, maybe, if he did, he wouldn't be so cruel. From the day that they first met, Arthur had picked on Merlin, and his friends had followed. It had taken a while for Merlin to make friends, because of how insecure Arthur and his friends had made him feel. But, over time, Gwen and Morgana had been able to patch him back together. And it seemed, on the outside, that Arthur's words no longer hurt him. But they did.

Still, it hadn't been as bad recently. Arthur wasn't bullying him as much, and it seemed that maybe he and his friends had gotten bored. That was less likely to happen now. After what Merlin had said to him, things were almost guaranteed to go back to normal, probably even worse. Even if Arthur never spoke to him again, even if he never even told his friends what happened, most of them had heard Merlin's outburst anyway, or at least seen the punch, they would know that he'd hurt Arthur somehow. It would only be a few days before they acted.

No one had said a word to him all day, not even Morgana and Gwen. He could tell they were mad at him, or, at least, Morgana was. He was waiting until lunch to explain himself. He knew he shouldn't have mentioned Arthur's father. That had definitely taken it too far, and Morgana in particular wouldn't be happy about that. But they didn't know. They didn't know how much words could hurt, especially over that length of time. And just because he'd stopped talking to them about it, it didn't mean the pain wasn't still there.

Looking around the classroom, he tried to find someone, anyone, who would actually look him in the eye. Yet, he could find none. Not even the teacher would look at him, he just kept turning back to the board, or switching his gaze to another student. Morgana and Gwen were facing the front stiffly, refusing to turn around, and Merlin wanted to shout out to them, but he couldn't really say he blamed them.

The clock ticked, and Merlin's eyes flitted to it quickly. Five more minutes. He looked down at his book, seeing the only thing he'd actually written was the date. Turning back a few pages, he hadn't been doing that much work recently. And when he thought about it, he hadn't done much in other classes, either. Sooner or later, his teachers were going to notice, and then he'd be in real trouble. His mother had had to do a lot of grovelling to get him into Camelot High in the first place, and all he was doing was setting himself up to get sent back to Ealdor. And he didn't want that, not anymore.

Just as the hands on the clock moved again, four more minutes, Merlin heard the classroom door slam. Still, he didn't move his gaze from the clock. Tapping his foot impatiently, he heard the teacher say;

"Ah, Mr Pendragon, so nice of you to grace us with your presence."

Merlin's eyes snapped over to the door, seeing Arthur nod at the teacher half-heartedly. He kept his head low, and made his way over to his seat. Instantly, Merlin's heart began to hammer in his chest, and he was engulfed in the scent of him. He'd never noticed until now, how intoxicating Arthur's smell was. As the class continued, Merlin turned in his seat to look at the blonde. He was looking down at the table, refusing to meet Merlin's eyes, and swinging his feet under the stool anxiously. Merlin could tell he wanted the lesson to finish as early as possible, just as he had, a few minutes ago.

"Arthur, I - " he began, whispering so as their conversation wouldn't be overheard. Not this time.

"It's fine, Merlin." Arthur replied shortly, still looking at the table. "Just leave it, okay? It doesn't matter."

"It's not fine, I shouldn't have said those things, and I'm sorr -"

"Stop," Arthur interrupted again, looking at Merlin this time. He paused for a moment, as the shrill sound of the school bell rang through the classroom. He looked right into Merlin's eyes, fixing him with a stony glare. Somehow, though, Merlin found it hard to look away. Arthur stood up, getting his bag, and throwing it back over his shoulder. Merlin stood with him. "I told you, leave it. It's not important."

And with that, he stormed out of the classroom for the second time in two days, and Merlin just stood, watching him walk away.

Later that day, a few hours after school had finished, Merlin found himself walking to the Pendragon's house in the rain. He was already soaked to the skin, but was determined to carry on walking. After Science class, the teacher had called him over, asking if he could talk to him about something. Merlin knew what it was about, it was obvious. A student couldn't just have a giant outburst in class, and not be expected to be punished for it. Except, he wasn't punished for it. The teacher explained to him that Arthur had come to see him after school yesterday, and "explained the whole thing". He'd told the teacher that it was all his fault, and that Merlin was in no way to blame. Arthur had a detention that night, for punching Merlin.

He couldn't believe it. After everything he'd said to him, Arthur had stuck up for Merlin, and got him out of trouble. And that was why, Merlin was walking to his house in the rain. Arthur deserved an apology, and a thanks, for getting Merlin out of trouble. He'd already explained to Morgana and Gwen most of what had happened, and whilst they hadn't completely forgiven him, they'd still all eaten lunch together, which was good enough for now.

Looking up through his eyelashes and the rain, Merlin finally found himself at the Pendragon's house. It never ceased to amaze him how big it was. He'd been there thousands of times, when Morgana invited him over, but he'd never get used to its size. House was probably the wrong word, it was more of a mansion, with a grand, circular driveway, with a small patch of grass in the middle. He made his way up to the door, and rang the bell. He heard it ring throughout the house, and heard a clack of heels running to the door.

The door was thrown open, and there stood Morgana. He saw the confusion fall across her face, and a slight hint of anger still lay behind her eyes. But, seeing Merlin stood on her doorstep, shivering and wet, she sighed, stepping aside to let him in. It almost mirrored the situation from the other night perfectly, when she'd shown up at Gwen's doorstep. Giving him a small smile, she ran upstairs to get some towels, while Merlin swung his arms awkwardly, awaiting her return.

He kept going over in his head what he'd say to Arthur, and how he'd get him to forgive him, eventually. He wasn't sure why he wanted his forgiveness so much, but he put it down to the fact that he just never liked to see people in pain. Emotional, or physical. He just wished he could say the same for Arthur. Still, he wanted him to forgive him, then he wouldn't feel so bad about what he'd done.

Morgana came running back down the stairs, and threw a towel at Merlin. And in just a few minutes, the two of them managed to get him moderately dry. His hair was still damp, and his clothes were a mess, but it was an improvement. Turning to look at Morgana, who laughed, when he gave his hair a shake like a wet dog, he went to speak, but she interrupted him. She always knew exactly what he was going to say. He never knew how, but she just did.

"He's upstairs."

Merlin nodded at her, and she pulled him in for a quick hug, before sending him up the stairs. Taking it one step at a time, Merlin wrung his hands, and took deep breaths. He passed walls of neatly placed, modern art, and tread carefully on the expensive, Egyptian carpet. He never understood why Morgana and Arthur went to Camelot High. Yes, their father was the Headmaster, and he pretty much owned the school, but everyone knew Uther could afford to send them to any of the top grammar schools in the country. God knows both of them were smart enough.

Not that there was anything wrong with Camelot High, of course not, Merlin loved it there, it's just, there were better schools. And since Uther seemed to give his children the best of everything, it made no sense to Merlin why that wouldn't include the best education.

He passed countless doors, and counted his way along. He'd come up with a number system for the Pendragon's house, as there were so many doors, he often got confused. It was not unlike the hallway of a hotel, just an endless string of doors on each side, except none were labelled, which made it harder. One to the left, Uther's room, one to the right, bathroom, two to the left, Morgana's room, two to the right, Morgana's wardrobe, three to the left, second living room, three to the right, Uther's study, four to the left, first guest room, four to the right, second guest room, five to the left, second bathroom, five to the right, second kitchen, six to the left, games room, aaaaaaand six to the right . . . Arthur's room.

Morgana had told Merlin once that Arthur had asked specifically for his room to be at the end of the hallway. He was quite closed off at home, and often spent most of his time in his room, as he didn't like being around his father. Morgana often spent time with him in there, as he only ever came out to go in the games room, or to use the second kitchen. And as there was a duplicate of everything he might have needed downstairs, upstairs, he never really needed to leave the second floor. And Merlin couldn't say he blamed him.

Raising his hand to the door, he knocked lightly, half-hoping that Arthur wouldn't hear it. He didn't know why he was suddenly nervous, but the feeling didn't seem to be going away any time soon. He held his breath, as if, somehow, Arthur would hear his erratic breathing through the door.

"Whoever it is, go away." came the sharp reply, and Merlin couldn't help but feel a little offended, even if it was his fault that Arthur was angry and upset. Still, he gritted his teeth, clenched his fists, and opened the door slowly.

He'd never been in Arthur's room before, and it took him a moment to adjust, as it was not at all what he had expected. Merlin had been expecting a white, pristine room, with everything being very symmetrical and simple, though grand in size. And while it was just as grand, it was not at all like he had thought. In the middle of the room, was Arthur's bed, which was a perfect rectangle, with dark crimson sheets. Behind it, the wallpaper was a photograph of what Merlin could only guess was New York city. A bookcase was next to Arthur's bed, with more books than Merlin could even dream of owning, although the Pendragons had a small room that they used as a library downstairs.

The other walls were painted red, with posters of various bands that Merlin had never heard of, and different guitars. In one corner, facing the window, was a desk, and chair, which Arthur was now currently occupying. His laptop sat at the side of the desk, with the rest of it being covered with paper that Arthur had scribbled on. On the other side of the room, was a small, black sofa. Merlin walked over to it, looking a lot more confident than he felt, and sat down carefully.

"We need to talk," he whispered. Whether Arthur had noticed his presence before he spoke, Merlin couldn't tell, but he turned casually to face him nonetheless.

"There's nothing to talk about, it's done." Arthur replied numbly. He wasn't even looking at Merlin properly, it was more like he was looking through him. He didn't even say anything about the fact that Merlin had come into his room without really asking to.

"No, we have to talk about this, I -" Merlin paused, clasping his hands together in his lap, and leaning forward. "I'm sorry, about what I said to you, I . . . I'm sorry about all of it. I never meant any of it, I was just . . . I was angry. I shouldn't have said the things that I did, I know that now. I took it too far, and it became too personal, and you have no idea how bad I feel right now. I-"

"Merlin, I've told you, just leave it."

"I can't, I shouldn't have said that to you, I was wrong, and I'm sorry. You can say it doesn't matter all you want, but it's obvious that it does, otherwise you wouldn't be acting like this. Just . . . say something? Something about how you really feel, and not what you think I, or anybody else wants to hear. Just tell me that what I said did have some kind of an impact on you, because I can tell that it did! You want everyone to think that you're numbed to that kind of pain, that you don't feel hurt, fine, but just be real with me, at least?"

"You want me to be real with you?" Arthur asked, a hint of anger in his voice as he stood. He dragged his chair over to where Merlin was, and sat facing him. "Fine, I'll be real. What you said, it hurt. You know it did, so I don't know why you're asking. But it hurt so much because . . . everything that you said, it's true, and you and I both know it."

Merlin was taken aback. "How can you think that, even for a second?" he asked, looking into the blonde's eyes. "Of course it's not true, none of it's true, okay? I said some terrible things to you, things that were private, things that were personal, it was my fault, not yours."

"But I hurt you, Merlin," Arthur sighed, burying his head in his hands. "I hurt you, and I never even gave it a second thought. All those things I said, everything I did, making fun of you, taunting you, I never stopped to think about what it might have been doing to you. I was selfish, and only thought about myself, and how I was feeling. I'm so sorry, Merlin. So, incredibly sorry. No one deserves to be treated the way that I treated you."

"Arthur, you're missing the point," Merlin was the one to sigh this time, thinking of some way he might be able to get through to him. "You're not a bad person, I know you're not. You've made some bad choices, sure, but it happens to everyone. Everything you've done to me, if you never do it again, I'm sure I'd be able to find it in myself to forgive you."

"How could you?" Arthur asked, clasping his hands in his lap, but looking at the floor. And suddenly, without warning, Merlin found himself reaching out for those hands. He placed his small, paint-covered hand over both of Arthur's causing him to finally look him in the eye.

"Because, despite what everyone else may believe, you're just another human being, Arthur. You make mistakes, you have regrets, you laugh, you cry, you love, you feel alone, just as everybody else does. Sometimes people forget that. And just like any other human being, you deserve to be forgiven for your mistakes, so that you can move on from them. So that you can become the better person that I now know you can be."

"Thank you, Merlin." Arthur whispered, using one of his hands to pat the other boy's lightly.

"What did I do?" Merlin asked, tilting his head to one side.

"You didn't do anything, you just . . . " Arthur paused for a second, as his warm, blue eyes met Merlin's icy ones. "You taught me something."

Merlin's last few minutes with Arthur had passed in a comfortable silence, before he'd decided to leave. He'd left with nothing more than a goodbye, but neither of them minded. It had stopped raining now, as Merlin walked home, and the sun was just peeking out from behind the clouds. And Merlin didn't usually believe in that type of thing, but he took it as a sign. A sign that things were going to get better, were going to be better from now on.

Walking confidently down the street, Merlin was hit by a sudden thought, that made him stop in his tracks.

Had he just spent half an hour, defending Arthur Pendragon?

He guessed he had. Because, sitting with Arthur in that room, he'd realized some things that he'd never really thought about before. And although it seemed he'd had no control over most of the things he'd said, they'd come quite naturally, and, if Merlin was being honest with himself, he had probably never spoken truer words in his life.

There was no point holding a grudge against Arthur. Because, in the end, he was just another human being, and he did make mistakes. He was sorry, and that was all that mattered.

Because everyone deserved to be forgiven.

Well? I'm not so sure about this chapter, but let me know what you thought, anyway. REVIEW! :)