Hey guys!

So I'm glad that you liked the last chapter, as it did take quite a while to write. I'm sorry about the slow update, but I had another story to update as well, and exams all week, so that's why the update's been a little slower this week.

Kelll made a very good point, that Merlin got over Arthur's bullying a little too fast. I completely agree with you, as I don't think I'd get over something that fast if it happened to me. I guess, the only explanation I can give for that is I wanted Merlin to be a very forgiving person. He saw that Arthur was truly sorry, and especially after he saved him from Mordred, he sort of couldn't not forgive him. I know that's still not a very good explanation, but I completely see where you're coming from, and I could have made their friendship a bit more gradual.

Enjoy!

Megz

oxox

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Merlin was walking home from school a few days later, when he got a text. He slowed to pull his phone out of his pocket, and glanced quickly at the screen. He sighed, looking around him.

Come over?.x - Morgana

K. - Merlin

He sighed, changing his route. He'd call Gaius later, depending on how long this was going to take. Obviously, Morgana wanted to talk to him about something. But about what, he didn't know. She'd seemed perfectly fine at school, so why she was asking him to come over now, he couldn't understand. Not that he was complaining. He had nothing to do tonight, so it wasn't as if she was interrupting anything. Still, he had a feeling already that whatever she wanted him for, it wouldn't be good.

All day, she'd been throwing him funny glances, Gwen too. He'd just turn around in a lesson, and there the two of them would be, just . . . staring at him. Then they'd do that perfectly synchronized evil grin that they'd been doing lately, and turn away. And Merlin didn't like it, he didn't like it one bit. Because he had a feeling that they had something planned, and whenever the two of them got together to plan something . . . it never ended well. The last time they'd planned something, him and Arthur had ended up sharing a bed. (Not that that experience had been entirely bad.)

Arthur had said he'd talked to his father about Mordred, and that Uther had said he'd look into it. He hadn't really said much more about it, and Merlin guessed it was probably because there wasn't much more to tell. From what he could see, Arthur and his father hadn't been talking much lately, if at all. It seemed like talking about Mordred was one of the few, if the only conversations they'd had in weeks. It was weird to think that Arthur cared about his safety that much, he'd stopped fighting with his father for it, even if only for a few moments. He knew how stubborn Arthur could be, so that was a big thing for him.

Merlin rounded the corner to the Pendragon's house, and it suddenly hit him that, ever since he'd become friends with Arthur, he was coming to their house more and more often. It was becoming almost like a second home. And he wasn't just going there for Morgana any more either, but he tried not to think about that too much. His . . . feelings for Arthur were getting very confusing. And Morgana and Gwen really weren't helping. Whatever they had planned, he hoped to God that it didn't involve Arthur, but he doubted it.

He made his way towards the door, hoping that it wouldn't be Uther that would answer. Too many questions, and he might even bring up the Mordred Thing, and Merlin really didn't want to talk about that, especially not with Uther Pendragon, of all people. He wanted it sorted out, of course, just with as little involvement from him as possible. And it seemed, so far, that Uther was keeping things on a need-to-know basis, which was good. He hadn't approached Merlin, or Mordred, as far as Merlin knew, and he was glad. But it could only mean one of two things; Uther was really thinking it through, and gathering information, or he didn't think it was worth his time, and had completely forgotten about it already. Merlin was hoping for the former.

He raised his hand to knock on the door, and upon his third knock, the door swung open dramatically to reveal . . .

Arthur.

Alright, Morgana was definitely planning something. Merlin didn't know how, but he just knew. This was all part of Morgana and Gwen's weird plan to . . . well Merlin didn't really know what they were trying to do exactly. Although, since it involved him and Arthur, based on the events of a few nights ago, it wasn't hard to guess what they were trying to do. Merlin only hoped Arthur hadn't figured it out too. He didn't want things to be awkward between them.

"That bitch," Merlin muttered under his breath, laughing a little. Arthur raised an eyebrow, obviously having heard what he said and Merlin sighed. "Morgana . . . she's not here, is she?"

"She left about five minutes ago, said she had something very important to do. I assume that 'very important thing' is shacking up with Leon, but I try not to judge," Arthur replied sarcastically, and Merlin laughed. Morgana and Leon weren't exactly keeping their relationship quiet, to say the least.

"I thought as much," Merlin shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Well, sorry for wasting your time,"

Merlin turned on his heel, and hunched his shoulders a little, trying to keep himself from the cold. Arthur stood, confused for a moment, before shaking himself a little. He stepped out onto the driveway, shouting over to Merlin.

"Merlin, wait!" Arthur yelled, and Merlin couldn't help but notice his socks. They were purple, covered with small pictures of Spongebob Squarepants and Gary the Snail. They were just so . . . bright, and so . . . not-Arthur. Merlin couldn't help but laugh, and Arthur looked down at his feet, suddenly embarrassed. He shrugged; "I . . ."

"No," Merlin grinned, "I like them. It's good to know that even the infamous Arthur Pendragon has his weaknesses, even if one of them happens to be a certain yellow little sponge. It's nice to know that not everybody's perfect, even you."

Arthur laughed, and gestured towards the house; "I hate to think you've had a wasted journey . . . Do you, um . . . do you want to come in? My father's out, so he won't mind."

And so Merlin nodded, following those ridiculous socks into Arthur's house, and up towards his room.

"So . . . you think I'm perfect?" Arthur teased, glancing over to Merlin on the other side of the room. They'd decided to get something to eat, and were currently scouring the kitchen for something that Merlin could actually eat. It seemed the scrawny village boy was allergic to just about every food that existed. Not only that, but he was also a vegetarian, so finding something that Merlin could eat, was proving a difficult task.

"W-What?" Merlin stuttered, poking his head around the door of the fridge. Arthur had absolutely no idea what to look for, so Merlin had decided to look instead. The Pendragons just had so much food. It was more than him and Hunith had gotten in a week, back in Ealdor. Arthur was sat on the counter-top across the room, as Merlin piled boxes of food next to him.

"Before, you said; 'It's nice to know that not everybody's perfect, even you.'" Arthur replied, sounding a lot more confident than he felt.

"I . . . that's not what I meant," Merlin said quickly, ducking his head back into the fridge, trying to hide his growing blush. This was uncharted territory for him and Arthur, and Merlin wasn't even entirely sure if Arthur knew what he was doing. It was obvious he was joking, but Merlin wondered if he wasn't just imagining the genuine curiosity in the young Pendragon's voice.

"And what did you mean?" Arthur asked, hopping off the counter-top, and raising an eyebrow. Merlin resisted the urge to turn round. Arthur was getting incredibly close, and he didn't seem to be stopping. Just the idea of turning round, and feeling Arthur's breath on his face . . . It was too strange to even think about. Still, Merlin's heart skipped several beats at the thought.

"I . . ." Merlin began, when suddenly, Arthur was right behind him, and Merlin had to turn round. Otherwise, the situation would have gotten increasingly more awkward than it already was . . . for the both of them. He turned, closing the fridge, and backed up a little, so he was right up against it. It was the largest amount of distance he could put between him and Arthur, at that moment in time. "I just meant that . . . everyone perceives you as this perfect, flawless person, super-human almost. They treat you like a God, and worship the ground you walk on. I just think that's a little too much to expect of a person. Because people aren't like that. They're flawed, and they make mistakes. It's just nice to know that I was right."

"You got all that . . . from a pair of socks?" Arthur asked, looking slightly sceptical. Merlin shook his head, and cleared his throat. Something about having Arthur so . . . close . . . it was doing things to his mind. Very not good, scary, wonderful things.

"It's a theory I've had in progress for a while now," Merlin shrugged, and Arthur laughed a little. The sound sent shivers down Merlin's spine, reminding him again, of how close they were. They were so close now, that the tips of their shoes were touching, and Merlin actually could feel Arthur's breath on his face now.

"You really are a mystery, Merlin Emrys," he laughed again, pushing himself away from the fridge, and Merlin let out a breath he wasn't even aware he'd been holding. He gave a nervous laugh, as Arthur jumped back onto the counter-top again.

"A great puzzle for the mind, that's me,"

He winced at his own pathetic attempt at banter, and opened the fridge once more. As Arthur shook his head at his own stupidity, Merlin attempted to hide his blush among the contents of Arthur's fridge.

Later that night, Arthur and Merlin walked back to Merlin's house. They'd talked for a while, both of them becoming completely unaware of the time. Most of their time had been spend talking in Arthur's room. Morgana had come back a while later, but had only poked her head round the door, than ran away (what could only be described as) cackling. Uther had been in the house the whole time, but was completely unaware that he even had a guest. He was like that though, Merlin had learned. He doubted that, if he and Uther passed in the street, he would even know who he was. Even though he'd been friends with his daughter for a few years now at least.

"Have you solved it yet?" Merlin asked, hands back in his pockets. Arthur walked along beside him, a now appropriate amount of space between them, making it a lot easier for Merlin to think. It was dark now, but in the glow of the street-lamps, Arthur looked just as perfect as ever. And Merlin hoped to God that Arthur couldn't read minds. Wouldn't want his ego getting any bigger than it already was.

"Solved what?" Arthur asked, cocking his head to the side as they walked. They were nearing Merlin's house now, but neither of them quite wanted the conversation to end. It was ridiculous, they'd been with each other pretty much all day, in, and out of school, and yet they still didn't want it to end.

"The 'Great Mystery' that is me," Merlin said sarcastically, and gave a little laugh, accompanied by a grin from Arthur.

"No, not yet," Arthur replied, and they turned onto Merlin's street. Merlin's house was only a few down, and they were in front of it before they even had chance to end the conversation. So they didn't. They walked up to the door, but neither made any move to leave. They simply stood, on the doorstep. "And I don't think I ever will, I'm afraid. But maybe that's for the best."

"How so?" Merlin asked, and it was his turn to look confused. Arthur took a few steps closer, and Merlin's breath caught in his throat. He couldn't . . . he wouldn't . . . would he? Arthur lifted a hand to Merlin's face, brushing a hair out of his eyes.

"Because then I'd have to come up with a new reason to constantly be around you," Arthur whispered, and Merlin saw him lean in. He knew what was coming, they both did. But Merlin's brain went into overdrive, and he didn't seem to be able to stop the words tumbling out of his mouth.

"I thought you wanted to 'protect me'?" he asked, and Arthur pulled back for a moment. His hand was still on Merlin's face, and it was quite obvious what was going to happen. Still, Merlin wasn't pushing him away, so that must mean something.

"Do you always have to be such a clotpole, Merlin?" Arthur teased, and Merlin looked confused again.

"You know, I'm not even sure that's a wo-"

Luckily, Merlin was cut off before he could carry on. By Arthur's lips on his.

Well? I know it was short, but I was really stuck on this chapter for a while. I hope it was alright? REVIEW! :D