Hey guys!

I know it's been a while, but I was away at a convention this weekend, so I didn't really have much time to write. Anyway, I'm back now! A lot of you were quite confused about the last chapter, and I know it was quite a mean cliff-hanger. Hopefully, all will be explained in this chapter! At least, I hope so.

I know it's really short, but I promise you the next chapter will be longer. I hope the quality of the writing's still good though. I worked quite hard on this chapter, and I had the opening and closing lines in my head already, and I was set on using them, so . . . yeah. I hope you like it, anyway!

We're nearing the end now, only a few chapters left to go! :D

Enjoy!

Megz

oxox

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"I love you."

The words were spinning around his head like it was a whirlpool, and it made him feel like tearing his hair out in frustration and confusion. Merlin knew what it must have looked like, storming out of there like that, leaving Arthur, and saying nothing. But at the time, he hadn't really been thinking about that. His first thought had been to run, so he'd followed his instincts. And now, here he was, pacing, at the end of the corridor he'd been sat in that very morning. His hands were in his hair, and he felt like just kicking out, or punching something.

How had things gotten so messed up?

A few weeks ago, if someone had told Merlin he'd have two perfect and amazing guys both chasing after his affections; he probably would've laughed in their face. And if you'd told him that one of them would be Arthur Pendragon, he may have died of shock. But, for some unknown reason, it was true. And now Merlin would have to choose between them. And he didn't think he'd be able to.

First of all, there was 'A'. Someone who he'd only known for a few weeks. Someone who he'd never even met. Someone who might not even be real. But on the off chance that they were, Merlin couldn't rule him out completely. 'A' had been there for him from the beginning, he'd cared, he'd listened, and he'd actually wanted to listen. He was funny, sarcastic, charming, and even a little arrogant. Not only that, but he was smart. And there weren't a whole lot of them going around at Camelot High at the moment. He was honest, and didn't try to impress Merlin by building himself up to be some kind of hero.

And although Merlin had never met him, he'd built up so much information he'd gathered, that in his mind, he couldn't not be real. He was in all of Merlin's classes, he lived with his father and step-sister, although his relationship with his father was far from perfect, he'd never known his mother, and he paid for Merlin's books. He was born into a lot of money, mostly from his father, though he wasn't vain about it. As far as Merlin knew, he was the first one that 'A' had told about his sexuality, and his problems with his friends. And he seemed to watch Merlin quite a lot.

And then there was Arthur . . .

Arthur was a different story altogether. He wasn't as easy for Merlin to understand as 'A' was. Sometimes, Merlin wondered whether it was just one big game. Maybe Arthur didn't know it, but it was. Arthur was the games master, and he was constantly changing the rules without warning. Merlin was struggling to keep up. Arthur challenged him, and made him think. And Merlin supposed that was one of the reasons he liked him so much. And why he might even love him -

Love? Do I . . . do I love Arthur? Merlin thought to himself. He stopped pacing, and his hands went back to his sides. He hadn't even so much as thought about love ever since what happened with Will . . . was he finally moving on? Was this what it felt like? Because it didn't feel any different. In fact, it almost felt worse. He'd never felt more conflicted and torn in his life, and he quite literally had no idea what to do. He loved Arthur, but he still had no idea how he felt about 'A' . . . was it even possible to fall in love with someone that you'd never met? Merlin didn't even know.

But he didn't want to hurt either of them, and he had to make a decision soon. The longer he dragged it out, would mean he was just hurting both of them even more. The only problem was that he still didn't know who 'A' was. And he was almost certain that if he knew, it'd make his decision about 90% easier. Choosing 'A' over Arthur would mean that he'd have to put all of his faith into something, that might turn out to be a lie in the end anyway. And Merlin didn't know if he was ready for that, or the pain it would cause him.

Merlin sighed, leaning back against the wall. Why did it have to be so hard? He'd waited so long for the perfect guy, and then two had come along at the same time. It was something that most people only dreamed of, but now Merlin wished things could just go back to the way they were before. Why did there have to be two of them? And why did they have to be so perfect? It wasn't fair. If only they could just be the same person or something, then it wouldn't -

And then it hit him.

Is in all of his classes.

Mother died when he was born.

Strained relationship with his father.

Close to his step-sister.

Born into a lot of money.

All of the pieces were now beginning to fit together in Merlin's mind, and he mentally slapped himself for not getting it sooner. All those times that 'A' had tried to convince him that Arthur liked him . . . the books . . . Morgana . . . all those subtle hints that Arthur had been dropping the last few weeks . . . and now Arthur was angry at him. Because Merlin had told him that he liked someone else. But Arthur wouldn't tell him that's what it was, because Merlin hadn't told Arthur, he'd told 'A'.

'A'.

'A' was Arthur.

"That bastard."

Well? I'm sorry once again that it's so short, but let me know what you thought! REVIEW! :D