Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, well, technically I do, just not in a reality sense. Take it as you will. *insert manical laughter here*
A/N: So first off I'd like to apologize to all of you for such a long time since I last updated, but I have a resonable excuse! Halfway through last week, my glasses had to have their lenses changed. Originally they were supposed to come back the following day, but due to a damn postal strike (Damn you Australia Post!) they didn't arrive. So currently I'm blind until tomorrow, and just writing one hundred words or less has been very hard as I can hardly see the computer screen now as I... ah... type. But here we are! The second last chapter - yes, I gave in to all of you who wished for two more, so here you go, Reviews are loved and enjoy!
As the sky cleared allowing the morning rays to penetrate down through the foliage, and the final drops of water slithered down the leaves onto the ground, Arthur placed Merlin's hand around his shoulder and his own around Merlin's waist as they made their way back to Camelot.
Everything was so much clearer in the daytime, which gave Arthur a better idea of where he was, and which direction Camelot was.
"Aren't you cold?" Merlin asked, indicating the rain jacket and his drenched jeans.
Arthur couldn't help but roll his eyes at the dark haired boy, "What do you think Merlin?"
"I take it that's a yes then?" Merlin whispered, stumbling slightly on his own feet.
"No, I'm fine. You on the other hand..." he trailed off as he examined the boy's wounds in the daylight. The gash on his leg had stopped bleeding and had clotted up much to Arthur's relief, and Merlin was no longer shivering due to the excessive chilliness of the storm.
"I'm better, thanks to you," Merlin smiled as he leant over to whisper in Arthur's ear in a low seductive voice that Arthur had come to like. "Especially after what you did last night to keep me warm."
"Shut up," Arthur replied in defence, trying his best not to smile.
"We should do it more often," Merlin stopped for a moment just as Camelot came into view.
"Only if you promise that you won't run off on me again," he stopped and turned Merlin around until blue eyes met blue. Pulling Merlin closer, Arthur brought their lips together gently until they only just touched.
Merlin couldn't help but groan, somewhere between arousal and frustration, when he slipped his tongue into the dark haired boy's mouth.
"Prat," Merlin grumbled, whisking his hand around to the back of Arthur's head, pulling him closer.
"You love it," Arthur replied with a smug grin on his face after they parted.
Walking down the dirt path, Arthur couldn't help but notice the damage the storm had done. Bushes had been torn out of the ground all the way down to their roots, tree branches drooped from above; one light breeze and they would no doubt fall down and hit anything that dared walk underneath it.
Dozens of eyes followed their movements them from the dining hall window's as Arthur supported Merlin down the path, until he pushed the door open, a warm heat coming from the fire they had going inside.
"Arthur! Merlin!" Gwen shrieked in relief, running over towards and hugging both them both.
"Ouch," Merlin whined as she gripped him even tighter than she had Arthur.
"Sorry," she quickly apologized, releasing her grip almost instantly. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"
"No, I'm fine," he replied with a bright smile that could power a city for a week, sitting down upon the wooden bench. Arthur was almost tempted to steal that smile then and there in front of everyone, but contained those feelings for a later date, mostly because his father was standing up and walking over towards him.
"I warned you not to go out there," he snapped, grabbing Arthur's wrist violently. "You could have been killed, if not worse!"
For a brief moment Arthur was almost tempted to break his father's grasp and walk out of the hall then and there, but what good would it achieve? He would only end up being lectured again once the camp was over.
"Forgive me father, I won't do it again," Arthur lowered his head, speaking through gritted teeth.
"You better damn well not," Uther let go of his arm and stared at Merlin who was now talking to Gwen and Morgana looking extremely anxious. "I'd like you to come with me and see the nurse to check you two over, if you don't mind, just to be on the safe side."
"Yes father," Arthur said and helped ease Merlin off the bench, doing his best not to hurt him while placing Merlin's arm around his shoulder.
"Thanks," Merlin smiled again, discreetly, only for Arthur to smile back. In the corner of his eye, Arthur noticed a slim figure rise up from the table and begin to make her way over.
"Oh, excuse me," Nimueh giggled as she walked towards Uther. "But I've been meaning to tell you-"
She never got to finish her sentence; Morgana quickly stood up and placed her hand over Nimueh's mouth, silencing her for the time being.
"That we wish to return to our cabins," Morgana finished, her hand still covering the squirming Nimueh. "We are ever so tired after staying up all night for the storm to pass," she fake yawned to add to the effect.
"If you must," Uther said waving his hand dismissively. Ignoring Nimueh who was flailing her arms about like a mad woman. "You two, come with me"
Uther and the nurse quickly left the hall and made their way towards the nurse's office, situated directly opposite the administration building.
As Arthur went to leave, he quickly let go of Merlin and leaned him against the wall, walking over towards Nimueh who Morgana had just released.
"How dare you apprehend me!" she shrieked, glaring intensely at Morgana. "I have rights, you cannot stop me from speaking. This is a free country, I have a voice!"
"And an irritating one at that," Arthur growled, towering over Nimueh who had her arms crossed in frustration.
"Scary, what are you going to do?" Nimueh laughed to herself, Valiant stayed well clear in the back corner, watching everything from afar.
All Arthur's rage gathered up into one clenched fist as it was slowly raised into the air. "Well, I was thinking about punching you."
"Oh, Arthur. I know you would never hit a girl," she laughed, lightly grabbing his clenched fist and lowering it as he contemplated what she had said.
"I guess you're right; I would never hit you," he sighed looking over towards Morgana.
"See? Now, if you'll excuse me, there's something I wish to tell your father," Nimueh attempted to push past Arthur, but he grabbed her by the neck and slammed her down onto the table.
"I guess I'll have to rephrase that," Arthur stared down at the petrified Nimueh. "I would never hit you, but that doesn't mean someone else won't."
Arthur and Morgana exchanged glances, signalling her, as evil grins broadened on both of their faces.
"Yeah, right," Nimueh snorted as Arthur released his grip from her neck.
Everyone left in the hall, including Gaius, Morgause and Anguis who were all watching from the end of the table, all watched the event unfold before them. No one really had any idea what this entire ordeal was all about, but they had a basic idea that whatever it was, Nimueh was in for it bad. Strangely enough, no one seemed concerned by this.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get Merlin to the nurse's office. Morgana, would you mind taking it from here?" Arthur asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. Nimueh looked to from Arthur to Morgana in horror while attempting to flee by walking backwards, only to bump into the bench.
Striding across the room, somewhat happily, Arthur helped Merlin get his balance once again.
"What are you doing?" Merlin whispered into his ear as they made their way out the door.
"Getting revenge for you and myself," Arthur mused.
"Why?" he asked curiously.
"Because Merlin, revenge is oh so sweet and you're just completely adorable," Arthur laughed and the two made their way to the nurse's office, as a shriek of pain echoed out from the dining hall.
*
With one swift and dramatic stride, Morgana couldn't help but grin tauntively right before mustering up all her energy in her right hand, slapping Nimueh fast and hard across the face. The blow was so powerful that it knocked Nimueh off her feet, and a bruise could already be seen forming.
"That's for blackmailing my brother's boyfriend," Morgana hissed, pulling her forward until they were face to face again. Not holding back, she then punched the terrified girl directly in the face, blood slowly began trickling from her nose all the way down to her lips.
"That's for breaking my brother's heart," Morgana didn't honestly care that everyone around her was staring in amazement as she continued lashing out at the blackmailing cow. Even the teachers stared in shock, but not once did they stand up to stop them.
"This is for breaking Merlin's heart," aiming carefully, Morgana slammed her foot down elegantly onto Nimueh's, she then began howling in pain as she jumped up and down clutching her foot. This gave Morgana the perfect opportunity to slam her fist into her stomach.
"That was for good measure!" Morgana took pleasure to see Nimueh keeled over, clutching her stomach in pain as her bleeding nose got worse every second. The blood began oozing down onto the pristine shirt she was wearing.
Yanking at the back of the blackmailer's hair, Morgana smiled gently into her fear filled eyes before pushing her face forward, slamming it down onto the table. A distinct crack followed and Nimueh shrieked in agony as she collapsed to the floor clutching her broken nose.
"And that was from me," Morgana whispered into Nimueh's ear coldly, before turning dramatically and walking away feeling quite proud of herself.
Just so she could get into the action, Gwen tottered forward from where she was standing, beside Lancelot, and kicked Nimueh in the shin.
"What was that for you cow!?" Nimueh said, crying tears of pain.
"Because..." a pause, and then she gave up, "Just because."
"If you say one word to Uther, I will do more than break your nose," Morgana smiled an utterly dazzling smile that spoke multitudes to all who dared look.
Morgana was tempted to do the same to Valiant also, who happened to be staggering cautiously into the kitchen looking like a frightened rabbit. But of course it wasn't up to Morgana to have all the fun; the boys must have their fair share later on after all.
"She did have it coming for her," Morgause whispered quietly to the other teachers.
"Destiny tends to do that when you least expect it," Anguis said with a soft laughter. "You can never escape it."
"I must admit, she did deserve it," Gaius agreed, raising his eyebrow to an unbelievably high altitude, considering whether or not he should help the not-so-innocent girl with the bloody nose.
In the end he decided it was best to let things take their own course.
*
After the nurse had taken their temperature and vital signs, she gave the all clear to Arthur who was beginning to develop a cold, but nothing more. Merlin, on the other hand, still had a pretty decent concussion and was suffering from sleep deprivation, but other than that, he was perfectly fine. That was something Arthur was certain of.
"Next time you should listen to what I say, instead of disobeying my orders," Uther muttered harshly into Arthur's ear, on the opposite side of the room to Merlin.
"What did you expect me to do? Let Merlin die out there in the middle of the storm?" Arthur replied, staring directly into his father's eyes.
"At first, yes I did," Uther admitted with his arms crossed. "If you haven't forgotten, you told me you wished to have nothing to do with that boy only a few nights ago."
"Things change," Arthur glanced over towards Merlin and smiled briefly when the nurse gave him some caffeine pills to keep him awake.
"I can see that," Uther retorted before gripping his son tightly on the shoulder. "Hear me now, as I shall this once and only once. You know my... beliefs, and if anything is going on between you and Merlin, it is to end this very moment. Do you understand?"
Arthur couldn't help but roll his eyes in amusement; surely he couldn't know about him and Merlin... surely. After all, it wasn't that obvious, was it? Just to be on the safe side Arthur decided to laugh at his father's remark, disregarding what he had just said.
"Nothing is happening between us," Arthur lied convincingly. "I was just worried about him, that's all."
"Good," Uther sounded relieved at Arthur's response, even being kind enough to let go of his shoulder which now ached madly with pain. "Now, if you excuse me, I must go examine the damage made by the storm."
On that final note, Uther left the nurses office to check up on the campground. Little did he know that a tree had fallen on his own personal cabin, damaging it beyond repair… but that's a completely different and irrelevant subplot. However, the tree, nicknamed 'stumpy', may make a guest star appearance some other time.
For a moment, Arthur could have sworn there was a little voice in his head talking about trees, but ignored it to go help Merlin up off the bed now that the nurse had finished examining him.
"How are you feeling?" Arthur asked softly, looking deep into Merlin's calming blue eyes as the nurse turned around to put her stethoscope in a cabinet
"Sore, tired, bored, and completely head-over-heels in love with a certain prat," Merlin whispered into Arthur's ear, leaning in for a quick kiss on the cheek before the nurse turned around.
"That's funny, because I could say almost the same thing," Arthur chuckled placing Merlin's hand over his shoulder once more as the nurse finally closed the cabinet and turned around.
"Now," she began sounding like a deflating balloon. "I need you to stay away from physical activity for the next few days. It seems the phone lines won't be back up until you're supposed to go home, so I'm going to have to ask Arthur to keep an eye out for you until then. Is that okay with you?" she directly her gaze to Arthur, sighing exceedingly loud.
"Sure thing," Arthur replied probably way too quickly than he should have, but to be honest he didn't care in the slightest. All that mattered was Merlin was safe and with him once again.
As they hobbled down the dirt path, Arthur couldn't help but notice Nimueh who ran past crying, her hand covering her very bloody nose.
"Oh good job, Morgana," Arthur mused to himself, seriously wishing he had stayed behind to watch the show.
Everyone was now dispersing from the dining hall and towards their cabins to get a bit of a rest after the storm. Deciding not to return to his own cabin for some rest, Arthur went with Merlin to Cabin Three where they could chat with Lancelot when he arrived.
Once inside, Arthur effortlessly placed Merlin upright on the bed, making sure he wouldn't go to asleep for the time being. After a few moments of awkward silence, both gave up waiting for the other person to make the move and clashed their lips together.
Hands wandered uncontrollably until the point where Arthur could no longer hold back his moans, as Merlin's hand had found its way to his crutch.
"You are such a damn tease," Arthur mumbled before Merlin parted his lips, allowing tongues to collide and slide over one another until the need for oxygen was too great and they both moved away, panting heavily.
"I love you," Merlin grinned as Arthur lay back on Merlin's bed, only for Merlin to lay on top of his chest.
"So adorable," Lancelot remarked as he leant back against the cabin door.
"How long have you been there for?" Merlin's blush slowly crept up his neck, eventually stopping once it had reached the very tips of his ears.
"Long enough to realise I should probably leave you two alone," Lancelot smiled and opened up the cabin door, revealing Valiant, who unfortunately happened to be walking past at that current point of time.
"You!" Arthur exclaimed, literally jumping off the bed and racing out the door towards Valiant, who was backing up against a tree in horror. Without saying a word, Arthur raised his clenched fist and slammed it directly into Valiant's gut, followed by a heavy knee to his groin. The pleasure Arthur took seeing Valiant clutching his manhood in agony as he slowly withered down onto the ground, was indescribable. "If you want to keep your pride and joy, I suggest you never speak or touch my boyfriend again, that is, unless you want me to rip off your favourite appendage."
For a while, all Valiant did was roll around on the ground in agony, making no attempt to reply whatsoever. It was only then that Lancelot walked up beside Arthur and joined in, making the pain even worse by driving his foot down upon Valiant's crutch, pressing down until Valiant was screaming.
"Do you understand?" Lancelot mocked, pressing down a little harder as Valiant tried to unsuccessfully free himself.
"Yes, yes, yes!" Valiant kept repeating desperately, until Lancelot finally removed his foot, and almost instantly he got up and ran down the path towards Cabin Four.
"And let that be a lesson to you!" Merlin yelled out cheerfully just as Valiant closed the door behind himself.
Without hesitating, Arthur turned around and walked up to Merlin, pushing him back inside the cabin and shoving him up against the wall where he began planting kisses on any bare patch of skin he could find.
He was beautiful and that was all Arthur could really comprehend as Merlin's unnatural steel blue eyes stared into his. For the first time in his life, Arthur had finally found someone he truly loved, and no one was ever going to get in the way of that. Ever.
Lancelot, who was standing at the door, decided best to leave them alone and to forget everything he had just seen. Well, as much as your mind allows, especially when strange noises of passion bellowed from within the cabin as Lancelot closed the door and hurried away towards the dining hall, allowing the two boys to have their long deserved moment.
To be continued...
A/N: *sobs* One chapter to go, I hope this one lived up to you people's expectations! If not... I'm very sorry, but I blaim my lack of glasses and Australia Post (there fault, not mine and I'm sticking with that excuse for as long as I can get away with it) I hope you enjoyed, and reviews are always loved but I won't start writing until I get my glasses back as I've got a massive headache now from just writing this chapter alone.