Sorry! Sorry! I meant to post this forever ago but I was struggling with Part 4 and I didn't want to post and then make you guys wait, but then I just ended up making you guys wait for Part 3. Urgh!

Anyway, I hope you like this new addition! This wraps up Freshmen Year and Part 4 begins Sophomore Year.

...

Seven and a half years ago…..

It was February 14th. Ever since that first hand job in an empty classroom back at the beginning of January, Arthur had seemed to be pretty sure of himself in his sexuality. Whenever he could, he was pulling Merlin into random classrooms and kissing him breathless, touching him all over, and generally exploring the depths of what being gay with Merlin entailed. They had yet to go on a date, but Merlin wasn't really in a hurry with that.

Today being Valentine's Day, Merlin had decided that he should do something special for Arthur…so….He'd made the track star homemade chocolates. Gaius had tried one, as had Merlin, and they'd both agreed it tasted really good, so now came the time when Merlin was presenting them to Arthur. All day, Merlin had seen girls hand Arthur boxes of chocolates and he had accepted them with a charming smile. It wasn't that Merlin was nervous about Arthur not liking his chocolate - he'd felt good about the whole thing so no worries there…He was just worried Arthur wouldn't like it as much as the ones the girls had given him.

"Merlin, where are we going?" Arthur asked in something very akin to a whine. Merlin giggled under his breath at Arthur's childish side and continued to lead Arthur by the arm down the streets through the lower class areas. "We're way out now."

"Arthur, with your brains, I'm surprised you haven't figured it out," Merlin teased. "What reason could I have for bringing you into the lower income part of town?"

Arthur shrugged. He'd hoped Merlin was taking him somewhere romantic or something. Instead he was in the area of town where all the poor people lived, and by 'poor' he meant 'people who can't afford what he can.' He watched Merlin's hand on his arm as they walked, and followed his arm to his shoulders and his back. He'd never really seen Merlin without his clothes on, given when they could get together, but his hands had mapped the place between Merlin's shoulder blades and he knew the curve of Merlin's body and the dip at the small of his back. Under those clothes was a beautiful body that Arthur loved to hold close to him and-

"Arthur?"

"Hm?" Arthur asked, snapping from his daze and focusing on the back of Merlin's head.

"You really can't figure it out?" Merlin asked, sounding like he'd asked it before. "Maybe you don't deserve your valentine's gift…," he trailed off.

Arthur had a mini panic attack. "No, that's alright. I'll figure it out," he assured his younger boyfriend.

He placed his free left hand on his chin and looked around the area, trying to figure out why they were here. No matter what he did, though, he couldn't seem to get it. Why were they in the poorer half of town? He stared hard at the back of Merlin's head, trying to squeeze a clue from his black hair, and suddenly it hit him.

"You live around here?" he asked in surprise.

Merlin smiled but did not look back at Arthur as he answered. "Yep. To you, this place probably looks like the slums, but it's actually what the middle-class population lives like. You, Arthur Pendragon, are in the minority in your rich little world." He wasn't upset about it, but it was true nonetheless.

"So we're going to your house," Arthur stated aloud, now a bit nervous. He'd already met Merlin's mother and best friend, now Merlin was taking him to meet his uncle. Whoo. As far as Merlin had explained the old man, he was a kind and gentle person who nonetheless had strict rules of conduct and got verbally loud and upset when they were broken. Since the elderly man wasn't upset by Merlin and Arthur's relationship, even after Merlin explained the relationship they'd had before they got together, this should go quite well.

Then they were before it. Merlin's house. Well, Merlin's uncle's house. It was a faded white color and squeezed in close to the houses around it. Actually, the buildings were pretty much smack dab on top of each other. The houses on either side of Merlin's were both a strange brown-red color, so Merlin's house seemed really bright in comparison. There were two windows on the front, one on either side of the front door, which was a deep blue color. The lawn in front of Merlin's house was well-manicured and very nice, but the house to the right had a brown, dead, icky looking yard that kind of killed the view. Actually….

"Oh my god," he gasped out. "What is that?"

"Hm?" Merlin turned to look at his neighbor's yard and blinked a few times. "An old meth lab?" he answered as a question, seemingly not phased in the least by it. A skinny, fairly ugly woman opened the door next door and tossed something or other into the pile of broken drug stuff in the middle of the yard. "Afternoon, Mrs. Collins!" he called cheerfully.

She turned to look at them and Arthur flinched, moving closer to Merlin. She narrowed her eyes at them for several long seconds and then gave a twisted, creepy grin. "Oh. Yea. You. Hi," she greeted, her voice raspy. She pointed vaguely to Arthur and Arthur wondered if maybe she was high at that very moment. He'd never seen anyone high before. "Who's this?"

"This is Arthur. He's a friend from school," Merlin said loudly and clearly, so she could understand him, then touched Arthur's shoulder and whispered, "Say 'hi.'"

Arthur glanced from Merlin to Ms. Collins and back again before bowing his head. "Hello, Mrs. Collins."

She snorted. "My name is Mary, boy….My son is your age….," she trailed off oddly and stared at the sky with an odd look on her face, somewhere between confusion, anger, and awe.

Merlin whispered to Arthur again. "Her son would be twenty-eight in a week, but he died from drug overdose when he was fifteen. I'm trying to get her off the drugs herself and get her some help. I think it's going very well. This is her first time high in four days. Her husband is a bit harder to crack, but I have a good feeling about it," he said with a wink.

Arthur smiled. If Merlin was optimistic about it, then the situation could only end well, right?

Merlin turned his attention back to the older woman. "It was nice talking to you, Mrs. Collins. Say hello to your husband for me, would you?"

Mary jumped and focused on Merlin for awhile before nodding. "Yea. Yea. Sure. Right."

"Come on, Arthur," Merlin ordered lightly, opening the door to his house and ushering Arthur inside. Arthur waved to Mary and then hurried inside. Merlin shut the door behind them and called out, "Gaius, we're here!"

There was a light crashing sound, more of a series of thuds, and a moment later a man with gray, balding hair came from down the hallway and appeared with them in the living room. "Merlin! This must be Arthur, then," he said, looking Arthur over as if checking a piece of meat he meant to buy at the store. He had a strange eyebrow thing going on that made Arthur think maybe he disapproved. "I suppose if you live up to how Merlin's described you, then you're alright."

Merlin flushed. "Uncle," he whined very softly, almost under his breath. He smiled uneasily at Arthur and then cleared his throat. "You didn't move my gift, did you?" he asked his uncle.

Gaius shook his head. "Nope. It's on the counter, right where you left it." He motioned to the kitchen and Merlin smiled, disappearing through a veritable hole in the wall that led to the kitchen. "So, I hear you still bully him at school," Gaius began while Merlin was gone. "Nothing too terrible, I hope."

Arthur shrugged. "The other guys seem to think it's terrible enough, but I haven't physically hurt him since we got together, if that's what you mean."

Gaius 'hmm'd. "Well, I suppose that is the point of it, after all. Ah," he let out when Merlin came back in the room and held out a small Tupperware container wrapped in red wrapping paper covered in hearts.

He was blushing. "Ah, sorry about the paper. It was the only thing I could find yesterday." It wasn't that he thought using valentine's day paper was bad, just that this particular paper also had an abundance of cute little cherubs all over it shooting arrows and the hearts were pretty much drawings of a frilly mess.

Arthur tried to ignore the paper and quickly ripped it off the Tupperware. With the paper gone, Arthur opened the Tupperware and blinked several times at what was inside. After a few long moments, Arthur picked one out and stared at it. "Chocolate?"

"Made it myself," Merlin announced, clearly proud of his work. "It actually tastes pretty good, too. Eat some."

Arthur shrugged and popped the bite sized hunk of chocolate in his mouth. He began to chew it and then abruptly stopped. Whoa! This stuff was really really good! Arthur tried to keep the bite in his mouth as long as possible, but it melted pretty fast and he was forced to finish it off. Merlin had this beaming smile on his face, so Arthur guessed that his reaction to the chocolate had been easily picked up on by his psychic boyfriend.

"It's really very good," Arthur admitted, taking another piece and popping it into his mouth too. Merlin bounced on the balls of his feet and then giddily wrapped his arms around Arthur's shoulders in a tight and quick hug. Merlin pecked him on the cheek and then backed away. "That makes it even better," Arthur joked with a laugh. Gaius and Merlin joined in.

"Well then," Gaius said when the laughter had died down. "It being Valentine's Day and all, I'll get out of your way and let you celebrate it." He grabbed his jacket off the back of the couch and moved to the door.

"Uncle Gaius," Merlin called just before the old man was out of the house. Gaius looked back at him and raised an eyebrow; the disapproving one. "Where are you headed?"

Gaius shrugged. "Perhaps I'll go spend some time with my colleagues in a bar some place," he joked.

Merlin shook his head. "Don't go getting drunk. I can't come pick you up if you do," he said seriously.

Gaius shook his head. "Don't worry about me, Merlin. I'll be fine. Enjoy your evening. Don't do anything too drastic." He waved and then was gone from the house.

Merlin frowned at the door, staring at it hard, and Arthur stayed silent until the shadows had lifted from Merlin's face and he seemed to be breathing easier. "He's going to be fine," Merlin said when he noticed Arthur's questioning look. "They're going to play cards all night. A bit of friendly poker."

"Ah," Arthur consented and looked down at the Tupperware of chocolates. His eyebrows came together and he looked up at Merlin again. "Did you know that I would like your chocolates?"

Merlin shook his head gently and moved to sit on the couch, holding himself in place with both his hands between his legs on the edge of the cushion. He closed his eyes. "I had this feeling…that you were going to get something you liked today. Something you liked a lot. But you were getting so many gifts today that….I really had no idea if it was my gift that was going to make you smile." He opened his eyes and focused on Arthur, who was still standing.

Arthur grinned. "So," he began, sitting down next to Merlin and placing his right hand over both of Merlin's while he held the chocolates in his left. "You get nervous too. I was beginning to think I was the only one in this relationship who did."

Merlin gave a lopsided grin. "Contrary to what you, and Gwen and Morgana, might think…I don't know everything," he admitted. "I just tend to comment on everything I do know, so it seems that way." He glanced at the floor, his smile turning quite soft. "Actually….I know quite a bit of your life, Arthur."

Arthur wasn't sure how to respond to that. "You…What do you mean?"

Merlin took a deep breath and gave Arthur a big smile. "Ah, forget I said anything. Talking about it too much is bad, anyway. What do you want to do for the rest of the day?"

Arthur frowned. That wasn't fair! He wanted to know what Merlin had felt about him! He wanted to know! If Merlin knew, then Arthur wanted to know! Then again, he kind of understood where Merlin was coming from. If Arthur knew, say, how well he was going to do on his next Algebra test and Merlin said he would do well, then maybe he wouldn't study as hard because he would think he was going to pass with flying colors, and that would lead to him getting a worse grade on the test. That was something pretty small scale, so Arthur could imagine what might happen should Merlin tell him what he was going to do with his life or how long this relationship was going to last.

Speaking of this relationship….

Arthur leaned over and kissed Merlin's forehead. "Don't tease me," he breathed out. "I'll get curious." He kissed Merlin's nose and Merlin went cross eyed trying to watch him. Arthur grinned and kissed Merlin on the lips for only a moment before pulling back. "I don't mind learning about my life the slow way though, as long as you're here to keep things interesting."

Merlin kissed him. "You want interesting, hm?" He kissed him again. "How's this for interesting?" He rubbed his nose against Arthur's in an Eskimo kiss.

Arthur laughed once. "Interesting? More like silly. Come on, let's go catch a movie," he offered. "I'll buy."

Merlin blinked twice, slowly, before a smile lit his face. "The Isle Theatre has a midnight showing of Queen of the Damned tonight."

Arthur laughed. "A vampire movie for Valentine's Day? Now that is interesting," he agreed. He gave Merlin a quick peck on the lips. "At least there's no chance of running into someone we know there. The Isle Theatre is almost in Mora."

Mora was the next town over. It had nothing special in it that would attract many people. Its only selling point was the Isle Theatre just outside its city limits and its close proximity to Camelot. Tourists to Camelot often bought hotel rooms in Mora for the cheaper prices and then spent all their time out of the city exploring the theme parks, museums, shops, and other attractions in Camelot. It was a tiny, nearly backwater town with a population of only about 300 people. It was perfect.

"Before we go, since we have some time," Arthur said after a pause, "we should probably finish off these wonderful chocolates you made for me."

Merlin's smile was blinding. "You really like them a lot?"

Arthur nodded. "I wouldn't lie to you about something like that," he said seriously, his gaze piercing Merlin down through the soul. They simply stared at each other for several long moments and then Arthur grinned. "You could probably feel me out if I did anyway," he added lightly with another laugh.

Merlin suddenly grabbed the Tupperware from Arthur and snagged a bite sized chocolate for himself. "I claim one for myself!" he grinned. "I only got to eat like…one piece when I first made them," he complained light-heartedly.

Arthur got a strange look in his eyes that Merlin didn't notice until he'd already placed a chocolate in his mouth, and by then it was too late. He gently took hold of Merlin's face in both his hands and kissed him full on the mouth. When Arthur ran his tongue over Merlin's lips, Merlin didn't even bother fighting him and simply opened his mouth and let Arthur's tongue inside. The Tupperware container slid to the cushion of the couch and then down to the floor, luckily not tipping over or losing even one piece of chocolate. Arthur pushed against Merlin just enough so that Merlin laid down on the couch with his legs still hanging off the edge and ran both his hands down Merlin's chest slowly and sensually over his clothes.

The chocolate was passed from Merlin's mouth to Arthur's easily with Arthur's tongue and he pulled away a bit to give it a few chews and then swallowed, a smirk on his lips at how flushed and uncomfortable Merlin looked in his own skin. The track star of Camelot High leaned down next to Merlin's ear and breathed out, "You know what? I think it tastes even better this way….very….you."

Merlin swallowed, his breathing becoming heavier. God, did Arthur know how hot he was? The places where Arthur's fingers were touching him, even through his shirt, were burning up and he really wanted Arthur's hands down his pants like now. "Arthur…," he groaned out when Arthur began licking his ear. He tugged on Arthur's shirt uselessly. Arthur's hands drifted down until his fingers were grazing the minute sliver of skin showing on Merlin's stomach just above his jeans. The fingers skimmed over Merlin's skin and grazed his jeans and his belt buckle as Arthur's licking trailed from his ear across his jaw and then down his neck to the collar of his shirt. "Now you're teasing me…," Merlin groaned out.

Arthur let out a breathy laugh that sent shivers across Merlin's body as it hit the wet lines Arthur's tongue had left. "Not for long," he promised, his voice deeper than usual. "I'm not much good at waiting."

It was a good thing the movie was at midnight.

...

Merlin slid into his chair in first period the next morning and almost immediately let his head drop to the desk, blocking out all light with his arms. He was left to his own blissful dosing for about four seconds before he heard the giggling. He turned his head just enough to glance Morgana grinning at him over his left arm.

"What, Morgana? I'm tired…," he whined, turning back to the darkness of his arms.

Morgana giggled again. "Goodness me, Merlin. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had a real busy night yesterday with someone." Merlin groaned into the wood of his desk. Morgana giggled again. "Not that you did, obviously. I mean, being one of your best friends, I figure you would tell me if you were going to do the deed and all."

Merlin was glad his face was hidden in his arms. That way, Morgana couldn't see the shame on his face. No, Arthur and him still hadn't done 'it'….but he still wasn't telling Morgana about their relationship and he wasn't going to tell her when he and Arthur finally did get around to 'doing the deed.' No matter how he tried, he couldn't sense anything about how she would react to learning about it. He couldn't foresee the time when she would learn about it, so it must be a long ways off.

His silence seemed to have gotten to her. "You would tell me, wouldn't you? I mean, you would at least introduce me to her first, right?"

Aha! Merlin turned his head enough that she could see him smile. "Yea. I'd make sure you'd been introduced before I made any sort of move in that direction." He wasn't lying. Morgana knew Arthur. They'd been introduced a long time ago.

Morgana took a deep breath to calm herself. "Good. You had me worried there for a minute." She glanced at the students in the room and watched as her brother stumbled in. "Really," she scoffed, propping her chin in her hands after he'd walked by and staring at him out of the corner of her eye despondently. "He didn't come home from school yesterday afternoon, did you know?" she complained. "He was out all afternoon without a single phone call or message and he stayed out until two in the morning," she continued, her tone acidic.

Merlin made a 'hmm' noise deep in his throat, matching Morgana's pose and glancing back at Arthur as he set up for class. He didn't let the purr of his heart show on his face. In fact, he looked quite bored outwardly. "I guess that makes two of us," he murmured.

"What?"

Merlin turned to face Morgana's wide eyes. "I was up til two as well, watching movies," he explained, a yawn splitting his face the moment he was done talking. He rubbed his eyes with his free left hand absently and then ran both hands down his face in an attempt to wake up. "I could use some caffeine."

"Well then, I came in at the perfect time," a cheerful voice announced.

Merlin and Morgana looked up just as Gwen sat a can of Mountain Dew on Merlin's desk. "Gwen, what-?"

"I brought that from home today, but I'm not thinking I need it today so you can have it," she explained, her tone chipper and her speech quick. Yea. She didn't need the caffeine. Merlin was staring at the can like he could only half see it sitting there on his desk and Gwen's smile vanished. "Did…did you not know I was going to give it to you?"

Merlin visibly flinched and grabbed the can, staring at his desk as he drank a large gulp of it down all at once. He didn't stop until the whole can had been drained. The can made a hollow 'tink' sound against the wood. He still didn't look up from his desk. Gwen gave Morgana a worried glance.

"He didn't get to sleep until two a.m. last night," Morgana explained. "He's probably too asleep to feel anything at all of his own, let alone something supernatural about you."

"Yea," Merlin murmured, his head going down on the desk again, the can still in his hand. "Yea, that's it." He wrapped his arms around his head again, the can lying sideways on the desk now since he wouldn't let it go.

After several moments of silence, Gwen ventured a, "Merlin?" but got no response. She smiled. "He's asleep," she whispered to Morgana.

Morgana shook her head. "You don't get to sleep in the front row," she chastised the air. "But I suppose I'll let him sleep until class starts."

Gwen gave a soft giggle and moved to take her seat on the other side of Morgana in the front row. Morgana gave Merlin a gentle smile and turned to converse with Gwen. Arthur glanced up from his notebook at Merlin's sleeping form, and then looked back down at the blank paper in front of him with a little smile.

"Valentine's Day," he murmured, pulling a chocolate hand-wrapped in tinfoil from his jacket pocket. He just stared at it for a few moments before slipping it back in his pocket silently.

...

That school year passed without much incident. The memory of Cedric's death, and the death of most of his lackeys, was still too fresh in the minds of the students for any of them to really bully Merlin. He wasn't worth it at the moment. Gwen, Morgana, Merlin, and Arthur all passed on to the tenth grade and became sophomores at Camelot High School.

That summer, Merlin and Arthur went backpacking together. They traveled all over the country of Albion, way up into the mountains to ski and to the far beaches to swim. Alone together, Arthur revealed to Merlin a side of himself that made Merlin melt and fall for him all over again: a sweet, gentle side that really wasn't sure what to do with himself and was still confused about who he was and who he would become. Learning more about Arthur was Merlin's favorite part of the whole summer.

Arthur's favorite part was a bit different. He loved it when Merlin randomly stopped what he was doing and helped someone out because he just knew they needed it. He'd helped a girl with her skis because otherwise she would've forgotten one of the straps and hurt herself later. He'd warned a store owner that someone was going to try and steal from him and the owner was on high alert and caught the kids responsible. He found a puppy and gave it back to the boy who'd lost it. He spent an afternoon with an old woman, letting her tell him stories about her children and grandchildren and great grandchildren, until she died quietly that night in her sleep.

So, it was quite an interesting summer. Merlin hung out with Morgana and Gwen in the week before school started up again, and Arthur began studying for his new classes under the careful eye of his father. Morgana always seemed to be done with her studies but Arthur never seemed to catch his breath. Still, it was the normal routine for the children of Uther Pendragon, and so life went on.

That was how Merlin Emrys and Arthur Pendragon began their sophomore year at Camelot High School.