Once again, if there is any part of their relationship that you would like to see here, let me know in a review and I'll try to work it in!

…

…

April 2005

The limousine was all sleek black, shining with every light. It stopped outside of a large building, contrasting from those around it only by its breadth instead of height. Through the lightly curtained windows, lights were flashing. The limo pulled up alongside a dozen other similar vehicles before stopping. The driver got out and walked around to open the door for the passengers.

The first to step out was the one and only Morgana Pendragon. She was dressed in a dark purple gown that just touched the floor. It cut low, hinting at her impressive bosom, and the sleeves draped at the elbow instead of continuing all the way to her wrists. Her hair was up, pinned with flowers all over, and only a few strands were let out of delicately frame her face. Light heeled, matching purple shoes, and simple silver earrings, necklace, and bracelet topped off the ensemble. She was a vision.

Gwen Leodegan stepped out next. She wore a yellow dress that hung to just above the ground. It was quite modest in view of Morgana's gown. A floral bracelet of yellow flowers, and hinted gold jewelry borrowed from Morgana, completed her outfit. Her hair was also up, with more yellow flowers decorating it.

The last to exit the limo was Merlin Emrys. He wore a simple black on white tuxedo. He had no date, and Morgana and Gwen were wearing different colors, so he went neutral. He hated his tie, and planned on ditching it as soon as possible.

"Well," Morgana said with an ecstatic smile and a gleeful bounce in her step. "Here we are!"

"Wow," Gwen responded in awe as they walked up to the main doors. "Hard to believe it's prom."

Merlin nodded, patting her on the shoulder. "Four years pass by in a flash, don't they, Gwen?"

Morgana let out a sudden, put upon sigh. "No they don't," she complained, but it was obvious she wasn't really upset. "They drag on forever. I am so glad we'll be graduating soon. Then we can get on with our real lives."

Gwen smiled simply. "Let's put off real life for at least another night, ok? This is our prom, so let's enjoy it to its fullest."

"Yea," Morgana agreed. "We don't need dates to enjoy prom. We're more dangerous single, anyway." It sounded like a battle plan when she said it, and Merlin and Gwen gave laughing smiles.

Once inside, the blaring music and the flashing lights in the dark encompassed them. It was hard to hear anyone over the base of the music. Morgana waved her hand almost instantly and then Matthew was hurrying over. He motioned away, toward the refreshment tables, and they all followed him over.

He looked stunning in a suit.

"You can hear a bit easier over here," Matt explained once they were near the food. It was the farthest spot from the speakers. "It's great you could all come!"

"Yea," Gwen replied loudly, "But I feel bad having Morgana pay for us."

"The tickets were an arm and a leg, Gwen, I don't think half our graduating class could afford them," Morgana consoled her. "Besides, you're my best friends, and I'm not gonna let you miss out on this because some stupid idiot set the ticket prices."

The smile Gwen passed to Morgana was grateful. Really, the tickets would not have been so expensive if the prom committee hadn't made it so extravagant. There were streamers everywhere, two grand fountains, stars hanging from the roof that actually lit up, and painted murals all around the room. Every table looked like something from a king's personal dining room, only smaller, and there were white railings around the tables to make it look like a rich dining hall patio, or balcony. The theme was stated to be 'The Richest Night of Your Life.' What it meant was 'This is how the filthy rich live, so this is how we're going to be.' In fact, that was more likely the reason behind the absurd ticket prices than the actual payment for creating prom.

Matthew's laugh was almost lost to the din. "Your brother's been here an hour, and already it seems he's stepping on toes."

Merlin turned and grabbed a small pastry from the table, napkin and all, just as Arthur stopped next to Morgana.

"Can you believe this?" Arthur asked, as if complaining. Which he sort of was. He motioned out to where most people were dancing, to where Sophia was doing some sort of bump grind dance with a member of the football team. "She practically begs me to bring her, and then she shamelessly flirts with every other man except me."

Morgana let out a high pitched cackle, short but still evil sounding. She pat Arthur on the chest, near where his heart was. "That's because she knows she's already got you here, so she moves on to other fish. Bigger ones."

Merlin snorted. He couldn't help himself. The guy Sophia was dancing with was Todd Baker, and he had the body of a line backer but the brain of a green bean. Merlin's cheeks colored when the entire little group around him looked at him for the sound he made, and Merlin focused on Arthur for the first time.

His hair was somehow more perfect than ever. He wore a black and red tux, matching Sophia's red and gold to-her-knees prom dress. Strangely, Merlin felt the contrast of the red to the blue brought out Arthur's eyes and made them seem that much brighter. Shaking his head, Merlin focused on his pastry.

Morgana opened her mouth, but shook her head. "I don't think I want to know," she said at length.

Just then, a senior that Merlin recognized from his first period class sauntered over. He exuded confidence, but Merlin knew how he was shaking inside. He had glasses, but they didn't make him look stupid or anything; rather intelligent, instead. He was tall, slim but in an attractive way, with dirty blonde hair and green eyes. His tux was like Merlin's, simple and colorless. He was the vice captain of the school's chess team, and he hadn't had a date all high school. He had a crush on Morgana. His name was Evan Shepherd.

Turning back toward the table as if to grab another snack, Merlin locked eyes with Morgana. She lifted an eyebrow and Merlin nodded. Evan got to where they were all standing and all eyes turned to him. He took a deep breath and held out his hand, steady, as if his insides weren't turning to slush.

"Dance with me?" he asked. He had a voice that you knew would get only a little deeper as he got older, but was already well on its way to something that felt safe and trustworthy. He would be a real catch after college.

Morgana actually looked taken aback, though whether by the question or by his voice only Merlin knew. After only a pause, she gave him a smile and took his hand. "It would be my pleasure."

A relieved smile replaced his confident one and the rest of the group watched as he led Morgana into the fray of dancers just as the songs switched to something not so up-beat. Matthew glanced at Merlin, then at Arthur, and finally let his gaze drop to Gwen.

Falling into a deep bow, he held out his hand to her like Evan had. "May I have this dance, my lady?" he asked.

Gwen laughed out loud as she accepted his hand. Her smile faded as her eyes landed on Merlin behind Matt. "Oh. You don't mind, do you, Merlin?" she asked.

Merlin shook his head and gestured to his still untouched pastry. "Nah. I'm eating anyway. Go have fun."

Matthew turned briefly to face him and winked subtly before leading Gwen off into the crowd as well. Merlin blushed. He knew Matthew knew, but it was still embarrassing. Glancing sideways at Arthur, Merlin saw him standing tense and looking anywhere but at Merlin. He let himself smile a bit.

"You can talk to me," he said, just loud enough to be heard. "All your friends are too busy dry humping each other to notice anything around them, and my friends are all out dancing."

It seemed those words took all the fight out of Arthur and he almost visibly sagged. He took a step closer, making as if to grab something to drink. "Good. Because I had something I wanted to say."

Merlin looked at him with honest eyes. Part of him reached out, wanting to know before Arthur said it, but the rest of him locked that bit up and stayed right there, in the present….except for making sure no one was watching.

Arthur turned and locked eyes with Merlin. "You are the most handsome man I have ever seen," he complimented sincerely, his cheeks turning pink.

Merlin felt his own cheeks heat, but gave a joking smile. "You almost called me 'beautiful,' didn't you?" he teased.

Arthur's cheeks turned a deeper shade of red. "I mean it," he insisted. "No matter what anyone else tells you tonight, even me…." He dropped his eyes momentarily before looking back up at Merlin's face. "You look amazing."

"You look great too," Merlin complimented in return. "I really almost fainted when you first walked over."

They simply stared at each other for a long while, gazing in each other's eyes. Then Arthur coughed and turned away, his embarrassment radiating around him like an aura. Merlin grinned. Arthur was so cute like this!

Stepping a mite closer, he said, "You're really hot," he emphasized, and he saw Arthur stop everything, even though they were no longer facing each other. Merlin looked at Arthur's face over his shoulder. "Is one too late?"

Arthur swallowed and shook his head. "One o'clock," he agreed. He stared at the refreshment table blankly for another four seconds and then frowned. "Dammit, Merlin, now you've got me all-" he groaned and pat his face with his hands.

Merlin would be lying if he said that hadn't been part of his intentions. Still, he shrugged in a mildly apologetic way. "Sorry." He glanced at the dancing students of their graduating class. "I'll see you later?"

It was a question out of courtesy. Arthur knew that, and he appreciated it. "Yea. Later."

Then Merlin moved to joined Matt and Gwen in the crowd.

…

…

The couch at Matthew's house was much more comfortable than the couch at Merlin's. And since Morgana didn't want to have Arthur around, interfering, the decision had been made to hold the last group get together at Matt's.

"Wow, Matt," Gwen let out as they were given the two cent tour. "You're house is really nice."

He shrugged. "It's not as big as Morgana's," he said.

Morgana shook her head. "Size isn't all that matters," she contested. "After all, there's only three people living in my house. With all that space, it feels like no one really lives there. Here, you've got you and your two parents, and the house is just the right size for the three of you. It feels much nicer."

Merlin set a hand on Morgana's shoulder. "So, about the movie…," he trailed off on purpose.

Gwen jumped. "Oh, that's right! Tonight's about movies, not about houses." She smiled. "Let's have fun as a group one last time before we split up for college."

Matt nodded. "Right."

"But if we go out after graduation together, then this isn't the last time, is it?" Merlin asked with an innocent expression.

"That's right!" Morgana shouted suddenly, catching everyone but Merlin off guard. "I'll treat us all to a nice dinner! We'll stay out all night and only say goodbye when the sun comes up."

Gwen laughed nervously. "I'm not sure I could stay awake that long. But it's a sweet idea."

"The point is the same, regardless," Morgana soldiered on. "Dinner. All four of us. After graduation is done. No parents. You can have dinner with your families the next night or the previous night, but I claim graduation night."

"My mom and uncle don't mind," Merlin agreed with a shrug and a smile.

Matt blinked once. "I guess…I'll talk to my parents."

Gwen smiled. "Then it's settled. We'll go to dinner after we graduate. So we have to make sure to dress nice under our robes." She grimaced, imagining the graduation robes.

Morgana grimaced as well. "I've never understood why graduation robes are so….ugly."

"And uncomfortable," Matt chimed in. "It's terrible material."

Morgana nodded. "Right. Why couldn't they make it out of something nicer, or maybe take a few extra measurements and fit it to us a bit? Not too tight, but enough that we don't just look like red blocks."

"Oh, but Morgana," Merlin cooed teasingly, "Red is such a lovely color on you. You'll make a gorgeous block."

Morgana whacked him on the back of the head and he laughed. "You're terrible."

Gwen giggled into her hand gently. "But really, what should we wear for this dinner, Morgana?" she asked, half serious with her joy.

With a roll of her shoulders, Morgana let out a 'hmmm' noise. "Well, while I could afford to take you to The Lord's Table-," the most expensive restaurant in the city, "that's not really our style. At least, not as a group." Morgana spared Matthew a look, silently saying that she knew his family had dined there once or twice before and admitting that hers did so often. "And The Green Knight is a bar, so that wouldn't do-"

"Oh, but Percival is a lovely host," Matthew interjected with a grin.

His three friends threw him winks and playfully raised eyebrows. Merlin shook his head and shrugged. "There are better knights out there for you, my friend," he said kindly.

Morgana smiled, looking back and forth between the two males, and then cleared her throat to garner their attention once more. "As I was saying. So perhaps…Mage's?"

Gwen's eyes lit up. "Oh, I love Mage! They have the best seafood. And the desserts are fantastic!"

Merlin grinned, almost laughing. "Yea. I haven't been since I started high school."

"Then we have a consensus," Matthew tallied. "We'll dine at the Mage's place on the thir…teenth…..Hey did anyone else just realize that our graduation is on Friday the thirteenth?"

Gwen and Morgana's eyes widened while Merlin chuckled. "I thought maybe they were trying to be ironic."

…

…

May thirteenth. Graduation. (1)

The halls of the Camelot Grand Theater, the largest stage theater in the city and the region, were bustling with people. Family members, already graduated friends, yet-to graduate friends, and non-school related acquaintances filled every available space. Every once in a while, a figure dressed from head to toe in red would rush through the crowd, all headed for the same room: the room where the lanyards and pins and tassels and stoles were given out. Once each student had received their personal honor extras, everyone just meandered around the room chatting. Sometimes a student would rush out to get in a quick trip to the bathroom before the hours long ceremony that would signal the end of high school, but mostly everyone sat around.

There was an excited buzz in the air.

Merlin stood in an unused room one hallway over. There were few people in the hall outside, just attendees that got lost. He tapped the wall a few times, counting: three, two, one-

The door clicked open. It opened almost hesitantly, revealing Arthur in brilliant color. Once he'd spotted Merlin, he hurried inside and shut the door behind him. Arthur wore a golden stole with two pins on the right hand side.

"So you wanted to-" he stopped. A wide smile crept across his face. "Jeez, Merlin, how are you standing up?" he teased, motioning to Merlin's robe.

Merlin briefly covered up the many pins and honors he'd attached to his stole, a blush coloring his cheeks. "They're not heavy," he said almost petulantly. "Besides. You love my brain."

Arthur shrugged with a nod, a sort of 'well, yea' motion. "Anyway, what did you need?" he asked curiously. Graduation would start any moment now, and they weren't in the correct room.

Merlin's blush darkened and Arthur's interest was piqued. "You know I had a second job this year," he stated. Arthur nodded anyway. "Well, it was because I wanted to save up for something special. Something for us."

Stepping closer to Arthur, Merlin reached under his own red robes. He pulled out a crushed velvet box and held it out to Arthur, whose eyes widened like saucers. Merlin's face was a tomato. Arthur just stared at the small box Merlin held out to him, barely breathing. This was-

"I'm not getting down on one knee, you know," Merlin said a bit teasingly, though his ever darker blush belayed his embarrassment. Arthur's eyes shot up to Merlin's, where they locked for several long moments. Merlin cleared his throat. "It's not, you know, anything official. It's more of a promise ring; that I'll stay true to you." He tilted his head a mite bit to the right. "And…that you'll stay true to me. This is real. You have my heart, Arthur. Forever."

Merlin took Arthur's right hand and set the box in his palm. Once he'd pulled away, Arthur touched the box with his left hand. He opened the box slowly, revealing a pure golden band. It was real gold, nothing fake. He wasn't even going to ask how much it cost. His open mouthed gaping was interrupted by Merlin clearing his throat. Looking up, he saw Merlin wave his right hand at him. Where the claddagh ring usually sat was a matching gold band.

"I'll get a chain for it later, and wear it around my neck. You know…so it'll be…," he seemed suddenly embarrassed by his words, "close…to my heart." If his face got any redder, Merlin might just faint. "B-but for now, today, I wanted to wear it on my hand."

Arthur smiled, pulling his ring from the box and snapping it shut. He slid the ring on his right ring finger. It was a perfect fit. Of course it was. Arthur grabbed the front of Merlin's robes and pulled him in for a deep kiss. He didn't pull back until he needed air. Leaning his forehead against Merlin's, he beamed.

"Thank you," he said softly.

Merlin beamed right back. After a moment, he stepped back once. "Come on, we need to get back now. You go first and I'll follow in a minute."

Arthur hesitated. He leaned forward to press one more quick, chaste kiss to Merlin's lips before he took his exit. All the way back to the graduates' waiting room, he fiddled with the ring. It was a new and strange weight on his typically unornamented finger, but he wouldn't take it off for the world.

…

…

Graduation went off without a hitch. Merlin gave an inspiring speech as Valedictorian; keeping it short but powerful.

"Our high school lives are over. We step into the future as new graduates, understanding the world like we never have before. We started high school as naïve children, we end it as adults. Trust me when I say that the future is yours for the taking. We have so much potential, so many dreams, and now we have the power to make them come true. And you may not know where you're going in life just yet, but you've taken that first step. We all have. The friendships we made here will last. The lessons we learned will stay with us forever. So have faith in yourselves and walk down the paths that you yourself choose. If you do that, you will succeed at whatever you do. Thank you, and congratulations to the class of '05!"

Everyone received their diplomas and walked off the stage as new adults on their way to the rest of their lives. People clapped and cheered for every name, sometimes so loudly that it sounded like a bomb had gone off. Will was a whole cheering squad by himself, and everyone heard him shout "YEA! GO MERLIN!" even amongst the rest of the clapping.

Dinner that night was amazing. Morgana, Merlin, Gwen, and Matthew talked and laughed and Gwen cried and they put off saying goodbye for as long as possible. In the end, they parted ways, but with many promises to keep in touch.

Matthew left for Leon Knights University a month later, packing himself into an apartment just off campus. Morgana spent a lot of that summer trying to get Uther to allow her to stay in the dorms on campus at Camelot University, but Uther always said no.

"I will not have your grades plummet because you get caught up in partying every night!" he said.

Arthur and Merlin took to emailing each other frequently. Gwen got a job at the local clinic and a small apartment near the campus; a little studio with manageable rent. Merlin got a job at Camelot's Center for Mental Health. It was low paying and mostly menial labor, but it was good experience all the same. Matthew came to visit again two weeks before the new Fall semester started. The four friends had dinner together again. Afterwards, Matt pulled Merlin aside and asked him about Arthur, and Merlin insisted that nothing had changed. Matthew left at the end of the week, disappointed for Merlin but excited about his new school.

And that was how Merlin Emrys and Arthur Pendragon began their first year at Camelot University.

…

…

(1) – My high school graduation was on June 6th, and it was the last one of the year for all the schools in my school district (and the state, I think). So I figured May 13th was fine. And really, I realized it was Friday the 13th at the same time I wrote Matt learning it was Friday the 13th. Which made it better, so I kept it.

Also, I don't know what is required of a Valedictorian's speech. I attended probably 6 graduations in 2 years, plus my own, and they were all really long, boring, and the same speech over and over again, so I tuned them out after they started talking about what they did to get this stupidly high GPA. ("I skipped lunch to attend extra courses, took college courses in the evenings and on the weekends, and studied thirty hours a week." Good for you, person with no life.) So I don't know if there's like…a standard outline they're supposed to follow. I don't really care. I like Merlin's speech and it's staying that way.

AGAIN If there is any part of Merlin and Arthur's relationship, or Merlin's relationship with any other character, or any character you want to see, LET ME KNOW and I'll see what I can do. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy and keep reading!