"Arthur?" Merlin asked as he heard the door to his room creak open and lifted his head off of his thin pillow.

"Listen, Merlin…" Arthur began, keeping his distance from the raven haired boy as to not scare him like before. "I'm so, so sorry about all of this."

"Why would you be sorry? You're the one who stuck the sword through me," Merlin said in a quiet voice.

"There was a witch. She grabbed hold of me and said some strange incantation that I didn't understand, and before I knew it I was filled with the desire to kill you. And that feeling didn't go away until the second that my sword sank into your stomach."

"Is that true?"

"Of course it is. You know that I would never try to hurt you like that."

"Can you come here?" Merlin asked, his eyes tired.

"Are you sure? You can't possibly be comfortable being around me after what happened. I don't want to make you scared," Arthur said. He wanted to go sit next to Merlin so badly; to grab his hand, but he knew that he couldn't risk getting Merlin's heart too worked up. He wasn't about to let him get so much better only to fall back into unconsciousness.

"I guess I just trust you, you prat," Merlin said with a light smile.

"How can you trust someone who nearly killed you?" Arthur asked, moving only slightly closer to Merlin's bed.

"Well if you say that it was a witch, then I'll believe that it was a witch. Which makes this whole situation completely not your fault," Merlin said, gesturing for Arthur to sit down on the chair next to him.

"Don't you understand? It is my fault! I should've fought harder against the witch's magic; I should have been smart enough to run away from her when I saw her! I shouldn't have even brought you along with me in the first place. I should've left you here, where you'd be safe!" Arthur said, trying to not break down but knowing that he was failing.

"Arthur, listen to me. You can't blame this on yourself, okay?" He said, again gesturing for Arthur to come and sit down next to him.

"There's no one else to blame it on," he said, finally giving in and sitting down next to Merlin.

"How about that witch, huh? Surely she can take some of the blame."

"She was doing it all in the name of her son. I killed him in battle a while ago, it's not here fault that she was angry."

"Exactly. It's not her fault that she was angry, and it's not your fault that you were bewitched. See?" Merlin said, trying to make Arthur realize that he didn't have to feel guilty about what had happened.

Arthur sighed. "It's just…watching you bleed, writhe in pain, and very nearly die while knowing that it was my hand that shoved the sword through you…it was too much."

Merlin looked at Arthur affectionately, "I'm alive, though, see? Gaius said it's a good sign that I'm awake. He told me I might just have a shot at making it."

"You are going to make it, Merlin. I'm not letting you die."

"Arthur, you have a lot of power, but this is one thing you can't control."

"Yes I can. I forbid you to die."

"Do you?" Merlin said with a small grin, "Well, I suppose that if I do drop dead, you'll just have to stick my body in the stocks."

"Shut up, Merlin!"

"Wow, someone's touchy…"

"No, don't you get it?" Arthur said, "I can't stand the idea of living without you! I know that I call you an idiot and pretend that I don't care about you at all, but the truth is that I need you, Merlin. I need you, and I care about you, and I don't know what I would do without you, and goddammit, Merlin, I love you!"

Arthur was practically shaking with sobs, not being able to hold his emotions in any longer. He looked down at his feet, embarrassed as he was expecting Merlin to be disgusted at his love for him. He knew that he shouldn't have confessed his love for his manservant, but it had just slipped out. It was a secret he had kept for far too long, and now it was finally out in the open.

"Hey…" Merlin said, grabbing Arthur's hand, "It's okay, Arthur. I love you too."

Arthur's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open slightly in shock. He had expected Merlin to yell at him, to tell him he was disgusting, or to make him leave. No part of him believed that he actually loved him back. Arthur leaned forward and pressed his lips to Merlin's relishing the moment that he couldn't believe was happening.