Merlin was thankful to Arthur for saving him from something that could have been very nasty and the next time Arthur called in at the office he made sure he saw him.
"Thank you Arthur for what you did. I'm grateful." He said to the blond.
"That's alright Merlin; I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone, glad to have been of service. Look I thought you could do with cheering up a bit. Can I take you out to lunch?" Arthur gave Merlin one of his best smiles. Merlin wasn't as immune as he'd like to think he was. If only Arthur wasn't such a prat.
"I'm sorry I have too much work to do." Merlin smiled back. Unfortunately for him Morgana had very good hearing. She shouted through from her office
"That's all right Merlin; you go, take an hour. I can spare you."
Having no excuse without being rude Merlin had no choice. Arthur had after all helped him, it was the least he could do. "OK thank you Morgana" he looked at Arthur. "Yes please then, I'd love lunch."
Arthur smiled "Thank you Morgana I owe you one, come on then Merlin lets go." As Merlin stood up and walked towards the office door. Arthur held it open for Merlin and as the slender man walked through Arthur put his hand in the centre of Merlin's back, only removing it when Merlin stiffened and was obviously uncomfortable with it there.
Arthur took Merlin to a nearby restaurant, a far more expensive one that Merlin would normally have used. They were shown to a table and given a Menu. Merlin looked at the menu and noticed there were no prices on it. So he ordered the cheapest looking thing on it.
"You can have whatever you like Merlin, my treat." Arthur obviously realised what Merlin had done.
"No thank you, I'm not that hungry I only usually have a sandwich at lunchtime. I can pay for myself thank you, if anything I owe you a meal you saved me after all." Merlin was proud and didn't want to take anything from Arthur.
"Nonsense, I invited you to lunch it's my treat. I wanted to try to get to know you better. We haven't got of the best of starts and I'd like to make up for that. I'll be honest with you Merlin I like you, I like you a lot."
Arthur certainly sounded sincere and Merlin found himself blushing. He didn't know what to say without sounding ungrateful. "Thanks, but I'm sorry I'm not interested."
Arthur looked at Merlin and didn't think the other man was being completely truthful. He blushed too much at compliments, no there was something else behind Merlin's reluctance and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. "That's alright Merlin I understand, but I hope we can at least be friends."
Merlin nodded then the food arrived giving Merlin something else to concentrate on. After the meal finished and they were drinking a coffee Arthur started to ask Merlin a bit about himself. Merlin found he was telling Arthur about his mum and his home in Wales. Arthur in turn told Merlin about his relationship with his father and how his mother had died when he and Morgana had been small.
"I'm sorry to hear that, I never knew my father he died before I knew him." Merlin said.
"Well we have something in common then. I'd best get you back to Morgana or she'll shoot me." Arthur said reluctantly "My boss will shoot me as well."
It was only then that Merlin realised just how much time had gone. Arthur paid for the meal, refusing to allow Merlin to pay for his. Merlin thanked him and said Arthur had no need to come back with him.
"Oh I insist, I don't know when I'll get to go out with you again so I want to make the most of it." Merlin's stomach did a small flip at the smile Arthur gave him.
"I'm not a girl Arthur! I don't need escorting." Merlin said trying to cover up his feelings.
"I wouldn't be interested in you, if you were Merlin. And I meant what I said I really do what to get to know you better. Will you come out with me again?" Arthur crossed his fingers behind his back, feeling like a school boy asking for his first date.
"I'm sorry Arthur it was nice, but I don't see this happening again. But thank you." He turned and went back into the office block without looking back.
He couldn't fall for someone like Arthur. He promised himself never to have short flings and that's all it could ever be with Arthur and he wouldn't fool himself otherwise. He'd heard all about the other mans reputation. The trouble is it would be all too easy. Merlin knew that and he wouldn't let it happen. He was going to wait for someone who, like him, wanted something more permanent.
/