"And where were you?" Mordred asked as Merlin entered the house. "You seem happy."
"Does it matter to you?" Merlin rudely replied as he shut the door. "I don't ask you about your whereabouts, so why are you so concerned about mine?"
Mordred crossed his arms and stared at Merlin with a curious look. "You seem happier than_" "Shut up and go help Gwen in the kitchen." Merlin's voice was threatening.
"No need to be pissy." Mordred replied as he vanished.
"Where the hell were you?" Morgana made a surprise appearance in her brother's flat.
"None of your damn business." Arthur replied.
"Yes it is, you were supposed to sign a proposal agreement, father wishes for you to wed his business partner's daughter." Morgana said. "You have no choice."
"Oh Morgana, yes I do." Arthur bleakley said. "I had a choice ever since you and father started playing with my heart."
"Are you referring to Peter? That poor boy who killed_" "He never killed himself Morgana." Arthur now walked towards his sister. "It was your actions and father's that led him to his grave! You took the person I loved the most and you pushed him over the edge, how dare you bring up someone so pure when talking about a whore such as father or yourself."
"Arthur!" Morgana shouted. "Take that back."
"Never, it is the truth, and you can tell Father I said that." Arthur's said. "Now, get the hell out of here."
Merlin and Mordred continued to go at each other, even after dinner.
In turn, Mordred threw a punch at Merlin causing the two to go at each other. Gwen threw pillows at them so they could stop, and eventually that worked. Sad to say, in the ruckus, the front door fell off of its hinges leaving the house vulnerable to the many gang members or robbers.
"Mordred, you sleep downstairs on the couch tonight in case someone breaks in." Merlin ordered. "We don't want to get raped or anything..."
"You'd love that." Mordred joked. "Having a man stick himself up your_" "Now quiet!" Gwen yelled. "Mordred, it's only fair that you sleep down here. Afterall, you broke the door."
The two boys stared at each other before Merlin retreated upstairs. He didn't have time to deal with Mordred, he was reflecting on his night.
As he jumped into his bed, he wondered whether the date had gone as Arthur planned. Still, the fact that the blond had made such an effort to make Merlin happy made him warm up inside.
That night, sadly, someone had gotten into the house.
Mordred claimed that a friend in his gang called him late at night and he had to go. The thief attempted to rape Gwen but Merlin was able to fight him and throw him out of the window. After that, Gwen was so frightened that she slipped in bed with Merlin for the rest of the night.
The next morning, Mordred had not yet returned and the two headed to work. Both dressed in their waiter and waitress uniform.
Instead of waiting, like Merlin usually did, Freya had asked him to cook.
He liked doing that on some occasions, for one, he didn't have to deal with rude customers and his food always received compliments.
That day though, their friends, Lancelot, Lance for short, Elyon, Gwen's brother, and Percival, Percy for short, had decided to stop by. Merlin who was on break decided to venture out of the kitchen and talk with them. He ended up telling them, and Gwen, all about his date.
"Just promise you won't leave for modelling like Gwaine did." Lancelot said as he had his arm around Gwen. "That was sad."
"Don't remind us." Elyon said. "Now he's a multi millionaire."
The group took a moment to sigh before finally talking about their daily lives. For instance, Lancelot being a steady Lawyer, Percival as well. Elyon was in the air force, something that had always concerned Gwen but she tried not to show it.
"Where' s Mordred?" Lance asked.
"Out with that 'gang' of his." Merlin spat. "He'll get himself killed."
"Don't say that."
"It's true." Elyon said to Gwen. "Perhaps he could join the airforce, like me."
"Joining the air force, requires responsibility," Merlin said. "And it's something Mordred lacks_"
They all stopped and looked at the large window where someone was knocking. To Merlin's surprise it was Arthur. He wore a nice black suit, Merlin could only guess that he just got back from something important.
"Oh." Merlin quickly ran and opened the door, allowing Arthur entrance. Gwen, and the rest of the guys stared in shock.
"That's him?" Lance asked. "The Son of the Duke?"
"My thoughts exactly." Percy added.
The group watched as Arthur smiled and explain himself to Merlin, who smiled as the Duke waved his hands up and about.
Merlin brought Arthur over to the table where his friends sat.
"Hello," Arthur began. "You are his friend's, I suppose?"
The group looked nervously at one another before forcing Lance to speak. "Yes your grace!"
"Oh, I'm not a Duke yet. You can call me Arthur." He smiled.
Everybody in the restaurant then turned to Lance, as if to see if he'd actually call the Duke's son Arthur.
Before he could, Arthur tugged on Merlin's sleeve and whispered something in his ear.
"Not now." Merlin said. "I'm still on my shift."
"When?" Arthur asked. "Last night was terrible."
"All first dates should be terrible." Merlin smirked. "It's practice for the next one. Now don't waste your time here with me."
Arthur stared into Merlin's eyes. "It was a date?"
"Oh..." Merlin replied, blushing a bit. "I guess not."
"It wasn't?" Arthur sounded hopeless. "I mean, just_"
"Let's try it again next week or so." Merlin redeemed both Arthur and himself.
"Okay, next week...Friday, seven o'clock, at night!" Arthur said walking backwards towards the door. "See you then."
"See you then."
Arthur quickly ran out of the restaurant and nearly tripped over himself to get into his car.
"Oh my God, he loves you. You make him so nervous." Gwen laughed. "It's so cute!"
"I wouldn't say that." Merlin said. "I mean..." The brunette itched his head nervously.
"Lucky you." Elyon joked. "Just don't leave us like Gwaine did."
The group had a good laugh before Merlin's phone rang. He took it from his pocket and held it to his ear. There were a few "Yes's" and "Ok's" and then Merlin's face went real red.
"Thank you." Merlin clamped his phone shut.
"What is it?" Gwen asked.
"Mordred, he's started another fight at school." Merlin sighed. "We have to go pick him up."
"Not again." Gwen raced over to Merlin. "He'll be expelled."
"I don't think he really cares." Lance shrugged.
"Nevertheless we've got to go...see you all later."
Mordred was very notorious for either starting school fights or being in them. It was normal for Gwen and Merlin to have to pull him out. Mordred had been through so many schools in his lifetime that Merlin just stopped wasting his money and sent Mordred to the local school that was free. Yet, Mordred continued to engage in fights and hang around the wrong crowd. Kara, Merlin's friend and fellow work mate, went to school with Mordred and through the years had developed a crush on him. Of course, Mordred never gave her the time of day, leaving her for his gang friends.
In addition to getting in fights at school, he got into fights in his neighbourhood.
"I hope things work out with you." Lance happily said as the two left.
Arthur frowned as he saw a woman overly dressed in priceless jewels enter the five star restaurant he sat in. Deep down inside, he longed to be somewhere else. He wanted to be where his true love was. He remembered the restaurant and compared it to this one. Merlin's restaurant was more like a diner, with relics of the past hung up on the old oak walls and interesting things hanging from the worn wooden ceiling. He loved the feeling of seeing the employees dressed in all black, letting loose and asking people their orders. He loved the fact that everybody got along so well.
He sat in a restaurant now, made with marble floors, glass tables and diamond chandeliers hanging about. He hated everything about this place and the thought that people actually ate here made him angry inside.
The woman, who had pale skin and too much makeup on sat before him. "Arthur." She said, flipping back her beautiful hair. Arthur smelt her perfume. "It's been ages. Morgana has told me so much."
"Has she?" Arthur was hardly paying attention. This date was so much more different from the date the previous night.
"Yes, and so has your father." Now this got Arthur to stare.
"What has he said?" Arthur gave her his full attention.
"He wishes for us to join in wedlock by the end of this month, or the next. I'm very excited, and I just wanted your opinion on our proposal."
Arthur itched his head curiously. "Proposal?" He asked. "That would involve me loving you and actually proposing to you in the first place. On top of that, I don't remember you and I don't know your name." Arthur shrugged and saw how hurt the girl looked.
"It's supposed to be to ensure my family fortune, to ensure your family_"
"I'm not really too keen on ensuring anybody's fortune but my own. Not my father's, not my sister, and most importantly not yours. You can tell my father every bit of this."
Arthur got up and left the girl sitting there. He didn't care if he had hurt her feelings, he didn't care if she went crying to her rich father. He was just furious that his father would do something like that behind his back. How could a man sell his own son's heart like a replaceable item?
Uther knew what had happened nearly two years before all of this; he knew that Arthur was still injured from the death of his lost love.
Peter.
The name rung in Arthur's head and caused him the greatest amount of pain he'd ever felt. He brushed the feeling off and hoped in his car. He didn't even look back at the restaurant before speeding off.
The two weren't surprised when they saw Mordred sitting in the front office bruised, and with crossed arms. He didn't even look at the two when they arrived in the office, he only shifted so he could avoid Merlin's harsh gaze.
The Headmistress, a young woman for the job quickly rushed inside. Her pony tail bounced as she made her way before Merlin and Arthur.
"I'm so sorry." She said, looking up at the two. "I know you have to work long hours but_" "I know." Merlin said. "We understand."
"Do you?" She asked, a smile made its way to her face.
She looked up at Merlin in admiration before turning towards Mordred. "You may go now, you can come back tomorrow. Please Mordred, stop these fights."
"Tsk." He replied, rolling his eyes and standing up. "Just kick these assholes out." The Headmistress blushed in shame, but Merlin quickly came to her defense.
"You must be referring to yourself there Mordred." He said crossing his arms. "You owe her an apology."
There was that usual, painful silence before Mordred said something vulgar and left the office. The small headmistress, dressed in a green dress that resembled a turtle sank in her seat.
"You are such good people." She looked at Gwen and Merlin. "And to expell him, I think that would betray your trust."
"You must do it if it comes to it." Gwen smiled.
"Yes, don't give him a special treatment." Merlin added. "We'll deal with him, don't you worry yourself.
The Headmistress smiled and the two smiled back at her. Within seconds, they were both gone, leaving her to file her papers.
Arthur sat on his sofa drinking a strong beverage while listening to his sister on the phone.
"Father requests a meeting with you today!"
"Does he?" Arthur asked. "Will he ever learn to leave me at peace."
"This is serious Arthur, our family depends on you become Sarah's husband."
"And I don't care, I have invested on every single thing I have without father's money. What happens to Sarah or you, I could care less about."
Arthur ended the call before Morgana could say anything else. He continued to drink his strong drink, attempting to wash away memories of the past.
And even though he tried his hardest, that poor Redheaded boy still held a place in his aching heart.
I bet everyone wants to know who Peter is! Well read on and you'll figure out . Please, please please Review! And I don't own BBC Merlin.