Chapter 6

Will and Gwen were excited about the upcoming gig that night and were quickly picking out songs to play while Merlin was nothing short of nervous. He didn't know what he was going to do once he met Excalibur. They only ever talked digitally. He didn't know what he'd do when they met face to face.

"…and then we can use this one. What do you think, Merlin?" asked Gwen turning to her friend. Merlin looked at her in shocked confusion.

"What?" he said.

"Were you listening?" asked Will.

"Sorry, guys," said Merlin with a nervous laugh. "I guess I zoned out."

"You're the one who got us the gig," said Will. "I would think you'd want a hand preparing for it."

"I know, I'm sorry, I'm just nervous."

"It's understandable," said Gwen glaring at Will as she wrapped an arm around her best friend. "Meeting someone new is nerve wrecking, especially if you like the guy."

"What if he doesn't like me?" asked Merlin full of dread. The last few times he had tried to form a relationship had ended badly for him. The longest he's had yet was with Gwaine and that lasted six months.

"Aw, Merlin, he's going to love you," said Gwen.

"Yeah," said Will encouragingly. "You're a great guy, Merlin. Any guy would be lucky to have you."

Merlin shook his head.

"Forget it. I'm not going."

"WHAT?!" said both of his friends.

"I'm a bellhop and a waiter," said Merlin. "I'm the pity student at one of the most prestigious colleges in the world. Gwen, your parents saved since you and Elyan were born and, Will, your dad's head of the Computer Department. I saved up since I was twelve and got in on scholarship and student loans that I'll be paying off when I'm eighty. Why would someone want to meet someone like me?"

"Merlin, you're an amazing guy," said Gwen. "You're fun and funny and loyal and you love pie but hate fruit salad…"

"Choice," said Merlin.

"You love donuts but hate cake," said Will.

"Choice."

"Hate fish but loves fish sticks," said Gwen.

"Choice. And what does that have to do with how amazing of a guy I am?" he asked.

"Only someone like you would hate one thing but like something else that's basically the same thing," said Will. "It's contradictory."

"It's me."

"Exactly," said Gwen. "And you are the person he wants to meet. Why give up on a good thing? He might be the one."

"He might not be gay," said Merlin pointing out a crucial.

"He might be bi."

Merlin crossed his arms. "Small miracle."

"I'd take it any day." Gwen grabbed Merlin's arm. "Come on."

"Where are we going?" asked Merlin.

"To give you your fantasy. Come on, Will."

Will shrugged and followed after them.

"But what about the set?" asked Merlin.

"Will and I have those covered. Right now, you did to get ready for your big night."

Gwen dragged Merlin to Will's car and they drove to Gwen's house. It was a white house in a cul-de-sac with neatly cut hedges. The garage door was closed which meant no one was home. Will parked next to the curb by the drive and they all filed out.

"Why are we here," asked Merlin.

"To get you ready for your happily ever after," said Gwen.

Merlin shook his head. Sometimes Gwen's head was still up in the clouds, believing in true love and knights in shining armor. As much as Gwen believed in fairies tales, she was still very much of a realist and knew that there were evil knights in the world, but she hoped to one day meet hers and help her friends meet their knights or fair maidens.

Gwen took out her house key and unlocked the door. It wasn't the first time Merlin had been in Gwen's house and was used to the very middle class décor of the home. They followed Gwen to the basement where it was set up as a fashion studio. Yards of fabric of several colors hung on racks on the wall, a mannequin in a corner, a sewing machine and a cabinet with spools of thread and files of designs. It was to the cabinet that Gwen went to and grabbed a tuxedo design. Merlin and Will watched as she selected thread and fabric.

"Okay, Merlin, stand still," she said with a measuring tape. "Arms spread."

Merlin immediately obeyed. It wasn't the first time Gwen used him as a living model. She made several clothes for him and his mother so he wouldn't have to spend money on new clothes. She quickly measured his arms legs and torso.

"Did you lose weight?" asked Gwen when she measured his stomach. "You've shrunk five inches."

"Have I?" asked Merlin. "Wouldn't that be a good thing?"

"Not for someone already as skinny as you are. Have you been eating?"

"I hardly have time to," said Merlin. "Between work, school and Mum, I eat when I can."

"Merlin!" Gwen put her hands on her hips and Merlin thought she looked like a scolding mother. "You have to eat."

"I do!"

"Now." Gwen pointed up the stairs toward the kitchen. Merlin laughed as he walked up with Will to get something to eat while Gwen worked.

Will and Merlin ate and went over the sets in the two hours that it took Gwen to finish cutting and sewing Merlin's outfit. She called Merlin down a couple of times for a fitting and soon she had a nice tuxedo done, midnight blue to go with Merlin's eyes. A quick trip to the neighborhood garden, who grew championship roses for the neighborhood competition, gave Merlin the blue rose he needed.

"What do you think?" asked Merlin turning in a circle to show his friends.

"Amazing," said Gwen with excitement.

Merlin laughed and swept a hand through his head, but stopped.

"Oh, but what about a mask?" he asked touching his face.

"I got something," said Will. "I'll bring it over at the gig."

"Thanks, Will," said Merlin. "I'll change and we'll get ready."

Merlin took the outfit off and Gwen packed it in a travel bag. They packed their instruments onto the back of Will's truck, strapping the drum set down so it won't get damaged, and headed toward Camelot Hotel.

XXXXXX

Arthur went through his wardrobe for what seemed like the fiftieth time. He was having trouble on deciding on what to wear. He wanted to look nice for when he met Wizard. He never had this problem with Sophia. She would pick out what outfits she wanted him to wear and with his previous dates. He'd just put on a tight shirt and a tight pair of pants and he'd be set.

It wasn't Arthur's first time meeting with a man. In the past he would discreetly go to gay clubs and hook up with a guy for the night. Arthur knew he was gay ever since he was fifteen when he kissed the captain of the football team in the locker room. Of course the boy immediately told Arthur not to tell anyone and didn't associate with Arthur again. Arthur was hurt at the time but realized that the boy was afraid of his sexual preference. While Arthur made peace with who he was, he knew he couldn't tell his father with as big of pride that he has, so Arthur had to keep his preferences under wraps until he could cut ties with his father.

"The black Armani with the red tie."

Arthur turned to see his older half-sister standing at his door. Morgana was the product of one of Uther's many affairs. As much as Uther loved Arthur's mother, he wasn't exactly a faithful man. Morgana came to live with them when Arthur was still a boy after both her parents died and it was discovered Uther was her father. She was one of the few people he could be himself around.

"Thanks," said Arthur taking out the mentioned outfit. "I was frazzled."

Morgana walked over to his bureau and started looking through is various tie clips and cuff links.

"Going to meet him tonight," she asked.

"Yeah," said Arthur picking out black leather Italian shoes. "I want to look good."

"How will you know it's him?" she asked picking out matching sapphire cufflinks and tie clip.

"Blue rose comber bun," said Arthur. Morgana gave him a look. "I know, cliché."

"Sometimes, cliché is what's best," said Morgana. She handed him the cuff links and the tie clip. "I hope he's everything you're looking for."

"Me too," said Arthur. "Who are you going with? Leon?"

"Of course," said Morgana.

Morgana watched as Arthur dressed for the benefit. When Morgana first moved in with the Pendragons and found out Uther was her real father, she hated Arthur for being the only one Uther gave all his attention to. She thought Arthur was spoiled and ungrateful but over time she learned the truth. Uther pushed Arthur harder than he did his staff. Every time Arthur failed at something, Uther would give Arthur a five hour lecture on the priorities of being a Pendragon. Since Morgana wasn't a legitimate member she was spared from the proprieties of being a Pendragon.

Morgana was also the first to discover Arthur's secret and kept it from Uther. She let Arthur discover himself on his own but when he did and needed someone to talk to, she was the one that listened. When he was dating Sophia she was the one who kept his head on whenever his "girlfriend" became too demanding. She kept telling him to break it off with her before it got too serious and she was glad he took her advice, even if it was a few months too late.

The room was suddenly pierced by her phone ringing. Morgana fished it out of her pocket and answered it.

"Hello? ... Oh, hi, Gwen. … No, I was just helping my idiot brother get ready for the benefit. … Really? No, it's fine. I'll be happy to help. Where do you want to meet? … Okay. I can do that. Twenty minutes? … Okay, see you there."

"What did Gwen want?" asked Arthur. Morgana and Gwen had been friends since childhood. They had a falling out a couple years ago but where slowly getting over it.

"She and her friends have a gig tonight and they want to look like they belong," said Morgana. "Funnily enough, it's at Uther's benefit."

"Of course it is, I hired them," said Arthur doing his tie. "So you're going to do their hair and make-up?"

"Yes," said Morgana standing up. "Not that you need it. You'll be okay on your own?"

"Yep," he said picking up his jacket.

Morgana nodded and stood. She walked to the door and turned the handle, but before she walked out she turned back to Arthur.

"Good luck," she said. He turned to her with sincere gratitude.

"Thanks," he said.

Nodding she walked out the door. Twenty minutes later she was walking inside Gwen's house. She found Gwen stitching the final touches on a tuxedo, Will typing on his laptop with headphones on and Merlin scribbling on a piece of paper. Every few seconds he was flipping the pencil around to erase something and write something else.

"Inspired?" asked Morgana. They all looked up at her in surprise. "Hello, all. Now please tell me why you require my particular expertise?"

"Merlin's got a date," said Gwen excited.

"Really?" said Morgana looking at Merlin. "With who?"

"I…don't know," said Merlin.

Morgana looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean, you don't know?" she asked.

"I've never actually met him," said Merlin. "I've talked to him, online."

"Are you crazy? He might be an axe murderer or something."

"He doesn't sound like an axe murderer," said Merlin. "He sounds like a great guy. We like a lot of the same things and he's funny, and he goes to the same college as us. He wants to be a literature major but his father's forcing him to do business."

"R-Really?" said Morgana surprised. "Where are you meeting him?"

"At the Pendragon's benefit," said Merlin. All Morgana's friends know that even though Morgana accepted Arthur as her brother, she never accepted Uther as her father.

Morgana paused. Arthur was going to meet his mysterious admirer at the benefit tonight and Merlin was going to do the same thing, but they both couldn't be meeting each other. That just couldn't be possible.

Could it?

"Morgana, are you okay?" asked Gwen worriedly. Her voice snapped Morgana out of her thoughts.

"What? Yes, I'm sorry. I just got distracted. Well, let's get you ready for your date."

"Do you think it's salvageable?" asked Merlin running a hand through his jet black hair. Morgana assessed Merlin's hair.

"I think I can come up with something," she said.

For the next hour she styled not only Merlin's, but also Gwen's and Will's. She also did their make-up. She applied foundation and cover-up on Merlin and Gwen and went the whole nine yards on Gwen. As Morgana worked on Gwen, Merlin called his house to check up on his mother.

"Hello, Emrys residence."

Merlin smiled at Freya's cheerful greeting. Freya was a nursing student and friend to Merlin who agreed to watch over Hunith while Merlin was out whenever she could. For a while she did have a crush on Merlin until he told her as politely as he could that he wasn't interested in women in that way. She had been hurt but completely understood.

"Hey, Freya, it's Merlin," he said. "How's Mum?"

"Oh, we're about to have dinner actually. You want to talk to her?"

"Sure. Put her on."

"Okey-dokey. Hunith, Merlin's on the phone."

There was a pause as the phone was passed over.

"Honey? How are you doing?"

"Good, Mum. We've actually got a last minute gig tonight at the Pendragon's benefit. It seems that the band Uther scheduled canceled and they needed a last minute replacement and it was us! Isn't that great?"

"Oh, sweetheart, that's wonderful! It's the break you've always wanted. A lot of prominent people will be there. There might be someone there that's from a music producer or something."

"Mum, stop," said Merlin. He couldn't believe the faith his mother had in him and his music. "I know you think I'm the next Willie Nelson or something, but there's a very real chance there might not be a big time music producer there. At the most I'll just make a lot of money."

Hunith scoffed.

"Don't see yourself short, Merlin. You're an amazing writer. Everybody loves your songs, and if they don't then forget them. You're an Emrys. We might not live in a castle or be insanely rich, but we achieve anything we set our minds to."

Merlin smiled even through his mother couldn't see it.

"Right, Mum," he said. "I'll do that. I love you."

"I love you too, baby. Knock dead."

"I will," he said and hung up.

"Merlin, time to suit up," said Gwen.

"Okay," said Merlin taking the tuxedo from Gwen. He went to the bathroom to put it on and put his phone, wallet and the lyrics he had been struggling over into the pockets. He walked out to face the scrutiny of his friends. "Well?"

Everyone looked at him with wide eyes.

"What?" he said.

"Damn, Merlin," said Morgana. "I do good work. If you weren't gay, I'd snatch you up in a heartbeat."

"But what about a mask?" asked Gwen.

"Here." Will reached into his computer bag and pulled out a strip of black cloth. "Use this."

Merlin took the cloth and saw that it had two holes in it where the eyes were supposed to be.

"Oh, that's right," he said. "You were Zorro for Halloween two years ago."

"Yep, still have the costume too," said Will.

"Remind me to never make fun of your hoarding addiction ever again," said Merlin as put it on. He turned to his friend. "Well?"

"Holy hell," said Gwen. "If he doesn't snatch you up, I will."

"I agree," said Morgana. "Well, let's get Cinderellaman to his ball so he can meet his Prince Charming."

The three friends laughed as they walked out of the door.

TBC