BEEP, BEEP, BEEP the microwave sounded. Arthur sighed, walking over to it; he pulled it open and breathed in the smell of the streaming chicken broth. He pulled the bowl out then, using mittens and placed it on the table for a second to cool, while he grabbed a spoon and popped it into the liquid. He carefully carried it to his bedroom now, where, in his bed, lay an insane person. Merlin, who after having some sort of crying, screaming fit had sagged to the floor in Arthur's living room, and prompted Arthur to move the man into the bedroom.

He was light as a feather, maybe not a feather, but really freaking light! Arthur had tried not to notice it last night, when he moved the passed out man onto his sofa. But there was no getting around it now, Merlin must be all skin and bone, did he even eat at all? Arthur wondered.

"Uh…Merlin?" he said, tensely, as he walked into the bedroom. Merlin was lying on the bed, looking up at the ceiling, eyes cold and far off. "I brought you something to eat; I thought you might be hungry."

"Thanks," Merlin said, but didn't move. Arthur set the bowl down on the nightstand next to his bed and sighed, watching Merlin.

"Are you alright?"

Merlin shook his head, "You said that, when we had first met." Arthur nodded, but had no idea what he had said in the first place. "Then you tried to take my head off with a mace."

"The king didn't sound like a very nice guy…"

"He was a prat," Merlin said, fondly. "But I've never met a greater man."

"It seems you uh…cared a lot about this king guy, "Arthur stated, fishing a little…just a little. "Were you two uh...lovers?"

"No!" Merlin said quickly, looking slightly amused at the thought. "He was married to Guinevere, he loved her."

Arthur nodded. Merlin looked at him then, it was the first time since Arthur had walked into the room; his eyes were dark and stormy, like he was fighting back tears.

"You don't remember any of this?" he asked. "Not me? Not Gwen?"

Arthur shook his head.

"What you must think of me…" Merlin trailed off, looking pained, as he turned away from Arthur again.

"I think you're not well, honestly," Arthur admitted. "But that's alright."

"It's not, none of this is alright."

"I'm sorry…"

Merlin said nothing else, just looked at the ceiling again and Arthur sighed. He pushed the bowl of soup a bit closer to the bed then.

"You should eat" Arthur told him. "It's chicken noodle."

Merlin nodded, but just sat there. Arthur inched closer to the door now, biting his lip.

"Eat," he said again. "It's canned, but it's not bad."

He walked out, shutting the door behind him as he went. He sat down at the table and put his face in his hands. What was he doing? He should have called the police, the hospital, something…someone. Arthur suddenly jumped a foot in the air, as his phone buzzed in his pocket. Who the hell was that?

He yanked it from his pocket and looked at the ID. Oh, it was only Pepper. He answered.

"Hello?"

"Hey, love, how are you?" she seemed so happy on the other end. "I just got to my parents house, I thought I'd check in."

"Oh, uh…how's your papa?" Arthur asked, numbly, it seemed like Pepper's papa problem's happened so long ago.

"He's alright, he says hi," she said. "How are things there? Anything exciting happen since yesterday?"

"Uh, no…not a thing" Arthur lied. Well, maybe it wasn't so exciting. Maybe strange men show up at people's doors all the time, claiming you're a dead king. Yeah, it happens all the time, it must.

"Boo, well…I'll be home in a few days," she told him. He nodded, then realized she couldn't see him. "I'll see you then, love."

"Mm'kay" Arthur muttered, head still fuzzy. This was all very so tiring, and so damn confusing.

"Love you, bye!"

She hung up and Arthur did too, sighing. He missed when his life was normal, which just so happened to be about twelve hours ago. How quickly life could change. He sighed, yet again, putting his face back into his hands. He was so tired, but he couldn't sleep, not with Merlin here, not when he didn't know what to do with him.

He heard the door to his room creek open and looked up, surprised. He turned back quickly to see Merlin slowly walking over, looking a bit forlorn, soup bowl in hand. As Merlin came closer, he set the bowl down on the table, and Arthur grumbled, it didn't look like he had taken more than a two bites.

"Arthur…" Merlin trailed off, as he sat in the kitchen chair, next to him. "Arthur I-"

"You don't have to say sorry anymore," Arthur told him, watching him closely. He wasn't sure if being up was the best thing for Merlin at the moment, he had passed out three times in less than twenty four hours, that had to mess with your head. And in Merlin's state…well, that had to make it so much worse.

"I wasn't, I mean...I was but..." Merlin mumbled, twittling his fingers together. "I just, I don't know why this is happening."

"You're ill," Arthur shrugged. "That's alright."

"No, I'm not ill though," Merlin told him. "I must sound crazy, you must be ready to…I don't even want to know what you're planning to do to me, I just…"

"I'm not planning anything," Arthur said, honestly, he couldn't think of anything to do.

"I just wish you would believe me," Merlin said, sighing, troubled. "But I'll get you there. It might not be easy, but I'll make you remember, Arthur, I will."

Arthur just looked at him, pityingly; it must have showed too, because Merlin frowned.

"I'm not crazy."

"I just don't want you to be disappointed when I turn out to not be the person you're looking for."

"I already told you, I can feel him in you," Merlin said. "I just…have to draw him out."

(A/N: I will not be posting everyday, but I was lazy and didn't feel like writing, so editing was the winner, besides, this is a pretty damn short chapter. I have about 10 chapters of this story already written, so I have a nice stash to keep you guys going. Most updates will be every other day, this was just utter laziness on my part. I still might go write a bit after all... I'm unsure right now. Comment and stuff, I love you guys' comments so far, you guys are perf!)