He kicked the ball hard as adrenaline rushed through him, racing down the green field. He felt a shove at his back and knew this was foul play, but it couldn't be called due to there being no referees. It was pre-training. Pre-training was what Arthur called it, when a few of his teammates would get together and practice, so they wouldn't have to listen to the coach tell them how sucky they had gotten over break. He kicked the ball again and nearly tripped on another person's foot but he managed to save himself and looked up finally, as he saw the goalie, (Todd,) looking almost blood thirsty for a chance at blocking the ball. Arthur kicked it once more and watched as the ball went flying and flying, right over Todd's head. Arthur cheered, throwing his arms up in the air, as he looked to the stands and saw the raven haired man watching him intently. Arthur jogged over to the stands then, feeling rather good about himself and jumped up, grabbing hold of the bar that separated him from Merlin. It was a few good feet from the grass; he leaned over it and planted his feet on the bit of gravel there.

"So?" he asked, and Merlin grinned.

"Eh," he said, sliding over on the seat, so he was in front of Arthur. "I've seen better."

"Better?" Arthur asked, offended, he took great pride in his Footie skills. "I'd like to see you do better!"

"I could..."

"Oh please, Merlin!" Arthur retorted. "I've been playing for years. Have you ever even kicked a ball?"

"I might be good at it…"

"I bet you couldn't even block a goal."

"I could," Merlin smirked.

"Don't be an ass, Merlin," Arthur told him, rolling his eyes.

"What?" Merlin retorted back. "I could!"

"Get down here and prove it then!" Arthur told him, jerking back with a nasty grin.

"What?" Merlin asked, confused. Arthur had to hold back his evil laughter.

"Get down here and prove you can block a goal," Arthur told him, jumping off the railing. "Come on…" he said, as he headed back onto the field. He looked back and Merlin was standing now, still looking confused. "Come on!"

It was that fond smile mixed with determination that made Arthur smirk, as he watched Merlin climb over the bar and jump down onto the grass. All of his teammates had left, (Arthur wasn't sure when they had done that exactly,) and now it was just him and Merlin on the field.

"Alright, wise-ass, get over to your goal."

"Are you sure we should do this?" Merlin was asking and Arthur smirked at him.

"Scared you're going to lose?"

"No," Merlin shook his head. " I'm just worried about your ego getting bruised when I beat you."

"Big talk for such a skinny man!" Arthur shouted, as Merlin ran toward the goal. He stood in front of it now, stilly, fingers twitching at his sides. This would be too easy. Arthur chuckled as he aimed one well-aimed kick right for Merlin's head. But instead of it hitting him or even going over him, Merlin suddenly jumped up with some sort of strange force and blocked the ball. Arthur huffed; well…this isn't going well.

Thirty six shots, thirty six balls aimed right for his head, thirty six times Arthur kicked the ball and thirty six times Merlin blocked it. It was amazing; it was insane, it was…god damn annoying!

"How the hell are you good at everything?" Arthur yelled at him, as they walked off the field together, Merlin was smiling fiercely, the air of victory on him like sweat and Arthur had to refrain from slapping the proud look right off his stupid face. "You were fucking with me, weren't you? You're some kind of Footie mastermind and you've come to live with me to steal my secrets!"

Merlin snorted, stopping outside of the locker that said Arthur.

"It was beginners luck."

"Just like Mario Kart and Beer-Pong?" Arthur barked, wrenching open his locker. "I think you cheat!" he took off his jersey right in front of Merlin and pulled on a tee shirt. "I just can't figure out how."

"I'm naturally talented."

It was Arthur's turn to snort. He pulled off his shorts then, switching them out for some jeans and then balled the clothes up, throwing them in the locker before shutting the door and turning back to Merlin.

"You're a clotpole, that's what you are!" Arthur told him, as he and Merlin began to walk toward the exit.

"That's my word!" Merlin whined, as Arthur bid his teammates a goodbye and they headed out to the cars.

"And it fits you perfectly."

"I am not an oaf penis!" Merlin said, once they were both in Arthur's car. Arthur chuckled to himself then, starting the car and pulled out of the parking space. "If anything you are the oaf penis, and a sore loser!"

"I wouldn't be sore if you didn't cheat!" Arthur told him, he knew Merlin was cheating; he just had to be, but how? He let the thought go, as he drove down the street. "Where do you want to go now?"

"We could get a cup of coffee," Merlin suggested, clearly ignoring the cheating bit. "But you should be home studying..."

"I told you I'll study when I get to it!" Arthur barked, rolling his eyes. Not that he was really annoyed with Merlin, he knew he had to study. Finals were fast approaching and Professor Nitwit was a hard-ass grader. "We'll get coffee and a snack and then we'll go home."

"And you'll study?" Merlin smirked.

"Yes…"

Arthur drove through the town and stopped in front of the coffee shop, parking the car there, right in front of the store. He and Merlin got out and walked inside. Arthur heard the jingle of the door bells as they walked toward the counter. Both men had ordered coffees and Merlin got a scone, while Arthur got himself a blueberry muffin.

Arthur had just picked up his muffin when he heard Merlin make a (rather girly) squeak. He turned around quickly and immediately rolled his eyes. Coming into the shop, wearing rather large, purple sunglasses and a red scarf, was Gwen. She looked like a mini racecar driver from a video game.

"Gwen!" Merlin called, abandoning his scone and coffee as he rushed over to greet her. Arthur somehow found a way to carry both coffees and plates of baked goods on his own, as he quickly tried to chase after Merlin.

"Merlin, it's so good to see you again!" Gwen was saying, as they pulled away from a hug. Arthur rolled his eyes again. "And hello Arthur" she smiled. Arthur nodded in return. "It's nice to see you again too."

"Would you like to sit with us?" Merlin asked then, looking back at Arthur who grumbled under his breath.

"I would love to!" Gwen told him, seeming to completely miss Arthur's clear distaste in the whole idea. "I'll just get my coffee..."

"Okay!" Merlin said, chipper, as he pulled Arthur away and to a table. Arthur slumped into a chair and tired not to glare at Gwen, while she stood in line. "Hey, what's with you?"

"Nothing."

"Don't be pouty!"

"Pouty?" Arthur turned to look at him and turned the glare on him instead. "I am not pouty, Merlin, I am perfectly fine!"

"You don't like Gwen, do you?" Merlin asked then, flat out and really, Arthur couldn't lie.

"No," he admitted.

"Is it because of who she is or is it something else?" Merlin went on. "Or is it because you think she's flirting with me?"

"Why should I care if she flirts with you?" Arthur retorted. "But no, I'm not sure what it is, I don't hate her, I just…I don't want to marry her."

"You don't have to," Merlin told him, laying a hand on his forearm. "Just because you were married in another life that doesn't mean you have to be in this life. I know you're happy with What's-her-name."

"Pepper," Arthur laughed.

"Papper…" Merlin made a face as he said it. Arthur smirked into his coffee, eyes averting back to Gwen, who had just received her coffee and was now trotting over to their table. She sat down across from them, smiling sweetly. "So, Gwen, heading into work today?"

"Oh yes," she frowned, but smiled again promptly. "But I love working there, so many books…"

"Have they done anything about the King Arthur section yet?" Merlin asked, and Gwen frowned again.

"No," she said. "But I've talked to Tom, the store owner, and he agrees it would be a good thing for children. You know, get to know the legend, so many kids these days don't even know who King Arthur is, and Merlin…they've only heard of him from Harry Potter."

"Merlin's beard" Arthur muttered and then felt a slight jab in his side. He smirked over at Merlin.

"He likes to do that," Merlin explained, when Gwen looked between them, questioning. "Because my name's Merlin..."

"Oh," she giggled into her coffee and Arthur sighed, looking down at his half-eaten muffin and Merlin's not-even-touched scone. He thought about eating it.

"Well, if you'll excuse me a moment, I'm going to the loo" Merlin said then, standing up. Arthur looked up at him, with a sly smile.

"Hurry back or I'll eat your scone!" he warned and Merlin raised an eyebrow, before walking away. Arthur grinned and as soon as Merlin was gone, shoved a finger into the scone.

"So," Gwen said, making him look up, as he shoved a bit of scone into his mouth. And Merlin thought he was joking. "How long have you two been together?"

He choked on the scone.

"Wh-what?"

"How long have you and Merlin been dating?"

He thought the scone would be forever lodged in his windpipe. But he somehow choked it down, staring at Gwen, wide-eyed.

"We're not…together," Arthur made some kind of together and then apart hand motion, just to prove the point further.

"Oh," Gwen blushed. "I just thought...how you acted together and how you yelled at him outside the bookstore when I had flirted with him, it just seemed…"

So she admitted to flirting! AHA! But wait…Arthur hadn't yelled that day outside of the bookstore, he was just confused and they didn't act like they were together, or a couple! Definitely not! He liked Gwen even less now.

"We're just friends."

Merlin returned then, just in time too, because there was an awkward silence growing so thick you could almost see it.

"My scone!" he said, outraged, looking at Arthur. Who half-heartily smirked back, his heart just wasn't in it anymore. He was now worried, quite worried. It didn't matter how they acted at home, but outside of the house, where everyone could see…Arthur couldn't have people thinking he was dating a crazy man, or a man at all, actually. Because Arthur wasn't gay!

(A/N: First I want to go back to chapter 8, where they play Mario Kart, I just got a comment talking about how Mario Kart is not on Xbox. I know it is not made for the Xbox, I don't understand why, but its not. I just didn't want to say they were playing a Wii because they seem a bit outdated to me and lame, I have a Wii, I mean, a guy like Arthur (who comes from a rich family) is more likely to have a Xbox or whatever rather than a Wii. Also, there really is a track on the game called Moo Moo Circuit. (Or Meadow, I can't remember.) And, yes, Arthur is a bit of a nerd. ;) It's funny too, because Arthur mentions Mario Kart again in this chapter. Nice timing I'd say. Anyway, about this chapter, I know nothing about football over there, so I tried my best. Comment and tell me what you think of Gwen, I hope she's more liked than Pepper.) ((I forgot there was the F word again in this chapter, didn't warn you...SORRY!)