I'm afraid I won't be coming with you, the words run in his head, as he sat at the desk. Important peppers lay before him, that of which needed tending to before he left. But his mind was elsewhere. He had just seen Merlin riding out, Gwaine behind him, vital supplies, at a time like this? He doubted it, in fact, he knew it was a lie.

It hurt, to know Merlin clearly trusted Gwaine more than him, Arthur had known him longer…better even, at least he had always thought. But there were always things that didn't make sense when it came to Merlin, like how he could turn from bumbling idiot to wise, then right back to bumbling idiot two seconds later. It was puzzling.

Arthur trusted Merlin with his life, that much he knew for sure, Merlin had always been by Arthur's side and for him to suddenly leave, to get vital supplies, whatever it might be that he was actually doing…must be of a great importance. Arthur's only wish was that Merlin felt comfortable enough with Arthur to tell him his secrets.

That led Arthur to forgo his treaties and documents, only to pull out a blank piece of parchment and start writing. Arthur wrote with purpose, a purpose he had never written in before. He read over the words after he had finished with a sigh….he needed his point across, he needed Merlin to know.

"Whatever the reason is, that you cannot accompany me to Camalnn, must be of great importance, I consider myself lucky to call you a friend; you have always been at my side, no matter the cause. My only wish is you trusted me enough to tell me your secrets in return…"

Arthur went flying forward, bolting up right in bed. Merlin wasn't there anymore, thank god. From the look of it behind the curtain, it was morning. Arthur felt light headed, heart pounding; he had been sweating in his sleep. His shirt damp with sweat, his mind reeling from the dream...was it a dream? It was the letter, the letter Merlin had shown him…the one the king wrote before he rode out to die. Arthur didn't want to be seeing this, he wanted to unsee it more than anything.

It had felt so real, as if Arthur himself was there in that moment, deciding to write that letter. But he had been there, hadn't he? He was the king…but he didn't want to be, he didn't want to be someone else, he was happy the way he was now. He decided to lay back down then, to clear his mind of the image, if he didn't think about it….it wouldn't bother him.

Moments ticked by and then the door burst open. Arthur looked up and swore, Merlin was wearing a brown jacket and a red thing around his neck. He blinked and actually, Merlin was just wearing one of Arthur's white tee shirts and no red thing at all.

"Oh good, you're awake," Merlin said, coming to sit on the edge of the bed. "I don't think I told you but I had a nice time on our date…even if some people kept interrupting."

Arthur huffed, smiling a little at the thought of their date the night before.

"I want you to remember how nice our date was and how good the kissing and…other stuff is," Merlin grinned, looking a little sheepish. "I want you to remember that and not try to chock me when I tell you what I did."

"What did you do?" Arthur asked, he wasn't worried, what could Merlin possibly do that would piss him off that much?

"I um.." Merlin mumbled. "I texted Peper."

"You what?" Arthur all but yelled, bolting up again. "Why?"

"I um…I texted her as you and told her to come over."

"WHY?"

"Well, I assumed you would want to break up with her…unless you want to date both of us," Merlin told him, looking slightly forlorn. "I don't think keeping us a secret is possible, half the town probably knows now, after Gwen saw us."

"No…" Arthur sighed. "You're right; I need to break up with her."

"You're not mad?"

"No, Merlin, I'm not mad."

There was a tap, tap, tap on the backdoor.

"Good, because she's here!" Merlin announced, as if Arthur hadn't heard the tapping.

"You couldn't have woken me up sooner?" Arthur barked, jumping out of the bed, running a stressed hand through his hair. He didn't know what he was going to say, or how she would react.

"You looked so peaceful, I didn't have the heart to," Merlin told him. But with a quick image of the dream he had, Arthur very much doubted he looked peaceful. "You go open the door; I'll stay in here until it's all over."

"Pansy!" Arthur barked at him, just as another round of tapping filled the house. He took deep breaths as he padded out through the hall and into the kitchen. This was going to be hard. He reached the door and tried not to roll his eyes at her happy, bubbly looking face. She kissed his cheek when the door was finally opened and followed him to the living room.

"I've missed you," she told him, as they went and sat on the couch. "When did you get back?"

"The day before yesterday," Arthur said, mind racing with what to say and how to say it.

"I was a little surprised to hear from you," Pepper frowned then, placing her handbag on the coffee table. "We hardly see each other anymore."

"I know, Arthur nodded, trying to find his balls. "That's what I wanted to see you about." His balls were here somewhere. "Um…Pepper, I don't think…I'm not sure…I just don't…"

"What are you saying, Arthur?" she asked, suddenly looking both fearful and confused.

"I don't think we should be together anymore," he blurted out, wincing at his own words. Her mouth fell open then and her eyes began to gather water.

"You want to break up?" she asked, sounding hurt. "Is there someone else?" She began to weep then. "There is, isn't there?"

"Yes," he admitted, shamefully, he didn't mean to be hurting her, but there was no real easy way to tell someone this. "There is."

"I understand, we've grown apart, I could feel it," she said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand. Arthur noticed all the black massacre running down her face now. "I hope she makes you happy, Arthur, I really do."

Arthur chocked on his spit at the word she, but couldn't make himself correct her. He just bit his tongue.

"I want us to still be friends," she told him, grabbing his hand with her teary, wet one. "I want to always be friends."

"Of course," he nodded. This had gone much better than expected, much better. He had expected Pepper to yell and scream and throw things at him, but she didn't. He smiled then. "I don't want to lose our friendship."

"We've known each other for four years," Pepper smiled in return. "It would be a shame to lose that."

Arthur nodded in return and she stood up, sniffing her nose and trying to rid herself of her tears. He followed up after her. He wasn't sure what she was doing.

"I should go," she said then, turning toward the kitchen. "I'm glad you asked me over rather than breaking up though text, that's so heartless."

"I agree," Arthur nodded and then she was hugging him.

"I'm going to miss this, so much," she sniffed again and pulled away. Arthur was a little stunned, as he walked his now ex girlfriend to the door. This all happened so fast, he half expected to be talking for hours about whatever it is she wanted to talk about and what had gone wrong. It was all over in a few minutes and Arthur had never been so relieved. He stood at the door and watched her go, she cried a bit more now, but it was over and that's all that mattered to Arthur as he shut the door and headed back to the sitting room.

"Is it all clear?" he heard Merlin yell from behind the bedroom door and Arthur smirked.

"Yes."

The door opened then and Merlin followed Arthur to the sofa.

"That was quick," Merlin commented, looking over at Arthur a little concerned. "How'd she take it?"

"Not bad, I thought it would be worse…"

"That's good," Merlin said, leaning over and pressing a soft kiss to Arthur's lip. "As a present I'll make you some of my chicken soup you love so much."

"I think I have a better present in mind, actually…" Arthur trailed off, pulling Merlin into another kiss. This one opened mouthed and a lot more wet. Merlin moaned, deeply, as if approving of this present and placed a hand on Arthur's chest. Both of them were too engrossed in their heated kiss to hear the back door open, or the high-heeled clicks on the kitchen floor. They only heard a loud gasp that sent them fleeing from each other.

Pepper stood there, eyes wide, hand over her mouth, but she looked furious. Her hand dropped from her mouth then and her very red lips formed such a tight line it looked painful. Her hands went to her hips then, jerking them as if she had just caught two kids doing something naughty.

"I should have known," she said, clear anger and disgust in her voice. "You're leaving me for a man, Arthur, how could you do this to me?"

"I…why does it matter?" Arthur asked, as he and Merlin both stood from the couch.

"A man, Arthur!" she yelled. "Do you know what people will say about me? That I turned you gay," she was seething now. "How could you do this to me?"

Arthur just shook his head, not sure what to say, he only wondered why exactly she was here in the first place.

"Why are you here?" he asked, dumbly, she glared at him.

"I forgot my purse, if you must know!" she pointed to the coffee table and there it was, her blue purse. Merlin picked it up, sheepishly and handed it to her. "Don't touch my stuff you flaming bastard! You wanted him from the start, you stole him from me!"

"Pepper…" Arthur started, going to defend Merlin. But she held her hand up to him.

"Don't you speak to me," she barked. "I never want to see you again!" And then she turned, red, curly hair blowing behind her. "Go to hell…both of you!"

She was stomping through the kitchen then and after a second; there was a loud SLAM of the backdoor. Merlin looked to Arthur, wide mouthed and shocked; he supposed he looked the same. And he had thought that had gone so well…

"Arthur..." Merlin mumbled, turning to him. "I'm sorry, I didn't…"

"Sh," Arthur stopped him, shaking his head. "It's not your fault, it's over now, and that's all we have to think about, we can be together, to hell with Pepper."

"But she thinks…"

"Who cares what she thinks?" Arthur turned to him now. "I don't. I don't care what anyone thinks."

"You're okay with this?" Merlin asked, looking worried, almost as if Arthur was going to break up with him too. He wouldn't. "With people thinking you're gay?"

"It's none of their business what I do or who I date!"

"I see," Merlin smiled at him then, petting his chest with a hand. "Why don't you lie down and I'll make you that soup."

"What happened to my other present?"

"After the soup!"

(A/N: I was sick as a dog when writing this, but I tried my best. I like writing about the king, and I bet you all thought 'Oh Pepper took that so well omg,' haha, this is Pepper, I just tricked you guys. Lucky, Pepper will not be back in the story and I love how everyone was so concerned about if Arthur had broken up with her or not. And I'm back from my trip hello, so more normal updating will take place now...I hope.)