Warning: fast developing relationship
The woman quickly made her way to Arthur.
"Oh my god, are you okay?" She gently grabbed his hand and helped him up on the couch and then gave him the blanket back that had fallen on the floor. "I wasn't planning on screaming, I just, well I don't know what I was thinking. It just happened. Sorry." Her face did look apologetic, "I'm Morgana." She continued "Merlin's sister."
Ah, that explains all. Arthur thought, when putting his hand out. "Arthur… a, err, friend of Merlin."
Morgana's mouth opened in recognition and nodded her head slowly. "Ah, I see. Don't get me wrong though, but don't friends usually sleep in the same bed?"
Arthur could hear the clear emphasize on the word 'friends'. Shit. He didn't know what he was from Merlin right now. Was he a friend, or perhaps something more? Don't be daft Arthur, you only know Merlin for less than a week!
His inner turmoil was cut short by Morgana's voice breaking through. "Or did you two got in a fight and you had to sleep on the couch?" She lets out a breathy laugh, but once she saw Arthur's head slide down in guilt, she stopped.
"I was only joking. You two didn't actually fight, I hope?"
Arthur felt suddenly really uncomfortable, he didn't want to be reminded to last night too much. Out of the corner of his eyes he caught the time and it made him stand up from the couch in lightning speed. Unfortunally his feet got caught in the blanket, making him nearly fall down on the floor again.
Morgana raised an eyebrow to Arthur's action, but didn't hold her attention on him for long. She leisurely sat down on one of the armchairs and pulled a packet of cigarettes out of her bag. She looked towards Arthur, who was finally got free out of the restraining blanket and had finished dressing himself. She held up a cigarette. "You don't mind if I smoke one, right?"
Arthur was already walking forward and turned back to Morgana. "What?" His eyes caught the cigarette. "Oh, well no… but I should really check on Merlin."
Just when a confused Morgana was about to ask why it was so important to check up on her a brother, she heard a weary voice coming from the other side of the room.
"Yes, I do mind actually." Merlin was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed in front of his chest. Arthur heaved a sigh of relieve but could see that Merlin was still tired and he noticed that when Merlin tried to grin, he winced.
Morgana looked Merlin up and down and finally noticed the big black circle under Merlin's left eye. "Merlin! What the hell happened! Are you alright?" Cigarette forgotten, she rushes over to her brother and gently touched the area around the dark circle. Merlin tried to bat her hand away and telling her that he was fine, but as usual, Morgana didn't leave it just like that.
She turned around, facing Arthur and narrowed her eyes to just small slits. "Did he do that!" She said through clenched teeth as she turned back to Merlin.
"What! No Morgana of course not. Would I really be that stupid to let the guy who punched me stay over? Come on Ganie, use your brains even though you have little of them."
Morgana huffed. "Well I see that the blow to your head didn't change your sense of humour. Unfortunally." She took Merlin's hand and brought him to the couch.
Merlin pulled his hand away. "Oh my god… I can walk myself, thank you very much." Then he pointed towards Arthur who was now putting his shirt on. "And look what you've done to him, you accused him of something that he didn't even do, and now he's trying to leave, well thank you very much. Again."
"Well Merlin what would you expect me to think?" Morgana said honestly and took a seat on the couch. "I see a strange man on your couch, although he looks faintly familiar, and then you appear and have a black eye. I thought there was some domestic violence shit happening here! I am your older sister, excuse me for being worried."
"TWO MINUTES, GANIE!" Merlin threw his hands up in the air. "How many times do you have to refer yourself as the older sister, before you start noticing that we are the same freaking age?" He took a deep breath, willing himself to calm down.
"What are you even doing here?"
She shook her head, tutting. "Hello-o, lunch with mum and dad? You called me back about it the other day. I just thought it would've been nice to drive together."
Arthur was standing near the couch, trying to figure out what he should do; stay or go. Besides that, he was just amazed how much Merlin and this Morgana looked alike. When Merlin mentioned to him that he was a twin, he hadn't expecting his sister to be so alike to himself.
"Does no one notice that I have my own car? Everyone keeps offering me rides." Merlin pouted. "I almost think it would be better if I just bring my car back to the dealer."
"Always the drama queen." Morgana retorted. "Well do you want the lift or not? We have to be there in about thirty minutes and seeing that it's already a twenty minutes' drive we need to get going soon."
Merlin let out a frustrating sigh while massaging his temples to ease the headache he was starting to have. "Ganie, seriously, I still don't know if you're being ignorant on purpose or not." He looked up to Arthur and then back to Morgana. "But as you can see; I. have. company! And I have a massive headache so I don't think I can drive."
Now it was Morgana's turn to let out a frustrating sigh. "Oh my-. You're being ignorant now! I already offered you a lift. And of course I noticed your guest." She turned to Arthur and jerked her thumb back to Merlin. "Did he only got a blow to the face, or did his hearing got messed up too?"
Arthur's face started to get a guilty expression. He lowered his head and muttered, "Only a punch to the face."
Arthur pulled the small bottle of painkillers out of his jacket and held them out towards Merlin. "Here are the rest of those painkillers. "
Merlin accepts the bottle and offered Arthur a small smile. Arthur stared a moment at Merlin, hands in the pockets of his jeans and moving from the ball to the heel of his feet. "Well, I'd better go since you'll be leaving soon. I had a great evening yesterday, Merlin. Apart from…" His finger pointed in a swirling motion towards the black eye. "Don't worry, I'll get him the next time I see him."
Merlin slapped Morgana's upper arm. "Now look what you've done! You're scaring him away with your presence."
"Okay first, ow!" She started rubbing her arm. "Second, I didn't do a-ny-thing. I-" A grumble formed in the back of her throat. "For god's sakes! If you're so attached to him, why doesn't he just come with us?"
Merlin's eyes widened at the same time Arthur's did. A small blush started to appear on Merlin's pale face and he cleared his throat. "Well you can come if you want. I mean you totally don't have too, I can understand if you don't want to spend any more time with her." He smirked when Morgana's mouth turned into a small 'o'.
"I would really like it if you would come." Merlin continued and the blush started to spread even further down his face. Arthur thought it was sweet and he would lie if he would say the he wasn't ecstatic to spent more time with Merlin.
Arthur smiled sweetly. "I'd love too."
Now, he wasn't that great with parents, but Merlin's parents should be something he could handle… right? What would possibly the worst thing that could happen? Well there's death, but he supposed that it wouldn't come that far.
Morgana's clapped both her hands on her knee and stood up from the couch. "Well okay than, let's go. And Merlin you might wanna do something about the eye thing." She started to dig around in her bag and pulled out some concealer and foundation.
"Are you out of your mind Morgana! If you think I will use make up, well than you're being very much wrong. I'll just tell them the truth if they ask." Merlin held his head up high. Arthur chuckles
Another grumble came from Morgana. "Stubborn little thing, you'll know mum will panic and dad will go all doctor-y on you."
"I know." Merlin admitted soft. "Well let's just see how it goes, okay? And besides if he's coming, they are far too busy giving him all the attention. If I'm lucky, they might not even notices this." Merlin pointed to his eye.
"Yeah right, dream on Merls. So come on, or else we really will be late and you know mum doesn't like people coming in late." Morgana started to walk to the front door, but turned around before opening it and shouted, "You're sure you don't want a lift from me?"
"No!" Merlin shouted back.
~oOoOo~
Merlin and Arthur got into the brightly lit parking garage beneath Merlin's apartment building.
Merlin was happy that he and Arthur didn't came across Gwaine in the hallway or lift, they might not be on their way if that would've happen.
Merlin got his car keys out and clicked the button for unlocking the car. Arthur saw the lights of a blue Mercedes McLaren light up and he turned towards Merlin with a raised eyebrow.
"What?"
"Nothing… I just didn't held you for being the sport car type Merlin."
"Oh is that so?" Merlin asked, opening the door upwards. "And what kind of type did you held me for then, a soccer mom van?" He slid into the driver's seat and chuckled at the thought of having to drive a van.
Arthur laughed, getting in as well. "Now there's an image I'd like to see" Arthur said, fastening his seat belt.
~oOoOo~
The drive was relaxing so far, with Arthur still teasing Merlin about the soccer mom van every once in a while. Merlin just took it with a smile and soon they started to drive away from the busy city centre and into the beautiful rural landscapes.
Arthur teased Merlin even further by gently moving his arm upwards from Merlin's arm, all the way up to his neck. Merlin jolted when Arthur the touched of his neck and it made the sway slightly to the right, but Merlin remained in control of the car.
Dammit, Will must have told him about the neck thing! Merlin thought, but once used to the feeling, he eagerly leaned into Arthur's hand. Soon Arthur's hand was on his cheek, softly caressing the spot under the bruise with his thumb. He then pulled his hand away.
"I'm sorry Merlin." Arthur murmured and Merlin almost missed him saying it.
Merlin frowned. "For what?"
A shaky breath followed by a sob came from Arthur, on which note Merlin decided to stop the car at the side of the road. He turned towards Arthur and saw him with his head bent down. Merlin took Arthur's right hand and held it between his own. Arthur peered right up into Merlin's eyes. He placed his fingers right under the bruise again. "For what happened to you. I shouldn't have started the fight in the first place. I just couldn't help myself. I…I couldn't let him be with you. Merlin, I know we only know each other for a short period of time, but I feel there is something between us that I can't quite put my finger on, and at the same time I know that I can't imagine myself being with someone else then you." Arthur breathed deeply in and then said it. "Merlin, I – I like you. A lot."
Merlin was shocked too actually hear Arthur say it, but at the same time he felt the same way about Arthur. He also felt that there was something between the two of them, but he didn't want to say anything about it, because they only knew each other for so short.
Merlin smiled softly back at the now nervous Arthur but didn't said anything. When Arthur noticed Merlin looking at him intensely, he sighed and said, "Just forget that I've said it. I'll just get out of the car and call a taxi. I'm sorry, again. I'll just leave you alone.: He opened the door and had already one leg out before he was yanked back into the car by Merlin who immediately pulled him into a passionate kiss. Arthur's eyes grew wide in shock. After considering all the reactions Merlin could give him, this was not the one he thought it would've been. But that didn't made him be against the kiss, no. He tangled his fingers in Merlin's hair and returned the kiss with as much passion.
~oOoOo~
Merlin drove up the driveway, a huge grin onto his face. He saw his sister's car already parked. Then he noticed that he was a few minutes too late. Well, he's sure his mum won't mind it that much… he hoped.
Arthur put his hand on Merlin's leg. "It'll be fine." He whispered, pressing a kiss onto Merlin's forehead. He sat back with an equally big grin. "Boyfriend."
Merlin couldn't stop smiling at the word. "Boyfriend." He repeated with a soft chuckle. Then he nodded and both of them got out of the car and while holding hands, walked towards the front door. Merlin rang the doorbell and started to get a bit nervous, he'd never really brought dates to meet his parents.
He couldn't fidget long over it, because within seconds the door opened and his mother stood in the doorway. For some reason she missed the obvious black eye and Merlin didn't mind that one second. "Merlin! Oh my god I've missed you so much!" Hunith threw her hands around Merlin's neck and pecked a kiss on his cheek.
Merlin turned bright red. "Mu-um!"
Arthur snickered at the sight.
She flashed a smile in Arthur's direction. "Oh and who's this? Morgana said you'd bring company." Hunith stood back and opened the door enough for them to enter. "Come in come in, enough for everyone."
"This is Arthur." Merlin began, wiping his feet on the mat. "He's-" Before he could finish his sentence, Hunith had dragged Arthur already inside and towards the dining room. There, Arthur recognized Merlin's sister, but not the man at the head of the table, Arthur just assumes that he's Merlin's dad.
Merlin has caught up with his mother and Arthur and was now standing behind them. "Look Balinor, Merlin brought a friend with him. Arthur!" She started to giggle, actually giggle. "How brilliant is that, eh?"
Merlin took a step forward and looked straight into Arthur's eyes, who gave him a mischievous smile back and nodded. "He's my… boyfriend, actually" Merlin corrected. He wrapped his arms around Arthur's waist and he waited for his family's response to that information.
Hunith started squealing, clapping her hands and was not yet bouncing up and down her feet. "Brilliant! This asks for a special wine. Morgana help me finding it."
Morgana sighed deeply, and reluctantly got up. She started to mumble inaudibly at which Balinor shook his head. He then looked up to his son and his new boyfriend. He wasn't even aware that Merlin was dating, he never said anything at work. But when Balinor looked at the two, he saw the chemistry. And if Merlin felt good with this Arthur, then they had his blessing.
Balinor stood up and held out his hand. His features were soft and a smile was on his lips. "I think congratulations are in order. Welcome to the family!" He shook Arthur's hand and gently clapped him on the upper arm.
"Err. Thank you sir." Arthur replied, not really knowing what to say.
"Please call me Balinor, sir was my father."
Arthur laughed at that. "Balinor it is then." His own father would never say to someone to not call him sir. This family was like a fresh breath of air for him.
Balinor moved to his son. "Although I'm a bit surprised to hear you have a boyfriend all of a sudden, I still want to congratu- hold on." Balinor started to notice the black eye now and his brows narrowed. "What the hell happened to your face!" He scooted back a chair and walked back to his son. "Come on, sit down and let me see."
Merlin was trying to squirm away from his father, but he knew it was futile. His dad was a persuasive man if he wanted to be and it was just better to cooperate with him. Merlin reluctantly went to sit down on the chair.
"Dad, really. It's nothing. If I thought it would've been something serious, don't you think I would've go to the hospital instead of coming here?" He quirked an eyebrow and knew he hadn't give his dad any leverage to debate. To make it even more clear to his dad, he added, "You have to remember that I'm a doctor too."
Balinor put his arm around Merlin's neck and bent down to peck a quick kiss on Merlin's hair. Merlin pulled a face of disliking, but Arthur thought it was sweet. Again, his father would never do that.
"Right, of course." Balinor said soft. Letting his son stand up from the chair. He looked up when he heard the door open and saw his wife entering with his daughter close behind.
Merlin turned around, and it must've been the lightning, because Hunith caught sight of the dark bruise under her son's eye and her own eyes widened. She almost dropped the bottle of wine.
Merlin rolled his eyes upwards and let out an irritated puff of air. He walked towards his mother. "Mum, before you're going to overreact, just know that I'm fine. It's nothing. I got into a fight, got punched and that's it. And now I don't want to hear anyone starting about it again, or I will walk out this house right now." He intently glared at all three persons.
"But-" Hunith stammered, reaching her hand out for the bruise. Merlin took a deliberate step backwards and held up his pointer finger. "Ub! I mean it."
Hunith's shoulders sagged. "Fine." She muttered. "Now. Let's eat then, shall we?"
Arthur stood by with his mouth not yet hanging open. The way Merlin talked to his parents was… different, for the lack of a better word. Did Merlin just have different kind of parents, or was he the one that seemed to have the most difficult person in the world as a parent. He silently took a seat next to Merlin. He would wait and see how the rest of the evening would go.
~oOoOo~
The mood was great. Wine flowed richly and Arthur and Merlin were on and off playing footsie under the table. They chuckled occasionally, earning themselves with a smirking glance from either of the other occupants in the room.
Hunith looked at her son over the rim of her wineglass. She noticed that he hadn't looked this happy in ages, and it seemed that Arthur was the cause of that. She snickered lightly to herself, she always teased Merlin to find an Arthur so her Arthurian Legend obsession would be complete.
But this, this was even better than she could've wished for. This Arthur looks like he will be making her son very happy and it seemed that he genuinely loved her son. If the looks Arthur gave him when he glanced sideways, were any indication.
Hunith cleared her throat. "So, Arthur tell me. How did the two of you meet?"
Arthur smiled towards Merlin and placed his hand over Merlin's. He turned back to Hunith. "Well that's actually thanks to my father."
"Oh?"
"You see, he had to go to the hospital for a shoulder injury and well he couldn't exactly drive, so I offered to drive him. And, well, it turned out that Merlin was his doctor. We met when my father was waiting for a new appointment. Well, that was after I complained about the waiting area." Arthur's face reddened just a tiny bit. "Only then I noticed him… and let me tell you, when I saw that body-"
Morgan decided she had heard enough "La la la la la, I'm not listening. Ugh that's gross, I'm eating over here!"
"Morgana! For goodness sake, you're an adult, act like one." Hunith said agitated, she definitely wanted to hear more of that story.
But Merlin had other ideas and decided to taunt his sister a little bit more. "Oh yes, when I first saw him, I was blown away." He makes a whistle sound. "Seriously, I couldn't keep my eyes off him… but of course I had to look professional and let's not forget that there were several onlookers. But in my mind, I was already -" He couldn't finish anymore, the sight of his sister's face changing from disgust to faux retching had him laughing until his stomach started to hurt.
"Okay, enough. Both of you." Balinor's authority shone through. "You're twenty-seven years old, not seven. What on earth should our guest think of you both?"
"Sorry dad." They both said simultaneously with their head hanging down just a little bit.
Balinor looked at the person in question. "I do apologize about them. Their sibling banter goes to some lengths at time, but they should be back to normal soon." He chuckled lightly, Arthur just offered him a smile.
"So, Arthur, what are you doing in your everyday life." Hunith asked.
" I'm a professional motorcyclist and -" He didn't got the chance to finish, since Merlin budged in. "Oh yes mum, you'll never guess his nickname. Come on Arthur tell her."
Arthur laughed. "Merlin did tell me that you are quite intrigued by the Arthurian Legend. Well my nickname is actually The King. They nicknamed it after King Arthur." He felt Merlin nudging his elbow in his side. He looked to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Excalibur." Merlin mouthed.
"Oh, yes, of course. They decided to name my motorcycle Excalibur. I'm sure I don't have to explain that one to you."
Hunith shook her head, squealing. If it weren't for Balinor holding his hand on top of hers, Merlin was certain that she would be bouncing in her seat.
"That's brilliant, I love it! I might even start watching some of your races from now on."
"See, I knew it!" Morgana shouted. She turned to her brother. "I told you he looked familiar Merlin, I must have seen you on the TV or in a magazine or something. Hmmm." She tapped her fingers one by one on her lips. The she snapped her fingers. "Oh yes, I remember now. You had issues with that other motorcyclist. Oh god, what was his name again?" Morgana snapped her fingers fast, like it might've helped her to think. "It was something with a G. Gavin? No no, ah Gwaine!"
Merlin winced at hearing the name and Arthur started to tense up and clenching his hands into fists on his thighs. Merlin noticed and tried to soothe him by rubbing a hand over Arthur's arm under the table. Merlin looked Morgana dead in the eye. "Morgana, we're not talking about him, or that. So, new subject please."
Arthur started to relax a little bit more.
~oOoOo~
A couple of hours later Merlin were in the car, on their way home. Arthur looked out of the car window and thought back at what had happened in the house.
Merlin had showed him his old room. Well technically it was still his room and he would sleep in it when he stayed over.
They had talked for a bit and Arthur had confided in Merlin about his sexuality. He told Merlin that he had always known he wasn't straight, but because of his father he hadn't accepted his homosexuality until three years ago. He was still terrified to tell his father about it and he felt ashamed of himself that he couldn't tell his father. Arthur left out the bit of his relationship with Gwaine and what had happened, it was still too fresh to him.
Merlin had enveloped him into a hug and had whispered into his ear that it was okay. He wouldn't pressure Arthur into anything and that it was nothing to be ashamed off.
"A penny for your thoughts?"
Arthur turned his head. "Hmm?"
"You seemed distracted." Merlin said, quickly glancing towards him before looking back at the road.
"It's nothing." Arthur smiled. "Merlin, I had a great day today. Thank you for inviting me. Your family is absolutely great and they're so loving. I can even see where you get your wit from, it's definitely from your mother."
Merlin breathed out a short laugh. "I do apologize for my mum, she can be quite something when she had wine. And now she had a topic she's interested it. She just couldn't let it rest that your name was Arthur."
"Well, I thought it was sweet."
"So where too?" Asked Merlin. "Your place or mine?"
Arthur needed a minute to think about that. He thought about whether his dad would be home or not.
If he should show up with a guy at home, his father might not think much about it, Arthur brought home lots of male friends, but Arthur just didn't liked to act secretly around him. One day, he would be able to be open about his sexuality towards his father, but today was not that day.
"Yours." He finally replied. "I think my father is at home, and I really can't face him about this, not yet." Arthur started to feel more and more guilty. He shouldn't be this ashamed about not being able to talk to his father this subject.
Arthur felt a hand being placed on his thigh.
"It's okay Arthur. Remember what I've said; everything in your own time."
Arthur gave him a genuine smile in return. "Has anyone ever told you that you are the best?"
"Oh I know I am."Merlin sat up straighter, his chest puffed out and his head up high. His smug smile that Arthur had already seen a couple of time started to appear on his face.
Arthur snorted and shook his head in a playful manner. "You're crazy!"
~oOoOo~
Trying to get the key in the keyhole was harder than it looked, when you were fervently kissing someone. After some blindly touching, Merlin turned around for a second and finally found the keyhole and turned the key around. He pulled Arthur in by his shirt and smashed their lips together.
Merlin's hands were starting to tug at the hem of Arthur's shirt and soon he had swung it off to the corner of the small hallway. He kicked the door close with his foot and pushed Arthur forward.
Both stumbled around the apartment and Arthur soon got rid of Merlin's shirt. His hands slid up the lithe body and his mouth left a trail of kisses in Merlin's neck, which soon started to become Arthur's favourite spot. The shuddering of Merlin's body and the heavy breathing Merlin did whenever he came close to his neck undid Arthur almost right on the spot.
Merlin tried guiding Arthur as best as he could towards his bedroom, never losing contact. They stumbled into his bedroom and the back of Merlin's knees made quickly contact with his bed, making him fall down onto his back. Arthur was soon on top of him. Continuing his mission to cover every inch of Merlin's skin in kisses.
Merlin moaned, cupped Arthur's head in between his hands and guiding it up to his lips for a passionate kiss.
"Tomorrow work." He breathed between kisses.
"Tomorrow my dad." Arthur replied, panting
"You'll be coming too?" Merlin asked, seconds away of becoming breathless.
"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Arthur replied softly, bending down again to kiss Merlin's lips and started to trail his mouth down his torso once more, leaving sloppy kisses everywhere. Merlin closed his eyes and arched into every touch.