I wrote this because I love you guys, and my mother convinced me to, so here ya go.

Thanks to those who reviewed, alerted, and favorited last chapter. You guys are amazing.

Thanks for reading, drop me a comment if you can, and see ya in the next chapter (which will feature a new prompt).

See ya!

Monday morning found Merlin standing outside, breathing in his first gulps of fresh air since he got sick Thursday. He still had a bit of a cough, and when he took in too much air, spasms wracked his body as he roughly coughed, resting his hand against the side of the castle for support.

"You alright?" a familiar voice asked, a hand settling on his shoulder.

"I'm fine," Merlin replied, turning to face Gwaine, a wide grin on his face. "I was about to go wake on Arthur, but I wanted to get outside for a few moments."

Gwaine's face darkened slightly at the mention of Arthur, but when Merlin opened his mouth to ask about it, a pair of arms engulfed him, pulling him into a bear hug, and Percival said, "You end up under Gaius' care more than the knights."

"I need air, Percival," Merlin gasped, feeling as if his ribs were about to break, and with a sheepish grin Percival lowered him to the ground. "Sorry, but when Leon told me what happened…"

"He made it sound like you were dying," Elyan finished coming up behind the giant knight. "But we're glad you didn't." The shorter knight clamped him on the back, a broad grin on his face.

"Where is Leon? I wanted to thank him for, you know, helping me out last week." Merlin ran a hand through his hair, trying to seem less awkward than he felt, looking around for the curly-haired knight.

"He patrolling, but he's shift's almost over. I can take you to him," Gwaine offered nodding his head towards the gate.

"Maybe later," Merlin replied with a smile, "after I wake Arthur." Gwaine's face darkened again, but it cleared a few seconds later and he nodded, gesturing for Merlin to run along.

"Maybe later," he coincided with a forced smile.

"Yeah." Giving the knight a half worried, half confused look, Merlin bid the others good-bye and headed back into the castle, taking the stairs two at a time. When he reached the top, he was a little out of breath, but it just felt so good to actually be out of bed that he just didn't care.

He had just reached Arthur's room, hand poised to open the door, when he heard muffled voices coming from inside. It sounded as if Gwen and Arthur were arguing, but Merlin couldn't possibly think of any reason why they would be.

"I'm not having this discussion with you, again, Arthur," Gwen snapped, her footsteps approaching the door. Merlin stepped away from the door, resting his against the wall, and watched as Gwen yanked the door open and stormed out of the room.

Merlin waited until she had disappeared around the corner before pushing away from the wall and walking into the room. Arthur stood by the window, glaring down at the courtyard, arms folded tightly against his chest.

"I leave for four days…" Merlin started, trying to make a joke, but it faltered when Arthur neglected to acknowledge him. "Arthur, what's going on?" he asked worriedly, slowly crossing the room.

"Merlin, I am going to ask you a question, and I want an honest answer," Arthur stated softly, stiffly, his back still to his servant.

"Okay."

"Do you honestly not remember those three days?"

Arthur had asked Merlin a similar question Thursday, when he woke up, and the younger man hadn't at the time. But after sitting in bed for four days, getting berated by Gaius every time he tried to get up, Merlin had begun remembering flashes; just little things.

"A bit," he admitted carefully. It still wasn't enough to tell him if he did any accidental magic, but if he did, why was he still allowed outside? He'd have figured Arthur would have had him locked up by now. "Not much though."

He watched as Arthur slowly turned, and it took all Merlin had not to run. He had a fleeting image of Arthur calling for the guards, of Gwaine and Leon hauling off to the dungeons, unsure why they were doing it but obeying their king like they had sworn to do, and Merlin would be begging, pleading Arthur to hear him out, let him explain. He just needed to explain.

His eyes stung, and he blinked rapidly as his vision blurred. He shook his head, trying to clear it, very much aware of the concern and uncertainty flickering across Arthur's face. Merlin took a deep breath, slowly let it out, and softly asked, "What happened?"

Arthur was quiet for a very long time, but finally he said, "I don't hurt you, do I?"

"What?" Yes, Arthur had been a bit physical a few times, but it hardly ever hurt. Each head slap, each shoulder punch, were mostly wake up calls and Arthur trying to be sympathetic and failing miserably. In fact, compared to some servant/master relationships, Merlin got off relatively light with some of the crap he pulled over the years. "Arthur, where is this coming from?"

"You'd tell me if I ever did something to cause you pain, right? Because you call me out on everything else I do wrong, this would just be another thing, right? I mean, you got mad at me when I punched you that one time, called me thick, so you'd be vocal about other instances, right?"

Arthur had begun pacing during his speech, and Merlin crossed the room in a second, blocking the king mid-step, placing his hands on his shoulders. "What happened?" he repeated meeting the older man's eyes.

"You kept begging me not to do something," Arthur replied quickly, "almost as if I was going to harm you o-or kill you."

"Arthur, I…" Merlin trailed off, taking a deep breath. He vaguely remembered the feel of too hot skin, having convinced himself that Arthur must know his secret and that he had decided to burn him at the stake. "Arthur, I trust you with my life. And believe me when I say, despite how big of a prat you can be, you've never actually done anything to cause me prolonged pain."

Arthur looked as if he wanted to argue, but he must have seen something in Merlin's eyes because he nodded, resting a hand on the younger man's shoulder and squeezing.

"That's true," the king tried to joke, a ghost of a smile crossing his lips, "and you've done some dunderheaded things."

"I have," Merlin agreed with a nod, a smirk on his face, "and mostly to help your royal backside."

Arthur looked as if he were feeling relatively better, but something was still bothering him, so Merlin threw caution to the wind and asked, "What's going on with Gwen and you?" Something dark crossed Arthur's face and he seemed to burrow into himself. "What?"

"Did you see Lancelot?" the king blurted out, and Merlin let his hands drop from Arthur's shoulders. "You did, didn't you?"

"He wasn't real," Merlin replied firmly.

"But you still saw him."

"But he wasn't real."

"Merlin…"

"Arthur…"

The two stared at each other for a very long, drawn out moment, but finally Arthur cracked and softly said, "I think Guinevere still loves him."

Merlin had done plenty of stupid things in his life-some to save someone he cared for, others because Will or Gwaine were a bad influence, and once because Gwen dared him and for some reason he just couldn't say no-but this probably was one of the stupidest. He smacked Arthur in the back of the head.

The look on Arthur' face would have been comical, had anyone else hit him, but when Merlin realized what he did, he retreated backwards, waiting on the knights to be called. Surely that was enough to get him thrown in the dungeons. He may have managed to get away with any accidental magic-he most likely had Gaius to think for that-but this was something not even Gaius could help him with.

"Arthur, I am so…" Merlin trailed off when Arthur chuckled softly, rubbing the back of his head. Eyeing the king cautiously, Merlin said, "What…?"

"Thank you," Arthur responded with a smile, taking a step towards Merlin. The younger man jerked back a step, thinking Arthur was about to actually cause him prolonged pain, but instead he clapped the servant on the back. "I needed that."

He then left the room, calling over his shoulder, "I expect this place clean when I return.

"W-where are you going?" Merlin stammered still standing stock still.

"To apologize to Guinevere and Gwaine, and then order Gwaine to reorganize the armory. I do think he needs a lesson in disrespecting his king." As the door shut behind Arthur, Merlin weakly sank to the floor, still trying to process what happened and thanking the gods for his sudden stroke of luck.