~ Chapter 7: The Affair ~

Nearly a year-and-a-half passed since that day when Merlin had been discharged from the hospital. For most people, Merlin having cancer faded to a distant memory or disappeared entirely. Not for Merlin and Arthur. They were constantly aware of it. It often seemed to loom over them, especially when Merlin had to go in for one of his check-ups to make sure his cancer hadn't come back.

On the surface, they appeared the same as they always had been. Arthur was Merlin's fiercest protector, and Merlin was the only person who could get away with calling Arthur names. No one had any reason to suspect that their friendship had nearly been torn apart by cancer.

After battling cancer, a lot of stuff stopped mattering to the boys. They both learned not to sweat the small stuff, and Merlin had a renewed love of life. It had taken some convincing from Arthur, but Merlin was also starting to believe that maybe he did belong.

Merlin had been terrified to start high school. He was still bald, and the last thing he'd wanted was for everyone to know about his cancer. Arthur had witnessed how weird some of the kids at their middle school had been when they found out about Merlin's diagnosis.

It helped that the three middle schools fed into one massive high school, so it was easy for Merlin to avoid speculation. Together, Arthur and Merlin expanded their friendship group to include people who didn't know about Merlin. Sometimes, Merlin felt guilty for his continued secrecy. He trusted his new friends, but he didn't want to relinquish what little control he had over his illness. It was his life and he wanted the autonomy to choose how and when people found out… or to not tell people at all.

He reasoned that they didn't have to know about it. He didn't want their game or movie nights to be ruined by anxious eyes that followed him like he was seconds away from breaking. Merlin really enjoyed being a normal teenager those nights.

He was surprised when Gwaine and Lance had practically agreed not to bring it up the moment Merlin had asked them. Arthur was right; they were nicer than Merlin expected.

Their group was pretty great – Gwaine, Lance, Gwen, Gilli, Ali, Tristan, and Annie. They were their crew. Merlin and Arthur's friendship was still sacred, but a few times a week, they made a point of getting everyone together. Their movie nights were full of arguing, predictions, spoilers, and thrown popcorn. Their game nights were full of fake fighting, board game flipping, more fake fighting, and games that inevitably ended without a winner.

One such game night would completely change the trajectory of Arthur's life. After the longest possible game of Monopoly that only ended after Arthur had angrily thrown his money toward Merlin when he landed on his Boardwalk hotel and had pushed the Monopoly board off the table, they said goodbye to their friends. Merlin was spending the night, so when everyone was gone, he plopped himself down on Arthur's couch. He yawned loudly

"I still think you cheated," Arthur muttered.

"I got lucky and got a hotel on the Boardwalk. You got unlucky and your Chance card sent you back to the Boardwalk right after you'd landed on it. It's not cheating. It's luck. That's what happens when you play a game that's only half strategy."

Arthur made a disgruntled noise and allowed the silence to stretch between them. It was comfortable. Arthur broke the silence after a long time had passed. "Did you know Lance and Gwaine are dating?"

"Well, yeah. Didn't you?" Merlin looked over at Arthur. "I thought it was pretty obvious. They're always holding hands."

"Yeah. I guess I just thought they were really good friends."

"Speaking of really good friends…" Merlin looked over to Arthur then back up at the ceiling. "Gwen looked nice tonight."

Arthur glanced at Merlin out of the side of his eye. "Sure."

Merlin sighed. "Seriously? Are you really gonna pretend you don't like her?"

"I'm not pretending." It was a lie. Arthur knew it as surely as Merlin did.

Before Merlin had the chance to say anything, there was a pounding on the door.

Merlin and Arthur exchanged uneasy glances. It was late; really late. Too late for anyone to be casually stopping by.

Arthur stood up and approached the door. "Wait!" Merlin hissed. "What if it's an ax murderer?"

"An ax murderer?" Arthur asked skeptically. "Don't you think that they would just use their ax to break down the door? I don't think they'd knock first."

"Or maybe they're looking for easy victims," Merlin tossed back. "It's 1 am. Who else would be at the door?"

"Maybe someone left something behind during game night?"

"And they had to come back and get it without texting first?"

"Who knows? Let's find out."

Arthur opened the door and saw a middle-aged woman with black hair, streaked with gray and a girl who looked to be about Arthur's age behind her. The girl was obviously the woman's daughter; they looked so similar. If Arthur didn't know better, he would think Merlin and the girl were related. They were both pale with the bluish-gray eyes and black hair. The woman and her daughter were huddled under an umbrella in an attempt to stay dry. Arthur hadn't even realized it had started to rain.

Arthur was so stunned, he just stared at them. He wasn't sure if they had the right house or what they could possibly want. They both looked like they'd been crying recently and had a look Arthur was all too familiar with – they looked as if their world had ended. Arthur shot Merlin a desperate look.

"They don't look like ax murderers." Merlin whispered his concession under his breath. "Come on in. Get out of the rain." Merlin led them to the foyer and allowed them to take off their wet jackets. "Is there something we can help you with?"

"I'm looking for Uther Pendragon. This is the address I had for him. Does he still live here?"

Merlin glanced at Arthur. This was the first time Uther had been home overnight in months. Go, Merlin mouthed. Arthur nodded once before he sprinted up the stairs to his father's room.

"Um, I'm Merlin." Merlin stuck out his hand uncomfortably. The older woman shook it.

"I'm Vivienne. This is my daughter, Morgana. Are you Uther's son?"

"No, I'm a friend of the family. Arthur, my friend, is his son. He just ran upstairs to get him."

An awkward silence spread after that as if they'd depleted their conversational reservoir.

Meanwhile, Arthur crept through his parents' room trying his best not to wake up his mother.

"Dad," Arthur whispered. "Dad."

"Arthur? What are you doing?" He squinted at the clock. "It's 1:00 in the morning!"

"I know, but there was someone at the door for you."

Uther didn't need more than that to get out of bed. He threw on his robe and followed Arthur down the stairs.

Arthur noticed how Uther paled when he saw the older woman. "You? What are you doing in my house?" There was a vein in the side of Uther's head that was only noticeable when he was angry. Right then, it looked like it was ready to burst.

Vivienne was not deterred by his hostility. "I need to speak with you…" She glanced at Merlin and Arthur. "Privately."

Uther motioned for Vivienne to follow him. Arthur looked at Merlin. Keyhole, he mouthed. Merlin nodded to show he understood. This wasn't new to them. Arthur had eavesdropped on a few of Uther's conversation if he knew his name was going to come up. Merlin always kept watch in the kitchen where he could see the door to Uther's study and the staircase. If Merlin started to cough, it meant Igraine was coming. "Do you like hot chocolate?" He asked Morgana. She nodded, so he showed her to the kitchen. Merlin took out everything he needed to make the cocoa. Without turning, he asked, "it was Morgana, right?"

"Yes." Her voice was shaky

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen. I'm a sophomore."

"Me and Arthur too. Are you moving here? You'll be in school with us if you do."

"I don't really know what I'm doing anymore." Merlin handed Morgana a cup of hot chocolate.

"Is everything okay? You and your mom look… upset."

Morgana snorted. "You could say that." Her lip quivered. "You're going to find out anyway. My father passed away a month ago. He was in a really bad accident, and he didn't make it. My mom depended on him for everything, and now that she can't take care of me anymore, she decided to tell me that my father isn't my real father."

Merlin felt a chill go down his back. "Who…" The word wasn't audible in the slightest. He thought it was probably because he knew the answer.

"You can't imagine what it's like to have your whole world turned upside down like that."

"You'd be surprised," Merlin muttered darkly.

"Please don't tell anyone. If we do end up here, I don't want it getting out."

"I won't," he promised. His uneasiness seemed to swirl in the pit of his stomach. "Um… Morgana?" She looked up at him. "Who is… is it Uther? Is he your birth father?"

Morgana nodded. "Yeah. At least, that's what my mom told me. She said he'd be able to help."

Merlin recoiled as if he'd been slapped. "I'm sorry. I truly am. I don't want to leave you alone, but I have to do something. I'll be right back."

Merlin prayed to every god that people believed in that Uther and Vivienne weren't talking about their affair or Morgana. He knew Arthur better than he knew himself, and Arthur would freak. When he got to Arthur, he immediately knew he was too late. Arthur was staring at the door as if he might be able to make it burst into flames with his mind. Merlin had only seen Arthur truly angry on a handful of occasions, and he got the same steely look on his face every time.

"Arthur." Merlin's whisper felt too loud now that he knew the conversation happening behind the door. He gently placed a hand on Arthur's shoulder. Merlin's heart broke at the utter confusion he saw when Arthur turned toward him. "Arthur, you have to tell your mom."

"I can't."

"I'll go with you if I have to, but she deserves to know."

Arthur let out a shaky breath. "I can't do that to her. I… I can't. Merlin."

"You have to. If this was happening to you, you'd want to know," Merlin pointed out. "It's only going to hurt her more if you wait. She's going to find out. There's no way around it."

"I hate when you make sense."

"I know. Come on."

Arthur allowed Merlin to guide him up the stairs and to Igraine's room. Arthur almost never went in his parents' room, and now he was doing it twice in one night. He thought he would've preferred for there to be an ax murderer at the door.

"Be gentle."

Taking a deep breath. Arthur wasn't trying to be quiet like he had with Uther, and Igraine shot up out of bed when he was a few feet away from her."

"Arthur?"

"Mom." Arthur was trying to sound strong for his mom, but he choked on the word and made it obvious he bore bad news.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

Arthur opened and closed his mouth. "Dad's cheating on you." His eyes widened. "I… I mean… well, that's what I mean, but Merlin told me to tell you gently, and I apparently have a sister who's sitting in the kitchen… oh my God. I have a sister." He turned to Merlin. "Tell me she's awful. Please. I think I deserve to hate the person who's blowing up my family."

"Breathe," Merlin reminded him. "This isn't Morgana's fault. I'm sorry, Ms. Igraine. I'm really, really sorry."

That seemed to snap Igraine out of her haze. "Where is he?"

"Study," Merlin and Arthur answered in unison.

Igraine rose to her feet, threw on a sweater, and left. Merlin and Arthur didn't try to follow her to Uther's office. They didn't want to witness this.

Instead, they went to the kitchen. "Be nice," Merlin warned.

"When am I not nice?"

"When you're about to be formally introduced to your half-sister who you didn't know existed until tonight?" Merlin suggested.

"Oh, yeah. Every time that happens, I'm pissed." Arthur rolled his eyes.

When they walked into the kitchen, Arthur and Morgana seemed to stare each other down. Neither of them spoke a word. Merlin coughed uncomfortably and sat on the opposite side of the table, hoping that it would force them to talk to each other.

The longest silent showdown in history seemed to happen in that kitchen. Any hope Merlin had of them talking and getting to know each other slowly disappeared. When they heard screaming from the study, the thought was completely abandoned.

They didn't need to eavesdrop. They could hear every word with clarity. Arthur hadn't realized his mom had such a… colorful vocabulary. He guessed cheating husbands were the exception to her 'no profanity' rule.

It happened so quickly after that. Within a few days, Uther's bags were packed and he was gone. Igraine had a lawyer to help handle the divorce. Every week, Igraine got a check from Uther that he called "child support". Arthur wasn't sure what the point of the checks was. Was it guilt? Was Uther trying to show that they needed him whether or not he'd cheated? Arthur was sure he was missing something.

After substantial deliberation, Morgana moved in with Igraine and Arthur. Her mother was… Morgana didn't seem to know. Bringing it up was a sure-fire way to aggravate her, so Merlin and Igraine tried not to. Igraine did her best with Morgana and was making an honest effort to get to know her. Arthur tried to avoid Morgana altogether.

When Arthur looked at Morgana, he saw the reason his family was torn apart. Somewhere deep inside him, he knew Uther was to blame, but his father hadn't talked to him since he left, and Morgana was there.

Then suddenly, Morgana was part of their group. It happened in the most unexpected way. On Valentine's Day of all days.

Valiant, who was notorious for picking on Merlin, had cornered him in the hallway. By the time Arthur got there, Morgana was lazily leaning against a locker and her boot was on Valiant's chest. "I can do this all day until you apologize to Merlin," she reminded Valiant.

Merlin was looking at Morgana as if she was a goddess of vengeance or something. "You okay?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah. Valiant was just being an ass. He made me a fake valentine and kept telling me that he probably kisses as good as you." Merlin rolled his eyes. "Morgana took care of it."

"Hmmm."

"What?"

"Maybe she's not so bad." Arthur hated to admit it, but the fact that Morgana had been willing to intervene on Merlin's behalf instantly made her better in Arthur's eyes.

After that, things started to look up. Arthur became comfortable with his new normal. He thought that everything would be smooth sailing from there on out.