Chapter 5
Morgana stayed up all night trying to find a good school. Mordred stayed up all night staring at the ceiling. His mind racing, filled with excruciating scenarios. Cara being left at that school, getting beaten or possibly even killed play over and over in his head. All of the horrible things that could happen to her once he wasn't there to protect her.
That was the worst part. He told himself he would always protect her ever since he saw her getting picked on in elementary. How could he do that if he was elsewhere? How could he betray her like that? He'll just have to find a way to make things better.
After what seemed like days, the sun finally began to rise. It was the ass crack of dawn, but Mordred got up and went to take a shower. The good part about being up this early is that he doesn't have to rush. The bad part is he didn't get any sleep and he was beginning to feel it catch up to him. His eyes felt like each eyelash had little bricks on them. They kept fluttering and he tried his best to keep them open. He eventually got out after the third time of almost falling over. Morgana was hoping to get him into another school as soon as possible, that way he could be at his current school the least amount of time.
This school day felt entirely different from all the other days. It might be because he was not so inconspicuously hiding from Cara. He got away with it for the first few classes but at lunch she contented him, fuming.
"In all the years we have been friends, you have never once purposefully avoided me. What's going on? And it better be a damn good reason, Mordred." Her glare cut into his soul and if she actually had the power, he was sure he would be dead.
"Can we talk about this later? Not at school?" He pleaded softly. It would be better to not talk about this in public.
"Fine. Immediately after school. Now lets go eat and awkwardly pretend nothing is going on." He smiled softly at her and nodded. The rest of the day was spent like that, pretending nothing was wrong. As school got closer to letting out, the more paranoid Mordred got. What if she hated him? Cara was his best friend, he can't live without her.
After what seemed like five minutes, the bell that let school out rang. The duo got into Mordred's car and drove in silence. After a minute, Mordred turned on the radio which Cara immediately turned off. That did not bode well for the conversation.
They turned into his driveway and sat in silence before Mordred quietly got out the car, Cara following. Inside the house, they slipped off their shoes out of habit and went to the kitchen. Getting their usual snack, he tried to make small talk. She sharply replied for him to not say anything unless it was about what was going on. The food was stacked on a plate and he carried it to the table, then sat down. They looked at each other for a second, eating.
He cleared his throat, dropping his eyes to the table, and began, "My aunt knows about the bullying. She wants to send me to another school." He timidly looked back up at her and saw relief, happiness and fear swirling in her eyes.
"That's great. It's really about time. You need to get away from them before it gets worse and there's nothing we can do." Her voice was filled with love but he could tell she was trying to not break. "This is good news. Now I don't have to worry about you!"
"You're not mad? Or feel betrayed? I'm supposed to protect you!" He replied vehemently. Her expression softened.
"You have, but you also have to take care of yourself. You took the beatings instead of me for years. I shouldn't have allowed that. I'm sorry. But you can get away, and there's no way in hell I will allow you to not take it."
"Morgana said she would talk to your parents."
She rolled her eyes, "I wish her luck but you know how much my parents don't care."
"All we have is this year and then we can get out."
"What about Merlin?" She wiggled her eyebrows. He gave her a pointed look.
"He's dating someone, remember? Besides, why would he want a hormonal teen with baggage?"
"Instead he's dating a grown ass man with baggage. You have more stamina! You can just keep on going!"
"Yes, I bet that's the deal breaker. Which one has more stamina? Not, who is the one I love? The one more compatible to me? Who do I have more chemistry with?"
"See, this is why you fall for older men. You are unable to do the quick, just for sex or just to have fun, dating. If you ever had a one night stand, I think you might cry."
"I would not!" She laughed in response.
"Yeah, okay. You're forgetting you has known you since Pre-K." On her last word, the door open and Morgana called out. He responded and she came into the kitchen, a grin so huge it looked to expand off her cheeks. Catching sight of Cara, she faltered but kept walking and went to sit at the table.
"I'm assuming Mordred's told you everything?", She asked Cara and got a nod in confirmation,"Good. A school got back to me and said you were more than welcome there. Apparently they like to find kids that are being abused and/or bullied and give them a safe school where they don't have to be scared anymore! The bad news is, it's over by Merlin and Arthur's apartment. That's 45 minutes away. I'm assuming you don't want to wake up extremely early in the morning so I talked to them. And if you're okay with it, we were thinking you could stay with them during the school week!" His eyes widened and all the ways this could go wrong flashed through his head. All the arguments that he came up with sounded too inadequate and he eventually consented.
"Great! You're senior year is going to be amazing from now on. I just know. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner with Miss Cara's parents to go too. You two just stay here and do whatever it is you two do." She threw a twenty dollar bill on the table, "Try to at least eat one healthy thing." They nodded and she gave them both a hug and Mordred a kiss on the forehead. Moments later the sound of an engine roaring sounded in the distance. The silence that followed was filled with disbelief. Soon, it consumed them and it wasn't until a ringing that they were jolted out of it. The teenager traced the sound to his phone and fumbled with it before pressing call.
"Hello?", his voice was quiet, as if he were in a dreamland.
"This is Merlin! Morgana just contacted me, saying she talked to you!", an exuberant voice crackled through the phone and Mordred felt himself relax.
"Uh, yeah, she did." Merlin always made him feel nervous. Damn these butterflies. Not helping!
"Wonderful! Arthur and I are super excited! He's always wanted to connect with family outside Uther. And this way you can get away from that foul school! Anyways, I was hoping you could come over tomorrow and get a view of your room. Then we can go pick out paint, bedsheets, decorations, anything you might want! We want you to feel as comfortable here as you do with Morgana." Merlin's voice covered Mordred, smoothing away all his fears and doubts. How bad could this be? It could be a dream come true!
Reality soon slapped him in the face. He will be sleeping mere feet away from the man he has wet dreams about. What if Merlin hears him moaning the adult's name? Or Arthur? Dear god, not Arthur. Mordred would surely not last the night.
"Mordred, are you alright?", a concerned voice reached his ears and he snapped out of if.
"Yes! Sorry, I got distracted. That would be great! What time?"
"I was thinking once you get off from school? I can get out of work early, that way we have more time! I want to try to have the entire room ready for you to move in. It'll be a time crunch but I'm sure we can do it!" Mordred laughed and agreed. He was sure Merlin could make anything possible. "Well, I have to go cook dinner. I'll talk to you tomorrow!"
"Alright, bye!", his nerves were frayed but most of him was excited(excluding his cock, he was trying to ignore that part of his body). Even if it ends bad, he'll have had time with Merlin.
As if sensing that Mordred wanted to be left in his thoughts, Cara went to the living room and put on a random movie. They both sat down on the couch and cuddled, praying that everything would work out.
That was the worst part. He told himself he would always protect her ever since he saw her getting picked on in elementary. How could he do that if he was elsewhere? How could he betray her like that? He'll just have to find a way to make things better.
After what seemed like days, the sun finally began to rise. It was the ass crack of dawn, but Mordred got up and went to take a shower. The good part about being up this early is that he doesn't have to rush. The bad part is he didn't get any sleep and he was beginning to feel it catch up to him. His eyes felt like each eyelash had little bricks on them. They kept fluttering and he tried his best to keep them open. He eventually got out after the third time of almost falling over. Morgana was hoping to get him into another school as soon as possible, that way he could be at his current school the least amount of time.
This school day felt entirely different from all the other days. It might be because he was not so inconspicuously hiding from Cara. He got away with it for the first few classes but at lunch she contented him, fuming.
"In all the years we have been friends, you have never once purposefully avoided me. What's going on? And it better be a damn good reason, Mordred." Her glare cut into his soul and if she actually had the power, he was sure he would be dead.
"Can we talk about this later? Not at school?" He pleaded softly. It would be better to not talk about this in public.
"Fine. Immediately after school. Now lets go eat and awkwardly pretend nothing is going on." He smiled softly at her and nodded. The rest of the day was spent like that, pretending nothing was wrong. As school got closer to letting out, the more paranoid Mordred got. What if she hated him? Cara was his best friend, he can't live without her.
After what seemed like five minutes, the bell that let school out rang. The duo got into Mordred's car and drove in silence. After a minute, Mordred turned on the radio which Cara immediately turned off. That did not bode well for the conversation.
They turned into his driveway and sat in silence before Mordred quietly got out the car, Cara following. Inside the house, they slipped off their shoes out of habit and went to the kitchen. Getting their usual snack, he tried to make small talk. She sharply replied for him to not say anything unless it was about what was going on. The food was stacked on a plate and he carried it to the table, then sat down. They looked at each other for a second, eating.
He cleared his throat, dropping his eyes to the table, and began, "My aunt knows about the bullying. She wants to send me to another school." He timidly looked back up at her and saw relief, happiness and fear swirling in her eyes.
"That's great. It's really about time. You need to get away from them before it gets worse and there's nothing we can do." Her voice was filled with love but he could tell she was trying to not break. "This is good news. Now I don't have to worry about you!"
"You're not mad? Or feel betrayed? I'm supposed to protect you!" He replied vehemently. Her expression softened.
"You have, but you also have to take care of yourself. You took the beatings instead of me for years. I shouldn't have allowed that. I'm sorry. But you can get away, and there's no way in hell I will allow you to not take it."
"Morgana said she would talk to your parents."
She rolled her eyes, "I wish her luck but you know how much my parents don't care."
"All we have is this year and then we can get out."
"What about Merlin?" She wiggled her eyebrows. He gave her a pointed look.
"He's dating someone, remember? Besides, why would he want a hormonal teen with baggage?"
"Instead he's dating a grown ass man with baggage. You have more stamina! You can just keep on going!"
"Yes, I bet that's the deal breaker. Which one has more stamina? Not, who is the one I love? The one more compatible to me? Who do I have more chemistry with?"
"See, this is why you fall for older men. You are unable to do the quick, just for sex or just to have fun, dating. If you ever had a one night stand, I think you might cry."
"I would not!" She laughed in response.
"Yeah, okay. You're forgetting you has known you since Pre-K." On her last word, the door open and Morgana called out. He responded and she came into the kitchen, a grin so huge it looked to expand off her cheeks. Catching sight of Cara, she faltered but kept walking and went to sit at the table.
"I'm assuming Mordred's told you everything?", She asked Cara and got a nod in confirmation,"Good. A school got back to me and said you were more than welcome there. Apparently they like to find kids that are being abused and/or bullied and give them a safe school where they don't have to be scared anymore! The bad news is, it's over by Merlin and Arthur's apartment. That's 45 minutes away. I'm assuming you don't want to wake up extremely early in the morning so I talked to them. And if you're okay with it, we were thinking you could stay with them during the school week!" His eyes widened and all the ways this could go wrong flashed through his head. All the arguments that he came up with sounded too inadequate and he eventually consented.
"Great! You're senior year is going to be amazing from now on. I just know. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a dinner with Miss Cara's parents to go too. You two just stay here and do whatever it is you two do." She threw a twenty dollar bill on the table, "Try to at least eat one healthy thing." They nodded and she gave them both a hug and Mordred a kiss on the forehead. Moments later the sound of an engine roaring sounded in the distance. The silence that followed was filled with disbelief. Soon, it consumed them and it wasn't until a ringing that they were jolted out of it. The teenager traced the sound to his phone and fumbled with it before pressing call.
"Hello?", his voice was quiet, as if he were in a dreamland.
"This is Merlin! Morgana just contacted me, saying she talked to you!", an exuberant voice crackled through the phone and Mordred felt himself relax.
"Uh, yeah, she did." Merlin always made him feel nervous. Damn these butterflies. Not helping!
"Wonderful! Arthur and I are super excited! He's always wanted to connect with family outside Uther. And this way you can get away from that foul school! Anyways, I was hoping you could come over tomorrow and get a view of your room. Then we can go pick out paint, bedsheets, decorations, anything you might want! We want you to feel as comfortable here as you do with Morgana." Merlin's voice covered Mordred, smoothing away all his fears and doubts. How bad could this be? It could be a dream come true!
Reality soon slapped him in the face. He will be sleeping mere feet away from the man he has wet dreams about. What if Merlin hears him moaning the adult's name? Or Arthur? Dear god, not Arthur. Mordred would surely not last the night.
"Mordred, are you alright?", a concerned voice reached his ears and he snapped out of if.
"Yes! Sorry, I got distracted. That would be great! What time?"
"I was thinking once you get off from school? I can get out of work early, that way we have more time! I want to try to have the entire room ready for you to move in. It'll be a time crunch but I'm sure we can do it!" Mordred laughed and agreed. He was sure Merlin could make anything possible. "Well, I have to go cook dinner. I'll talk to you tomorrow!"
"Alright, bye!", his nerves were frayed but most of him was excited(excluding his cock, he was trying to ignore that part of his body). Even if it ends bad, he'll have had time with Merlin.
As if sensing that Mordred wanted to be left in his thoughts, Cara went to the living room and put on a random movie. They both sat down on the couch and cuddled, praying that everything would work out.