Fic: Skipping To The Best Part for ajsrandom
Title: Skipping To The Best Part
Recipient:ajsrandom
Author: jungle_ride
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Merlin/Morgana
Summary: Modern!AU. Merlin and Morgana get snowed in.
“Yeah. It would just be you and me.” Merlin grins as he bops their shoulders together. Morgana’s interest perks up considerably at that. It sounded like the medicine the doctor never prescribed. Morgana lips start to turn upwards into a smile.
“We haven’t had that in a while.” Merlin adds and Morgana’s thoughts turn melancholy all of a sudden as she thinks about why they haven’t.
Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 3,088
Author's Notes: I LOVED your prompt so much, honestly it’s one of my personal favourite tropes so I had a real blast writing this. I wanted to expand it a lot more and focus on some of the antics that Merlin/Morgana got up to while trapped but with the general hectic whirlwind my life has become because of the holidays, I wasn’t quite able to do that. Still I hope you like what I’ve come up with and that it brings your prompt to life in a way you’re happy with and enjoy. Happy Holidays xx
Disclaimer:Merlin is owned by the BBC and Shine. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made. Don't send us to the dungeons.
“Look what I found.” Morgana singsongs as she pulls two objects out from the cupboard she’d been searching.
“Food?” Merlin asks hopefully. The cabin they’d stumbled across was small, nothing like the one they’d been staying at. There was hardly any furniture in the one room, two rooms if you counted the closet sized bathroom. A fireplace was at one end of the room, a futon couch in the middle facing towards the hearth, with a blanket box in front of it, presumably to be used as a table and a large rug.
The kitchen consisted of a sink and a rickety looking cooker, which after a few try’s Merlin had concluded was not in working order, and a few cupboards. There was however running water, which in the circumstances was a plus, and thankfully the toilet also seemed to be in working condition. However there didn’t seem to be any food, which considering their predicament was starting to concern Merlin greatly. Morgana didn’t seem phased by any of it; at least that was the impression Merlin got as he turns to glance over at her.
“Better than food.” Morgana grins and waves two bottles at him playfully. “Vodka and Gin.”
Merlin rolls his eyes at her and turns back to the cupboards in front of him.
“I’d rather they were tins of beans.” He mutters as he opens the next cupboard only to find that it too is empty.
“Blasphemy!” Morgana cries feigning horror. “How can you say such things? Don’t listen to him darlings, he doesn’t mean a word.” Morgana coos to the bottles, as she sets them down on the kitchen side. Despite himself Merlin chuckles at her outlandish display.
“Alright Sadie Doyle.” He teases; he receives a wink and a coy smile from Morgana in return.
“Have you had any luck?” She queries, a second later. Merlin shakes his head. The only thing he’s found is a few plates, bowls, and cutlery. Nothing edible.
“Oh well, we still have a little food in our packs.” Morgana shrugs, pulling out two glasses from where she’d spotted them earlier.
“Not for tomorrow.” Merlin counters slightly irritated at Morgana’s apparent nonchalance.
“We’ll be back at the lodge tomorrow.” Morgana rationalises, as she runs the glasses under the tap. “I can skip breakfast for one day.”
Merlin stops, eyebrows furrowing as he looks at her incredulously.
“Morgana have you looked outside recently?” he gestures to the window. Morgana follows his gaze; she can’t see anything through the constant blur of white. The sound of snow hitting the glass taps out a steady rhythm as the wind howls in harmony.
“Glad we’re not in that anymore.” She says shuddering at the earlier memory of trekking through the wind and snow, freezing her ass off.
“Yeah it is.” Merlin agrees fervently. “But if it carries on like that then we’re not going anywhere tomorrow or the next day, or the day after that.” Merlin continues, hands clenching into fists nervously.
“We’ll be snowed in?” Morgana says, setting down the glasses on the countertop and forgetting about the bottles of alcohol. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I was.” Merlin says, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tries to remember how long someone can last without food.
“How long?” Morgana asks, her spine starting to tingle with growing apprehension.
“Depends on how long the storm lasts and what the weathers like after.” Merlin contemplates, leaning against the counter and taking another glance out the window. “That blizzard doesn’t look like it’s easing up any time soon. I reckon we’ll be stuck for a week at the least.”
“A week!” Morgana shrieks. She had not been prepared for that. When she’d thought it would be a night, the cabin had seemed quirky, something they could laugh about later. Knowing they were probably going to be stuck for a week meant the cabin suddenly lost all of the little charm it had previously held.
“I knew there was a chance for a storm like this to hit, but it wasn’t supposed to happen till later in the week.” Merlin mumbles, talking more to himself than Morgana. “A storm hit like this last year. Me and Arthur where stuck for three weeks, remember?”
Morgana nods, she vaguely recalled Arthur complaining about it. Though it did beg the question as to why Arthur had booked the same resort, at the same time of year, if this had even been the slightest possibility. Then again maybe that had been Arthur’s plan all along, or at least he had hoped for it. Not the Morgana and Merlin getting lost and snowed in up on this bloody mountain part, but snowed in at their private excessively large cabin, where they had a large storage of food and all the home comforts one could wish for. It would be just like Arthur to think he could get himself snowed in, trapped with Gwen for three weeks. A chance for them to spend time together without his father’s prying eyes upon them. In fact now that’s she’s thinking about it Morgana is convinced that’s exactly what Arthur had intended when he’d invited, and practically forced Morgana and Gwen to come along, though neither of them had any real interest in skiing.
“Someone will come get us though, won’t they? A rescue party.” Morgana wonders aloud, in a desperate attempt to reassure herself.
“Yeah, maybe.” Merlin replies though he doesn’t sound too convinced. Morgana’s head snaps around to look at him.
“Maybe!” She exclaims disheartened; that was categorically the opposite of what she wanted to hear.
“Well there’s no way they’re going to risk a rescue when the weather is like that, they’d just be putting lives at risk, it would be stupid and besides no one knows where we are Morgana. We were way off track before the storm hit and my phone’s not getting a signal.” He explains, giving her an awkward shrug as if to say ‘what can they do’.
Morgana pulls out her phone from her jean pocket. The white words no signal stare back at her.
“Damn! Mine’s got no signal either.” Disgruntled she throws the phone onto the counter and comes to stand next to Merlin.
“It could be because of the storm, it might change when the blizzard dies down.” Merlin tires to sound positive but he has a feeling they won’t be getting a signal even then, they were too high up.
“This is not good.” Morganas shoulders slump as the severity of the situation beings to sink in.
“It’s not that bad.” Merlin says in his best soothing tone, but the way his jaw tightness Morgana can tell he’s lying, she gives him her best sardonic ‘oh really’ expression. Sighing Merlin runs at the back of his neck.
“Look we’ve just got to find food. If we find food then…” He trails off and pauses for a moment before letting out a gruff puff of sound that isn’t quite a laugh. Morgana eyes narrow inquisitively as Merlin smiles to himself; eyes lighting up in a way Morgana hasn’t seen in quite some time. Her breath hitches a little as she remembers when she’d last seen that spark in his big blue eyes.
“Then?” She prompts, curious as to what was running around in that head of his.
“It could be nice.” Merlin says; that sparkle growing stronger.
“Nice?” Morgana inquires sceptically. Somehow spending a week or more trapped in what Morgana would call a shack, without hot water, a shower or a working cooking was not exactly her idea of nice time.
“Yeah. It would just be you and me.” Merlin grins as he bops their shoulders together. Morgana’s interest perks up considerably at that. It sounded like the medicine the doctor never prescribed. Morgana lips start to turn upwards into a smile.
“We haven’t had that in a while.” Merlin adds and Morgana’s thoughts turn melancholy all of a sudden as she thinks about why they haven’t.
Three months ago she had found out the truth of her parentage. To say that she’d handled the situation poorly was an understatement; she’d spent most of the time getting drunk and making stupid decision after stupid decision. The only one who knew was Merlin; she had blurted it out after a heavy session of drinking. Merlin had tried to help her come to terms with it all, but she had preferred to numb herself entirely with bottles of booze and random hook ups.
Before Morgana had started her spiral of destruction she’d been sure she and Merlin were heading from the great friends they were, to some something more, and she wanted them to. She still really, really wants it but has become worried that her current actions may have swayed Merlin’s feelings all together. He hadn’t made a move or even looked like he was going to for quite some time…until just now.
“I’m sorry.” Morgana mumbles, voice quavering a little as her eyes turn downcast. “This is all my fault.”
“No it’s…” Merlin starts to disagree but Morgana cuts him off with a hand held in the air.
“Yes it is. I’ve been acting pretty senseless recently. I mean come on wandering off on a bloody mountain, without telling anyone where I was going, not that I knew where I was going but that’s hardly the point. I don’t even know what I was thinking. It was stupid. If you hadn’t followed me then I’d still be stuck out there.”
“Morgana.” Merlin says softly, reaching out a hand and brushing his fingers ever so slightly against hers on the countertop.
“Not like it’s the first time either. You’ve been doing it a lot recently.” Morgana says drawing her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Doing a lot of what?” Merlin asks, watching her intently as his fingers rub soothing circles against her knuckles.
“Looking after me; not that I deserve it.” She says. Merlin lips twitch upwards softly, his gaze turning tender. Slowly he leans forward and presses their foreheads together.
“I don’t mind.” He whispers and the sincerity in his voice makes her heart clench.
“Well I’m sorry anyway.” Morgana says, sidling closer to him.
“S’ok.” He reassures, flashing her one of his bright sunshine smiles. He rubs their noses together, once, twice making her giggle. It’s familiar and comforting and full of promises of a future Morgana had being to be worry had slipped away.
“So a week huh? We better find some food then.” Morgana states and Merlin inclines his head in agreement.
They don’t have any luck at first, and both of them are starting to feel pretty grim until Merlin literally stumbles onto the mother lode, a large cellar below the cabin filled to the brim with cans upon cans of soups, beans, tinned peaches. Merlin had only discovered it because he had tripped over the rug that covered the hatch door.
“Well there go our food worries.” Merlin laughs as Morgana claps him on the back.
Later, when they’ve opened up a can of tinned peaches and are sharing it in front of a roaring fire, Morgana looks over at Merlin and smiles. He has peach juice running down his chin and is trying to mop it up by licking his tongue around his mouth; it’s the sort of thing you’d see a two year old doing and it makes her heart feel lighter than it’s been in months. She decides then and there that she is not leaving this cabin until they redefine their relationship status.
---
The main blizzard lasted three days, with moments of calm coming and going during that time. The amount of snow that had fallen had left the cabin completely buried in a blanket of snow. As of now though, with a few days of bright sunshine, the snow is only half way up the window but it still encloses the cabin in a cocoon of white. However at least now, they can look out of the window and see the sky.
The days came and went by peacefully, Merlin and Morgana filled the hours with smiles and laughter, as aimlessly passed the time away together. They hadn’t, much to Morgana’s chagrin made the transition from friends to something more yet.
Morgana had assumed that after a couple of days everything would fall into place naturally. That they would just get there. There being sweet kisses, fiery make out sessions and passionate sex; except they haven’t. There have been several ‘almost’ kisses but for some reason when their lips are just about to touch, Merlin bails out, kissing the tip of Morgana’s nose, cheek or forehead instead. Tonight had been no different the only difference is Morgana has decided enough is enough.
“Merlin.” Morgana calls softly, from her side of the bed.
On the first night Merlin had been hesitant to share the bed with her, offering to sleep on the floor instead. Morgana had snapped at him, telling him to ‘stop being an idiot and get into bed already.’ Merlin had looked at her sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck before finally sliding into the bed. Elven nights later, it’s become routine, neither of them blinks an eyelid.
“Merlin.” Morgana tries again, when she receives no answer. She half hopes he won’t wake up; the other half desperately wants him to. Just when she’s about to give up there is a mummer from under the mountain of blankets.
“Merlin?” She says again, a little louder this time but still with her back to him. She lies completely still; faking calmness she does not feel.
“Yeah?” Merlin replies dozily. Morgana hesitates, doubting her decision to do this. It might not be the best time, when Merlin is obviously half asleep. Expect Morgana’s not sure she’ll be able to do it later; her courage will only last so long.
“Can we skip it?” she quickly asks, her words coming out in a gush of air as she scrunches her eyes up tightly, waiting for Merlin’s reply like one might wait for a bomb to go off.
“Huh?” Merlin yawns stretching out his limbs, as he draws himself out of his sleep haze state.
“Can we skip it?” she says again, more slowly this time.
“Skip what?” Merlin queries rubbing at his eyes.
“The talk.” Morgana explains. She’s not making any sense; she knows she’s not, but her hearts hammering so hard she can’t hear herself think.
“The talk?” Merlin echoes puzzled, shifting he turns his body over so he is now facing Morgana’s back.
“Yeah.” Morgana follows suit and turns around to face him. Morgana is thankful that the only light in the room is coming from the dying fire. So whilst she can see Merlin, there are enough shadows dancing on their faces that she feels less exposed. Merlin stares back at her shaking his head after a moment, signifying he still has no clue as to what she’s talking about.
“I just want to get to the part where….” Morgana sighs. She had hoped Merlin would just read her mind or something….obviously not.
“Where?” Merlin prompts when she trails off, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Morgana takes a deep breath eyes falling down to look at Merlin’s lips.
“Where you’re kissing me.” Morgana watches him anxiously, chewing on the inside of her cheek.
The room falls silent. It’s so quiet Morgana can hear the hitch in his breath, the sound of his eyelashes meeting and parting as he blinks back at her. Merlin swallows several times, Adam apple bopping up and down. When he finally opens his mouth to say something, the look in his eyes has Morgana interrupting him before he can start.
“You want to, I know you want to.” She says, shifting her position and moving their heads closer together. Merlin gaze falls to her lips, his tongue darting out and wetting his bottom lip.
“It’s not a good idea.” He finally concludes, shifting away from her. Morgana sighs, stomach dropping.
“Why?” She whines, voice small and uncertain. Merlin breaks eye contact with her; looking up towards the ceiling he takes a deep breath.
“Because you’re one of my closest friends. I don’t want to mess that up.”
Morgana understands that sentiment all too well. It is the thing that had scares her the most and is why she hadn’t pushed the matter straight away; waiting to see how deep the feeling went before uprooting a tree that was a pillar of her sanity. The fear of losing him had kept her mute for many months, even during this week and a half when she’d promised herself she wouldn’t.
“See this is exactly what I wanted to skip.” Morgana says exasperated. “This pointless conversation.”
“It’s pointless?” Merlin queries; tilting his head on the pillow and studying her curiously. “Why?”
“Because,” Morgana can hear the thumping of her heart in her own ears, the pounding of her blood in her veins.
“I’m in love with you.” Her voice quavers a little but she is resolute in what she’s saying. Merlin takes a sharp intake of breath, eyes going wide as his mouth falls open. Morgana looks at Merlin’s astounded expression for as long as she can stand, waits for him to say something and when he doesn’t, she turns away from him, closing her eyes tightly. Her stomach churns uncomfortably, mind running away into dark hopeless corners. Had she made it all up? Were all those moments a mere fabrication of her mind? A mirage?
Morgana thinks she’s going to throw up when an arm snakes around her waist pulling her back against a solid warm body. Her eyes snap open, body automatically relaxing at the touch. Merlin presses himself against her, sweeping back the cascades of raven hair away from her neck and buries his face in the space it leaves instead.
“Ok.” He whippers gently, lips brushing against her skin.
“Ok what?” Morgana asks, hoping he wasn’t referring to her admission of love. Ok, was not exactly the response she had imagined or wanted. Merlin lifts himself up onto one elbow, so he is now hovering over her. He waits till Morgana, unable to stand his staring, looks up at him.
“Ok let’s skip it.” He says, smiling down at her with a twinkle in his eye. Morgana lips tug upwards as slowly Merlin leans down towards her.
“By the way,” Merlin breathes, just before their lips meet. “I’m in love with you too.”
Recipient:ajsrandom
Author: jungle_ride
Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Merlin/Morgana
Summary: Modern!AU. Merlin and Morgana get snowed in.
“Yeah. It would just be you and me.” Merlin grins as he bops their shoulders together. Morgana’s interest perks up considerably at that. It sounded like the medicine the doctor never prescribed. Morgana lips start to turn upwards into a smile.
“We haven’t had that in a while.” Merlin adds and Morgana’s thoughts turn melancholy all of a sudden as she thinks about why they haven’t.
Warnings: N/A
Word Count: 3,088
Author's Notes: I LOVED your prompt so much, honestly it’s one of my personal favourite tropes so I had a real blast writing this. I wanted to expand it a lot more and focus on some of the antics that Merlin/Morgana got up to while trapped but with the general hectic whirlwind my life has become because of the holidays, I wasn’t quite able to do that. Still I hope you like what I’ve come up with and that it brings your prompt to life in a way you’re happy with and enjoy. Happy Holidays xx
Disclaimer:Merlin is owned by the BBC and Shine. No copyright infringement is intended and no profit is being made. Don't send us to the dungeons.
“Look what I found.” Morgana singsongs as she pulls two objects out from the cupboard she’d been searching.
“Food?” Merlin asks hopefully. The cabin they’d stumbled across was small, nothing like the one they’d been staying at. There was hardly any furniture in the one room, two rooms if you counted the closet sized bathroom. A fireplace was at one end of the room, a futon couch in the middle facing towards the hearth, with a blanket box in front of it, presumably to be used as a table and a large rug.
The kitchen consisted of a sink and a rickety looking cooker, which after a few try’s Merlin had concluded was not in working order, and a few cupboards. There was however running water, which in the circumstances was a plus, and thankfully the toilet also seemed to be in working condition. However there didn’t seem to be any food, which considering their predicament was starting to concern Merlin greatly. Morgana didn’t seem phased by any of it; at least that was the impression Merlin got as he turns to glance over at her.
“Better than food.” Morgana grins and waves two bottles at him playfully. “Vodka and Gin.”
Merlin rolls his eyes at her and turns back to the cupboards in front of him.
“I’d rather they were tins of beans.” He mutters as he opens the next cupboard only to find that it too is empty.
“Blasphemy!” Morgana cries feigning horror. “How can you say such things? Don’t listen to him darlings, he doesn’t mean a word.” Morgana coos to the bottles, as she sets them down on the kitchen side. Despite himself Merlin chuckles at her outlandish display.
“Alright Sadie Doyle.” He teases; he receives a wink and a coy smile from Morgana in return.
“Have you had any luck?” She queries, a second later. Merlin shakes his head. The only thing he’s found is a few plates, bowls, and cutlery. Nothing edible.
“Oh well, we still have a little food in our packs.” Morgana shrugs, pulling out two glasses from where she’d spotted them earlier.
“Not for tomorrow.” Merlin counters slightly irritated at Morgana’s apparent nonchalance.
“We’ll be back at the lodge tomorrow.” Morgana rationalises, as she runs the glasses under the tap. “I can skip breakfast for one day.”
Merlin stops, eyebrows furrowing as he looks at her incredulously.
“Morgana have you looked outside recently?” he gestures to the window. Morgana follows his gaze; she can’t see anything through the constant blur of white. The sound of snow hitting the glass taps out a steady rhythm as the wind howls in harmony.
“Glad we’re not in that anymore.” She says shuddering at the earlier memory of trekking through the wind and snow, freezing her ass off.
“Yeah it is.” Merlin agrees fervently. “But if it carries on like that then we’re not going anywhere tomorrow or the next day, or the day after that.” Merlin continues, hands clenching into fists nervously.
“We’ll be snowed in?” Morgana says, setting down the glasses on the countertop and forgetting about the bottles of alcohol. “You’re joking.”
“I wish I was.” Merlin says, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tries to remember how long someone can last without food.
“How long?” Morgana asks, her spine starting to tingle with growing apprehension.
“Depends on how long the storm lasts and what the weathers like after.” Merlin contemplates, leaning against the counter and taking another glance out the window. “That blizzard doesn’t look like it’s easing up any time soon. I reckon we’ll be stuck for a week at the least.”
“A week!” Morgana shrieks. She had not been prepared for that. When she’d thought it would be a night, the cabin had seemed quirky, something they could laugh about later. Knowing they were probably going to be stuck for a week meant the cabin suddenly lost all of the little charm it had previously held.
“I knew there was a chance for a storm like this to hit, but it wasn’t supposed to happen till later in the week.” Merlin mumbles, talking more to himself than Morgana. “A storm hit like this last year. Me and Arthur where stuck for three weeks, remember?”
Morgana nods, she vaguely recalled Arthur complaining about it. Though it did beg the question as to why Arthur had booked the same resort, at the same time of year, if this had even been the slightest possibility. Then again maybe that had been Arthur’s plan all along, or at least he had hoped for it. Not the Morgana and Merlin getting lost and snowed in up on this bloody mountain part, but snowed in at their private excessively large cabin, where they had a large storage of food and all the home comforts one could wish for. It would be just like Arthur to think he could get himself snowed in, trapped with Gwen for three weeks. A chance for them to spend time together without his father’s prying eyes upon them. In fact now that’s she’s thinking about it Morgana is convinced that’s exactly what Arthur had intended when he’d invited, and practically forced Morgana and Gwen to come along, though neither of them had any real interest in skiing.
“Someone will come get us though, won’t they? A rescue party.” Morgana wonders aloud, in a desperate attempt to reassure herself.
“Yeah, maybe.” Merlin replies though he doesn’t sound too convinced. Morgana’s head snaps around to look at him.
“Maybe!” She exclaims disheartened; that was categorically the opposite of what she wanted to hear.
“Well there’s no way they’re going to risk a rescue when the weather is like that, they’d just be putting lives at risk, it would be stupid and besides no one knows where we are Morgana. We were way off track before the storm hit and my phone’s not getting a signal.” He explains, giving her an awkward shrug as if to say ‘what can they do’.
Morgana pulls out her phone from her jean pocket. The white words no signal stare back at her.
“Damn! Mine’s got no signal either.” Disgruntled she throws the phone onto the counter and comes to stand next to Merlin.
“It could be because of the storm, it might change when the blizzard dies down.” Merlin tires to sound positive but he has a feeling they won’t be getting a signal even then, they were too high up.
“This is not good.” Morganas shoulders slump as the severity of the situation beings to sink in.
“It’s not that bad.” Merlin says in his best soothing tone, but the way his jaw tightness Morgana can tell he’s lying, she gives him her best sardonic ‘oh really’ expression. Sighing Merlin runs at the back of his neck.
“Look we’ve just got to find food. If we find food then…” He trails off and pauses for a moment before letting out a gruff puff of sound that isn’t quite a laugh. Morgana eyes narrow inquisitively as Merlin smiles to himself; eyes lighting up in a way Morgana hasn’t seen in quite some time. Her breath hitches a little as she remembers when she’d last seen that spark in his big blue eyes.
“Then?” She prompts, curious as to what was running around in that head of his.
“It could be nice.” Merlin says; that sparkle growing stronger.
“Nice?” Morgana inquires sceptically. Somehow spending a week or more trapped in what Morgana would call a shack, without hot water, a shower or a working cooking was not exactly her idea of nice time.
“Yeah. It would just be you and me.” Merlin grins as he bops their shoulders together. Morgana’s interest perks up considerably at that. It sounded like the medicine the doctor never prescribed. Morgana lips start to turn upwards into a smile.
“We haven’t had that in a while.” Merlin adds and Morgana’s thoughts turn melancholy all of a sudden as she thinks about why they haven’t.
Three months ago she had found out the truth of her parentage. To say that she’d handled the situation poorly was an understatement; she’d spent most of the time getting drunk and making stupid decision after stupid decision. The only one who knew was Merlin; she had blurted it out after a heavy session of drinking. Merlin had tried to help her come to terms with it all, but she had preferred to numb herself entirely with bottles of booze and random hook ups.
Before Morgana had started her spiral of destruction she’d been sure she and Merlin were heading from the great friends they were, to some something more, and she wanted them to. She still really, really wants it but has become worried that her current actions may have swayed Merlin’s feelings all together. He hadn’t made a move or even looked like he was going to for quite some time…until just now.
“I’m sorry.” Morgana mumbles, voice quavering a little as her eyes turn downcast. “This is all my fault.”
“No it’s…” Merlin starts to disagree but Morgana cuts him off with a hand held in the air.
“Yes it is. I’ve been acting pretty senseless recently. I mean come on wandering off on a bloody mountain, without telling anyone where I was going, not that I knew where I was going but that’s hardly the point. I don’t even know what I was thinking. It was stupid. If you hadn’t followed me then I’d still be stuck out there.”
“Morgana.” Merlin says softly, reaching out a hand and brushing his fingers ever so slightly against hers on the countertop.
“Not like it’s the first time either. You’ve been doing it a lot recently.” Morgana says drawing her bottom lip between her teeth.
“Doing a lot of what?” Merlin asks, watching her intently as his fingers rub soothing circles against her knuckles.
“Looking after me; not that I deserve it.” She says. Merlin lips twitch upwards softly, his gaze turning tender. Slowly he leans forward and presses their foreheads together.
“I don’t mind.” He whispers and the sincerity in his voice makes her heart clench.
“Well I’m sorry anyway.” Morgana says, sidling closer to him.
“S’ok.” He reassures, flashing her one of his bright sunshine smiles. He rubs their noses together, once, twice making her giggle. It’s familiar and comforting and full of promises of a future Morgana had being to be worry had slipped away.
“So a week huh? We better find some food then.” Morgana states and Merlin inclines his head in agreement.
They don’t have any luck at first, and both of them are starting to feel pretty grim until Merlin literally stumbles onto the mother lode, a large cellar below the cabin filled to the brim with cans upon cans of soups, beans, tinned peaches. Merlin had only discovered it because he had tripped over the rug that covered the hatch door.
“Well there go our food worries.” Merlin laughs as Morgana claps him on the back.
Later, when they’ve opened up a can of tinned peaches and are sharing it in front of a roaring fire, Morgana looks over at Merlin and smiles. He has peach juice running down his chin and is trying to mop it up by licking his tongue around his mouth; it’s the sort of thing you’d see a two year old doing and it makes her heart feel lighter than it’s been in months. She decides then and there that she is not leaving this cabin until they redefine their relationship status.
---
The main blizzard lasted three days, with moments of calm coming and going during that time. The amount of snow that had fallen had left the cabin completely buried in a blanket of snow. As of now though, with a few days of bright sunshine, the snow is only half way up the window but it still encloses the cabin in a cocoon of white. However at least now, they can look out of the window and see the sky.
The days came and went by peacefully, Merlin and Morgana filled the hours with smiles and laughter, as aimlessly passed the time away together. They hadn’t, much to Morgana’s chagrin made the transition from friends to something more yet.
Morgana had assumed that after a couple of days everything would fall into place naturally. That they would just get there. There being sweet kisses, fiery make out sessions and passionate sex; except they haven’t. There have been several ‘almost’ kisses but for some reason when their lips are just about to touch, Merlin bails out, kissing the tip of Morgana’s nose, cheek or forehead instead. Tonight had been no different the only difference is Morgana has decided enough is enough.
“Merlin.” Morgana calls softly, from her side of the bed.
On the first night Merlin had been hesitant to share the bed with her, offering to sleep on the floor instead. Morgana had snapped at him, telling him to ‘stop being an idiot and get into bed already.’ Merlin had looked at her sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck before finally sliding into the bed. Elven nights later, it’s become routine, neither of them blinks an eyelid.
“Merlin.” Morgana tries again, when she receives no answer. She half hopes he won’t wake up; the other half desperately wants him to. Just when she’s about to give up there is a mummer from under the mountain of blankets.
“Merlin?” She says again, a little louder this time but still with her back to him. She lies completely still; faking calmness she does not feel.
“Yeah?” Merlin replies dozily. Morgana hesitates, doubting her decision to do this. It might not be the best time, when Merlin is obviously half asleep. Expect Morgana’s not sure she’ll be able to do it later; her courage will only last so long.
“Can we skip it?” she quickly asks, her words coming out in a gush of air as she scrunches her eyes up tightly, waiting for Merlin’s reply like one might wait for a bomb to go off.
“Huh?” Merlin yawns stretching out his limbs, as he draws himself out of his sleep haze state.
“Can we skip it?” she says again, more slowly this time.
“Skip what?” Merlin queries rubbing at his eyes.
“The talk.” Morgana explains. She’s not making any sense; she knows she’s not, but her hearts hammering so hard she can’t hear herself think.
“The talk?” Merlin echoes puzzled, shifting he turns his body over so he is now facing Morgana’s back.
“Yeah.” Morgana follows suit and turns around to face him. Morgana is thankful that the only light in the room is coming from the dying fire. So whilst she can see Merlin, there are enough shadows dancing on their faces that she feels less exposed. Merlin stares back at her shaking his head after a moment, signifying he still has no clue as to what she’s talking about.
“I just want to get to the part where….” Morgana sighs. She had hoped Merlin would just read her mind or something….obviously not.
“Where?” Merlin prompts when she trails off, eyebrows knitting together in confusion. Morgana takes a deep breath eyes falling down to look at Merlin’s lips.
“Where you’re kissing me.” Morgana watches him anxiously, chewing on the inside of her cheek.
The room falls silent. It’s so quiet Morgana can hear the hitch in his breath, the sound of his eyelashes meeting and parting as he blinks back at her. Merlin swallows several times, Adam apple bopping up and down. When he finally opens his mouth to say something, the look in his eyes has Morgana interrupting him before he can start.
“You want to, I know you want to.” She says, shifting her position and moving their heads closer together. Merlin gaze falls to her lips, his tongue darting out and wetting his bottom lip.
“It’s not a good idea.” He finally concludes, shifting away from her. Morgana sighs, stomach dropping.
“Why?” She whines, voice small and uncertain. Merlin breaks eye contact with her; looking up towards the ceiling he takes a deep breath.
“Because you’re one of my closest friends. I don’t want to mess that up.”
Morgana understands that sentiment all too well. It is the thing that had scares her the most and is why she hadn’t pushed the matter straight away; waiting to see how deep the feeling went before uprooting a tree that was a pillar of her sanity. The fear of losing him had kept her mute for many months, even during this week and a half when she’d promised herself she wouldn’t.
“See this is exactly what I wanted to skip.” Morgana says exasperated. “This pointless conversation.”
“It’s pointless?” Merlin queries; tilting his head on the pillow and studying her curiously. “Why?”
“Because,” Morgana can hear the thumping of her heart in her own ears, the pounding of her blood in her veins.
“I’m in love with you.” Her voice quavers a little but she is resolute in what she’s saying. Merlin takes a sharp intake of breath, eyes going wide as his mouth falls open. Morgana looks at Merlin’s astounded expression for as long as she can stand, waits for him to say something and when he doesn’t, she turns away from him, closing her eyes tightly. Her stomach churns uncomfortably, mind running away into dark hopeless corners. Had she made it all up? Were all those moments a mere fabrication of her mind? A mirage?
Morgana thinks she’s going to throw up when an arm snakes around her waist pulling her back against a solid warm body. Her eyes snap open, body automatically relaxing at the touch. Merlin presses himself against her, sweeping back the cascades of raven hair away from her neck and buries his face in the space it leaves instead.
“Ok.” He whippers gently, lips brushing against her skin.
“Ok what?” Morgana asks, hoping he wasn’t referring to her admission of love. Ok, was not exactly the response she had imagined or wanted. Merlin lifts himself up onto one elbow, so he is now hovering over her. He waits till Morgana, unable to stand his staring, looks up at him.
“Ok let’s skip it.” He says, smiling down at her with a twinkle in his eye. Morgana lips tug upwards as slowly Merlin leans down towards her.
“By the way,” Merlin breathes, just before their lips meet. “I’m in love with you too.”