[Fic] Kiss of Life - for camelotsolstice
Title: Kiss of Life
Author: Anonymous
Recipient: camelotsolstice
Rating: PG13
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur
Word Count: 3,546
Summary: "I wasn't kissing you, idiot - I was making sure you weren't dead"
Warning(s): lifeguard!AU
Notes: n/a
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction - none of this ever happened. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is made from this work. Please observe your local laws with regards to the age-limit and content of this work.
When Merlin opens his eyes, he is aware of a few things.
1) He feels like he has been run over, quite thoroughly, by a truck. Twice.
2) His chest hurts, and he can't seem to draw a breath properly
and 3) that might be because someone is kissing him.
He turns his head away in shock, and ends up spluttering out a lungful of water onto the sand he is lying on. That's when the memories of being pulled further and further out to sea come back, along with the terrifying feeling that accompanied watching the distance between him and the land grow with every moment, and the fuzzy motion of being dragged up from under a great pressure.
Merlin tries to sit up, but the person next to him places their hands on his shoulders and firmly, but gently, pushes him back down. Merlin hears them say "Hey, calm down, you're safe now" in a rich voice tinged with worry and slight amusement, and it takes a few moments for it to sink in that it was a man who was talking to him - who had been kissing him.
"I wasn't kissing you, idiot - I was making sure you weren't dead" the other man says, amusement clear even through his derisive tone of voice and insult.
Merlin realises that he should probably stop thinking aloud and just figure out who the hell this guy is. He tries to focus on the person next to him, but even without his awful eyesight (and oh shit, Mum is going to kill me, he thinks as he realises he has lost his glasses in the ocean) it's difficult to focus his eyes: the sun is directly behind his (saviour?) and, as well as giving him a golden halo, it is making it almost impossible to see his face. Merlin squints, winces, and thinks that it maybe also has something to do with the fact that he has half the beach in his eyes.
But then the guy moves to the left a bit and helps Merlin slowly sit up (now that he's stopped choking on sea water), and Merlin has his first look at the man who saved him.
He's wearing some truly awful red and gold board shorts and has a whistle around his neck, so Merlin assumes that he's a member of the lifeguard team. This fact registers dimly next to the realisation that the guy is actually rather stunning. Muscled arms and legs (and abs) that have gone brown from the summer months, sun bleached hair and bright, bright blue eyes are all adding up to something Merlin is positive will be a recurring factor in any and all of his wet dreams for the foreseeable future. He coughs up a bit more sea-water and thinks fuzzily, if you'll excuse the pun.
He realises after a moment that he's just kind of been starring at this guy, and he supposes he should say something.
"Kiss of life" he manages to say without adding any more water to the mix, and the blonde man arches a slightly aristocratic eyebrow at him. He obviously thinks Merlin is brain-drowned (and maybe he is because he keeps opening his mouth and spewing crap out - first the sea water, now this--) "The kiss of life. So, technically, you were kind of kissing me"
Lifeguard shakes his head and stands from where he has been crouched next to him, reaching down a hand as he does so.
"If that's what you want to believe" he says as Merlin grabs thankfully at the offered hand, and it's almost de-ja-vu, this feeling of being pulled up swiftly and surely, and it reminds him of what he had really meant to say first off.
"Thank you"
Blue eyes crinkle in a smile and it's fuzzy because he lost his glasses, and Merlin feels slightly ill (because he's just swallowed a rather large amount of water) but he's fairly certain that it's the drowning thing that makes his stomach cramp weirdly and not the other man's smile and eyes directed at him.
He's almost sure of it.
*
It's a week later, and the sun is blistering what is meant to be a nice relaxing Saturday morning spent with Gwen. Instead, Gwen decides suddenly that they should go to the beach and actually enjoy the weather instead of the Doctor Who marathon they had planned, and because she's lovely and sweet and his best friend and will be moving in a few weeks for College - Merlin agrees.
They get there, and it's actually crowded for once, everyone seeming to want to make the best of the scorching weather. They take a while to find a spot that Gwen deems acceptable, and even then Merlin suspects that Gwen only chose this particular spot because it's about twenty metres away from the lifeguard watch tower, where a dark skinned man with hair Merlin is certainly not jealous of sits with a pair of binoculars looking out over the people swimming.
They set up their towels and umbrella, and Merlin strips off his top and immediately starts lathering sunscreen on his arms and legs, ignoring the way Gwen rolls her eyes behind her sun glasses.
"I'm this pale for a reason you know" he quips at her and she waves a hand at him before opening the book she had brought with her: something about ‘Songs' and ‘Lionesses' from what he can see of the cover - probably some stupid safari adventure with a dashing hero that looked too much like the lifeguard sitting a few metres away (who by this point has noticed them and is sneaking glances at Gwen).
Merlin takes his time with the sunscreen, making sure he's completely covered - because he doesn't think he could face anyone if he missed a bit; the teasing had been awful when he'd turned up at school a few months ago with a penis on either side of his face and the word ‘princess' on his forehead.
(--and maybe insulting Valiant until he'd held him down and written on his skin in sun-block wasn't such a good idea, but the guy was an ass and he needed to quit harassing Gwen--)
He'd finished his face, arms and legs and was just turning to ask Gwen if she'd do his back when a shadow fell over him and he looked up to see a vaguely familiar silhouette standing with the sun behind him. Merlin surreptitiously noted the gold and red board shorts and felt a trickle of recognition.
"Back again are we?" said the silhouette and Merlin held a hand above his eyes to block the sun.
Yep.
Blondie.
"Obviously" he replied with a slight smile as he toyed with the lid to the sun-block. The lifeguard noticed, and nodded to it.
"Need some help with that?"
"Oh, um - no thanks, I was just going to get Gwen to -- oh." Merlin stopped as he realised his companion had fallen asleep whilst reading her book, and he smiled fondly at her and shook his head, reaching over to put her bookmark in place.
"So. Um - did you want some help?" the lifeguard asked again, and Merlin turned back to him, hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
Blondie grinned widely as he knelt on the towel next to him, and gestured for Merlin to lie on his stomach so he could do his back. He did so, and tried to repress a shiver as Lifeguard's hands started smoothing the lotion into his skin. Merlin hoped Blondie would think it was because the lotion was cold.
(Even though it wasn't)
"Is this, um... normal? This lifeguard treatment?" Merlin asked delicately and the man shrugged.
"I'm not actually on duty yet. Lance gets off for lunch in about fifteen minutes and then I'm on for the rest of the day, so, technically this isn't what you'd call ‘lifeguard treatment'"
"So what, you're just being a Good Samaritan?" Merlin asked, forcing himself not to react when Blondie brushed a ticklish spot of his.
"Hey now, we're practically friends."
"I don't even know your name" Merlin pointed out.
"And I don't know yours" the lifeguard replied easily, his hands stopping their movement. It might have been Merlin's imagination, but he thought that Blondie left his hands resting at the small of his back just a fraction too long.
Merlin rolled over into a sitting position facing the other man. This was the first time he'd really had the opportunity to notice his strong chin and jaw line, or the laugh lines at the corner of his eyes. Merlin came to the sudden realisation that Blondie was only a few years older than him. It was this thought (and the foolish, ridiculous ones that followed) that made him grin and hold out his hand.
"Merlin Emrys"
Blondie smiled back and took his hand firmly in his own.
"Arthur Pendragon"
A shout from nearby drew their attention, and Arthur was already up and running when Merlin finally spotted the small boy further out from the beach than he should have been. Merlin watched as Blondie-- as Arthur swam out to the kid and looped an arm around him, before swimming him back in to his mother who threw herself first at her son, almost hysterical with worry, and then at Arthur as she babbled her thanks.
"So, Merlin. Something to tell me?"
Merlin tried not to frown as he ripped his eyes away from Arthur and back to Gwen, who was looking at him with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"How long have you been awake?"
She grinned wickedly and raised an eyebrow at him.
"You were never asleep"
"Nope"
"You're kind of a bad friend, you know that?"
"You don't mind. Now, I feel a story coming on. Spill. How'd you meet the hottie?"
Merlin rolled his eyes and quickly told her about his little drowning incident.
And if his eyes followed Arthur as he did, well.
Gwen was good enough not to point it out.
(much).
*
Ever since Gwen found out about ‘The Hottie' as she had dubbed Arthur, she has dragged Merlin to the beach at every available opportunity.
Although, Merlin considers, this also might have something to do with the dark haired lifeguard (Lance, Merlin remembers Arthur saying) and the fact that he finally talked to Gwen the last time they were here and now they're getting along like a house on fire.
(albeit a slightly awkward house full of sexual tension and uncertainty on both parts).
But, as Gwen said - this left Merlin to chat up Arthur, so he couldn't really complain.
(he does anyway)
(and he doesn't chat up Arthur. They just... talk).
It's kind of insane how well they get along, Merlin thinks as he reads Prisoner of Azkaban (for about the sixteenth time) and flicks through Gwen's iPod (if he stops and listens to the Glee songs, well, she'll never be able to tell).
Arthur is... he's great, if Merlin's honest. Over the past few weeks they've been getting along as well as Gwen and Lance (without the decided awkwardness that the other two seemed to generate - but that just stemmed from their shyness when it came to each other, Arthur and Merlin were sure).
There is nothing awkward about the way Arthur and Merlin interact. It's like they've known each other for years: Merlin certainly feels as though he's know Arthur for longer than he has.
He knows that Arthur is doing a Business major at the University in the city over (because his father wanted him to) and he knows (unlike Mr. Pendragon) that Arthur is also majoring in History (because he wanted to). He knows that Arthur has been a lifeguard since he was seventeen - when his sister Morgana nearly drowned and he had dragged her out from under the waves by her hair - but that he only started at this beach a few months ago. He knows that Arthur's birthday is April sixteenth, and that he's turning twenty-one. He knows that Arthur is a lot more serious than he lets on: that he worries about the expectations placed on him (mostly by his father; be it about college, his sexuality, living up to his family name, or even the fact that he's living in his sister's shadow). Merlin knows that Arthur loves being a lifeguard, but he prefers the beach when it's early morning or late at night - when it's empty.
Merlin thinks back over the past few weeks: from Arthur lathering his back with sunscreen (backing him up about sun-safety when Gwen started to tease), to the driftwood sword fights, to how they constantly switch from bickering to joking to serious and back like it's the easiest thing in the world, to the lunch they had shared together in town, away from Gwen and Lance's teasing comments and prying eyes, to the way Arthur over pronounces his name (Merlin).
Merlin decides maybe he doesn't mind being dragged to the beach as much as he might tell Gwen he does. But Arthur isn't here at the moment - he was off doing his rounds of the beach when they arrived, and he isn't back yet - and there is only so much of Gwen and Lance's dancing around each other that he can take. So he decides that, rather than sticking around to watch the two make eyes at each other, he'd rather do some exploring.
*
He's at the far end of the beach now, leaping carefully around the rock pools and feeling like a little kid as he searches for weird rock-pool-dwelling creatures.
(So far, all he's found is a crab and a few limpets, but so what?)
The sun is out, but it's not as warm as it has been - there's a slightly chill wind coming in off the sea, and a particularly strong gust sweeps just as he leaps to the next rock. He knows before he lands that it's all wrong; his jump, the way he twists slightly in mid air, and he lands awkwardly, rolling his ankle and falling forward onto the rocks. His hands break his fall and when he rolls to his side (careful not to roll into the water) his right hand has a deep gash on it - too late he notices the mussel shells: one is covered in his blood.
Feeling slightly queasy at the sight of blood (which is ridiculous for someone who plays as many computer games as he does) Merlin tries to stand, and immediately falls back down, his ankle throbbing painfully. He bites his lip, refusing to cry out, and inspects the injured ankle. It's already swelling; deep purple and yellow mottled and getting darker by the minute. He doesn't think it's broken - he'd recognise that awful hot/cold searing pain if it was - but he's fairly sure its sprained.
Merlin looks back towards the beach where Gwen is not doubt playing coy with Lance the Lifeguard and swears. There's no way she - or anyone else, for that matter - could hear him from way over there. It doesn't stop him trying though, and he gives a loud shout.
No one even turns their head, and Merlin swears again.
He's going to have to get back on his own - and quickly.
-
The thing about rock pools, Merlin realises, is that they are actually underwater at high tide.
(And because this is his life, the tide is already halfway in)
-
So he grits his teeth, and tries to stand only on his uninjured foot - Merlin's balance has never been good, so he's rather surprised when he manages to stay standing. The next problem, he realises, is the rock pools themselves. Because on the way over, he could just leap over and around the maze of pools: now he has to pick his way carefully through them.
Merlin focuses on the spot immediately before him, and hops, catching himself with his uninjured hand on the rock next to him for balance.
Again.
And again.
And again he hops.
But this really isn't his day, and the tide is rising quicker than he had expected so when Merlin reaches the pool with the crab (who he personally thinks is mocking his gawky way of travelling), he loses his footing and ends up putting his other foot down for balance and using his injured hand to grab onto the closest rock to keep him from toppling into the water. The pain in his hand and his ankle is unbearable and he lets out a shout of agony even as he feels light headed and sick. He thinks that maybe he's going to throw up, but then a muffled voice pushes through the dizziness he's feeling, and suddenly-
"Merlin? What are you- Shit!"
He recognises the voice and doesn't put up a fight as the light headedness takes him over.
He passes out.
*
When Merlin opens his eyes, he is aware of a few things.
1) His ankle is throbbing painfully in time with his heartbeat and someone has bandaged his hand (and hopefully they cleaned it first, because Merlin doesn't really want to have to do that himself, because uurgh!)
2) He's in the lifeguard building, from what he can tell of the room he is in
and 3) someone is brushing his hair away from his face, leaning over him and he just has time to recognise the blue eyes (although he is unused to seeing such worry in them) when Gwen forces her way into his field of vision.
"You idiot Merlin! You know what your balance is like, and you didn't tell me or Lance where you were going and we turned around and you weren't there and you could've died and I'd never see you again and- and-" Gwen's anger has dissipated by the time her tirade breaks off into quiet sobs and Merlin instantly feels guilty. He reaches his good hand out and grabs hers with it, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Hey - I'm okay. Look Gwen, I'm fine" he says with a self-deprecating grin, and Lance is there, putting an arm around Gwen comfortingly. He smiles down at him, and Merlin remembers that - when he's not going all stupid and goo-goo eyes over Gwen - Lance is a pretty cool sort of guy.
"I'm not sure ‘fine' is the word I'd use, Merlin" he teases gently. "You've got a sprained ankle, and you're going to need stitches for your hand. Arthur's going to take you to the hospital while I finish up here"
Merlin nods and it's then that he remembers the pair of worried blue eyes he had woken up to. A quick search around the room and he spots Arthur, sitting quietly in the corner, starring at him. His shoulders are slumped and his hands are grasping tightly together in between his legs. His eyes meet Merlin's and he offers a weak smile, which Merlin returns.
"You've got to stop saving my life, Pendragon" he quips, trying to lighten the suddenly heavy atmosphere.
He doesn't even notice Gwen and Lance slipping out the door.
"You should try not needing to be saved, then" Arthur shoots back, but there is something serious in his manner that is - not lacking, in Merlin's, but is certainly not as present.
Merlin raises an eyebrow at his tone.
"I don't know... you've got to have something to keep you busy. Besides, if I didn't need saving, you wouldn't have an excuse to kis-"
Arthur is at his side before he's finished speaking and suddenly he's kissing Merlin; not the kiss of life like so many weeks ago, but actually kissing him - desperately, in fact; one hand pulling at Merlin's hair and the other cupping his cheek and tilting his head so that he can flick his tongue against Merlin's in a way that makes him gasp and shiver. Arthur's lips are chapped from too many days spent in the wind that comes off the ocean, and he tastes like ice-cream and spearmint thickshake and he's salty like the sea he so loves. Merlin bites gently at the lip between his and Arthur gives this weak kind of whimper before he pulls back (and if Merlin follows him, unwilling to stop, well. Neither of them points it out). Arthur's mouth is red and puffy and Merlin can't drag his eyes away, because he did that but then Arthur speaks and he thinks he should possibly listen.
"I don't want an excuse" Arthur is saying, and Merlin doesn't catch on until Arthur presses another kiss to the corner of his mouth, sweeter and calmer than the first, and Merlin thinks ‘less terrified' and he's not really sure what he means.
"I don't want you to have to nearly die for me to kiss you, Merlin" Arthur is whispering against his lips now, and with a jolt, Merlin realises exactly what Arthur is saying, and he grins against the blonde's lips.
"I knew you weren't just giving me the kiss of life"
Arthur lets out a startled laugh and, as he bends down to kiss this crazy, strange young man, he thinks that Merlin might just be the one to save him.
Fin
Author: Anonymous
Recipient: camelotsolstice
Rating: PG13
Character(s)/Pairing(s): Merlin/Arthur
Word Count: 3,546
Summary: "I wasn't kissing you, idiot - I was making sure you weren't dead"
Warning(s): lifeguard!AU
Notes: n/a
Disclaimer: This is a work of fanfiction - none of this ever happened. No copyright infringement is intended. No profit is made from this work. Please observe your local laws with regards to the age-limit and content of this work.
When Merlin opens his eyes, he is aware of a few things.
1) He feels like he has been run over, quite thoroughly, by a truck. Twice.
2) His chest hurts, and he can't seem to draw a breath properly
and 3) that might be because someone is kissing him.
He turns his head away in shock, and ends up spluttering out a lungful of water onto the sand he is lying on. That's when the memories of being pulled further and further out to sea come back, along with the terrifying feeling that accompanied watching the distance between him and the land grow with every moment, and the fuzzy motion of being dragged up from under a great pressure.
Merlin tries to sit up, but the person next to him places their hands on his shoulders and firmly, but gently, pushes him back down. Merlin hears them say "Hey, calm down, you're safe now" in a rich voice tinged with worry and slight amusement, and it takes a few moments for it to sink in that it was a man who was talking to him - who had been kissing him.
"I wasn't kissing you, idiot - I was making sure you weren't dead" the other man says, amusement clear even through his derisive tone of voice and insult.
Merlin realises that he should probably stop thinking aloud and just figure out who the hell this guy is. He tries to focus on the person next to him, but even without his awful eyesight (and oh shit, Mum is going to kill me, he thinks as he realises he has lost his glasses in the ocean) it's difficult to focus his eyes: the sun is directly behind his (saviour?) and, as well as giving him a golden halo, it is making it almost impossible to see his face. Merlin squints, winces, and thinks that it maybe also has something to do with the fact that he has half the beach in his eyes.
But then the guy moves to the left a bit and helps Merlin slowly sit up (now that he's stopped choking on sea water), and Merlin has his first look at the man who saved him.
He's wearing some truly awful red and gold board shorts and has a whistle around his neck, so Merlin assumes that he's a member of the lifeguard team. This fact registers dimly next to the realisation that the guy is actually rather stunning. Muscled arms and legs (and abs) that have gone brown from the summer months, sun bleached hair and bright, bright blue eyes are all adding up to something Merlin is positive will be a recurring factor in any and all of his wet dreams for the foreseeable future. He coughs up a bit more sea-water and thinks fuzzily, if you'll excuse the pun.
He realises after a moment that he's just kind of been starring at this guy, and he supposes he should say something.
"Kiss of life" he manages to say without adding any more water to the mix, and the blonde man arches a slightly aristocratic eyebrow at him. He obviously thinks Merlin is brain-drowned (and maybe he is because he keeps opening his mouth and spewing crap out - first the sea water, now this--) "The kiss of life. So, technically, you were kind of kissing me"
Lifeguard shakes his head and stands from where he has been crouched next to him, reaching down a hand as he does so.
"If that's what you want to believe" he says as Merlin grabs thankfully at the offered hand, and it's almost de-ja-vu, this feeling of being pulled up swiftly and surely, and it reminds him of what he had really meant to say first off.
"Thank you"
Blue eyes crinkle in a smile and it's fuzzy because he lost his glasses, and Merlin feels slightly ill (because he's just swallowed a rather large amount of water) but he's fairly certain that it's the drowning thing that makes his stomach cramp weirdly and not the other man's smile and eyes directed at him.
He's almost sure of it.
*
It's a week later, and the sun is blistering what is meant to be a nice relaxing Saturday morning spent with Gwen. Instead, Gwen decides suddenly that they should go to the beach and actually enjoy the weather instead of the Doctor Who marathon they had planned, and because she's lovely and sweet and his best friend and will be moving in a few weeks for College - Merlin agrees.
They get there, and it's actually crowded for once, everyone seeming to want to make the best of the scorching weather. They take a while to find a spot that Gwen deems acceptable, and even then Merlin suspects that Gwen only chose this particular spot because it's about twenty metres away from the lifeguard watch tower, where a dark skinned man with hair Merlin is certainly not jealous of sits with a pair of binoculars looking out over the people swimming.
They set up their towels and umbrella, and Merlin strips off his top and immediately starts lathering sunscreen on his arms and legs, ignoring the way Gwen rolls her eyes behind her sun glasses.
"I'm this pale for a reason you know" he quips at her and she waves a hand at him before opening the book she had brought with her: something about ‘Songs' and ‘Lionesses' from what he can see of the cover - probably some stupid safari adventure with a dashing hero that looked too much like the lifeguard sitting a few metres away (who by this point has noticed them and is sneaking glances at Gwen).
Merlin takes his time with the sunscreen, making sure he's completely covered - because he doesn't think he could face anyone if he missed a bit; the teasing had been awful when he'd turned up at school a few months ago with a penis on either side of his face and the word ‘princess' on his forehead.
(--and maybe insulting Valiant until he'd held him down and written on his skin in sun-block wasn't such a good idea, but the guy was an ass and he needed to quit harassing Gwen--)
He'd finished his face, arms and legs and was just turning to ask Gwen if she'd do his back when a shadow fell over him and he looked up to see a vaguely familiar silhouette standing with the sun behind him. Merlin surreptitiously noted the gold and red board shorts and felt a trickle of recognition.
"Back again are we?" said the silhouette and Merlin held a hand above his eyes to block the sun.
Yep.
Blondie.
"Obviously" he replied with a slight smile as he toyed with the lid to the sun-block. The lifeguard noticed, and nodded to it.
"Need some help with that?"
"Oh, um - no thanks, I was just going to get Gwen to -- oh." Merlin stopped as he realised his companion had fallen asleep whilst reading her book, and he smiled fondly at her and shook his head, reaching over to put her bookmark in place.
"So. Um - did you want some help?" the lifeguard asked again, and Merlin turned back to him, hesitated for a moment and then nodded.
Blondie grinned widely as he knelt on the towel next to him, and gestured for Merlin to lie on his stomach so he could do his back. He did so, and tried to repress a shiver as Lifeguard's hands started smoothing the lotion into his skin. Merlin hoped Blondie would think it was because the lotion was cold.
(Even though it wasn't)
"Is this, um... normal? This lifeguard treatment?" Merlin asked delicately and the man shrugged.
"I'm not actually on duty yet. Lance gets off for lunch in about fifteen minutes and then I'm on for the rest of the day, so, technically this isn't what you'd call ‘lifeguard treatment'"
"So what, you're just being a Good Samaritan?" Merlin asked, forcing himself not to react when Blondie brushed a ticklish spot of his.
"Hey now, we're practically friends."
"I don't even know your name" Merlin pointed out.
"And I don't know yours" the lifeguard replied easily, his hands stopping their movement. It might have been Merlin's imagination, but he thought that Blondie left his hands resting at the small of his back just a fraction too long.
Merlin rolled over into a sitting position facing the other man. This was the first time he'd really had the opportunity to notice his strong chin and jaw line, or the laugh lines at the corner of his eyes. Merlin came to the sudden realisation that Blondie was only a few years older than him. It was this thought (and the foolish, ridiculous ones that followed) that made him grin and hold out his hand.
"Merlin Emrys"
Blondie smiled back and took his hand firmly in his own.
"Arthur Pendragon"
A shout from nearby drew their attention, and Arthur was already up and running when Merlin finally spotted the small boy further out from the beach than he should have been. Merlin watched as Blondie-- as Arthur swam out to the kid and looped an arm around him, before swimming him back in to his mother who threw herself first at her son, almost hysterical with worry, and then at Arthur as she babbled her thanks.
"So, Merlin. Something to tell me?"
Merlin tried not to frown as he ripped his eyes away from Arthur and back to Gwen, who was looking at him with a mischievous glint in her eye.
"How long have you been awake?"
She grinned wickedly and raised an eyebrow at him.
"You were never asleep"
"Nope"
"You're kind of a bad friend, you know that?"
"You don't mind. Now, I feel a story coming on. Spill. How'd you meet the hottie?"
Merlin rolled his eyes and quickly told her about his little drowning incident.
And if his eyes followed Arthur as he did, well.
Gwen was good enough not to point it out.
(much).
*
Ever since Gwen found out about ‘The Hottie' as she had dubbed Arthur, she has dragged Merlin to the beach at every available opportunity.
Although, Merlin considers, this also might have something to do with the dark haired lifeguard (Lance, Merlin remembers Arthur saying) and the fact that he finally talked to Gwen the last time they were here and now they're getting along like a house on fire.
(albeit a slightly awkward house full of sexual tension and uncertainty on both parts).
But, as Gwen said - this left Merlin to chat up Arthur, so he couldn't really complain.
(he does anyway)
(and he doesn't chat up Arthur. They just... talk).
It's kind of insane how well they get along, Merlin thinks as he reads Prisoner of Azkaban (for about the sixteenth time) and flicks through Gwen's iPod (if he stops and listens to the Glee songs, well, she'll never be able to tell).
Arthur is... he's great, if Merlin's honest. Over the past few weeks they've been getting along as well as Gwen and Lance (without the decided awkwardness that the other two seemed to generate - but that just stemmed from their shyness when it came to each other, Arthur and Merlin were sure).
There is nothing awkward about the way Arthur and Merlin interact. It's like they've known each other for years: Merlin certainly feels as though he's know Arthur for longer than he has.
He knows that Arthur is doing a Business major at the University in the city over (because his father wanted him to) and he knows (unlike Mr. Pendragon) that Arthur is also majoring in History (because he wanted to). He knows that Arthur has been a lifeguard since he was seventeen - when his sister Morgana nearly drowned and he had dragged her out from under the waves by her hair - but that he only started at this beach a few months ago. He knows that Arthur's birthday is April sixteenth, and that he's turning twenty-one. He knows that Arthur is a lot more serious than he lets on: that he worries about the expectations placed on him (mostly by his father; be it about college, his sexuality, living up to his family name, or even the fact that he's living in his sister's shadow). Merlin knows that Arthur loves being a lifeguard, but he prefers the beach when it's early morning or late at night - when it's empty.
Merlin thinks back over the past few weeks: from Arthur lathering his back with sunscreen (backing him up about sun-safety when Gwen started to tease), to the driftwood sword fights, to how they constantly switch from bickering to joking to serious and back like it's the easiest thing in the world, to the lunch they had shared together in town, away from Gwen and Lance's teasing comments and prying eyes, to the way Arthur over pronounces his name (Merlin).
Merlin decides maybe he doesn't mind being dragged to the beach as much as he might tell Gwen he does. But Arthur isn't here at the moment - he was off doing his rounds of the beach when they arrived, and he isn't back yet - and there is only so much of Gwen and Lance's dancing around each other that he can take. So he decides that, rather than sticking around to watch the two make eyes at each other, he'd rather do some exploring.
*
He's at the far end of the beach now, leaping carefully around the rock pools and feeling like a little kid as he searches for weird rock-pool-dwelling creatures.
(So far, all he's found is a crab and a few limpets, but so what?)
The sun is out, but it's not as warm as it has been - there's a slightly chill wind coming in off the sea, and a particularly strong gust sweeps just as he leaps to the next rock. He knows before he lands that it's all wrong; his jump, the way he twists slightly in mid air, and he lands awkwardly, rolling his ankle and falling forward onto the rocks. His hands break his fall and when he rolls to his side (careful not to roll into the water) his right hand has a deep gash on it - too late he notices the mussel shells: one is covered in his blood.
Feeling slightly queasy at the sight of blood (which is ridiculous for someone who plays as many computer games as he does) Merlin tries to stand, and immediately falls back down, his ankle throbbing painfully. He bites his lip, refusing to cry out, and inspects the injured ankle. It's already swelling; deep purple and yellow mottled and getting darker by the minute. He doesn't think it's broken - he'd recognise that awful hot/cold searing pain if it was - but he's fairly sure its sprained.
Merlin looks back towards the beach where Gwen is not doubt playing coy with Lance the Lifeguard and swears. There's no way she - or anyone else, for that matter - could hear him from way over there. It doesn't stop him trying though, and he gives a loud shout.
No one even turns their head, and Merlin swears again.
He's going to have to get back on his own - and quickly.
-
The thing about rock pools, Merlin realises, is that they are actually underwater at high tide.
(And because this is his life, the tide is already halfway in)
-
So he grits his teeth, and tries to stand only on his uninjured foot - Merlin's balance has never been good, so he's rather surprised when he manages to stay standing. The next problem, he realises, is the rock pools themselves. Because on the way over, he could just leap over and around the maze of pools: now he has to pick his way carefully through them.
Merlin focuses on the spot immediately before him, and hops, catching himself with his uninjured hand on the rock next to him for balance.
Again.
And again.
And again he hops.
But this really isn't his day, and the tide is rising quicker than he had expected so when Merlin reaches the pool with the crab (who he personally thinks is mocking his gawky way of travelling), he loses his footing and ends up putting his other foot down for balance and using his injured hand to grab onto the closest rock to keep him from toppling into the water. The pain in his hand and his ankle is unbearable and he lets out a shout of agony even as he feels light headed and sick. He thinks that maybe he's going to throw up, but then a muffled voice pushes through the dizziness he's feeling, and suddenly-
"Merlin? What are you- Shit!"
He recognises the voice and doesn't put up a fight as the light headedness takes him over.
He passes out.
*
When Merlin opens his eyes, he is aware of a few things.
1) His ankle is throbbing painfully in time with his heartbeat and someone has bandaged his hand (and hopefully they cleaned it first, because Merlin doesn't really want to have to do that himself, because uurgh!)
2) He's in the lifeguard building, from what he can tell of the room he is in
and 3) someone is brushing his hair away from his face, leaning over him and he just has time to recognise the blue eyes (although he is unused to seeing such worry in them) when Gwen forces her way into his field of vision.
"You idiot Merlin! You know what your balance is like, and you didn't tell me or Lance where you were going and we turned around and you weren't there and you could've died and I'd never see you again and- and-" Gwen's anger has dissipated by the time her tirade breaks off into quiet sobs and Merlin instantly feels guilty. He reaches his good hand out and grabs hers with it, giving it a gentle squeeze.
"Hey - I'm okay. Look Gwen, I'm fine" he says with a self-deprecating grin, and Lance is there, putting an arm around Gwen comfortingly. He smiles down at him, and Merlin remembers that - when he's not going all stupid and goo-goo eyes over Gwen - Lance is a pretty cool sort of guy.
"I'm not sure ‘fine' is the word I'd use, Merlin" he teases gently. "You've got a sprained ankle, and you're going to need stitches for your hand. Arthur's going to take you to the hospital while I finish up here"
Merlin nods and it's then that he remembers the pair of worried blue eyes he had woken up to. A quick search around the room and he spots Arthur, sitting quietly in the corner, starring at him. His shoulders are slumped and his hands are grasping tightly together in between his legs. His eyes meet Merlin's and he offers a weak smile, which Merlin returns.
"You've got to stop saving my life, Pendragon" he quips, trying to lighten the suddenly heavy atmosphere.
He doesn't even notice Gwen and Lance slipping out the door.
"You should try not needing to be saved, then" Arthur shoots back, but there is something serious in his manner that is - not lacking, in Merlin's, but is certainly not as present.
Merlin raises an eyebrow at his tone.
"I don't know... you've got to have something to keep you busy. Besides, if I didn't need saving, you wouldn't have an excuse to kis-"
Arthur is at his side before he's finished speaking and suddenly he's kissing Merlin; not the kiss of life like so many weeks ago, but actually kissing him - desperately, in fact; one hand pulling at Merlin's hair and the other cupping his cheek and tilting his head so that he can flick his tongue against Merlin's in a way that makes him gasp and shiver. Arthur's lips are chapped from too many days spent in the wind that comes off the ocean, and he tastes like ice-cream and spearmint thickshake and he's salty like the sea he so loves. Merlin bites gently at the lip between his and Arthur gives this weak kind of whimper before he pulls back (and if Merlin follows him, unwilling to stop, well. Neither of them points it out). Arthur's mouth is red and puffy and Merlin can't drag his eyes away, because he did that but then Arthur speaks and he thinks he should possibly listen.
"I don't want an excuse" Arthur is saying, and Merlin doesn't catch on until Arthur presses another kiss to the corner of his mouth, sweeter and calmer than the first, and Merlin thinks ‘less terrified' and he's not really sure what he means.
"I don't want you to have to nearly die for me to kiss you, Merlin" Arthur is whispering against his lips now, and with a jolt, Merlin realises exactly what Arthur is saying, and he grins against the blonde's lips.
"I knew you weren't just giving me the kiss of life"
Arthur lets out a startled laugh and, as he bends down to kiss this crazy, strange young man, he thinks that Merlin might just be the one to save him.
Fin