Hurt (fic) Part 2
Monday was hot, with a blistering wind that dried out your whole body in a matter of minutes. Merlin pulled on shorts, t-shirt and sandals, and went down to the communal hall for breakfast, which was a selection of cereals, porridge, fruit and toast. Merlin ate a bowl of muesli, then grabbed two pieces of toast, and spread them with peanut butter and jam, and sat down to muse quietly with his toast and coffee. It was his first day of classes, and his first lecture started at 9:00am. It would only take about ten minutes to walk to to theatre, which was one of the luxuries of living on campus.
He'd been staring into the distance when Arthur sat down opposite him. Merlin startled out of his reverie, looked at him, blond hair glinting as the sun belted in through the large windows.
"Haven't seen you all weekend," Arthur commented, "Not even here. Where did you disappear to then?"
"Found myself a job on Saturday," Merlin grinned, "I'll be working some evening shifts in the cafe at the Crown Theatre."
"Oh right, how many nights a week?"
Merlin shrugged, "Not sure, maybe two or three. I just need enough to make ends meet, so hopefully not too many nights otherwise I'll have no time left to study."
"Well, that's great Merlin," enthused Arthur, who was actually pleased for him. He knew in the back of his head that somehow this wasn't the way this was supposed to be with Merlin, he was supposed to be trying to seduce him, not befriend him. Maybe his brain, which was working on plans to get Merlin alone with him for the sake of a bet, hadn't informed his heart which pounded a little harder when Merlin smiled at him the way he just had. Arthur nodded towards Merlin's bag, which was stuffed with books, "You're heading off already?"
"About fifteen minutes. Wanna come with me?"
"Yeah, I'll get my bag, I've got three hours of lectures this morning. Monday mornings are going to be a bitch this year."
Arthur took off to his room, and came back with his own loaded backpack, and together they walked out of Marquisette. Parkdale University was the oldest university in the city of Merton, and was a combination of eighteenth century architecture and more recent buildings, some forty years old, some one hundred, as the university had slowly grown. The buildings of more recent times were far less aesthetically pleasing, but were generally more purpose built, and so were where many of the classes would take place.
Arthur glanced at Merlin as they loped side by side, noticing again his graceful gait, his short dark tousled hair, finely drawn eyebrows, the innocent expression in his blue eyes, his beautiful full lips and delicate, prominent cheekbones. Arthur sucked in his breath, realising perhaps for the first time, that he had never met a boy who presented him with such physical beauty before. Arthur had never paid much attention to any other boys looks before, he'd always only, ever been attracted to girls. He had taken Lachlan and Alexander's dare of a bet, mostly because he had assumed that Merlin was gay, and humiliating Merlin by sleeping with him and then exposing it as a stunt, had appealed at that moment to his appetite for revenge for Merlin's perceived slight. Now, Arthur was worried that his own sexuality was maybe not quite as fixed as he believed. Which left him with the conundrum of whether to abandon the bet, payout Lachlan and Alexander (as money had never really been the motivation anyway), or continue as he was, looking to Lachlan and Alexander as if he was still intent on winning the bet, but somehow deliberately wait until a month was over before he seriously made any moves on Merlin.
The first option was actually starting to look like a good one, but Lachlan and Alexander might start to ask some awkward questions. The second option might be more subtle way to bow out of the bet, but would leave open the possibility of being found out. Arthur wondered, how had he managed to get himself in this mess in the first place, starting to fall in love with a guy he was supposed to loath. Arthur found it a little ironic that it was his bet which had forced him to make an effort to get to know Merlin, and now that he had, he wanted to forget he'd ever made the stupid bet in the first place. Arthur remembered how his father, Uther, was always going on about the evils of gambling, and Arthur now had to admit, in this situation, his father would probably have a point.
Merlin looked at Arthur quizzically, "You okay in there?"
Arthur whipped his head up, "Yeah, fine," nodding towards a grey concrete four storey building, "That's the one you're looking for."
"Cool." Merlin started to walk towards it, then span on his heel, "Hey, you wanna meet me at the Student Union for lunch?"
Arthur wondered whether Alexander and Lachlan, not to mention Ryan and Oswald, might be expecting Arthur to hang out with them during their break between classes, but Arthur thought he might be able to come up with some excuse to duck off for half an hour. He'd make something up. "I'll meet you there, my break starts at 12:00."
"Make it 1:00, I've got a tutorial until then." Merlin gave Arthur another one of his smiles that made him feel giddy, and walked away. Arthur was aware, he was becoming uncomfortably involved with Merlin, but thought to himself maybe I can find a way to make this work.
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Lachlan and Alexander were sitting in the lecture theatre, waiting for their first Quantitative Methods lecture, and motioned to Arthur to come over. Arthur had to fake up some of his usual bonhomie, as he climbed up the steps, two at a time, and took his place next to his mates.
"So, saw you having quite the conversation with Merlin this morning. I didn't see any triumphant texts telling me to pay up, so I'm assuming that you didn't manage to get freaky on the weekend." Lachlan's eyebrows were raised, challenging Arthur to deny his summation of the weekend.
"No freakiness has occurred, as yet, but rest assured, you will be on my speed dial the moment I come, Lachlan," Arthur retorted.
Alexander hooted, "Yeah, as long as it's not while you're on your own, Arse-fucker Pendragon, you better damn well call while he's still in your room, so that we can hear that little whiner when he finds out he's been played."
"Oh, my aching sides, how long did it take you to come up with that witty nickname, I think I might get all my belongings personalised with it."
Lachlan punched Arthur in the arm, "Yeah, well, if the shoe fits, Arse.."
Arthur gave Lachlan a shove back, "You want this bet to be off? The deal was don't hassle me or Merlin, right? If you think I'm enjoying this, think again. But I'm hardly going to convince him to sleep with me if I act like a total jerk all the time, am I? I don't know what you guys think seduction is all about, but belting someone on the head and dragging them to your room does not count."
"Touchy, Arthur, just having some fun," Lachlan looked annoyed.
"Yeah, well, I'd rather not have this be the main topic of discussion every single time I see you guys. Find something else to obsess over, will you?"
Alexander jabbed Lachlan in the ribs and whispered, "Someone seems to be getting sensitive about this topic."
Lachlan muttered, "We'll have to keep an eye on Arthur, maybe he's trying to back out or something."
Arthur had pulled out his laptop in preparation for the lecture, and pretended not to hear what they said, all the while thinking "How did I get myself in this mess?"
Arthur left Alexander and Lachlan to themselves after the lectures, stating he wanted to hit the gym before the afternoons tutorials started at 2:00pm. He had an hour before he was meeting Merlin for lunch, so it was actually true that he would be at the gym, just not for the whole time. For a horrible moment, Arthur thought they might join him, but in the end they decided to head back to Marquisette and said they would see him later.
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For the rest of the week, Merlin and Arthur repeated a similar pattern, more or less. They would often meet at breakfast in the dining hall, and agree to meet up again at lunch. As Arthur was studying Commerce and Law, and was in his third year, and Merlin was only in his first year of study for Arts and Law, their likelihood of seeing each other around Parkdale was slim, unless they arranged it in their lunch break.
Merlin was himself surprised at how well he was getting along with Arthur. His first impression had been of a spoilt, everything-given-to-him-on-a-platter brat, and that he would be making every effort to avoid him at Marquisette and Parkdale. Instead, he found himself in company with Arthur most days, and Arthur was gradually getting to know Merlin, as well as his friends. He seemed to get along particularly well with Morgana, Gwaine and Lance, as was friendly to Gwen and Freya.
In the back of his mind, Merlin was still wondering about the suggested date. Arthur hadn't mentioned it again since being out at Indigo, and Merlin was beginning to think that perhaps Arthur did just want a platonic friendship after all, which was fine, that was great, after all, Merlin maybe wouldn't mind asking Freya out, he was already of the opinion that Freya was one of the sweetest girls he'd ever met. Arthur was hot, Merlin had to admit to himself, as well as loud and pathologically needful of the limelight, but really, he was great, fun to be around, always laughing and making Merlin laugh, and if he wanted just friendship, Merlin wouldn't complain about having a friend like him.
It was Saturday morning, and Merlin had ambled into the common lounge, having scrounged a scrappy breakfast five minutes before the breakfast hour ended. He was yawning, tired from two consecutive evening shifts at the Crown Cafe, but pleased with himself, as he hadn't tripped over anyone or broken anything in his first week as a waiter. He saw Arthur lounging back in one of the well worn armchairs, flicking through the newspaper.
"Well, Merlin, good to see you've finally dragged yourself out of bed."
Merlin shrugged, "Only came down really 'cos otherwise I would have missed breakfast. Felt like staying in bed until midday."
"And that would have been a spectacular waste of a day. Instead, you can have my splendid company as you drive my car, under my skilled supervision."
"Your BMW. No! No way! I know I haven't got my full drivers licence, but I'll take lessons, I get my first pay from my job next week..."
"Well, a bit of extra practice certainly won't do you any harm, and I know a fairly good pub in St. Bartholomew's, if you don't wish to just drive aimlessly around. Not that we could drink as such, but you know, lunch, leisurely drive, could make for a more interesting Saturday than the one you've probably got planned."
Merlin arched one eyebrow, "I was planning on getting through a mountain of reading that I need to do for next week, seeing as I've been working the last two nights."
"Oh, c'mon Merlin, it's only your first week, and besides, you can do that tomorrow. I promise, I won't be too critical of your driving, how bad could it be anyway?"
"Yeah, that might be alright if you had a normal car for a student, but you have to be a flashy git and have a BMW coupe. You really wanna see the paintwork dented? Would probably take me working the rest of the year just to pay you back for a scratch."
Arthur huffed, "Oh, relax Merlin. Look, you'd only have to drive for as long as you feel like it. I'm not worried about the car! Honestly!" Arthur was looking at Merlin with what could only be described as puppy dog eyes, and it made Merlin laugh out loud.
"Oh, for pity's sake, okay. When?"
Arthur leaped up and was on his feet immediately, "Now, of course."
Thirty minutes into driving Arthur's car around the streets of Merton, Merlin felt like a wrung-out rag. "You need to indicate, to get into that lane. Yep, left here." Arthur's instructions were mostly delivered calmly, although occasionally his voice would go up when he thought Merlin was getting too close to other cars. Merlin really wanted to stop, pull over, but thought he should at least try to pretend he was coping better than this. They were thankfully coming a bit closer to their apparent destination, some pub called The Yellow Bridge after a local landmark. Arthur directed Merlin to pull over, Merlin checked to ensure if was safe, and pulled over.
They were both ready to stretch their legs, in the end, Merlin had driven for almost an hour, and they still had a little way to go before they'd be near the pub. Merlin wandered over to a lookout situated by the side of the road. It was placed there, so that tourists could stop and enjoy the view of the spectacular scenery, all postcard perfect hills and green meadows. It was very pretty, and peaceful. Arthur came and leaned in next to Merlin, "Now, you can't tell me that this wasn't worth a bit of driving out of town to see."
Merlin suddenly felt shy, having Arthur right at his side, so he kept looking ahead, and nodded. When Arthur slid his arm around Merlin's waist, Merlin reflexively looked at Arthur, who was staring at Merlin with a lovelorn expression. Their eyes met for a second, before Arthur closed the gap, and kissed Merlin briefly but tenderly. Merlin stood still after the kiss, registering in his mind what had just transpired, and then inclined his face towards Arthur, catching his lips in a reciprocating touch. Arthur tightened his hold on Merlin, and gradually they deepened the kiss together, Merlin parting his lips slightly and Arthur accepting his invitation. Their tongues slid together, undulating, building tension and desire with each movement. Arthur curled his fingers into Merlin's dark hair, rubbing around his scalp in large circles, pulling Merlin's face and mouth closer towards his own. Merlin explored Arthur's arms, feeling the tensed muscles, and the smooth cotton of his t-shirt. They held tightly to each other, Merlin almost swaying but being held up by Arthur against the lookout railing, Arthur gradually working himself closer, Merlin's legs parting to allow him closer body contact. When Merlin briefly felt Arthur's erection pressed into him, an involuntary shudder traversed his body.
Pausing for breath, Merlin leaned his forehead against Arthur's, and pressed his palms lightly to Arthur's firm chest. Arthur stroked Merlin's hair where it curled slightly behind his ears. "You're so...pretty," breathed Arthur, almost reluctantly, "I shouldn't be doing this, but you're so adorable, I can't stop myself." Arthur laughed as he listened to himself.
"Why should you have to stop, I don't want you to," whispered Merlin.
Arthur started to feel a slight roiling in his gut, a voice in his consciousness reminding him of his idiotic wager with those half-wits he'd been calling his friends for the last eight years. Still, he couldn't let on to Merlin that this was what he was thinking about, he'd have to figure out a way to deal with it later. He grabbed Merlin's hand, and Merlin almost toppled over as he was hauled back to the car by Arthur. "C'mon, I'm taking you out to lunch, remember?"
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Merlin met Morgana and Gwaine in Parkdale's main library, to catch up on some already overdue reading. Both of the degrees he was taking would require extensive reading, mainly case law and legislation for the Law degree, and a lot of reading for his Sociology and Politics lectures, not to mention two novels for the second English lecture. He would not be able to afford the time for too many diversions.
It would seem Morgana had not got Merlin's memo that today was a day for serious study.
"So, Emrys, how's it going with your lovely Arthur bloke, you two official yet?"
"Errr, we're friends, do you need official, like, paperwork for that?"
"Friends?" Morgana's eyebrows were raised so high, they nearly disappeared into her hairline. "With the way that Arthur makes moony eyes at you, and you're always stealing little glances at him, don't think I haven't noticed."
Gwaine chipped in, "You've got to admit Merlin, he's interested in more than just being friends, I mean, why else would he hang out with us nearly every chance he gets, when he's got his own mates?"
"Yeah, well, if you talked to his mates for more than five minutes, you wouldn't blame Arthur for wanting to make some new friends, seriously. You guys don't live with 'em, I see Lachlan and Alexander nearly every day, whether I want to or not, and trust me, they are the definition of obnoxious. Which is weird, 'cos Arthur is actually really cool to just, you know, hang out with, but he's mates with them."
"Maybe you're rubbing off on him, Merlin," Morgana grinned, "I mean, influencing his personality for the better."
Merlin pointed to the three casebooks, two textbooks and two novels he had directly in front of him, "This is what I'm here in the library for, not for an interrogation about Arthur. I've got about twenty cases to read, plus the text books..."
"Relax, mate, we'll split the cases between us, and we can summarise for each other the Ratio Decidendi and the Obiter dictum if it seems important and then you've only got to get through a third as much. Work smarter, not harder." Gwaine then proceeded to underline on their course outlines which cases each would read and write a written summary for, underlining Gwaine's in red, Morgana's in green and Merlin's in purple.
"Hmm," Merlin was mollified, "I guess that makes more sense than trying to read it all on your own."
"Hello, I have two parents who are lawyers, I do know something about how to tackle this Law Degree. Stick with us, Merlin, and you'll have High Distinction all over your transcript." Gwaine reached over, and gave Merlin a shoulder hug, and ruffled his hair for good measure. Merlin swatted him away with a good nature, and opened up his Contracts casebook, "Lets get the worst over first, yeah?"
Morgana relented, but Merlin just knew, she would be on his case again until he told her every detail. Not that there was that much to tell, Merlin thought, one quasi-date, and one definitely not quasi kiss. Still, he was reluctant to spill the beans until he knew where this thing was going. Who knows, maybe the kiss had been a one-off.