Oh Summer Days: Part Four
Title: Oh Summer Days
Chapter Four: Denial of the Unexpected
Author: Krillitanestorm
Summary: Modern AU: Merlin finds himself enrolled in the Camelot Summer Camp program. At first he believes it to be the worst summer of his life, but as the days progress he slowly finds himself wishing this summer would never end. Merlin/Arthur Slash
Rating: T
Warnings: Slash. In other words male/male. Besides that, there's nothing.
A/N: None really, besides that I'm tired and bored... Oh, and very happy that so many of you are enjoying this fic! I've updated the next three chapters if you're interested. =)
Denial of the Unexpected
“That’s no fair!” Merlin exclaimed as he swum away from Arthur, who had just splashed him in the face with water.
The day was scorching by now, only a few people had decided to go for a swim in the lake, everyone else appeared to have either gone inside out of the sunlight, or were resting under the trees.
“Toughen up then,” Arthur replied back, swimming after him at an incredibly fast rate, but not fast enough to outswim Merlin.
Before long, Merlin was a good twenty meters away from Arthur, who had now given up and looked slightly out of breath. Obviously swimming just wasn’t his thing; either that or he was trying to lure Merlin towards him so the prat could splash him again.
“Do you give up?” Merlin yelled out across the water, there was a slight pause before he saw Arthur nod his head. Taking a deep breath, Merlin swum back towards Arthur who hadn’t really moved an inch, instead he seemed to be concentrating on him instead.
Just as reached in front of Arthur, the blonde disappeared below the murky water. For a moment Merlin feared the worst, thinking that Arthur had drowned. Somewhere beneath him, Merlin felt something brush past his leg, before he knew what was going on, he was being pulled underwater by his foot.
For a moment Merlin didn’t know what was going on, but the moment he reached the surface again, Arthur was directly in front of him, only inches away from his face.
“I never give up,” Arthur pointed out with a chuckle as the corner of his lips curved upwards. Topless and in very close proximity, Merlin had a urge to kiss Arthur right then, but what good would it do? It was just another one of those pointless crushes that would get him nowhere. To this day, Merlin had never kissed, let along been kissed, by anyone.
“You’re such a prat,” Merlin replied with a smug grin, moving away so that Arthur wouldn’t notice him blushing. Lying on his back, Merlin began floating on the water as he watched the clouds pass by above.
“Do you have a problem with that?” Arthur asked as he began treading water, looking vaguely disappointed that Merlin had now moved away.
“No... not really,” Merlin blushed slightly before looking back to the edge of the lake. Nimueh and Valiant were sitting beneath a group of trees, but they were also talking to the girl named Freya. It wasn’t a comforting sight as she looked utterly scared, and Merlin didn’t blame her in the slightest. Whatever they were doing, let along saying to her, Merlin was not goign to get involved in the matter.
“What’s the matter?” Arthur asked looking in the direction Merlin was.
“Nothing,” he said splashing Arthur directly in the face before lunging towards the blonde, and began tickling him.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Arthur said laughing hysterically; it seemed the he was ticklish, and Merlin took quick note of it so he could use it against Arthur on a later date.
“Oh well, be it on my own head,” Merlin continued tickling Arthur, but stopped when he managed to spin Merlin around in the water, wrapping his arms around his waist, pulling him closer until Arthur’s chest was pressed up against his back.
“Believe me, it will be when I’m through with you,” he whispered into Merlin’s ear, and immediately began tickling him back.
“Stop it!” Merlin yelped trying to push Arthur off of him, but the prat was strong, he had one hand was secured tightly around his waist, while the other one was moving all over his body looking for the most sensitive spot to tickle.
“Then say you’re sorry,” Arthur demanded, continuing his excruciating methods of torture, forcing him to apologize.
“Never!” Merlin laughed, almost slipping underneath the murky water when he stopped to breath.
“Well in that case...” Arthur resumed his tickle torture until Merlin felt like he was hyperventilating.
“Okay!” Merlin giggled and apologized, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Instantly, Arthur released his grip on him.
“Good,” Arthur splashed Merlin one last time. “Anyway, I’m going to go have a shower and get dried off, they’ll be serving dinner in an hour or so.”
“See you later then,” Merlin said, feeling his insides flutter as Arthur smiled briefly before swimming back to shore.
Once Arthur was well out of sight, Merlin decided to swim back to shore also. Picking up his towel he’d left there earlier, began drying himself down so he was no longer damp. Even though Arthur was long gone by now, he could still feel where Arthur’s hand had been around his waist.
With the wet towel around his shoulders, Merlin walked back to Cabin Four and got changed quickly. Wearing only a pair of shorts and a light blue shirt, he began searching around for a phone to use so he could call his mother, eventually he found one in the administration building; a small wooden lodge, which had photo’s of all the previous children that had attended the camp plastered across the walls. On the far left wall, Merlin spotted a younger version of Hunith in an old black and white photograph.
Picking up the phone and dialling his home number, he waited patiently as the monotonous ringing noise continued on a loop until there was a light click and his mother’s voice filled his ear.
“Hello?”
“It’s Merlin,” he said excitedly, it felt so good to hear his mother’s calm voice again.
“Well it’s about time you called,” she said as if she was disappointed, but quickly change it into a chuckle. “How are you, sweetie? I hope you’re having a good time.”
“Surprisingly enough... I am,” Merlin stated, even he was bewildered with how much fun he had been having.
“I told you!” Hunith replied knowingly.
“Yeah, I know mum,” Merlin couldn’t help but roll his eyes as she continued talking.
“Have you made any new friends?”
“A few,” Merlin couldn’t help but smile as he thought of Arthur, not to mention the friendship they’d seemed to develop over the last two days. Even if Arthur didn’t love him back, just being friends with the prat was good enough.
“I’m so happy for you darling,” Hunith said sounding extremely happy for her son. “What are their names?”
“Well, there’s this girl Morgana, she was the first one to speak to me when I arrived. Her and Gwen seem to be getting along like best friends, although I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” Merlin frowned before continuing. “And then there’s her stepbrother, Arthur, who I’m sharing a cabin with. He’s a bit of a prat, but underneath he’s a really great guy, you’d like him mum.”
“They sound lovely. Perhaps when summer camps over, you could invite them over for dinner one night.”
“Anyway, I should probably get going, dinner will be getting served soon, and I don’t want to be late. I’ll call again in a few days.”
“Okay darling, I’m so glad you’re having a great time. Just make sure you look after yourself,” Hunith said softly.
“Love you.”
“I love you too,” Hunith responded as she hung up the phone on the other end, filling Merlin’s ear with the crackling of the disconnected line.
*
Dinner was much more pleasant tonight; they were having spaghetti bolognaise which happened to be one of Merlin’s favourite dishes.
“I see you’re enjoying yourself,” Arthur stated, who had decided to sit next to him, while Gwen sat next to Morgana on the other end of the table.
“What do you mean?” he asked, forgetting that his mouth was full of food, because when he spoke, tiny bits of spaghetti went flying into the air and onto Arthur’s face.
Merlin grimaced as Arthur slowly reached up to his face, pulling away a strand of spaghetti that had landed neatly just below his left eye.
“You really are an idiot,” Arthur declared, rolling his eyes at him.
“I can’t help it,” Merlin replied, feeling slightly embarrassed when Arthur seemed to stare at him for too long. Was there something on his face? Immediately he reached for a napkin and wiped around his mouth, where bolognaise sauce had coated his lips. Screwing up the napkin into the ball, Merlin placed in on the table in front of him.
“You missed a bit,” Arthur pointed out before placing a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth.
“Where?” Merlin asked, crossing his eyes so he could see where he’d missed.
“On the bottom of your chin,” Arthur replied, eating some more of his food. Merlin grabbed another napkin hastily and down wiped his chin.
“Did I get it?”
Arthur glanced over, and rolled his eyes before grabbing the napkin out of his hand.
“You really are hopeless, Merlin,” Arthur softly pressed the napkin up to his chin, wiping away the bolognaise sauce that he’d missed.
“Thanks,” Merlin said quietly as Arthur scrunched up the used piece of material, throwing it into the pile that was now beginning to build up in front of him.
Looking down the table, Merlin began to wonder what in the world the girls could be talking about. Ever since Morgana wanted to talk to her privately earlier in the day, not once had either of them talked to him or Arthur.
Standing up, Merlin and Arthur both gave their plates to the kitchen staff, and walked out of the building, heading down the dirt path towards Cabin Four to turn in for the night.
“Wait up!” called Gwen who had left Morgana alone in the dining hall, and was now running to catch up with the two of them.
“Slow down, one day you’re going to trip and break a leg,” Merlin commented as Gwen finally caught up, slightly panting, but not as much as Merlin had expected. To his side, Arthur looked at Gwen for a second before speaking.
“I’ll let you two talk then, “Arthur said turning away, “I’m going to head back to the cabin and get some sleep. Goodnight,” and with that, Arthur walked down the dirt path, leaving Merlin alone with Gwen.
“What do you want?” Merlin asked Gwen confused, as he rubbed the back of his neck subconsciously.
“I need to ask you a question. You don’t have to tell me, though it would be nice if you did. What I’m trying to say is, do you like Arthur?”
For a moment Merlin wasn’t sure if he was hearing correctly, she couldn’t have just asked if he liked Arthur, surely... Oh god, she did! If she was going to ask, why couldn’t she have been subtle about it instead of saying it so bluntly? He tried to form some rational answer to her question, but Merlin drew a blank, all he could do stare and wonder if he just misunderstood what she said.
“You do!” Gwen exclaimed after Merlin refused to respond.
“Please don’t tell him...” Merlin begged quietly, realising that he hadn’t misunderstood her.
“That is so cute,” Gwen’s tone was all happy and musical, even empathizing on the cute, causing Merlin to feel even more uncomfortable than he already was.
“How did you know?” he asked, kicking dirt up into the summer night air with his feet.
“It was a guess really...” Gwen admitted, and Merlin’s jaw dropped. “But now that you’ve proved my theory, when are you going to tell Arthur?”
“Don’t be stupid, Gwen,” he snorted, trying to figure out why she would want him to do such an idiotic thing. “Not even the gods could force me to tell Arthur how I feel about him, and even if they could, I’d most likely end up being punched in the face, if I’m lucky that is...”
“Merlin Emrys, you can be such an idiot sometimes,” Gwen snapped in annoyance, which was very unlike her, she was always the gentle type, but right now she looked positively angry. “Haven’t you noticed by now how Arthur looks at you?”
“Yes Bu-“
“Have you not once wondered why he seems to care about you so much?”
“What do you mean?” Merlin asked as he finally managed to get a word in edgewise.
“What I mean is, Arthur likes you as well...”
There was a slight pause before Merlin began laughing hysterically. Arthur liked him as well? Yeah right, this was probably the funniest thing Merlin had heard for a long time.
“It’s the truth Merlin. Why do you think Morgana’s been talking to me all day? Arthur wasn’t sure if you were gay or not, so he asked Morgana to find out for him. He really does like you Merlin, believe me...”
“Stop it,” Merlin whispered somewhere between tears and anger. “I realise how much you care about me Gwen, but messing with my feelings is just cruel. You know as much as I do that no one really loves me, except you and my mother. If this is just your way of trying to make me feel better, then you can stop,” Merlin tried to walk away, but Gwen placed her hand gently onto his shoulder.
“Merlin, If I wasn’t your friend I’d have slap you by now. Just please, hear me out. Whether you believe me or not, the fact still stands that Arthur really does care about you. So for once in your life, don’t just stand there and let a chance like this slip through your fingers, because who knows when you’ll ever get another chance,” Gwen let go of his shoulder, and suddenly Merlin saw everything in a new light, but didn’t want to believe it for a second.
“I need to go,” Merlin said as he backed away slowly.
“Just do something about it soon, otherwise me and Morgana will,” Gwen called out as Merlin walked faster away from the chocolate skinned girl.
As he saw Cabin Four materializing into view from behind the trees, Merlin began recalling what Gwen had said. Was she really telling the truth? Did Arthur really love him as well? It made some sense in a way, the lake, how he stood up to Valiant, everything seemed to fit together so well.
The lights inside the cabin were turned off, which probably meant Arthur was already in bed asleep. Instead of actually going inside, Merlin found himself standing in front of the door paralysed. He commanded himself to grab the handle so he could go inside, but his hands weren’t obeying, instead they hung down his sides rigidly.
Taking a deep breath, Merlin entered the dark room, closing the door silently behind him.
“Arthur?” Merlin whispered as he made his way to the bed. Through the darkness, Merlin could see the blonde sleeping soundly on the top bunk, his messy hair covering his face.
Climbing up the ladder, Merlin felt as if a thousand butterflies were fluttering their wings inside his stomach. Sitting at the very edge of the bed, legs dangling down the ladder, Merlin began talking softly.
“I know you can’t hear me, which is probably a good thing, because if you could then I’d be a stuttering mess right about now. So here I am, talking to you while you’re asleep, confessing my feelings to you, just like Gwen wanted me to. Apparently you like me, although I don’t see why you would. I’m skinny, I’m annoying not to mention a complete idiot, which you have been very kind to point out for me,” Merlin suddenly began to feel better now that he could get everything off his chest without Arthur realising it.
“I’ve never really felt this way before, so it’s a bit hard to explain but I’ll do my best. You make me smile, not to mention feel wanted. Never in my life did I expect to meet someone like you, not once. You’re kind, you were there when I needed you, and on top of that, you’re absolutely beautiful,” Merlin frowned, he had only just realised how much he sounded like a girl right now.
“What I’m trying to say is... I love you Arthur, my knight in shining armour. Now that I’ve finally got that out in the open, hopefully I can get a good night sleep,” Merlin made his way down the ladder and onto the floor, where he quickly stripped himself of his clothes and laid down on his bed.
“Goodnight Arthur,” Merlin whispered as slowly entered the realm of dreams.
To be continued...
Next Chapter
Chapter Four: Denial of the Unexpected
Author: Krillitanestorm
Summary: Modern AU: Merlin finds himself enrolled in the Camelot Summer Camp program. At first he believes it to be the worst summer of his life, but as the days progress he slowly finds himself wishing this summer would never end. Merlin/Arthur Slash
Rating: T
Warnings: Slash. In other words male/male. Besides that, there's nothing.
A/N: None really, besides that I'm tired and bored... Oh, and very happy that so many of you are enjoying this fic! I've updated the next three chapters if you're interested. =)
Denial of the Unexpected
“That’s no fair!” Merlin exclaimed as he swum away from Arthur, who had just splashed him in the face with water.
The day was scorching by now, only a few people had decided to go for a swim in the lake, everyone else appeared to have either gone inside out of the sunlight, or were resting under the trees.
“Toughen up then,” Arthur replied back, swimming after him at an incredibly fast rate, but not fast enough to outswim Merlin.
Before long, Merlin was a good twenty meters away from Arthur, who had now given up and looked slightly out of breath. Obviously swimming just wasn’t his thing; either that or he was trying to lure Merlin towards him so the prat could splash him again.
“Do you give up?” Merlin yelled out across the water, there was a slight pause before he saw Arthur nod his head. Taking a deep breath, Merlin swum back towards Arthur who hadn’t really moved an inch, instead he seemed to be concentrating on him instead.
Just as reached in front of Arthur, the blonde disappeared below the murky water. For a moment Merlin feared the worst, thinking that Arthur had drowned. Somewhere beneath him, Merlin felt something brush past his leg, before he knew what was going on, he was being pulled underwater by his foot.
For a moment Merlin didn’t know what was going on, but the moment he reached the surface again, Arthur was directly in front of him, only inches away from his face.
“I never give up,” Arthur pointed out with a chuckle as the corner of his lips curved upwards. Topless and in very close proximity, Merlin had a urge to kiss Arthur right then, but what good would it do? It was just another one of those pointless crushes that would get him nowhere. To this day, Merlin had never kissed, let along been kissed, by anyone.
“You’re such a prat,” Merlin replied with a smug grin, moving away so that Arthur wouldn’t notice him blushing. Lying on his back, Merlin began floating on the water as he watched the clouds pass by above.
“Do you have a problem with that?” Arthur asked as he began treading water, looking vaguely disappointed that Merlin had now moved away.
“No... not really,” Merlin blushed slightly before looking back to the edge of the lake. Nimueh and Valiant were sitting beneath a group of trees, but they were also talking to the girl named Freya. It wasn’t a comforting sight as she looked utterly scared, and Merlin didn’t blame her in the slightest. Whatever they were doing, let along saying to her, Merlin was not goign to get involved in the matter.
“What’s the matter?” Arthur asked looking in the direction Merlin was.
“Nothing,” he said splashing Arthur directly in the face before lunging towards the blonde, and began tickling him.
“You shouldn’t have done that,” Arthur said laughing hysterically; it seemed the he was ticklish, and Merlin took quick note of it so he could use it against Arthur on a later date.
“Oh well, be it on my own head,” Merlin continued tickling Arthur, but stopped when he managed to spin Merlin around in the water, wrapping his arms around his waist, pulling him closer until Arthur’s chest was pressed up against his back.
“Believe me, it will be when I’m through with you,” he whispered into Merlin’s ear, and immediately began tickling him back.
“Stop it!” Merlin yelped trying to push Arthur off of him, but the prat was strong, he had one hand was secured tightly around his waist, while the other one was moving all over his body looking for the most sensitive spot to tickle.
“Then say you’re sorry,” Arthur demanded, continuing his excruciating methods of torture, forcing him to apologize.
“Never!” Merlin laughed, almost slipping underneath the murky water when he stopped to breath.
“Well in that case...” Arthur resumed his tickle torture until Merlin felt like he was hyperventilating.
“Okay!” Merlin giggled and apologized, “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Instantly, Arthur released his grip on him.
“Good,” Arthur splashed Merlin one last time. “Anyway, I’m going to go have a shower and get dried off, they’ll be serving dinner in an hour or so.”
“See you later then,” Merlin said, feeling his insides flutter as Arthur smiled briefly before swimming back to shore.
Once Arthur was well out of sight, Merlin decided to swim back to shore also. Picking up his towel he’d left there earlier, began drying himself down so he was no longer damp. Even though Arthur was long gone by now, he could still feel where Arthur’s hand had been around his waist.
With the wet towel around his shoulders, Merlin walked back to Cabin Four and got changed quickly. Wearing only a pair of shorts and a light blue shirt, he began searching around for a phone to use so he could call his mother, eventually he found one in the administration building; a small wooden lodge, which had photo’s of all the previous children that had attended the camp plastered across the walls. On the far left wall, Merlin spotted a younger version of Hunith in an old black and white photograph.
Picking up the phone and dialling his home number, he waited patiently as the monotonous ringing noise continued on a loop until there was a light click and his mother’s voice filled his ear.
“Hello?”
“It’s Merlin,” he said excitedly, it felt so good to hear his mother’s calm voice again.
“Well it’s about time you called,” she said as if she was disappointed, but quickly change it into a chuckle. “How are you, sweetie? I hope you’re having a good time.”
“Surprisingly enough... I am,” Merlin stated, even he was bewildered with how much fun he had been having.
“I told you!” Hunith replied knowingly.
“Yeah, I know mum,” Merlin couldn’t help but roll his eyes as she continued talking.
“Have you made any new friends?”
“A few,” Merlin couldn’t help but smile as he thought of Arthur, not to mention the friendship they’d seemed to develop over the last two days. Even if Arthur didn’t love him back, just being friends with the prat was good enough.
“I’m so happy for you darling,” Hunith said sounding extremely happy for her son. “What are their names?”
“Well, there’s this girl Morgana, she was the first one to speak to me when I arrived. Her and Gwen seem to be getting along like best friends, although I wouldn’t want to get on her bad side,” Merlin frowned before continuing. “And then there’s her stepbrother, Arthur, who I’m sharing a cabin with. He’s a bit of a prat, but underneath he’s a really great guy, you’d like him mum.”
“They sound lovely. Perhaps when summer camps over, you could invite them over for dinner one night.”
“Anyway, I should probably get going, dinner will be getting served soon, and I don’t want to be late. I’ll call again in a few days.”
“Okay darling, I’m so glad you’re having a great time. Just make sure you look after yourself,” Hunith said softly.
“Love you.”
“I love you too,” Hunith responded as she hung up the phone on the other end, filling Merlin’s ear with the crackling of the disconnected line.
*
Dinner was much more pleasant tonight; they were having spaghetti bolognaise which happened to be one of Merlin’s favourite dishes.
“I see you’re enjoying yourself,” Arthur stated, who had decided to sit next to him, while Gwen sat next to Morgana on the other end of the table.
“What do you mean?” he asked, forgetting that his mouth was full of food, because when he spoke, tiny bits of spaghetti went flying into the air and onto Arthur’s face.
Merlin grimaced as Arthur slowly reached up to his face, pulling away a strand of spaghetti that had landed neatly just below his left eye.
“You really are an idiot,” Arthur declared, rolling his eyes at him.
“I can’t help it,” Merlin replied, feeling slightly embarrassed when Arthur seemed to stare at him for too long. Was there something on his face? Immediately he reached for a napkin and wiped around his mouth, where bolognaise sauce had coated his lips. Screwing up the napkin into the ball, Merlin placed in on the table in front of him.
“You missed a bit,” Arthur pointed out before placing a forkful of spaghetti in his mouth.
“Where?” Merlin asked, crossing his eyes so he could see where he’d missed.
“On the bottom of your chin,” Arthur replied, eating some more of his food. Merlin grabbed another napkin hastily and down wiped his chin.
“Did I get it?”
Arthur glanced over, and rolled his eyes before grabbing the napkin out of his hand.
“You really are hopeless, Merlin,” Arthur softly pressed the napkin up to his chin, wiping away the bolognaise sauce that he’d missed.
“Thanks,” Merlin said quietly as Arthur scrunched up the used piece of material, throwing it into the pile that was now beginning to build up in front of him.
Looking down the table, Merlin began to wonder what in the world the girls could be talking about. Ever since Morgana wanted to talk to her privately earlier in the day, not once had either of them talked to him or Arthur.
Standing up, Merlin and Arthur both gave their plates to the kitchen staff, and walked out of the building, heading down the dirt path towards Cabin Four to turn in for the night.
“Wait up!” called Gwen who had left Morgana alone in the dining hall, and was now running to catch up with the two of them.
“Slow down, one day you’re going to trip and break a leg,” Merlin commented as Gwen finally caught up, slightly panting, but not as much as Merlin had expected. To his side, Arthur looked at Gwen for a second before speaking.
“I’ll let you two talk then, “Arthur said turning away, “I’m going to head back to the cabin and get some sleep. Goodnight,” and with that, Arthur walked down the dirt path, leaving Merlin alone with Gwen.
“What do you want?” Merlin asked Gwen confused, as he rubbed the back of his neck subconsciously.
“I need to ask you a question. You don’t have to tell me, though it would be nice if you did. What I’m trying to say is, do you like Arthur?”
For a moment Merlin wasn’t sure if he was hearing correctly, she couldn’t have just asked if he liked Arthur, surely... Oh god, she did! If she was going to ask, why couldn’t she have been subtle about it instead of saying it so bluntly? He tried to form some rational answer to her question, but Merlin drew a blank, all he could do stare and wonder if he just misunderstood what she said.
“You do!” Gwen exclaimed after Merlin refused to respond.
“Please don’t tell him...” Merlin begged quietly, realising that he hadn’t misunderstood her.
“That is so cute,” Gwen’s tone was all happy and musical, even empathizing on the cute, causing Merlin to feel even more uncomfortable than he already was.
“How did you know?” he asked, kicking dirt up into the summer night air with his feet.
“It was a guess really...” Gwen admitted, and Merlin’s jaw dropped. “But now that you’ve proved my theory, when are you going to tell Arthur?”
“Don’t be stupid, Gwen,” he snorted, trying to figure out why she would want him to do such an idiotic thing. “Not even the gods could force me to tell Arthur how I feel about him, and even if they could, I’d most likely end up being punched in the face, if I’m lucky that is...”
“Merlin Emrys, you can be such an idiot sometimes,” Gwen snapped in annoyance, which was very unlike her, she was always the gentle type, but right now she looked positively angry. “Haven’t you noticed by now how Arthur looks at you?”
“Yes Bu-“
“Have you not once wondered why he seems to care about you so much?”
“What do you mean?” Merlin asked as he finally managed to get a word in edgewise.
“What I mean is, Arthur likes you as well...”
There was a slight pause before Merlin began laughing hysterically. Arthur liked him as well? Yeah right, this was probably the funniest thing Merlin had heard for a long time.
“It’s the truth Merlin. Why do you think Morgana’s been talking to me all day? Arthur wasn’t sure if you were gay or not, so he asked Morgana to find out for him. He really does like you Merlin, believe me...”
“Stop it,” Merlin whispered somewhere between tears and anger. “I realise how much you care about me Gwen, but messing with my feelings is just cruel. You know as much as I do that no one really loves me, except you and my mother. If this is just your way of trying to make me feel better, then you can stop,” Merlin tried to walk away, but Gwen placed her hand gently onto his shoulder.
“Merlin, If I wasn’t your friend I’d have slap you by now. Just please, hear me out. Whether you believe me or not, the fact still stands that Arthur really does care about you. So for once in your life, don’t just stand there and let a chance like this slip through your fingers, because who knows when you’ll ever get another chance,” Gwen let go of his shoulder, and suddenly Merlin saw everything in a new light, but didn’t want to believe it for a second.
“I need to go,” Merlin said as he backed away slowly.
“Just do something about it soon, otherwise me and Morgana will,” Gwen called out as Merlin walked faster away from the chocolate skinned girl.
As he saw Cabin Four materializing into view from behind the trees, Merlin began recalling what Gwen had said. Was she really telling the truth? Did Arthur really love him as well? It made some sense in a way, the lake, how he stood up to Valiant, everything seemed to fit together so well.
The lights inside the cabin were turned off, which probably meant Arthur was already in bed asleep. Instead of actually going inside, Merlin found himself standing in front of the door paralysed. He commanded himself to grab the handle so he could go inside, but his hands weren’t obeying, instead they hung down his sides rigidly.
Taking a deep breath, Merlin entered the dark room, closing the door silently behind him.
“Arthur?” Merlin whispered as he made his way to the bed. Through the darkness, Merlin could see the blonde sleeping soundly on the top bunk, his messy hair covering his face.
Climbing up the ladder, Merlin felt as if a thousand butterflies were fluttering their wings inside his stomach. Sitting at the very edge of the bed, legs dangling down the ladder, Merlin began talking softly.
“I know you can’t hear me, which is probably a good thing, because if you could then I’d be a stuttering mess right about now. So here I am, talking to you while you’re asleep, confessing my feelings to you, just like Gwen wanted me to. Apparently you like me, although I don’t see why you would. I’m skinny, I’m annoying not to mention a complete idiot, which you have been very kind to point out for me,” Merlin suddenly began to feel better now that he could get everything off his chest without Arthur realising it.
“I’ve never really felt this way before, so it’s a bit hard to explain but I’ll do my best. You make me smile, not to mention feel wanted. Never in my life did I expect to meet someone like you, not once. You’re kind, you were there when I needed you, and on top of that, you’re absolutely beautiful,” Merlin frowned, he had only just realised how much he sounded like a girl right now.
“What I’m trying to say is... I love you Arthur, my knight in shining armour. Now that I’ve finally got that out in the open, hopefully I can get a good night sleep,” Merlin made his way down the ladder and onto the floor, where he quickly stripped himself of his clothes and laid down on his bed.
“Goodnight Arthur,” Merlin whispered as slowly entered the realm of dreams.
To be continued...
Next Chapter