Fic: Someone to fight for (13/?)
Title: Someone to fight for (13/?)
Rating: NC-17 (just to be on the safe side in future chapter, though nothing too big)
Pairing: Merthur, one-sided Lancelot/Arthur
Warning: Violence in future chapters, adult themes
Summary: Modern AU. When Merlin and his friends return to the institute after the holidays, a new boy has arrived. A shy, misterious blond guy with hidden issues and an easy smile that drives Merlin crazy. Soon Lancelot will show his interest for him, but can Merlin step aside and let his best friend go for who could be the love of Merlin's life? And can Merlin help this boy with whatever seems to be killing him inside? SLASH Merthur, one-sided Lancelot/Arthur
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this (except for the plot) and none of this has really happened (that I know off).
**********
A/N: Okay, before starting, I have to confess I have a little problem. As you know, this story is based on another one I had written earlier. Well, the timing is not the same, obviously, and now it's time for a couple of christmassy chapters that don't really go with our real September... I thought to put the stoy on stand-by until Christmas, but it's really really far away yet and... I don't know, I just decided to go on anyway. I hope you find it okay and enjoyable anyway!
***********************************
CHAPTER 13
The class was over and gone, and Merlin and Arthur hadn’t come back yet, so Lancelot was starting to get slightly worried. He supposed it could only be that Arthur was too ashamed to enter the class again with the same teacher, but... what if it wasn’t that? What if something had happened to Arthur after he had run away? Would Merlin be able to take care of it? And would they both be okay?
At first Lancelot had been surprised at Arthur’s reaction, like everybody else in the classroom. He was sure the teacher had never intended to hit Arthur, but... maybe it had looked different from Arthur’s position. Or maybe Arthur was just a more sensitive person, he didn’t know. What he did know was that the first thing that had come to his mind was he hoped Arthur was okay. Not that he acting strangely, or that he was half crazy, like he would have thought some days ago. Before he had got to know Arthur a bit better, even if it was from a distance, and had seen that he was a very kind-hearted and level-headed person -in spite of these strange reactions he got sometimes. But who was he to judge him? He didn’t know the reason behind those attitudes. But he knew there was a reason. And he hoped Merlin knew them and knew how to help him.
By the looks of it, Merlin was very keen on helping Arthur, that’s for sure. After all, he hadn’t hesitated for even a second and had followed Arthur instantly when he had ran away, his failed exam instantly forgotten. And the worry in his eyes... That’s when Lancelot had realised how strongly Merlin felt for Arthur and cared about him. Like Lancelot hadn’t cared when he had wanted to date Arthur. And suddenly Lancelot didn’t feel any resentment against his best friend. Only understanding. If only Merlin would forgive him...
He was so absorbed in his daydreaming as he walked down the corridor after the class that he almost missed Merlin, standing alone next to the teacher’s room door. He didn’t seem as worried as before, so he guessed things were not that bad with Arthur. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t hurt to ask, Lancelot thought as he sighed loudly to encourage himself.
“Is Arthur okay?” Lancelot asked Merlin, and the latter turned to him in surprise.
“Do you really care? Or you just want more ammunition to prove how much of a weirdo he is?” Merlin answered coldly.
“No, I... I really care” Lancelot responded quietly.
“He’s okay now” Merlin relented after a moment’s hesitation.
“I’ve been thinking about everything that’s happened between us and... I’ve realised how wrong I’ve been acting” Lancelot almost smiled when he saw the surprise on his friend’s face. “I wanted to say sorry. I’ll understand if you or Arthur don’t forgive me, but I just needed to tell you that”
“Wait. Are you been serious?” Merlin asked, and the hope that he was being honest Lancelot saw in his eyes made him trust they could still be alright.
“Yes. You and Arthur are made for each other. It’s so easy to see I don’t know how I couldn’t see it sooner”
“Maybe you were too blinded by anger” Merlin answered, and Lancelot could easily see there was no trace of reproach in his voice.
“Probably”
“You had the right to be angry” Merlin relented, and Lancelot had to smile at his best friend’s big heart.
“But not to punch you”
“What, you mean that little contact in my chin I didn’t even feel?” Merlin joked, and both friends shared a laugh that confirmed any resentment had been left behind.
“I won’t ever again be an obstacle between you and Arthur. I can tell he is very important to you”
“He is” Merlin simply answered, glad he could openly talk about it with his best friend. Gosh, he had missed him!
“Maybe someday he’ll give me a second chance too and forget about all the crap I got him through”
“I don’t think that day will be as far away as you think...” Merlin promised with a fond smile, thinking about Arthur’s big heart and his ability to forgive and forget.
“You think so?” Lancelot asked hopefully.
“I’m sure of it”
“Is it... is everything alright between us?” Lancelot asked, and the fear mingled with hope Merlin could see in Lancelot’s eyes was all the prove he needed to know he had got his friend back.
“Yes” Merlin simply answered, as no more words were needed, and shook hands with Lancelot in a warm gesture.
“So...” Lancelot tried to change the subject before he burst out crying with emotion. “Where’s Arthur now?”
“He... went to apologize with the teacher for... for what happened”
“He shouldn’t. He was on the right”
“Yeah, I know, but he thinks he overreacted and wants to do things right”
“That’s how he is, isn’t he?” Lancelot said, and Merlin was happy to detect some fondness in his voice.
“He sure is” Merlin answered, but before he could say anything else, the door next to Merlin opened and Arthur appeared.
At first Arthur didn’t notice Lancelot standing there, so he just let himself fall in Merlin’s arms, emotionally spent by all that had happened that day, and rested his head in Merlin’s shoulder. Merlin just took the chance to squeeze him strongly to him, willing to offer all his comfort and support, and kissed his forehead.
“How did it go?” Merlin asked him softly, as he slightly rocked both their bodies reassuringly.
“It went very well” Arthur answered, lifting his head to look at Merlin, but not really breaking the embrace. “He almost didn’t let me apologize. He said he was the one who was sorry about the whole incident, and that he was the one being unfair. I explained to him how I’ve been studying hard with you and he is going to give you the mark you deserve”
“What? Really?” Merlin asked, but the sweet smile on Arthur’s lips told him he was not joking.
“Of course really! Once he understood why the difference between this exam and your previous ones, there was no reason for him to fail you!”
Merlin was so happy about the final resolution of it all that he didn’t know how to express it, so he did the only thing his instincts told him and cupped Arthur’s face firmly to bring him to him and captured his lips in a strong kiss that lingered.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” Merlin mumbled against Arthur’s lips once the kiss broke, as they rested their foreheads together.
“Only to your eyes” Arthur joked, and Merlin kissed him again.
“Well, I have a surprise for you too” Merlin told him as he let go of his face to gently pick up his hand and turned around a little to let him see Lancelot, standing right next to them.
“Lancelot?” Arthur asked in surprise, not understanding what he was doing there.
“Hi, Arthur” Lancelot answered with a shy smile, as he noticed the confusion in the other boy’s eyes.
“Does this mean...?” Arthur asked hopefully, looking at Merlin for confirmation, and he nodded in response.
“Yeah, Merlin and I just made up” Lancelot explained, trying to figure out what Arthur felt about that, but Arthur’s eyes didn’t belie any emotion at the moment. “I know now how much of an idiot I’ve been, and he was kind enough not to hold it against me”
“Everything’s okay now” Merlin confirmed it to Arthur, squeezing his hand, but the latter could still not find the right words to say so Lancelot decided to try again.
“Arthur, I will understand if you don’t ever forgive me, ‘cause I was horrible to you, but I wanted to let you know I am deeply aware of how wrong I acted. And that I would love to have you as a friend, if you would still let me”
Lancelot offered his hand shyly at Arthur, hoping against hope he wouldn’t reject it, but knowing he would just have to accept it if it happened. As Merlin’s best friend, it was very important to him to have a good relationship with someone so special to him, but he knew it was a big chance. After all, he had been horrible to Arthur; he had not the right to ask anything out of him.
So it was a big surprise when Arthur, instead of shaking hands with him, just put his arms around him and embraced him strongly, to which Lancelot could only reciprocate, feeling immensely relieved and happy as he hugged Arthur and watched the pride in Merlin’s eyes at the scene. Yes, he liked Arthur for Merlin. And as a friend.
“I would be your friend if only for Merlin’s sake” Arthur told him even before breaking the embrace, “but the truth is I really want to be it, ‘cause now I can see what you’re made of, and I think it’s worth it”
“I’m going to make it worth it, I swear” Lancelot promised as the embrace broke, and Arthur smiled at him.
“I believe you” Arthur told him, and he couldn’t feel happier as Merlin’s arm went around his shoulders in a warm half embrace.
“Hey, Merlin, were you getting jealous, or something?” Lancelot joked as he saw how difficult it was for his best friend to stay away from Arthur for even a second, and he smiled fondly.
“Kinda, to be honest” Merlin joked just before kissing Arthur’s cheek, making him chuckle.
“Well, well, well, what’s happening here?” Gwaine exclaimed when he and Percival reached them and they discovered how different the situation seemed to be from the day before.
“It must be the Christmas spirit” Percival joked as he noticed Arthur and Merlin in a half-embrace, talking animatedly with Lancelot, who didn’t seem to mind about them being together.
“Yeah, that must be it” Lancelot joked back, and even though Percival and Gwaine didn’t know what had happened, suddenly the five of them felt such a peace and a contentment just for being together that they didn’t want the day to end.
“So, what about some pool?” Gwaine suggested, as usual.
“Well... what do you think, bestie?” Merlin joked, turning to Lancelot, and everyone laughed wholeheartedly at the situation.
“That would be great!” Lancelot readily agreed.
**********
“I thought you wanted to play” Lancelot observed, as Gwaine and Percival hadn’t moved from their seats in the pub since they had arrived.
“We will, but first I was going to suggest something” Percival told everyone, eliciting their immediate curiosity.
“And what is it?” Gwaine asked.
“Now that everything seems to be okay again, and that the band still stands... right?” Percival asked hopefully, and both Lancelot and Merlin nodded silently at him. “We could play Secret Santa!”
“Percival, really? Aren’t we a bit too old for this?” Gwaine groaned.
“Come on, it will be great!” Percival insisted, and he was looking so excited about it that none of them had the heart to deny him anything.
“I... I can’t take part in it, I’m sorry” Arthur intervened in a sad whisper, and Merlin immediately understood what was happening and took his hand to squeeze it in support.
“Why not?” Percival asked, deceived his idea was not going to become true.
“I... I don’t have the money to buy anything” he confessed, blushing with embarrassment, and Merlin’s heart went to him as his hand found his way to the small of Arthur’s back.
“How about if we don’t buy anything?” Lancelot offered, also feeling bad for the boy. “How about if we have to make the gifts or give something we already have and that means a lot to us? It looks more meaningful like this, doesn’t it?”
“Oh my God, Lance!” Percival exclaimed excitedly. “That’s the best idea ever!”
“You don’t have to do that, boys” Arthur told them, though extremely grateful at them. “You can play without me”
“And what’s the sense in that? The great thing about Secret Santa is to involve a group of people which are important to each other, isn’t it?” Percival explained, and Arthur suddenly found himself speechless, so grateful he was towards his friends.
“Well, it’s decided then” Merlin intervened, trying to get the light out of his boyfriend to give him some time to compose himself, as he could feel he was quite moved. “Should we write our names so we can see who gets whom?”
And so they did, and soon the five names were spread across the table, and everyone of them picked up one, with the promise no one would know about the others’ until last day of term, when they would give away their gifts after class.
Soon after that, the boys said their goodbyes to the each other and started their way home, as it was getting quite late. As usual, Merlin decided to accompany Arthur home, something the latter would never refuse, and they walked side by side, their hands entwined together, talking about silly things and just enjoying each other’s company.
“So, who did you get for Secret Santa?” Merlin asked nonchalantly after a while.
“Merlin, honey, there’s a reason it’s called Secret Santa” Arthur answered with a smile.
“Yeah, but it’s me. You’re going to tell me, right?”
“No, of course not”
“Hey, now I’m your boyfriend you’re not supposed to have secrets with me”
“I don’t think this applies to that rule”
“Come on, don’t be so spoilsport” Merlin pleaded playfully.
“Me? It’s you who’s trying to ruin the game!” Arthur answered in mocking annoyance.
“How is this ruining it? I’m not going to tell anyone else”
“But you’re not supposed to know yourself”
“I got Percival. See? I told you and nothing happened”
“No! Come on, why did you?” Arthur groaned.
“To show you it’s okay that we know each other’s Secret Santa. So who did you get?”
“I’m serious, I’m not telling you”
“You are really not going to tell me?”
“Of course really!”
“I can’t believe you let me tell you mine and now you’re not telling me yours!” Merlin groaned, stopping in front of Arthur to stop his walking and to look angry, but he was not successful, as Arthur still laughed.
“I didn’t want to know! The only one to blame here is your enormous mouth” Arthur reproached him playfully pointing his finger at Merlin’s face in accusation.
“You love my mouth” Merlin joked, lovingly grabbing Arthur’s finger to hold his hand in his.
“Yeah, I do” Arthur chuckled and then threw his arms around Merlin’s neck and kissed him, just to show him how much he loved his mouth.
“You’re so beautiful” Merlin whispered lovingly as the kiss broke and Arthur chuckled again.
“I’m still not telling you”
“Damn it!” Merlin exclaimed indignantly, and Arthur laughed aloud at his boyfriend’s antics, as his own hand went inside his pocket to subconsciously caress what was lying there: a tiny white paper with Merlin’s name on it.
Previous chapter Next Chapter A / B
Read on FF.net
Read on AO3
Rating: NC-17 (just to be on the safe side in future chapter, though nothing too big)
Pairing: Merthur, one-sided Lancelot/Arthur
Warning: Violence in future chapters, adult themes
Summary: Modern AU. When Merlin and his friends return to the institute after the holidays, a new boy has arrived. A shy, misterious blond guy with hidden issues and an easy smile that drives Merlin crazy. Soon Lancelot will show his interest for him, but can Merlin step aside and let his best friend go for who could be the love of Merlin's life? And can Merlin help this boy with whatever seems to be killing him inside? SLASH Merthur, one-sided Lancelot/Arthur
Disclaimer: I don't own any of this (except for the plot) and none of this has really happened (that I know off).
**********
A/N: Okay, before starting, I have to confess I have a little problem. As you know, this story is based on another one I had written earlier. Well, the timing is not the same, obviously, and now it's time for a couple of christmassy chapters that don't really go with our real September... I thought to put the stoy on stand-by until Christmas, but it's really really far away yet and... I don't know, I just decided to go on anyway. I hope you find it okay and enjoyable anyway!
***********************************
CHAPTER 13
The class was over and gone, and Merlin and Arthur hadn’t come back yet, so Lancelot was starting to get slightly worried. He supposed it could only be that Arthur was too ashamed to enter the class again with the same teacher, but... what if it wasn’t that? What if something had happened to Arthur after he had run away? Would Merlin be able to take care of it? And would they both be okay?
At first Lancelot had been surprised at Arthur’s reaction, like everybody else in the classroom. He was sure the teacher had never intended to hit Arthur, but... maybe it had looked different from Arthur’s position. Or maybe Arthur was just a more sensitive person, he didn’t know. What he did know was that the first thing that had come to his mind was he hoped Arthur was okay. Not that he acting strangely, or that he was half crazy, like he would have thought some days ago. Before he had got to know Arthur a bit better, even if it was from a distance, and had seen that he was a very kind-hearted and level-headed person -in spite of these strange reactions he got sometimes. But who was he to judge him? He didn’t know the reason behind those attitudes. But he knew there was a reason. And he hoped Merlin knew them and knew how to help him.
By the looks of it, Merlin was very keen on helping Arthur, that’s for sure. After all, he hadn’t hesitated for even a second and had followed Arthur instantly when he had ran away, his failed exam instantly forgotten. And the worry in his eyes... That’s when Lancelot had realised how strongly Merlin felt for Arthur and cared about him. Like Lancelot hadn’t cared when he had wanted to date Arthur. And suddenly Lancelot didn’t feel any resentment against his best friend. Only understanding. If only Merlin would forgive him...
He was so absorbed in his daydreaming as he walked down the corridor after the class that he almost missed Merlin, standing alone next to the teacher’s room door. He didn’t seem as worried as before, so he guessed things were not that bad with Arthur. Nevertheless, it wouldn’t hurt to ask, Lancelot thought as he sighed loudly to encourage himself.
“Is Arthur okay?” Lancelot asked Merlin, and the latter turned to him in surprise.
“Do you really care? Or you just want more ammunition to prove how much of a weirdo he is?” Merlin answered coldly.
“No, I... I really care” Lancelot responded quietly.
“He’s okay now” Merlin relented after a moment’s hesitation.
“I’ve been thinking about everything that’s happened between us and... I’ve realised how wrong I’ve been acting” Lancelot almost smiled when he saw the surprise on his friend’s face. “I wanted to say sorry. I’ll understand if you or Arthur don’t forgive me, but I just needed to tell you that”
“Wait. Are you been serious?” Merlin asked, and the hope that he was being honest Lancelot saw in his eyes made him trust they could still be alright.
“Yes. You and Arthur are made for each other. It’s so easy to see I don’t know how I couldn’t see it sooner”
“Maybe you were too blinded by anger” Merlin answered, and Lancelot could easily see there was no trace of reproach in his voice.
“Probably”
“You had the right to be angry” Merlin relented, and Lancelot had to smile at his best friend’s big heart.
“But not to punch you”
“What, you mean that little contact in my chin I didn’t even feel?” Merlin joked, and both friends shared a laugh that confirmed any resentment had been left behind.
“I won’t ever again be an obstacle between you and Arthur. I can tell he is very important to you”
“He is” Merlin simply answered, glad he could openly talk about it with his best friend. Gosh, he had missed him!
“Maybe someday he’ll give me a second chance too and forget about all the crap I got him through”
“I don’t think that day will be as far away as you think...” Merlin promised with a fond smile, thinking about Arthur’s big heart and his ability to forgive and forget.
“You think so?” Lancelot asked hopefully.
“I’m sure of it”
“Is it... is everything alright between us?” Lancelot asked, and the fear mingled with hope Merlin could see in Lancelot’s eyes was all the prove he needed to know he had got his friend back.
“Yes” Merlin simply answered, as no more words were needed, and shook hands with Lancelot in a warm gesture.
“So...” Lancelot tried to change the subject before he burst out crying with emotion. “Where’s Arthur now?”
“He... went to apologize with the teacher for... for what happened”
“He shouldn’t. He was on the right”
“Yeah, I know, but he thinks he overreacted and wants to do things right”
“That’s how he is, isn’t he?” Lancelot said, and Merlin was happy to detect some fondness in his voice.
“He sure is” Merlin answered, but before he could say anything else, the door next to Merlin opened and Arthur appeared.
At first Arthur didn’t notice Lancelot standing there, so he just let himself fall in Merlin’s arms, emotionally spent by all that had happened that day, and rested his head in Merlin’s shoulder. Merlin just took the chance to squeeze him strongly to him, willing to offer all his comfort and support, and kissed his forehead.
“How did it go?” Merlin asked him softly, as he slightly rocked both their bodies reassuringly.
“It went very well” Arthur answered, lifting his head to look at Merlin, but not really breaking the embrace. “He almost didn’t let me apologize. He said he was the one who was sorry about the whole incident, and that he was the one being unfair. I explained to him how I’ve been studying hard with you and he is going to give you the mark you deserve”
“What? Really?” Merlin asked, but the sweet smile on Arthur’s lips told him he was not joking.
“Of course really! Once he understood why the difference between this exam and your previous ones, there was no reason for him to fail you!”
Merlin was so happy about the final resolution of it all that he didn’t know how to express it, so he did the only thing his instincts told him and cupped Arthur’s face firmly to bring him to him and captured his lips in a strong kiss that lingered.
“You’re amazing, you know that?” Merlin mumbled against Arthur’s lips once the kiss broke, as they rested their foreheads together.
“Only to your eyes” Arthur joked, and Merlin kissed him again.
“Well, I have a surprise for you too” Merlin told him as he let go of his face to gently pick up his hand and turned around a little to let him see Lancelot, standing right next to them.
“Lancelot?” Arthur asked in surprise, not understanding what he was doing there.
“Hi, Arthur” Lancelot answered with a shy smile, as he noticed the confusion in the other boy’s eyes.
“Does this mean...?” Arthur asked hopefully, looking at Merlin for confirmation, and he nodded in response.
“Yeah, Merlin and I just made up” Lancelot explained, trying to figure out what Arthur felt about that, but Arthur’s eyes didn’t belie any emotion at the moment. “I know now how much of an idiot I’ve been, and he was kind enough not to hold it against me”
“Everything’s okay now” Merlin confirmed it to Arthur, squeezing his hand, but the latter could still not find the right words to say so Lancelot decided to try again.
“Arthur, I will understand if you don’t ever forgive me, ‘cause I was horrible to you, but I wanted to let you know I am deeply aware of how wrong I acted. And that I would love to have you as a friend, if you would still let me”
Lancelot offered his hand shyly at Arthur, hoping against hope he wouldn’t reject it, but knowing he would just have to accept it if it happened. As Merlin’s best friend, it was very important to him to have a good relationship with someone so special to him, but he knew it was a big chance. After all, he had been horrible to Arthur; he had not the right to ask anything out of him.
So it was a big surprise when Arthur, instead of shaking hands with him, just put his arms around him and embraced him strongly, to which Lancelot could only reciprocate, feeling immensely relieved and happy as he hugged Arthur and watched the pride in Merlin’s eyes at the scene. Yes, he liked Arthur for Merlin. And as a friend.
“I would be your friend if only for Merlin’s sake” Arthur told him even before breaking the embrace, “but the truth is I really want to be it, ‘cause now I can see what you’re made of, and I think it’s worth it”
“I’m going to make it worth it, I swear” Lancelot promised as the embrace broke, and Arthur smiled at him.
“I believe you” Arthur told him, and he couldn’t feel happier as Merlin’s arm went around his shoulders in a warm half embrace.
“Hey, Merlin, were you getting jealous, or something?” Lancelot joked as he saw how difficult it was for his best friend to stay away from Arthur for even a second, and he smiled fondly.
“Kinda, to be honest” Merlin joked just before kissing Arthur’s cheek, making him chuckle.
“Well, well, well, what’s happening here?” Gwaine exclaimed when he and Percival reached them and they discovered how different the situation seemed to be from the day before.
“It must be the Christmas spirit” Percival joked as he noticed Arthur and Merlin in a half-embrace, talking animatedly with Lancelot, who didn’t seem to mind about them being together.
“Yeah, that must be it” Lancelot joked back, and even though Percival and Gwaine didn’t know what had happened, suddenly the five of them felt such a peace and a contentment just for being together that they didn’t want the day to end.
“So, what about some pool?” Gwaine suggested, as usual.
“Well... what do you think, bestie?” Merlin joked, turning to Lancelot, and everyone laughed wholeheartedly at the situation.
“That would be great!” Lancelot readily agreed.
**********
“I thought you wanted to play” Lancelot observed, as Gwaine and Percival hadn’t moved from their seats in the pub since they had arrived.
“We will, but first I was going to suggest something” Percival told everyone, eliciting their immediate curiosity.
“And what is it?” Gwaine asked.
“Now that everything seems to be okay again, and that the band still stands... right?” Percival asked hopefully, and both Lancelot and Merlin nodded silently at him. “We could play Secret Santa!”
“Percival, really? Aren’t we a bit too old for this?” Gwaine groaned.
“Come on, it will be great!” Percival insisted, and he was looking so excited about it that none of them had the heart to deny him anything.
“I... I can’t take part in it, I’m sorry” Arthur intervened in a sad whisper, and Merlin immediately understood what was happening and took his hand to squeeze it in support.
“Why not?” Percival asked, deceived his idea was not going to become true.
“I... I don’t have the money to buy anything” he confessed, blushing with embarrassment, and Merlin’s heart went to him as his hand found his way to the small of Arthur’s back.
“How about if we don’t buy anything?” Lancelot offered, also feeling bad for the boy. “How about if we have to make the gifts or give something we already have and that means a lot to us? It looks more meaningful like this, doesn’t it?”
“Oh my God, Lance!” Percival exclaimed excitedly. “That’s the best idea ever!”
“You don’t have to do that, boys” Arthur told them, though extremely grateful at them. “You can play without me”
“And what’s the sense in that? The great thing about Secret Santa is to involve a group of people which are important to each other, isn’t it?” Percival explained, and Arthur suddenly found himself speechless, so grateful he was towards his friends.
“Well, it’s decided then” Merlin intervened, trying to get the light out of his boyfriend to give him some time to compose himself, as he could feel he was quite moved. “Should we write our names so we can see who gets whom?”
And so they did, and soon the five names were spread across the table, and everyone of them picked up one, with the promise no one would know about the others’ until last day of term, when they would give away their gifts after class.
Soon after that, the boys said their goodbyes to the each other and started their way home, as it was getting quite late. As usual, Merlin decided to accompany Arthur home, something the latter would never refuse, and they walked side by side, their hands entwined together, talking about silly things and just enjoying each other’s company.
“So, who did you get for Secret Santa?” Merlin asked nonchalantly after a while.
“Merlin, honey, there’s a reason it’s called Secret Santa” Arthur answered with a smile.
“Yeah, but it’s me. You’re going to tell me, right?”
“No, of course not”
“Hey, now I’m your boyfriend you’re not supposed to have secrets with me”
“I don’t think this applies to that rule”
“Come on, don’t be so spoilsport” Merlin pleaded playfully.
“Me? It’s you who’s trying to ruin the game!” Arthur answered in mocking annoyance.
“How is this ruining it? I’m not going to tell anyone else”
“But you’re not supposed to know yourself”
“I got Percival. See? I told you and nothing happened”
“No! Come on, why did you?” Arthur groaned.
“To show you it’s okay that we know each other’s Secret Santa. So who did you get?”
“I’m serious, I’m not telling you”
“You are really not going to tell me?”
“Of course really!”
“I can’t believe you let me tell you mine and now you’re not telling me yours!” Merlin groaned, stopping in front of Arthur to stop his walking and to look angry, but he was not successful, as Arthur still laughed.
“I didn’t want to know! The only one to blame here is your enormous mouth” Arthur reproached him playfully pointing his finger at Merlin’s face in accusation.
“You love my mouth” Merlin joked, lovingly grabbing Arthur’s finger to hold his hand in his.
“Yeah, I do” Arthur chuckled and then threw his arms around Merlin’s neck and kissed him, just to show him how much he loved his mouth.
“You’re so beautiful” Merlin whispered lovingly as the kiss broke and Arthur chuckled again.
“I’m still not telling you”
“Damn it!” Merlin exclaimed indignantly, and Arthur laughed aloud at his boyfriend’s antics, as his own hand went inside his pocket to subconsciously caress what was lying there: a tiny white paper with Merlin’s name on it.
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