SIXTEEN CANDLES: Part 2
TITLE: Sixteen Candles
AUTHOR: thecheekydragon
PAIRINGS: Merlin/Arthur, Morgana/Leon, Gwaine/Elena, hints of Gwen/Lancelot
GENRE: High School AU
RATING: PG
PROMPT: Film: Sixteen Candles
WORD COUNT: ~13k
SUMMARY: Merlin could forgive his family for forgetting his sixteenth birthday so long as he could get his one true wish - that the boy of his fantasies, Arthur Pendragon, fall deeply and madly in love with him. The only problem was: Arthur didn’t know Merlin even existed.
NOTES: Written for reel_merlin; this fic follows the 1984 John Hughes film of the same name, done Merlin-style with a few twists! Thanks to maraglen for the awesome beta and to colacube for once again organizing the Reel Fest!
PART 1
**
When the dance ended and couples like Arthur and Vivian broke apart, Merlin decided to go into the hallway and get a drink from the fountain. He wasn’t thirsty but he was starting to feel like a knob leaning up against the wall all by himself. Maybe he’d find Gwen coming out of the bathroom.
He didn’t see Gwen in the hallway or near the girls’ bathroom so Merlin figured she must have gone back into the gym and was probably looking for him. So he got a drink at the fountain for good measure and then headed back to the gym, noticing Vivian King coming down the hallway toward the bathroom, looking like a regal queen flanked by two pretty princesses.
“Watch it!” Vivian shrieked as Merlin passed by her and he wondered if he’d ever be able to hear the same again.
“I didn’t do anyth--”
“This is a one-of-a-kind Vivienne Westwood blouse, you dork!” Vivian continued, outraged. “You think I want your greasy handprints and your, your...erm, dorky germs all over it?”
Yeah, the homecoming queen was a bright one who had a way with words. Merlin didn’t know what Arthur Pendragon saw in her. The draw was probably her cleavage, he thought bitterly.
“I didn’t touch you,” Merlin insisted.
“You did too!” Vivian returned and stomped her foot, suggesting the beginnings of a temper tantrum. Merlin grimaced. He really did not want to be subjected to that. “Just wait until my boyfriend hears about this!”
Merlin was about to toss back an indifferent “Who cares?” but then he remembered who Vivian King’s boyfriend was and quickly held his tongue. Instead, he rolled his eyes and beat a retreat back to the gym, ignoring the laughs from Vivian and her friends.
**
On his way to the bleachers to get Vivian’s coat, Arthur passed by Will, the kid who had been talking to Merlin. Without really giving it thought, Arthur grabbed the pimply-faced, tawny-haired boy with braces by the arm. Will immediately startled, looking at him with guarded alarm.
“You were talking to Merlin Emrys,” Arthur stated, relaxing his grip on the boy’s arm and hoping he wasn’t going to make a dart for it.
“Yeah,” said the boy, now seeming more curious than wary. “So what?”
Arthur crossed his arms against his chest. “I saw him give you something. What was it?”
“None of your business,” Will said and Arthur cocked a stern eyebrow at him. He knew he could be intimidating when he tried to be. “Okay, fine,” Will capitulated. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of lace panties. Mauve lace panties. “These,” he said, looking around furtively while holding out the panties discreetly. “He gave me these.”
Arthur cocked another eyebrow, this one enquiring. What the hell? So was Emrys into wearing girls’ panties or something?
He hadn’t realized he had asked this question out loud until he saw Will’s brows crinkle then clear and he answered, “Um, yeah. Yeah. He likes to wear girls’ panties”, nodding his head vigorously.
Arthur eyed him suspiciously. Will re-pocketed the panties, brushed Arthur off with a shrug, and went on his merry way. Arthur was left standing there, his mind a whirl with a thousand questions, every one of them about a boy named Merlin Emrys.
**
Merlin looked for Gwen when he returned to the gym and saw her dancing with a cute boy from his English class whose name was Lance. He couldn’t drag her away now. He cast a glance around the gym and saw Gwaine in a corner engaged in an intense necking session with Elena and Merlin found his eyes rolling. Of course, the Irish exchange student who had arrived with his godfathers would hook up with a girl at Merlin’s school dance, while Merlin hadn’t been able to catch the attention of a single sole for the year and half he’d been in school. He looked around some more, his eyes alighting when he saw Arthur Pendragon standing near the bleachers where coats had been pitched, picking through the jackets.
Arthur was leaving and Merlin hadn’t even had the chance to dazzle him yet!
His feet, seeming to have a mind of their own, carried him toward the bleachers, his mind a buzz with ways he could possibly dazzle someone as beautiful and perfect as Arthur Pendragon . What would he say?
Merlin ran some potential starter lines through his mind: Hey, Arthur, how’s it hanging? Nah, too cheesy and could easily be misconstrued. Love your shirt. It was a really nice shirt Arthur was wearing , a blue button-down that outlined his chest and made his blue eyes and blonde hair stand out but...yeah, stupid. Got a cigarette? Lame. Besides, Merlin didn’t even smoke and he was pretty sure Arthur didn’t either. This may sound incredibly dumb, but I love you and I’ll do anything to make you love me. That did sound incredibly dumb. So, no. Arthur, you’re so not gonna believe this but I had this very bizarre dream and you were in it. He wasn’t sure about bizarre, but the dream part was definitely true and Arthur didn’t have to know the exact content of the dream. Yep, definitely a winner.
Merlin took a deep breath as he approached Arthur, whose back was still turned as he collected the coats, and mustered up courage and confidence to deliver the line that would dazzle his crush. He saw Arthur start to turn his way. This was it.
And that was when Merlin did a complete one-eighty, beating a path away from Arthur Pendragon as quickly as his legs could carry him.
Vivian King was right. He was such a dork.
**
Arthur turned, Vivian’s jacket in hand, the long, lean back of Merlin Emrys catching his gaze as the boy abruptly did a one-eighty and headed in the opposite direction. What the...? On their own volition, his eyes settled on the boy’s round and pert behind encased in deliciously tight black jeans and Arthur felt his cheeks flushing. Nice, he appraised. Then his mind wandered further, and he found himself thinking about mauve lace panties, like the kind that kid Will had shown him, and Arthur suddenly wondered if there was a similar pair of lace panties hidden beneath those tight black denim--
“Arthur!”
Vivian’s shrill voice yanked him out of his not-so-pure thoughts about Merlin Emrys. He focused on his girlfriend, trying hard not to blush.
Vivian narrowed her eyes at him, grabbing her jacket from his arm roughly. “Let’s go,” she told him.
What else could Arthur do but follow obediently?
**
They were in the van on their way to drop Elena and Gwen off at their houses.
“Heard a bloke called Arthur is having a party,” Gwaine said. “Wanna crash it?”
Elena giggled from the passenger’s seat. “Yeah, let’s crash Arthur Pendragon’s party!” She turned in her seat and gave Merlin and Gwen an excited look.
Crash a party at Arthur Pendragon’s house? Oh yeah, Merlin was so in. “Yeah, sure, okay,” he replied, trying to sound nonchalant even though he knew Gwen was looking at him with that knowing Gwen look and frowning.
“I can’t,” she said and Merlin gave her a pleading look. When would he ever have this kind of chance again? “Merlin, you know my dad will freak if I’m not home by midnight.” She fixed Merlin with a look that was both apologetic and scolding. “Your mom will freak out too.”
Merlin shrugged off Gwen’s concern. “I’m with Gwaine,” he said, pretending that Gwen didn’t know Gwaine had popped into their lives only earlier today. “He charmed the panties off my mom already so she isn’t going to freak.”
Gwaine grinned, wide as a Cheshire cat, at the mention of Merlin’s mother’s panties and Merlin did his best to counter the nauseous shiver that ran through him.
Despite Gwen’s mother-hen reluctance, it was agreed that they would drop her off at her house and then Gwaine, Elena, and Merlin would go on to ‘crash’ the party.
“Anyone know where this bloke lives?” Gwaine asked once Gwen was safely tucked away in her house.
Merlin rattled off the address. He saw Gwaine quirk an eyebrow at him in the rear view mirror. “Stalk much, mate?”
Elena giggled. Merlin scowled. He wasn’t stalking. Everyone in Albion knew where the Pendragons lived.
He glowered back at Gwaine. “Just turn right at the next corner and drive,” he told him moodily.
Gwaine guffawed and Elena giggled. Merlin decided he hated them both.
**
Arthur found Vivian in his kitchen, tipping back a tequila shot - and not the first from the looks of it.
“Baby, do a shot with us,” Vivian cooed at him and her girlfriends giggled.
Arthur grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the somewhat less-crowded hallway.
“You said you invited just a few friends,” he stated, irritated.
“Oh pooh!” Vivian replied, giggling, already well on her way to being drunk. “What’s a few extra people?”
Arthur rolled his eyes at her. “A few extra dozen,” he said. “They’re trashing my house.”
His father wouldn’t be returning until next weekend but Arthur shuddered to think of all the damage being wrought tonight by the scores of kids uninvited into his house. He wanted to wring Viv’s pretty little neck.
“Only a little mess,” Vivian said, resolving into a fit of giggles. She patted Arthur’s cheek and clucked, “Your father has a maid service.”
Arthur left her standing in the hallway, slumped up against the wall, her giggling fit reaching the level of uncontrollable. He poked his head into the kitchen and told Sophia and Mithian to “take care of Vivian” and then resigned to stroll through his house to assess the mounting damage.
**
Arthur Pendragon basically lived in a mansion - fifteen thousand square feet of luxurious living space with six bedrooms and seven baths, high definition flat-screen TVs in every one of its twenty-one rooms, which included a library, a pool, and a billiards room, with an attached five-car garage that housed a Rolls, a Jaguar, a Mercedes, a Ferrari, and a Porsche. Or so Merlin had heard.
It turned out there was no need to ‘crash’ the party. They were let in easily by a couple of jovial jocks whom Merlin recognized as seniors on the school wrestling team.
Inside, the rooms were crammed with people, which was saying a lot because it was a very big house. Merlin estimated there had to be about one hundred and fifty to two hundred kids milling about, most with beer cans in their hands, a few puffing on cigarettes or weed. Somehow Merlin did not think this was a parentally-approved party but apparently Arthur’s dad was away a lot so he supposed this must have been one of those times Uther Pendragon was away.
Gwaine whistled his appreciation of the digs, draped an arm over Elena’s shoulder, then gave Merlin a two-finger salute. He pushed their way through the throng, Merlin watching as Gwaine grabbed two cans of beer from someone holding out a six-pack.
Great. Gwaine and Elena had abandoned him. Figures. Merlin shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and looked around, wondering what he was supposed to do now. He caught glimpses of familiar faces here and there in the crowd - kids from school - but they belonged to no one he knew well - certainly not well enough to go up to and strike up a random conversation. He finally decided to work his way through the crowd, hoping he might run into the party host. Morgana had said to “dazzle” Arthur and since Merlin hadn’t done a very good job of dazzling at the dance, he figured he might as well give it a second go here, although in this crowd it seemed next to improbable that he’d catch even a half-second glimpse of the blonde hottie.
He persevered on nonetheless, weaving his way through the crowd of people, declining the cans of beer offered to him every few steps. He saw a golden head of hair pop up in the crowd every now and then, but when he was able to see whom it belonged to, it was never Arthur Pendragon.
An hour and change later, Merlin finally gave up searching. It was a stupid idea to have come here. It was even stupider to think he’d run into Arthur Pendragon and be able to dazzle him - make Arthur fall deeply and madly in love with him as if they were stars in some stupid rom-com.
“Stupid, stupid,” Merlin muttered, turning abruptly to make his way back out of the house. As his (bad) luck would have it, he crashed into a body with a hard chest, and when he looked up, Merlin found himself staring into beautiful blues - blue eyes belonging to the boy of his fantasies.
“Hi,” Arthur whispered, though it was probably only Merlin’s imagination. Because one: how could he hear a whisper in this noise even if Arthur’s face was close enough Merlin could feel his breath on his cheeks and he could smell his intoxicating sweet-spicy cologne. And two: why would Arthur Pendragon - wildly popular and a senior - say anything, much less “hi” or “hello” to him, Merlin - a socially awkward and geeky in his own way even if he did have a fabulous sense of fashion sophomore?
In any event, Merlin was sure he had forgotten how to breathe but he managed to suck in a gulp of air so he could whisper back, “he-hellooooomph!”
That was when he was suddenly blind-sided by two members of the football team who were playing catch in the middle of the family room, knocking him into a couple holding red solo cups of beer, which splashed all over his front as he crashed to the floor.
Merlin assessed his situation. He was on the floor in Arthur Pendragon’s house, covered in beer. It was the stuff of nightmares and Merlin had never felt more humiliated in his life.
The couple whose beer he was wearing tried to help him up, but Merlin shoved their hands away and got to his feet on his own. Then he quickly pushed through the crowd, needing to escape, his cheekbones burning with embarrassment. He focused on getting out as quickly as possible, but especially before the tears started falling.
He was so focused on putting as much distance between himself and the scene of mortification that he didn’t even hear Arthur Pendragon calling after him.
**
“Merlin!” Arthur called but the boy was rushing like he’d been caught on fire and didn’t seem to hear him.
So Arthur pushed his way through the crowd to try and catch him. But when he was finally able to burst outside, there was no sign of Merlin anywhere.
“Fuck,” Arthur cursed. The couple necking on his front porch gave him an offended look.
Arthur ran a hand through his hair. He finally gets handed a chance to talk to the boy who’s been messing up his head lately and those football lunk-heads had to go and plough him down. He ran a hand through his hair once more and turned to go back inside. What the hell was his life lately?
His return inside was met with a loud crash of glass breaking and falling. His father’s trophy display case. Guilty silence followed.
Arthur had had enough. “Party’s over,” he announced.
**
Merlin wished he had worn a hoodie. The night air was chilly, especially now with his t-shirt and scarf soaked through with beer. He started walking, already dialling Gwen on his cell phone.
But Gwen didn’t pick up and Merlin figured she’d probably left her cell phone in her purse somewhere in her house and wasn’t able to hear it. She was probably sleeping anyway.
Merlin flicked a hot tear away with his fingers and continued walking briskly. He had two-point-two miles to cover to his house and it was fucking chilly.
**
It took almost two hours to clear his house of the party-goers and even then there were stragglers that Arthur had to shoo away with threats of calling the police. Vivian had passed out in one of the guest bedrooms - thank God she hadn’t passed out in Arthur’s room - and Arthur had let her be for fear that he actually would wring her neck.
He collapsed on the sprawling sectional in one of the living rooms, grimacing when he saw several burn holes in the supple white leather. There were beer cans and liquor bottles everywhere, cigarette and weed ash all over the carpets; furniture had been knocked over, his father’s display case had been smashed, and there were chairs and lamps floating in the indoor pool. His father was going to kill him and would probably send him to military school.
Arthur picked through the cups and beer cans littering the previously pristine glass coffee table. He shook one of the cans and it appeared to be half full so he lifted it up to take a swig out of it, deciding to drown his misery.
An eye blinked at him from under the glass in the spot where the can had been removed.
What the fuck?
Arthur swiped an arm over the top of the glass table to clear all the trash and litter away. He found the sophomore boy Will underneath the coffee table, his eyes wide and blinking.
Could this night really get any fucking weirder? Arthur thought.
**
Will cleared a spot on the marble kitchen counter and hopped up onto it, a can of Pepsi in his hand. Arthur nursed his own can, leaning forward onto the counter and regarding Will curiously.
“So. Arthur...” Will said then asked, “Can I call you Art or Arty?”
“No.”
“Okay then.” Will took a swig from his can and looked around at the mess in the kitchen. “So what’s the deal? You have these wild parties a lot?”
Arthur shook his head. “I don’t have parties. My girlfriend invited some friends over after the dance and apparently the whole school caught wind of the invite and decided to crash. The house is a disaster and my father is going to kill me.”
Will’s eyes widened and he looked excited. “Your girlfriend is Vivian King.”
Arthur took a sip of his own Pepsi and shrugged. “Yeah, so?”
“So?” Will said, looking aghast. “Vivian King is beautiful and rich and popular and she has huge, perky ti--”
Arthur levelled him with a glance and Will wisely stopped talking.
“Yeah, Vivian is rich and beautiful and popular and has big tits. So what?”
Will looked incredulous. “So what? Are you kidding me? Every guy dreams of having a girl like that. And she’s yours, Arthur. All yours.”
Arthur knew Will was right. Vivian was the kind of girl every guy wanted. Still, Arthur wasn’t sure she was the kind of girl he wanted. “I’m not sure I’m interested anymore,” he found himself telling Will. “Sure, Viv is beautiful but all she cares about is partying and having fun. She’s totally insensitive.” Arthur gestured a hand about. “Look what she did to my house.”
Will nodded and Arthur started to believe the kid understood what he was talking about. He could never talk to Perce or Elyan or any of those guys about things like this. About feelings. So, he decided to keep going.
“You know, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to find someone - a girl or boy--” Arthur flicked a glance at Will to gauge his reaction but Will seemed okay with it either way, “--who will fall in love with me for just me and not because I’m Arthur Pendragon - a guy who’s kind of rich, not bad looking, and a pretty good soccer player.”
Will tossed him a look. “Your family’s very rich, you’re very good-looking, and you’re an ace soccer player,” he expressed with obvious admiration. “And, let’s not forget you’re very popular.”
“Yeah,” Arthur conceded. “But I don’t really care about being popular. I just want to be me.”
Will looked surprised at that but he said nothing. Arthur figured it was probably hard for a guy like Will to understand. When you didn’t have popularity, it made sense that you’d probably crave it. By the same token, just because you had it didn’t mean you wanted it.
“Can I ask you something?” he said suddenly.
“Sure, shoot,” said Will.
“How come Merlin Emrys gave you a pair of girls’ panties?”
Will laughed outright. “How did we go from Vivian King to Merlin Emrys?”
“Just answer the question,” Arthur said.
“Okay,” Will agreed. “He gave me the panties because, despite his ridiculous fashion sense - I mean, who wears a scarf with a t-shirt? - Merlin is a good guy and would give a nerd like me, who used to be his friend, a pair of his sister’s panties just so I can pretend to brag to all my other nerdy friends that I’ve done it with a girl.”
Arthur raised his eyebrows. “Have you?”
“Have I what?”
“Done it with a girl.”
Will laughed then blushed. “You kidding? What girl would do it with me?”
Arthur decided he very much liked this Will kid. “So does Merlin have like a girlfriend or a boyfriend?” he asked, biting down on his lip.
Will’s eyebrows shot up. “You saying you’re interested?”
Arthur felt the blush creep over his cheekbones. “Maybe.”
“Got good news for you then,” Will said with a grin. “Merlin’s got a big hard on for you.”
“Get out,” said Arthur. Was Merlin really interested in him or was Will just pulling his leg?
Will held up his hands, palms out. “Swear to God.”
Arthur felt his heart swelling and, for the first time this whole shitty night, he couldn’t keep the grin from taking over his face.
“But just so you know,” Will said, suddenly very serious. “You fuck with Merlin’s feelings and I’ll fuck with your face. Got it?”
Arthur was impressed. He didn’t think for a minute that Will would ever be able to take him, but the mere fact that he would threaten Arthur on Merlin’s behalf (Merlin was obviously still counted as his friend, no matter what Will had said) made Arthur believe the kid was good-hearted and noble. And that he admired.
“Got it,” he said.
**
His mother was in the living room waiting for him when Merlin finally got home.
“Oh, Merlin!” she expressed, rushing to give him a hug. She made a face and drew back when she smelled the beer steeped through his scarf and t-shirt and pointedly raised her eyebrow.
“I didn’t drink any,” Merlin quickly told her.
Hunith Emrys regarded her son with fondness then frowned. “I’m so sorry, Merlin,” she said, breathing out a sigh. “I forgot your birthday.”
“It’s okay,” Merlin said, finally at the point where he could shrug it off. The forgotten birthday suddenly didn’t seem to matter so much anymore. “You’ve been really busy with Morgana’s wedding and stuff...”
His mother’s frown deepened and Merlin saw tears pool in her eyes. “This wedding has just taken up so much of my attention lately,” she said. “With all the planning and helping Morgana, everything’s just been so crazy. Still,” she added, clearly miserable with herself, “What kind of mother forgets her son’s birthday?”
“Come on, you’re an awesome mom,” Merlin told her, giving his mom a peck on her cheek. “So awesome that you’re gonna buy me a convertible as a make-up-for-it gift for forgetting, right?” he teased, a smidgen of hope mixed in.
Hunith laughed. “If only I could,” she returned and smiled. “Now go upstairs and get changed and I’ll make up the bed on the sofa for you.”
His mother was fluffing up a pillow for him when Merlin came back downstairs in sleep pants and a t-shirt. He sprawled out on the made-up sofa and was surprised when, instead of heading upstairs to bed, his mother sat down on the arm of the sofa.
“So tell me about this boy you have a crush on,” Hunith said.
“Morgana?”
His mother nodded. Merlin sighed.
“His name is Arthur,” he told her. “He’s a senior. And he’s beautiful and perfect and I’m kind of in love with him.” Merlin ran a hand through his hair as he blushed, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “He’s got this incredible girlfriend and I’m just some ridiculous, pathetic dork who he doesn’t even know exists.”
His mother moved from her seat and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re not a dork, Merlin,” she said. “I’m sure Arthur doesn’t think so, either.”
His mother hadn’t seen him sprawled out like a dork on Arthur’s living room floor, Merlin thought, but he chose to simply bask in the warmth of his mother’s hug, saying nothing.
Hunith Emrys kissed her son’s forehead. “You know what I always say, Merlin. If it’s right and it’s meant to be, it will happen.”
“Yeah, I know,” Merlin said. His mother was a firm believer in things like fate and destiny. Merlin just wished he could believe in it too. “It just hurts.”
His mother gave him another squeeze and peck on the forehead. Then she stood up, stifling a yawn with her hand, and wished him a goodnight. She paused at the foot of the staircase.
“By the way, what happened to Gwaine?”
Merlin shrugged. “Lost track of him. That’s why I walked home.”
Hunith frowned then said, “Well, I hope he makes it back safely.” She started up the stairs, trailing with a final thought: “I shudder to think what Gaius and Geoffrey might do if anything should happen to Betsy.”
**
Arthur buckled Vivian into the passenger seat of his father’s Jaguar convertible. Will was in the driver’s seat, already safely buckled in, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel.
“This is a fucking Jag, Arthur,” Will said.
Arthur hummed back confirmation. He had somehow convinced himself and Will that it would be a good idea for Will to take Vivian home (Viv was still passed out cold and wouldn’t know the difference if it was Will instead of Arthur who took her home anyway) in one of his father’s cars. The silver Jaguar convertible was the easiest to drive, so Arthur had encouraged Will to settle into the driver’s seat while he carried out Vivian and buckled her into the passenger seat.
“So probably best not to crash it,” Arthur added with a wink.
“Yeah, that’s good fucking advice,” Will snarled back. “And just so you know? I don’t have a license.”
“Better not get stopped by the police then either.”
Will rolled his eyes and started the engine. Arthur hit the fourth garage door open. Will put the car in gear and launched the Jaguar backward, then slammed on the brakes. Arthur grimaced. He motioned for Will to move forward slowly.
Arthur watched as the Jaguar’s taillights disappeared beyond the driveway and wondered again how stupid it was to let a sophomore he barely knew, who didn’t have a driver’s license, drive home his drunk and passed out girlfriend in his father’s ninety-thousand dollar Jaguar XK convertible.
**
Arthur finally called it a night - it was after four in the morning - and headed upstairs to his bedroom. He got undressed in the dark, too tired to bother flicking on a light.
He sunk into the brilliant softness of his bed and closed his eyes, certain he’d fall asleep within a second. He stopped breathing, though, when a body rolled over beside him and an arm was flung on top of him, a hand groping his package.
“Mmm, ‘Lena...” a voice with an accent mumbled.
Arthur pushed the hand away gruffly, shot up, and then punched the face belonging to the hand. Then he dragged the body - which might have been that Irish dude who had shown up at the party, come to think of it - out of his room and down the stairs, then unceremoniously shoved it out his front door.
He returned to bed.
Fuck.
**
It was half past eight when Merlin woke up, sniffling, probably the result of having gotten chilled from walking home at night in his beer-soaked scarf and t-shirt. He got up from the sofa and crossed over to the kitchen, stepping over Gwaine who was passed out in the kitchen doorway.
He opened the fridge, pulled out the carton of juice, and popped open the tab. He wandered over to the window above the kitchen sink, chugging back a healthy dose of juice from the carton, and glanced out at the driveway. Betsy was there, seemingly safe and sound, her orange and white paint job looking brighter than ever. Maybe Gwaine wasn’t such a dolt after all.
Merlin returned the carton of juice to the refrigerator and then found the bag used for ice packs in the drawer by the stove and filled it with ice from the freezer. He nudged Gwaine with his big toe. Nothing. He nudged again. This time, it elicited a groan.
“Better get yourself up off the floor before the Double Gs come down,” Merlin advised.
Then he dropped the ice pack unceremoniously onto the body lump of the exchange student and hurried upstairs to get showered.
**
At precisely one o’clock, they were all dressed and downstairs in the living room, ignoring the grumbles and groans coming from Gwaine on the sofa, ready to make their way to the church for Morgana’s two o’clock wedding.
Morgana looked positively stunning in her wedding gown, which was silk and sleeveless and gorgeous. Merlin beamed at her, marvelling how his sister was the most beautiful woman in the world. His mother looked fetching in the emerald green mother-of-the-bride dress Morgana had chosen for her and his godfathers looked rather stately in their suits and ties. He and Mordy looked pretty fine in their tuxes too, though Merlin wished he could have convinced Morgana to let him trade the black bow tie for one of his scarves.
All in all, the Emrys family cleaned up pretty good.
Gwaine waved them off from the sofa, the ice pack pressed to his forehead, as they followed each other out into the afternoon sunshine.
Merlin helped Morgana get into the back seat of his mother’s car, which Geoffrey was driving, to ensure her dress didn’t get caught in the door. She kissed Merlin’s cheek as she ducked inside and whispered, “I’m such a terrible sister for forgetting but happy birthday, Merlin.”
Merlin smiled at her then closed the door. He made his way to Betsy, which Gaius was driving, claiming shotgun before Mordy could argue his case about feeling sick when he rode in the back seat.
And then they were off - his family offering their loving support of Morgana, who was making a headfirst leap and becoming Leon’s life partner. It really was a beautiful day, Merlin thought, suddenly feeling sappy.
**
Arthur followed the directions mapped out on his GPS app. After he had woken up, had cleaned some of the mess in the house (and called his father’s maid service), had rung Will to make sure he had gotten Vivian home safely (and made arrangements for someone to pick up his father’s jag), had rung and left a message for Vivian that they needed to talk, and had showered, Arthur had had time to think heavily on what he should do about the boy he absolutely did not have a crush on - Merlin Emrys. In the end, he decided that maybe the direct approach was the best approach.
So he used an app to find the address of the Emrys house - there was only one Emrys family in Albion - and then used another app to map the route to Merlin’s house, which was exactly two-point-two miles from his own. Then he jumped into his gold Hummer H4 and went in search of his apparent destiny.
He rang the doorbell at 42 Charming Drive and waited, shoving nervous hands into his jeans pockets then pulling them out again. Nobody came. He raked a hand through his hair and pressed the button again, resisting the urge to have a peek through the narrow window flanking one side of the front door.
After two more persistent rings of the doorbell, the front door was yanked opened. Arthur was startled to find not Merlin but the rogue with the shiny hair and beard and accent from earlier that morning who had--
“Who are you?” he asked brusquely.
“I’m Gwaine,” said the shiny-haired rogue with the accent. Definitely Irish, Arthur thought. He looked at Arthur, his eyes zeroing in on the stuff below his belt. “Yeah, um, sorry about that,” he said, flicking a hand toward Arthur’s crotch. “I thought you were the girl I had hooked up with.”
Arthur snorted. “Yeah, because obviously I’m easily mistaken for a girl,” he returned sourly.
Gwaine grinned. “You said it, mate, not me.”
Arthur ignored him. “Where’s Merlin?”
“Merlin?”
“Yes, Merlin. This is his house, right?”
Gwaine nodded. “At the church,” he answered.
Church? “What church?”
“The church where the wedding’s at,” was Gwaine’s response.
“What wedding?” Was it just Arthur, or was this conversation suddenly morphing into an Abbott and Costello routine?
“His sister’s wedding,” Gwaine said, now clearly becoming annoyed. That made two of them.
“Oh. His sister’s getting married?” Arthur hadn’t really meant that as a question.
Gwaine shifted the ice pack he was holding to his forehead and rolled his eyes. “Gee, for a bloke with a crush,” he said, “you really don’t know anything about him, do you?”
Arthur shoved Gwaine back with a tap of his hand and pulled the front door closed. He did not have a crush. His fingers began tapping his iPhone, searching the local announcements. Okay, maybe he did have a crush. He scrolled through. It was just a teeny tiny crush. He stopped scrolling when he found what he was looking for. Fine, it was a big, gigantic crush. Arthur had a big, gigantic crush on Merlin Emrys. There. Was everyone happy now?
He climbed into his H4 and drove in the direction of St. Gregory’s church.
**
The ceremony went without a hitch - well, except for that trip Mordy took down the aisle that almost knocked over a candelabra and set the church on fire, which Merlin and Morgana absolutely did not laugh at while their mother gave them an admonishing look.
Merlin performed his role as maid-of-honour quite well even if most of Leon’s family and guests seemed flummoxed that Morgana’s brothers were her bridesmaids and that was after getting over the shock of her flamboyantly gay pseudo-uncles walking the bride down the aisle. It was Leon who had insisted that they get married in a church, after all.
But Morgana was happy and that was all that mattered today.
His mother looped her arm through his as they watched Leon and Morgana get into the vintage Rolls-Royce they had rented to take them to the park for photos before the reception. Morgana blew a kiss at them before joining her new husband in the back seat and Merlin caught his mother’s eyes tearing. His own heart was melting at seeing his sister so in love and so happy and he couldn’t help wishing that someday he’d have a love as amazing as that too.
Guests were getting into cars of their own, leaving to go to the reception. Gaius and Geoffrey were waiting to take Hunith, Merlin, and Mordy to the hall just as soon as they were ready. He felt his mother nudging him in the side and she was nodding at something. Merlin followed the path of her gaze and, as the final guests cleared away, he saw him, coming tentatively up the steps toward them.
“Hi,” said Arthur Pendragon, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets, looking shy and adorable.
“Hi,” Merlin returned. He didn’t even notice when his mother smiled at him and then discreetly moved off, leaving the two of them alone on the steps. “Hi,” he said again then silently cursed himself. He’d already said that. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I heard you were here,” Arthur answered.
“Yeah?”
Arthur smiled and Merlin felt his knees weaken. “Yeah.”
Merlin cast his eyes down shyly before looking back up from under his lashes, fully expecting it to be dream and finding Arthur Pendragon, the boy of his fantasies, to not really be there. But he was there. Here. And he was real.
Arthur looked at him hopefully. “So, want to ditch the reception and come back to my house?” he asked, biting down on his lip as if he was preparing himself for rejection. It was the most romantic thing Merlin had ever had happen to him.
“Yeah,” he said, feeling dazed, unable to look away from Arthur’s blue eyes.
“Should you maybe tell your mom or something?” Arthur said, blushing and grinning.
Merlin shook his head. “Yeah.” He was startled by his mobile vibrating in his suit pocket. He reached for it and glanced at the text from his mother: Go with the cute boy. Morgana will understand. He chuckled and slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I guess it’s fine,” he told Arthur.
Arthur grinned then held out his hand for Merlin. Merlin took it and was led to the opposite side of the street where a gold Hummer was parked at the curb.
As he climbed up into the passenger seat of the H4, with Arthur climbing into the driver’s seat, still grinning at him, Merlin thought: Maybe his mother was right about fate and destiny and all that other stuff after all.
**
They were sitting cross-legged on Arthur’s dining room table, a frosted cake between them.
“So you really don’t wear girls’ underwear, right?” Arthur teased, producing the pair of mauve lace panties Merlin had snitched for Will.
“No,” Merlin said, rolling his eyes and taking the mauve panties from Arthur. He didn’t even want to know how the panties had fallen into Arthur’s possession. Well, at least not right at the moment. Besides, Merlin had a feeling he would have a lot more opportunities to find out.
“Too bad,” Arthur purred coyly. “I think it would be kind of hot if you did.”
Merlin blushed and covered his face with his hands. He heard the flick of a lighter and then Arthur was pulling his hands away and Merlin saw that he had lit the candle poking out of the centre of the cake.
“Happy birthday, Merlin,” Arthur said. “Now make a wish.”
Merlin smiled then leaned over the cake to press his lips against Arthur’s. It was tingly and soft and utterly perfect. “It already came true,” he whispered against Arthur’s lips and then Merlin returned to kissing Arthur fully.
They kept kissing, with Merlin forgetting all about the birthday cake, the lit candle, and the birthday wish until he felt his shirttails catching fire. He pulled back then, albeit reluctantly, pinched the candle out with his finger and thumb, and patted the shirt fire out with his hand, aware that Arthur was grinning at him, looking as stupidly moony and besotted as he was.
It was the best sweet sixteen he could have ever hoped for.
**
AUTHOR: thecheekydragon
PAIRINGS: Merlin/Arthur, Morgana/Leon, Gwaine/Elena, hints of Gwen/Lancelot
GENRE: High School AU
RATING: PG
PROMPT: Film: Sixteen Candles
WORD COUNT: ~13k
SUMMARY: Merlin could forgive his family for forgetting his sixteenth birthday so long as he could get his one true wish - that the boy of his fantasies, Arthur Pendragon, fall deeply and madly in love with him. The only problem was: Arthur didn’t know Merlin even existed.
NOTES: Written for reel_merlin; this fic follows the 1984 John Hughes film of the same name, done Merlin-style with a few twists! Thanks to maraglen for the awesome beta and to colacube for once again organizing the Reel Fest!
PART 1
**
When the dance ended and couples like Arthur and Vivian broke apart, Merlin decided to go into the hallway and get a drink from the fountain. He wasn’t thirsty but he was starting to feel like a knob leaning up against the wall all by himself. Maybe he’d find Gwen coming out of the bathroom.
He didn’t see Gwen in the hallway or near the girls’ bathroom so Merlin figured she must have gone back into the gym and was probably looking for him. So he got a drink at the fountain for good measure and then headed back to the gym, noticing Vivian King coming down the hallway toward the bathroom, looking like a regal queen flanked by two pretty princesses.
“Watch it!” Vivian shrieked as Merlin passed by her and he wondered if he’d ever be able to hear the same again.
“I didn’t do anyth--”
“This is a one-of-a-kind Vivienne Westwood blouse, you dork!” Vivian continued, outraged. “You think I want your greasy handprints and your, your...erm, dorky germs all over it?”
Yeah, the homecoming queen was a bright one who had a way with words. Merlin didn’t know what Arthur Pendragon saw in her. The draw was probably her cleavage, he thought bitterly.
“I didn’t touch you,” Merlin insisted.
“You did too!” Vivian returned and stomped her foot, suggesting the beginnings of a temper tantrum. Merlin grimaced. He really did not want to be subjected to that. “Just wait until my boyfriend hears about this!”
Merlin was about to toss back an indifferent “Who cares?” but then he remembered who Vivian King’s boyfriend was and quickly held his tongue. Instead, he rolled his eyes and beat a retreat back to the gym, ignoring the laughs from Vivian and her friends.
**
On his way to the bleachers to get Vivian’s coat, Arthur passed by Will, the kid who had been talking to Merlin. Without really giving it thought, Arthur grabbed the pimply-faced, tawny-haired boy with braces by the arm. Will immediately startled, looking at him with guarded alarm.
“You were talking to Merlin Emrys,” Arthur stated, relaxing his grip on the boy’s arm and hoping he wasn’t going to make a dart for it.
“Yeah,” said the boy, now seeming more curious than wary. “So what?”
Arthur crossed his arms against his chest. “I saw him give you something. What was it?”
“None of your business,” Will said and Arthur cocked a stern eyebrow at him. He knew he could be intimidating when he tried to be. “Okay, fine,” Will capitulated. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of lace panties. Mauve lace panties. “These,” he said, looking around furtively while holding out the panties discreetly. “He gave me these.”
Arthur cocked another eyebrow, this one enquiring. What the hell? So was Emrys into wearing girls’ panties or something?
He hadn’t realized he had asked this question out loud until he saw Will’s brows crinkle then clear and he answered, “Um, yeah. Yeah. He likes to wear girls’ panties”, nodding his head vigorously.
Arthur eyed him suspiciously. Will re-pocketed the panties, brushed Arthur off with a shrug, and went on his merry way. Arthur was left standing there, his mind a whirl with a thousand questions, every one of them about a boy named Merlin Emrys.
**
Merlin looked for Gwen when he returned to the gym and saw her dancing with a cute boy from his English class whose name was Lance. He couldn’t drag her away now. He cast a glance around the gym and saw Gwaine in a corner engaged in an intense necking session with Elena and Merlin found his eyes rolling. Of course, the Irish exchange student who had arrived with his godfathers would hook up with a girl at Merlin’s school dance, while Merlin hadn’t been able to catch the attention of a single sole for the year and half he’d been in school. He looked around some more, his eyes alighting when he saw Arthur Pendragon standing near the bleachers where coats had been pitched, picking through the jackets.
Arthur was leaving and Merlin hadn’t even had the chance to dazzle him yet!
His feet, seeming to have a mind of their own, carried him toward the bleachers, his mind a buzz with ways he could possibly dazzle someone as beautiful and perfect as Arthur Pendragon . What would he say?
Merlin ran some potential starter lines through his mind: Hey, Arthur, how’s it hanging? Nah, too cheesy and could easily be misconstrued. Love your shirt. It was a really nice shirt Arthur was wearing , a blue button-down that outlined his chest and made his blue eyes and blonde hair stand out but...yeah, stupid. Got a cigarette? Lame. Besides, Merlin didn’t even smoke and he was pretty sure Arthur didn’t either. This may sound incredibly dumb, but I love you and I’ll do anything to make you love me. That did sound incredibly dumb. So, no. Arthur, you’re so not gonna believe this but I had this very bizarre dream and you were in it. He wasn’t sure about bizarre, but the dream part was definitely true and Arthur didn’t have to know the exact content of the dream. Yep, definitely a winner.
Merlin took a deep breath as he approached Arthur, whose back was still turned as he collected the coats, and mustered up courage and confidence to deliver the line that would dazzle his crush. He saw Arthur start to turn his way. This was it.
And that was when Merlin did a complete one-eighty, beating a path away from Arthur Pendragon as quickly as his legs could carry him.
Vivian King was right. He was such a dork.
**
Arthur turned, Vivian’s jacket in hand, the long, lean back of Merlin Emrys catching his gaze as the boy abruptly did a one-eighty and headed in the opposite direction. What the...? On their own volition, his eyes settled on the boy’s round and pert behind encased in deliciously tight black jeans and Arthur felt his cheeks flushing. Nice, he appraised. Then his mind wandered further, and he found himself thinking about mauve lace panties, like the kind that kid Will had shown him, and Arthur suddenly wondered if there was a similar pair of lace panties hidden beneath those tight black denim--
“Arthur!”
Vivian’s shrill voice yanked him out of his not-so-pure thoughts about Merlin Emrys. He focused on his girlfriend, trying hard not to blush.
Vivian narrowed her eyes at him, grabbing her jacket from his arm roughly. “Let’s go,” she told him.
What else could Arthur do but follow obediently?
**
They were in the van on their way to drop Elena and Gwen off at their houses.
“Heard a bloke called Arthur is having a party,” Gwaine said. “Wanna crash it?”
Elena giggled from the passenger’s seat. “Yeah, let’s crash Arthur Pendragon’s party!” She turned in her seat and gave Merlin and Gwen an excited look.
Crash a party at Arthur Pendragon’s house? Oh yeah, Merlin was so in. “Yeah, sure, okay,” he replied, trying to sound nonchalant even though he knew Gwen was looking at him with that knowing Gwen look and frowning.
“I can’t,” she said and Merlin gave her a pleading look. When would he ever have this kind of chance again? “Merlin, you know my dad will freak if I’m not home by midnight.” She fixed Merlin with a look that was both apologetic and scolding. “Your mom will freak out too.”
Merlin shrugged off Gwen’s concern. “I’m with Gwaine,” he said, pretending that Gwen didn’t know Gwaine had popped into their lives only earlier today. “He charmed the panties off my mom already so she isn’t going to freak.”
Gwaine grinned, wide as a Cheshire cat, at the mention of Merlin’s mother’s panties and Merlin did his best to counter the nauseous shiver that ran through him.
Despite Gwen’s mother-hen reluctance, it was agreed that they would drop her off at her house and then Gwaine, Elena, and Merlin would go on to ‘crash’ the party.
“Anyone know where this bloke lives?” Gwaine asked once Gwen was safely tucked away in her house.
Merlin rattled off the address. He saw Gwaine quirk an eyebrow at him in the rear view mirror. “Stalk much, mate?”
Elena giggled. Merlin scowled. He wasn’t stalking. Everyone in Albion knew where the Pendragons lived.
He glowered back at Gwaine. “Just turn right at the next corner and drive,” he told him moodily.
Gwaine guffawed and Elena giggled. Merlin decided he hated them both.
**
Arthur found Vivian in his kitchen, tipping back a tequila shot - and not the first from the looks of it.
“Baby, do a shot with us,” Vivian cooed at him and her girlfriends giggled.
Arthur grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into the somewhat less-crowded hallway.
“You said you invited just a few friends,” he stated, irritated.
“Oh pooh!” Vivian replied, giggling, already well on her way to being drunk. “What’s a few extra people?”
Arthur rolled his eyes at her. “A few extra dozen,” he said. “They’re trashing my house.”
His father wouldn’t be returning until next weekend but Arthur shuddered to think of all the damage being wrought tonight by the scores of kids uninvited into his house. He wanted to wring Viv’s pretty little neck.
“Only a little mess,” Vivian said, resolving into a fit of giggles. She patted Arthur’s cheek and clucked, “Your father has a maid service.”
Arthur left her standing in the hallway, slumped up against the wall, her giggling fit reaching the level of uncontrollable. He poked his head into the kitchen and told Sophia and Mithian to “take care of Vivian” and then resigned to stroll through his house to assess the mounting damage.
**
Arthur Pendragon basically lived in a mansion - fifteen thousand square feet of luxurious living space with six bedrooms and seven baths, high definition flat-screen TVs in every one of its twenty-one rooms, which included a library, a pool, and a billiards room, with an attached five-car garage that housed a Rolls, a Jaguar, a Mercedes, a Ferrari, and a Porsche. Or so Merlin had heard.
It turned out there was no need to ‘crash’ the party. They were let in easily by a couple of jovial jocks whom Merlin recognized as seniors on the school wrestling team.
Inside, the rooms were crammed with people, which was saying a lot because it was a very big house. Merlin estimated there had to be about one hundred and fifty to two hundred kids milling about, most with beer cans in their hands, a few puffing on cigarettes or weed. Somehow Merlin did not think this was a parentally-approved party but apparently Arthur’s dad was away a lot so he supposed this must have been one of those times Uther Pendragon was away.
Gwaine whistled his appreciation of the digs, draped an arm over Elena’s shoulder, then gave Merlin a two-finger salute. He pushed their way through the throng, Merlin watching as Gwaine grabbed two cans of beer from someone holding out a six-pack.
Great. Gwaine and Elena had abandoned him. Figures. Merlin shoved his hands in his jeans pockets and looked around, wondering what he was supposed to do now. He caught glimpses of familiar faces here and there in the crowd - kids from school - but they belonged to no one he knew well - certainly not well enough to go up to and strike up a random conversation. He finally decided to work his way through the crowd, hoping he might run into the party host. Morgana had said to “dazzle” Arthur and since Merlin hadn’t done a very good job of dazzling at the dance, he figured he might as well give it a second go here, although in this crowd it seemed next to improbable that he’d catch even a half-second glimpse of the blonde hottie.
He persevered on nonetheless, weaving his way through the crowd of people, declining the cans of beer offered to him every few steps. He saw a golden head of hair pop up in the crowd every now and then, but when he was able to see whom it belonged to, it was never Arthur Pendragon.
An hour and change later, Merlin finally gave up searching. It was a stupid idea to have come here. It was even stupider to think he’d run into Arthur Pendragon and be able to dazzle him - make Arthur fall deeply and madly in love with him as if they were stars in some stupid rom-com.
“Stupid, stupid,” Merlin muttered, turning abruptly to make his way back out of the house. As his (bad) luck would have it, he crashed into a body with a hard chest, and when he looked up, Merlin found himself staring into beautiful blues - blue eyes belonging to the boy of his fantasies.
“Hi,” Arthur whispered, though it was probably only Merlin’s imagination. Because one: how could he hear a whisper in this noise even if Arthur’s face was close enough Merlin could feel his breath on his cheeks and he could smell his intoxicating sweet-spicy cologne. And two: why would Arthur Pendragon - wildly popular and a senior - say anything, much less “hi” or “hello” to him, Merlin - a socially awkward and geeky in his own way even if he did have a fabulous sense of fashion sophomore?
In any event, Merlin was sure he had forgotten how to breathe but he managed to suck in a gulp of air so he could whisper back, “he-hellooooomph!”
That was when he was suddenly blind-sided by two members of the football team who were playing catch in the middle of the family room, knocking him into a couple holding red solo cups of beer, which splashed all over his front as he crashed to the floor.
Merlin assessed his situation. He was on the floor in Arthur Pendragon’s house, covered in beer. It was the stuff of nightmares and Merlin had never felt more humiliated in his life.
The couple whose beer he was wearing tried to help him up, but Merlin shoved their hands away and got to his feet on his own. Then he quickly pushed through the crowd, needing to escape, his cheekbones burning with embarrassment. He focused on getting out as quickly as possible, but especially before the tears started falling.
He was so focused on putting as much distance between himself and the scene of mortification that he didn’t even hear Arthur Pendragon calling after him.
**
“Merlin!” Arthur called but the boy was rushing like he’d been caught on fire and didn’t seem to hear him.
So Arthur pushed his way through the crowd to try and catch him. But when he was finally able to burst outside, there was no sign of Merlin anywhere.
“Fuck,” Arthur cursed. The couple necking on his front porch gave him an offended look.
Arthur ran a hand through his hair. He finally gets handed a chance to talk to the boy who’s been messing up his head lately and those football lunk-heads had to go and plough him down. He ran a hand through his hair once more and turned to go back inside. What the hell was his life lately?
His return inside was met with a loud crash of glass breaking and falling. His father’s trophy display case. Guilty silence followed.
Arthur had had enough. “Party’s over,” he announced.
**
Merlin wished he had worn a hoodie. The night air was chilly, especially now with his t-shirt and scarf soaked through with beer. He started walking, already dialling Gwen on his cell phone.
But Gwen didn’t pick up and Merlin figured she’d probably left her cell phone in her purse somewhere in her house and wasn’t able to hear it. She was probably sleeping anyway.
Merlin flicked a hot tear away with his fingers and continued walking briskly. He had two-point-two miles to cover to his house and it was fucking chilly.
**
It took almost two hours to clear his house of the party-goers and even then there were stragglers that Arthur had to shoo away with threats of calling the police. Vivian had passed out in one of the guest bedrooms - thank God she hadn’t passed out in Arthur’s room - and Arthur had let her be for fear that he actually would wring her neck.
He collapsed on the sprawling sectional in one of the living rooms, grimacing when he saw several burn holes in the supple white leather. There were beer cans and liquor bottles everywhere, cigarette and weed ash all over the carpets; furniture had been knocked over, his father’s display case had been smashed, and there were chairs and lamps floating in the indoor pool. His father was going to kill him and would probably send him to military school.
Arthur picked through the cups and beer cans littering the previously pristine glass coffee table. He shook one of the cans and it appeared to be half full so he lifted it up to take a swig out of it, deciding to drown his misery.
An eye blinked at him from under the glass in the spot where the can had been removed.
What the fuck?
Arthur swiped an arm over the top of the glass table to clear all the trash and litter away. He found the sophomore boy Will underneath the coffee table, his eyes wide and blinking.
Could this night really get any fucking weirder? Arthur thought.
**
Will cleared a spot on the marble kitchen counter and hopped up onto it, a can of Pepsi in his hand. Arthur nursed his own can, leaning forward onto the counter and regarding Will curiously.
“So. Arthur...” Will said then asked, “Can I call you Art or Arty?”
“No.”
“Okay then.” Will took a swig from his can and looked around at the mess in the kitchen. “So what’s the deal? You have these wild parties a lot?”
Arthur shook his head. “I don’t have parties. My girlfriend invited some friends over after the dance and apparently the whole school caught wind of the invite and decided to crash. The house is a disaster and my father is going to kill me.”
Will’s eyes widened and he looked excited. “Your girlfriend is Vivian King.”
Arthur took a sip of his own Pepsi and shrugged. “Yeah, so?”
“So?” Will said, looking aghast. “Vivian King is beautiful and rich and popular and she has huge, perky ti--”
Arthur levelled him with a glance and Will wisely stopped talking.
“Yeah, Vivian is rich and beautiful and popular and has big tits. So what?”
Will looked incredulous. “So what? Are you kidding me? Every guy dreams of having a girl like that. And she’s yours, Arthur. All yours.”
Arthur knew Will was right. Vivian was the kind of girl every guy wanted. Still, Arthur wasn’t sure she was the kind of girl he wanted. “I’m not sure I’m interested anymore,” he found himself telling Will. “Sure, Viv is beautiful but all she cares about is partying and having fun. She’s totally insensitive.” Arthur gestured a hand about. “Look what she did to my house.”
Will nodded and Arthur started to believe the kid understood what he was talking about. He could never talk to Perce or Elyan or any of those guys about things like this. About feelings. So, he decided to keep going.
“You know, sometimes I wonder what it would be like to find someone - a girl or boy--” Arthur flicked a glance at Will to gauge his reaction but Will seemed okay with it either way, “--who will fall in love with me for just me and not because I’m Arthur Pendragon - a guy who’s kind of rich, not bad looking, and a pretty good soccer player.”
Will tossed him a look. “Your family’s very rich, you’re very good-looking, and you’re an ace soccer player,” he expressed with obvious admiration. “And, let’s not forget you’re very popular.”
“Yeah,” Arthur conceded. “But I don’t really care about being popular. I just want to be me.”
Will looked surprised at that but he said nothing. Arthur figured it was probably hard for a guy like Will to understand. When you didn’t have popularity, it made sense that you’d probably crave it. By the same token, just because you had it didn’t mean you wanted it.
“Can I ask you something?” he said suddenly.
“Sure, shoot,” said Will.
“How come Merlin Emrys gave you a pair of girls’ panties?”
Will laughed outright. “How did we go from Vivian King to Merlin Emrys?”
“Just answer the question,” Arthur said.
“Okay,” Will agreed. “He gave me the panties because, despite his ridiculous fashion sense - I mean, who wears a scarf with a t-shirt? - Merlin is a good guy and would give a nerd like me, who used to be his friend, a pair of his sister’s panties just so I can pretend to brag to all my other nerdy friends that I’ve done it with a girl.”
Arthur raised his eyebrows. “Have you?”
“Have I what?”
“Done it with a girl.”
Will laughed then blushed. “You kidding? What girl would do it with me?”
Arthur decided he very much liked this Will kid. “So does Merlin have like a girlfriend or a boyfriend?” he asked, biting down on his lip.
Will’s eyebrows shot up. “You saying you’re interested?”
Arthur felt the blush creep over his cheekbones. “Maybe.”
“Got good news for you then,” Will said with a grin. “Merlin’s got a big hard on for you.”
“Get out,” said Arthur. Was Merlin really interested in him or was Will just pulling his leg?
Will held up his hands, palms out. “Swear to God.”
Arthur felt his heart swelling and, for the first time this whole shitty night, he couldn’t keep the grin from taking over his face.
“But just so you know,” Will said, suddenly very serious. “You fuck with Merlin’s feelings and I’ll fuck with your face. Got it?”
Arthur was impressed. He didn’t think for a minute that Will would ever be able to take him, but the mere fact that he would threaten Arthur on Merlin’s behalf (Merlin was obviously still counted as his friend, no matter what Will had said) made Arthur believe the kid was good-hearted and noble. And that he admired.
“Got it,” he said.
**
His mother was in the living room waiting for him when Merlin finally got home.
“Oh, Merlin!” she expressed, rushing to give him a hug. She made a face and drew back when she smelled the beer steeped through his scarf and t-shirt and pointedly raised her eyebrow.
“I didn’t drink any,” Merlin quickly told her.
Hunith Emrys regarded her son with fondness then frowned. “I’m so sorry, Merlin,” she said, breathing out a sigh. “I forgot your birthday.”
“It’s okay,” Merlin said, finally at the point where he could shrug it off. The forgotten birthday suddenly didn’t seem to matter so much anymore. “You’ve been really busy with Morgana’s wedding and stuff...”
His mother’s frown deepened and Merlin saw tears pool in her eyes. “This wedding has just taken up so much of my attention lately,” she said. “With all the planning and helping Morgana, everything’s just been so crazy. Still,” she added, clearly miserable with herself, “What kind of mother forgets her son’s birthday?”
“Come on, you’re an awesome mom,” Merlin told her, giving his mom a peck on her cheek. “So awesome that you’re gonna buy me a convertible as a make-up-for-it gift for forgetting, right?” he teased, a smidgen of hope mixed in.
Hunith laughed. “If only I could,” she returned and smiled. “Now go upstairs and get changed and I’ll make up the bed on the sofa for you.”
His mother was fluffing up a pillow for him when Merlin came back downstairs in sleep pants and a t-shirt. He sprawled out on the made-up sofa and was surprised when, instead of heading upstairs to bed, his mother sat down on the arm of the sofa.
“So tell me about this boy you have a crush on,” Hunith said.
“Morgana?”
His mother nodded. Merlin sighed.
“His name is Arthur,” he told her. “He’s a senior. And he’s beautiful and perfect and I’m kind of in love with him.” Merlin ran a hand through his hair as he blushed, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “He’s got this incredible girlfriend and I’m just some ridiculous, pathetic dork who he doesn’t even know exists.”
His mother moved from her seat and wrapped her arms around him. “You’re not a dork, Merlin,” she said. “I’m sure Arthur doesn’t think so, either.”
His mother hadn’t seen him sprawled out like a dork on Arthur’s living room floor, Merlin thought, but he chose to simply bask in the warmth of his mother’s hug, saying nothing.
Hunith Emrys kissed her son’s forehead. “You know what I always say, Merlin. If it’s right and it’s meant to be, it will happen.”
“Yeah, I know,” Merlin said. His mother was a firm believer in things like fate and destiny. Merlin just wished he could believe in it too. “It just hurts.”
His mother gave him another squeeze and peck on the forehead. Then she stood up, stifling a yawn with her hand, and wished him a goodnight. She paused at the foot of the staircase.
“By the way, what happened to Gwaine?”
Merlin shrugged. “Lost track of him. That’s why I walked home.”
Hunith frowned then said, “Well, I hope he makes it back safely.” She started up the stairs, trailing with a final thought: “I shudder to think what Gaius and Geoffrey might do if anything should happen to Betsy.”
**
Arthur buckled Vivian into the passenger seat of his father’s Jaguar convertible. Will was in the driver’s seat, already safely buckled in, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel.
“This is a fucking Jag, Arthur,” Will said.
Arthur hummed back confirmation. He had somehow convinced himself and Will that it would be a good idea for Will to take Vivian home (Viv was still passed out cold and wouldn’t know the difference if it was Will instead of Arthur who took her home anyway) in one of his father’s cars. The silver Jaguar convertible was the easiest to drive, so Arthur had encouraged Will to settle into the driver’s seat while he carried out Vivian and buckled her into the passenger seat.
“So probably best not to crash it,” Arthur added with a wink.
“Yeah, that’s good fucking advice,” Will snarled back. “And just so you know? I don’t have a license.”
“Better not get stopped by the police then either.”
Will rolled his eyes and started the engine. Arthur hit the fourth garage door open. Will put the car in gear and launched the Jaguar backward, then slammed on the brakes. Arthur grimaced. He motioned for Will to move forward slowly.
Arthur watched as the Jaguar’s taillights disappeared beyond the driveway and wondered again how stupid it was to let a sophomore he barely knew, who didn’t have a driver’s license, drive home his drunk and passed out girlfriend in his father’s ninety-thousand dollar Jaguar XK convertible.
**
Arthur finally called it a night - it was after four in the morning - and headed upstairs to his bedroom. He got undressed in the dark, too tired to bother flicking on a light.
He sunk into the brilliant softness of his bed and closed his eyes, certain he’d fall asleep within a second. He stopped breathing, though, when a body rolled over beside him and an arm was flung on top of him, a hand groping his package.
“Mmm, ‘Lena...” a voice with an accent mumbled.
Arthur pushed the hand away gruffly, shot up, and then punched the face belonging to the hand. Then he dragged the body - which might have been that Irish dude who had shown up at the party, come to think of it - out of his room and down the stairs, then unceremoniously shoved it out his front door.
He returned to bed.
Fuck.
**
It was half past eight when Merlin woke up, sniffling, probably the result of having gotten chilled from walking home at night in his beer-soaked scarf and t-shirt. He got up from the sofa and crossed over to the kitchen, stepping over Gwaine who was passed out in the kitchen doorway.
He opened the fridge, pulled out the carton of juice, and popped open the tab. He wandered over to the window above the kitchen sink, chugging back a healthy dose of juice from the carton, and glanced out at the driveway. Betsy was there, seemingly safe and sound, her orange and white paint job looking brighter than ever. Maybe Gwaine wasn’t such a dolt after all.
Merlin returned the carton of juice to the refrigerator and then found the bag used for ice packs in the drawer by the stove and filled it with ice from the freezer. He nudged Gwaine with his big toe. Nothing. He nudged again. This time, it elicited a groan.
“Better get yourself up off the floor before the Double Gs come down,” Merlin advised.
Then he dropped the ice pack unceremoniously onto the body lump of the exchange student and hurried upstairs to get showered.
**
At precisely one o’clock, they were all dressed and downstairs in the living room, ignoring the grumbles and groans coming from Gwaine on the sofa, ready to make their way to the church for Morgana’s two o’clock wedding.
Morgana looked positively stunning in her wedding gown, which was silk and sleeveless and gorgeous. Merlin beamed at her, marvelling how his sister was the most beautiful woman in the world. His mother looked fetching in the emerald green mother-of-the-bride dress Morgana had chosen for her and his godfathers looked rather stately in their suits and ties. He and Mordy looked pretty fine in their tuxes too, though Merlin wished he could have convinced Morgana to let him trade the black bow tie for one of his scarves.
All in all, the Emrys family cleaned up pretty good.
Gwaine waved them off from the sofa, the ice pack pressed to his forehead, as they followed each other out into the afternoon sunshine.
Merlin helped Morgana get into the back seat of his mother’s car, which Geoffrey was driving, to ensure her dress didn’t get caught in the door. She kissed Merlin’s cheek as she ducked inside and whispered, “I’m such a terrible sister for forgetting but happy birthday, Merlin.”
Merlin smiled at her then closed the door. He made his way to Betsy, which Gaius was driving, claiming shotgun before Mordy could argue his case about feeling sick when he rode in the back seat.
And then they were off - his family offering their loving support of Morgana, who was making a headfirst leap and becoming Leon’s life partner. It really was a beautiful day, Merlin thought, suddenly feeling sappy.
**
Arthur followed the directions mapped out on his GPS app. After he had woken up, had cleaned some of the mess in the house (and called his father’s maid service), had rung Will to make sure he had gotten Vivian home safely (and made arrangements for someone to pick up his father’s jag), had rung and left a message for Vivian that they needed to talk, and had showered, Arthur had had time to think heavily on what he should do about the boy he absolutely did not have a crush on - Merlin Emrys. In the end, he decided that maybe the direct approach was the best approach.
So he used an app to find the address of the Emrys house - there was only one Emrys family in Albion - and then used another app to map the route to Merlin’s house, which was exactly two-point-two miles from his own. Then he jumped into his gold Hummer H4 and went in search of his apparent destiny.
He rang the doorbell at 42 Charming Drive and waited, shoving nervous hands into his jeans pockets then pulling them out again. Nobody came. He raked a hand through his hair and pressed the button again, resisting the urge to have a peek through the narrow window flanking one side of the front door.
After two more persistent rings of the doorbell, the front door was yanked opened. Arthur was startled to find not Merlin but the rogue with the shiny hair and beard and accent from earlier that morning who had--
“Who are you?” he asked brusquely.
“I’m Gwaine,” said the shiny-haired rogue with the accent. Definitely Irish, Arthur thought. He looked at Arthur, his eyes zeroing in on the stuff below his belt. “Yeah, um, sorry about that,” he said, flicking a hand toward Arthur’s crotch. “I thought you were the girl I had hooked up with.”
Arthur snorted. “Yeah, because obviously I’m easily mistaken for a girl,” he returned sourly.
Gwaine grinned. “You said it, mate, not me.”
Arthur ignored him. “Where’s Merlin?”
“Merlin?”
“Yes, Merlin. This is his house, right?”
Gwaine nodded. “At the church,” he answered.
Church? “What church?”
“The church where the wedding’s at,” was Gwaine’s response.
“What wedding?” Was it just Arthur, or was this conversation suddenly morphing into an Abbott and Costello routine?
“His sister’s wedding,” Gwaine said, now clearly becoming annoyed. That made two of them.
“Oh. His sister’s getting married?” Arthur hadn’t really meant that as a question.
Gwaine shifted the ice pack he was holding to his forehead and rolled his eyes. “Gee, for a bloke with a crush,” he said, “you really don’t know anything about him, do you?”
Arthur shoved Gwaine back with a tap of his hand and pulled the front door closed. He did not have a crush. His fingers began tapping his iPhone, searching the local announcements. Okay, maybe he did have a crush. He scrolled through. It was just a teeny tiny crush. He stopped scrolling when he found what he was looking for. Fine, it was a big, gigantic crush. Arthur had a big, gigantic crush on Merlin Emrys. There. Was everyone happy now?
He climbed into his H4 and drove in the direction of St. Gregory’s church.
**
The ceremony went without a hitch - well, except for that trip Mordy took down the aisle that almost knocked over a candelabra and set the church on fire, which Merlin and Morgana absolutely did not laugh at while their mother gave them an admonishing look.
Merlin performed his role as maid-of-honour quite well even if most of Leon’s family and guests seemed flummoxed that Morgana’s brothers were her bridesmaids and that was after getting over the shock of her flamboyantly gay pseudo-uncles walking the bride down the aisle. It was Leon who had insisted that they get married in a church, after all.
But Morgana was happy and that was all that mattered today.
His mother looped her arm through his as they watched Leon and Morgana get into the vintage Rolls-Royce they had rented to take them to the park for photos before the reception. Morgana blew a kiss at them before joining her new husband in the back seat and Merlin caught his mother’s eyes tearing. His own heart was melting at seeing his sister so in love and so happy and he couldn’t help wishing that someday he’d have a love as amazing as that too.
Guests were getting into cars of their own, leaving to go to the reception. Gaius and Geoffrey were waiting to take Hunith, Merlin, and Mordy to the hall just as soon as they were ready. He felt his mother nudging him in the side and she was nodding at something. Merlin followed the path of her gaze and, as the final guests cleared away, he saw him, coming tentatively up the steps toward them.
“Hi,” said Arthur Pendragon, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets, looking shy and adorable.
“Hi,” Merlin returned. He didn’t even notice when his mother smiled at him and then discreetly moved off, leaving the two of them alone on the steps. “Hi,” he said again then silently cursed himself. He’d already said that. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I heard you were here,” Arthur answered.
“Yeah?”
Arthur smiled and Merlin felt his knees weaken. “Yeah.”
Merlin cast his eyes down shyly before looking back up from under his lashes, fully expecting it to be dream and finding Arthur Pendragon, the boy of his fantasies, to not really be there. But he was there. Here. And he was real.
Arthur looked at him hopefully. “So, want to ditch the reception and come back to my house?” he asked, biting down on his lip as if he was preparing himself for rejection. It was the most romantic thing Merlin had ever had happen to him.
“Yeah,” he said, feeling dazed, unable to look away from Arthur’s blue eyes.
“Should you maybe tell your mom or something?” Arthur said, blushing and grinning.
Merlin shook his head. “Yeah.” He was startled by his mobile vibrating in his suit pocket. He reached for it and glanced at the text from his mother: Go with the cute boy. Morgana will understand. He chuckled and slipped his phone back into his pocket. “I guess it’s fine,” he told Arthur.
Arthur grinned then held out his hand for Merlin. Merlin took it and was led to the opposite side of the street where a gold Hummer was parked at the curb.
As he climbed up into the passenger seat of the H4, with Arthur climbing into the driver’s seat, still grinning at him, Merlin thought: Maybe his mother was right about fate and destiny and all that other stuff after all.
**
They were sitting cross-legged on Arthur’s dining room table, a frosted cake between them.
“So you really don’t wear girls’ underwear, right?” Arthur teased, producing the pair of mauve lace panties Merlin had snitched for Will.
“No,” Merlin said, rolling his eyes and taking the mauve panties from Arthur. He didn’t even want to know how the panties had fallen into Arthur’s possession. Well, at least not right at the moment. Besides, Merlin had a feeling he would have a lot more opportunities to find out.
“Too bad,” Arthur purred coyly. “I think it would be kind of hot if you did.”
Merlin blushed and covered his face with his hands. He heard the flick of a lighter and then Arthur was pulling his hands away and Merlin saw that he had lit the candle poking out of the centre of the cake.
“Happy birthday, Merlin,” Arthur said. “Now make a wish.”
Merlin smiled then leaned over the cake to press his lips against Arthur’s. It was tingly and soft and utterly perfect. “It already came true,” he whispered against Arthur’s lips and then Merlin returned to kissing Arthur fully.
They kept kissing, with Merlin forgetting all about the birthday cake, the lit candle, and the birthday wish until he felt his shirttails catching fire. He pulled back then, albeit reluctantly, pinched the candle out with his finger and thumb, and patted the shirt fire out with his hand, aware that Arthur was grinning at him, looking as stupidly moony and besotted as he was.
It was the best sweet sixteen he could have ever hoped for.
**