Title: Distracting Will
Author:
digthewriter Rating: PG-13
Pairing/s: Merlin/Arthur
Character/s: Merlin, Arthur, Will
Summary: Arthur feels guilty for his actions
Warnings: Modern AU
Word Count: 610
Prompt: "Elusive" for
camelot_drabbleAuthor's Notes: Continuation of last week's
In the shadows - Part 15 of "
A Last Chance"
Arthur watched the way Will was looking at Todd, and he felt a bit of relief at knowing that his plan was working. At the same time, he felt slightly guilty for doing this. He'd thought that if he got Will to meet Todd and then also some of his other gay friends, Will would get distracted. But was that really a moral thing to do?
When they got the tour of Todd's flat and returned back to the sitting room, Todd had grabbed Will by the arm and took him to the kitchen.
Arthur was finally alone with Merlin.
Merlin took Arthur's hand in his and led him outside to the backyard. There were a few people gathered there by the heat lamps so Merlin and Arthur huddled together to keep warm.
"I think Todd's taken a fancy with Will," Merlin said.
"Yeah? You think so?" Arthur asked, pretending he'd not noticed anything. He'd asked Todd to distract Will, but not to fake anything or give him any sort of false hope. He didn't want to hurt Will, just keep him away from Merlin.
"Didn't you notice the way he kept touching Will's shoulder when we were on the tour?" Merlin asked, as if Arthur were just so thick.
Arthur shrugged. "I noticed that Will couldn't keep his eyes off Todd." He'd honestly thought that his mission to keep Will away from Merlin was going to be more elusive than that.
"Hey, here you two are!" Todd said and then looked at Merlin and Arthur's joined hands. "Oh, are we disturbing something?" He looked back at Will and gave him a wicked grin. "You leave your poor friend alone with me so you can snog outside in the cold?"
"We're not snogging," both Merlin and Arthur said at the same time.
"Merlin isn't much for crowds," Will said, his tone sombre.
Arthur saw the look on Will's face, seeing the two of them together, and realised that no matter how he tried to distract Will, those feelings weren't going to go away. If they'd not gone away for Arthur, they'd not go away for Will so soon, either. Even if Merlin didn't want him like that.
"You know what, I'm going to get us some drinks. Todd, do you want to come and help me--show me where they are?"
"Sure thing, mate," Todd said, his fake French accent turning into a fake English one. He winked at Will and then grabbed Arthur by the arm and dragged him in.
When they entered the kitchen again, Todd cornered him in. "What are you doing? I thought you wanted me to--"
"Distract him," Arthur said in a hushed tone. "Not flirt with him like crazy and give him false hope. I mean the bloke's been in love with Merlin for who knows how long. I don't want him to get hurt by some other--"
"I wasn't going to give him false hope," Todd said, rolling his eyes. "It was harmless flirting and besides, the distracting him wasn't working that well. I mean, I can tell he's interested in me. I mean, come on!" Todd gestured towards his body and gave a knowing smirk. "But all he does is talk about Merlin. All the fucking time, dude."
"What do you expect? They're best friends, and maybe you should just tone it down a bit."
"Okay, I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," Toddy said, looking offended, and this time, Arthur rolled his eyes.
"Let's just get some beers before they think something's wrong and we're up to something."
"We are up to something, darling," Todd said.
"Not the bloody point, mate."
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