Beginning

"Merlin." Arthur called out as his manservant entered the chambers carrying his armour.

"Yes, Sire?" Merlin asked, setting the armour down upon the table in the center of the room.

"Do you think it's wise for me to marry?" Arthur looked towards the manservant, curious of his answer.

Merlin was beginning to think that Arthur really was Guinevere's and only her's. His chest began to feel heavy and his heart was aching with uncertainty.

"If it's your decision, my lord, then it's always wise."

"Well I don't think that's entirely true." Arthur paced towards the window across the room and gazed out of it, taking a sip from his glass. "Some of the decisions I've made throughout my years as king have been wrong," Arthur watched his manservant, and Merlin returned his gaze, "and I have you to thank for that." Arthur smiled softly.

Merlin smiled back, and the two stood there, lost in each other's eyes. Although the moment was soon lost when Agravaine opened the door.

"Uncle." Arthur greeted.

"It's late, Arthur. What's troubling you?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all." Arthur turned to face his Uncle calmly. "But I've made a decision and I felt it only right to inform you right away. Though I fear you're not gonna like what I have to say."

Agravaine took a deep breath in, confused but interested in what he had to say.

"I'm going to marry Guinevere"

The sound of clanging filled the room and all heads turned towards Merlin.

"Sorry." Merlin smiled awkwardly and Arthur rolled his eyes at his clumsy manservant. Merlin picked up the sword he had dropped and sat in deep thought while the conversation he had once heard clearly faded. The only thing on his mind at that moment, was the feeling of his heart snapping in two. He chimed back in, and picked up in the middle of the conversation, lost.

"I fear you have rather too much stubble to be my wife." Arthur said.

Merlin tried to keep his laughter from escaping, but he accidentally let out a chuckle. He coughed, hoping that he wasn't in trouble, and continued his work.

"Good counsel, solid support-- They're exactly what I need." Arthur explained, "I don't want a queen who spends her days floating around the castle agreeing with my every word. And the people don't want that either."

Agravaine listened intently while Merlin was still caught up in his own thoughts.

"So I've made up my mind. I want Guinevere to be my queen, and I want you to accept her as such." Arthur finished. Agravaine nodded in compliance, although not happily, and followed Arthur who headed out of his chambers.

When Merlin found himself alone, he stopped his work and set down the armour piece he had in his hand and gazed at his reflection through the metal. He sighed. How would he win over his king?

***---***~

"Merlin, can you please hurry up, I'm exhausted." Arthur covered his face with his covers comfortably and let out a large sigh.

"Sorry sire." Merlin said before he put out the final candle.

"Thank you."

Merlin smiled to himself sadly and left Arthur's chambers. When he closed the doors he leaned up against them and felt himself slowly lower onto the ground. He felt his heart breaking even further than it had earlier in the day. Those words Arthur spoke haunted him like a nightmare. He knew he was never going to be able to love Arthur and this was the final proof he needed. Then he had realized that his face was dripping with tears like a tree in spring, and he wiped his face up quickly as he stood to leave.

He got to his chambers and collapsed on his bed. He quietly sobbed into his pillow and soon fell asleep.

Get up

Merlin woke up to Arthur yelling his name throughout his chambers, and he immediately remembered the events of last night. He almost broke back into tears if it wasn't for Arthur bursting into his chambers.

"It's a wonder how slow you can be sometimes." Arthur huffed. "Get up, Merlin. Seriously, I'm late for training you bumpkin." Arthur kicked Merlin's leg and paced back out.

Merlin immediately got up and changed as quick as he could. It's not everyday that his crush comes to wake him up, and this was certainly something; the king wasn't even changed out of his sleepwear.

When he was finished, he lept out of his chambers to see Arthur standing in the doorway, arms crossed and face red with anger. Merlin smiled shyly and the two made their way down the hall.

"I can't believe that every time Gaius is out I have to come wake you up myself. Jeeze, Merlin. You really need to figure out how to wake up on your own."

"You're one to talk." Merlin muttered jokingly, but the king's response showed that he was in no joking mood.

"What was that?" Arthur stopped midway through the corridor and turned to face Merlin who should have known better than to piss off the king anymore than he has. Merlin couldn't respond. The only thing Merlin could think to do right now is bask in the vicinity of Arthur Pendragon; their faces nearly a few inches from each other. Arthur didn't seem to notice though as he huffed and continued walking. Merlin felt his face go a bright red, and all he could do is smile at their small interactions.

***---***~

"Arthur." Merlin started, struggling to find the king's sword.

"What is it, Merlin?" Arthur asked, walking out from behind his changing wall. The first thing Merlin noticed was Arthur's shirtless body, and he steered his eyes away as quickly as he could.

"I can't find your sword." Merlin said. Arthur stared at Merlin and rolled his eyes. Merlin glanced back up, catching one more glimpse of Arthur's chest before his king exited behind the safety of his changing wall.

"Of course. Have you lost it again?" Arthur sighed heavily.

"Maybe, I'm not sure."

"You're not sure?" Arthur hung his pants over the wall.

"Yeah, I could have just left it in the weapons chamber. I'll go check." Merlin said, walking out of Arthur's chambers before he was stopped by Arthur's call.

"Wait." Arthur said, walking out fully dressed. "I'm coming with you."

"What, why?"

"So that if it really is lost, I can teach you a lesson."

"You mean hit me atop the head?" Merlin remarked, only to be hit atop the head like he had said. "Ow!"

"Yeah." Arthur smirked and walked down the corridor, Merlin close behind.

***---***~

When they arrived, Merlin checked for Arthur's sword in it's usual spot, finding it more difficult than he had thought it would be, and sighed. As he turned around he held the sword in his hands. "Told you it might be in here." Merlin smiled, still terrified that Arthur might hit him anyway, but Arthur just returned the smile softly.

Merlin felt time slow down. Arthur's soft smiles were one of the only things that made Merlin's stomach flutter; Arthur's small affectionate touches were the others, one of which included Arthur ruffling Merlin's hair whenever Arthur was in a good mood. As Merlin walked past Arthur to return to his chambers, the king did just that; ruffled Merlin's hair playfully. Merlin could feel his face heat up and he smiled softly back at Arthur, and he could have swore that he saw Arthur's face go red as well, but that was just his wishful thinking.

When they returned, Merlin gathered Arthur's chainmail and cape, and began to situate it onto Arthur. Arthur couldn't stop himself from losing himself in Merlin's eyes; the beautiful, dark blue hue seemed to infiltrate Arthur's retinas. When Merlin caught Arthur's gaze, Arthur looked off to the side and stared out of the window across the room. Merlin was confused, but didn't question it much and continued his work. Merlin was setting Arthur's cape onto his back, and when Arthur turned back towards Merlin, his manservant's arms were around Arthur's neck and the king began to feel his heart pump quickly. He was supposed to be marrying Guinevere soon, yet he had these feelings towards his manservant that he had been bottling up for so long and it seemed like the bottle has finally burst. Arthur's face lit up like a flame and he immediately looked back towards the window quickly.

"Are you alright, Sire?" Merlin asked, finishing the tie on Arthur's cape.

"Fine. Sword?" Merlin turned around quickly and retrieved Arthur's sword from the table behind them and Arthur stuck it into his sheath. "Come on." Arthur said, departing his chambers towards the training grounds.

***---***~

After his training, the exhausted king collapsed into the chair at his dining table and sat there while Merlin undid all of his armour.

"That was humiliating." Arthur sighed.

"What was? You losing one parry which cost you the battle? Nah, I don't think so." Merlin said, unfastening Arthur's chestplate.

"Really? It seemed way worse than that. I thought I was dying." Arthur joked, which gained a chuckle from Merlin.

"That probably wouldn't be too terrible. At lest then I wouldn't be hit every 10 minuets." Merlin returned the joke, but gained a soft punch to the stomach in reaction to it. "Exactly my point."

"Oh I can hit much harder than that if you'd like me to demonstrate." Arthur threatened.

"Oh, please don't. I'm so scared." Merlin said plainly. Arthur then elbowed Merlin in the stomach which pushed Merlin down onto his back where he winced in pain. "I'm sorry, Sire." Merlin wheezed.

Arthur gazed down at his manservant in amusement. He smiled softly at Merlin and giggled a bit when Merlin glared up at him. "Sorry, did that hurt?" Arthur sarcastically asked as he got up to stand over his manservant. He crossed his arms as Merlin nodded. "Come on." Arthur lent out his hand and Merlin took it willingly. When he manservant stood up, still holding his stomach painfully, Arthur sat back down and Merlin continued taking off the king's armour.

Good Afternoon

Merlin groaned, bored and unhappy. They had been hunting for nearly an hour and a half now and they haven't seen one animal.

"What is it, Merlin?"

"Can't we just go back? I mean, seriously. It's been over an hour and we haven't caught anything." Merlin sighed.

"No, we're close to something-- I can feel it." Arthur refused to go back empty handed.

"You've been saying that this entire time, Arthur. This is the worst way to spend my day." Merlin complained. He groaned again.

"Merlin." Arthur growled. A branch broke in the distance and both the boys snapped their heads over in the direction of the noise.

All the knights were ready to pounce on the victim. Arthur turned to Merlin and gave a smile that said, 'You see? I told you so,' and then he turned back towards the brush that lay in front of a small figure. When Arthur shifted around the brush, he saw it to be a small fawn. It couldn't be too far away from it's mother, so Arthur looked for the older deer, but found nothing.

"What is it? Why are you hesitating?" Merlin whispered. Arthur motioned for Merlin to approach and Merlin did so carefully.

When Merlin was able to see, he mouthed out the word, 'oh,' and stood behind Arthur, looking for the mother as well. Merlin used his mind's eye to see around the fawn, and saw that the mother was not far off to the right; opposite of where Merlin and Arthur faced. So, to look natural, Merlin made his way slowly around so he could see, and acted like he had just spotted the mother deer.

"There!" Merlin whispered as he pointed. Arthur shifted towards Merlin and pointed his crossbow towards the mother deer, then shot. It was a direct hit and Merlin was glad that they were finally done hunting, but the pain of seeing the deer fall onto the ground wincing and whining in agony made Merlin's heart ache more than he thought it would. Despite it though, Merlin was finally relieved that they would be heading back. "Thank god." He muttered painfully to himself.

***---***~

"Merlin, can I speak with you for a moment?" Arthur asked after their hunt. Merlin stepped into Arthur's chambers.

"What is it, Sire?"

"Close the doors, will you?" Merlin did as he said and approached the king at his desk. "I'm... having doubts about this marriage thing. What do you think?" Arthur asked, hoping that Merlin would agree and not just say something he thought that Arthur would want to hear.

"Well, if you're having doubts, then maybe it isn't the right thing to do yet." Merlin replied. This took a load off of Arthur's chest. "You should make sure that the person you're marrying is the one."

"And what if I think that someone else might be the one?" Arthur asked.

Merlin wasn't sure who Arthur had in mind, but, even though he was sad to see him married to another, he was all for it in support.

"Then maybe you should test the waters with them."

"Test the waters?" Arthur got up and approached Merlin.

"You know, hang out with them. Kiss them. Hold them close to you as you watch the sunset." Merlin said dreamily, imagining him and Arthur both in those same situations.

"Have you done this yourself?" Arthur's heart dropped.

"Only once."

"Seriously? You've had a girlfriend? You?" Arthur crossed his arms.

"Yeah, Arthur. Some people have good taste."

"Oh really? And who's to say that I don't have good taste?" Arthur asked, looking into Merlin's deep, ocean eyes with passion. Merlin gazed back into Arthur's bright, sky blue eyes.

"Prove it." Merlin challenged Arthur quietly.

Arthur couldn't hold back anymore, his eyes were already specifying his wants; Merlin's lips on his own. So, he kissed his manservant quickly without hesitation, in surprise to receive the gesture. Merlin bumped back into the dresser, and the two had to take a minute to breath before they continued. Arthur pulled away just as quickly as he had approached when the door had opened suddenly without warning. The two of the awkwardly stood about three feet from each other as Guinevere approached. She pulled Arthur out for the moment and Merlin sighed sadly.

Good Evening

Arthur entered his chambers with Merlin close behind and sighed.

"Goodness, that banquet was awful." Arthur complained.

"Your telling me. I didn't even get to eat anything." Merlin sighed. "All the food looked so delicious."

Arthur silently changed behind the wall that separated the manservant from his king, and when he was finished, he sat on his bed and let his body fall backwards onto it calmly. Merlin took the king's clothes and piled them into a basket before he walked to the curtains to close them. As he did so, Arthur spoke up.

"Merlin?" Arthur laid there on his bed, his legs dangling off the edge. His manservant gave a soft, 'hm?' in response. "I'm sorry about... erm..." The king sat up awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Earlier."

Merlin turned to Arthur.

"I mean, I don't know what I was thinking, seriously." Arthur stood up and approached his manservant. "I'm incredibly-" But before the king could finish, his manservant stopped Arthur's lips from moving any more with his own. This surprised Arthur, and he fell back onto his bed. Merlin pulled away a few seconds later.

"Are you serious, Arthur?" Merlin asked, smiling profusely. "You have no idea how long I've wanted to do this." Arthur returned his manservant's smile with one of his own before he pulled Merlin back towards himself, connecting their lips once again.

As the cold night heated up, they didn't want to leave each other's side ever.

"Good Morning"

Merlin woke up in an abnormally warmer bed than he had the day before, and he didn't fully understand why until he opened his eyes. He was in Arthur's bed, in Arthur's sheets, in Arthur's chambers.

He sat up quickly, then realized his shirt was missing and he began to positively panic. His face was the brightest red it had ever been and his grin wider than any other time he'd smiled. He could feel his heart melting, but before he could stop himself from freaking out, arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him down back towards the bed.

"Arthur!" Merlin laughed. Arthur kissed Merlin's neck and Merlin shyly shifted onto his side to face towards Arthur, and the two lovebirds stared into each other's eyes. Arthur kissed Merlin on the forehead affectionately and Merlin couldn't keep himself from cuddling Arthur.

"Good Morning." Arthur said.