Red Shoes, Red Hood, 7 Dwarves ~ Merlin x Reader

What is love! Baby, don't hurt me! Don't hurt me! No more!

I wake up to someone gently shaking my shoulder. I groan and turn away from the hand.

"It's too early..." I complain, my words slurring.

A hear a chuckle but I'm only half conscious so I can't determine who it is. "Wake up, Red Shoes," the voice coos. "I wanna show you something."

I grunt. "It can wait until the sun is up," I counter, burying myself in the covers again.

"Actually, it can't," the voice says. My consciousness slowly comes back but I'm too tired to try and figure out who's waking me.

"And what the hell is that?" I mumble.

A hand gently pulls me around so I'm facing the person it belongs to. "I wanna show you the sunrise," the voice states with an audible smile.

Confused, I open my eyes and the hand on my arm retracts. In front of me is Merlin, smiling like an idiot. I raise a brow as I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes.

"The sunrise better be worth waking me," I playfully glare at him.

He laughs softly again. "It will be," he says. "I promise."

I let him pull me out of bed and lead me to the top of the hill. We get there just as the flaming ball breaches the horizon. The sunlight spills over the kingdom, illuminating all the houses and farms and trees in a way that makes me smile. It's truly beautiful. The kingdom looks so peaceful like this. No one in sight, birds softly singing and the wind tussling my hair from my face. I've never seen anything so spectacular.

"It's gorgeous," I say gently, my voice almost a whisper.

"Yeah," Merlin agrees. "It is."

The sun rays shine directly on my face and I close my eyes in content. The sun's energy washing over me, warming me up from the inside out.

I gasp when I feel a hand on mine. I try to open my eyes but another hand covers them.

"Merlin?" I ask.

"Don't open your eyes," he says.

"Why?" I raise a brow teasingly. "You embarrassed or something?"

He chuckles. "No. Just keep them closed and follow my lead, okay?"

I take a deep breath. "Okay." He slowly removes his hand from my eyes but I keep them closed. I feel him gently pull me up. Wait... Is he taller than me? What the fuck? I tilt my head upwards and I feel his gentle breathing on my face. My brows furrow in confusion.

"Merlin?"

"Yes?"

"How the hell did you get up there?" I ask making him chuckle.

"Remember what I said last night? About the real me?" I nod. "Well, the real me is tall."

I giggle. "Well, now that your tall, what do you plan to do?" I ask.

"Can you dance?"

"What?"

"Can you dance?" He repeats.

I press my lips together in embarrassment. "Would you laugh if I said 'no'?"

"No," he says softly. "Want me to teach you?"

"Well, if you think you can," I smirk. "I'm kind of a lost cause when it comes to anything formal."

I can almost feel his smile and he positions us. Hands guide mine to wrap around his neck then his hands settle on my waist. A warm bubbly feeling erupts within me. I picture a stumpy, green Merlin only a good six inches taller than me. My face breaks into a smile at how ridiculous he looks in my imagination but he isn't any less adorable; he isn't any less Merlin.