Merthur one shots || Merlin

One call away

Merlin crumpled against the door with a quiet sob, still clutching his his jacket in his hands. He leaned against the door and buried his face in his jacket in an attempt to muffle his loud sobs but his attempt was futile. After leaning against the door for a few minutes, his shaky legs finally gave out and he crumpled to the floor. He brought his knees to his chest and buried his face in his knees as he tried to calm himself down enough to work out what he was going to do. 

The day started out like any normal day, until he arrived at work and was told he was being let go. Now, that wouldn't be too bad, seeing as he hates his job and every one of his co-workers, but the problem was the job was the only thing keeping him stable. The job barely paid enough to keep his apartment and he realised if he didn't get a new job soon, his landlord would kick him out and he would be homeless. Sure, one of his friends would probably let him crash at their house for a few weeks but he couldn't do that to them, he couldn't be a burden.

When he finally calmed himself down enough to stand up, he walked to the bathroom to splash cool water on his face. He turned the tap on and splashed cool water on his face, taking a brief moment to enjoy the cool chill than ran through his body when a few droplets slid down his shirt. He turned the tap off and brought his head up to look at his reflection in the mirror and his breath hitched at what was staring back at him. 

His hair was a mess, mainly from him anxiously running his hand through it on the drive home. His cheeks were flushed, the water droplets sliding down his face like tears-though he was pretty sure some were tears. His eyes weren't the vibrant blue they usually were, instead they were a dull grey surrounded by dark eye bags. An overwhelming rage washed over his body and he gripped the sink, his nails scratching against the metal in an attempt to stop himself from lashing out and punching the mirror.

The beep of his watch brought him out of his thoughts and calmed him down enough to let up his grip and he suddenly remembered it was time to take his medication, though Anxiety meds seemed kind of worthless right now. He wiped his nose with his sleeve as he opened the cabinet door and grabbed the bottle of pills, popped the cap off and poured the pills into his hand. When a few more pills than he had intended fell onto his hand, he found himself running his thumb over them as his mind raced. He promised himself no matter how bad things got, he would never resort to this. But after everything that was going on in his life, nothing seemed worth it anymore and he thought 'maybe promises can be broken'.

That's when an image of Arthur's smiling face popped up in his head and he realised he did have things to live for. He had his friends, the friends that didn't even have to acknowledge him, but they chose to. He scooped the pills back into the bottle and walked over to his phone, his hands shaking in anticipation, or maybe it was because he hadn't taken his meds yet. He leaned against the kitchen counter as he scrolled through the contacts with trembling hands until he finally came across Arthur's. He pressed on the contact and brought the phone up to his ear, squeezing his eyes shut to stop himself from breaking down again with one thought running through his head: 'Please pick up'.

It seemed luck was not on his side today and the dial tone eventually ran out. He bit into his knuckles to keep his sobs in, wondering how the hell he was going to get past this. A shrill 'beep' pulled him out of his thoughts and Merlin realised it had flicked over to Arthur's voicemail. He felt himself calm down just a little upon hearing Arthur's voice on the recording.

"Hey Arthur, uh I know you're probably at work or something but I guess I just called because I got fired and I just feel like everything is crumbling around me and I can't fucking breathe. I'm not sure what i'm going to do now but it's pretty bad so I want to tell you that you mean the absolute world to me and I would die for you, a million times over. Hopefully i'll be okay and you'll get this message and come over or something but just in case, I just wanted you to know. Goodbye, I love you"