Hello everyone, this will be short I promise(: Thank you all for your contuined support, votes and comments it really does mean a lot to me and I appreciate all of it. I've dedicated this chapter to the brilliant PineappleAttack!
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From the outside of the Pendragon family everything seemed fine but that's just how Uther wanted it to seem. In reality, the family was falling apart and about to self-destruct. Arthur and Uther tried to avoid each other at all costs but somehow they always ended up getting into both verbal and physical fights nearly every day. The young prince was also spiralling into depression without Merlin and none of his friends could seem to cheer him up. A couple of days after Merlin left the prince, Gwaine had spent the entire day following him around, telling him jokes and funny stories but Arthur had barely smiled, let alone laugh. His friends weren't going to give up on him but some days things seemed pretty bad inside the walls of the Camelot castle.
On a bright, sunny Thursday, around a week after the break-up, Arthur swaggered into the training yard and saw his new man-servant, Kevin, fumbling around with the sword stand. The prince sighed and face palmed as he watched Kevin drop his favourite sword on the ground. The man-servant quickly fell to the ground and tried to pick up the sword while holding four other swords, inevitably failing. Arthur couldn't help but compare Kevin to Merlin in his mind and it was obvious who came up on top.
Arthur was still stood in the archway of the training yard when he had enough, "Kevin! What are you doing with my best sword?" The prince startled the man-servant and he dropped all the remaining swords in his arms.
"Uh... my lord. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry... I was just trying to fix up the sword stand but it kind of failed" Kevin nervously confessed, staring at the mess on the ground next to him.
"Do you act like such an idiot on purpose or are you just naturally this stupid" Arthur commented rudely as he stared at the miserable man-servant. Kevin didn't reply as he carefully grabbed a few of the swords off the ground and shuffled around to place them on one of the shelves. The young Pendragon sighed, as much as he didn't like the guy he kind of felt sorry for him. Arthur walked over to Kevin and helped him pick up the rest of the swords and arrange them neatly on the sword stand.
"Thank you sire" Kevin smiled as they stood back and admired their work.
"Yes.... well someone had to help you" Arthur answered, hiding his actual pride from the man-servant. "Prepare my armour for me and I'll be back in half an hour to start training" The prince ordered as he turned to walk away.
"ARTHUR! ARTHUR!" Gwaine called as he came running around the corner, nearly slipping over on the way, and into the training yard.
Arthur secretly smiled at Gwaine's usual strange behaviour, "What is it Sir Gwaine?"
"I HAVE BRILLIANT NEWS!" Gwaine huffed, bringing his hand up to his chest as he nearly coughed up a lung.
"Just calm down or you're going to have a heart attack." The Pendragon warned, genuinely concerned for the knight in front of him but then again he was always concerned about Gwaine. As the knight caught his breath Arthur looked back to see if Kevin was still standing behind them but he had in fact already left the courtyard.
"My lord, Merlin is back in Camelot! He's only back for the day to pick up the rest of his stuff from Gaius' house but after seeing you being such a sook over the last week I figured... well... you could go see him" Gwaine announced, raising his brows suggestively. Arthur was going to scold Gwaine for calling him a sook but Merlin was back and he couldn't focus on anything else.
"So, he's here... right now? In Gaius' house?" Arthur asked dumb fondly as he tried to arrange his thoughts and emotions.
"Yes now go get your man!" The knight laughed, patting Arthur on the back encouragingly. The prince suddenly gave up on figuring out how he felt about the whole situation and decided to go fight for 'his man' (as Gwaine put it). The prince hugged Gwaine happily, thanked him then took off out of the training yard and into the town towards Gaius' house.
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The prince didn't even bother knocking; he just barged into Gaius' house and found Merlin standing over a few boxes on the table. As Arthur ran to the house he had thought of an amazing, inspiring speech to win Merlin back but now that he was here for real all logical thinking went out the window.
"Merlin, please you can't leave me" Arthur begged quite pathetically, shutting the door behind him. The prince usually wasn't one for begging but he would do anything to get Merlin back. The old man servant looked up from his boxes and stared at Arthur for a moment, it was like he trying to figure out if he should punch the prince or hug him but he opted for neither.
"Don't do this Arthur" Merlin sniffed, staring at the familiar prince standing in his old house. Arthur smiled hopefully at his ex-lover, now was the chance to win him back and there was no way he was going to give up on them again.
"No, I'm doing this and all you have to do is listen. Before you I was filled with anger, big-headedness and way too much pride. All I cared about was being the best... roughest.... toughest knight in all of Camelot and someday becoming king and ruling this kingdom. I didn't care about other people or their feelings much but you changed that Merlin. You made me care for you-" Arthur started to argue but Merlin stopped him.
"Please don't make a big speech on how you need me because I know I left you for a reason. You're going to make me want you again but I just can't. You need to be king one day and you need to concentrate on that and get along with you father" Merlin said, trying to stand his guard as he slowly made his way around the table and towards the prince.
"I was always going to fight with my father, he's a dick... you should know that and who cares about my father, he can't control my life or who I choose to spend it with anymore" The prince answered strongly. Merlin's eyes started to tear up and he looked at the ground as if the next thing he was going to say would be hard.
"Arthur, you know that I really like you but I need- no I want you out of my house" Merlin demanded trying not to burst into tears. He wanted Arthur to be by his side forever but he knew he couldn't have him; he was doing this to save him and his future.
"Merlin, don't kick me out. You know you want us to be together" Arthur tried to persuade him.
"I do, Arthur. Trust me you have no idea how much I want this... but it can't happen!" Merlin argued as he half-pushed the prince closer to the door. Arthur looked back at the door nervously, he knew he couldn't stay in this house if Merlin really didn't want him to be there but he also knew that he still had to try and win Merlin over.
"Remember that weekend we had away? The one we spent at Leanshire drinking beer, cuddling and hunting and we could just be ourselves with one another. Don't you want that again?" Arthur asked, holding his hands out openly.
"Yes, I do remember that" Merlin reminisced, a smile unknowingly sneaking onto his face. "But it can't happen anymore, we can't be together!" Merlin retorted, his smile quickly falling and his eyes beginning to tear up even more.
Arthur was desperate, he couldn't lose Merlin again. He couldn't watch the man he loved walk out of his life again. "Can't we?" Was all Arthur said before he grabbed his ex-lover's cheeks and smashed their faces together, his lips finally connecting with Merlin's again. At first Merlin was completely shocked and he didn't know how to react but after a moment he quickly became comfortable and pressed harder against the prince.
"I guess we can" Merlin smirked as they broke apart causing the prince to laugh. The old man-servant smiled as he smelt the familiar scent of the prince; metal from the chain-mail, grass and manly musk. "There are still problems... with your father and your future and my job." Merlin worried aloud, his emotions and thoughts going into over-drive.
"We'll figure them out later. Let me just enjoy kissing you again!" Arthur flirted before kissing Merlin passionately again. After quite a while of steamy kisses and a lot of flirting the prince just sighed from happiness and wrapped his huge arms around the smaller man.
"I'm sorry Arthur, I should never have left Camelot or you" Merlin half-confessed, half-apologized as a tear rolled down his cheek.
"Yeah" Arthur agreed causing both men to laugh. The Pendragon pulled away and looked into Merlin's watery eyes, he smiled before using his thumb to wipe away the tears. "Please don't ever do that to me again."
"I promise and trust me, after this last week, the worst week in my entire life by the way, I just can't leave you again" Merlin assured, staring longingly at Arthur before pulling him back into a tight hug.
"It's alright, all that matters now is that we're together" The emotional prince whispered, resting his head against Merlin's. The old man servant nuzzled his nose into the prince's chest and embraced him tighter. "No one can keep us apart anymore" Arthur promised as he laid gentle kisses on the top of Merlin's head and forehead.
"Uther?" The old man-servant asked rather dumbly.
"No one." The prince repeated before sweetly kissing him on the cheek and pulling out of the hug. "Hey, you broke my heart mister and for that you'll need to scrub my boots, polish my armour and launder my clothing... twice a day for the next week" Arthur laughed as he walked away from Merlin and towards the boxes on the table.
"Does that mean I get my old job back?" Merlin asked hopefully, following the prince around the room.
"If you want it back" the Pendragon teased, turning to look back at the man he truly loved.
"Of course I want it back!" Merlin shouted for glee as he ran up and hugged the prince nearly causing them both to fall over.
"Merlin, I've got the-" Gaius called as he started to walk down the stairs but when he saw the two men embracing near the kitchen table he just had to stop and smile. Gaius knew they were made for each other and he didn't care what gender they were, they were in love and they deserved a chance to be in love. He was glad they were back together and he was willing to do anything to help keep their secret safe.
"I love you Arthur." The man-servant whispered in his lover's ear.
"I love you too, Merlin."