for my beloved, @bellamyblakru <3
thank you to @sourdough-morbread for proof reading! <3
“Merlin! Merlin, where are you?!”
Ever since Merlin realized that he was hopelessly in love with Arthur, he had been avoiding him.
Or trying to at least.
For days, Merlin had been having strange sensations in his stomach and heart whenever he was near Arthur, and he had become worried that he caught some sort of disease. That is, until he went to Gaius with his symptoms, who only laughed at him before revealing what was really going on. That was two nights ago.
Right now, Merlin was hiding in Gaius’s wardrobe. That was his first mistake.
Arthur burst through the door, looking around frantically.
“Merlin!”
“What is it, sire?” Gaius asked, trying and failing to act shocked that Arthur was here searching for Merlin.
“Where’s Merlin?” Arthur stood with his hands on his hips, trying to hide the desperation he felt.
“Oh! He’s… he’s at the… tavern, sire,” Gaius replied as he glanced at his wardrobe. If he could see through the doors, he would see Merlin cursing the day they met.
“The tavern… At this hour of the morning?”
Gaius laughed, but it came out more like a grimace.
“What do you need him for? Is there anything I can do for you?”
Arthur hesitated, searching for an excuse. The truth was that he missed Merlin. And he was hurt by the manservant ignoring him all of a sudden. “Uh, yeah... he hasn’t… polished my armour.”
“Alright, I’ll tell him to do that immediately as soon as I see him.”
With a brisk nod, Arthur left, shutting the door behind him.
“The tavern? Again!?” Merlin couldn’t help but shout as he flew out of his hiding spot.
“Oops,” Gaius replied, having the decency to look a little sheepish.
An hour later, Merlin was still trying to muster up the courage to face Arthur when he realized that he could just go polish the armour in the armory and sneak away unnoticed.
But what he didn’t know was that Arthur had had his armour placed in his room for this very reason. He was gonna put an end to Merlin’s avoidance.
Merlin entered the armory, looking around for Arthur’s chestplate and coming to a stop when it was nowhere to be seen. After asking another servant who informed him that the armour is, in fact, in Arthur’s chambers, Merlin’s face felt hot. How could he go in there after realizing his feelings? He’ll just be a blubbering mess in front of Arthur.
Filled with nerves and the overwhelming urge to jump into a hole in the ground, Merlin slowly made his way to Arthur’s chambers. After pacing for at least 5 minutes, he finally walked up to the door and knocked quietly, hoping Arthur wouldn’t hear it.
“Come in.”
Cursing silently, Merlin stepped inside while keeping his eyes down.
“Sire, Gaius said you needed your armour polished?” he asked innocently, looking around the room for it and making sure to not look at Arthur himself. Only there was a slight problem.
The armour was on the dinner table. And the king was standing right in front of it.
Arthur fixed Merlin with what can only be called a glare, his arms crossed in front of him.
“Merlin.”
The manservant audibly gulped as he looked up at Arthur only to look away immediately.
“Where have you been? I haven’t seen you since two nights ago.”
Merlin was shocked to realize that Arthur sounded… sad? He had thought he would be furious with him. He looked back up at the king before responding.
“Um, I was busy… sire.”
“At the tavern?”
Merlin's eyes widened as he blurted out, “No!” He scratched the back of his neck and looked around awkwardly before continuing, “I mean um… No, I was just helping Gwen. With… you know…”
He jumped slightly when Arthur cut in sternly, “No. I don’t know. Helping her with what, exactly?”
“Her… house? Yes, she needed some help with her house. It’s… broken.”
Arthur nodded slowly, staring at Merlin.
“Her house. Right.”
“Yep,” Merlin replied while looking a bit guilty.
After a few moments of awkward silence, Merlin finally glanced up to see Arthur looking completely dejected, his eyes downcast. Panic flared through him. What was wrong with Arthur?
Just as he was about to ask, Arthur snapped.
“Well, if you could remember your real duties and complete them on time for once, that would be great.”
Arthur turned and walked away as he said this, leaving behind a surprised and confused Merlin.
“Right, the armour…” he mumbled, completely at a loss. What was going on? Was Arthur angry at him?
After the most painfully awkward 20 minutes of his life, Merlin finally finished polishing the armour. Unsure of what to do next, he slowly approached Arthur who was sitting at his desk.
Arthur didn’t look up.
Merlin cleared his throat. Still nothing.
“Uh, sire?”
Silence.
“I‘ve polished your armour… Was there anything else?”
Arthur slammed the quill he was holding down on the desk before looking up at Merlin, startling him again.
“That’s it then? You’re just gonna leave like nothing is wrong?”
Merlin practically broke out into a sweat, confused and panicked by Arthur’s behaviour.
“What… what’s wrong, sire?”
Arthur abruptly pushed away from his desk and came around to stand directly in front of Merlin before answering, “You really don’t know?”
Merlin shook his head, his nerves in overdrive. He struggled to maintain eye contact with Arthur, his face starting to flush under the close scrutiny Arthur was giving him. The close proximity wasn’t helping either.
And at the worst possible moment, his gaze fell to Arthur’s lips.
As quick as he looked at them, he ripped his eyes back up to Arthur’s, with his face feeling like he had put it inside the fireplace.
Suddenly, Arthur’s demeanour changed completely. His face relaxed as he took a step back before his lips turned up at the corners.
“Oh. Now it all makes sense, doesn’t it, Merlin?”
Merlin felt sweat dripping down his side. What on Earth was going on?
“What?” he choked out.
“I know why you were avoiding me.” Arthur was smiling now, his eyes sparkling.
“You do?” Merlin blurted before mentally slapping himself. “I mean- I wasn’t avoiding you…”
Arthur chuckled lightly before replying, “Right. It was for the same reason that I missed you so terribly yesterday.”
Now Merlin was really confused, his brain scrambling to figure out what was happening.
Arthur took a step closer, causing Merlin to step back as his face burst into flames again. The tension in the room was becoming palpable and Merlin had no idea what to do. Arthur kept stepping closer until Merlin felt his back hit the wall behind him.
“Did you miss me?” Arthur asked.
Merlin could barely breathe, let alone speak. “Huh?”
Arthur put his hand on the wall beside Merlin’s head before continuing, “Did you miss me when you were avoiding me all day?”
Merlin was like a deer caught in headlights, his hands pressed to his sides, frantically looking back and forth between Arthur’s eyes. They were absolutely stunning from this close.
After another few seconds, Arthur spoke in a low, soothing voice, “It’s okay. You can tell me.”
With his heart ready to beat right out of his chest, all Merlin could do was nod slightly.
Arthur smiled again, moving his other hand to brush Merlin’s cheek.
“You’re so cute when you’re flustered,” he teased, admiring Merlin’s blush.
“Am I dreaming?” Merlin blabbed, his mouth completely dry. That was the only explanation for what was happening right now.
“Oh, so you dream about me?” Arthur giggled, “That’s good to know.”
“What!? No, sire- I mean Arthur, I-
Merlin couldn’t finish what he was about to say when Arthur pressed his lips against his.
After only a couple seconds, Arthur pulled back but only just. He smirked at the dazed look on Merlin’s face before asking, “Was that in your dream too?”
Merlin didn’t know it was possible to blush this hard.
resist the urge to self-isolate, girl. people want you around. people don't think you're faulty. you're allowed to be wrong and make mistakes and missteps and people won't reject you for it. don't self-isolate. nobody in your life wants you to self-isolate. don't do it.
“dreaming is for free, no?” @its-hyperfixation - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
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