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Merlin repeated the text he’d gotten before they left the Olympic village in his mind.
Keep focused, I’ll be watching
Last night, before the most important biathlon competition of the games, Merlin had a little freak-out. He had never needed Arthur more, but he was back home in England while he was in Sochi, trying to win a medal for his country. And so he had sent texts that he was almost ashamed of in the bright light of morning. But they were all true, he loved Arthur, he needed him and without him, he wasn’t half the person he could be.
Taking a deep breath, Merlin put on his jacket and pulled the beanie that Arthur had smuggled into his bags without him knowing, over his ears. He was pretty sure that Arthur wasn’t even at home to see his event on TV due to the different time zone but just knowing that he was there with him in spirit made him calmer.
What the coach said a few minutes before the race washed over Merlin. He knew it wouldn’t help now anyway. They had worked hard for this, this was his chance and all that was left to do now was to give it his all.
Merlin felt the comforting weight of his weapon on his back as he adjusted his glasses and let his eyes wander over the crowd. There was a British flag and he smiled to himself. But…wait…the bloke holding it looked a lot like…Merlin shook his head, his mind playing tricks on him. This couldn’t be. But when he took a closer look, he found that his eyes hadn’t betrayed him. There, in the middle of the stands, huddled in his thick winter coat, the team GB baseball hat Merlin had given him, stood Arthur, waving a little flag, not taking his eyes off of him.
A new surge of energy rushed through Merlin. Arthur was here and he was watching. He bit back another smile, readjusted his glasses again, grabbed his sticks and made his way to the start line.