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The house stirred awake at seven in the morning. Hunith went to wake up Merlin for school. The boy was a heavy sleeper and if she didn’t wake him, he would have gladly slept in. For a boy who hated sleeping, he sure couldn’t get enough of it.
“Merlin. Honey, it’s time to wake up for school.”
“Arrgghhh. Mommy, I was having the most perfect dream and you woke me up at the worst time!”
“Sorry hun, what was your dream about?”
“Arthur.” Merlin smiled as he said his name.
“I should have known. Well you better wake up then or you’ll never get to school on time to see him.”
“I’m up! I’m Up!”
---
Merlin was feeling particularly good today. His mom had packed him his favorite food for lunch. Macaroni and Cheese, tangerines, and chocolate pudding. And most importantly he was wearing brand new sneakers that lit up. He was feeling pretty cool and nothing could bring him down today.
Hunith dropped Merlin off at the bus stop where he saw his friend Will already there waiting. He was sitting on the curb with his elbows on his knees.
“Will! Check out my new sneakers!” He practically jumped towards Will. Intending on keeping his shoes lit up as he made his way down the sidewalk.
“Woah! Merlin those are awesome!” Will stands up to greet him.
“Aren’t they? My mom got them for me as an early birthday present!” Merlin is slightly winded and bends down to catch his breath. “I can’t wait to show Arthur. I think he’ll be jealous of them.”
“Pendragon? Hmmm. He probably has about ten of those shoes Merlin. His family is rich. He won’t care about those.” Will had called Arthur by his last name ever since he’d known him.
Pendragon was practically a household name in the city of Camelot. Everyone had some sort of a Pendragon appliance which was why the name was so well known. However, when Will said it, it sounded like something you didn't like to recognize.
“Yes, he will! I just know it!” Merlin was getting pretty annoyed with Will’s attitude about Arthur. He didn’t understand why Will didn’t like him.
---
Arthur was riding to school in his father’s black BMW. Morgana was driving him as she did every day since Uther always left too early to take Arthur. He didn’t mind though, even loved these moments when he drove to school with his sister. He would never tell her—but it was nice to just listen to music, and talk about things just between the two of them. Besides Merlin, Morgana was the only person he could talk to without feeling like he wasn’t being understood.
Currently, they were talking about Merlin.
“I don’t know Morgana. I just know. Don’t you ever have feelings you can’t describe? I just feel it with my whole body. I can’t imagine it any other way. Really.”
“Arthur. I just want you to be prepared for when you get older. Things may change. These feelings you have now might not last. Life is very unpredictable sweetie. It may seem that you have everything figured out now, but you have many years before you should make such serious decisions.”
“What’s the youngest age then? 13?”
“Arthur! You can NOT marry Merlin when you’re 13!”
“Okay, fine… 16?”
“No!”
“I just really want to be with him for forever already.”
“Arthur you can still be with him without being married to him!”
“What if he said yes though?”
“I would definitely not allow that until you both are both out of college and have your careers figured out. Especially before you legally bind yourselves to one another.”
Arthur stares at her blankly. “Ugh! Morgana!”
Morgana rolls her eyes. She couldn’t believe that this was her life.
---
Albion Elementary School was located near the center of the city—attended by students from all the five subdivisions. It had a diverse group of people, and wonderful teachers that genuinely cared about their students.
Mr. Gauis was Merlin’s favorite teacher. He taught science and always chose Merlin to volunteer. Calling him his star student.
Currently Merlin, was in the front of the room, pouring two colored liquids together, while the class had to guess what colors they would create. Just as he was about to pour the red liquid into the blue—Valiant, the class bully, blew a spit ball at his hair.
Merlin flinched at the surprise attack. The sudden movement had caused him to spill the liquid. It landed upon his new shoes. He stared down at them in shock and his eyes started to water. His face felt hot with rage. He wanted to hit Valiant back, and he was going to if it wasn’t for Gaius’ voice and arm holding him back.
“Merlin, why don’t you get yourself cleaned up in the bathroom? Valiant will clean up the mess in here.”
Valiant was about to protest when Gaius stared at him with such a stern look that he made no arguement. “Valiant you will apologize to Merlin or I will tell your mother how you have been a very impolite and rude classmate.”
“Sorry Merlin.” Valiant hardly looked at Merlin as he said the words. Merlin didn’t care. He knew Valiant wasn’t sorry.
As Merlin was about to exit the room he heard Valiant say “Maybe Prat Pendragon, will buy you new shoes. He loves you doesn’t he?” Valiant spat out the words and followed them with a sneer.
This time Merlin couldn’t help himself. He turned around and tackled Valiant off his chair, taking him by surprise, for he didn’t react at first. Merlin tried to get in as many punches as he could. “DON’T EVER CALL HIM A PRAT!”He screams as he tries to punch Valiant's face in. Gaius was on them in a second and pulled a struggling Merlin off of Valiant. When Merlin saw he had managed to sink a nice bruise in right under Valiant’s eye, he was quite satisfied. Will stood up and started clapping. “Serves him right! Merlin, you won that fight!”
“Will be quiet! Don’t get involved.”Gaius demands. Will immediately sat down, but not after giving Valiant a nasty glare. “Hahahaha. Pendragon is going to really be pissed that you messed with Merlin.”
“WILL! I WILL NOT TOLERATE FOUL LANGUAGE IN MY CLASS!” Gauis practically demands Will to go to the principal with just a look.
“I saw it coming.” Will walks out the class door nonchalantly.
“Merlin. I am disappointed in you. Go to the bathroom and get yourself cleaned up and then return back here. It pains me to say this, but I have to also send you to the principal.”
“I understand Mr. Gauis.” Merlin doesn’t feel bad about what he did, but he was quite saddened that he had upset Gauis. He started to wipe his eyes of the tears and ran out the class room.
---
Merlin had managed to get the red out of his new shoes, with the work of a lot of soap and water. They were still a bit soggy and he could hear them squish as he walked around, but other than that they were still in good shape.
The principal had called his mom and he told Merlin he had to explain to her why he was in trouble. He told her how angry Valiant had made him and he knew that he had to be a good boy and remember that violence was never the answer, but he had forgotten that when Valiant name called Arthur. Hunith told him that no matter what, Merlin should never have used violence to make his point. “Words, next time sweetie. Valiant is a rude boy—I know, but you can never sink to his level. I raised you to be a nice, honorable boy Merlin, not one that starts fights whenever they are upset.”
At the end of the day, Arthur waited for Merlin by their designated spot. It was an old oak tree with large overreaching foliage, and low set branches. They liked to share the branch that was wide enough to function as a seat while they waited for their ride home. Merlin was usually out first. They released the lower grades before the older kids. Arthur was in second grade, and Merlin should have already been out here by now.
Hurriedly saying bye to Lance, Gwaine, and Percival, Arthur walked away to look for Merlin. He searched all around the parking lot. Merlin should be here by now. Where is he? He was beginning to get worried. He had passed Will in the hallway and instead of glaring at Arthur, like he usually did and calling him a "best friend stealer", he told Arthur what had happened between Valiant and Merlin.
He immediately wished to find him, but then Mrs. Tyrell came out in the hallway and Arthur had to go back to class. Arthur couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the day. His mind was completely distracted as he tried to imagine what state he would find Merlin in. The way Will had described the fight Arthur pictured Merlin would be sporting two black eyes, several scratches, and maybe even hearing loss.
And Valiant. If Arthur ever saw him, he would make sure that he never went near Merlin again. Maybe he could ask his father to expel him…
Sitting on the branch, Arthur was beside himself with worry. Trying to distract himself, he started to count the leaves in the trees, and gave up after thirty. Just then he saw Merlin approaching him from afar. He inspected his walk. It seemed normal. At least he could walk without a problem.
As Merlin came closer, Arthur breathed a sigh of relief. Merlin’s face was okay. There were no huge bruises or cuts on him anywhere. He should have known better than to trust Will’s first hand account. He had a knack for embellishing stories the way he saw fit.
When Merlin was closer, he pulled him in for a tight hug. When they pulled away, Arthur immediately began to take a closer inspection of Merlin. His eyes skimmed over his pale complexion, forehead, cheekbones, and chin. No marks.
His arms were the same.
“Merlin I was so worried.” He drew Merlin in again for another hug. “I thought he’d hurt you. I don’t know what I would have done to him if he did. What did you even fight him for sweetie?”His words were soft, meant for Merlin’s ears only.
He was instantly comforted by Arthur. In his arms, he felt safe and secure, no matter what anyone said, he would always love Arthur.
“He called you a prat.” Merlin explained looking straight into Arthur’s eyes.
“But you call me a prat too.” Arthur replies.
“Yeah, but I should be the only one who can call you that. “ Merlin answers.
As they pulled away, Arthur noticed something. “Say Merlin, aren’t those new shoes? I really like them.”
Merlin laughed at him, his prediction of nothing going wrong today couldn’t be more off, but this he had been correct about. “Yes. They are. I wanted to show you them. They even light up! Aren’t they the coolest sneakers ever?”
“Yeah. They are.” Arthur actually did have ten pairs of his own, but he’d never take away Merlin’s moment of pride.