Work Text:
“ ‘scuse me, mind telling me where’s the room 2G?”
Leaning on the wall in the hallway, Merlin had been sipping what was left of his cappuccino before taking off to work. He didn’t have to move much to see the guy who posed the question. It was almost exam season, and Merlin was intrigued to not say shocked, that someone didn’t know their way in the campus yet. The guy had shoulder length hair and looked beaten. Merlin though that perhaps he had been running from something or someone, maybe in a fight?
“Um, hi?” asked again the guy while moving a hand over Merlin’s stare, who blushed when he realized.
“Uh, yeah, upstairs the third door to your left”. Replied Merlin still flustered by being caught staring.
“Thanks!” said the guy with a smirk, then before going he added, “My name’s Gwaine, wanna meet up sometime?”
Gwaine winked at Merlin who went even redder than he was before. Merlin said “Sure”, but he wasn’t at all sure. He didn’t even know what Gwaine ment. However, he wasn’t opposed to seeing him again.
Gwaine was off Merlin’s sight when he decided it was time to head over to Gaius’. Working part time in a natural medicine shop was seen as crazy and plain wrong to some of his professors. However, Gaius was the one who got him interested in medicine in the first place. Merlin believed strongly on the balance between natural and normal medicine.
During his work time, his thoughts wandered a few times to that encounter. Although when Arthur called him to ask if he wanted take out tonight, Gwaine was brushed off his mind.
. . .
The professor had given himself an extra 10 minutes of class. Merlin already had his backpack on and was halfway up from his seat. When the professor stopped talking, he rushed out of the door. He had had a sleepless night, all for being a good person and helping his neighbor who had a bad cold and lived alone. Medicine, food and some tea, but it still took hours of his night. He had to study and time flew, he went to sleep at 5am. The class was not the priority. Besides he already knew what they were studying, well enough to pass.
Merlin walked outside the building. The sun shone brightly; a soft breeze made his scarf flow like a flag. He didn’t need to check his phone, but he was sure it was 10:30ish because he heard it chime with Arthur’s tone. He always messaged him when he was on his break. Merlin normally responded right away.
Today however, he wanted to sit down first. As he threw his bag to the grass, many students rushed past him. “Ah, yes, the 10:40 lecture for Psychology” he thought. He was ready to sit down when he heard a familiar voice behind him.
“Nice to see you out here”
Merlin plopped to the ground. He was now incredibly embarrassed to be sitting facing Gwaine’s intimal body part. Once again, his cheeks were burning. Gwaine repressed a laugh and smirked at Merlin, who was now standing.
“Yeah, I was just, about to sit down you see”
“Oh, yes I could see that” replied Gwaine, which increased Merlin’s embarrassment making him flinch. He cringed at himself. “You never told me your name…”
“Well you never asked."
“Then, what’s your name?”
“Merlin” he said with a smile, still feeling the previous embarrassment. His reactions were more exaggerated when he felt nervous.
When he saw Merlin get so embarrassed in a cute way, Gwaine couldn’t help but to be awestruck with the boy. He was now starting to get a bit nervous, so he rushed into his intention.
“Since we keep meeting like this-“
“This is the second time we meet though” interrupted Merlin.
“Since we keep meeting like this, I will give you my number” finished Gwaine, pretending he didn’t hear Merlin, while he searched for a piece of paper where he had written his number. He had left his phone at home that day, great day to do so.
“Sure, thanks, I guess…” said Merlin, now even more confused by this guy. He grabbed the paper and Gwaine stared at him until Merlin understood he was waiting for him to put the number in his phone. Once he did, the guy’s lips formed such a big smile, Merlin thought he was looking directly into the sun.
Gwaine’s expression suddenly changed. He had remembered something unpleasant, that was for sure. Both guys were still standing outside the Health Building and the sun was still showering them with Vitamin D. But Gwaine’s face matched the vibe of a funeral.
“What time is it?” he asked, his voice sounded deeper than before. Merlin noticed that it was really pleasant to hear it. Although his normal voice was not bad.
“Right now, it’s 10:54” he replied checking his phone. Where he noticed Arthur’s text still pending.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit! I gotta run. I’ll call you! Coffee!” shouted Gwaine while he sprinted on the opposite direction, towards the Main Building.
Gwaine once again shook Merlin’s mind. Now, Merlin was under the impression that, perhaps Gwaine was trying to flirt with him? He wasn’t sure. Was he calling Merlin a coffee or was he trying to say that he wanted coffee? Most importantly, how was Gwaine going to call Merlin if he didn’t ask for his phone number.
Merlin laid down in the grass, and let the sun soak his facial skin while he inspired the fresh air. Relaxing from the embarrassment he just suffered and clearing his thoughts. Gwaine’s attractive face was nothing to doubt. His style was perhaps too edgy for Merlin, the leather jacket he wore today and the long hair portrayed him unapproachable. He did notice the strawberry print socks he wore with the boots though.
He let out a sigh. Gwaine was interesting, but Merlin always ended up embarrassing himself in front of him. He covered his face with his hands. Maybe he did have a crush on Gwaine. Now he had his phone number, but after everything… He would only embarrass himself more.
He had forgotten to reply to Arthur.
. . .
Weeks had passed since Merlin’s last encounter with Gwaine. Arthur was making a mess in the kitchen trying to cook while Merlin stared at his phone once again for the millionth time that week, asking himself if he should write to Gwaine or wait to see him again.
“Merlin!” shouted Arthur from the kitchen.
With an eyeroll Merlin got up from the sofa and into the kitchen.
“What now? I will not cook for your girlfriend; I will be staying and this is a dinner between friends but… I still won’t cook tonight”.
“I was NOT about to ask you to cook” replied Arthur, his voice higher than usual. “Just, uh, stop staring at the damn phone. Told you a hundred times already, you should just text the guy! Text him a hey really smoothly and you make up for all the dumb stuff”
“I think I’m just going to ask Gwen… I don’t trust you on this one” said Merlin and added, “Your lasagna is going to be overcooked if you don’t take it out right now”
After hearing Arthur screaming “shit” and running to the oven, Merlin decided to go into his room to stare at his phone in peace. At least until Gwen got here and told him what to do in this case.
A few moments later, the doorbell rang and Gwen was now leaving her bags on the living room. Merlin almost ran to her and Gwen knew exactly what it was all about.
“You are going to ask me something about that boy you’ve been crushing on, aren’t you?”
Arthur was still in the kitchen, neither of them cared to help him because they were trying to prove the point that he did not know how to cook. He spent some dinners complaining about the food so they put him to cook this time. Merlin and Gwen sat down in the big sofa to talk comfortably.
“I want to talk to him and see him again but I… I embarrassed myself too much, the two times that he talked to me, I acted too weirdly!” let out Merlin while he hugged tightly one of the cushions.
“Merlin you can be so dumb at times! He searched for you even though you were weird the first time! And he even gave you his number, gosh Merlin. He likes you too!” Gwen tried to not get frustrated, but boys can be so dumb at times. Merlin was as dense as Arthur when it came to these things. “I bet you didn’t even try to call him”.
“I tried to text him though! I just didn’t hit send and deleted the text” he replied. Getting a rush of blood to his face. He was probably being dumb but he felt like his shot was impossible, Gwaine seemed like a cool guy and Merlin was, well, a huge nerd.
“Listen, Merlin, the ‘oh he’s so cool and I’m a nerd, it’s never gonna happen’ trope is so early 2000s. Own it, stop doubting yourself so much”.
The way Gwen could almost read Merlin’s thoughts scared him to a degree, perhaps she had been a witch in a past life. A loud clang came from the kitchen and both friends stared at each other with concern. However, Arthur yelled he was fine and for them not to come into the kitchen. Merlin had to stop himself from laughing and Gwen just shook her head. Next thing he knew, Gwen was holding Merlin’s phone searching for Gwaine’s number.
“No, no, it’s already late Gwen, I’ll wait until tomorrow morning or something”
“You realize it is weirder to get a text at 6am, right? Because when you say morning it is that early. I don’t get how you do it, really.”
“Well, ok then but just, give it to me-“ so Merlin mustered up all the courage he had and sent the dreadful ‘Hey’.
After doing so he tossed the phone to the other sofa and buried his head in a cushion. Gwen softly laughed at him and left to help Arthur.
Merlin could be one of the youngest students in his year of college, he could be working at the same level with Gaius the best natural medic of the country, but this was not his field. He thought he was going to die prematurely because of his nervousness but the ‘bling’ of his phone made him rush to it.
It was in fact Gwaine, who had answered just minutes after Merlin sent the text. He looked up to see if Gwen or Arthur were there, and luckily, they were still in the kitchen. He opened the chat.
Gwaine:
Hey it might sound kind of weird but i need your address
God it sounds so creepy
It’s for a truth or dare game, I got dare
Please
Merlin:
Location sent
I’m really hoping you’re not some kind of serial killer…
He really just sent a complete stranger his address. Merlin thought he was probably going nuts.
“Merlin stop being so lazy and come help us” said Arthur while he carried what looked sort of like burnt lasagna.
He helped his friends and they sat down to eat. The whole thing was too fancy for them, so they took Arthur’s burnt lasagna to the living room and they set everything on the little center table. It was more comfortable for Gwen and Merlin, even though Arthur insisted they had a dinning table for something.
An hour or so passed and between conversations and re-watching old TV shows, Merlin had momentarily forgotten about Gwaine. Then, the doorbell rang once more.
“I’ll go” said Merlin.
“No, just leave it, we aren’t expecting anyone, opening could be dangerous” said Arthur. He was a police trainee, and at all times he was hyper aware of situations like those.
“I sort of did?” he replied with an ‘I fucked up’ smile. “It’s probably that guy I talked to you about, let me get the door”.
Arthur was going to refute Merlin but was stopped by seeing Gwen smiling at Merlin who rushed to the door almost slipping on the floor because of his socks.
Merlin opened the door, with more hope than trust in that Gwaine wasn’t a freak of some sort and he definitely was not trying to kill Merlin. What he encountered was a huge, humongous, gigantic teddy bear.
“What the-“
“Sorry but my friend here is recording the whole thing, yeah, so this is for a dare. I had to buy this stupidly large teddy bear for someone who rejected me” explained Gwaine from behind the stuffed animal.
“Rejected?!” asked Merlin quite shocked. “I never rejected you!”
“What” said Gwaine not believing it. He poked his head through an opening between the arm and the head of the bear. “You never called”
“Oh, well, you gave me your number but said you were gonna call me… And I thought maybe you weren’t interested in me because-“
“Because…?”
His friend was a tall blond man that had a pink hoodie on but still managed to look intimidating. Merlin could feel the presence of Arthur and Gwen near him listening to everything and he just felt really stupid and observed.
“You never got the chance to know me and I already embarrassed myself millions of times, so I just thought maybe if I waited to see you again before texting and then I sort of never found you again on campus…”
Gwaine was silent, he suddenly tossed the teddy bear to his friend and got so close to Merlin their eyes could not see anything else, their bodies could feel the heartbeat of the other. He grabbed tightly both of Merlin’s hands and while looking him deeply into the eyes, he asked:
“Merlin, would you go out with me?”
“We barely know each other… We met twice” replied a flustered Merlin, without letting go of Gwaine’s hands.
They both could hear the ‘God don’t be so stupid Merlin’ coming from Gwen and then Arthur hushing her. It made them giggle. They were still as close as they could be.
“That doesn’t matter” continued Gwaine, “we can get to know each other calmly, I just want to make sure you are in this with me”
“Yes” said Merlin, and one more time he mustered up all his courage and gave Gwaine a soft peck on the cheek.
Gwaine’s friend started shouting “Guys HE DID IT” to his phone. Merlin took a step back from Gwaine and let go of his hands. Arthur and Gwen appeared by his side. The three of them looked at each other, they were clearly happy with Merlin. Merlin asked for permission with his eyes and they agreed.
“Wanna join us? We were just eating burnt lasagna and watching TV, you know, vibing” asked Gwen.
Merlin turned eagerly to Gwaine and grabbed his hand.
“Both of you can stay, the more the merrier” added Merlin.
“If you ask like that how can I say no” Gwaine nodded and accepted Gwen’s invitation. They were all still standing in the hallway of the apartment. “This is Percival, he’s my best friend, we’re both in Engineering”
“Sorry for intruding, nice to meet you all”.
Gwaine took out his phone and texted Merlin.
Merlin:
Location sent
I’m really hoping you’re not some kind of serial killer…
Gwaine:
I’m so happy I could die
Merlin:
We’re literally not even a meter apart
Gwaine:
Yeah but there are lots of people here
and I get shy saying stuff like this u know
Merlin:
Wanna go for coffee just us
Gwaine:
Rn?
Merlin:
Tomorrow
Gwaine:
I’d be more than happy to
They were all sitting in the living room, watching old cartoons, and eating badly cooked lasagna. Merlin could not think of any other moment he felt as he did right now. Gwaine was by his side and from time to time they held hands. Every time their eyes met, they smiled. They seemed to be acting like dumb teenagers, although to be fair their weren't much older. Gwaine’s smile was so soft, it melted Merlin. Merlin felt invincible. Gwaine gazed at him, his eyes revealed his true feelings in a way he could never say aloud. However, it would be some time before they said the definitive three words to each other.