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“Mum, how many more stores do we need to go to?” Merlin said as he flopped onto a beige pleather couch in the middle of the mall, dropping all of his mum’s bags he was holding. There were so. Many. Bags.
Hunith stood in front of him, crossing her arms. “We still need to go to the bridal shop and pick up your sister’s earrings. And her shoes. And we need to go to the Hallmark store to get her and Daegal a wedding card.”
Merlin groaned.
“And by then, we’ll probably be hungry, so we might want to stop at the food court and get something to eat.”
He groaned again, sinking further into the couch cushions. He fished his phone from his pocket and checked the time. It was already 2:30. They’d been going at it since 10.
“Come on, Merlin. Your sister’s wedding is a once-in-a-lifetime event—”
Merlin snorted. “Hopefully,” he added, with a smirk.
Hunith fixed him with an exasperated glare. “Come on now, get up if you’re so eager to get back to your flat.” She gave him a smirk of her own.
“Fine, fine,” Merlin said, “I’m getting up. Let’s get this over with.”
“That’s the spirit!” Hunith pumped her fist with a fake grin as Merlin started picking up the bags. He followed as she turned around and started walking. “To the bridal shop!”
Merlin shook his head as a smile involuntarily worked its way across his lips.
But he failed to notice his phone, which had slipped out of his pocket and now laid on the couch.
***
Arthur was walking through the mall, a small Macy’s bag hanging from his fingers. He hated going to the mall, hated how crowded it got, and just hated shopping in general. But, he needed a new tie, and Macy’s was having a sale on Van Heusen, so Arthur had dragged his arse to the mall.
He was trying to find a map of the huge place (he forgot which lot he parked in) when he noticed a phone on an empty couch. Arthur approached it.
He cast a glance around. There were a few couples and some families scattered about, walking, sitting, or eating gourmet cookies, but none of them seemed to have any interest in the couch or the precious device that sat atop it.
Someone, somewhere, though, was walking around without their phone. And Arthur knew how that felt. He had lost his phone at a parade once. A parade . He’d thought it’d been gone forever—his contacts, his photos, his notes, his passwords—until Morgana had gotten a phone call about a phone that was found. He had never been so grateful to have her contact name, “Dearest Evil Sister Morgana,” on his emergency list, which is no doubt how the stranger called her.
So, to spare another stranger of the panic and uneasiness of a lost phone, Arthur picked it up. It was one of the newest models, with a sleek black phone case that was cracked below the back camera lens. Arthur snorted. A clumsy bloke, then.
That was when the screen lit up.
And the air was very nearly knocked out of Arthur’s lungs. Not that he would ever admit it.
The lock screen was a photo of two definitely slightly drunk men in a dark pub, the flash of the camera the only thing lighting them up. The man on the left looked younger, with brown fringe that hung in front of his forehead. He had hazel eyes and soft features, wearing a plain black button-down with his arm around the other man’s shoulder.
But the other man. Oh, the other man . Arthur prayed that this was his phone and not the other fellow’s. Because this man, with a nest of black hair that had the slightest waves to them, and crinkled happy blue eyes. Not to mention the dopey, oh so genuine grin he wore so easily. His features were sharp and distinct oh god, Arthur couldn’t get over that smile .
His arm, too, was slung around the other man’s shoulders, and he wore a blue button-down that was not buttoned all the way, leaving Arthur to stare at a patch of beautiful pale skin and collarbones .
God, he hoped this was his phone.
Arthur swiped his thumb up and the phone unlocked. Just like that. There wasn’t even a password. Whoever’s phone it was, the home screen was the same as the lock screen, at which point a spike of
not
jealousy ran through Arthur. Were these two mates dating? Did they make each other happier than anyone else ever could? Were they engaged? Oh god, were they
married
? They were married, weren’t they?
Arthur couldn’t take it—he had to find out.
He wasn’t going to snoop. He was not going to snoop. He was just going to open up this bloke’s Instagram and go to his profile. That would tell Arthur who he’s dealing with, and, more importantly, if he had a shot with the bloke on the right.
He opened Instagram, held his breath, and pressed on the profile.
He was greeted with another happy, smiling profile picture of the man on the right.
Yes. Yes yes yes yes , Arthur thought.
He looked at the username: @MerlinE.
Merlin .
He then read his short biography.
“ Merlin Emrys
I know what my name means, and no, I’m not immortal.
🌈”
So he’s probably gay. That was a good sign for Arthur. But he still had to find out if he was single.
(In the future, Arthur would absolutely deny the fact that he had forgotten that his main task was to return the phone , not to figure out the relationship status and sexuality of the phone owner, dollophead .)
Arthur scrolled through Merlin’s recent posts, all of which were either of him, him and his friends, or of nature. The photos of only him, though, had to have been professional. Maybe Merlin had a photographer friend? But Arthur didn’t see any photos of Merlin and the guy from the lock screen, thank god.
He scrolled even further, until he glimpsed the lock screen bloke’s face. It was of him, dressed in a suit, staring at a beautiful woman in a sundress with long dark hair and brown eyes, each of them with sickeningly sweet grins on their faces.
Arthur read the caption: “Congratulations to baby sister Freya on her engagement! I’m so happy for you Frey. And Daegal mate, you better watch out bc we’re gonna have the “hurt her and I’ll kill you” talk VERY soon.”
The text was followed with three heart emojis, and Arthur surmised that he was probably very close with his sister, and very good friends with his soon-to-be brother-in-law.
It struck him then that Arthur should probably figure out how to return Merlin’s phone to him.
He opened up Merlin’s contacts and saw that his most recent call was to “Mum.” Perfect. Arthur pressed the call button.
“Merlin,” Hunith said, holding her phone out so he could see.
Merlin turned around from the book of wedding dress fabrics. “Hmm?” He looked at his mum’s phone screen and frowned.
“You’re calling me.”
Merlin’s eyes went wide. He patted all of his (empty) pockets and whipped his head back up to his mum. “Answer it!” he said.
“Hello?” Hunith said over the phone.
“Hi,” Arthur said. “Is this um…Merlin’s mum?”
“Yes, it is. Who’s this?”
“Right. Well, see, I’m at the mall right now, and I just found this phone on the couch. I think it’s your son’s.”
Hunith batted Merlin’s hands away and conceded giving him the phone by putting it on speaker. “Yes, I’m actually at the mall right now with him. I’ve put it on speakerphone.”
“Hello?” Merlin asked.
Arthur melted. Even his voice was heavenly. Deep and smooth and… husky .
“Yeah, hi,” Arthur said quickly. “I found your phone.”
“Thank you so much. Oh my god, you don’t even know how much trouble you’ve just saved me.”
“It’s fine, yeah. No worries.”
“Where are you?”
“Uh, I’m where you left it, by the couch outside some piercing store.”
“Perfect. I’ll be down in a second.”
“Wait,” Arthur said. “Where are you ?”
“I’m in Sierra’s Bridal upstairs. Why?”
“I’ve just been looking for a map of this place so I can find out where I parked. Is there one upstairs?”
“Uh…” Hunith looked out the shop window and nodded her head vigorously. “Yep! Yeah, there’s a map right outside.”
“Great. I’ll be there in a tic. I think I know how to get there from here.”
“Okay. And seriously, thank you so much…” Merlin trailed off.
Arthur realized Merlin was wanting to know his name. “Arthur,” he said. “I’m Arthur.”
“Well, thank you, Arthur.”
Arthur smiled. “I’ll be right up.”
***
Merlin met him right outside of the bridal shop, in front of the mall map that was stuck into the floor, encased in a plastic case that had “Lost? Use the MAP!” Printed above it.
“Merlin?” Arthur asked as he approached him. “I’ve got your phone.” He held it up for him to see.
He watched as Merlin’s lips parted ever so slightly, his blue eyes trailing up and down Arthur’s body before landing on his eyes again.
“Oh, thank you so much, Arthur.” Merlin took his phone from Arthur’s hand and stuffed it into his pocket. “Seriously, if you hadn’t done this I don’t think I’d have ever seen it again.”
Before Arthur could process it, Merlin had wrapped an arm around him in a half-hug that lasted only a single second. But as Merlin pulled away, Arthur got a whiff of his cologne—warm and spicy—like amber and vanilla and oh god Arthur is absolutely gone for this man.
“Uh—yeah. Of course. Happy to help.”
“No, I mean it. You really saved me. There’s got to be something I can do to repay you.”
“Uh—”
“Please,” Merlin said. “Let me repay you.”
“Okay,” Arthur said. “You want to repay me? Buy me a drink and we’ll call it even.”
Merlin froze. In the corner of the entrance, Hunith grinned, rubbing her hands together conspiratorially. “A drink?” Merlin asked. “Like…at the food court?”
“Like at a pub. Tonight. I’ll text you the address and meet you there.”
“Right. Okay, sounds good. So do you need my—”
Arthur pulled his own phone from his pocket and waved it between his fingers. “No. I, uh, already got your number.”
Merlin let a small smile work up his face and Arthur matched it bit by bit. “Perfect,” Merlin said.
Arthur grinned.
“Well,” Arthur gestured towards the map, “I better figure out where I parked.”
“Yeah. Yeah, let me help you.”
Hunith watched as the two boys stared at the map, pointing and talking and laughing. Eventually, they figured out where he’d parked. But before he left, he turned to Hunith and shook her hand. “Nice to meet you,” he said.
“You too, Arthur.” Hunith smiled.
And then Arthur said goodbye to Merlin and walked away, but not without turning to look back and smile and wave at Merlin. Again.
When Merlin approached Hunith in the doorway she could see a pink blush rising on his cheeks.
“You know, Merlin, I’ve got a feeling about Arthur.”
Merlin laughed, shaking his head. “You and your feelings, Mum.” The pink on his face got even brighter.
“I had a feeling about Daegal too, remember? And look how well that’s turning out.”
Merlin bit his lip, watching Arthur walk away. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ve got a good feeling about him too, actually.”
Hunith looked up at Merlin, and saw the shy smile that crept up his face.
Yes, that was The Face.
Merlin was already besotted with him.
And a few minutes later, when Merlin checked his phone for the first time since losing it and saw a notification that said “Arthur Pendragon has started following you,” well, nobody has to know how giddy it made Merlin.
Except Arthur, who found out five years later when he forced Merlin to tell him his side of their first meeting story, in bed on a lazy Sunday morning, matching rings on their fingers.