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“I cannot believe you set me up on a date with Arthur Pratdragon.” Merlin scowled. “Without my permission!”
“Merlin!” Gwen chastised him, looking scandalised. “He doesn’t deserve to be called that.”
Merlin threw his hands up into the air in frustration. Whatever Pendragon had done to brainwash Gwen, it had clearly worked wonders—she spoke very highly of him now.
“Sure he does. He’s a prat, I can call him that all I like.”
Gwen pursed her lips, obviously unhappy. “He’s changed, Merlin.”
“Ha!” Merlin responded, not far from breaking out into hysterical laughter. Gwen was supposed to be his friend and be on his side. He knew it was childish and immature, but Gwen hadn’t liked Pendragon either a few months ago. The man was stuck up and arrogant, and slept with and used people to his heart’s content. Merlin sure hadn’t seen the change he’d supposedly gone through.
Then again, Gwen was friends with Morgana, Arthur’s half-sister, so if anyone would have witnessed something different... No! Merlin refused to entertain the notion that the biggest berk on campus would suddenly have had a change of heart when he’d shown no evidence to the contrary in their first two years at uni.
“He has,” Gwen persisted. “And he likes you.”
“See, that is why I’m having such a hard time believing you,” Merlin said. “Unbelievable as his personality change is, it’s more believable than the prat fancying me. Do you know how many times we’ve spoken? Three times. Everything I need to know about Pendragon, I get from watching him interact with other people, and I sure as hell don’t want to be treated like that.”
Gwen crossed her arms over her chest, fixing him with an intense gaze. “The date has already been set up, Merlin. You’re going. And if I hear that you never arrived, we are going to have a very long talk. You’re a better person than that, and not giving Arthur a chance to prove himself isn’t you.”
Once, Gwen would have babbled, trying to convince Merlin about Arthur’s new personality. But while on holiday, Gwen seemed to have found a new sort of confidence. She was adamant that Arthur had changed, but she wasn’t asking anymore—she was telling.
Even though it meant bad news for him, Merlin couldn’t help but be proud that Gwen had become someone capable of dishing out orders and not taking ‘No’ for an answer. She would give Morgana a run for her money, Merlin thought.
“Fine,” Merlin said, tone bitter. “I’ll go. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it!”
Gwen rolled her eyes. “Like it, or don’t like it, I don’t care. Just be there.”
-
The restaurant was nice, but not over the top, which was great because Merlin didn’t have any suits nice enough to get into high end restaurants. He’d settled for the clothes Gwen had thrown at him, because she had better taste than he ever had and Merlin only rarely did the dating scene.
As his eyes scanned the place, he noticed Pendragon was already there—flirting with a blonde waitress. Merlin clenched his teeth and gestured at the table to the host before he walked over, trying his best not to scowl. Obviously Pendragon hadn’t changed, and Merlin could already feel his night getting worse from here on out.
As soon as Pendragon saw him approaching over the waitress’ shoulder, Merlin was surprised to see his eyes widen before his superficial grin grew into a more genuine one. He dismissed the waitress with a word before he stood up to greet Merlin, but all Merlin did was stare warily at him.
Pendragon’s smile did not falter. “Hi, Merlin,” he said, sounding somewhat breathless. “I’m glad you came.”
“I wouldn’t have unless Gwen demanded,” Merlin told him plainly. Pendragon might not have changed, but as much as Merlin was annoyed, he was going to try and keep his temper in check unless provoked. He wasn’t sure how well he’d do—Pendragon’s entire existence seemed to provoke him in ways no one else had ever been able to.
However, Pendragon simply nodded at his words as if he understood completely, his smile more sympathetic now. He went over to Merlin’s side of the table and pulled out the chair for him with a flourish, and Merlin had to forcibly stop himself from gaping in shock.
“You do this for all your dates?” He asked before he could stop himself.
Pendragon winced. “Most of the time it didn’t really get to the point of dates.”
Merlin knew exactly what he meant by that.
He wanted to walk away more than anything, but in the end he had still made a promise to Gwen, and so with a reluctant sigh Merlin sat down in the chair. Pendragon smiled fleetingly as he pushed the chair back in before going back to sit in his own.
“If you could just,” Merlin began, before Pendragon could open his mouth, “let me know right now if you’re going to ditch me before the night is over for our waitress.”
Pendragon blinked, and Merlin thought he might have imagined a look of hurt for a moment before it was gone. “What makes you say that?” he asked, voice surprisingly calm.
“You were flirting with her when I walked in,” Merlin said.
Now Pendragon looked baffled. “I was making friendly conversation while I waited—she asked if I was waiting for someone, I said yes. Then you came in.”
Merlin wasn’t sure how much he bought it, but he still felt like an idiot for immediately jumping to conclusions either way. If Pendragon ever told Morgana about this, she’d be sure to tell Gwen, and Gwen would probably kill him.
“Look, I’m sorry, Pendragon,” he said. “But I’m having a really hard time trusting you. We both know how you are.”
“Were,” Pendragon said quietly. “And please, call me Arthur. I have changed, though I know you don’t believe it, and I’m not going to waste time trying to convince you with words. If you’re still sceptic once tonight is over, that can be the end of it, if you want.”
“Arthur. Gwen said you like me,” Merlin offered tentatively.
Pendragon—Arthur nodded. “I do,” he said without hesitation. “I’ve liked you since I first met you, and I’m tired of hiding it and going out and shagging random girls to try and make me forget. It hasn’t worked for the past two years, and I don’t think I could possibly hate myself for it more.”
“I think this is getting way too deep for a first date,” Merlin said.
Arthur chuckled half-heartedly and leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, probably. But since this is my only chance, I figured I better put it all out there right now. And it’s not like we’re strangers.”
Merlin hummed noncommittally. “You know, all of this could have been avoided if you’d just asked me out back then.”
Arthur hesitated. “My father is...he’s a traditionalist. I’d been planning on it the next time I saw you, but my father caught wind of my plans, and well...so I pretended everything was fine. I told him it had just been a passing fancy, and then came the string of girls to convince him I was telling the truth.”
“And suddenly you’ve decided not to.”
“I am not my father,” Arthur said, tone hard. “I’m not a child who has to do whatever he says. If I want to pursue a mature, adult relationship with someone of the same gender, that’s exactly what I’ll do.”
“That’s good,” Merlin said, unable to stop a small smile from curling at his lips. “Good for you.”
Arthur smiled hesitantly in return, and Merlin looked down quickly, trying not to think about how attractive Arthur was. He may not have liked Arthur, but it had never escaped his notice that despite it all, Arthur was good-looking. It didn’t help that now he seemed to have a decent personality as well, and Merlin didn’t want to seem so easily swayed.
“My question is, why did you like me when you didn’t even know me?”
He looked up through his eyelashes to see Arthur apparently musing on the inquiry.
“At first, it was purely on a shallow level—an aesthetic attraction. I figured that was enough of a reason, at first. But then, after my father... I had to observe you from a distance, and the more I saw you interacting with other people, the more I came to like your personality as well.”
Merlin was starting to realise that while he had simply seen what Arthur wanted other people to see, Arthur had known Merlin all this time.
“Watching me like that is creepy though, just so you know. You don’t sparkle in the sunlight, right?”
Arthur shot him a look, but then huffed out a laugh.
-
“So?” Arthur asked, his breath visible in the chilled air. It was obvious he’d been wanting to ask since they’d first left the restaurant, but he’d managed to wait until they had arrived outside Merlin’s flat.
“So what?” Merlin asked, hiding a smile with his scarf at the impatient look on Arthur’s face.
“Are you willing to give this...us...a try?”
“I wouldn’t have let you follow me to my flat if I wasn’t,” Merlin said. For a minute Arthur looked confused, but then he couldn’t stop smiling. “But I am not letting you in,” Merlin added quickly. “Not on the first date.”
“How about on the fourth?” Arthur asked, his cheeks flushed from the cold.
“Let’s try and make it through the second and third before anything else,” Merlin suggested. “Now I’m going to go inside, and you’re going to call me tomorrow. I’m trusting you, right now. Don’t let me down.”
“I won’t,” Arthur promised, both knowing they weren’t talking about the phone call. They stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Merlin leaned forward and kissed Arthur on the cheek quickly before running up the steps, opening the door and slipping inside easily.
Merlin pulled at his scarf as he leaned against the door, unable to stop the smile that was fighting to appear.
“Note to self,” he murmured, “Remember to always take Gwen’s advice, even when she seems crazy.”