Work Text:
Arthur
Arthur Pendragon stared at the door of the tiny apartment that was now his home. For the last two years, he’d been in college stuck in a dorm living with his best friend. And it’s not that he hated living with Gwaine. Not at all. Some of his best college days were spent in that tiny little dorm. Memories of booze and pizza and cramming for finals came to mind when Arthur thinks of that place. Which wasn’t all together horrible. But...Gwaine was messy. Probably the messiest person Arthur knew. The man couldn’t even be bothered to pick his underwear up off the floor until he was out of underwear and absolutely had to. And Arthur was a clean freak. Which generally meant that living with Gwaine was chaos. And Arthur preferred order over chaos. Which is why he’s extremely glad to be moving in here. Alone.
Arthur unlocked the door and stepped inside. All of his belongings had been set up the week before by Gwaine and an old college buddy while Arthur was at work. (He’d paid them in pizza and booze to do it.) It was small inside but Arthur loved it anyways. There were two leather couches sitting in front of a brand new flat screen television. Arthur smiled, walking into the kitchen where he found the fridge and cupboards fully stocked. This was probably thanks to Morgana because she was the only one with the good sense to actually buy food. Arthur himself had forgotten to buy food to cook. Thankfully, she or her girlfriend Gwen had bought everything else he’d needed for the kitchen as well. Which meant she’d be expecting payback. He’d have to remember to send her a box of those coffee filled chocolate things she liked from that candy store downtown. He’d probably send Gwen a gift card to some bookstore because she was always reading.
The apartment came with two bedrooms so Arthur had gone ahead and gotten a bed for each room. Morgana had obviously decided to purchase a bedding set for the spare because it was all made up and perfect. (He knew that was Morgana because Gwaine had stopped making his bed when he was like eight.) Arthur stepped inside the spare and rolled his eyes at his sister’s attention to details that didn’t matter. She’d obviously conned his father into buying a dresser and a nightstand for the spare room because there was a dresser and a nightstand with a small lamp on it in the room. Grinning, Arthur inspected his own bedroom and couldn’t resist throwing himself upon his bed. As he lay down, he saw that Morgana had been in here too because there was a new picture on his nightstand. Arthur sighed, picking the picture up. In the picture, he stood next to a slightly taller man with short black hair, brilliant blue eyes, and cheekbones that could have been cut from marble. Merlin Emrys. Arthur’s heart lurched at the sight of the picture. He’d hidden the picture under his pillow at his father’s home two years ago and Morgana, who was probably the only person aside from Gwaine that knew how much Arthur missed Merlin, had obviously framed it for him.
Merlin had been his best friend once. The three of them - Merlin, Gwaine, and Arthur - had been an unstoppable team all throughout their school years. And then, in their senior year, he and Merlin had started dating. It had been the best two years of his life. Merlin hadn’t decided to go to college but Arthur had. Merlin had instead moved into a small, two bedroom apartment with his close friend Lance and had started selling his art to a local art dealer. He’d had a job at a local cafe as a waiter and things had been going good. And then Arthur’s father, Uther Pendragon, had found out about the relationship. He’d threatened Arthur that, if the relatiionship continued, he would stop paying for Arthur’s college. Arthur had made the worst choice of his life and ended things with Merlin. Merlin hadn’t been mad but he’d been heartbroken. Too heartbroken to continue being friends. And so they stopped talking. (Merlin and Gwaine stopped talking because Merlin didn’t want to come between Arthur and Gwaine.)
Three years had passed since then and Arthur forced himself not to think about Merlin. He’d tried dating again but the idea of dating someone who wasn’t Merlin was too horrible to think about. So he gave up on the idea. Arthur kept the pictures, though. He had a folder on his email where he kept all the cute emails that he and Merlin had exchanged throughout their relationship. Sometimes, when he was particularly lonely or sad, he read the emails over again. He’d been an idiot to break up with Merlin and if he ever saw him again, he’d get on his knees and beg for forgiveness.
As Arthur was thinking about this, his cell phone rang and he looked down. Gwaine was calling.
“Hey.”
“Get dressed. I’m at your door. We’re going to the bar down the street and I’m getting you drunk.”
“Okay. Why?”
“Because I don’t want to get drunk but I want to go to the bar. So, you’re going to get drunk and I’m going to watch.”
Arthur laughed. “All right. Let me grab my jacket and I’ll be right out.”
Gwaine laughed and hung up. Arthur put the picture down and stood up. Heading over to his closet, he grabbed a black jacket and headed out to meet his best friend. Gwaine was leaning against the side of the apartment building, smoking a cigarette. He put it out when Arthur approached, knowing how much Arthur hated the scent of cigarettes. Together, the two friends headed down the street from Arthur’s apartment. Arthur had no idea at that moment but just three hours later, as he was being escorted home by Gwaine, his life would change.
Merlin
Merlin wished he’d taken the coat the old lady had offered him a few hours because he was fucking freezing right now. He wore a long-sleeved t-shirt and a pair of torn jeans. His hair was as short as ever because he’d used the last of his money to get it cut. He stood under a streetlamp, hoping the light from the lamp would warm him at least a little. Merlin kept a smile on his face just so the people milling around him wouldn’t pity him. He didn’t deserve their pity. Inside, though, he wanted to cry. This wasn’t the life he’d wanted. Not by a long shot. And it hadn’t been the life he’d had three years ago.
Merlin closed his eyes and thought about how good life had been three years ago. Just three years ago, he’d been a successful artist with a loving boyfriend and friends that he adored. Now he was little more than a beggar. He remembered how everything had fallen apart and wished more than anything that things were different. Three years ago he’d been dating his childhood best friend. Arthur was a Pendragon, the most famous family in town. His father was rich and powerful...and homophobic. He and Arthur had kept their relationship a secret but Uther had found out and...well, that’s when everything had fallen apart. Arthur had broken up with Merlin to save his college career. Merlin hadn’t been mad at him because Arthur deserved that. He couldn’t willingly get in the way of Arthur’s dreams. Merlin had figured that that was the end of it. He’d taken the weekend to recover and then he’d gone into work the next morning only to discover that the cafe he’d been part timing at had fired him because Uther Pendragon had sent in a tip about him. Merlin had figured, okay. At least he still had his painting. Until the owner of the art dealer had called and told him that he could no longer sell his paintings. Merlin had been destroyed. He’d told his roommate that he was moving out and he’d gone to live with his mother. He’d lived with his mother in his childhood home up until six months ago when she’d passed away from a heart condition. He’d tried to get another job but no one would hire him. And so he lived on the streets. Alone. Picking out of trash cans for food. He’d had a backpack full of clothes until someone had stolen it a few weeks ago. And so now he had one pair of clothing. No one would give him shelter and very few were nice enough to give him hand outs.
Merlin was starting to doubt that things would ever get better for him. He was going to be alone and homeless for the rest of his life. When he finally did die, no one would care. Arthur would hear about it in the paper and maybe he’d remember the boy he’d loved so long ago. If Arthur even remembered him. It had been three years. Arthur had probably moved on by now. Married. He would have finished college a couple of months ago so he was probably working by now. He probably had a pretty girlfriend who deserved his love so much more than Merlin ever had. Arthur had probably put Merlin away in some back corner of his mind where he kept all bad memories.
Merlin had never moved on, though. Arthur was his first and his last. He could never love someone the way he’d loved Arthur. The man could be the biggest ass in the world...but he was also the best man Merlin had known. Arthur had been willing to befriend the poor, big eared boy that everyone had teased in first grade. He’d stood up for him and had even fallen in love with him. It wasn’t his fault that Merlin wasn’t worthy of that love. And so Merlin would never, ever move on. Arthur would be his only love.
Sighing, Merlin turned away from the street light. He needed to find someplace to sleep soon. If he waited too long, the other homeless people would take all the warm spots and he couldn’t sleep on the park bench again. The police officer had said he’d have to arrest him if he was caught there again. Before Merlin could take a single step away from the streetlight, he heard someone’s sharp intake of breath. It was a surprised sound, like someone had just seen a ghost. Automatically, Merlin’s eyes snapped to the source of the sound. His heart dropped at the sight of the person who had made that sound.
Gwaine. Gwaine Parker. His other childhood best friend stood in front of him, staring at him in mute horror. Standing next to him, undoubtedly drunk, was Arthur. Gwaine had an arm around Arthur, keeping him in place. (Arthur liked to wander when drunk...and almost always got lost if he didn’t have someone walking him home.) Merlin forced his eyes away from Arthur and to Gwaine’s face. Gwaine looked sick. When Gwaine spoke, voice slightly raised over Arthur’s incoherent ramble, Merlin wanted to cry.
“Merls? Is that you?”
“Gwaine. It’s....it’s me.”
“What’re you doing? You....you look...”
“If you’re going to say homeless then it’s because I am homeless. I’ve been homeless for six months now.” Merlin blurted, hating himself afterwards because he hadn’t wanted to say that at all. Gwaine just had this odd way of getting things out of him.
“What? But...the last time we talked...you were...you were so successful.”
“I...don’t think I should tell you how this happened...” Merlin stammered, eyes darting to Arthur.
Gwaine rolled his eyes. “If you’re worried about Arthur understanding any of this, don’t. We both know Arthur won’t recall any of this in the morning.”
“Fine.” But that was all Merlin could get out.
“So?” Gwaine prompted.
“After Arthur and I broke up...Uther sent in a tip to the cafe I was working in. They fired me. He also said something to the owner of Brookside Art Gallery because he wouldn’t sell for me anymore. I was living with my mom for a while but she...uh...she had a heart attack six months ago and I had nowhere else to go.”
Gwaine’s face paled and he glanced at Arthur. “They won’t let you in to the shelter?”
“No. Uther owns the shelter now. I can’t even go there to get food.”
Gwaine scrutinized him. “How long has it been since you’ve eaten?” he demanded.
“I ate a donut someone threw away yesterday. I haven’t had anything today because no one’s thrown anything away.”
“Where were you sleeping?”
“I don’t know yet. Probably under the main street bridge. That’s the warmest place.”
“No. Arthur would have me beheaded if I let you walk away from me. Absolutely not.”
“Gwaine...”
“Don’t argue with me Merlin. I’m spending the night at Arthur’s place tonight. I think you need to come with us.”
“I...I couldn’t.”
“Merlin, I was very serious when I said Arthur would have me beheaded if I let you walk away. That’s not counting what Morgana would have done to me.”
“But Uther...”
“Fuck Uther. Arthur has his own apartment now. Morgana is still livid with Uther for making Arthur choose between you and school. If she knew what he’s done to you...she’d probably kill him. Trust me, Merlin.”
“I...don’t...I....”
“At least come with me tonight. Talk to Arthur in the morning when he’s sober. Please...”
Merlin felt his walls breaking. He could do that for Gwaine. It would be a warm place to sleep for the night and he knew Arthur would feed him in the morning. No matter if he believed him or not, Arthur would make sure Merlin was fed. He nodded numbly and Gwaine took off his jacket, draping it around Merlin’s shoulders like a blanket. It sort of felt like high school. Gwaine was the partier of their group, the joker. But he was also the mother. He’d always taken care of Merlin and it looked like he’d never grown out of that. Merlin slipped his arms inside of the jacket and savored the warmth. Gwaine led them to a small apartment building where he took a key from Arthur’s pocket - Arthur was half-awake on Gwaine’s shoulder mumbling incoherently - and unlocked the door. Steering Arthur inside, Gwaine told Merlin to sit down and wait for him to return.
Gwaine steered Arthur into a bedroom and Merlin heard some banging around as he got Arthur ready for bed. When he returned a few minutes later, he told Merlin to come into the kitchen. Merlin was told to sit down at the small table while Gwaine cooked him a simple ham and cheese omelet and served a glass of milk. He sat across Merlin as he ate and watched him carefully. When Merlin finished eating a few minutes later, Gwaine handed him a pair of pajama bottoms, a pair of boxers, and a t-shirt that belonged to Arthur.
“The pajama bottoms were yours at one time and Arthur kept them. The shirt and boxers are Arthur’s but he won’t mind. There’s a second bedroom right across from Arthur’s. Bathroom is down the hall. Go take a shower and shave. I put some of my razors in the second drawer. Then put those clothes on, climb in the spare bed, and sleep until you’ve rested. Arthur doesn’t work for the next two days so you’ll have plenty of time to talk.”
“You’ll be here when I talk to him?”
Gwaine’s face softened. “Of course. You’re still my best friend, Merls. I’ll never leave you. Besides, if I let Arthur find you here and don’t warn him that I found you...he’ll have a heart attack.”
“Okay. Thank you Gwaine...”
“Anything for you Merls. Now go. I’m gonna get some sleep myself.”
Merlin headed into the bathroom and did as he’d been asked. He didn’t think too much about where he was or who was sleeping right across the hall because he didn’t want to start fantasizing about how life could be. By the time he fell into bed, he was so exhausted he slept for twelve hours...
Arthur
Arthur woke with a pounding head and a bad taste in his mouth. He rolled onto his side and grabbed for the bottle of ibuprofen that Gwaine always set beside the bed. Tossing them down, he made his way to the bathroom and splashed water on his face before heading to the living room. He expected Gwaine to be in the spare bedroom asleep but he found the opposite. Gwaine was sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. That was weird. He hadn’t done any drinking the night before so why did he look so sick?
“Food?” Arthur asked in greeting.
“We...need to talk. There’s someone sleeping in your spare bedroom that needs to talk to you and I...have to warn you about something.”
Arthur cocked an eyebrow. “Okay. Who’s sleeping in my spare bedroom?”
Gwaine took a deep breath. “Merlin Emrys is asleep in there.”
Arthur felt his stomach drop. “What....how?”
Gwaine sighed. “I was walking you home last night and I...I came across him. He...Arthur, I’m going to let him tell his story when he wakes up but...it’s bad. I kind of want to find your father and beat the daylights out of him.”
Arthur’s whole body felt cold. “What...what did my father do?”
Another very soft voice answered him. “Can we talk about that over coffee please?”
Arthur turned around to see someone that looked like Merlin standing behind him. But that couldn’t be Merlin. He was too skinny, too broken-looking to be his Merlin. And yet, the voice that had come out of him had been the voice he’d fallen in love with. The eyes that stared at him from that too-thin face were Merlin’s bright blue eyes. Arthur’s heart did a funny flip. What had happened to the man he loved? Gone was the cheerful, sarcastic grin. Gone was the loud, boisterous voice. Merlin looked ashamed, heartbroken. What on earth had his father done to make him this way?
“Gwaine. We need food. And coffee. Please.” Arthur said quietly.
The three of them headed into the kitchen where Gwaine set to cooking. Merlin sat at the table, across from Arthur. He kept his head down, seeming almost ashamed. Arthur waited until two cups of steaming hot coffee had been set down in front of them to speak.
“”Merlin...talk to me. What happened?”
Merlin spoke, still not looking at him. “I’m scared to tell you this...you won’t believe me.”
Arthur reached across the table and took Merlin’s hand. “Whatever has happened, I will believe you. I am not a little boy anymore. I know that my father isn’t perfect.”
Merlin nodded and started to speak. He told Arthur how he’d lost his jobs, how his mother had died. How he’d lived on the streets for six months with no food or shelter. Arthur felt guilt bubble up in his chest as Merlin’s story continued. How could he have done this? He should have been there for Merlin. He’d sworn that he’d never let anyone hurt him and yet his own father had done so much to hurt him. Arthur felt tears course down his cheeks as he stared at Merlin. Merlin was staring at his hands, looking so afraid that it twisted Arthur’s gut. When Arthur didn’t speak, Merlin stood up.
“I’m sorry...I shouldn’t have...I’ll just go...” Merlin stammered, stepping away from the table.
Arthur shot to his feet. “You’re not leaving this house ever again. I won’t let you go back to the streets.”
“Arthur...you don’t have to do that. I don’t want you to pity me...”
“I’m not pitying you, Merlin. I’m doing what I should have done three years ago. I should have been there for you. I should have told my father to go to Hell. I love you, Merlin. That has never changed and it never will. I’m not telling you to stay because I pity you. I’m telling you to stay because it would break me to watch you leave again.”
Merlin’s face softened. “Do you mean it? Do you really...love me?”
Arthur stepped forward, pulling Merlin into his arms. “I will always love you. Now sit down. Eat. I need to make a few phone calls.”
Gwaine looked uneasy. “Arthur...what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to call Morgana. And then I’m going to call my father and I’m going to confront him.”
Merlin cocked an eyebrow. “Why call Morgana?”
Arthur grinned. “Because she’s going to want to be here when I confront my father.”
“Oh.”
“You can go lay down if you don’t want to face my father. I won’t force that on you.”
Merlin rolled his eyes. “Nonsense. I need to be out here.”
“All right then. Eat. I’ll be back.”
Arthur headed into his bedroom to make the two phone calls. The call with Morgana was simple. He told her to get over to his place as quickly as possible. Something in Arthur’s voice had her agreeing without argument or tease. The next call he made was to his father. He struggled to keep his voice even as he spoke to the man, telling him only that he needed to see him right away. His father agreed and said he’d be there in an hour. That gave Arthur time to tell Morgana what Uther had done and to prepare her for the confrontation that was about to happen.
Morgana showed up five minutes later. She looked worried as she opened the door and stepped inside. As soon as she caught sight of Merlin, her eyes filled with tears and she stepped forward to hug him tightly. Arthur smiled as they embraced. Morgana had always been fond of Merlin. When he and Merlin had broken up, Morgana had been furious with not only Uther but Arthur as well. She’d actually stopped talking to him for a days. It had only been when she’d discovered what Uther had threatened him with that she’d begun talking to him again.
“Did you finally come to your senses?” she demanded of Arthur.
“Sort of. You should sit down. There are things you need to hear before father gets here.”
“What did he do?” she demanded.
“I’ll tell you if you sit down.”
Morgana sat down on the couch and waited patiently. Arthur took a deep breath and spoke in a low voice.
“After making me break up with Merlin, father took things a step or two further. None of us knew any of this until Gwaine and I ran into Merlin on the way home from the bar last night.”
“This doesn’t sound good...” Morgana breathed, looking at the way Gwaine and Arthur’s faces were darkening.
“It isn’t.” Gwaine said.
“After forcing me to end things with Merlin, father got him fired from his job. He said something to the owner of the art gallery where Merlin was selling his art and the owner refused to sell for him. No one else in town would hire him - no doubt because of something father said or did - and so Merlin moved in with his mother. Hunith died six months ago and Merlin has been on the streets since then.”
Morgana’s face went white. She stared at Merlin, eyes wide. “Merlin...why on earth didn’t you tell me? I told you when I saw you the night you and Arthur split up that I would do anything you needed. If you’d come to me, I would have at least let you stay with me.”
Merlin looked away. “Uther’s your father. I...I didn’t want you to get in trouble because of me...”
Morgana sighed and looked at Arthur. “What’ve you planned?”
“I’ve called father. He doesn’t know anything yet. I just told him that he needed to come here. I plan on confronting him and making it absolutely clear that I want no part of his life. If Gwaine hadn’t recognized Merlin last night, the man I love would still be out there on those streets. It is the middle of winter and he was planning to sleep under a bridge. I am disowning him.”
Morgana nodded. “I think I’ll do the same.”
Merlin’s face paled. “You don’t need to disown the only family you have left because of me...”
Arthur wrapped an arm around his shoulders. “You are a member of our family, love. Father is the one to blame for this. If he’d left you alone, we wouldn’t be doing this.”
“Besides,” Morgana said, “we still have each other and you. Not to mention Gwaine, Gwen, and Lance.”
“You still talk to Lance?” Merlin asked quietly.
Morgana and Gwaine nodded. “Why did you stop talking to him?”
“I didn’t want him to think that he needed to take care of me. I didn’t want to be a burden to him.”
“He’s been worried about you. We all have. But we thought you’d just moved out of town or something. We didn’t know that you’d been on the streets.” Morgana said.
“I really didn’t want anyone knowing what was happening. I was scared you wouldn’t believe me.”
“Why on earth wouldn’t we believe you? We know what kind of man our father is, Merls.” Morgana said.
“He’s your father. No matter what he’s done, he still takes precedence over me.”
“No. The man I love takes precedence over anyone.” Arthur said.
Morgana nodded. “You have always been there for us, Merlin. Who let me stay with him when Uther found out that Gwen and I were together and kicked me out? Who listened to my senseless drivel when I realized that I was gay?”
Gwaine chimed in with, “And who let me crash at his place when my parents were fighting? Who listened to me when things at home were bad enough that I couldn’t even go there? You did, Merlin. You have always been there for us no matter what it was we needed. Now it’s our turn to be there for you.”
Merlin smiled. “I really do love you guys.”
“And we love you. Uther’s car just pulled up. Merlin, sit next to Morgana. Arthur and I are going to stay standing.”
Merlin took a seat and took a deep breath as the door opened. Uther Pendragon stepped inside, looking as regal as ever...
Merlin
Merlin felt his heart begin to pound as Uther’s eyes connected with his own. The look on Uther’s face went from curious to pure rage in less than a second. He turned to face his son, completely ignoring Morgana’s presence. Morgana wrapped an arm around Merlin’s waist, lending support silently.
“What is the meaning of this?” Uther demanded of Arthur.
Gwaine laid a hand on Arthur’s shoulder, restraining him quietly. Arthur was practically vibrating with rage. His dark blue eyes were bright with anger. He took a deep breath and looked back at Merlin before speaking in a hard voice.
“What did Merlin ever do to you to deserve what you’ve done? What could he have ever done to you?!”
“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about. The boy is most likely lying.”
If he thought that saying that would calm Arthur, he’d been wrong. Arthur’s chest puffed and he looked ready to kill. Thankfully, Morgana spoke before Arthur could do anything. Her voice was silky but filled with a rage that none of them had ever heard in her voice before. She kept one arm securely around Merlin as she spoke, eyes never leaving Merlin’s face.
“You’re the one who lies, Uther. Merlin told us everything. How you got him fired. How you made sure he couldn’t sell his art. How he was forced onto the streets when his mother died because you made it impossible for him to get another job.”
“You almost got away with it. In fact, if I hadn’t recognized him last night, none of us would never have known the truth.” Gwaine said.
Uther glared at Merlin but said nothing. Arthur spoke again, voice rising.
“I hope everything you’ve done was worth being disowned by both of your children, Uther Pendragon. Because that’s what we’re doing. Morgana and I want no part of you. When Merlin and I marry, I’ll take his last name.”
Morgana nodded decisively. “I’ve already decided to take Gwen’s last name anyways.”
“You’re disowning me, your flesh and blood, because of some street urchin?!” Uther demanded angrily.
Merlin cocked an eyebrow. “I wouldn’t have been a street urchin if you’d stayed the hell out of my life. I would have been a successful artist. My paintings were selling good enough that I could have quit working at the cafe any time I wanted to. But you thought that, if I had nothing, maybe Arthur wouldn’t want me anymore. You were wrong.”
Merlin looked to Arthur after he’d spoken to see a small smile on the other man’s face. Arthur grinned, kissing him soundly on the lips. When they parted, Arthur turned to his father and spoke in a quiet voice.
“Get out Uther. I’ve got everything I need right here.”