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Arthur tossed back the shot, his gaze never straying from the dark-haired beauty who had caught his eye when he and his friends had ambled into the university pub forty-five minutes ago.
Damn, Arthur appraised, already feeling delightfully tipsy from the beer and the shots he had consumed. He would sure like to tap that.
A hand waved in front of his face to catch his attention. Arthur blinked but kept his gaze locked and steady on the newfound object of his desire.
“Don’t bother,” he heard Leon say to Gwaine. “He’s sending intense please-let-me-fuck-you-now vibes to that dark-haired hottie over there, who doesn’t seem to be feeling the message.”
“The one with the modest cleavage or the fantastic cheekbones?” Gwaine asked, chuckling.
“Cheekbones,” Leon replied.
Arthur paid them no attention. He was too busy imagining the myriad and kinky ways that he could bed the beautiful dark-haired guy with the fantastic cheekbones who was sitting at a table with a petite and pretty brunette across the way in the crowded pub to bother listening to his friends’ commentary. Arthur wanted that boy. And he planned to have him.
He accepted the shot Gwaine placed in his hand and knocked it quickly back before he made his way through the crowd toward his destiny. Arthur didn’t need liquid courage to make a move but he found that his smoothness tended to increase three-fold with a couple of straight-up shots under his belt.
When he reached the table, Arthur leaned forward, resting his knuckles on the surface, and addressed the Guy With The Awesome Cheekbones. “You’re fucking beautiful,” he slur-purred, deliberately licking his lips. He could always count on reeling in both guys and girls with that little trick.
And as far as pick-up lines went, Arthur thought this one was rather brilliant. It was definitely direct. The guy was fucking beautiful - high cheekbones flushed pink, lips full and plump, dark hair stylishly mussed. Really, the guy was a walking (or sitting, in this case) wet dream.
Cheekbone Guy took a drink of his draft beer – oh how tantalizing those plump, pink lips were; Arthur could visualize them wrapping around his full, hard cock– and then slid a brief, uninterested glance at Arthur. “You’re drunk,” he stated.
Arthur held up his thumb and index finger. “Just a smidge,” he admitted, thinking how funny the word “smidge” was. He leaned in closer, giving Cheekbone Guy his most irresistible smile. “I want to fuck you,” Arthur told him simply.
The brunette at the table made a low growling noise (Arthur immediately guessed: girlfriend) but Cheekbone Guy appeared to be unmoved by the declaration. “Okay, whatever,” he said, picking up his glass again and pretty much ignoring Arthur. “You should probably totter off now.”
Arthur stared at him for a moment, stunned. Whatever? Totter off now? Shouldn’t this guy be, like, affected by Arthur’s irresistibility and be wanting to get into his pants already? Most of the time, Arthur had to fend off girls and guys alike without having to do much more than exist. He had pretty much served himself up on a silver platter to this guy and the guy hadn’t so much as blinked any interest.
“Sure,” Arthur said congenially, pushing himself off the table with his knuckles. If the guy wanted to be left alone, Arthur would leave him alone. He wasn’t going to continue to make unwanted (he was having a hard time even mentally conceding this word) advances.
“Thanks,” the guy mumbled around his mug of beer, shooting a quick glance at Arthur.
For a brief moment, Arthur thought he caught a flicker of arousal in Cheekbone Guy’s eyes but his glance had been so quick that it was impossible for Arthur to know for sure. Still, the guy had basically told him to leave and Arthur, knowing when to accept defeat and to accept it gracefully, turned to rejoin his friends at the bar.
**
Merlin kept his eyes on the half-empty mug of draft set in front of him while sliding a surreptitious glance at the now retreating blonde who had just hit on him. Fuck, the guy had been hot. Very hot. Too hot, really.
He could feel Freya’s fiery brown eyes burning a hole through him so he turned and looked at her.
“What?” he said, all innocence. He even tried to throw in a little ‘affronted’ to his look and tone even though he knew Freya wouldn’t buy it. The woman was shrewd.
Freya’s eyes narrowed. “Like you don’t know,” she said, rolling her eyes for extra effect.
The woman sitting at the table with him – Freya - was Merlin’s on-again-off-again girlfriend and had been since second year of undergrad. Freya was pretty and petite, smart, and had a great sense of humour. And Merlin found these things about her all very appealing - especially when they were in the on-again stage of their relationship, which, it so happened, they were: currently on-again, that is. He really did. So what if his cock had responded in betrayal when the blonde had told him he was beautiful and that he wanted to fuck Merlin?
“Hey, I didn’t do anything,” Merlin defended, holding his palms up. “He just came over.”
“Merlin, “ Freya intoned and suddenly Merlin felt like a school boy being scolded by the teacher. Which was ridiculous because Merlin was nearly six feet tall and Freya stood all of five feet, maybe two inches. “You don’t have to do anything. All you have to do is be you – all cute and adorable. You’re like a sex magnet.”
Merlin shrugged, allowing himself a grin. He couldn’t help it if he was cute and adorable.
Apparently grinning was the wrong thing to do. Freya crossed her arms and pressed her lips into a scowling frown. “Last week it was that girl Elena from your grad seminar who hit on you. And a few weeks before that, it was some guy called Owen--”
“Owain,” Merlin corrected then decided he should really keep his mouth shut when Freya shot him a look that was clearly meant to communicate ‘avada kedavra’. Whenever they were on-again, Freya played the jealous girlfriend part very convincingly.
“And a couple weeks before that--” she continued.
“We weren’t on-again then,” Merlin reminded her. “Doesn’t count.”
This made Freya grin. She was fierce but she wasn’t unreasonable. It was probably why their relationship had changed status seven times (by Merlin’s count) in the five years they had been in university together. Besides, Freya knew and understood that Merlin was attracted to both women and men and was very supportive of his bisexuality, at least when she wasn’t being jealous.
Merlin felt the toe of Freya’s suddenly shoeless foot run up his leg and inner thigh then press into his crotch lightly. “Let’s go back to mine,” she propositioned, batting her eyelashes and licking her lips seductively. “I’ll make you forget all about blondie.”
Merlin quickly drained the last of his beer and stood. “Let’s go,” he said, grabbing Freya by the hand and grinning cheekily.
One thing was certain: Freya was a veritable hellcat in bed. So Merlin thought it very likely that she would make him forget all about the blonde hottie who had come onto him and had made his dick rise with interest.
**
Leon, Percy, and Elyan roared with laughter as Arthur sauntered back to the bar, doing his best to look nonchalant and completely unfazed.
“Oh, Pendragon strikes out!” Leon needled, grinning with delight.
“That must be a first,” Elyan added, sounding just as delighted.
Percy slapped him on the back. “Tough luck, buddy,” he commiserated, his face splitting into a grin.
Arthur brushed their mock-sympathies aside. “The guy was obviously charmed by me,” he said with a drunken lilt. “But I don’t think he wanted to show it in front of his girlfriend.”
“He’s got a girlfriend?” Leon said, tipping his bottle of beer back to take a swig. “What? Your gaydar off or something?”
“My gaydar is pperrrfectly fine,” Arthur returned, taking a sip from the bottle Gwaine had pressed into his hand moments ago, reminding himself that it should be his last. He had a tutorial in the morning he needed to get up for and he was beginning to think he was a little bit drunk. “Mr. Hello-My-Cheekbones-Are-Kicking-Right-Off-My-Face is gay, thankyouverymuch.” His friends raised dubious eyebrows at him. “Well, at least half of the time he is,” Arthur clarified, grinning.
Arthur prided himself on being able to detect hints of sexual interest and arousal in any man or woman and he was definitely sure that the guy with the amazing cheekbones was on the fence as far as his sexuality went. When he saw the couple leaving the pub, the pretty brunette being pulled along by the dark-haired hottie, hand in hand (girlfriend, he reconfirmed mentally), Arthur was even more certain that Cheekbone Guy was bi, or at least bi-curious. He may have shown no outward interest in response to Arthur’s come-on but there had been something there – Arthur wasn’t at the point of being so drunk he hadn’t felt it, that cleverly hidden spark of arousal.
Yep. He may have ‘struck out’ (this was almost as mentally unpalatable as ‘unwanted’, Arthur groused internally) with Cheekbone Guy tonight but Arthur was pretty sure that under other circumstances (translation: girlfriend absent), he would have had a shot with the dark-haired beauty.
Arthur drained the remainder of his beer, feeling smug at this thought.
**
He was running late for his morning tutorial, which was bad for three reasons: 1) Arthur had a hangover of epic proportions and hurrying wasn’t helping his blinding headache or his queasy stomach any; 2) It was the first scheduled tutorial of the term and he didn’t want to get off on the wrong foot; and 3) It was the tutorial for his statistics class; Arthur was a good scholar but math had never been his strong point. And throwing a hangover into the mix was surely just asking for trouble.
Arthur spotted Gwaine as he rushed into the classroom and made his way to sit down in the empty seat next to him, pulling out his laptop and booting it up while his friend grinned infuriatingly at him.
“Okay, like I was saying,” the tutorial leader said from the front of the classroom. “I’m Merlin Emrys and I’ll be leading your statistics tutorial. Here’s my contact information and office hours if you need any further assistance.”
Gwaine whacked Arthur on the arm. “Check out our new tutorial leader,” he whispered, nodding toward the front of the classroom. Arthur noted that Gwaine was still grinning like a maniac and he wondered if his friend was still drunk.
But Arthur did look up and his gaze came to rest on a tall, lanky dark-haired guy with beautifully high cheekbones and plump, pink, kissable lips. The black-rimmed glasses were new (and very hot, in Arthur’s opinion), but Arthur easily recognized the guy he had hit on the night before in the pub who had somehow (and quite surprisingly) been immune to his charms.
Arthur did his best to focus on what the tutorial leader – was his name really Merlin? – was saying – something about t-tests or was it tea-tests? – but he found himself easily distracted by the sight before him. Arthur could not help but notice the way the fitted purple plaid button-down hugged the man’s lean torso or the way the dark denim accentuated his long legs and tight buns. Beautiful hands with long fingers moved gracefully across the chalkboard, casting a mesmerizing spell. And those glasses. Arthur hadn’t known he had a kink for guys in glasses but it was definitely there now.
A sharp jab to his ribs brought Arthur’s attention back to reality. Arthur scowled as he took the sheet of paper Gwaine was thrusting at him – a sign-in sheet, he realized – not sure if the scowl was because of the elbowing or because he had been pulled away from his fantasies. Either way, Gwaine was a nuisance.
He passed the sheet and then focused his attention onto the tutorial lesson – really focusing this time. Okay, so if the p-value was less than the significance level of .05, then we reject the null hypothesis and accept the alternative hypothesis...or was it the other way around?
Bloody hell, Arthur hated statistics.
**
Merlin blew out a sigh of relief as he set the piece of chalk down on the board ledge, signalling the end of the tutorial. Books slammed shut, laptops clicked closed, and bodies began to shuffle quickly. He was used to that – most social science students hated statistics.
He set about erasing the numbers and equations on the chalkboard, keeping his fingers crossed that none of the students – and one student in particular – would hang back to ask questions. Merlin knew it was over-dramatic but for some reason he was feeling dirty, like he had been violated somehow -- undressed with hungry eyes and exposed naked to lust-filled assessment as he had outlined the steps of conducting a t-test.
Erasing job done, he turned to collect his stuff and immediately decided The Fates hated him. Because, of course the hot blonde guy from the pub last night – and the one Merlin was sure had mentally undressed him during the tutorial – had stayed behind, and was the only one left in the classroom besides Merlin.
Fucking fuck.
Merlin nodded brief acknowledgement, hoping to hell that the guy wouldn’t even remotely hint at the come-on he had made last night. And if he did, Merlin was fully prepared to feign innocence and to express that he had absolutely no idea what the guy was talking about.
The blonde with the incredible blue eyes (yes, Merlin had noticed) approached.
“Hi, Merlin,” he said, holding out his hand for shaking. “I’m Arthur.”
Merlin looked at Arthur’s hand but didn’t move to shake it. “Mr. Emrys,” Merlin corrected, wanting to keep his relationship with this guy strictly professional. Not that there was any relationship. Or that he wanted to have any relationship. Absolutely not.
“Okay,” Arthur said smoothly, retracting his hand. “Mr. Emrys then.”
Merlin thought Arthur looked disappointed but he seemed to recover quickly enough.
“Anyway, uh, I kinda suck at math and I’m a little leery about this statistics course. So I might need to take you up on that ‘further assistance’ you mentioned.” Arthur looked at him from under stupidly seductive eyelashes and Merlin had to lock his knees in place so they wouldn’t go weak. Damn.
“That’s what office hours are for,” he told Arthur, collecting his notes and doing his best to avoid eye contact. Merlin wanted to bang his head repeatedly on the chalkboard. Why, oh, why did the hot guy who had hit on him have to be in this tutorial? And why did he have to suck at math? Couldn’t whoever was in charge of Fate and Destiny give him a freakin’ break? He was sure some deity was looking down at him right now and laughing her ass off.
“Right,” Arthur said. It seemed to Merlin that Arthur was attempting to catch his glance but Merlin stubbornly wasn’t budging. His knees were already at the danger-point of extremely loose.
Obviously getting nowhere (again) with Merlin, Arthur made to leave. He paused, however, at the classroom door. “Oh,” he said, casting a look back at Merlin. “And the glasses?” Arthur pointed at the black-rimmed glasses Merlin was wearing and grinned lasciviously. “Very hot.”
Merlin gaped as Arthur retreated. He was so, so fucked. He shoved his notes and laptop into his bag, jamming his glasses into the side pocket. Then he slung the bag over his shoulder and went to meet Freya and Gilli at the UoC Student Centre, hoping to defy The Fates and somehow wipe the blonde hottie who apparently had a kink for guys with glasses from his mind.
**
“Oh fuck. You should’ve been there!”
Arthur pushed open his door and found Gwaine in his dorm room, regaling Leon, Percy and Elyan with the tale of how their tutorial leader turned out to be the cute guy Arthur had hit on at the pub the night before.
Of course, when they saw him, his friends all burst out laughing – completely in good nature – and Arthur decided to laugh along with them. It was less painful on his already aching head.
“Betcha this is the first time Arthur’s ever been rejected,” Percy said. “By a grad student, no less.”
“I wasn’t rejected,” Arthur countered.
“Who turns out to be his tutorial leader,” Leon added, grinning.
“Well, I didn’t know that last night, did I?” Arthur further pointed out.
“Who happens to have a girlfriend,” Gwaine reminded them.
“Alright, alright!” Arthur said to stop his friend’s niggling. He fixed them with a look of challenge. “Bet you I’ll get into his pants before the end of the term,” he wagered with confidence. Arthur Pendragon had always been cocky and confident when it came to his ability to charm the pants or panties off a guy or girl. Merlin Emrys seemed a tough nut on the surface but Arthur felt certain he could crack him.
Gwaine stood and shook his hand. “I’ll take that bet. Fifty bucks,” he said then looked around. “Anyone else care to get in on this?”
“I hardly think taking fifty from each of you would be fair,” Arthur teased.
“Just be ready to put your money where your mouth is, Pendragon,” Leon said, stretching up from the bed to shake Gwaine’s and Arthur’s hands. “I’m in.”
“Me too,” said Percy, grinning.
“Me four,” said Elyan.
Well, Arthur thought, he’d either be two hundred dollars richer or poorer at the end of this and he was determined not to make it the latter. Besides, seducing his cute tutorial leader seemed like a win even without the promise of extra cash.
**
It took less than 48 hours for Merlin to get the first email from Arthur Pendragon.
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
Mr. Emrys,
I am having some trouble with t-tests. May I please make an appointment during your office hours to review?
Thank you,
A.P.
Well, fuck.
As a tutorial leader for Dr. Gaius’ social statistics class, it was Merlin’s job to help students understand the course and tutorial material. Unfortunately, Arthur Pendragon was a student. And, also unfortunate, it seemed he needed help. And, damn, if his email wasn’t super-fucking polite.
Merlin typed a quick response:
To: [email protected]
From: [email protected]
1:15 pm Tuesday ok?
Yeah. Merlin was so, so fucked.
**
Merlin shared a room in one of the lecture halls with two other teaching assistants and the three of them had staggered their office hours to avoid overlap and subsequent crowding. Merlin emptied his backpack onto one of the tables and waited for his appointment with Arthur Pendragon, now finding himself wishing that one of the other TAs was here. He really did not like the thought of being alone with Arthur.
He contemplated texting Lance or Will to join him for the appointment but then decided against it on the basis of utter ridiculousness. Lance was likely busy with work, sports or charity and Will would never let him live it down if Merlin called either of them in for ‘protection’ against...what? A super hot guy who made his heart race and his knees weak? Yeah, Will would definitely be all over that in a very annoying way.
Arthur Pendragon arrived at exactly 1:14 pm. Damn, Merlin thought, the guy was punctual too.
Merlin gestured to the seat across the table in invitation. Somehow he was not surprised when Arthur pretended to misconstrue the gesture and instead pulled the chair opposite Merlin around to the same side as and right next to Merlin, pulling out his laptop and textbook from his own backpack.
Merlin attempted to calm his already increasing agitation as Arthur let his computer boot up, opened his textbook and notebook, and then secured a pen for note taking.
Pen now poised in his hand at the ready, Arthur looked at Merlin and grinned.
Merlin blinked. “You have no concept of personal space, do you?” he said, exasperated.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” Arthur replied innocently but Merlin could see the grin playing at his lips.
Oh boy, was Merlin ever so fucked.
“Boundaries, Arthur,” Merlin told him tightly, scooting his chair a good ten inches over from Arthur’s. “Boundaries.”
“Yes, sir, Mr. Emrys,” Arthur replied, chuckling. Damn him.
Merlin went over the steps of the t-test with Arthur over the forty-five minutes he had set aside, telling Arthur (and reminding himself) that he would have to cut the appointment shorter if any other students showed up during his office hours. Of course, no one did.
This left Arthur (who was actually quite bright, Merlin discovered) with Merlin all to himself and he took every advantage of asking Merlin questions to enhance his understanding, making sure to address Merlin as “Mr. Emrys” each and every time.
“I think I’ve finally got this, Mr. Emrys,” Arthur said, looking down at his notes and nodding. “Like I said, math is not my strong point, but you’ve managed to explain it in a way that makes it seem easy.” He flashed a thousand kilowatt smile at Merlin. “Thanks, Mr. Emrys.”
Oh for the love of god.
“Merlin,” Merlin muttered.
“What?”
“Call me Merlin,” he acquiesced. Seriously, if Merlin had to hear Arthur call him Mr. Emrys one more time, he was going to bang his head off the table top until it bled.
Arthur grinned widely. “Okay, Merlin.”
Merlin could almost hear the smug cry of “checkmate” coming through Arthur’s grin.
Had he mentioned he was fucked?
**
A routine was quickly established over the next few weeks. Tutorial on Fridays. Arthur often hung back after everyone else had gone to ‘follow up’ on the key points of the lesson. Office hours on Tuesdays. Arthur never failed to make an appointment or to visit Merlin during this time for assistance. After the second week, extra help was extended to including an hour on Wednesdays or Thursdays depending on Merlin’s availability and Arthur’s schedule (Merlin found out that Arthur was on the university’s lacrosse team). As far as Merlin was concerned, the amount of help he gave Arthur during the week would ensure not only that Arthur would pass Gaius’ statistics course with flying colours but that Arthur himself could soon teach the statistics tutorials.
This is how Merlin came to find himself spending a whole lot of time with Arthur Pendragon, the blonde hottie who had hit on him in the pub at the beginning of the term and whom Merlin had intended to wipe from his mind.
He had said it. The Fates hated him. This was absolute proof.
Freya came by on an extra-help Wednesday just as Arthur was packing up his stuff to leave. Merlin saw her eyes flick coolly over Arthur. Arthur returned her gaze with a short nod and tight smile. Merlin shoved Arthur’s textbook and notebook into his backpack to help him move along faster.
“See you Friday,” Arthur told Merlin. He squeezed past Freya who stood stubbornly immobile in the doorway, arms folded across her chest.
Once Arthur had gone, Freya took a step inside the room and narrowed her eyes at Merlin. “So is it necessary for blondie to sit so close to you for him to understand the concept of--” She glanced at the textbook. “—chi-square?”
Merlin blushed. Of course he did. Freya’s eyes narrowed further. “Already gave a speech about personal space,” he informed her, gathering his own texts and notes.
“It obviously didn’t work,” Freya returned dryly.
“Hey, I even drew a line on the table!” he defended further, moving his book to show her the pencil line he had resorted to marking on the table to indicate the boundary between his personal space and Arthur’s. Not that Arthur actually stayed on his side of the line. No, Arthur much preferred to torment Merlin. During their study sessions, Merlin could count on feeling the heat of Arthur’s thigh practically touching his or his arms and shoulders brushing against his at least once but usually two or three times during the hour. The thing was, Merlin couldn’t argue with absolute certainty that the touching was actually intentional on Arthur’s part. It was true that Arthur seemed to have a hard time respecting personal space but Merlin had also come to understand Arthur’s process of learning as one that seemed to involve the whole body.
Freya raised an eyebrow and Merlin realized he must have said the last part about “whole body learning” out loud.
“Oh, sweetie, that’s so cute,” she remarked.
“What is?” Merlin asked, puzzled.
“That you’re explaining blondie’s blatant come-on attempts as a learning style.”
Merlin rolled his eyes. Fate and Destiny really fucking hated him.
**
“So how’s it going with the tutorial leader?” Leon asked when Arthur returned from his extra study session with Merlin. He still marvelled at how quickly Merlin had caved into letting Arthur drop the “Mr. Emrys” thing. To be perfectly fair, however, Arthur had been rather annoying about it.
“It’d be going better if his girlfriend wasn’t cock-blocking me at every turn,” Arthur complained. Of course, she had shown up today. During Arthur’s time with Merlin.
Gwaine, who had been lounging on Arthur’s bed (Arthur sometimes wondered if Gwaine spent more time in his dorm room than he did), hooted a laugh. “Right. And you’d think the fact that there was a girlfriend in the picture would be enough to put you off the chase.”
“You just want that fifty bucks,” Arthur accused sullenly.
“Damn straight,” Gwaine responded with a grin.
“At least I’m getting help with statistics,” Arthur pointed out. “You don’t know omega-square from Cramer’s V.” From the puzzled look on Gwaine’s face, Arthur knew this was absolutely true.
Gwaine shrugged, a wide grin still plastered on his face. “I’d get help,” he said. “But I wouldn’t want to encroach on your time with the cute tutorial leader, Princess.”
Leon burst out laughing. Arthur narrowed his eyes at Gwaine and said wryly, “Wow. Encroach. That’s a big word for you.”
Arthur then elapsed into laughter with Leon, Gwaine quickly joining in.
**
They were lounging on the sofa in Merlin’s flat, Freya nestled between Merlin’s legs, her back pressed against his chest. Freya had a book open that she was reading while Merlin reviewed the trial records of one Sarah Good, 1692, Salem, Massachusetts as part of the work for his graduate thesis.
It was cozy. Until his cell phone buzzed from the coffee table, breaking the relaxing moment.
“It’s probably Arthur with another stats question,” Merlin said dryly, displacing Freya from his lap as he reached for his phone. The midterm for Gaius’ stats class was coming up and Arthur had been bombarding Merlin with a ton of questions the past few days.
“Blondie’s got your mobile number?”
Merlin shrugged, ignoring the way Freya’s eyebrow was raised. “He needs help.”
“What about the other students?” Freya asked. “Do they need help too or is it just blondie who doesn’t get it?”
Merlin knew that Freya purposely referred to Arthur as ‘blondie’ both to slight Arthur and to needle Merlin but he wisely chose not to say anything about it.
“Three-quarters of them don’t get it,” Merlin told her, “but they don’t care. Arthur actually gets it. But he wants an A.”
“What Arthur wants is to get into your pants,” Freya said wryly.
Merlin blushed even though he tried very hard not to. Freya grinned at him then bent down to kiss him. “You’re lucky you’re so damn cute when you blush,” she said, ghosting her lips along Merlin’s jaw.
Witch trials be damned, Merlin thought, relaxing back against the sofa and letting Freya’s mouth explore to its heart’s content.
**
It was a few hours later, after Freya had left, when Merlin finally looked at Arthur’s text.
extra study session on sat? will buy coffee
The only plans Merlin had for the weekend involved going over some trial records and he could afford a break of a couple of hours to help Arthur with stats. But the question was: should he? Already, he spent three to four hours with Arthur during the week reviewing the statistics material from both the class and the tutorials. That was already a good chunk of Merlin’s time. It was true that only two other students from the stats tutorial had even approached him with so much as a question and that Arthur was the only student who pretty much had a standing appointment with him during the week. But Arthur was aiming for that A and Merlin didn’t really mind spending the time with him. Still, a study session on a Saturday?
He texted back: sure. what time?
Merlin spent the remainder of the evening kicking himself, realizing that he had just elevated his status from “so, so fucked” to “absolutely, completely, without any doubt fucked”.
**
Through the bathroom door, Merlin heard Gilli call out that he was leaving – at least that was what Merlin thought his roommate had called out though competition from the spray of the shower made it hard to know for sure.
Merlin shut off the faucet and stepped out of the shower, grabbing for the towel. He quickly dried off, scrubbed the towel through his hair then hooked the terry cloth material around his waist. He guessed he still had about twenty minutes before Arthur was due to show up, which was plenty of time for Merlin to get dressed and maybe rub a little gel through his hair.
When he exited the bathroom, Merlin was shocked to find Arthur Pendragon standing in his living room.
“Arthur!” Merlin exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
“Um, your roommate let me in,” Arthur replied distractedly, giving Merlin a none too subtle once over.
“I just got out of the shower,” Merlin explained unnecessarily, too shocked to come up with anything better. He hitched the towel up and pulled it tighter around his hips.
Arthur now raked his eyes over Merlin’s towel-clad body. “I can see that,” he said, suppressing a grin. “And I gotta say, I’m enjoying the view.”
Merlin blushed scarlet and Arthur grinned fully.
“Do I even have to point out you’re cute when you blush?” Arthur teased which, of course, made Merlin blush even harder.
Keeping one firm hand on his towel, Merlin gestured in the space between them. “Boundaries, Arthur,” he said. “We talked about this, remember?”
Arthur nodded, not taking his eyes off Merlin’s naked chest. “Like I said, your roommate let me in...”
“Yeah, well,” Merlin said, “You’re a little early.” He’d deal with Gilli’s letting-in-strangers (okay, Arthur wasn’t a stranger exactly but still) while-Merlin-was- in-the-shower thing later. Right now he was grappling with Arthur’s eager earliness.
Arthur shrugged. “I didn’t want to be late.” His eyes were still fixed on Merlin’s chest. He licked his lips and Merlin gulped.
Merlin jerked a thumb toward his bedroom. “I’m going to get dressed now,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound as panicked as he felt. “So...”
Arthur moved his eyes up to Merlin’s face and grinned. “I’ll wait right here,” he assured Merlin cheerfully.
God.
**
They were settled in a corner of the cafe, books and notes spread out on the coffee table between them. Merlin was sitting across from Arthur in a cozy armchair, sipping at his third latte as he explained to Arthur the finer points of multiple regression.
Arthur was listening intently. Well, actually, he wasn’t so much as listening as he was watching. Specifically, he was watching Merlin’s lips as he spoke, taking in the plumpness and pinkness of them. Every so often Merlin’s tongue would dart out and swipe across his bottom lip, making Arthur’s breath catch. It was absolutely mesmerizing. Arthur wanted nothing more than to lean over and capture those lips with his own.
“I want to kiss you,” Arthur said, voicing his inner thoughts out loud, as he was often prone to doing.
The noise (something about a coefficient of determination, Arthur thought) coming from Merlin’s lips ceased and his mouth spread into an interesting half-smirk half-frown. “So do you always just blurt out what’s on your mind?” Merlin asked.
Arthur detected a hint of amusement in Merlin’s voice and was glad of it. “Yeah, pretty much,” Arthur answered, grinning at him.
A light blush settled on Merlin’s cheekbones and Arthur had to check himself. By default, Merlin was hot. But adding a blush on those fantastic cheekbones, combined with the glasses, and the way Merlin got excited when talking about coefficients and equations and error estimates – well, those things just upped Merlin’s hotness factor about ten fold. Arthur was already mapping out the regression equation in his head to predict Merlin’s level of hotness based on the factors of ‘blush’, ‘glasses’, and ‘enthusiasm’.
Oh fuck, he had it bad.
Merlin quietly assessed him for a minute. Then, to Arthur’s surprise, he said, “Look, I get that it’s probably some kind of conquest thing to hook up with me. Probably score some serious points with your friends if you bang your tutorial leader, right?” Merlin’s cheeks blushed slightly at that but Arthur’s attention was drawn back to his lips, which had become three hundred times more tantalizing when they had uttered the word ‘bang’. “It’s flattering, Arthur,” Merlin’s lips continued. “It really is. But let’s face it, you don’t really know anything about me.”
Arthur forced his attention away from Merlin’s lips and focused on his entire – beautiful – face.
“I know you’re smart,” he said. “And sometimes you can be a bit funny.” Merlin quirked his lips at that. “You’re bloody gorgeous,” Arthur continued, giving Merlin a look of appraisal. “And I now also know you have a dragon tattoo on your hip,” he added, his eyes coming to rest on Merlin’s jean-clad left hip where he had caught a peek of the tattoo when Merlin had shifted the towel earlier.
Merlin laughed, his light blush deepening. “Okay, but you don’t know know me.”
Arthur leaned forward, his look mildly seductive. “Then let me get to know you better,” he pressed.
Merlin chuckled and the throatiness of it warmed Arthur right through and made his dick perk up in interest. “You really are persistent, aren’t you?”
“It’s a Pendragon thing,” Arthur admitted with a grin and a shrug, aware that Merlin was purposely deflecting. “Maybe we could do something to get to know each other better?” Arthur suggested, putting his Pendragon Persistence into action. “I don’t know, maybe go to the movies or something?”
“That’s something friends do,” Merlin replied. “And we’re not friends, Arthur. I’m your tutorial leader.”
“We could be friends though,” Arthur insisted.
Merlin seemed to consider this for a moment. He darted a glance up at Arthur and then settled it back down on the notes strewn on the table between them. “I have a girlfriend, remember?” he reminded.
As if Arthur could possibly forget.
And just to make absolutely sure he didn’t forget that particular cock-blocking detail, said girlfriend suddenly appeared, dropping down onto Merlin’s lap, throwing her arms around Merlin’s neck and kissing his cheek.
“Hey you,” Merlin said, a dusting of pink settling over his cheekbones. Arthur internally growled, hating that anyone other than him could make Merlin blush like that.
Arthur gave Merlin’s girlfriend a saccharine smile as he mentally shot daggers at her. It was childish, but he really couldn’t help it. Freya returned his disingenuous smile with a fake sweet one of her own and added a mental glare to the mix. At least they were on the same page, Arthur thought.
Merlin cleared his throat, bringing both of their attentions back around.
“Um, so you’re all set for the midterm then?” Merlin asked Arthur, nodding toward the textbooks and notes. “Freya and I were, uh, going to go for lunch.”
Arthur quickly recognized there was no invitation there for him to join them. “Yeah. Sure. I’m good,” Arthur said, starting to collect his books and notes, shoving papers haphazardly into his backpack. He was disappointed that he had once again been foiled in his attempt to woo Merlin but he wasn’t going to be a prick and get in the way of Merlin having lunch with his (mental stab) girlfriend.
Merlin watched Arthur pack up his belongings, detecting a lingering disappointment in Arthur’s movements. Was Arthur disappointed that Merlin wouldn’t go out as friends with him or that he hadn’t invited Arthur to join them for lunch? Merlin honestly didn’t know what Arthur had expected. Merlin was his tutorial leader. This meant that there was a line he couldn’t cross, even if he wanted to. Which he didn’t. Well, maybe he did just a little but there was still Freya, right? And there was no way Merlin could cross that line.
So when Arthur tossed him a “see ya” on his way out of the cafe, Merlin simply told him “good luck”, and clutched Freya’s hand firmly in his to make a point.
**
95 on midterm!
congrats
meet me at pub to celebrate?
sorry got plans
Merlin didn’t have plans, at least none that couldn’t be pushed off for a bit. But he had made himself a promise that he wouldn’t give in to Arthur’s apparently hereditary persistence. Merlin was certain that if he did, he would bury himself in so much deep fuck that he’d never be able to crawl out.
Not that it wasn’t tempting. In fact, everything about Arthur was tempting. So Merlin made a daily habit of reminding himself that Arthur was a student and that Merlin had a girlfriend. It helped. Kind of.
**
Arthur frowned down at Merlin’s text. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get Merlin to budge. He had thought that if he was persistent enough that maybe he could coax Merlin into going out with him – just as friends – and then he could work on wooing Merlin into being something more. But so far Arthur was zero for trying.
Arthur was sure Merlin was attracted to him. He had spent six weeks in one-on-one study sessions with Merlin, which had amounted to about twenty hours of together time, and Arthur had sensed Merlin’s attraction for him, his arousal when being with him. That part was a given. The part that was giving Arthur some trouble was getting Merlin to actually give in to his attraction for Arthur, to set aside the boundaries of the student-tutor relationship, and to explore other possibilities. Of course, the girlfriend thing made it more complicated. Arthur was certain Merlin was too noble of a guy to muck up his relationship with Freya by having a one-off with Arthur and, to be honest, Arthur really liked that about him. He really, really liked that about him.
In fact, Arthur was beginning to reassess his entire approach and goal pertaining to Merlin. What was it that Arthur was really after anyway? To bang his tutorial leader and collect two hundred bucks or...?
He texted back: ok and then decided not to bother with a pub celebration in favour of just ordering pizza to eat in his dorm room. Besides, dragging Gwaine to the pub would only result in his friend drowning his own 48 percent on the midterm sorrows. Arthur didn’t want to be a prick and gloat.
**
The text came as a surprise, even though it shouldn’t have given Arthur’s penchant for persistence. But Merlin had noticed that, over the last three weeks, Arthur had kept his distance (well, as distant as Arthur could be given that he was still prone to violating Merlin’s personal space and was still a tactile whole body learner) and had respectfully not pushed the ‘let’s move to being friends’ issue since that time at the cafe.
movies? just as friends?
Merlin sighed, hesitating. Could he actually go to the movies with Arthur? Just as friends? He went to the movies with Will and with Lance and with Gilli – just as friends. But the difference was that Will, Lance and Gilli weren’t trying to seduce him (at least he was pretty sure they weren’t). And, besides, Merlin wasn’t interested in them as anything more than friends. But Arthur...well, Merlin’s feelings concerning Arthur Pendragon were just a tad bit more complicated.
Sure, he texted back, hitting send before the sane half of himself that knew this was a bad idea could take hold.
**
Arthur found it difficult to concentrate on the movie with Merlin sitting beside him. It was a macho manly action flick so it shouldn’t have been difficult but Merlin was just so damn distracting. Arthur hoped that Merlin wouldn’t clue in to his distraction but the few times Merlin suddenly looked at him like he knew Arthur was staring at him all longing and lustful started to make Arthur feel self-conscious.
So he focused his attention on the screen for the remaining twenty minutes and mentally slapped himself whenever he had the urge to look sidelong at the beautiful man beside him.
It was Merlin who suggested that they go to the university pub after the movie.
“Sure,” Arthur readily agreed. He’d been trying to get Merlin to hang with him for weeks and he wasn’t about to let this opportunity slip by.
On the walk to the pub (it was a good five blocks from the movie theatre but neither of them wanted to take a cab), they talked about the movie (sixty percent of which Arthur hadn’t really been paying attention to, it turned out), about classes, and about Merlin’s graduate thesis.
“So you’re trying to isolate the common factors that led to the successful prosecution of witches in Salem during the witchcraft trials?” Arthur asked, interested.
“Yeah,” replied Merlin. “I’ve been reading the available trial records and transcripts and coding for various factors which I’m then going to pop into a regression model to see which factors have the strongest predictive ability to explain successful prosecution.”
Really, Merlin’s statistics talk should not be hot, thought Arthur. But, fuck, it so was.
“That’s awesome,” Arthur said. “Really nerdy,” he clarified with a grin, “but awesome.”
Merlin laughed, punching his arm lightly. “Not as nerdy as getting a 95 on your stats midterm and arguing with Dr. Gaius over that 5 percent.”
Merlin had a point. Gauis had not been impressed when Arthur had approached him, asking for specific details on where exactly he had lost those marks. Arthur had been prepared to argue it out until his professor had arched his brow to a degree that was not physically possible, making Arthur back down and retreat. Merlin had laughed about that for two solid weeks, teasing Arthur constantly about really not wanting to fuck with Gaius about statistics.
At the pub, they were immediately spotted by Gwaine and dragged over to a table where Leon, Percy and Elyan were seated. Arthur introduced Merlin to his friends, ignoring their waggling eyebrows and knowing smirks. He rolled his eyes at Leon as if to say, “Are you five?”
Arthur was further annoyed when Gwaine ushered Merlin into a seat between him and Percy, leaving Arthur to squash next to Elyan at the opposite end of the table. So much for his plans to veer this ‘hanging out as friends’ into a potentially borderline ‘date’.
Merlin found himself fitting easily into Arthur’s group of friends. The big guy on the right next to him – Percy – was friendly and talkative. Gwaine, whom Merlin knew from his stats tutorial, was easy-going and devilishly charming, enough so that Merlin could overlook the fact that Gwaine was utterly stats-challenged and was probably going to fail both the tutorial and Gaius’ class. Leon and Elyan were also really nice guys.
So Arthur had great friends. This didn’t mean Merlin was obligated to upgrade their relationship from ‘could be friends’ to something more, right?
Merlin drank his beer and talked performative dance (who knew?) with Percy while periodically shoving Gwaine over an inch or two (Merlin quickly clued in that Gwaine had the same personal space issues as Arthur), occasionally looking over at Arthur who grinned at him as though he thought Merlin bonding with his friends was the best thing ever.
At one point, however, Merlin looked over at Arthur and found Arthur’s attention had been pulled away. Two girls – both blonde, curvy and pretty – were batting their eyelashes at Arthur and giggling.
Merlin felt something stir inside him. He heard Percy mumble something about “Vivian” and “Sophia” and “flirting vixens” and the stirring feeling inside him suddenly grew.
Merlin knew what the feeling was. But it didn’t make any sense. He was jealous. Definitely jealous. Of Vivian and Sophia certainly, and the way they were unabashedly flirting with Arthur. But mostly Merlin was jealous that Arthur was paying them attention, practically seducing them with his returning smiles and chuckles.
Oh fuck, thought Merlin. When the hell had it gone from him politely avoiding Arthur’s advances to him positively hating not being the focus of Arthur’s attention? Merlin had said it so many times already, but now he knew he was fucked beyond any possible hope.
Arthur smiled distractedly at the giggling, flirting girls and snuck a glance at Merlin. He caught Merlin quickly looking away and wondered. Arthur had been pleased as punch that Merlin had fit in so easily with his friends, though he had to admit that he didn’t much like the way Percy had drawn Merlin into intense conversation, hogging all of his attention, or the way Gwaine kept violating Merlin’s personal space. Arthur was sure it was intentional on Gwaine’s part – he’d deal with that later – but he had decided to give Percy a break because he knew Percy couldn’t help himself, especially when he’d had a few beers and got talking about dance, performative or otherwise.
Still, whereas Merlin had been looking at Arthur before, he now seemed to be avoiding looking at Arthur. Which was strange. Unless...
So when Merlin suddenly got up from the table, announcing that he needed to get going, Arthur immediately jumped up (he might have scared Vivian in doing so) and offered to walk along with him, brushing aside all protests from Merlin that it wasn’t necessary.
And if his friends followed their departure with knowing smirks and waggling eyebrows, leaving Vivian and Sophia with furrowed brows and teeth in bottom lips wondering what the hell was going on, Arthur couldn’t have cared less.
**
The walk to Merlin’s flat was mostly silent, except for Merlin’s remark that Arthur’s friends seemed nice to which Arthur responded by apologizing for Gwaine.
Merlin shrugged it off, mumbling, “I can see how you’re friends.”
Arthur would have elaborated on that point (it was true that he and Gwaine shared a lack of respect for personal boundaries) and then further contrasted how Gwaine was hopeless at statistics while he, Arthur, was a genius, but somehow they had already reached Merlin’s door.
“Thanks,” Merlin said and Arthur wondered if the thanks was for the movie, for hanging out at the pub, for walking him to his door, or for the whole evening in general. Or maybe it was thanks for not pushing the boundaries and doing something that would not be considered appropriate between friends.
And, of course, now Arthur was thinking of doing something probably not considered appropriate between friends. But, to be fair, it wasn’t really his fault. Merlin’s hand was on the door knob but instead of turning it to let himself inside, he had momentarily paused and was leaning against the door, giving Arthur a look that could have meant a hundred different things but which Arthur chose to interpret as shyly seductive. It was those damn eyelashes and those luscious lips. They did him in every time.
At that moment, Arthur was pretty sure that if he leaned in and pressed his lips to Merlin’s, Merlin would be his.
But just as Arthur went to make his move, the door to Merlin’s flat opened, revealing a tight-lipped and narrow-eyed Freya. Arthur pulled back quickly from Merlin, hiding his disappointment with a wide grin. Cock-blocking wench, he cursed silently.
“Catch you later,” he told Merlin then beat a hasty retreat.
**
“What?” Merlin asked innocently, pulling off his hoodie. He was pretty sure he could guess the reason for Freya’s folded arms and current expression but he thought playing it innocent was much safer.
“Since when do your friends walk you to your door and then linger as if they intended to kiss you?”
“Lance does,” Merlin immediately argued. “Well, not the lingering and kissing part,” he corrected, “but the walking to the door part.”
“Yes,” Freya returned, “but that’s because he’s Lance.”
“Fair enough,” Merlin conceded.
Freya cocked an eyebrow at him.
“What?” he asked again. Merlin knew she wasn’t going to let him off the hook but he also wasn’t going to make it easy for her. He was stubborn like that.
“Look, I know you want to believe you and blondie can just be friends, Merlin,” Freya said patiently. “And I hate to have to tell you this. But blondie’s definitely the walk-you-to-your-door-and-linger-with-intent-to-steal-a-kiss type. And not in the innocent Lance way.”
“Freya, I really don’t think--” Merlin started but was cut off by another arching eyebrow from Freya. Of course, she was right. Merlin was sure he hadn’t imagined that Arthur had been leaning in with the intent to kiss him when Freya had inopportunely yanked open the door. He blushed, thinking that if she hadn’t, Merlin would probably be sucking face with Arthur on his doorstep right now.
He could admit he was weak and pathetic (to himself, not to Freya) but needed time to process what this all meant and what repercussions his weakness might bring. Which meant that he really didn’t want to have this conversation with Freya right now. So he pecked a kiss to Freya’s mouth, slipping in a little tongue, hoping to loosen the frown there as well as to distract her. It was a strategy she was familiar with and should have raised her suspicions, but it worked nonetheless.
“You’re lucky you’re cute and adorable,” Freya said, wrapping her arms around Merlin’s neck, kissing him fully.
“Mmm,” Merlin hummed, backing Freya up towards his bedroom.
**
Arthur had spent all weekend internally debating about it but he had finally come to a decision.
Leon looked at him with surprise when Arthur handed him the notes.
“What’s this?” he asked.
“Your fifty bucks,” Arthur told him.
Leon’s brows crinkled in confusion. “Wait. You’re admitting defeat? There’s still two weeks left in the term.”
“I know,” Arthur replied. “But I’ve decided I want him.”
Leon gave him a puzzled look. “Yeah, I think we kind of established that already.”
“No,” Arthur said. “I want want him.” He wanted a relationship with Merlin, not just a quick fling. And in order to move toward that goal – really move toward it – this bet with his friends had to go.
Leon raised his eyebrows. “Oh.”
“Yeah.”
A beat went by then Leon said, “You know Gwaine’s gonna gloat forever about this, right?”
“Wouldn’t be Gwaine if he didn’t,” Arthur muttered, then grinned.
Really, Gwaine’s eternal gloating was the least of his worries.
**
Merlin thought he should probably be more angry about it than he actually was. But, really, it wasn’t like he hadn’t been aware that Arthur had been trying to seduce him. He just hadn’t known there had been a bet. And now, according to Gwaine, Arthur had conceded the bet and had paid up though, technically, there were still two weeks left in the term (final exam period), and that, technically, Arthur still had a chance to win the bet.
But it seemed Arthur had admitted defeat. And, as strange as it might have seemed, the whole thing made Merlin more curious than angry.
Being the direct sort of guy, he sent Arthur a text:
so you bet you could get into my pants before the term was over?
There was a two minute delay before Arthur’s text reply came through:
maybe?
Merlin waited thirty seconds before typing in:
what it cost you?
200
yikes
no biggie
buy you coffee as compensation?
A brief pause. Merlin waited anxiously for Arthur’s reply.
can’t. got exams to study for
Merlin typed in ok, trying not to feel too disappointed. It was true that Arthur was usually the one to initiate any study sessions and get-togethers but Merlin had thought he could maybe turn that around for once and invite Arthur out for coffee. Just as a way of saying ‘no hard feelings about the bet’ and to help Arthur de-stress before final exams. But Arthur was apparently in study mode and didn’t want to be distracted. Or at least that was what Merlin told himself. Otherwise he might end up believing Arthur was no longer interested in him.
And fuck if that thought didn’t just make Merlin feel utterly depressed.
**
Arthur pushed his mobile aside and concentrated on the study notes in front of him. He wanted to go for coffee with Merlin. He really, really did.
He was pretty sure they were friends now, so going for coffee shouldn’t have been a big deal. The problem was that Arthur wanted to be more than friends – much, much more. But Merlin was still technically his tutorial leader and Merlin still had a girlfriend. Arthur had decided to respect those boundaries. He didn’t think it was fair to Merlin otherwise.
Arthur still planned on wooing Merlin but he intended to do it the proper way. He had decided he would concentrate on studying and taking his final exams instead of bugging (or buggering, and now where had that come from?) Merlin in a pathetic attempt to win him over. The holiday recess came soon after exams and would give them both time to -- well, to be honest, Arthur was hoping it would give Merlin time to think about any possible feelings he might have for Arthur, although Arthur knew he had to be prepared that this might have been only wishful thinking on his part– and then Arthur would begin his wooing anew in the new year.
It was a good plan, he decided. Now, all he had to do was stay steadfast in not giving into temptation. Which was pretty fucking hard. Especially when Arthur wanted nothing more than to ditch his studying and go for coffee (and maybe do a little after-coffee cuddling and kissing) with Merlin.
**
Arthur was happy to report to his father during the holiday recess that he had achieved an A in four of his courses and a fucking (this was said only in his head, of course) A plus in his statistics course.
**
It was out of his mouth before Merlin had even had the chance to realize and to be able to stop it.
He felt Freya freeze. Then she pushed herself up from where she had been poised over Merlin’s lower body for the purpose of pleasuring him (fuck) and quickly scrambled off the bed.
“Freya...” Merlin said but she was already gone from the bedroom.
Merlin yanked his sleep pants back up and quickly slipped from his bed. He hadn’t heard the door to his flat bang shut so he guessed she hadn’t gotten that far yet, which meant there was still hope of catching her if he was quick.
But Freya hadn’t left his apartment. Merlin found her curled up in the corner of the sofa in the living room, the throw she had given him for Christmas last year bunched around her.
Merlin sat down on the opposite end of the sofa and slid a cautious glance at her. “Freya...” he began again, not really knowing what to say beyond that. What was a guy supposed to say after he made the blunder of uttering a name during a moment of intimacy that was definitely not his girlfriend’s?
But Freya, who was wonderful and amazing and really the best person in the whole wide world, surprised him by siding across the sofa and taking his hand.
“Merlin,” she said kindly. “You know I love you and that we’ll always be friends, right?”
Merlin nodded. Yes, he did know that.
“I know we’ve doing the boyfriend-girlfriend thing on and off now for like five years,” she said, “but I’m thinking that maybe the best thing for us is to be just friends – great friends,” she emphasized with a smile.
Wait. Was Freya breaking up with him?
“Look, it’s pretty obvious you have a thing for blon--Arthur,” she said. “And even though I think it’s a really bad idea for you to get together with him--”
“Because I’m his tutorial leader,” Merlin acknowledged with a sigh.
Freya shook her head. “No, it’s not that,” she said. “The term’s done, Merlin. You’re not his tutorial leader anymore.”
“Then...?” he probed.
Freya put a palm to his cheek. “I’m just afraid Arthur Pendragon will break your heart.”
Merlin gave her a soft smile. “I’m not that fragile, you know.”
“I know,” Freya said. “But I love you and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Oh come on now, you’d crush him like a bug before that could happen,” Merlin said cheekily, hugging Freya to his chest. She really was the best and most wonderful person in the world.
“You fucking know it,” she replied, squeezing him tight.
**
Arthur spent the three weeks of holiday recess bored out of his mind and desperately trying not to think about Merlin. But he was bored so, of course, he found himself thinking about Merlin all the time.
Although he hadn’t expected Merlin to call or text him over the recess, Arthur was disappointed all the same when he heard nothing at all from Merlin. Suffice it to say, Arthur was eager and glad to get back to his studies in January.
It was during the first week of the term that he was paid an unexpected visit by an equally unexpected visitor.
The look on Freya’s face was stern and she kept her arms crossed for intimidation.
“I want to talk about your feelings for and intentions toward Merlin,” she announced and Arthur may have been a little bit impressed with her forthright boldness. Merlin’s girlfriend had some ovaries.
“Look,” Arthur said, wanting to be as equally direct. “I can’t help that I’m in love with your boyfriend.”
Freya looked quizzical. “You mean ex-boyfriend.”
“What?”
“Wait,” Freya said. “He didn’t tell you we broke up over the holiday recess?”
Arthur shook his head. Did this mean Merlin was not only no longer his tutorial leader but that he also no longer had a girlfriend? Something like hope and excitement sprung up in Arthur’s chest.
Freya took a step forward, her eyes narrowed in judgement. “Listen Pendragon,” she said, poking a finger into his chest. “Merlin is not a quick-fuck-then-see-you kind of guy. So if you’re looking to--”
“I’m not.”
Freya nailed him with a look that made Arthur squirm uncomfortably.
“You break his heart, and I will break your face. Understood?”
Arthur pegged Freya at maybe five one and three-quarters, give or take an eighth. Still, he was pretty sure she’d carry out her threat and obliterate him from existence if he didn’t do right by Merlin. He nodded, feeling strangely vulnerable at being held accountable by this small but intimidating woman, thanking his lucky stars that Leon (or worse, Gwaine) wasn’t here to see him practically cowering.
He was thrown for another loop when Freya smiled at him – genuinely and kindly. She surprised him even further when she pressed a slip of paper into his hand and exited his dorm room, leaving him gaping with wonder (and perhaps a tiny bit of terror).
His hands were definitely not shaking when Arthur smoothed out the slip of paper and read: Tutorial - Wed 1-2pm, Camelot Hall, Room 42.
**
Merlin had just turned from the chalkboard and was in mid-sentence when Arthur strode with purpose into the classroom.
“Arthur? Whaa--” Merlin stammered as Arthur grabbed a hold of his shoulder and steered him in the direction of the door.
“Just going to borrow him for a minute,” Arthur told the tutorial class, winking at a girl in the first row. She, and several other students, he noticed, looked highly amused.
In the hallway, Arthur backed Merlin up against the wall and covered those tantalizing lips with his own, hoping the element of surprise would be in his favour.
“Merlin, please, please, please,” he said, pulling back finally, “be mine.”
“Okay.”
Arthur huffed out a breath. “Look, I know I’m only third year, and I’ve got a sketchy track record when it comes to relationships...”
“Okay.”
“But, fuck it all to hell, I’m in love with you--”
“I said okay.”
“—and I think I might die if I can’t have—wait. What? You said okay?” Arthur had finally caught up to what Merlin was saying but he didn’t quite yet trust himself to believe it. He searched Merlin’s face for signs he had misunderstood.
But Merlin was grinning. “Yes, Arthur,” he confirmed. “I said okay.”
“Okay,” Arthur repeated, nodding. Could it really be that easy for Merlin to be his?
“Yeah,” Merlin said, still grinning. He squeezed one eye shut and squinted at Arthur with the other. “So, can I get back to my tutorial now? Or do you want to go through another round of okays?”
Merlin was clearly teasing him now. Arthur might have been offended if he didn’t think Merlin was the most adorable person on the planet and if Merlin wasn’t his.
Arthur moved back to allow some space between them. “Sure, yeah,” he said, running his fingers through his hair.
Merlin pushed off the wall and turned back toward the classroom. To Arthur’s surprise, though, he grabbed a fistful of Arthur’s shirt, pulling Arthur toward him, and kissed him soundly.
“Come by my flat later?” Merlin asked before pulling open the door and heading back inside.
He left Arthur standing there, stunned and utterly breathless, wondering what fates were responsible for giving him his destiny.
Because they were so getting a thank you card. With ribbons. And sparkles.
**
They were laying on Merlin’s bed, limbs entwined and entangled. Arthur was exploring Merlin’s body with his mouth and tongue and Merlin decided, when he could actually think at all, that Arthur’s tongue was the most wonderful (but also the most wicked) thing in the world.
Arthur licked at his collarbone then trailed wetly to his neck. “Mine,” Arthur murmured against Merlin’s neck.
Merlin pulled back and gave Arthur a look. “You’re gonna be the possessive kind, aren’t you?”
Arthur continued kissing his neck. “Uh-huh,” he said.
Merlin smiled and tilted his head back to allow Arthur better access to his neck.
**