[FIC] Last Friday Night - Part II (Arthur/Merlin; PG-13)
Last Friday Night - Part II
It’s almost Merlin’s birthday and Arthur has no idea what to get him for a birthday present. He knows that Merlin doesn’t really want anything at all, says that if they absolutely must, it couldn’t cost more than twenty pounds. Merlin would accept a pair of socks if that’s what someone decided to get him, but Arthur wants his gift to be special. Now that Arthur has developed feelings (that he vaguely acknowledges sometimes and is sure that most of his friends know about by now, without him telling them, since they can’t seem to stop giving him cheeky grins and knowing glances whenever Merlin’s around him), he can’t give Merlin a bottle of wine and let that be that.
He contemplates clothing, but knows that Merlin would complain about how much it would have cost and where he got the item. There’s no way he’s getting him anything electronic because Arthur only likes Apple products and Merlin would just complain about how ridiculously expensive the present would be. He contemplates a gift card, but quickly realizes how impersonal that would seem. Then for a fleeting second, Arthur thinks about them sitting together across from each other at a fancy restaurant and Merlin giving him that squinty eyed grin, but dismisses the idea when it turns out to look like a date.
Arthur sighs and stretches out across his couch, trying to think of a good present that he could get before the weekend while he mindlessly watches Doctor Who.
The front door opens and Arthur can hear people walking into the flat. He looks up and sees all his friends, sans Morgana, walk into the living room. He frowns at them when they look at him weirdly and glance around the flat.
“Where’s Morgana?” Arthur asks as he sits up to make room on the couch. Leon takes up his usual seat, which Elena perches upon the arm of, Percy sits on the opposite end of the couch, and Lance sits between him and Arthur, pulling Gwen to sit half in his lap and half on the couch.
“Where’s Merlin?” Gwaine counters smirking as he and Elyan grab two of the chairs from the dining table and bring them over by the couches before he grabs beers from the fridge and starts passing them out to everyone.
“Morgana’s with Morgause,” Gwen says placating as she opens her can of beer.
Arthur nods at Gwen and glowers at Gwaine. “I can be somewhere without Merlin you know.”
“Just a little weird to see that he isn’t here with you, is all,” Elena says as she tucks her feet underneath Leon’s thighs to keep her toes warm.
“You’re going to his birthday on Saturday, right?” Lance asks. “He’s turning 23.”
“Yes, I’m going to his birthday,” Arthur parrots.
“Oh, what’re you getting him?” Elena asks excitedly.
Arthur groans and tilts his head back against the couch. “No idea.”
All of them start giving him suggestions, and say what they got him: a set of books that Merlin has never got around to buying from Lance and Gwen, alcohol from Gwaine, a scarf from Elena, and a joint gift of Glee Seasons 1 and 2 from Percy, Elyan, and Leon. Arthur bemoans the fact that they’ve all got their presents sorted already, especially Gwaine of all people.
“Well, is there anything that just you two have bonded over?” Percy asks. “Or like an inside joke?”
Arthur frowns a little. “Yeah, but nothing I think that can be put in gift form.”
“Ah, sexual favors then!” Gwaine interjects cheerfully. “I’m sure he’d appreciate those.”
Leon and Elyan both grab something and throw it at Gwaine. A pillow from Leon and a dirty sock Elyan found on the floor.
Everyone laughs and Arthur is left still trying to find the right gift for Merlin.
*
Friday comes faster than Arthur realizes. He had finally thought of the perfect gift two days earlier, but took an extra day to convince himself that it was a good idea before he purchased them. He knows that Merlin will laugh at his first gift and hopefully love the second one. Because, yes, Arthur has finally admitted to himself that he fancies Merlin, and it would probably kill him, or make him mope around for weeks, if Merlin doesn’t like either of the things he got him.
Now, he’s standing in Merlin’s flat with his friends and about ten of Merlin’s other friends, a few that Arthur’s only met briefly. Will is there, of course, who glares at Arthur more often than not. Then there’s Freya, who Arthur believes is scared of him. Then Nimueh, who frankly just ignores him most of the time, which Arthur doesn’t mind. There’s Edwin, who has a nasty scar on the side of his face and gives Arthur the creeps. Then finally there’s Mordred, who barely talks and freaks the hell out of Arthur when he sees him just staring at him. All the rest, Arthur doesn’t know and doesn’t really care about.
Earlier, Merlin had gone out to lunch (and did some other things Arthur doesn’t know about) with that group of friends and came back to his flat to hang out some more and open presents. Arthur and his friends came around this time to give their presents at the same time. After that, they would take Merlin out to dinner and then head to a club for the rest of the night.
Arthur anxiously waits for Merlin to get to his present. He watches from the edge of the living room, Percy and Elyan flanking him. So far Merlin has opened all the gifts from the first group (gifts that don’t even compare to what he got), given them all blinding smiles and enthusiastic hugs.
Arthur misses a good portion of Merlin opening presents because Morgana insists on shoving her way beside him and talking. “You’ve been all hush hush about your present,” Morgana says lightly.
“Just don’t want to ruin the surprise of getting something better than you did,” Arthur replies as he takes a sip of his mixed drink.
Morgana smirks, “I sure hope you got something better than me. If you didn’t, I might just have to tell Merlin about that one incident with the hairdryer.”
“And I’ll tell everyone about that one time with the lotion when you were sixteen,” Arthur steadily says.
Morgana simply laughs, “Oh, don’t you know by now that I have more dirt on you than you ever will have on me?”
“Morgana!” Merlin practically yells from across the room. Both Morgana and Arthur look over to see Merlin holding up a black pea coat that Arthur knows cost more than 50 pounds.
Merlin has a look of shock on his face as he walks over to where Morgana and Arthur are standing. “I can’t accept this,” he says and holds the coat out towards Morgana.
“Of course you can,” Morgana replies with a kind smile. “It’s called a gift for a reason.”
“I thought I told you nothing more than twenty pounds,” Merlin points out.
“It was only twenty pounds,” Morgana lies. Merlin stares at Morgana, taking in her poker face. They both know that the jacket cost more than what she says, but Merlin knows that Morgana isn’t going to take it back now.
So Merlin sighs and pastes a joyful smile on his face. “Well, thank you for the twenty pound coat,” he says, pecks her cheek and pulls her into a tight embrace.
When he pulls back, he looks at Arthur and grins, “Yours is the next and last.”
Arthur smiles back and thinks about what it means that Merlin left his present for last. “Open the wrapped part first,” is all that Arthur says as Merlin goes back to the couch where there’s ripped wrapping paper littering the floor around him.
Arthur watches as he takes the small package attached to an envelope in his hands and carefully rips apart the poorly wrapped package. He watches as Merlin pulls out a pair of fake glasses identical to his, reads the small note taped to the bridge saying, ‘So you don’t have to be jealous anymore’, and laughs. Instantly, Merlin takes off the note and slides the glasses on his face. Others start laughing at the joke gift, Will protests loudly at how stupid they make Merlin look (as well as Arthur, but Arthur doesn’t really give a damn what Will ever says), Arthur’s friends all make teasing comments about how they could be twins now, and Morgana elbows him with a calculating look.
He watches in trepidation as Merlin opens the envelope next and pulls out the small paper clipped bundle inside. The note on top of the bundle reads, ‘Happy Birthday Merlin. Enjoy, but don’t even think about taking me. -Arthur’. Arthur’s heart beats a little faster and finds himself biting his lip in anticipation as he sees Merlin pull off the paperclip and remove the note. Merlin’s jaw drops and Arthur can see his eyes widen.
“Katy Perry?! You got me tickets to see Katy Perry?” Merlin exclaims with a maniac grin as he looks over at Arthur who shrugs nonchalantly in response, trying to act like it didn’t mean anything, and fight off the grin threatening to appear. Most people in the room start commenting on Katy Perry, especially Will who says that Merlin will be even more insufferable now, and how nice it was for Arthur to get him tickets to see her.
Merlin starts laughing as he jumps off the couch and makes his way as quickly as he can toward Arthur. Arthur knows that the smirk he has on his face doesn’t seem very cheerful, but he is actually incredibly happy that he received this kind of reaction from Merlin. Any chance to see Merlin grinning so hard that his eyes practically disappear is always something Arthur looks forward to. His stomach is in knots by the time Merlin rams into him, his lanky arms wrapping around his neck like a vice and his ear pressed firmly against his. Arthur envelops his arms around Merlin’s waist, mindful of the drink in his hand, and squeezes him tight, leaving no air between them, stamping down the want of burying his face in Merlin’s neck.
“Thank you so much,” Merlin says, his voice is unclear, but Arthur can feel him speaking with the vibrations moving through Merlin’s chest into his.
Arthur tries to stifle his amused grin into Merlin’s shoulder, but is sure it didn’t work when he sees Gwaine making an obscene motion with his hips and Elena taking a picture. He glares at Gwaine and flips him off.
“What? No telling me off for spending too much money?” Arthur jokingly asks as Merlin pulls away, but still stands close.
Merlin shakes his head, a grin never leaving his face and a flush staining his cheeks. “I knew you’d spend however much money you wanted, no matter what I said,” Merlin replies chuckling.
“How do you know that? I could’ve gotten you nothing at all,” Arthur retorts, aiming for serious, but coming out more flirtatious than he’d like. “What made you think you deserve anything anyway?”
Merlin ducks his head and glances at the tickets again. Arthur’s breath hitches when Merlin smiles brilliantly and looks up at him through his lashes.
“Oi! Merlin! Stop flirting and get your skinny arse over here! Some of us are leaving!” yells one of the boys Arthur doesn’t know. Arthur glares at him and Merlin coughs awkwardly and looks away, a blush appearing across his cheeks.
“Well,” Merlin says before giving him a lopsided grin, “Thanks again for the tickets. I’m gonna try my best to convince you to be my plus one.”
Arthur groans, “I said not to take me.”
Merlin snickers as he starts taking steps backward. “Just admit you secretly got the second ticket for yourself.”
“In your dreams, Emrys,” Arthur counters and watches Merlin return to his other friends to say goodbye and take pictures.
As soon as Merlin is gone, his friends descend upon him.
“I see you’ve managed to find your heart and do something nice for once,” Morgana loftily says.
“Katy Perry tickets? That’s so sweet,” Gwen says.
“I thought you hated Katy Perry,” Leon points out.
“He does,” Elyan answers. “A lot.”
“He’s just cock-whipped already,” Gwaine smirks, which earns a punch in the shoulder and some expletives from Arthur.
A few hours later, the group of ten is eating dinner at Nando’s, one of Merlin’s favorite restaurants. Elena takes pictures frequently as Gwaine, Percy, and Elyan often pose for silly pictures for her. Arthur sits on the booth side of the table next to Merlin, which he thinks the others planned that way, and mainly talks to Merlin for most the time. He doesn’t feel bad for monopolizing the birthday boy.
If Merlin was a girl, Arthur is sure that he would be able to tell if Merlin was into him, but since Merlin is most definitely male, Arthur isn’t exactly sure how to read him. He has a notion that Merlin might have some feelings for him, but Arthur is not sure if it is actually real or if Merlin is just being his normal friendly self.
After dinner, they take the twenty five minute bus ride to the area where the club is. They head over to a pub first, to start off the night buying drinks for Merlin. They’re loud and obnoxious, but everyone seems to get that it’s a birthday so they know that there is at least a reason for the noise.
Merlin is started off with only a beer because they all know that he’s a little better than a lightweight and they want him to last most of the night. Percy and Gwaine chug their first beers like it is only water and quickly get a second pint. The others go slow like Merlin seeing how they have over an hour before they want to go to the club.
As soon as the hour passes, with more photos taken by Elena and where stories everyone’s heard before are retold, everyone takes two shots (three for Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, Percy, and Morgana) at the bar before leaving for the club.
They timed their arrival perfectly at 10:20 to get in just before crowd starts to come around 10:30, who try to get in before the club starts charging at 11. None of them brought jackets since they didn’t trust the coat check and didn’t want to lose them in the sweaty club, but the late November night is freezing so all of them stand close together as they wait. The alcohol coursing through their veins only warms them so much. Arthur is happy to note that Merlin stays close to him, but he makes no move to bring him any closer than their arms pressing against each other.
The group only has to wait twenty minutes before they get into the club with stamps on their hands. By now the shots they had taken earlier are starting to affect them more and the thrumming of the house music beats through their chests as they head toward the main dance floor. They manage to grab one of the larger booths that made up the edge of the half-filled dance floor.
Arthur ends up pressed between Merlin and Elena on the left corner of the booth. It’s a tight fit to get everyone situated since Percy, Leon, and Arthur are broader than everyone else and end up taking more room than the rest. As the group talk about what drinks they want next, Arthur moves his arms so that they rest on top the seats in a more comfortable position behind Merlin and Elena’s shoulders. Elena doesn’t notice, but Arthur can see the way Merlin freezes for a moment and quickly glances over at Arthur before settling back.
“Shots first!” Gwaine yells so that everyone can hear, if not lip-read, over the pounding music. “Then whatever you want after!”
Everyone agrees, mainly because Gwaine has an unhealthy love for shots and a good relationship with the bartender to get a discount. They pull together their money, once again paying for Merlin’s drink, and send Gwaine, Percy, Leon, and Elyan for the drinks.
Arthur watches the crowd and talks to Elena while they wait. He periodically looks over to see Merlin telling Lance something behind Gwen’s back, and Morgana and Gwen are drawn into conversation, Gwen leaning on the sticky table to get closer to Morgana.
A few minutes later, the four men came back with the shots. Everyone grabbed a glass and raised them in the center, clinking their glasses together and screaming with a bit of a slur ‘Happy Birthday, Merlin!’. Arthur knocks his glass against Merlin’s last and keeps eye contact as best as he can before tipping his heads back and pouring the alcohol down his throat. After that they slam their glasses down on the table and try to get rid of the aftertaste.
Immediately Gwaine grabs Leon and heads back towards the bar to find the girls they were flirting with earlier. Elena manages to persuade Percy to dance with her and they get lost in the growing crowd on the dance floor in a matter of seconds. The last six sit and wait a little while longer.
Arthur has dropped the arm that was hanging over Elena’s shoulders, but keeps the one behind Merlin up, not even moving over now that there was more room. The alcohol was making him more relaxed and open to human contact. He would try to talk to Merlin, but he sees that Merlin looks like he’s in a heated conversation with Gwen and tries not to feel annoyed or jealous.
He watches the dance floor as all different kinds of people move around to the music. Some are more in tune with their bodies and their movements are fluid and natural. Others clearly try their best to dance, but can’t seem to do more than move side to side, hoping that they stay on the beat. There’s still room on the dance floor to move around, but Arthur predicts in half an hour, bodies were going to be pressed up to one another and hands and mouths were going to be everywhere.
A hand on his knee brings him out of his stare. Arthur turns his head towards Merlin who grins at him and leans in toward his ear. “We’re all going to go dance, you ready?” Merlin asks, his breath brushing against his ear and neck, sending a small shiver down Arthur’s spine. Arthur gives him a nod and all six of them get out of the booth and onto the dance floor.
The dance floor is hot and stuffy. Arthur starts sweating already and is glad for the white v-neck he chose to wear since it wouldn’t show as many sweat stains as a colored shirt would. He has to dance close to his friends since the room is filling up with more people, and he feels people brushing up against his back frequently. His body feels heavy with the bass of a David Guetta song, singing about a club, hammering through him and the alcohol affecting him.
Arthur looks up and watches Merlin get lost in the music with a large smile on his face. Merlin isn’t a natural dancer with his gawky limbs moving in different directions, but he makes up for it with his enthusiasm. He watches as Gwen dances between Lance and Merlin and laughs when Merlin does a funny dance move. Arthur quickly glances over at Morgana and Elyan, who both happen to have quickly found dance partners for the time being, which wasn’t uncommon with Morgana’s good looks and Elyan’s dance moves.
There are girls who come up to Arthur and dance with him. Arthur indulges them, lets them press up against his front and a few even go as far as pressing their backsides into his crotch, but most of the time he watches Merlin over their shoulders. A few girls also start dancing with Merlin, but not with the same lustful moves that they put on Arthur. It seems even they can tell Merlin’s gay without him telling them.
It may have been half an hour, it could have been an hour or two, but Arthur feels himself starting to sober up just enough to know he can handle more alcohol and can’t see anyone in sight except for Elyan and Merlin. He moves over to Merlin, practically puts his face against the side of Merlin’s and says into his ear, “Want more drinks?”
He feels Merlin nod and grabs onto Merlin’s wrist with a sweaty hand, making sure to keep his fingers wrapped around Merlin’s bony wrist and not sliding his hand down any further. Arthur leads Merlin out of the crowded dance floor and toward the bar. His clothes stick to his body as well the loose fit jeans he chose to wear, his hair sticks to his forehead with sweat, and his glasses keep sliding down his nose. When he looks back, he can see the same has happened to Merlin’s form fitting navy shirt and fringe.
They make it to the bar and settle in for a bit, waiting for a bartender to become available.
Arthur stands sideways and Merlin’s tilted inward toward the bar leaving a small breath of space between them, so Arthur finds little trouble leaning close to Merlin and talking into his ear. “Are you having fun yet?”
Merlin smiles and nods. He hesitates a second before leaning towards Arthur and says with a light slur, “Probably the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
Arthur can only smile uncontrollably before he quickly waves a bartender down as she passes by, grabbing her attention. He orders another round of shots and he can see Merlin groaning. Arthur laughs and tells Merlin that the point of the night was to get him pissed, knowing that this drink will probably be Merlin’s last.
They down the shots quickly and Arthur drags him over to a large seating area away from the dance floor that has cushions, which have been slightly torn up, to rest a bit. Neither of them talks, but Merlin leans into Arthur’s side and bounces his leg along with the beat of the song.
Three songs later, Arthur is feeling the shot when he hears a familiar beat start playing over the speakers. Beside him Merlin literally jumps up and sways a bit before Arthur settles him by pulling on his arm. He turns to Arthur and screams, “This is my favorite! You have to dance with me, come on!”
Merlin doesn’t give Arthur a choice and grabs his hand. Arthur doesn’t resist as Merlin pulls him back onto the dance floor. He laughs as Merlin goes a little crazy and jumps around when there’s no room to. They’re forced to dance close together, so every few beats his blood spikes when Merlin’s hand brushes against his shoulder or when Merlin’s hip brushes along his arm. Arthur lets go and sings along to the song that he definitely should not know the words to. ‘It’s a blacked out blur, but I’m pretty sure it ruled. Damn. Last Friday night. Yeah, we danced on tabletops, and we took too many shots, think we kissed but I forgot. Last Friday night.’ Arthur knows Merlin catches him singing along when Merlin’s jaw drops slightly and he starts laughing before getting back into the words.
The whole crowd chants ‘T-G-I-F’ over and over again and bounces up and down to the beat the DJ puts behind the music when it lowers. They get crazy when the song gets put back up to full volume and start singing along with the words again.
When the song comes to a close, Arthur realizes how close to Merlin he’s gotten, only a few inches separating them. Merlin wraps an arm around Arthur’s neck with a smile and says into his ear, “You are such a liar.” Arthur only laughs and put his hands on Merlin’s hips as the next song starts, a song that was strangely fitting for the night. ‘Tonight, I want all of you tonight. Give me everything tonight.’
Arthur’s heart is pounding furiously as Merlin moves closer and wraps his other arm around Arthur’s shoulders. Merlin pulls back just enough to look at Arthur in the eyes. Whatever he is looking for, he finds, when he grins and starts moving along to the music. Arthur follows his lead and starts dancing too. When Merlin rests his forehead against Arthur’s, he wraps his arms around Merlin’s small waist and slowly brings Merlin’s hips closer to his. Naturally, their legs slot together and their groins end up grinding against each other’s hips, causing Arthur to gasp.
Arthur’s breath wavers as he feels every inch of Merlin’s chest to hips pressed up against him, putting his body on fire. Their bodies move back and forth to the beat, making his heart pound in his chest and arousal start to stir. He can smell Merlin’s sweat, but doesn’t really care. Being so close to Merlin makes him want more and he can’t help but drag his nose down the side of Merlin’s face and ghost his lips over Merlin’s jaw. He lingers below Merlin’s jaw, waiting for a sign that he doesn’t want this, and finds none. Arthur feels Merlin shiver the moment his lips press against Merlin’s pulse point and he leaves a trail of open mouth kisses down the side of his throat. He makes his way down to Merlin’s clavicle and feels Merlin tip his head back slightly. Arthur trails back up to Merlin’s Adam’s apple, nips at it lightly before soothing it over with his tongue and moving up the other side of his jaw. He kisses lightly across Merlin’s cheek and hovers over Merlin’s lips.
He looks into Merlin’s eyes; the lids are heavy, but the pupils are dilated, leaving little of the blue of Merlin’s eyes visible. Merlin licks his lips and Arthur surges forward, capturing Merlin into a kiss that Merlin eagerly responds to. Arthur licks his way inside Merlin’s mouth and entwines his tongue with Merlin’s, tasting the alcohol.
They have stopped dancing, and Arthur pays no attention to the other bodies that knock into him or the music that’s playing. His whole world has narrowed down to Merlin’s lips brushing against his, Merlin’s fingers in his hair, and Merlin’s body pressed as close as they could get at the moment. Arthur’s fingers trail under Merlin’s sweat-soaked shirt and flitter lightly across the waistband of Merlin’s skinny jeans. His hands move down to rest low on Merlin’s back, his fingers splaying over the top of Merlin’s ass.
The need for air becomes overwhelming and Arthur pulls back to give Merlin a series of pecks along Merlin’s upper and lower lip, occasionally sucking on each and nipping them, only to soothe them a moment later.
Arthur moves away from Merlin’s mouth to pay attention to Merlin’s jaw line and he practically groans when he hear Merlin say into his ear, “Take me home, yeah?”
The question causes Arthur to pull back and look at Merlin’s hopeful expression, only to nod quickly and pull him out of the club as fast as possible.
He grabs Merlin’s hand and brings him closer to himself as the cool air hit’s their soaked shirts, chilling them and making them sober up faster. They silently wait at the bus stop and Arthur mulls over how fast everything had happened that night. He doesn’t think he would change a thing, though. If he was true to himself, he had been waiting for this for a while. The thought that Merlin was almost finally his made his chest feel tight and his stomach twist.
As if hearing his thoughts, Merlin looks over at Arthur and throws him a tentative smile which Arthur readily returns. Merlin slowly leans over and gives Arthur a string of slow kisses that don’t go any further, but still manages to leave Arthur breathless. When Merlin leans back, Arthur holds back the small whine that erupts in the back of his throat.
Their bus comes a few minutes later and they sit silently holding hands all the way back to Merlin’s flat.
After they get off the bus thirty minutes later, Arthur starts to slightly panic about what will happen once they get in Merlin’s flat. Sure he has made out with other men, and one time rubbed off against one when he was completely plastered, but he never really got any further than that. And while he’s sure Merlin wouldn’t judge him on how awkward he is on their first night together, Arthur wants it to be perfect.
They make it up the three flights of stairs, their fingers still laced together. The alcohol is starting to work its way out of his system and Arthur can analyze the situation by thinking that going to bed with Merlin too soon may not be a good thing. He didn’t want Merlin to think that this was all he wanted from him. This wasn’t going to be the one shag that they look back on and say ‘Hey, remember that one time…’. Arthur didn’t want that. He had his fair share of one night stands, and Merlin wasn’t going to be a part of that.
Arthur quickly makes use of the toilet once they get inside Merlin’s flat to get rid of the alcohol that swept through his system. When Merlin gives him an odd look when he says this, Arthur reassures him that he isn’t going into some gay crisis by kissing his cheek and promising only a few minutes.
He leaves the bathroom as quickly as possible and waits in the living room, shuffling awkwardly as Merlin uses the toilet too. Arthur notices that Will isn’t around and that the mess that their gathering made earlier is still around. He finds the two gifts that he gave Merlin sitting on top of the pile on the coffee table and glances over all the other gifts.
“I like your gift the best,” Merlin says and Arthur jumps from the proximity. He looks up to see Merlin standing and smiling beside him.
“I know you do,” Arthur arrogantly says with a smirk.
Merlin huffs and rolls his eyes before grabbing the back of Arthur’s neck and bringing him into a desperate kiss to shut him up. Merlin’s hands slowly massage their way down Arthur’s chest, hover at the edge of his shirt before slipping under and running them across the muscle he finds. He moans as Arthur runs his fingers through his hair and pulls on the strands to tilt his head back and attack his throat.
With a sigh, Merlin takes a step away and says, “Bed.”
This causes Arthur to freeze. “Aren’t we moving a bit fast?” He would be fine with snogging like teenagers on the couch all night if Merlin wanted.
Merlin shrugs. “You do know that we’ve been practically dating for the past month and a half right?”
“We have?” Arthur asks confused.
“Yeah, you ask me out to coffee and then the cinema. Then you always pay for dinner and lunch and give me rides everywhere. We talk on the phone at least three times a week and we text each other every day. I mean, if you think about it, those were all kind of dates,” Merlin explains, hesitancy apparent in his voice.
Arthur frowns as he thinks it over, because it was true. Arthur always asked Merlin to get a coffee with him or go out to see a movie. Or he’d ask him out to dinner and pay for the whole meal before Merlin even got the chance. He always gave Merlin rides even if it was only a few minutes away. “How did I miss all that?”
Merlin shrugs with a small grin, “You’re not known for your observation skills. Actually you were kind of driving me crazy with all that. I didn’t know if you were actually asking me out or if you did that with all your mates. Then you’d kind of flirt with me and touch me, but as far as I knew you were completely straight.” Merlin stops in his babbling and his eyes widen. “Shit, this isn’t because you’re drunk right? I mean you seem alright to me, but back-”
“No, Merlin,” Arthur interrupts. “I’m not that drunk to know that I want this, okay? Unlike you, I can hold a couple shots.” As soon as he said it, he knew he should have left the last part off. It wasn’t time to crack jokes or tease. His words cause Merlin to give Arthur a crooked smile, one that doesn’t reach his eyes.
Arthur rubs the back of his neck. “I’ve never fancied a bloke before, but I know that I like you and I should have said or done something about that a long time ago,” he admits softly. Merlin smiles a more genuine smile, one that lightens Arthur, too.
“Don’t worry, I’ve had a crush on you for a while,” Merlin replies with a nervous laugh.
Arthur raises an eyebrow and begins to smirk. “And how long is a while?”
Merlin does his best to glare and wraps his arms around his own waist. All Arthur does is smile wolfishly and slip his fingers through the front of Merlin’s belt loops, pulling Merlin closer to himself. Arthur tilts his head closer to Merlin’s ear and whispers, “How long, Merlin?”
He sees Merlin’s shoulders slump and hears him groan in defeat. “You’re such a prat.”
“Come on, tell me,” Arthur goads as he pulls his head back. “I wanna know.”
Merlin huffs as Arthur slips his hands under Merlin’s shirt, feeling the soft skin beneath his fingertips and squeezes lightly, loving the feeling and the fact that he could do this now.
“Since March,” Merlin grumbles.
Arthur looks at Merlin with shock, “March? I didn’t even know you back then.”
“I know,” Merlin groans and runs his hands over his face. “I saw you talking to Lance and Gwen, and you left before I caught up with them. And after that I saw you and your stupid face everywhere around campus.”
“Is that why you came to my football match?” Arthur asks, partially stunned the admission that made him feel giddy and warm in his chest.
Merlin nods slowly. “Gwen said it was a good idea,” Merlin explains quietly. “Then I met you and you were such a wanker, but I couldn’t help liking you anyway. You and your ridiculous glasses.”
Arthur grins blissfully, thinking that Merlin didn’t give up on Arthur when he was a jerk to him. He doesn’t complain when Merlin reaches up and takes off Arthur’s glasses before throwing them haphazardly on the couch. Arthur chuckles as he steps forward to bring Merlin into a kiss, running his hands over Merlin’s sides. “I think I’d like to see your bedroom now,” he laughs.
Merlin pulls Arthur back toward the bedroom as a laugh escapes him and an enormous grin breaks out. And to Arthur’s horror, Merlin starts singing, “I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock. See your peacock, cock.”
“Merlin!”
*
Arthur ends up seeing Katy Perry in concert; against his will no matter what anyone else says.
*****
Short end notes.
List of mentioned music in order:
1. E.T. by Katy Perry
2. Ur So Gay by Katy Perry
3. Tik Tok by Ke$ha
4. Judas by Lady Gaga
5. Dirty Dancer by Enrique Iglesias
6. Where Them Girls At by David Guetta
7. Last Friday Night (TGIF) by Katy Perry
8. Give Me Everything by Pitbull
9. Peacock by Katy Perry
I hope you guys haven seen the chatroulette guy dancing to Peacock, it’s hilarious. And if you have a YouTube account you can watch the original ‘mature’ version here (which isn’t too different from the other version).
It’s almost Merlin’s birthday and Arthur has no idea what to get him for a birthday present. He knows that Merlin doesn’t really want anything at all, says that if they absolutely must, it couldn’t cost more than twenty pounds. Merlin would accept a pair of socks if that’s what someone decided to get him, but Arthur wants his gift to be special. Now that Arthur has developed feelings (that he vaguely acknowledges sometimes and is sure that most of his friends know about by now, without him telling them, since they can’t seem to stop giving him cheeky grins and knowing glances whenever Merlin’s around him), he can’t give Merlin a bottle of wine and let that be that.
He contemplates clothing, but knows that Merlin would complain about how much it would have cost and where he got the item. There’s no way he’s getting him anything electronic because Arthur only likes Apple products and Merlin would just complain about how ridiculously expensive the present would be. He contemplates a gift card, but quickly realizes how impersonal that would seem. Then for a fleeting second, Arthur thinks about them sitting together across from each other at a fancy restaurant and Merlin giving him that squinty eyed grin, but dismisses the idea when it turns out to look like a date.
Arthur sighs and stretches out across his couch, trying to think of a good present that he could get before the weekend while he mindlessly watches Doctor Who.
The front door opens and Arthur can hear people walking into the flat. He looks up and sees all his friends, sans Morgana, walk into the living room. He frowns at them when they look at him weirdly and glance around the flat.
“Where’s Morgana?” Arthur asks as he sits up to make room on the couch. Leon takes up his usual seat, which Elena perches upon the arm of, Percy sits on the opposite end of the couch, and Lance sits between him and Arthur, pulling Gwen to sit half in his lap and half on the couch.
“Where’s Merlin?” Gwaine counters smirking as he and Elyan grab two of the chairs from the dining table and bring them over by the couches before he grabs beers from the fridge and starts passing them out to everyone.
“Morgana’s with Morgause,” Gwen says placating as she opens her can of beer.
Arthur nods at Gwen and glowers at Gwaine. “I can be somewhere without Merlin you know.”
“Just a little weird to see that he isn’t here with you, is all,” Elena says as she tucks her feet underneath Leon’s thighs to keep her toes warm.
“You’re going to his birthday on Saturday, right?” Lance asks. “He’s turning 23.”
“Yes, I’m going to his birthday,” Arthur parrots.
“Oh, what’re you getting him?” Elena asks excitedly.
Arthur groans and tilts his head back against the couch. “No idea.”
All of them start giving him suggestions, and say what they got him: a set of books that Merlin has never got around to buying from Lance and Gwen, alcohol from Gwaine, a scarf from Elena, and a joint gift of Glee Seasons 1 and 2 from Percy, Elyan, and Leon. Arthur bemoans the fact that they’ve all got their presents sorted already, especially Gwaine of all people.
“Well, is there anything that just you two have bonded over?” Percy asks. “Or like an inside joke?”
Arthur frowns a little. “Yeah, but nothing I think that can be put in gift form.”
“Ah, sexual favors then!” Gwaine interjects cheerfully. “I’m sure he’d appreciate those.”
Leon and Elyan both grab something and throw it at Gwaine. A pillow from Leon and a dirty sock Elyan found on the floor.
Everyone laughs and Arthur is left still trying to find the right gift for Merlin.
*
Friday comes faster than Arthur realizes. He had finally thought of the perfect gift two days earlier, but took an extra day to convince himself that it was a good idea before he purchased them. He knows that Merlin will laugh at his first gift and hopefully love the second one. Because, yes, Arthur has finally admitted to himself that he fancies Merlin, and it would probably kill him, or make him mope around for weeks, if Merlin doesn’t like either of the things he got him.
Now, he’s standing in Merlin’s flat with his friends and about ten of Merlin’s other friends, a few that Arthur’s only met briefly. Will is there, of course, who glares at Arthur more often than not. Then there’s Freya, who Arthur believes is scared of him. Then Nimueh, who frankly just ignores him most of the time, which Arthur doesn’t mind. There’s Edwin, who has a nasty scar on the side of his face and gives Arthur the creeps. Then finally there’s Mordred, who barely talks and freaks the hell out of Arthur when he sees him just staring at him. All the rest, Arthur doesn’t know and doesn’t really care about.
Earlier, Merlin had gone out to lunch (and did some other things Arthur doesn’t know about) with that group of friends and came back to his flat to hang out some more and open presents. Arthur and his friends came around this time to give their presents at the same time. After that, they would take Merlin out to dinner and then head to a club for the rest of the night.
Arthur anxiously waits for Merlin to get to his present. He watches from the edge of the living room, Percy and Elyan flanking him. So far Merlin has opened all the gifts from the first group (gifts that don’t even compare to what he got), given them all blinding smiles and enthusiastic hugs.
Arthur misses a good portion of Merlin opening presents because Morgana insists on shoving her way beside him and talking. “You’ve been all hush hush about your present,” Morgana says lightly.
“Just don’t want to ruin the surprise of getting something better than you did,” Arthur replies as he takes a sip of his mixed drink.
Morgana smirks, “I sure hope you got something better than me. If you didn’t, I might just have to tell Merlin about that one incident with the hairdryer.”
“And I’ll tell everyone about that one time with the lotion when you were sixteen,” Arthur steadily says.
Morgana simply laughs, “Oh, don’t you know by now that I have more dirt on you than you ever will have on me?”
“Morgana!” Merlin practically yells from across the room. Both Morgana and Arthur look over to see Merlin holding up a black pea coat that Arthur knows cost more than 50 pounds.
Merlin has a look of shock on his face as he walks over to where Morgana and Arthur are standing. “I can’t accept this,” he says and holds the coat out towards Morgana.
“Of course you can,” Morgana replies with a kind smile. “It’s called a gift for a reason.”
“I thought I told you nothing more than twenty pounds,” Merlin points out.
“It was only twenty pounds,” Morgana lies. Merlin stares at Morgana, taking in her poker face. They both know that the jacket cost more than what she says, but Merlin knows that Morgana isn’t going to take it back now.
So Merlin sighs and pastes a joyful smile on his face. “Well, thank you for the twenty pound coat,” he says, pecks her cheek and pulls her into a tight embrace.
When he pulls back, he looks at Arthur and grins, “Yours is the next and last.”
Arthur smiles back and thinks about what it means that Merlin left his present for last. “Open the wrapped part first,” is all that Arthur says as Merlin goes back to the couch where there’s ripped wrapping paper littering the floor around him.
Arthur watches as he takes the small package attached to an envelope in his hands and carefully rips apart the poorly wrapped package. He watches as Merlin pulls out a pair of fake glasses identical to his, reads the small note taped to the bridge saying, ‘So you don’t have to be jealous anymore’, and laughs. Instantly, Merlin takes off the note and slides the glasses on his face. Others start laughing at the joke gift, Will protests loudly at how stupid they make Merlin look (as well as Arthur, but Arthur doesn’t really give a damn what Will ever says), Arthur’s friends all make teasing comments about how they could be twins now, and Morgana elbows him with a calculating look.
He watches in trepidation as Merlin opens the envelope next and pulls out the small paper clipped bundle inside. The note on top of the bundle reads, ‘Happy Birthday Merlin. Enjoy, but don’t even think about taking me. -Arthur’. Arthur’s heart beats a little faster and finds himself biting his lip in anticipation as he sees Merlin pull off the paperclip and remove the note. Merlin’s jaw drops and Arthur can see his eyes widen.
“Katy Perry?! You got me tickets to see Katy Perry?” Merlin exclaims with a maniac grin as he looks over at Arthur who shrugs nonchalantly in response, trying to act like it didn’t mean anything, and fight off the grin threatening to appear. Most people in the room start commenting on Katy Perry, especially Will who says that Merlin will be even more insufferable now, and how nice it was for Arthur to get him tickets to see her.
Merlin starts laughing as he jumps off the couch and makes his way as quickly as he can toward Arthur. Arthur knows that the smirk he has on his face doesn’t seem very cheerful, but he is actually incredibly happy that he received this kind of reaction from Merlin. Any chance to see Merlin grinning so hard that his eyes practically disappear is always something Arthur looks forward to. His stomach is in knots by the time Merlin rams into him, his lanky arms wrapping around his neck like a vice and his ear pressed firmly against his. Arthur envelops his arms around Merlin’s waist, mindful of the drink in his hand, and squeezes him tight, leaving no air between them, stamping down the want of burying his face in Merlin’s neck.
“Thank you so much,” Merlin says, his voice is unclear, but Arthur can feel him speaking with the vibrations moving through Merlin’s chest into his.
Arthur tries to stifle his amused grin into Merlin’s shoulder, but is sure it didn’t work when he sees Gwaine making an obscene motion with his hips and Elena taking a picture. He glares at Gwaine and flips him off.
“What? No telling me off for spending too much money?” Arthur jokingly asks as Merlin pulls away, but still stands close.
Merlin shakes his head, a grin never leaving his face and a flush staining his cheeks. “I knew you’d spend however much money you wanted, no matter what I said,” Merlin replies chuckling.
“How do you know that? I could’ve gotten you nothing at all,” Arthur retorts, aiming for serious, but coming out more flirtatious than he’d like. “What made you think you deserve anything anyway?”
Merlin ducks his head and glances at the tickets again. Arthur’s breath hitches when Merlin smiles brilliantly and looks up at him through his lashes.
“Oi! Merlin! Stop flirting and get your skinny arse over here! Some of us are leaving!” yells one of the boys Arthur doesn’t know. Arthur glares at him and Merlin coughs awkwardly and looks away, a blush appearing across his cheeks.
“Well,” Merlin says before giving him a lopsided grin, “Thanks again for the tickets. I’m gonna try my best to convince you to be my plus one.”
Arthur groans, “I said not to take me.”
Merlin snickers as he starts taking steps backward. “Just admit you secretly got the second ticket for yourself.”
“In your dreams, Emrys,” Arthur counters and watches Merlin return to his other friends to say goodbye and take pictures.
As soon as Merlin is gone, his friends descend upon him.
“I see you’ve managed to find your heart and do something nice for once,” Morgana loftily says.
“Katy Perry tickets? That’s so sweet,” Gwen says.
“I thought you hated Katy Perry,” Leon points out.
“He does,” Elyan answers. “A lot.”
“He’s just cock-whipped already,” Gwaine smirks, which earns a punch in the shoulder and some expletives from Arthur.
A few hours later, the group of ten is eating dinner at Nando’s, one of Merlin’s favorite restaurants. Elena takes pictures frequently as Gwaine, Percy, and Elyan often pose for silly pictures for her. Arthur sits on the booth side of the table next to Merlin, which he thinks the others planned that way, and mainly talks to Merlin for most the time. He doesn’t feel bad for monopolizing the birthday boy.
If Merlin was a girl, Arthur is sure that he would be able to tell if Merlin was into him, but since Merlin is most definitely male, Arthur isn’t exactly sure how to read him. He has a notion that Merlin might have some feelings for him, but Arthur is not sure if it is actually real or if Merlin is just being his normal friendly self.
After dinner, they take the twenty five minute bus ride to the area where the club is. They head over to a pub first, to start off the night buying drinks for Merlin. They’re loud and obnoxious, but everyone seems to get that it’s a birthday so they know that there is at least a reason for the noise.
Merlin is started off with only a beer because they all know that he’s a little better than a lightweight and they want him to last most of the night. Percy and Gwaine chug their first beers like it is only water and quickly get a second pint. The others go slow like Merlin seeing how they have over an hour before they want to go to the club.
As soon as the hour passes, with more photos taken by Elena and where stories everyone’s heard before are retold, everyone takes two shots (three for Merlin, Arthur, Gwaine, Percy, and Morgana) at the bar before leaving for the club.
They timed their arrival perfectly at 10:20 to get in just before crowd starts to come around 10:30, who try to get in before the club starts charging at 11. None of them brought jackets since they didn’t trust the coat check and didn’t want to lose them in the sweaty club, but the late November night is freezing so all of them stand close together as they wait. The alcohol coursing through their veins only warms them so much. Arthur is happy to note that Merlin stays close to him, but he makes no move to bring him any closer than their arms pressing against each other.
The group only has to wait twenty minutes before they get into the club with stamps on their hands. By now the shots they had taken earlier are starting to affect them more and the thrumming of the house music beats through their chests as they head toward the main dance floor. They manage to grab one of the larger booths that made up the edge of the half-filled dance floor.
Arthur ends up pressed between Merlin and Elena on the left corner of the booth. It’s a tight fit to get everyone situated since Percy, Leon, and Arthur are broader than everyone else and end up taking more room than the rest. As the group talk about what drinks they want next, Arthur moves his arms so that they rest on top the seats in a more comfortable position behind Merlin and Elena’s shoulders. Elena doesn’t notice, but Arthur can see the way Merlin freezes for a moment and quickly glances over at Arthur before settling back.
“Shots first!” Gwaine yells so that everyone can hear, if not lip-read, over the pounding music. “Then whatever you want after!”
Everyone agrees, mainly because Gwaine has an unhealthy love for shots and a good relationship with the bartender to get a discount. They pull together their money, once again paying for Merlin’s drink, and send Gwaine, Percy, Leon, and Elyan for the drinks.
Arthur watches the crowd and talks to Elena while they wait. He periodically looks over to see Merlin telling Lance something behind Gwen’s back, and Morgana and Gwen are drawn into conversation, Gwen leaning on the sticky table to get closer to Morgana.
A few minutes later, the four men came back with the shots. Everyone grabbed a glass and raised them in the center, clinking their glasses together and screaming with a bit of a slur ‘Happy Birthday, Merlin!’. Arthur knocks his glass against Merlin’s last and keeps eye contact as best as he can before tipping his heads back and pouring the alcohol down his throat. After that they slam their glasses down on the table and try to get rid of the aftertaste.
Immediately Gwaine grabs Leon and heads back towards the bar to find the girls they were flirting with earlier. Elena manages to persuade Percy to dance with her and they get lost in the growing crowd on the dance floor in a matter of seconds. The last six sit and wait a little while longer.
Arthur has dropped the arm that was hanging over Elena’s shoulders, but keeps the one behind Merlin up, not even moving over now that there was more room. The alcohol was making him more relaxed and open to human contact. He would try to talk to Merlin, but he sees that Merlin looks like he’s in a heated conversation with Gwen and tries not to feel annoyed or jealous.
He watches the dance floor as all different kinds of people move around to the music. Some are more in tune with their bodies and their movements are fluid and natural. Others clearly try their best to dance, but can’t seem to do more than move side to side, hoping that they stay on the beat. There’s still room on the dance floor to move around, but Arthur predicts in half an hour, bodies were going to be pressed up to one another and hands and mouths were going to be everywhere.
A hand on his knee brings him out of his stare. Arthur turns his head towards Merlin who grins at him and leans in toward his ear. “We’re all going to go dance, you ready?” Merlin asks, his breath brushing against his ear and neck, sending a small shiver down Arthur’s spine. Arthur gives him a nod and all six of them get out of the booth and onto the dance floor.
The dance floor is hot and stuffy. Arthur starts sweating already and is glad for the white v-neck he chose to wear since it wouldn’t show as many sweat stains as a colored shirt would. He has to dance close to his friends since the room is filling up with more people, and he feels people brushing up against his back frequently. His body feels heavy with the bass of a David Guetta song, singing about a club, hammering through him and the alcohol affecting him.
Arthur looks up and watches Merlin get lost in the music with a large smile on his face. Merlin isn’t a natural dancer with his gawky limbs moving in different directions, but he makes up for it with his enthusiasm. He watches as Gwen dances between Lance and Merlin and laughs when Merlin does a funny dance move. Arthur quickly glances over at Morgana and Elyan, who both happen to have quickly found dance partners for the time being, which wasn’t uncommon with Morgana’s good looks and Elyan’s dance moves.
There are girls who come up to Arthur and dance with him. Arthur indulges them, lets them press up against his front and a few even go as far as pressing their backsides into his crotch, but most of the time he watches Merlin over their shoulders. A few girls also start dancing with Merlin, but not with the same lustful moves that they put on Arthur. It seems even they can tell Merlin’s gay without him telling them.
It may have been half an hour, it could have been an hour or two, but Arthur feels himself starting to sober up just enough to know he can handle more alcohol and can’t see anyone in sight except for Elyan and Merlin. He moves over to Merlin, practically puts his face against the side of Merlin’s and says into his ear, “Want more drinks?”
He feels Merlin nod and grabs onto Merlin’s wrist with a sweaty hand, making sure to keep his fingers wrapped around Merlin’s bony wrist and not sliding his hand down any further. Arthur leads Merlin out of the crowded dance floor and toward the bar. His clothes stick to his body as well the loose fit jeans he chose to wear, his hair sticks to his forehead with sweat, and his glasses keep sliding down his nose. When he looks back, he can see the same has happened to Merlin’s form fitting navy shirt and fringe.
They make it to the bar and settle in for a bit, waiting for a bartender to become available.
Arthur stands sideways and Merlin’s tilted inward toward the bar leaving a small breath of space between them, so Arthur finds little trouble leaning close to Merlin and talking into his ear. “Are you having fun yet?”
Merlin smiles and nods. He hesitates a second before leaning towards Arthur and says with a light slur, “Probably the best birthday I’ve ever had.”
Arthur can only smile uncontrollably before he quickly waves a bartender down as she passes by, grabbing her attention. He orders another round of shots and he can see Merlin groaning. Arthur laughs and tells Merlin that the point of the night was to get him pissed, knowing that this drink will probably be Merlin’s last.
They down the shots quickly and Arthur drags him over to a large seating area away from the dance floor that has cushions, which have been slightly torn up, to rest a bit. Neither of them talks, but Merlin leans into Arthur’s side and bounces his leg along with the beat of the song.
Three songs later, Arthur is feeling the shot when he hears a familiar beat start playing over the speakers. Beside him Merlin literally jumps up and sways a bit before Arthur settles him by pulling on his arm. He turns to Arthur and screams, “This is my favorite! You have to dance with me, come on!”
Merlin doesn’t give Arthur a choice and grabs his hand. Arthur doesn’t resist as Merlin pulls him back onto the dance floor. He laughs as Merlin goes a little crazy and jumps around when there’s no room to. They’re forced to dance close together, so every few beats his blood spikes when Merlin’s hand brushes against his shoulder or when Merlin’s hip brushes along his arm. Arthur lets go and sings along to the song that he definitely should not know the words to. ‘It’s a blacked out blur, but I’m pretty sure it ruled. Damn. Last Friday night. Yeah, we danced on tabletops, and we took too many shots, think we kissed but I forgot. Last Friday night.’ Arthur knows Merlin catches him singing along when Merlin’s jaw drops slightly and he starts laughing before getting back into the words.
The whole crowd chants ‘T-G-I-F’ over and over again and bounces up and down to the beat the DJ puts behind the music when it lowers. They get crazy when the song gets put back up to full volume and start singing along with the words again.
When the song comes to a close, Arthur realizes how close to Merlin he’s gotten, only a few inches separating them. Merlin wraps an arm around Arthur’s neck with a smile and says into his ear, “You are such a liar.” Arthur only laughs and put his hands on Merlin’s hips as the next song starts, a song that was strangely fitting for the night. ‘Tonight, I want all of you tonight. Give me everything tonight.’
Arthur’s heart is pounding furiously as Merlin moves closer and wraps his other arm around Arthur’s shoulders. Merlin pulls back just enough to look at Arthur in the eyes. Whatever he is looking for, he finds, when he grins and starts moving along to the music. Arthur follows his lead and starts dancing too. When Merlin rests his forehead against Arthur’s, he wraps his arms around Merlin’s small waist and slowly brings Merlin’s hips closer to his. Naturally, their legs slot together and their groins end up grinding against each other’s hips, causing Arthur to gasp.
Arthur’s breath wavers as he feels every inch of Merlin’s chest to hips pressed up against him, putting his body on fire. Their bodies move back and forth to the beat, making his heart pound in his chest and arousal start to stir. He can smell Merlin’s sweat, but doesn’t really care. Being so close to Merlin makes him want more and he can’t help but drag his nose down the side of Merlin’s face and ghost his lips over Merlin’s jaw. He lingers below Merlin’s jaw, waiting for a sign that he doesn’t want this, and finds none. Arthur feels Merlin shiver the moment his lips press against Merlin’s pulse point and he leaves a trail of open mouth kisses down the side of his throat. He makes his way down to Merlin’s clavicle and feels Merlin tip his head back slightly. Arthur trails back up to Merlin’s Adam’s apple, nips at it lightly before soothing it over with his tongue and moving up the other side of his jaw. He kisses lightly across Merlin’s cheek and hovers over Merlin’s lips.
He looks into Merlin’s eyes; the lids are heavy, but the pupils are dilated, leaving little of the blue of Merlin’s eyes visible. Merlin licks his lips and Arthur surges forward, capturing Merlin into a kiss that Merlin eagerly responds to. Arthur licks his way inside Merlin’s mouth and entwines his tongue with Merlin’s, tasting the alcohol.
They have stopped dancing, and Arthur pays no attention to the other bodies that knock into him or the music that’s playing. His whole world has narrowed down to Merlin’s lips brushing against his, Merlin’s fingers in his hair, and Merlin’s body pressed as close as they could get at the moment. Arthur’s fingers trail under Merlin’s sweat-soaked shirt and flitter lightly across the waistband of Merlin’s skinny jeans. His hands move down to rest low on Merlin’s back, his fingers splaying over the top of Merlin’s ass.
The need for air becomes overwhelming and Arthur pulls back to give Merlin a series of pecks along Merlin’s upper and lower lip, occasionally sucking on each and nipping them, only to soothe them a moment later.
Arthur moves away from Merlin’s mouth to pay attention to Merlin’s jaw line and he practically groans when he hear Merlin say into his ear, “Take me home, yeah?”
The question causes Arthur to pull back and look at Merlin’s hopeful expression, only to nod quickly and pull him out of the club as fast as possible.
He grabs Merlin’s hand and brings him closer to himself as the cool air hit’s their soaked shirts, chilling them and making them sober up faster. They silently wait at the bus stop and Arthur mulls over how fast everything had happened that night. He doesn’t think he would change a thing, though. If he was true to himself, he had been waiting for this for a while. The thought that Merlin was almost finally his made his chest feel tight and his stomach twist.
As if hearing his thoughts, Merlin looks over at Arthur and throws him a tentative smile which Arthur readily returns. Merlin slowly leans over and gives Arthur a string of slow kisses that don’t go any further, but still manages to leave Arthur breathless. When Merlin leans back, Arthur holds back the small whine that erupts in the back of his throat.
Their bus comes a few minutes later and they sit silently holding hands all the way back to Merlin’s flat.
After they get off the bus thirty minutes later, Arthur starts to slightly panic about what will happen once they get in Merlin’s flat. Sure he has made out with other men, and one time rubbed off against one when he was completely plastered, but he never really got any further than that. And while he’s sure Merlin wouldn’t judge him on how awkward he is on their first night together, Arthur wants it to be perfect.
They make it up the three flights of stairs, their fingers still laced together. The alcohol is starting to work its way out of his system and Arthur can analyze the situation by thinking that going to bed with Merlin too soon may not be a good thing. He didn’t want Merlin to think that this was all he wanted from him. This wasn’t going to be the one shag that they look back on and say ‘Hey, remember that one time…’. Arthur didn’t want that. He had his fair share of one night stands, and Merlin wasn’t going to be a part of that.
Arthur quickly makes use of the toilet once they get inside Merlin’s flat to get rid of the alcohol that swept through his system. When Merlin gives him an odd look when he says this, Arthur reassures him that he isn’t going into some gay crisis by kissing his cheek and promising only a few minutes.
He leaves the bathroom as quickly as possible and waits in the living room, shuffling awkwardly as Merlin uses the toilet too. Arthur notices that Will isn’t around and that the mess that their gathering made earlier is still around. He finds the two gifts that he gave Merlin sitting on top of the pile on the coffee table and glances over all the other gifts.
“I like your gift the best,” Merlin says and Arthur jumps from the proximity. He looks up to see Merlin standing and smiling beside him.
“I know you do,” Arthur arrogantly says with a smirk.
Merlin huffs and rolls his eyes before grabbing the back of Arthur’s neck and bringing him into a desperate kiss to shut him up. Merlin’s hands slowly massage their way down Arthur’s chest, hover at the edge of his shirt before slipping under and running them across the muscle he finds. He moans as Arthur runs his fingers through his hair and pulls on the strands to tilt his head back and attack his throat.
With a sigh, Merlin takes a step away and says, “Bed.”
This causes Arthur to freeze. “Aren’t we moving a bit fast?” He would be fine with snogging like teenagers on the couch all night if Merlin wanted.
Merlin shrugs. “You do know that we’ve been practically dating for the past month and a half right?”
“We have?” Arthur asks confused.
“Yeah, you ask me out to coffee and then the cinema. Then you always pay for dinner and lunch and give me rides everywhere. We talk on the phone at least three times a week and we text each other every day. I mean, if you think about it, those were all kind of dates,” Merlin explains, hesitancy apparent in his voice.
Arthur frowns as he thinks it over, because it was true. Arthur always asked Merlin to get a coffee with him or go out to see a movie. Or he’d ask him out to dinner and pay for the whole meal before Merlin even got the chance. He always gave Merlin rides even if it was only a few minutes away. “How did I miss all that?”
Merlin shrugs with a small grin, “You’re not known for your observation skills. Actually you were kind of driving me crazy with all that. I didn’t know if you were actually asking me out or if you did that with all your mates. Then you’d kind of flirt with me and touch me, but as far as I knew you were completely straight.” Merlin stops in his babbling and his eyes widen. “Shit, this isn’t because you’re drunk right? I mean you seem alright to me, but back-”
“No, Merlin,” Arthur interrupts. “I’m not that drunk to know that I want this, okay? Unlike you, I can hold a couple shots.” As soon as he said it, he knew he should have left the last part off. It wasn’t time to crack jokes or tease. His words cause Merlin to give Arthur a crooked smile, one that doesn’t reach his eyes.
Arthur rubs the back of his neck. “I’ve never fancied a bloke before, but I know that I like you and I should have said or done something about that a long time ago,” he admits softly. Merlin smiles a more genuine smile, one that lightens Arthur, too.
“Don’t worry, I’ve had a crush on you for a while,” Merlin replies with a nervous laugh.
Arthur raises an eyebrow and begins to smirk. “And how long is a while?”
Merlin does his best to glare and wraps his arms around his own waist. All Arthur does is smile wolfishly and slip his fingers through the front of Merlin’s belt loops, pulling Merlin closer to himself. Arthur tilts his head closer to Merlin’s ear and whispers, “How long, Merlin?”
He sees Merlin’s shoulders slump and hears him groan in defeat. “You’re such a prat.”
“Come on, tell me,” Arthur goads as he pulls his head back. “I wanna know.”
Merlin huffs as Arthur slips his hands under Merlin’s shirt, feeling the soft skin beneath his fingertips and squeezes lightly, loving the feeling and the fact that he could do this now.
“Since March,” Merlin grumbles.
Arthur looks at Merlin with shock, “March? I didn’t even know you back then.”
“I know,” Merlin groans and runs his hands over his face. “I saw you talking to Lance and Gwen, and you left before I caught up with them. And after that I saw you and your stupid face everywhere around campus.”
“Is that why you came to my football match?” Arthur asks, partially stunned the admission that made him feel giddy and warm in his chest.
Merlin nods slowly. “Gwen said it was a good idea,” Merlin explains quietly. “Then I met you and you were such a wanker, but I couldn’t help liking you anyway. You and your ridiculous glasses.”
Arthur grins blissfully, thinking that Merlin didn’t give up on Arthur when he was a jerk to him. He doesn’t complain when Merlin reaches up and takes off Arthur’s glasses before throwing them haphazardly on the couch. Arthur chuckles as he steps forward to bring Merlin into a kiss, running his hands over Merlin’s sides. “I think I’d like to see your bedroom now,” he laughs.
Merlin pulls Arthur back toward the bedroom as a laugh escapes him and an enormous grin breaks out. And to Arthur’s horror, Merlin starts singing, “I wanna see your peacock, cock, cock. See your peacock, cock.”
“Merlin!”
*
Arthur ends up seeing Katy Perry in concert; against his will no matter what anyone else says.
*****
Short end notes.
List of mentioned music in order:
1. E.T. by Katy Perry
2. Ur So Gay by Katy Perry
3. Tik Tok by Ke$ha
4. Judas by Lady Gaga
5. Dirty Dancer by Enrique Iglesias
6. Where Them Girls At by David Guetta
7. Last Friday Night (TGIF) by Katy Perry
8. Give Me Everything by Pitbull
9. Peacock by Katy Perry
I hope you guys haven seen the chatroulette guy dancing to Peacock, it’s hilarious. And if you have a YouTube account you can watch the original ‘mature’ version here (which isn’t too different from the other version).