FIC: "On a Planet that Insists" | NC-17 | Merlin/Arthur | Part 1 of 3
Title: On a Planet that Insists
Author: shes_gone
Artist: ravyn_ashling - Art Masterpost (Art is G-rated!)
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 23,000
Summary: Arthur moved halfway around the world to escape the things he'd rather forget. A year at Camelot should have been easy, but a precious few things worked the way that Arthur thought they should, anymore.
Author's Notes:
Written for the merlinreversebb! :D I'm just gonna go ahead and apologise for my innumerable misunderstandings about secondary education in the UK. Pinch hitting left me without time to find a Britpicker, oops. I would probably have been better off making this a North American high school AU, but. I didn't want to. So if you don't mind too much, please suspend your disbelief and forgive me? :D? <3 SPEAKING OF HIGH SCHOOL AUs. I've never felt inspired write one before? Set in any country? But I saw ravyn_ashling's adorable art and was just like @____@ yes, without question, this is happening. AND I HAD SUCH FUN DOING IT. :DDDD Teenagers, man-just so enjoyably earnest and dumb (i.e., the same as Arthur & Merlin as adults). Title's from Ani DiFranco, because I'm incapable of titles that aren't song lyrics.
So many thanks to my inspirational artist, my cheerleading housemates, my speedy and indispensable betas, and the wonderful mod. ♥
( On AO3 )
On a Planet that Insists
Arthur had been fiddling with the buckle on his rucksack for a few minutes before he noticed himself doing it. He frowned, and shoved the offending hand into his jacket pocket. His window was down a couple of inches and he could hear the car's tires on the wet road, kicking up a spray. Fucking rain. Fucking England. Arthur was glad to be back, mostly, but in the three years he'd been away, he'd largely forgotten about all the rain.
For the third time in the seven minutes since they'd left the flat, Arthur pulled up his email on his phone. There still wasn't anything new, so he switched back to his GPS app and watched the blue triangle tick forward until the name of his destination appeared at the top of the screen. "Stop before we cross the next road," he said to his driver.
Leon looked up and found Arthur's eye in the rear view mirror, with raised eyebrows. "I've strict instructions to drop you off right at the front door."
"I understand that," Arthur replied, "but." He took a breath. "Please, Leon. It's the first day."
Leon held his gaze for another few seconds before looking forward again. He pulled the car to the side of the road, and stopped.
Arthur grinned as he climbed out of the car with his bag over his shoulder and opened his umbrella. "You can follow ten to fifteen yards behind me, if it'll ease your conscience," he said after Leon lowered his window.
"My conscience is fine," Leon said, stifling a smile. "I'll see you at three-thirty. Should I meet you back here, or by the front door?"
"Can I text you?"
Leon nodded. "I'll assume here, if I don't hear from you."
"Thanks, Leon," Arthur said, and meant it. "I'll let you know." He adjusted the strap of his bag. "See you later," he said, and didn't move.
"Everything OK?" Leon asked.
Arthur looked at him and away quickly. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, everything's great," and he started walking towards the school.
"Have a good day," Leon called after him.
Arthur raised a hand in thanks, and kept walking. Just one year to get through before uni, he reminded himself, and then everyone would be new.
#
Armed with his time table and a list of room numbers he'd received by post the week before, Arthur had managed to find several of the rooms he'd need later in the day, and three loos along the way-he'd used one, and made note of the other two-but the first classroom on his list didn't seem to be anywhere, and the crowd of students in the corridor had begun thinning out.
"Excuse me," he said to a girl who appeared to know where she was going, "Hi, I'm Arthur." She looked surprised, and he gave her his most charming smile.
Her eyes flitted down to his jacket-his red one, from the football team at his last school-her brows still raised. She smiled, barely, and didn't stop walking. "Yes?"
"Do you know where Pendleton 302 is, by chance?"
"Up those stairs and to the right," she said, pointing back in the direction from which Arthur had come.
"Thanks very much," he said as she passed him and kept walking. He watched her for a moment, a tiny bit baffled, before breaking into a jog towards the stairs she'd pointed to.
Her directions proved correct, so he decided not to hold her lack of friendliness against her. He made it into the classroom just before the teacher started taking the register, and slid into one of the few open seats in the back. Glancing around the room as each name was called, Arthur took in his classmates, wondering who he'd end up knowing, trying to figure out who he should befriend first. It was hard to tell much of anything from the last row.
Afterwards, as they all filed out of the classroom, Arthur smiled and nodded in greeting at few of them. Some of them smiled back, awkwardly, but they averted their eyes as they walked by him quickly without saying hello.
He was late to Economics, but managed to find Spanish with a few minutes to spare. He took a seat near a couple of boys who looked like they might be athletes. "Hey, sorry," he said to them, when there was a lull in their conversation, "just want to check-this is Founders 201, yeah? Spanish? All these wing names have me a bit turned around."
One of them nodded. "Yeah."
"Great, thanks. I'm Arthur." He thought about extending his hand, but they couldn't shake without stretching awkwardly, so he didn't.
"Freddy," replied one. "And this is Tom." Tom nodded, and said nothing.
"Nice to meet you. So, is the food in the canteen here any good?" Arthur asked, conversationally. "Think I'm ready for lunch already."
"S'all right," Freddy replied, while Tom shrugged.
"Good," Arthur said, nodding. "Great."
They didn't speak again as the classroom filled up, and when the class was over, both Freddy and Tom left without so much as a glance Arthur's way.
"Right, then," Arthur said, to the no one who was listening to him.
There was a twenty minute break between Spanish and his next class, so Arthur found a bench and sat on it, pulled out one of the satsumas in his rucksack and began peeling it, trying to look as friendly as possible. He'd brought a second one to offer whatever new friend he might have by break time, but after ten minutes of watching group after group of students pass by him without so much as a interested glance, he pulled it out and ate it himself. Then he pulled out his phone to check his email. The only thing he had was a Google Alert linking to a mention of the rookie players on the Georgetown University soccer team. It was old news, so he deleted it without clicking the link, and then distracted himself from the sudden ache in his chest by playing a fifty-three point word against Leon in Words with Friends.
Noontime was somehow both too fast and too slow in coming, and as Arthur let the current of the crowd pull him in what he hoped was the direction of the canteen, his eyes caught on a sheet of paper pinned to the board outside the headmaster's office. Student Council Election Sign-Up, it read across the top, and Arthur felt his heart lift. He'd been class president at his last school, and he'd loved it, even more than he'd loved football some days. He'd been good at it, too, and it was a role that even seemed to impress his father, which was something Arthur could do with a bit more of these days.
He strode over to the board and wrote his name at the top of the list, already formulating his election speech in his mind.
#
Arthur had to go outside to get to the canteen, and as he crossed the wet lawn, he watched with curiosity as a stream of students exited a building he'd not yet been inside: Sorcerer's Hall, according to the placard over the door. He'd read on the Camelot website that the Sorcery students had their magic classes all in a row in the morning, and then spent the afternoon fully integrated with the non-magic students.
Arthur watched them, all these teenage sorcerers, careful not to look too interested. He noticed a couple of them glancing back at him with vague interest. He looked away, just in time to not trip over a bicycle that lay on its side, half-blocking the path. Arthur frowned and stepped around it, rolling his eyes at the dozens of bicycles haphazardly strewn around the small row of stands nearby.
Inside the canteen, Arthur surveyed the offerings-pasta twirls and mince beef, jacket potatoes and mixed salad-and wasn't completely unimpressed. It smelt decent enough, anyway. He paid for his lunch and walked out into the table area, eyes scanning the crowd.
He didn't know what he was looking for, exactly-maybe a table of beautiful, obviously popular people, maybe a group of footballers, maybe just the person who'd offered him the least awkward smile over the course of the morning-but what he found was a pair of startling blue eyes fixed on him from a couple of tables over. Arthur stared back at them for a moment, taking in the kid they were attached to-a pale, skinny kid with enormous ears and a tousle of jet-black hair-and felt his heart speed up before he managed to look away. He examined a piece of lettuce on his plate, and when he looked back, the kid was still looking right at him.
The kid smiled at him, genuinely, the first truly friendly smile Arthur had seen all day, and something deep inside him flared to life. Jittery and unsure of himself, Arthur threw a glance over his shoulder, in case the smile was meant for someone else. There wasn't anyone there, and when Arthur looked back at him, the kid's smile was even bigger, and his eyes were laughing. There was nothing mean about it, though, and Arthur felt the pull of him even more strongly.
Someone else at the kid's table called for his attention, and the connection between them was broken. Arthur blinked and registered the other people at the kid's very full table-all just as geeky and overly earnest-not at all the sort of friends Arthur should be looking for on his first day.
Angry with himself, Arthur swallowed against a burn of nerves and frustration and looked around the room again, finally spotting the familiar faces of the blokes he'd talked to briefly in his Spanish class. A much safer option for many reasons, not the least of which being that there was an empty seat at their table, Arthur walked over to them, determined to keep hold of his senses.
"You mind?" he asked, hovering his plate a few inches over the table. They shrugged. "Tommy and Fred, right?" he said, as he sat.
"Freddy and Tom," Freddy corrected him.
"Sorry, of course. Arthur," he reminded them, and they didn't say anything. He took a long drink of water, then picked up his fork. "So," he said, scooping some beef and spearing a couple twirls of pasta, "you blokes play football?"
It was a moment before Freddy said, "Yeah."
"Great, me too. Looking forward to the trials tomorrow. Was the club any good last term?"
It was another long moment before Freddy answered, "Nope."
"Ah, well. Nowhere to go but up, then, eh?" Arthur said. Freddy just shrugged, and Tom didn't say anything.
Arthur chewed his lunch and checked his watch.
#
Arthur's first class after lunch was Financial Studies, which he expected would be a waste of his time-his father had been giving him rigorous financial lessons from the day he'd first opened a cheque account in his own name, and he'd been investing his own money since he was thirteen. But it would look good on his uni applications, and he certainly wasn't opposed to freeing up his timetable a bit with an easy class. With no reason to linger in the canteen, he got to the room early and picked a seat in the second row.
He'd just pulled his notebook out of his bag when he glanced up at someone coming into the room, and his blood spiked when he saw it was the kid from the canteen, who Arthur had rather hoped he would never see again. Arthur swallowed and pretended not to notice him, busying himself with checking his pockets for a biro. The kid sat down in the seat next to him, and Arthur could feel his gaze as he scribbled against his notebook, checking the biro had ink.
"So," the kid said, after a moment, "you're new."
Arthur looked at him, his skin hot and annoying. "Well spotted," he replied, sarcastic.
The kid's eyebrows ticked up a bit, but all he said was, "I'm Merlin," and extended his hand.
"Arthur," he replied, and reluctantly shook his hand.
It was a mistake. The contact sent something shivering up Arthur's arm and down his spine, and he all but snatched his hand away. Merlin stared at him, startled. Arthur looked determinedly at his desk.
"How's your first day going?" Merlin asked, after a moment.
"Great," Arthur said shortly. "Everything's great."
"People being nice?"
Arthur felt himself starting to scowl. "People are always nice to me."
"Glad to hear it," Merlin replied, ignoring Arthur's tone. "Let me know if that changes, and I'll be happy to help. I wouldn't want anyone giving you a hard time."
Arthur's scowl deepened. "I can assure you that I won't need any help making friends from the likes of you," he snapped. Merlin blinked at him, his eyes flashing with hurt, and Arthur's chest twisted. He clenched his jaw to the point of pain.
"Hey," came a boy's voice from the desk behind Arthur's, "don't you talk to him like that."
"Excuse me?" Arthur turned around in his seat and took in the sight of the kid behind him, just as hopeless as Merlin.
"I said," the kid replied defiantly, "don't you talk to Merlin like that. He's taking pity on you, being friendly."
"Gilli-" Merlin started, but Arthur cut in,
"Taking pity? On me?"
Gilli just raised his eyebrows. Arthur stared at him. "Listen," he began, but this time Merlin spoke over him.
"It's fine, Gilli," he said, and looked pointedly at Arthur. "Arthur here clearly doesn't understand where he is just yet. He'll learn." Gilli smirked at Arthur for another moment, but backed down at Merlin's direction. Arthur turned to Merlin.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
Merlin shrugged one shoulder. "You'll find that things don't work here quite the way they did at your last school. I suggest you lose this attitude of yours quickly, or you're not going to have a very nice time here."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Arthur said again.
"Listen," Gilli snapped, leaning hard over his desk to get as close to Arthur as he could, "your bullshit beautiful-posh-footballer routine may have put you on top at whatever shit-hole school you just came from, but here? No one gives a shit. So shut it."
"Gilli-" Merlin said, and Arthur was still working up to his response when the teacher walked in and shut the classroom door, commanding the class's attention.
Arthur stewed for the full forty-five minutes, not hearing a word of what the teacher said. When the class ended, he took his time gathering his things, waiting for the right moment to turn around and confront Gilli.
But before he could, a crowd of students gathered around Gilli's and Merlin's desks, talking excitedly about things Arthur didn't understand. He took a deep breath and, thinking it unwise to pick a fight with an entire crowd on his first day, finished getting his stuff together and left the room, careful not to move too quickly lest anyone get the idea that he was running away.
#
"Arthur!" someone called from the crowded corridor behind him. "Hey, Arthur, wait."
Arthur clenched his jaw angrily, wishing he didn't already recognise his voice. He'd turned up in all three of Arthur's afternoon classes: Literature after Financial Studies, and finally Citizenship, and Arthur had been uneasy and angry the entire time. He really didn't fancy turning around right now.
"Arthur!" Merlin called again, and Arthur took three more strides before turning around.
"Yes?" he said flatly, as Merlin darted around a couple of younger students.
"Listen, we got off to a bad start back there," Merlin said, and Arthur just looked at him. "I don't actually think you need help making friends or anything stupid like that, I was just-honestly, I was just trying to make small talk."
"Is that what that was."
Merlin grimaced. "Sorry. I can be pretty awkward sometimes. A lot of times, actually."
"Whatever," Arthur said, and checked his watch. The last class of the day had been cut short to allow for an all-school assembly, and Arthur didn't want to be late.
"I'm sorry about Gilli, too," Merlin continued. "He can be a little-he doesn't have the best track record with your sort, and he tends to lash out at people who remind him of those days."
"My sort?" Arthur asked, incredulously.
Merlin's mouth flapped, for a moment, and his cheeks went pink. "C'mon, you know what I mean. The rich, beautiful athletes who rule the teenage jungle most everywhere else, making the rest of us miserable."
"You lot here sure do love your stereotypes," Arthur snapped, as though he hadn't spent most of the day assessing his new classmates in exactly those terms.
"We don't, actually," Merlin said, "we're just more honest about it."
"Whatever."
"C'mon-let's start again. I was a dick, you were a dick, let's just forget it and be friends."
Arthur sneered. "And why would I want to do that?"
"Because you're new, and that's hard. And I like friends."
Arthur gritted his teeth against the churn of his stomach. "It may have been hard for you, Merlin, but I'm just fine. No need to trouble yourself." He turned and stormed down the corridor.
#
At three-thirty, Arthur slammed his way out of the front door and walked as fast as he could without running up the path from the school, turned left at the road and barrelled towards the spot where he'd left Leon that morning. He'd forgotten to text him, but it was just as well-the less people at this school knew about him, the better. Leon was there, and Arthur threw open the door to the backseat, climbed in, and slammed it closed.
Leon looked at him in the rear view. "All right?"
"Just drive," Arthur said. Leon turned in his seat to look at Arthur directly. "Please, Leon, just get me the hell out of here."
Leon didn't move, for a moment, but then turned around and started the car. Arthur heaved a sigh. His first day was not supposed to go like this, not at all, and it was infuriating that one person-one idiot with his band of magical losers-could set everything so wrong so quickly.
Scowling, Arthur pulled his phone out of his pocket to check Facebook or the news or his bloody horoscope if that's what it took-anything to distract him from the image of Merlin up on stage in assembly, accepting his award for whatever stupid magical tournament he'd won over the summer. Arthur didn't give a shit, of course, but all the hoots and hollers of the crowd when Merlin had appeared next to the Headmaster-exactly the sort of cheers he'd grown so used to hearing for himself when he took the podium during class assemblies-had left him feeling impossibly stupid.
He pounded the screen on his phone until his fingertips ached.
#
Arthur woke up the next morning to a dozen Google Alerts about an American university soccer match that had happened while he was sleeping, and the day only got worse from there. His second day at Camelot was an exercise in pride and tunnel vision, as he beelined from class to class, keeping his head up and his eyes forward, too focused on controlling his temper and ignoring Merlin to interact properly with anyone.
He kept one eye on the clock all day, willing it to tick faster, and the only thing that kept him sane was the promise of the football club trials at three-thirty. Surely, if there was one place in this godforsaken school where Arthur could fit in and earn a bit of respect, it was on the football pitch.
The afternoon proved him wrong on both counts-and got off to an inauspicious start as he came out of the locker room in his football kit and was promptly almost run over by a pack of students on bicycles.
"Oi!" he called out, jumping back. Only one of them, a girl Arthur recognised from his Spanish class, had the decency to call out an apology.
Arthur tried not to glower as he made his way to the pitch, jogging and shaking his limbs to loosen up. There were several faces he recognised from classes there with him, including Freddy and Tom. Arthur nodded at them in greeting. Freddy nodded back.
The coach arrived and got them started running drills immediately. Arthur found himself huffing and puffing too quickly-he'd known he should have done a lot more conditioning and a lot less moping over the summer holidays. It didn't look likely to matter, though, as he surveyed his potential teammates. Freddy obviously hadn't been joking about the club being complete crap the year before, because unless they'd had an entire first squad of upper sixth players who'd left, Arthur found it hard to believe that they'd managed to play an entire game, let alone win any.
At five o'clock, the coach blew his whistle, said he'd see them on Thursday, and everyone on the pitch collected their things and headed for the locker rooms, without so much as a word.
"Coach," Arthur asked, confused. "Sorry, I think I've missed something-do the trials continue on Thursday?"
"Sorry?" the coach asked.
"The trials," Arthur said. "For making the team."
"Oh-uh, no. We don't really do that. Come to practice, and you're on the team."
Arthur faltered. "I-oh. Really?"
The coach nodded. "Fewer players than spots on the team, mate." He clapped Arthur on the shoulder with a huge hand. "Welcome to the club."
"Oh. OK. Thanks," Arthur said. He opened his mouth to ask something, but couldn't decide what his question was, exactly. "Thanks, Coach," he said, and trudged back to the locker room, feeling like he hadn't earned anything at all. When he got there, it was already empty.
#
The week crawled forward, each day largely the same. On Wednesday, Arthur stayed after school to attend the first meeting of the Community Service Volunteers. There were a number of new faces there, which was momentarily encouraging, as Arthur hadn't completely given up on the possibility of making friends. But then Merlin arrived, apparently also a member, and Arthur had no choice but to go back to scowling in the corner.
He could feel Merlin looking at him several times throughout the meeting, as the faculty coordinators spoke. At one point, near the end, Arthur faltered and looked back at him. Merlin blinked, and then gave Arthur a small, awkward smile. Arthur stared at him, his mind filled with the image of that huge, genuine grin in the canteen on the first day, and he had to look away, hoping his expression hadn't registered any change at all.
#
The last class of the day on Friday ended at impossibly long last, and Arthur was packing up his things when Merlin came to stand next to his desk. Arthur focused determinedly on buckling his bag.
"What?" he finally demanded, when Merlin hadn't moved.
Merlin took a moment to answer. "If I told you that a few of us were getting together tonight, to see a film or something, what are the chances you'd be interested in joining us?"
"I can't," Arthur answered, without looking at him.
"Because you've got plans, or because you don't want to be friends with me?"
"Take your pick," Arthur said, still without looking at him.
Merlin stood there for a moment, his mouth a pinched line. "'K," he finally said. "Have a good weekend, Arthur."
Arthur managed not to look at him until he'd turned away.
#
Arthur spent the weekend doing nothing at all-or at least, nothing that required him to leave the flat. He did all his homework, and then spent a great deal of time writing and rewriting his student council election speech, and rehearsing it in front of Leon. He tried not to indulge in fantasies of his fellow students hearing him speak and then falling over themselves to be his friend, apologising for ignoring him all week, but he mostly failed. They were really gratifying fantasies.
He talked Leon into a fairly epic battle on the PlayStation, which lasted until the blister on his thumb actually burst, and then he spent the rest of his time compulsively checking his email, blankly watching television, and staring at photos on the internet of the Georgetown soccer team.
#
Arthur hadn't heard anything about the student council elections yet, so on Monday he went to have another look at the sign-up sheet, to see if he'd missed something important. He frowned at the paper where it was pinned to the board, curling a bit at the edges-his was still the only name on the list. The Deputy Headmaster was listed as the faculty adviser, so Arthur went to her office at lunchtime.
"Oh," she said, blinking at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice that anyone had signed up. That sheet has been on the board for more than two years now, I'd forgotten about it."
"Oh," Arthur said. "So-is there a student council, then?"
"Yes," she replied. "Well, sort of. There's only been one member for the last two years, and we haven't had an actual election in ages. But now that we've got some fresh interest, we can start holding proper meetings again, at least! I think they used to be held on Mondays, right after school. Does that work for you? Can you start today?"
"Um," Arthur said. "Sure. So we won't be giving speeches, then?"
"Speeches for what?"
"Never mind," Arthur said, his weekend fantasies shrivelling like leaky balloons. "Who's the other member, then? My name is the only one on the sheet."
"Merlin, of course," she said.
"Merlin," Arthur repeated, a beat later.
"Well, yes. Oh, I'm sorry-I forgot that you're new. Have you met Merlin yet? Merlin Emrys?"
"I've met him," Arthur said.
"Great," she replied. "I'm sure it will be wonderful working with him."
Arthur stared at her, and put a minimal amount of effort into turning his grimace into a smile. His fingers were numb as he texted Leon to let him know he'd be at school later than planned.
#
Merlin wasn't there when Arthur arrived in the classroom designated for the student council meeting. He sat down and opened his notebook, writing across the top of the page:
Minutes of the First Meeting of the Camelot College 2012-2013 Student Council
Attendees: A. Pendragon, M. Emrys
He kept an eye on the clock and eventually added: Let the record show that M. Emrys is more than fifteen minutes late. He tapped his biro against the desk and considered how many meeting absences should be allowed before a council member needed to be removed from their position.
When the door finally burst open, Arthur fixed it with an unimpressed stare as Merlin came tripping in, his bag precariously slung over his bony shoulder and his arms full of books and loose papers.
Merlin stopped short when he saw Arthur, eyes wide. And then he smiled-a real, wide smile, as if Merlin were actually happy to see him. Arthur looked away, his stomach tight.
"Hi," Merlin chirped, out of breath. "I did not expect it to be you. Should have, I suppose, because it had to be someone new, and none of the other new kids really seem the type."
"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked, with as much disdain as he could muster.
"Alice couldn't remember your name."
"Alice?"
"Yeah, our faculty supervisor? She said you'd spoken with her."
"Deputy Headmaster Cooper, you mean."
Merlin nodded. "Yup!"
Arthur drew a hard breath. "I can see how it would be difficult for her to remember my name, given that it was only one on the list."
"Yeah," Merlin said, laughing agreeably. Arthur felt his nostrils flare. Merlin deposited his pile of things onto a desk and continued cheerfully, "Sorry I'm late, she only just caught me on my way out."
Arthur stared at the disorganised mess Merlin had just dumped, and then looked at his watch pointedly. "Are you honestly the only person who's been representing the student body for the past few years? No wonder this place is so hopeless."
"Oi," Merlin said, ruffling. "You could have bloody well said something about us meeting-we were only in class together for the entire afternoon." Arthur shrugged. He'd thought about mentioning the meeting to Merlin approximately seventeen times during their afternoon classes, but had chosen not to. "And this place is fucking great," Merlin continued, "if you'd stop glowering long enough to notice. Just because you're so bloody unhappy doesn't mean there's anything wrong with us."
"This place is a joke for anyone without magic, and no one cares," Arthur snapped. "The only thing anyone gives a shit about are your little magic tournaments or whatever-the football club is a depressing joke, and obviously your student government is the same."
Merlin sneered. "Oh, I'm so sorry that people here care about something a bit more important than fucking football. And maybe no one's rushing to join the student council because they're perfectly satisfied with how I represent them! You only just got here, what would you even know about it?"
"Look, at my last school in the States, I was class president for two years, and believe me, silence from the people does not mean that they are satisfied-"
"Oh, great. I'm so glad that your school in America taught you everything you need to know about how everything everywhere in the world works, but guess what? You don't know shit. You came waltzing in here, expecting to be king of the fucking castle with your shiny hair and your practised smile and your muscley... muscles, and now all you can do is pout because no one gives a shit."
"Funny, you said that was Gilli just lashing out the other day? Well you sound just like him."
"And you sound just like every self-involved posh idiot I've ever met. That's why you're not making any friends here, you know."
"Fuck you, I am making friends just fucking fine."
Merlin glared at him, but something that looked like regret flashed across his face, and anger flared even more hotly in Arthur's gut.
"You know what-fuck this," Arthur said, throwing his meeting notes into his bag. "Find someone else to look down your nose at."
He crashed out of the room and down the hall, nearly dropping his phone on the checkered floor as he fumbled it out of his pocket. "You close?" he asked when Leon answered. He was already outside, marching down the path to the road.
"Parked in the usual place," Leon said. "Should I come down?"
"No, I'll be there in a minute." It took him less than that.
#
"He's just such a bloody pretentious-self-righteous-hypocritical-" Arthur stabbed at the greens on his plate "-idiot. He accuses me of being arrogant, but he clearly has a higher opinion of himself than anyone I have ever met." He shoved his fork into his mouth. "And I've met some bloody arrogant people," he continued, around his mouthful. "I mean, just because he's, like, the Mr Universe of teenage sorcery or whatever, and all his little magical minions kiss his bony ass all day, that doesn't mean he gets to sit around pitying me. Me! I mean honestly, what the fuck?"
A small spray of chewed greens landed on the table in front of him, undermining his point. "Sorry," he muttered, and wiped up the mess with his napkin.
Leon chewed his food evenly. "Are you really going to quit the student council?"
"I can't work with him."
"What else are you going to do, then? There's a lot of hours in the week that need filling."
"I dunno. Saw a sign for theatre auditions next week. Maybe I'll try out for the play."
"Really?"
"No, of course not really. But I've got football, isn't that enough?"
"Is it?"
"Isn't it? Maybe I don't need to be scheduled to the gills again this year. Different school, different country, different life. Just because I was class president at Andersen, doesn't mean I have to be on the council here. It made sense there, they needed me, there were things I could do. They clearly don't need me here-they've already got bloody Saint Merlin-so why shouldn't I just leave them to it?"
Leon chewed for a silent minute before answering. "Do you think it was really only them who needed you?"
"What?"
"You loved being class president, Arthur. Always seemed to me it was more important to you than anything else you had going on-football, your marks, most of your friends." Arthur looked down, his cheeks heating. "Seems to me," Leon continued, "that it wouldn't be doing yourself a favour to walk away from the chance to have that again, just because you've had a clash with this bloke."
Arthur chewed unhappily and didn't answer.
It was a minute before Leon continued quietly, "What happened in the spring was complete shit, and I wouldn't blame you if you're not feeling up to making new friends, after all that."
Arthur clenched his jaw. "Who says I'm not?"
Leon shrugged. "No one. But you've been nothing but angry since your first day at Camelot, and I'm not sure that's helping anything."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "With a chauffeur like you, Leon, who needs friends?"
Leon just smiled.
"You're very annoying out of uniform, you know."
"Maybe you should stop talking to me after seven," Leon said.
"Maybe I should. Maybe I will." Arthur glared at him, and then snorted. "God, then I really will have to make a friend, won't I?'
"Look on the bright side-maybe you'll find someone you can actually beat on the PlayStation."
"Shut it, I was having an off day."
"Whatever you have to tell yourself to get to sleep at night, Arthur."
Arthur threw a piece of broccoli at him.
#
The next day, Arthur brought a packed lunch to avoid the possibility of a public encounter in the canteen. He was the first one in the Financial Studies classroom, and he sat in his usual seat with one eye on the door, trying not to fidget as a handful of students who were not Merlin came in.
When Merlin finally did appear, he was alone, and Arthur deliberately made eye contact with him. Merlin stared at him, his face pinched. Arthur nodded a greeting, and felt both relieved and apprehensive when Merlin came and sat next to him like usual.
"Listen," Arthur said, almost immediately, hoping that ripping the plaster clean off was the best choice, "I said some things yesterday that were out of order, and I'm sorry for that. I don't really know how things here work yet, so. I shouldn't've been so... quick to insist on my opinion."
Merlin opened his mouth, and closed it, and it was a struggle for Arthur to hold his gaze."You're allowed an opinion," Merlin finally said, "new or not." He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry I overreacted. I shouldn't have said half those things, either."
Arthur shrugged. Neither of them said anything for a bit, as the last few students wandered into the classroom. "Could we, um," Arthur began. "Do you think we could meet again? I'd like to-if you think you can work with me, I really would like to serve on the student council."
Merlin smiled at him. "You free tonight?"
Arthur did his best not to smile back, and largely failed. But he shook his head. "Football. Tomorrow, after community service?"
Merlin shook his head. "Mum works late Wednesdays, so it's my night to make dinner. What time's football done tonight?"
"Five."
"I'll be in the library for a while after school-I have a research project that needs starting. I might still be here at five. Here," Merlin said, writing something on the corner of his notebook paper. He tore it off and handed it to Arthur. "Text me when you're done, and if I'm still here we can just do it then, if that works?"
Arthur looked at the string of numbers on the paper in his hand. "Yeah, that'll work," he said. "If you're still here."
Merlin grinned at him as the classroom door opened and the teacher walked in.
Arthur shoved Merlin's mobile number into his pocket, where it burned steadily against his thigh for the duration of the afternoon.
#
In the locker room after practice, Arthur pulled out his phone. He had a text from Leon, in reply to Arthur's warning that he might be staying later for their meeting: Not a problem. At your service, of course. Will try not to get too lonely.
"Prat," Arthur muttered, before rummaging in his locker for his trousers and pulling Merlin's paper out of the pocket. He typed the number carefully, then deleted it in favour of typing his text first, in case he accidentally hit Send too soon.
This is Arthur. Football is done. R u still here. He retyped Merlin's number into the Recipient box and hit Send.
He had one foot back in his trousers and nearly overbalanced when his phone chirped.
Shit, forgot to silence phone, librarian properly hacked off. Yes, still here. See you in 5?
Arthur finished pulling on his trousers. U should b banned from lib. Where do u want to meet.
You in the lockers still? Wanna meet halfway, this side of the football pitch?
Ok
The pitch was abandoned as Arthur crossed back over it. The school was still and quiet, the only discernible sign of life the three cars still in the car park until Merlin emerged out of the large front door of the library. The early evening sun was painting everything gold, and there was an unwelcome pull in Arthur's chest as he watched Merlin bound down the path, wave at him, and sit on a nearby bench.
Arthur looked down at the ground and kept waking steadily in Merlin's direction, despite his urge to flee.
"How was practice?" Merlin asked.
"All right," Arthur said, shrugging his bag off his shoulder and sitting as far away from him on the bench as he could.
"OK if we just have our meeting here?"
Arthur nodded. "Sure." He opened his bag and retrieved the same notebook he had started to use on Monday. He clicked his biro and edited the existing notes to reflect the current date. He paused for a moment before crossing out his snooty line about Merlin being late. He glanced over at Merlin, who was very obviously reading the notes with raised eyebrows. "I really should leave it in there," Arthur said. "It's important to have an accurate record of what transpired."
"I'm sure we won't have to wait long for another shining example of you being an arse to take its place."
"Shut up," Arthur said. "OK, what's our first order of business?"
Merlin smiled bemusedly. "Should we just chat a bit first? I think we should get to know each other, if we're going to be working together."
"What? Why?"
"I think it's important we understand one another."
Arthur just frowned. "And how do you propose we do that?"
"Tell me your story. Why are you here? Why'd you leave your old school with only one year left?"
Arthur's heart somersaulted in his chest, and he kept his attention on his notebook for a moment, blindly making a nonsensical edit. He had been prepared for this question on the first day, he'd rehearsed his answer before falling asleep night after night in the week before school started, but no one had asked, and now he felt unprepared.
"My father," he answered, without looking up.
"His job? He get transfered?"
Arthur swallowed. "No. He stayed behind, actually."
"In America?"
"Yeah."
"You here with your mum, then?"
Arthur shook his head. "My chau-" he stopped. Somehow he suspected that Merlin would not react well to Arthur having a chauffeur. "A friend of the family."
"Someone you like?"
Arthur nodded.
"That's not too bad, then."
"Yeah, not too bad. Pretty all right, actually. He's called Leon. He's not that much older. We get on quite well."
"You live with him at his flat?"
"No, one of my father's-he owns quite a lot of rental property over here still."
Merlin nodded. "So your friend-Leon? Leon-he keeps an eye on you in exchange for room and board?"
"More or less," Arthur hedged. He didn't want to admit that his only friend was actually a full-time employee of his father.
"Were you fighting with him a lot, then? Your father?"
Arthur nodded. "We weren't seeing eye-to-eye on a few things, and then-" he paused "-it got worse. His wife can't stand the sight of me, so I don't think he had much motivation to reconcile with me." He shrugged.
"That's pretty shit," Merlin said.
Arthur shrugged again, and fiddled with his biro. He desperately wanted to change the subject to official student council business, but it felt too impolite not to ask, "And what about you? You live with your mum, you said?"
Merlin nodded. "Yup. Always just been the two of us. We get along great, which is lucky."
"Has she got magic too?"
"Not a stitch. Came from my dad, according to her. I wouldn't know, I never met him."
"Sorry."
Merlin shrugged. "Me too, sometimes. Other times, I don't care."
Arthur nodded. "My mum died when I was born," he said without thinking, and then felt his cheeks heat with surprise.
Merlin stared at him a moment. "I'm so sorry, Arthur," he said gently, and Arthur suddenly felt very annoyed.
"It's fine, don't worry. Look, it's getting late, and I have a beast of an economics assignment due tomorrow, so do you mind if we leave this off and focus on council business?"
Merlin blinked a couple of times before averting his gaze. "Yeah. Of course, yeah. What do you want to talk about?"
Arthur mostly managed not to roll his eyes. "What are your routine business items? Does the council do any regular fundraisers, or put on school parties or anything?"
"No, nothing like that, really."
"So what do you do?"
Merlin shrugged. "Fix problems, mostly. When I can. Things I notice or other kids ask me about, I'll go talk to the headmaster or Alice or whoever. It's pretty informal. My only official role is peer mediator, and student representative on the disciplinary committee. But I don't do that stuff too often-only if there's something super out of the ordinary going on."
Arthur nodded. He was curious to know more about that piece of things, but he'd had enough of student disciplinary committees in the past year to last him a lifetime, so he decided to let it lie for now. "So do you have any outstanding projects you're working on from last term?"
Merlin nodded. "I started a campaign to get vegan food in the canteen last spring, but didn't get very far before term ended. And we're in sore need of more bicycle stands along the front entrance."
"I've noticed that," Arthur said. "Nearly cracked my head a couple of times, tripping over the mess of bicycles along the path."
Merlin chuckled. "I know, it's a disaster. Once the spaces are used up, everyone else just locks their bike to another bike, and it's a logistical nightmare, getting everything unlocked again at the end of the day. I also want to ask about getting the stands covered, to keep our bikes out of the rain. A fair few of us are getting a real rust problem."
"Do you ride your bike every day?"
Merlin nodded. "Rain or shine. I could just walk, really, it's not that far, but it's faster on the bike, and easier on my shoulders to strap my books to the back."
"All right," Arthur said, nodding. "I agree that we should work on the bike stand issue. Do you think the school's got the budget for it, or will we need to do a fundraiser?"
Merlin's brows went up. "Dunno. I doubt the school's gonna be thrilled about spending the money, but I've never really done a fundraiser, so-I dunno."
"I have some experience with them, so that shouldn't be a problem. It's usually worth it-even if we don't raise a lot of money, it can be a good way to gauge the student body's investment in an issue."
"All right," Merlin said, shrugging. "What should we do?"
"Any of the usual things would be good: a bake sale, a raffle, whatever. We'll probably want to do some sort of awareness or educational event-like a fair, maybe. We could invite everyone to ride their bikes to school one day, and then after classes we could bring someone in to do tune-ups and things, for donations. We could sell refreshments, too, with all the proceeds going towards the project."
"And we could have races in the car park!" Merlin said, grinning. "Or something. Yeah, I like that."
Arthur smiled. "All right." He turned to his meeting notes. Resolved:, he wrote. Begin Bicycle Stand Expansion and Improvement Project. Possibly organise a bike fair as a fundraising/awareness event. Action Items: Brainstorm ideas for fair, and other fundraisers. Research bike stand shelters, other options.
When he looked up, Merlin was grinning at him. "You take this really seriously, huh?" Merlin asked.
"I just want us to be organised," Arthur said shortly. "Very little gets done, when you're not."
"S'ppose not," Merlin said, and continued smiling at him. His attention suddenly turned to his trouser pocket, and Arthur could hear the faint buzzing of a mobile. "Shit," Merlin muttered to the screen on his phone. "Mum's looking for me. Mind if we adjourn, and talk about the vegans next week?"
"The vegans?" Arthur replied. "Oh, right-the canteen, got it. Sounds good."
"Great," Merlin said and stood up. He took a couple of steps and stopped. "I'm glad you talked to me today," he said quickly. "And I'm really glad we're doing this. Thanks."
Arthur paused in the middle of his note about vegans and looked up. Merlin was looking at him very earnestly, and Arthur felt his throat start to close up. "Not a problem," he managed, with an awkward nod. Merlin nodded too, and stood still for another moment before finally leaving.
Arthur could hear Merlin unlocking his bike from the stand several yards behind the bench. He shoved his notebook into his bag and got up quickly, striding purposefully down the path towards the road.
He was about halfway there when Merlin scurried up alongside him, walking his bike. Arthur went a bit stiff.
"Which way are you headed?" Merlin asked.
"To the left, at the road," he answered.
"Me too!" Merlin grinned.
"You don't need to walk with me," Arthur muttered, after a moment. "Feel free to actually ride that thing."
Merlin shrugged. "Are you going to the bus stop? That's not far, I'll walk with you. Do you take the 12 or the 27?"
"No, um." Arthur scowled. "I'm meeting Leon, actually. He drives me. But he doesn't like to come all the way down to the school, so he parks up the road a bit and waits for me."
"Really?" Merlin asked, grinning. "You sure it's not you who tells him to park far enough away that no one can see him?"
"It's just more convenient," Arthur said. "He drives down Stratton Road anyway. This way he doesn't have to turn or anything. He can just pull over." It sounded fairly ludicrous to Arthur's own ears, so he couldn't really blame Merlin for the perplexed look he gave him.
"I'm surprised you don't have your own car, come to think of it," Merlin said. "You seem the type. And there's plenty of space in the student parking area."
"I don't have a licence," Arthur said, impatiently.
"Ah," Merlin said, and he probably meant it perfectly innocuously, but something in Arthur flared hotly.
"I used to," he snapped. "Back in the States, but. It's complicated-I can't drive here."
"I don't have a licence either," Merlin replied, shrugging. "I'm in the after-school class for it on Thursdays, so I suppose I might get one at the end of term, but I won't have a car to drive, so it won't matter."
"Mm," Arthur grunted in response.
"Kilgharrah here's the only wheels I'll be able to afford for some time, I'm sure."
"Kilgharrah?"
"My bike," Merlin said, grinning.
They had reached the road, and Arthur turned left with a sigh, his eyes trained straight ahead. "You're an idiot," he said, and Merlin huffed a small laugh.
They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, Kilgharrah's chain clicking steadily.
"I like your jacket, by the way," Merlin said, sounding exactly like he'd been fishing for some new small talk to make.
"Thanks," Arthur said.
"Are the whole club going to get them, with their own letters?"
Arthur frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The football club. That is your football jacket, isn't it?"
Arthur stared at him, and nearly tripped on an uneven patch of pavement. "From last year. From my old school."
"Oh," Merlin said. "Oops. Guess I don't really know what ours look like. Or if we even have them, come to think."
"This school's called Camelot, Merlin. With a 'C'. What did you think the 'A' stood for, exactly?"
Merlin shrugged. "Arthur?"
Arthur sputtered. "You are such an idiot."
"Arthur the Arse? Arthur the Arrogant Arse from America? All very plausible." Merlin shot Arthur a sideways grin. "You can understand my mistake, surely."
"Whatever, Merlin, you're a moron. Merlin the Moron. From-Moron-ville."
Merlin threw back his head and laughed. "You're pathetic!"
"Shut up," Arthur grumbled. "Why don't you just get on your bike and go home already?"
"Nah, I like walking with you."
"That's Leon's car, right up there. You should really just go."
Merlin squinted at the car parked a little ways ahead of them. Leon was sitting in the driver's seat, and appeared to be reading a book. "Is he wearing a uniform?" Merlin asked. "Like, with a cap and everything?"
Arthur silently swore to himself, and didn't say anything.
"Wait-does Leon give you friendly lifts to and from school, or is he your driver? Like, your chauffeur?"
"I told you, I can't drive anywhere," Arthur snapped.
"Neither can I, but no one shows up in a driving cap and gloves to escort me home."
"He's not wearing gloves," Arthur retorted, and he hoped that was true. He wasn't actually sure. "Technically, yes, he's my driver, but it's honestly pretty informal. I don't know why he insists on wearing the uniform, it's all very silly."
"I suppose he takes his job very seriously," Merlin said, grinning and knocking Arthur with his elbow. "I can think of someone else like that."
"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur said crossly, and tried to ignore the way the hair on his arm stood up where Merlin had touched him.
Leon had looked up and was watching them approach, and Arthur couldn't help wondering what they looked like, walking together. Merlin waved at Leon, grinning, and Arthur rolled his eyes. Leon raised a hand in return, and thankfully he did indeed appear to not be wearing gloves. He had an amused expression on his face as Merlin walked his bike around to the driver's side, gesturing for Leon to roll down his window.
"Hi, I'm Merlin," he said, grinning and extending his hand. "You must be Leon."
"Nice to meet you, Merlin." Leon shook his hand.
"I like your hat."
"Thank you. I like your bike."
"Thanks! He's called Kilgharrah."
"A very noble name."
"I agree," Merlin said, beaming. Arthur rolled his eyes again and pulled open the car door. He was about to climb in when he realised the getting into the back seat would leave very little room to claim that Leon wasn't actually his quite formal chauffeur, so Arthur tossed his bag inside and closed the door without getting in. He had to pick up a few of Leon's things-a book, a map, his mobile-and hold them in his lap before he could sit in the front seat, but he did his best to look like all of this was completely normal. Leon just watched him, not saying anything.
"I think we need to be going," Arthur snapped, against the awkward silence. "Merlin, didn't you say your mother was looking for you?"
Merlin grinned. "Yeah. See you tomorrow, Arthur."
"Bye," Arthur said, and fished his phone out of his jacket pocket for something to look at while Merlin climbed on his bike and rode away.
Leon rolled up his window. Arthur continued to fiddle with his phone for nearly a minute before he looked up. "Why aren't we moving?"
"I wasn't sure if you wanted to stay in the front seat, or if all of that was solely for Merlin's benefit."
Arthur scowled, and his face went hot. "Just drive," he said, and eventually, Leon did.
part two →
Author: shes_gone
Artist: ravyn_ashling - Art Masterpost (Art is G-rated!)
Pairing: Arthur/Merlin
Rating: NC-17
Word Count: 23,000
Summary: Arthur moved halfway around the world to escape the things he'd rather forget. A year at Camelot should have been easy, but a precious few things worked the way that Arthur thought they should, anymore.
Author's Notes:
Written for the merlinreversebb! :D I'm just gonna go ahead and apologise for my innumerable misunderstandings about secondary education in the UK. Pinch hitting left me without time to find a Britpicker, oops. I would probably have been better off making this a North American high school AU, but. I didn't want to. So if you don't mind too much, please suspend your disbelief and forgive me? :D? <3 SPEAKING OF HIGH SCHOOL AUs. I've never felt inspired write one before? Set in any country? But I saw ravyn_ashling's adorable art and was just like @____@ yes, without question, this is happening. AND I HAD SUCH FUN DOING IT. :DDDD Teenagers, man-just so enjoyably earnest and dumb (i.e., the same as Arthur & Merlin as adults). Title's from Ani DiFranco, because I'm incapable of titles that aren't song lyrics.
So many thanks to my inspirational artist, my cheerleading housemates, my speedy and indispensable betas, and the wonderful mod. ♥
( On AO3 )
On a Planet that Insists
Arthur had been fiddling with the buckle on his rucksack for a few minutes before he noticed himself doing it. He frowned, and shoved the offending hand into his jacket pocket. His window was down a couple of inches and he could hear the car's tires on the wet road, kicking up a spray. Fucking rain. Fucking England. Arthur was glad to be back, mostly, but in the three years he'd been away, he'd largely forgotten about all the rain.
For the third time in the seven minutes since they'd left the flat, Arthur pulled up his email on his phone. There still wasn't anything new, so he switched back to his GPS app and watched the blue triangle tick forward until the name of his destination appeared at the top of the screen. "Stop before we cross the next road," he said to his driver.
Leon looked up and found Arthur's eye in the rear view mirror, with raised eyebrows. "I've strict instructions to drop you off right at the front door."
"I understand that," Arthur replied, "but." He took a breath. "Please, Leon. It's the first day."
Leon held his gaze for another few seconds before looking forward again. He pulled the car to the side of the road, and stopped.
Arthur grinned as he climbed out of the car with his bag over his shoulder and opened his umbrella. "You can follow ten to fifteen yards behind me, if it'll ease your conscience," he said after Leon lowered his window.
"My conscience is fine," Leon said, stifling a smile. "I'll see you at three-thirty. Should I meet you back here, or by the front door?"
"Can I text you?"
Leon nodded. "I'll assume here, if I don't hear from you."
"Thanks, Leon," Arthur said, and meant it. "I'll let you know." He adjusted the strap of his bag. "See you later," he said, and didn't move.
"Everything OK?" Leon asked.
Arthur looked at him and away quickly. "Yeah," he said. "Yeah, everything's great," and he started walking towards the school.
"Have a good day," Leon called after him.
Arthur raised a hand in thanks, and kept walking. Just one year to get through before uni, he reminded himself, and then everyone would be new.
#
Armed with his time table and a list of room numbers he'd received by post the week before, Arthur had managed to find several of the rooms he'd need later in the day, and three loos along the way-he'd used one, and made note of the other two-but the first classroom on his list didn't seem to be anywhere, and the crowd of students in the corridor had begun thinning out.
"Excuse me," he said to a girl who appeared to know where she was going, "Hi, I'm Arthur." She looked surprised, and he gave her his most charming smile.
Her eyes flitted down to his jacket-his red one, from the football team at his last school-her brows still raised. She smiled, barely, and didn't stop walking. "Yes?"
"Do you know where Pendleton 302 is, by chance?"
"Up those stairs and to the right," she said, pointing back in the direction from which Arthur had come.
"Thanks very much," he said as she passed him and kept walking. He watched her for a moment, a tiny bit baffled, before breaking into a jog towards the stairs she'd pointed to.
Her directions proved correct, so he decided not to hold her lack of friendliness against her. He made it into the classroom just before the teacher started taking the register, and slid into one of the few open seats in the back. Glancing around the room as each name was called, Arthur took in his classmates, wondering who he'd end up knowing, trying to figure out who he should befriend first. It was hard to tell much of anything from the last row.
Afterwards, as they all filed out of the classroom, Arthur smiled and nodded in greeting at few of them. Some of them smiled back, awkwardly, but they averted their eyes as they walked by him quickly without saying hello.
He was late to Economics, but managed to find Spanish with a few minutes to spare. He took a seat near a couple of boys who looked like they might be athletes. "Hey, sorry," he said to them, when there was a lull in their conversation, "just want to check-this is Founders 201, yeah? Spanish? All these wing names have me a bit turned around."
One of them nodded. "Yeah."
"Great, thanks. I'm Arthur." He thought about extending his hand, but they couldn't shake without stretching awkwardly, so he didn't.
"Freddy," replied one. "And this is Tom." Tom nodded, and said nothing.
"Nice to meet you. So, is the food in the canteen here any good?" Arthur asked, conversationally. "Think I'm ready for lunch already."
"S'all right," Freddy replied, while Tom shrugged.
"Good," Arthur said, nodding. "Great."
They didn't speak again as the classroom filled up, and when the class was over, both Freddy and Tom left without so much as a glance Arthur's way.
"Right, then," Arthur said, to the no one who was listening to him.
There was a twenty minute break between Spanish and his next class, so Arthur found a bench and sat on it, pulled out one of the satsumas in his rucksack and began peeling it, trying to look as friendly as possible. He'd brought a second one to offer whatever new friend he might have by break time, but after ten minutes of watching group after group of students pass by him without so much as a interested glance, he pulled it out and ate it himself. Then he pulled out his phone to check his email. The only thing he had was a Google Alert linking to a mention of the rookie players on the Georgetown University soccer team. It was old news, so he deleted it without clicking the link, and then distracted himself from the sudden ache in his chest by playing a fifty-three point word against Leon in Words with Friends.
Noontime was somehow both too fast and too slow in coming, and as Arthur let the current of the crowd pull him in what he hoped was the direction of the canteen, his eyes caught on a sheet of paper pinned to the board outside the headmaster's office. Student Council Election Sign-Up, it read across the top, and Arthur felt his heart lift. He'd been class president at his last school, and he'd loved it, even more than he'd loved football some days. He'd been good at it, too, and it was a role that even seemed to impress his father, which was something Arthur could do with a bit more of these days.
He strode over to the board and wrote his name at the top of the list, already formulating his election speech in his mind.
#
Arthur had to go outside to get to the canteen, and as he crossed the wet lawn, he watched with curiosity as a stream of students exited a building he'd not yet been inside: Sorcerer's Hall, according to the placard over the door. He'd read on the Camelot website that the Sorcery students had their magic classes all in a row in the morning, and then spent the afternoon fully integrated with the non-magic students.
Arthur watched them, all these teenage sorcerers, careful not to look too interested. He noticed a couple of them glancing back at him with vague interest. He looked away, just in time to not trip over a bicycle that lay on its side, half-blocking the path. Arthur frowned and stepped around it, rolling his eyes at the dozens of bicycles haphazardly strewn around the small row of stands nearby.
Inside the canteen, Arthur surveyed the offerings-pasta twirls and mince beef, jacket potatoes and mixed salad-and wasn't completely unimpressed. It smelt decent enough, anyway. He paid for his lunch and walked out into the table area, eyes scanning the crowd.
He didn't know what he was looking for, exactly-maybe a table of beautiful, obviously popular people, maybe a group of footballers, maybe just the person who'd offered him the least awkward smile over the course of the morning-but what he found was a pair of startling blue eyes fixed on him from a couple of tables over. Arthur stared back at them for a moment, taking in the kid they were attached to-a pale, skinny kid with enormous ears and a tousle of jet-black hair-and felt his heart speed up before he managed to look away. He examined a piece of lettuce on his plate, and when he looked back, the kid was still looking right at him.
The kid smiled at him, genuinely, the first truly friendly smile Arthur had seen all day, and something deep inside him flared to life. Jittery and unsure of himself, Arthur threw a glance over his shoulder, in case the smile was meant for someone else. There wasn't anyone there, and when Arthur looked back at him, the kid's smile was even bigger, and his eyes were laughing. There was nothing mean about it, though, and Arthur felt the pull of him even more strongly.
Someone else at the kid's table called for his attention, and the connection between them was broken. Arthur blinked and registered the other people at the kid's very full table-all just as geeky and overly earnest-not at all the sort of friends Arthur should be looking for on his first day.
Angry with himself, Arthur swallowed against a burn of nerves and frustration and looked around the room again, finally spotting the familiar faces of the blokes he'd talked to briefly in his Spanish class. A much safer option for many reasons, not the least of which being that there was an empty seat at their table, Arthur walked over to them, determined to keep hold of his senses.
"You mind?" he asked, hovering his plate a few inches over the table. They shrugged. "Tommy and Fred, right?" he said, as he sat.
"Freddy and Tom," Freddy corrected him.
"Sorry, of course. Arthur," he reminded them, and they didn't say anything. He took a long drink of water, then picked up his fork. "So," he said, scooping some beef and spearing a couple twirls of pasta, "you blokes play football?"
It was a moment before Freddy said, "Yeah."
"Great, me too. Looking forward to the trials tomorrow. Was the club any good last term?"
It was another long moment before Freddy answered, "Nope."
"Ah, well. Nowhere to go but up, then, eh?" Arthur said. Freddy just shrugged, and Tom didn't say anything.
Arthur chewed his lunch and checked his watch.
#
Arthur's first class after lunch was Financial Studies, which he expected would be a waste of his time-his father had been giving him rigorous financial lessons from the day he'd first opened a cheque account in his own name, and he'd been investing his own money since he was thirteen. But it would look good on his uni applications, and he certainly wasn't opposed to freeing up his timetable a bit with an easy class. With no reason to linger in the canteen, he got to the room early and picked a seat in the second row.
He'd just pulled his notebook out of his bag when he glanced up at someone coming into the room, and his blood spiked when he saw it was the kid from the canteen, who Arthur had rather hoped he would never see again. Arthur swallowed and pretended not to notice him, busying himself with checking his pockets for a biro. The kid sat down in the seat next to him, and Arthur could feel his gaze as he scribbled against his notebook, checking the biro had ink.
"So," the kid said, after a moment, "you're new."
Arthur looked at him, his skin hot and annoying. "Well spotted," he replied, sarcastic.
The kid's eyebrows ticked up a bit, but all he said was, "I'm Merlin," and extended his hand.
"Arthur," he replied, and reluctantly shook his hand.
It was a mistake. The contact sent something shivering up Arthur's arm and down his spine, and he all but snatched his hand away. Merlin stared at him, startled. Arthur looked determinedly at his desk.
"How's your first day going?" Merlin asked, after a moment.
"Great," Arthur said shortly. "Everything's great."
"People being nice?"
Arthur felt himself starting to scowl. "People are always nice to me."
"Glad to hear it," Merlin replied, ignoring Arthur's tone. "Let me know if that changes, and I'll be happy to help. I wouldn't want anyone giving you a hard time."
Arthur's scowl deepened. "I can assure you that I won't need any help making friends from the likes of you," he snapped. Merlin blinked at him, his eyes flashing with hurt, and Arthur's chest twisted. He clenched his jaw to the point of pain.
"Hey," came a boy's voice from the desk behind Arthur's, "don't you talk to him like that."
"Excuse me?" Arthur turned around in his seat and took in the sight of the kid behind him, just as hopeless as Merlin.
"I said," the kid replied defiantly, "don't you talk to Merlin like that. He's taking pity on you, being friendly."
"Gilli-" Merlin started, but Arthur cut in,
"Taking pity? On me?"
Gilli just raised his eyebrows. Arthur stared at him. "Listen," he began, but this time Merlin spoke over him.
"It's fine, Gilli," he said, and looked pointedly at Arthur. "Arthur here clearly doesn't understand where he is just yet. He'll learn." Gilli smirked at Arthur for another moment, but backed down at Merlin's direction. Arthur turned to Merlin.
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
Merlin shrugged one shoulder. "You'll find that things don't work here quite the way they did at your last school. I suggest you lose this attitude of yours quickly, or you're not going to have a very nice time here."
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Arthur said again.
"Listen," Gilli snapped, leaning hard over his desk to get as close to Arthur as he could, "your bullshit beautiful-posh-footballer routine may have put you on top at whatever shit-hole school you just came from, but here? No one gives a shit. So shut it."
"Gilli-" Merlin said, and Arthur was still working up to his response when the teacher walked in and shut the classroom door, commanding the class's attention.
Arthur stewed for the full forty-five minutes, not hearing a word of what the teacher said. When the class ended, he took his time gathering his things, waiting for the right moment to turn around and confront Gilli.
But before he could, a crowd of students gathered around Gilli's and Merlin's desks, talking excitedly about things Arthur didn't understand. He took a deep breath and, thinking it unwise to pick a fight with an entire crowd on his first day, finished getting his stuff together and left the room, careful not to move too quickly lest anyone get the idea that he was running away.
#
"Arthur!" someone called from the crowded corridor behind him. "Hey, Arthur, wait."
Arthur clenched his jaw angrily, wishing he didn't already recognise his voice. He'd turned up in all three of Arthur's afternoon classes: Literature after Financial Studies, and finally Citizenship, and Arthur had been uneasy and angry the entire time. He really didn't fancy turning around right now.
"Arthur!" Merlin called again, and Arthur took three more strides before turning around.
"Yes?" he said flatly, as Merlin darted around a couple of younger students.
"Listen, we got off to a bad start back there," Merlin said, and Arthur just looked at him. "I don't actually think you need help making friends or anything stupid like that, I was just-honestly, I was just trying to make small talk."
"Is that what that was."
Merlin grimaced. "Sorry. I can be pretty awkward sometimes. A lot of times, actually."
"Whatever," Arthur said, and checked his watch. The last class of the day had been cut short to allow for an all-school assembly, and Arthur didn't want to be late.
"I'm sorry about Gilli, too," Merlin continued. "He can be a little-he doesn't have the best track record with your sort, and he tends to lash out at people who remind him of those days."
"My sort?" Arthur asked, incredulously.
Merlin's mouth flapped, for a moment, and his cheeks went pink. "C'mon, you know what I mean. The rich, beautiful athletes who rule the teenage jungle most everywhere else, making the rest of us miserable."
"You lot here sure do love your stereotypes," Arthur snapped, as though he hadn't spent most of the day assessing his new classmates in exactly those terms.
"We don't, actually," Merlin said, "we're just more honest about it."
"Whatever."
"C'mon-let's start again. I was a dick, you were a dick, let's just forget it and be friends."
Arthur sneered. "And why would I want to do that?"
"Because you're new, and that's hard. And I like friends."
Arthur gritted his teeth against the churn of his stomach. "It may have been hard for you, Merlin, but I'm just fine. No need to trouble yourself." He turned and stormed down the corridor.
#
At three-thirty, Arthur slammed his way out of the front door and walked as fast as he could without running up the path from the school, turned left at the road and barrelled towards the spot where he'd left Leon that morning. He'd forgotten to text him, but it was just as well-the less people at this school knew about him, the better. Leon was there, and Arthur threw open the door to the backseat, climbed in, and slammed it closed.
Leon looked at him in the rear view. "All right?"
"Just drive," Arthur said. Leon turned in his seat to look at Arthur directly. "Please, Leon, just get me the hell out of here."
Leon didn't move, for a moment, but then turned around and started the car. Arthur heaved a sigh. His first day was not supposed to go like this, not at all, and it was infuriating that one person-one idiot with his band of magical losers-could set everything so wrong so quickly.
Scowling, Arthur pulled his phone out of his pocket to check Facebook or the news or his bloody horoscope if that's what it took-anything to distract him from the image of Merlin up on stage in assembly, accepting his award for whatever stupid magical tournament he'd won over the summer. Arthur didn't give a shit, of course, but all the hoots and hollers of the crowd when Merlin had appeared next to the Headmaster-exactly the sort of cheers he'd grown so used to hearing for himself when he took the podium during class assemblies-had left him feeling impossibly stupid.
He pounded the screen on his phone until his fingertips ached.
#
Arthur woke up the next morning to a dozen Google Alerts about an American university soccer match that had happened while he was sleeping, and the day only got worse from there. His second day at Camelot was an exercise in pride and tunnel vision, as he beelined from class to class, keeping his head up and his eyes forward, too focused on controlling his temper and ignoring Merlin to interact properly with anyone.
He kept one eye on the clock all day, willing it to tick faster, and the only thing that kept him sane was the promise of the football club trials at three-thirty. Surely, if there was one place in this godforsaken school where Arthur could fit in and earn a bit of respect, it was on the football pitch.
The afternoon proved him wrong on both counts-and got off to an inauspicious start as he came out of the locker room in his football kit and was promptly almost run over by a pack of students on bicycles.
"Oi!" he called out, jumping back. Only one of them, a girl Arthur recognised from his Spanish class, had the decency to call out an apology.
Arthur tried not to glower as he made his way to the pitch, jogging and shaking his limbs to loosen up. There were several faces he recognised from classes there with him, including Freddy and Tom. Arthur nodded at them in greeting. Freddy nodded back.
The coach arrived and got them started running drills immediately. Arthur found himself huffing and puffing too quickly-he'd known he should have done a lot more conditioning and a lot less moping over the summer holidays. It didn't look likely to matter, though, as he surveyed his potential teammates. Freddy obviously hadn't been joking about the club being complete crap the year before, because unless they'd had an entire first squad of upper sixth players who'd left, Arthur found it hard to believe that they'd managed to play an entire game, let alone win any.
At five o'clock, the coach blew his whistle, said he'd see them on Thursday, and everyone on the pitch collected their things and headed for the locker rooms, without so much as a word.
"Coach," Arthur asked, confused. "Sorry, I think I've missed something-do the trials continue on Thursday?"
"Sorry?" the coach asked.
"The trials," Arthur said. "For making the team."
"Oh-uh, no. We don't really do that. Come to practice, and you're on the team."
Arthur faltered. "I-oh. Really?"
The coach nodded. "Fewer players than spots on the team, mate." He clapped Arthur on the shoulder with a huge hand. "Welcome to the club."
"Oh. OK. Thanks," Arthur said. He opened his mouth to ask something, but couldn't decide what his question was, exactly. "Thanks, Coach," he said, and trudged back to the locker room, feeling like he hadn't earned anything at all. When he got there, it was already empty.
#
The week crawled forward, each day largely the same. On Wednesday, Arthur stayed after school to attend the first meeting of the Community Service Volunteers. There were a number of new faces there, which was momentarily encouraging, as Arthur hadn't completely given up on the possibility of making friends. But then Merlin arrived, apparently also a member, and Arthur had no choice but to go back to scowling in the corner.
He could feel Merlin looking at him several times throughout the meeting, as the faculty coordinators spoke. At one point, near the end, Arthur faltered and looked back at him. Merlin blinked, and then gave Arthur a small, awkward smile. Arthur stared at him, his mind filled with the image of that huge, genuine grin in the canteen on the first day, and he had to look away, hoping his expression hadn't registered any change at all.
#
The last class of the day on Friday ended at impossibly long last, and Arthur was packing up his things when Merlin came to stand next to his desk. Arthur focused determinedly on buckling his bag.
"What?" he finally demanded, when Merlin hadn't moved.
Merlin took a moment to answer. "If I told you that a few of us were getting together tonight, to see a film or something, what are the chances you'd be interested in joining us?"
"I can't," Arthur answered, without looking at him.
"Because you've got plans, or because you don't want to be friends with me?"
"Take your pick," Arthur said, still without looking at him.
Merlin stood there for a moment, his mouth a pinched line. "'K," he finally said. "Have a good weekend, Arthur."
Arthur managed not to look at him until he'd turned away.
#
Arthur spent the weekend doing nothing at all-or at least, nothing that required him to leave the flat. He did all his homework, and then spent a great deal of time writing and rewriting his student council election speech, and rehearsing it in front of Leon. He tried not to indulge in fantasies of his fellow students hearing him speak and then falling over themselves to be his friend, apologising for ignoring him all week, but he mostly failed. They were really gratifying fantasies.
He talked Leon into a fairly epic battle on the PlayStation, which lasted until the blister on his thumb actually burst, and then he spent the rest of his time compulsively checking his email, blankly watching television, and staring at photos on the internet of the Georgetown soccer team.
#
Arthur hadn't heard anything about the student council elections yet, so on Monday he went to have another look at the sign-up sheet, to see if he'd missed something important. He frowned at the paper where it was pinned to the board, curling a bit at the edges-his was still the only name on the list. The Deputy Headmaster was listed as the faculty adviser, so Arthur went to her office at lunchtime.
"Oh," she said, blinking at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't notice that anyone had signed up. That sheet has been on the board for more than two years now, I'd forgotten about it."
"Oh," Arthur said. "So-is there a student council, then?"
"Yes," she replied. "Well, sort of. There's only been one member for the last two years, and we haven't had an actual election in ages. But now that we've got some fresh interest, we can start holding proper meetings again, at least! I think they used to be held on Mondays, right after school. Does that work for you? Can you start today?"
"Um," Arthur said. "Sure. So we won't be giving speeches, then?"
"Speeches for what?"
"Never mind," Arthur said, his weekend fantasies shrivelling like leaky balloons. "Who's the other member, then? My name is the only one on the sheet."
"Merlin, of course," she said.
"Merlin," Arthur repeated, a beat later.
"Well, yes. Oh, I'm sorry-I forgot that you're new. Have you met Merlin yet? Merlin Emrys?"
"I've met him," Arthur said.
"Great," she replied. "I'm sure it will be wonderful working with him."
Arthur stared at her, and put a minimal amount of effort into turning his grimace into a smile. His fingers were numb as he texted Leon to let him know he'd be at school later than planned.
#
Merlin wasn't there when Arthur arrived in the classroom designated for the student council meeting. He sat down and opened his notebook, writing across the top of the page:
Minutes of the First Meeting of the Camelot College 2012-2013 Student Council
Attendees: A. Pendragon, M. Emrys
He kept an eye on the clock and eventually added: Let the record show that M. Emrys is more than fifteen minutes late. He tapped his biro against the desk and considered how many meeting absences should be allowed before a council member needed to be removed from their position.
When the door finally burst open, Arthur fixed it with an unimpressed stare as Merlin came tripping in, his bag precariously slung over his bony shoulder and his arms full of books and loose papers.
Merlin stopped short when he saw Arthur, eyes wide. And then he smiled-a real, wide smile, as if Merlin were actually happy to see him. Arthur looked away, his stomach tight.
"Hi," Merlin chirped, out of breath. "I did not expect it to be you. Should have, I suppose, because it had to be someone new, and none of the other new kids really seem the type."
"What are you talking about?" Arthur asked, with as much disdain as he could muster.
"Alice couldn't remember your name."
"Alice?"
"Yeah, our faculty supervisor? She said you'd spoken with her."
"Deputy Headmaster Cooper, you mean."
Merlin nodded. "Yup!"
Arthur drew a hard breath. "I can see how it would be difficult for her to remember my name, given that it was only one on the list."
"Yeah," Merlin said, laughing agreeably. Arthur felt his nostrils flare. Merlin deposited his pile of things onto a desk and continued cheerfully, "Sorry I'm late, she only just caught me on my way out."
Arthur stared at the disorganised mess Merlin had just dumped, and then looked at his watch pointedly. "Are you honestly the only person who's been representing the student body for the past few years? No wonder this place is so hopeless."
"Oi," Merlin said, ruffling. "You could have bloody well said something about us meeting-we were only in class together for the entire afternoon." Arthur shrugged. He'd thought about mentioning the meeting to Merlin approximately seventeen times during their afternoon classes, but had chosen not to. "And this place is fucking great," Merlin continued, "if you'd stop glowering long enough to notice. Just because you're so bloody unhappy doesn't mean there's anything wrong with us."
"This place is a joke for anyone without magic, and no one cares," Arthur snapped. "The only thing anyone gives a shit about are your little magic tournaments or whatever-the football club is a depressing joke, and obviously your student government is the same."
Merlin sneered. "Oh, I'm so sorry that people here care about something a bit more important than fucking football. And maybe no one's rushing to join the student council because they're perfectly satisfied with how I represent them! You only just got here, what would you even know about it?"
"Look, at my last school in the States, I was class president for two years, and believe me, silence from the people does not mean that they are satisfied-"
"Oh, great. I'm so glad that your school in America taught you everything you need to know about how everything everywhere in the world works, but guess what? You don't know shit. You came waltzing in here, expecting to be king of the fucking castle with your shiny hair and your practised smile and your muscley... muscles, and now all you can do is pout because no one gives a shit."
"Funny, you said that was Gilli just lashing out the other day? Well you sound just like him."
"And you sound just like every self-involved posh idiot I've ever met. That's why you're not making any friends here, you know."
"Fuck you, I am making friends just fucking fine."
Merlin glared at him, but something that looked like regret flashed across his face, and anger flared even more hotly in Arthur's gut.
"You know what-fuck this," Arthur said, throwing his meeting notes into his bag. "Find someone else to look down your nose at."
He crashed out of the room and down the hall, nearly dropping his phone on the checkered floor as he fumbled it out of his pocket. "You close?" he asked when Leon answered. He was already outside, marching down the path to the road.
"Parked in the usual place," Leon said. "Should I come down?"
"No, I'll be there in a minute." It took him less than that.
#
"He's just such a bloody pretentious-self-righteous-hypocritical-" Arthur stabbed at the greens on his plate "-idiot. He accuses me of being arrogant, but he clearly has a higher opinion of himself than anyone I have ever met." He shoved his fork into his mouth. "And I've met some bloody arrogant people," he continued, around his mouthful. "I mean, just because he's, like, the Mr Universe of teenage sorcery or whatever, and all his little magical minions kiss his bony ass all day, that doesn't mean he gets to sit around pitying me. Me! I mean honestly, what the fuck?"
A small spray of chewed greens landed on the table in front of him, undermining his point. "Sorry," he muttered, and wiped up the mess with his napkin.
Leon chewed his food evenly. "Are you really going to quit the student council?"
"I can't work with him."
"What else are you going to do, then? There's a lot of hours in the week that need filling."
"I dunno. Saw a sign for theatre auditions next week. Maybe I'll try out for the play."
"Really?"
"No, of course not really. But I've got football, isn't that enough?"
"Is it?"
"Isn't it? Maybe I don't need to be scheduled to the gills again this year. Different school, different country, different life. Just because I was class president at Andersen, doesn't mean I have to be on the council here. It made sense there, they needed me, there were things I could do. They clearly don't need me here-they've already got bloody Saint Merlin-so why shouldn't I just leave them to it?"
Leon chewed for a silent minute before answering. "Do you think it was really only them who needed you?"
"What?"
"You loved being class president, Arthur. Always seemed to me it was more important to you than anything else you had going on-football, your marks, most of your friends." Arthur looked down, his cheeks heating. "Seems to me," Leon continued, "that it wouldn't be doing yourself a favour to walk away from the chance to have that again, just because you've had a clash with this bloke."
Arthur chewed unhappily and didn't answer.
It was a minute before Leon continued quietly, "What happened in the spring was complete shit, and I wouldn't blame you if you're not feeling up to making new friends, after all that."
Arthur clenched his jaw. "Who says I'm not?"
Leon shrugged. "No one. But you've been nothing but angry since your first day at Camelot, and I'm not sure that's helping anything."
Arthur rolled his eyes. "With a chauffeur like you, Leon, who needs friends?"
Leon just smiled.
"You're very annoying out of uniform, you know."
"Maybe you should stop talking to me after seven," Leon said.
"Maybe I should. Maybe I will." Arthur glared at him, and then snorted. "God, then I really will have to make a friend, won't I?'
"Look on the bright side-maybe you'll find someone you can actually beat on the PlayStation."
"Shut it, I was having an off day."
"Whatever you have to tell yourself to get to sleep at night, Arthur."
Arthur threw a piece of broccoli at him.
#
The next day, Arthur brought a packed lunch to avoid the possibility of a public encounter in the canteen. He was the first one in the Financial Studies classroom, and he sat in his usual seat with one eye on the door, trying not to fidget as a handful of students who were not Merlin came in.
When Merlin finally did appear, he was alone, and Arthur deliberately made eye contact with him. Merlin stared at him, his face pinched. Arthur nodded a greeting, and felt both relieved and apprehensive when Merlin came and sat next to him like usual.
"Listen," Arthur said, almost immediately, hoping that ripping the plaster clean off was the best choice, "I said some things yesterday that were out of order, and I'm sorry for that. I don't really know how things here work yet, so. I shouldn't've been so... quick to insist on my opinion."
Merlin opened his mouth, and closed it, and it was a struggle for Arthur to hold his gaze."You're allowed an opinion," Merlin finally said, "new or not." He smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry I overreacted. I shouldn't have said half those things, either."
Arthur shrugged. Neither of them said anything for a bit, as the last few students wandered into the classroom. "Could we, um," Arthur began. "Do you think we could meet again? I'd like to-if you think you can work with me, I really would like to serve on the student council."
Merlin smiled at him. "You free tonight?"
Arthur did his best not to smile back, and largely failed. But he shook his head. "Football. Tomorrow, after community service?"
Merlin shook his head. "Mum works late Wednesdays, so it's my night to make dinner. What time's football done tonight?"
"Five."
"I'll be in the library for a while after school-I have a research project that needs starting. I might still be here at five. Here," Merlin said, writing something on the corner of his notebook paper. He tore it off and handed it to Arthur. "Text me when you're done, and if I'm still here we can just do it then, if that works?"
Arthur looked at the string of numbers on the paper in his hand. "Yeah, that'll work," he said. "If you're still here."
Merlin grinned at him as the classroom door opened and the teacher walked in.
Arthur shoved Merlin's mobile number into his pocket, where it burned steadily against his thigh for the duration of the afternoon.
#
In the locker room after practice, Arthur pulled out his phone. He had a text from Leon, in reply to Arthur's warning that he might be staying later for their meeting: Not a problem. At your service, of course. Will try not to get too lonely.
"Prat," Arthur muttered, before rummaging in his locker for his trousers and pulling Merlin's paper out of the pocket. He typed the number carefully, then deleted it in favour of typing his text first, in case he accidentally hit Send too soon.
This is Arthur. Football is done. R u still here. He retyped Merlin's number into the Recipient box and hit Send.
He had one foot back in his trousers and nearly overbalanced when his phone chirped.
Shit, forgot to silence phone, librarian properly hacked off. Yes, still here. See you in 5?
Arthur finished pulling on his trousers. U should b banned from lib. Where do u want to meet.
You in the lockers still? Wanna meet halfway, this side of the football pitch?
Ok
The pitch was abandoned as Arthur crossed back over it. The school was still and quiet, the only discernible sign of life the three cars still in the car park until Merlin emerged out of the large front door of the library. The early evening sun was painting everything gold, and there was an unwelcome pull in Arthur's chest as he watched Merlin bound down the path, wave at him, and sit on a nearby bench.
Arthur looked down at the ground and kept waking steadily in Merlin's direction, despite his urge to flee.
"How was practice?" Merlin asked.
"All right," Arthur said, shrugging his bag off his shoulder and sitting as far away from him on the bench as he could.
"OK if we just have our meeting here?"
Arthur nodded. "Sure." He opened his bag and retrieved the same notebook he had started to use on Monday. He clicked his biro and edited the existing notes to reflect the current date. He paused for a moment before crossing out his snooty line about Merlin being late. He glanced over at Merlin, who was very obviously reading the notes with raised eyebrows. "I really should leave it in there," Arthur said. "It's important to have an accurate record of what transpired."
"I'm sure we won't have to wait long for another shining example of you being an arse to take its place."
"Shut up," Arthur said. "OK, what's our first order of business?"
Merlin smiled bemusedly. "Should we just chat a bit first? I think we should get to know each other, if we're going to be working together."
"What? Why?"
"I think it's important we understand one another."
Arthur just frowned. "And how do you propose we do that?"
"Tell me your story. Why are you here? Why'd you leave your old school with only one year left?"
Arthur's heart somersaulted in his chest, and he kept his attention on his notebook for a moment, blindly making a nonsensical edit. He had been prepared for this question on the first day, he'd rehearsed his answer before falling asleep night after night in the week before school started, but no one had asked, and now he felt unprepared.
"My father," he answered, without looking up.
"His job? He get transfered?"
Arthur swallowed. "No. He stayed behind, actually."
"In America?"
"Yeah."
"You here with your mum, then?"
Arthur shook his head. "My chau-" he stopped. Somehow he suspected that Merlin would not react well to Arthur having a chauffeur. "A friend of the family."
"Someone you like?"
Arthur nodded.
"That's not too bad, then."
"Yeah, not too bad. Pretty all right, actually. He's called Leon. He's not that much older. We get on quite well."
"You live with him at his flat?"
"No, one of my father's-he owns quite a lot of rental property over here still."
Merlin nodded. "So your friend-Leon? Leon-he keeps an eye on you in exchange for room and board?"
"More or less," Arthur hedged. He didn't want to admit that his only friend was actually a full-time employee of his father.
"Were you fighting with him a lot, then? Your father?"
Arthur nodded. "We weren't seeing eye-to-eye on a few things, and then-" he paused "-it got worse. His wife can't stand the sight of me, so I don't think he had much motivation to reconcile with me." He shrugged.
"That's pretty shit," Merlin said.
Arthur shrugged again, and fiddled with his biro. He desperately wanted to change the subject to official student council business, but it felt too impolite not to ask, "And what about you? You live with your mum, you said?"
Merlin nodded. "Yup. Always just been the two of us. We get along great, which is lucky."
"Has she got magic too?"
"Not a stitch. Came from my dad, according to her. I wouldn't know, I never met him."
"Sorry."
Merlin shrugged. "Me too, sometimes. Other times, I don't care."
Arthur nodded. "My mum died when I was born," he said without thinking, and then felt his cheeks heat with surprise.
Merlin stared at him a moment. "I'm so sorry, Arthur," he said gently, and Arthur suddenly felt very annoyed.
"It's fine, don't worry. Look, it's getting late, and I have a beast of an economics assignment due tomorrow, so do you mind if we leave this off and focus on council business?"
Merlin blinked a couple of times before averting his gaze. "Yeah. Of course, yeah. What do you want to talk about?"
Arthur mostly managed not to roll his eyes. "What are your routine business items? Does the council do any regular fundraisers, or put on school parties or anything?"
"No, nothing like that, really."
"So what do you do?"
Merlin shrugged. "Fix problems, mostly. When I can. Things I notice or other kids ask me about, I'll go talk to the headmaster or Alice or whoever. It's pretty informal. My only official role is peer mediator, and student representative on the disciplinary committee. But I don't do that stuff too often-only if there's something super out of the ordinary going on."
Arthur nodded. He was curious to know more about that piece of things, but he'd had enough of student disciplinary committees in the past year to last him a lifetime, so he decided to let it lie for now. "So do you have any outstanding projects you're working on from last term?"
Merlin nodded. "I started a campaign to get vegan food in the canteen last spring, but didn't get very far before term ended. And we're in sore need of more bicycle stands along the front entrance."
"I've noticed that," Arthur said. "Nearly cracked my head a couple of times, tripping over the mess of bicycles along the path."
Merlin chuckled. "I know, it's a disaster. Once the spaces are used up, everyone else just locks their bike to another bike, and it's a logistical nightmare, getting everything unlocked again at the end of the day. I also want to ask about getting the stands covered, to keep our bikes out of the rain. A fair few of us are getting a real rust problem."
"Do you ride your bike every day?"
Merlin nodded. "Rain or shine. I could just walk, really, it's not that far, but it's faster on the bike, and easier on my shoulders to strap my books to the back."
"All right," Arthur said, nodding. "I agree that we should work on the bike stand issue. Do you think the school's got the budget for it, or will we need to do a fundraiser?"
Merlin's brows went up. "Dunno. I doubt the school's gonna be thrilled about spending the money, but I've never really done a fundraiser, so-I dunno."
"I have some experience with them, so that shouldn't be a problem. It's usually worth it-even if we don't raise a lot of money, it can be a good way to gauge the student body's investment in an issue."
"All right," Merlin said, shrugging. "What should we do?"
"Any of the usual things would be good: a bake sale, a raffle, whatever. We'll probably want to do some sort of awareness or educational event-like a fair, maybe. We could invite everyone to ride their bikes to school one day, and then after classes we could bring someone in to do tune-ups and things, for donations. We could sell refreshments, too, with all the proceeds going towards the project."
"And we could have races in the car park!" Merlin said, grinning. "Or something. Yeah, I like that."
Arthur smiled. "All right." He turned to his meeting notes. Resolved:, he wrote. Begin Bicycle Stand Expansion and Improvement Project. Possibly organise a bike fair as a fundraising/awareness event. Action Items: Brainstorm ideas for fair, and other fundraisers. Research bike stand shelters, other options.
When he looked up, Merlin was grinning at him. "You take this really seriously, huh?" Merlin asked.
"I just want us to be organised," Arthur said shortly. "Very little gets done, when you're not."
"S'ppose not," Merlin said, and continued smiling at him. His attention suddenly turned to his trouser pocket, and Arthur could hear the faint buzzing of a mobile. "Shit," Merlin muttered to the screen on his phone. "Mum's looking for me. Mind if we adjourn, and talk about the vegans next week?"
"The vegans?" Arthur replied. "Oh, right-the canteen, got it. Sounds good."
"Great," Merlin said and stood up. He took a couple of steps and stopped. "I'm glad you talked to me today," he said quickly. "And I'm really glad we're doing this. Thanks."
Arthur paused in the middle of his note about vegans and looked up. Merlin was looking at him very earnestly, and Arthur felt his throat start to close up. "Not a problem," he managed, with an awkward nod. Merlin nodded too, and stood still for another moment before finally leaving.
Arthur could hear Merlin unlocking his bike from the stand several yards behind the bench. He shoved his notebook into his bag and got up quickly, striding purposefully down the path towards the road.
He was about halfway there when Merlin scurried up alongside him, walking his bike. Arthur went a bit stiff.
"Which way are you headed?" Merlin asked.
"To the left, at the road," he answered.
"Me too!" Merlin grinned.
"You don't need to walk with me," Arthur muttered, after a moment. "Feel free to actually ride that thing."
Merlin shrugged. "Are you going to the bus stop? That's not far, I'll walk with you. Do you take the 12 or the 27?"
"No, um." Arthur scowled. "I'm meeting Leon, actually. He drives me. But he doesn't like to come all the way down to the school, so he parks up the road a bit and waits for me."
"Really?" Merlin asked, grinning. "You sure it's not you who tells him to park far enough away that no one can see him?"
"It's just more convenient," Arthur said. "He drives down Stratton Road anyway. This way he doesn't have to turn or anything. He can just pull over." It sounded fairly ludicrous to Arthur's own ears, so he couldn't really blame Merlin for the perplexed look he gave him.
"I'm surprised you don't have your own car, come to think of it," Merlin said. "You seem the type. And there's plenty of space in the student parking area."
"I don't have a licence," Arthur said, impatiently.
"Ah," Merlin said, and he probably meant it perfectly innocuously, but something in Arthur flared hotly.
"I used to," he snapped. "Back in the States, but. It's complicated-I can't drive here."
"I don't have a licence either," Merlin replied, shrugging. "I'm in the after-school class for it on Thursdays, so I suppose I might get one at the end of term, but I won't have a car to drive, so it won't matter."
"Mm," Arthur grunted in response.
"Kilgharrah here's the only wheels I'll be able to afford for some time, I'm sure."
"Kilgharrah?"
"My bike," Merlin said, grinning.
They had reached the road, and Arthur turned left with a sigh, his eyes trained straight ahead. "You're an idiot," he said, and Merlin huffed a small laugh.
They walked in silence for a couple of minutes, Kilgharrah's chain clicking steadily.
"I like your jacket, by the way," Merlin said, sounding exactly like he'd been fishing for some new small talk to make.
"Thanks," Arthur said.
"Are the whole club going to get them, with their own letters?"
Arthur frowned. "What do you mean?"
"The football club. That is your football jacket, isn't it?"
Arthur stared at him, and nearly tripped on an uneven patch of pavement. "From last year. From my old school."
"Oh," Merlin said. "Oops. Guess I don't really know what ours look like. Or if we even have them, come to think."
"This school's called Camelot, Merlin. With a 'C'. What did you think the 'A' stood for, exactly?"
Merlin shrugged. "Arthur?"
Arthur sputtered. "You are such an idiot."
"Arthur the Arse? Arthur the Arrogant Arse from America? All very plausible." Merlin shot Arthur a sideways grin. "You can understand my mistake, surely."
"Whatever, Merlin, you're a moron. Merlin the Moron. From-Moron-ville."
Merlin threw back his head and laughed. "You're pathetic!"
"Shut up," Arthur grumbled. "Why don't you just get on your bike and go home already?"
"Nah, I like walking with you."
"That's Leon's car, right up there. You should really just go."
Merlin squinted at the car parked a little ways ahead of them. Leon was sitting in the driver's seat, and appeared to be reading a book. "Is he wearing a uniform?" Merlin asked. "Like, with a cap and everything?"
Arthur silently swore to himself, and didn't say anything.
"Wait-does Leon give you friendly lifts to and from school, or is he your driver? Like, your chauffeur?"
"I told you, I can't drive anywhere," Arthur snapped.
"Neither can I, but no one shows up in a driving cap and gloves to escort me home."
"He's not wearing gloves," Arthur retorted, and he hoped that was true. He wasn't actually sure. "Technically, yes, he's my driver, but it's honestly pretty informal. I don't know why he insists on wearing the uniform, it's all very silly."
"I suppose he takes his job very seriously," Merlin said, grinning and knocking Arthur with his elbow. "I can think of someone else like that."
"Shut up, Merlin," Arthur said crossly, and tried to ignore the way the hair on his arm stood up where Merlin had touched him.
Leon had looked up and was watching them approach, and Arthur couldn't help wondering what they looked like, walking together. Merlin waved at Leon, grinning, and Arthur rolled his eyes. Leon raised a hand in return, and thankfully he did indeed appear to not be wearing gloves. He had an amused expression on his face as Merlin walked his bike around to the driver's side, gesturing for Leon to roll down his window.
"Hi, I'm Merlin," he said, grinning and extending his hand. "You must be Leon."
"Nice to meet you, Merlin." Leon shook his hand.
"I like your hat."
"Thank you. I like your bike."
"Thanks! He's called Kilgharrah."
"A very noble name."
"I agree," Merlin said, beaming. Arthur rolled his eyes again and pulled open the car door. He was about to climb in when he realised the getting into the back seat would leave very little room to claim that Leon wasn't actually his quite formal chauffeur, so Arthur tossed his bag inside and closed the door without getting in. He had to pick up a few of Leon's things-a book, a map, his mobile-and hold them in his lap before he could sit in the front seat, but he did his best to look like all of this was completely normal. Leon just watched him, not saying anything.
"I think we need to be going," Arthur snapped, against the awkward silence. "Merlin, didn't you say your mother was looking for you?"
Merlin grinned. "Yeah. See you tomorrow, Arthur."
"Bye," Arthur said, and fished his phone out of his jacket pocket for something to look at while Merlin climbed on his bike and rode away.
Leon rolled up his window. Arthur continued to fiddle with his phone for nearly a minute before he looked up. "Why aren't we moving?"
"I wasn't sure if you wanted to stay in the front seat, or if all of that was solely for Merlin's benefit."
Arthur scowled, and his face went hot. "Just drive," he said, and eventually, Leon did.
part two →