Always Maybe

Texts and Plans

Merlin's phone buzzed in his pocket and he saw that it was a text from an unknown number.

do u want to hang out w/ me tonight?

Merlin looked around, seeing if it was someone pulling a prank on him or something. He was walking into his house after a long day at school, eager to just stick to his house for the whole weekend doing absolutely nothing. He'd even cancelled his plans with Gwaine and Lance to just have some time to himself. 

Who is this?

Merlin typed is response as he opened the front door. Hunith, his mother, greeted him with a smile and a hug. Kilgharrah wagged his tail at Merlin's feet and Merlin beamed, happy to be home with his family.

"Gaius is in the living room. Why don't you say hi?" she suggested. Gaius was the godfather of Merlin, and the only father figure Merlin had ever known. His real father had been killed in the woods behind their old house when he went fishing in the creek. Merlin remembered seeing the body floating methodically near the rocks at the end of the creek. He tried to get the image out of his head as he slapped on a smile and walked into the living room. 

"Gaius, hi," Merlin smiled as he pulled the old man in for a hug.

"How are you?" the old man asked.

Merlin shrugged and put his hands in the pockets of his dark leather jacket. "I'm good, thanks. How are you? How's Avalon?" Gaius had recently moved to a small village on the Lake of Avalon in search of easier patients and a calmer atmosphere. Merlin missed Gaius living next door like crazy, but he understood that it was all for the best, especially after Alice left. 

"It's good. Quiet, but good," Gaius sighed in return. 

Merlin felt another buzz in his pocket and the mystery was eating away at him. "I have to go to some homework, but I'll hang out with you later, alright?" Merlin asked.

Gaius nodded and Merlin ran upstairs to his room and shut the door so Kilgharrah wouldn't come in and drool all over the place. He pulled out his phone.

arthur

Merlin's heart dropped. Arthur Pendragon, the boy he'd loved for a while, was texting him. he didn't know how to reply, because it was obvious that he had gone to Morgana for Merlin's number, so he was obviously texting the right person. Merlin wasn't a fluke. Arthur wanted to hang out with him.

Ok. Plan?

Merlin wasn't sure if he was playing this right, but he didn't want to talk to Morgana about it. The last thing he needed was his nervousness getting around to Arthur like all of his secrets did. He wondered if Arthur knew about Freya? No, Merlin hadn't told anyone about that, not even Morgana. She was something from Ealdor, a memory long passed.

movie? ur place?

Merlin was confused. His place? Merlin's place was a quarter of the size of Arthur's mansion, so why did Arthur want to hang out at Merlin's?

Palace isn't big enough?

It took Arthur thirteen seconds to reply.

haha. m has friends over

Merlin chuckled, noting that Morgana had other friends. It was probably Gwen, and since Gwen and Arthur had been having problems, it seemed fair that Arthur didn't want to stick around.

Come by whenever you'd like :) 

thx be over soon 

Merlin smiled to himself and looked in his closet, deciding that he needed to change his clothes and prepare for Arthur's arrival. He wondered if it was a date. He wondered what would happen and what movie they'd watch. Maybe Merlin would suggest a horror movie so they could hold hands. No, that wasn't manly. Merlin rolled his eyes at himself. He was going to be hanging out with Arthur, and that was all that mattered.