500 Days of Freya (Merlin)

University

Chapter 8

Warning/s: None. Well, some light language, but nothing above a T and some adult themes, but again, nothing above a T. So technically none.

Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin or anything associated with it.

A/N: This is a prompt from shinobi-turtleducks which I have finally got around to writing. The prompt was: "Merlin and Freya are accepted to different universities. They either go long distance through letters or making very long drives every weekend". This isn't exactly that but based off it, so I hope you all (and especially shinobi-turtleducks). Let me know what you think in a review so I know that you enjoyed and I'll try and update soon :) as always, prompts also welcome.

Merlin exhaled as he padded into his room. He slammed the door behind him, eliciting raised eyebrows from the blonde lounging on the bed, flicking through the latest issue of Playboy.

"Freya can't make it out this weekend," Merlin explained, catching sight of his best friend.

Arthur frowned sympathetically and chucked the magazine aside. "Don't worry about it, mate, you can always bang her some other weekend." Which was about as sentimental as Arthur got.

Merlin sighed again, tossing his jacket onto the bed. Arthur threw his hands up, still looking annoyingly comfortable. "Look, mate, I stopped looking at tits for you."

"You make me feel so loved," Merlin snorted. He began to wrestle his shirt off.

"That wasn't an invitation for you to show yours," Arthur chuckled. Merlin threw the polo-top at him, ignoring his muffled shouts of protest when it landed on his face.

Merlin strode into their shared bathroom, and just had time to hear Arthur yell, "It smells of disappointment!" before he shut the door and twisted the lock, stripping out of his remaining clothes.

He hopped into the shower and let the hot water run over him, warming his body. Yes, he was disappointed. He only saw Freya for a day every month now that they were attending different universities an hour away from each other, and now this month neither of them had a mutual weekend free. He missed her sincerely – it was like a hole had been punched through his chest and a chunk of his heart had been torn out.

As he adjusted the temperature of the shower, a new idea struck him. There was one thing that could relieve the ache (the physical one, at least).

When Merlin came out again, back in his jeans and with his hair in a mess of spikes, Arthur had disappeared.

He fetched a top from his neatly-arranged chest of drawers and shrugged it on, searching around the room for a note. He found nothing and decided to sit down to get on with his coursework – he had to hand in an essay in two days' time.

Merlin was almost asleep when there was a knock at his green door. He blinked stupidly, staring at the door and wondering whether he had imagined the sound.

There was another knock, this time rather more impatient, and Merlin scrambled to answer it.

It was Morgana, looking as flawless as she usually did, holding a small, plain white box. "You took your time," she said huffily, although Merlin knew her annoyance was mainly an act.

"I thought I had imagined the knock," Merlin replied, self-consciously running a hand through his hair. She always made him feel scruffy.

"This is for you," Morgana said curtly, shoving the box into his hands. "I don't know what it is, Arthur gave it to me two hours ago and told me to give it to you now." She marched off down the corridor, back to her own room.

Merlin blinked, then retreated back into his room. Nestled inside the box was a necklace: a silver chain with a blue pendant suspended from it. He recognised it instantly as the one he had been planning to give to Freya the next time she visited.

Underneath the chain was a note in Arthur's scribble – "Hope she likes it!"

Completely nonplussed, Merlin wriggled the note out, crumpled it and dropped it in the bin. He snapped the lid shut.

Just then, there was a timid knock on the door. Now utterly confused about what was going on, Merlin hurried to his door and swung it open.

Standing there was Freya. "Merlin!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. "I've missed you so much!" Before he could respond, she pressed her mouth against his firmly.

When they broke apart, Merlin asked, "You too, darling, but why are you here?" He wrapped his arms around her waist.

Freya drew back, her eyes shining. "Arthur drove over to collect me – I'll need to leave around nine tomorrow morning, but he's going to stay with Leon tonight so we can have some time together."

Merlin made a mental note to never be mean to Arthur ever again. "Come in," he said happily, remembering the present in his hands now that he was over the initial shock of seeing Freya,

Once she had shut the door, Merlin handed her the box. "Just to say I love you."

Freya opened it eagerly and gasped at its contents. "Thank you," she whispered, carefully setting it down on Merlin's desk so she could reach up and kiss him gently.

The kiss quickly escalated, transforming from something gentle to passionate, and soon Freya was leading Merlin towards the bed, their lips still attached.

Merlin unbuttoned Freya's purple blouse and threw it onto the ground, skilfully undoing her bra with one hand, something that had taken him several months to perfect.

Freya pushed Merlin down onto the bed, straddling his hips as she helped him to remove his shirt.

"Love you," Merlin said, in between pants and gasps.

"Love you too," Freya said softly, and then began to unbutton his jeans for him.

Merlin let his head fall back on his pillows. Thank you, Arthur.