nonstop (merthur AU)

eleven

merlin was sat in front of the spare living rooms television cabinet, trying to pick out a movie to watch in arthurs clothing.
a situation he never thought he'd find himself in

he was still in shock that the boy he had platonically admired for years was in the other room, baking him cookies to try and make him feel better

he was finally starting to feel like he had a real friend, something he had wanted all his life

'have you chosen a movie yet?' arthur spoke softly while kneeling down next to the smaller boy, noticing he was in a sort of trance

merlin continued to stare off into space, chewing his lip quite hard

without thinking, arthur reached out and gently tapped merlins lip so he wouldn't hurt himself.
merlin flinched slightly before realising how close he and arthur were

when he spoke, merlin could feel his soft breath on his face

'have you chosen a movie yet?'

both merlin and arthur's hearts were racing and they couldn't control it.

they both knew exactly what they wanted to do, and i think you do as well

merlin thought that if this was a romantic teen movie and he was somehow attractive in any way shape or form, they'd both lean in slightly and their lips would meet in a flurry of fireworks and heart warming music

but alas, this was reality and he pushed those thoughts deep, deep down as he stood up

'this one!' he exclaimed clutching a disc to his chest

arthur stood up and grabbed the disk

'of course you're a hercules fan' he groaned

'who puts the glad in gladiator!' merlin began to sing

arthur clamped his hands get his ears in mock-pain

'herc-u-les!' merlin yelled, standing on the couch

arthur quickly grabbed a disc without looking

'and then we'll watch this!' he yelled

he held the movie up, lion king style and merlin burst out into laughter

'the notebook?' he giggled 'that's a terrible movie!'

arthur nodded in agreement

'lets watch it anyway' merlin smiled

'yeah, well the cookies are almost done'

'are you sure i can't help you with them?'

arthur coughed loudly, startling merlin

'you spilt all the ingredients and then dropped the batter!' arthur yelled

'i didn't mean too!' merlin protested

'you're lucky you're so damn cute'

***
when uther pendragon finally came home he was expecting his son arthur to be asleep with in front of the television or in his bed

what he didn't expect was to come home to a ridiculously messy kitchen and his son nowhere to be seen

he walked to three of the living rooms before finally finding him, or should he say them

arthur was watching an old, crappy chick flick, surrounded by cookie remnants with a black haired boy curled up asleep next to him

uther had never seen this boy before in his life, and arthur had never described anyone like him

uther could see his son was starting to dose off so he gently shook him

'arthur it's two o'clock in the morning, you need to go to bed'

arthur was careful to rub his eyes without waking the sleeping boy

'we'll organise for him to be taken home' uther looked at merlin

'no! can't he stay over? please don't wake him up, we shouldn't wake him and his family up this late at night'

uther sighed when he realised arthur was probably right

'he'll stay in the fifth bedroom'

'the smallest one?'

'he doesn't look like he will mind'

arthur glared at his father and slowly started to get up

uther went to his bedroom as arthur tried his hardest to clean up without waking merlin

the fifth bedroom of course happened to be the one furthest away from his bedroom

merlin was nowhere near the heaviest person arthur had ever had to lift so carrying him to the room was no big struggle

he scribbled out a note and placed it on merlins pillow

don't freak out! you fell asleep during the notebook (which is fair enough honestly) but come to the kitchen and someone will get you breakfast and we'll take you to school
don't worry, it's no hassle or problem!!!
sleep well,
arthpendragon