No more secrets (Merthur)

chapter 1 - Never have I ever...

The knights, Arthur, and Merlin were riding through the woods. Arthur and Merlin were riding on front, side by side, Lancelot, Leon, Elyan and Mordred following close behind, while Gwaine and Percival were far behind, giggling together about something the others didn't know about. It was a beautiful and sunny afternoon, birds were singing beautifully and clouds were nowhere to be seen. It was a perfect time to take a good, long hunting trip.

While they were gone, Morgana was taking care of the kingdom as their temporary queen. She wanted to just lift the ban on magic while Arthur was gone, so that she could freely be who she was, but she knew Arthur would be furious and just put the ban back on when he returned. He'd probably never trust her again.

-----

They had all catched something, even Merlin who had been off hunting with Lancelot and Mordred. He had used his magic and caught two rabbits. When they returned to their little camp that they had built earlier, it was already starting to get dark. The sun had just disappeared out of sight and the last bit of light was draining away, revealing the millions of stars blanketing the still clear skies.

The fire Merlin had built was crackling lightly, while he was cooking dinner from the deer Arthur's caught. The knights were sitting on logs around the fire, talking and laughing together like best of friends, like brothers. Merlin was listening to them in amusement, every once in a while butting in on the conversation, or joking around with Mordred telepathically.

"Food's ready," as soon as Merlin said it, the others were already gathering the food on their plates hungrily. They all started to eat together around the fire. "Never knew you could cook so well," Mordred said impressed, mouth full of food. Few of the others nodded in agreement, and that made Merlin blush slightly. "Thanks," he said gratefully, all the while eating as well.

"We should play a game," Gwaine suggested all of a sudden, a smirk appearing on his face. The others turned to look at him, he continued, "There's this game called never have I ever..." He started explaining the rules and when he was finished, the others looked somewhat excited. "But everyone has to promise to be completely honest, otherwise there's just no point," he added, and everyone nodded and swore to tell the truth during the game.

"Who goes first?" Merlin asked, obviously not wanting to be the one to start the game. "I have a good one," Mordred smirked as he said, "Never have I ever had a crush on Gwen. Everyone raised their hands except for Elyan, Percival and Leon. They gave a slight chuckle at how many people had had a crush on her. Elyan went next, "Never have I ever been kissed by Gwen." He probably just wanted to know because Gwen was his sister.

Arthur, Merlin, Lancelot and Gwaine raised their hands. "I don't think a kiss on the cheek counts, Gwaine," Merlin laughed. Everyone was looking at Gwaine as he dropped his hand with a bitter expression on his face. "When has she ever kissed you, Merlin?" Arthur asked, clearly thinking Merlin was joking. "Actually, long before she kissed you. Remember when I was poisoned and you risked your life to save mine? Yeah, Gwen was so happy afterwards that I was alive, that she kissed me," he explained to everyone simply. They were all looking at him surprised and amazed. "When did he risk his life to save yours?" Mordred asked, not knowing of all the times they'd been ready to die for the other. "It was just a while after Merlin had become Arthur's manservant, I think, that Merlin had saved Arthur by drinking the poison from his goblet instead of Arthur. Then Arthur disobeyed his father and risked his life to save Merlin's," Leon explained, remembering fondly the memory of it all. They were all now looking at Arthur, Leon and Merlin being the only ones there who already knew that story. "That's adorable," Gwaine laughed, and the others nodded in agreement, with smiles on their faces. Arthur blushed slightly, though no one saw it in the darkness of the night, but Arthur could feel his face heat up. "It's not adorable," he protested. They were all amused, knowing just how much Arthur actually cared about Merlin, though he would never, ever admit it. Or so they thought.

"Oh, never have I ever been attracted to a guy," Leon continued the game. Merlin, Gwaine, Percival, Lancelot and Mordred raised their hands. Arthur hesitated a bit and then raised his hand too. Elyan and Leon were looking at them with wide eyes, surprised that so many raised their hands. Although, anyone could have seen the attraction between Gwaine and Percival. Merlin was looking at Arthur surprised, not knowing how to react. He had been in love with Arthur for a long time, thinking that there was no hope for him. Now he didn't know what to think, he was overwhelmed, though he hid it well.

Arthur got up, turning away from the others, "We should go to sleep," he said with a dull voice that didn't reveal any emotion. He walked to his bed roll and went to sleep. The others followed suit, Gwaine though stayed seated. "I'll take the first watch," he said as he stared into the dying flames of the campfire.

-----

Merlin couldn't sleep, he got up after over an hour of tossing and turning, and he went to sit next to Gwaine on the log by the fire. "Couldn't sleep?" Gwaine asked as Merlin sat down. The fire had gone out completely by now. Merlin was cold. "Nope," he answered, shivering. Gwaine noticed, he took off his cloak and wrapped it around Merlin. "Thank you," came the quiet words of Merlin, who was feeling a little better already.

Merlin wanted so badly to tell his friend about his magic. I mean, Lancelot knew and accepted it, why wouldn't Gwaine? He had been thinking about telling him for quite sometime now, and was wondering wether or not that time should be now. He was sure everyone else was sleeping, and even if they weren't, they were sitting by a safe distance for the others not to hear them talk. He decided to tell him now.

"Gwaine..." he started, "There's something I want to tell you, and I hope it won't change the way you think of me." Gwaine was looking at him curiously, wondering what could make Merlin think that he'd ever think any less of him. No matter what, Merlin was his best friend. "What is it?" he asked gently. Merlin looked at him and sighed deeply. He raised his hand to where the flames where a while ago. He whispered a few words that Gwaine didn't understand, his eyes flashed gold and the fire was burning once more. He dropped his gaze to the ground, being afraid of how Gwaine would react.

Gwaine looked at the fire, then at Merlin, then at the fire again. He switched his gaze on to Merlin once more and sounded disbelieving as he said, "You have magic." Merlin tried to search his voice for any hint of fear or anger, but when he couldn't find any, he lifted his head and looked Gwaine in the eyes. Gwaine was looking at him in adoration and shock. It surprised Merlin, not the shock, but the clear adoration in his eyes. "Awesome!" Gwaine yelled whispering. "What else can you do?"

Merlin had the biggest smile on his face. He couldn't have been happier that his friend accepted him, and so easily nonetheless. "What do you want me to show you?" he asked, pure happiness evident in his voice. "Can you magically disappear in a puff of smoke, and then appear somewhere else?" Gwaine asked, more than a little curious. "I've never tried that but it's possible I guess, if I knew how to do that but there isn't anything about it in my magic book," Merlin answered with a smile. Gwaine nodded and frowned a bit. "You realise that Arthur can never find out I have magic, right?" he asked a bit more serious. Well, a lot more serious actually. "Yeah, of course," Gwaine replied. "Does anyone else know?" he asked. Merlin hesitated before he replied, "Lancelot does, he found out when we first met years ago. So does Mordred and Morgana, they... found out too." He didn't like lying, but he didn't feel right telling him about their magic without their permission.

"They knew before me?" Gwaine pouted and sounded disappointed. "They found out, there was nothing I could do. And I told you now didn't I," Merlin replied, trying to make him feel better. "Oh, I see. So I'm actually your best friend because they found out by accident but to me you just told it." Gwaine said smugly with a smirk. Merlin laughed at Gwaine's statement, as well as his stupidly smug face. "Something like that," he chuckled.