Behind Closed Doors (Merthur AU)

Chapter 4

Warning:

This chapter contains small mentions of triggering events.

Both suicide and rape/abuse is mentioned.

The next morning rolled around and Merlin woke up fairly early, having slept through the night. He sat up and felt a bit better; not great, but he knew he didn't have to deal with school problems, or Arthur. Merlin showered and pulled on a pair of light grey sweats when he got out. He made his way downstairs and passed the living room, seeing his mother passed out on the couch with a bottle in her hand. Merlin sighed softly and flicked off the television. He grabbed a blanket and covered his mother, wanting her to rest well. Merlin walked to the kitchen and started to prep himself some toast as his thoughts wandered to Arthur.

Arthur woke up the next morning feeling a bit better. His face hurt slightly, but not as bad as yesterday; he had iced it fairly well when he had gotten home. Arthur let the morning go slow. He had his usual coffee and breakfast, picking up the file he had grabbed from his work, yesterday; it was Merlin's file. Arthur opened the file, reading over the information. He felt the need to give his home a call, to talk with his mother, at least, though it seemed as if there was no contact for a father. Arthur temporarily thought about what he had said the day before and he cringed a bit. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the house number.

Merlin took a bite of his toast as he heard the phone ring. He raised his eyebrows and walked over to it, picking it up from the receiver. "Reynolds residence," Merlin spoke in a professional manner. He assumed it was billing companies complaining about their overdue bills, again. Merlin normally handled all of the phone calls to keep the unnecessary stress off of his mother. He leaned back against the counter and picked at the toast in his hands.

Arthur furrowed his eyebrows as he heard Merlin's voice over the phone and he stayed silent for a second. "Merlin? It's...Arthur," he said softly into the phone as he leaned against his own counter. Arthur hadn't expected Merlin to answer and he didn't quite know how to handle the situation, but he knew he wanted to try.

Merlin froze when he heard Arthur's voice and he let out a long sigh. "Why are you calling?" All professionalism from his voice had disappeared quickly. He looked at his breakfast and he suddenly didn't feel very hungry. Merlin glanced at his mother for a second before putting the food back on the plate.

Arthur debated on how he wanted to answer the question without causing trouble or anything, but he knew with Merlin that it was slightly impossible. No matter how hard he tried. "I wanted to make sure you were okay. Faculty said you weren't in your other classes. I was hoping I could speak to your guardian, uh, your mother, but I'm glad I'm able to communicate with you, instead."

Merlin's eyebrows raised and he let out a sigh. "Mom's unavailable at the moment." He then fell silent again for a long moment. Merlin was trying to figure out what to say to Arthur. "I'm fine, thanks for the call." He furrowed his eyebrows and debated on whether to hang up on Arthur, or not. It was unusual for teachers to call home directly; for Merlin, anyway.

Arthur stayed quiet as he waited for a response from Merlin. He felt nervous talking with him outside of school. Arthur sighed softly as he thought of something in which he probably was going regret. "I want to talk to you...about some stuff. I could pick you up. We can go to a cafe, or somewhere small." Arthur's voice remained quiet, waiting for Merlin to respond.

Merlin stayed in a stunned silence for a while. He wasn't expecting Arthur to say anything like that. Merlin bit his bottom lip as he thought over his options, carefully. "You're not scared to be seen with me?" Merlin spoke as he tried to make a playful remark, but it didn't come out as teasingly as normal.