Merlin shivered as he walked down the dark streets, his thin t-shirt doing nothing to keep the late autumn night air at bay. He didn't know where his coat had gotten to. It had been torn off him when he was dragged into the alley; it was probably still there somewhere, but he wasn't going back for it.

Turning onto a road lit with street lights, Merlin studied the house numbers, chanting one in his head. 8465, 8465, over and over until it blocked all the other thoughts from his mind. When he saw the number he was looking for, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He curled his arms tighter around his middle and stepped off the sidewalk to cross.

The automatic outside light flickered on as he stepped onto the lawn. Taking the few steps up to the door two at a time, he pounded on the door, hoping the person inside can hear the banging.

He saw a light come on in the house and a moment later soft padding as the person inside came to open the door. The door creeped open, chain still attached, and Arthur Pendragon's sleepy face peered out at him.

"Merlin?" Arthur's voice croaked. "What the hell are you doing here at two am?"

Nerves finally get the best of Merlin and he stifled a sob. "Can I come in please?" He begged. He isn't sure what he'd do if he was turned away.

Arthur looked at the shivering mess of a man on his stoop before shutting the door. Merlin could hear the sound of the chain lock being removed and a second later, Arthur pulled the door wide open.

"Come in before you catch a cold, Merlin." Arthur tugged on Merlin's arm. He shut the door behind him and slid the chain back into place. "Now, what are you doing here?"

Merlin couldn't contain it any longer. Great sobs heaved from the man and he buried his face in Arthur's shoulder.

Arthur looked at Merlin in surprise before awkwardly putting his arms around to comfort the man he barely knew. It wasn't every day his sister's girlfriend's best friend showed up in the wee hours in the morning with a wrecked look on his face.

""Do you want to tell me what happened?" Arthur prodded.

Merlin pulled back and wiped his nose on his arm, sniffling and trying to dry his eyes. "It's nothing." He mumbled, "Was mugged coming home from a bar. Your place was the closest. Sorry for waking you." He looked up at Arthur apologetically.

"It's alright, I wasn't sleeping all that well anyways," Arthur said. "Are you hurt? Did they get anything?"

Merlin shook his head. "A few cuts and scrapes, nothing major. They got my phone and wallet though. And my coat." He held up his bare arms for emphasis. "I liked that coat."

Arthur laughed. "Coats are replaceable, Merlin." He turned and flicked on a light in the kitchen. "Do you want some tea?" He offered. "It'll help calm your nerves." He began filling the electric kettle with water and turned it on. Waiting for it to boil, he pulled out two mugs, taking tea bags and placing them inside.

"Do you want to talk more about it?" Arthur asked. "We don't have to, but it might help make you feel better."

Merlin nodded. "There's not much to tell. I went to a pub with Lance and Gwaine. When I was walking home, these two guys pulled me into an alleyway. That's when my coat came off. Then they pulled a knife on me and demanded I give them my stuff." He shrugged like it was no big deal. "Punched me in the gut and took off after that."

"So why'd you come here?" Arthur asked. The water was boiled now and he carefully poured it and handed a mug to Merlin before taking a sip of his own. The tea scalded his tongue and burnt the entire way down.

"Your place was closest." Merlin answered quietly, curling his hand around the mug. "And after the muggers left the only thing I could think about was how the last time I went to the bar was with you and Gwen and Morgana; we came back to your place to watch a movie." That had been the only time Merlin had ever been to Arthur's house.

Arthur felt warm inside at Merlin's confession. He obviously trusted Arthur enough to come to his place when he was distressed.

"You know, the first time I was mugged I had just moved out of my father's place and into my own. Scared the hell out of me. I slept with the lights on for a week and I kept a baseball bat near my bed for a month. Still have the bat in my closet, should the need to use it arise." He smiled and took a sip.

Merlin looked at him. "I didn't know you played baseball."

"I don't!" Arthur laughed. "I've been mugged couple of times since then. And the bat always goes by the bed again. The thing with muggers is just to give them what they want and they probably won't hurt you. Everything they stole could be probably be replaced, right?"

"Except my coat." Merlin mumbled over the rim of his mug.

"You can easily get a new coat, Merlin. Call the cops in the morning and report it. If you're very lucky they'll find the guys and get your stuff back. If not just, well it'll take sometime, but you'll replace everything. Even your coat." Arthur smiled at Merlin.

"Thanks." Merlin smiled back. He looked at Arthur hesitantly. "Uh, do you mind if I stay here tonight? I don't I want to go home to an empty flat. Not now, at least."

"Oh of course!" Arthur replied quickly. "Trust me, I wasn't planning on kicking you out after what happened. You can sleep on the couch." He swallowed the last bit of his tea and stood up. "Just give me a moment, I grab you a blanket and a pillow."

He put his mug in the sink and left Merlin sitting by himself with the last of his tea. Arthur wasn't that bad of a bloke, he thought remembering his initial dislike of the man when they first met. He stood up and was about to rinse out his mug when Arthur came back into the kitchen.

"I put the stuff on the couch, it's there for when you want it," he said.

Merlin nodded his head. "Thanks- for everything. You didn't have to help me."

"Of course I did." Arthur said softly. "Like I said; I know how scary it is to be mug-"

Merlin cut him off with a hug. Surprised, Arthur gently wrapped his arms around the man, both just relaxing in the warm embrace.

Merlin pulled back slowly. "Yes, well, um…" He cleared his throat. "I'm just going to head to bed now I think."

"Alright," Arthur said. "Have a good sleep, Merlin."

"You too, Arthur." Merlin looked up at Arthur one last time before shuffling out of the kitchen and to the couch.

Arthur switched the light back off and padded back to his room. He slid under the cool sheets and shut his eyes, allowing thoughts of Merlin to enter his dreams.