Arthur had always vowed to protect his best friend. When he first saved Merlin from those bullies when they were young, he knew then that he would do anything for this boy. He thought he always had been a good protector, shielding Merlin from those who could hurt him and from the people that would break his heart, but doing so in a discreet way, to not embarrass his friend. Arthur always saved Merlin from the bad in the world.

That is, until he realized he never did.

Arthur had been five when he first met Merlin. Being the son of wealthy and famous man, he did not have many friends. He rarely was allowed to play with other children, as his father said some only wanted to be his friend for his wealth. Arthur hadn't understood it back then, but regardless knew to stay away from certain peers or witness his father's wrath.

On occasion, Arthur would go to the town park, only to sit alone and watch the children he did not know have fun. Today was no different, but he noticed something. There was a new boy, one with very black hair and very blue eyes. This boy also had very prominent cheekbones and ears that stuck out a bit. Those last two details were what some older boys were teasing him about.

"Look at these ears!" cried a six year old, grabbing one of the dark-haired one's ears and twisting it very hard. The little boy's face contorted in pain, tears welling in his eyes.

"And his face! What happened to his cheeks?" asked another boy, roughly poking the smaller boy in the face in several places. Soon those pokes turned to jabs, then slight slaps, then eventually to a full blown strike across the face. Arthur was moving towards them before he knew what he was doing.

"Leave him alone," growled Arthur, trying to stand at his full height.

The other boys sneered and one raised his hand again. The blue-eyed boy squeezed his eyes shut and prepared for the hit that never came.

"I said leave him alone," said Arthur, after grabbing the hand that was coming down. The boy broke out of his grip and turned his fist at Arthur. It collided with his nose. Arthur smiled despite the pain. "You really shouldn't have done that."

There were three boys, two taller than Arthur. He was quite smart for a five year-old, and formed a plan. It probably wasn't the most brilliant, but it worked.

Punching one boy in the arm, he ran off yelling, "Can't catch me!" The bait worked, taking the bullies away from the younger boy. Arthur ran all over the playground, dodging equipment and other children. He ran faster as they gained on him, but soon was tiring. He started to stumble, and tripped over a poorly placed stone.

"Got you now," said the closest bully maliciously. They surrounded him with their small group, closing in and grabbing his arms. Two held him back as one made moves to hit him. Waiting for the first blow, Arthur closed his eyes. He did not feel fists hitting his face, but instead heard an impact of a body hitting the ground and some grunting. The boys holding his arms let go and he opened his eyes.

In front of him was the boy he had saved earlier. The black-hair boy had thrown himself on top of the older one. His small fists were hitting the bully's chest and to other two were going to grab him. Arthur reacted on instinct and grabbed him first.

They started running, the smaller boy hardly keeping up because of his shorter legs. When they seemed unfollowed, they collapsed under a nearby tree.

"Thanks," panted the younger boy. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," said Arthur. "What about you?"

"I'm good."

"I'm Arthur, by the way," said the blonde, sitting up to get a better look at him. The boy didn't look 'good' as he said. His face had a big bright, red slash on it, just under his left cheekbone. "Did they do that to you?"

The boy winced, hand going up to his face. "No…I-I j-just f-fell and it happed earlier. I'm Merlin."

"I haven't seen you here before," Arthur noted.

Merlin winced again, though not with physical pain. "M-my step f-father and I just moved here."

"Oh," said Arthur. "Would you like to be my friend?"

The boy's eyes lit up. "Really? I've never had a friend before!"

"Yeah, we'll be best friends," said Arthur, eyes wide with excitement. Merlin did not know about his money, so maybe Arthur's father would let him keep him. "But we have to do something before that."

"What?" Merlin asked urgently.

Arthur grinned and spat on his hand. Merlin did the same. They shook.

"There," said Arthur, "We're now best friends forever."

Merlin eyes got even bigger. "Now what?"

Arthur's grin turned evil. He reached out his hand, not hearing his new friend's sharp intake of breathe or see his face turn horrified, and began to tickle him. Merlin's look of horror melted and he squealed in laughter. Arthur was relentless and Merlin was soon blue in the face.

"Please!" he choked out. "Please, Arthur, I can't breathe!"

"Okay," said Arthur, laughing along with his friend. He stopped tickling him and the younger boy sat up. Arthur leaned against the tree and Merlin copied him.

"How old are you, Arthur?" asked Merlin, the question popping in his head.

"I'm five," said the blonde proudly. "How old are you?"

"Four."

"Merlin, do you want to come to my house?"

"Could I?"

Arthur ran at his nanny, Alice, with a boy with black hair behind him. "Alice, this is my new best friend Merlin. Can he come over to play?"

Alice was surprised. This morning the boy had no friends whatsoever. Now he had a bestie. Shrugging it off, she said they had to ask the boy's parents first.

"My step-father doesn't care," said Merlin bluntly.

"I'll ask him anyways," said Alice, looking around for the man. "Where is he?"

"At our house."

"Then how did you get here?" asked Alice. The town playground was nowhere near any houses. And who would leave a four year old at a park?

"I walked here by myself," said Merlin, his face putting on a strange emotion. "He told me not to come home for a while."

Alice felt horror run through her. Who would tell that to such a little child? "You can come with us."

Arthur and Merlin whooped as they headed to the car. Alice smiled at the two boys. Arthur had an arm wrapped tight around the other boy while Merlin was babbling away about something. As she helped them get in the car, she noticed Arthur was holding the younger boy's hand, as he couldn't keep an arm around him with the back of the car's seat in the way. While driving, Alice noticed how Merlin had a cut on his face. She really hoped what she was thinking wasn't true.

"Merlin, this is my house," said Arthur when the pulled into the driveway. The younger boy's eyes bugged and he looked at Arthur. The blonde laughed. "It's big, I know. Sometimes I get lost in there."

"W-what?"

"I was kidding, Merlin."

The black haired boy relaxed, not having to worry about losing his way in the huge mansion. They hopped out of the car, racing around the yard until a shrill voice called out.

"Arthur, what are you doing? What is that thing?" asked a girl approaching them. She had long black hair, piercing green eyes, and frown on her face. Arthur groaned when he saw her.

"I'm playing with my friend, Morgana. And he's not a thing, his name is Merlin," said Arthur sourly to her. He felt Merlin shrink a little under her glare, so he wrapped an arm around his shoulders.

"Daddy says you don't need friends," said Morgana, looking at Merlin as if he was a bug that she wanted to squish. "I'm gonna tell."

"You tell on me, I'll tell daddy that you stole from his wallet," said Arthur, angrily, but secretly afraid. Morgana was the favorite and his father was more likely to believe her. But the threat worked and she stormed off.

"Who was she?" asked Merlin.

"She's my half-sister," said Arthur, giving his friend's shoulders a squeeze. "I hate her."

"Why?" asked Merlin innocently.

"She gets everything she wants. She's really mean too. And she was rude to my best friend," said Arthur, finding a new reason to dislike his sister. Merlin's face fell. "What's wrong?"

"I thought we were best friends…" he said with hurt in his voice.

"We are!"

"But then who was 'the best friend' your sister was rude to?"

Arthur laughed. "You, Merlin. She called you a 'thing.' Don't you realize when someone says something mean?"

"Oh…" said Merlin, face taking on a strange emotion. "I've been called lots of mean things. By my step-father. I don't think I've noticed."

Before Arthur could say something, Alice called them in to wash up before she fed them pizza for dinner.

That was the first day of their friendship.

"C'mon, Merlin," said Arthur, walking up the steps to the school. Merlin shook his head, eyes wide. Arthur grabbed his hand. "Are you scared?"

Merlin noded. He gripped Arthur's hand very hard.

"It's just school, Merlin. And I'll be just across the hall. You'll see me at recess and lunch. We can do this," Arthur insisted. He noticed Merlin had a lot of bruises on his arms before he continued. "And don't be afraid. I'll protect you from anything scary."

Merlin smiled slightly, but did not move. Arthur sighed and did something he had to do a lot. He picked up Merlin and started to carry him.

"Arthur! Put me down!" cried Merlin. Arthur ignored the strange looks he was getting and made his way to the kindergarten class room. He then set Merlin down. "Arthur, why'd you do that?"

Merlin looked angry but Arthur shrugged. "I needed to get you in here somehow."

Merlin sighed. "Why can't we be in the same class? I'll never make any new friends."

"Yes you will! You're funny and you can burp the first part of the alphabet! I bet you'll have so many friends that you'll forget about me," said Arthur, but then he realized what he said and panicked. He didn't want to lose his best friend!

Merlin's eyes widened. "I'm never gonna forget you!"

"Good," said Arthur and he meant it. "Ready?"

Merlin nodded and gave his friend a huge bear hug. Arthur hugged back just as hard. They pulled away and went to their separate classrooms.

The first day of kindergarten is scary.

"How was it?" asked Arthur that night in his bed. As they did most nights, the two little boys were having a sleepover. Arthur's bed was big enough for both of them, so they slept curled up together in it. Merlin snuggled tighter to him before answering.

"It was strange. This boy, Valiant, and his friend, Cedric, called me something, but I don't know what it means," he said, eyes closed but still awake.

"What did they call you?" demanded Arthur, his protective instinct kicking in.

"It was like 'basture' or 'bastard' or something like that," said Merlin. He felt Arthur's arms around him tighten.

"I'll deal with them," said Arthur, with a calm voice, while in his head he was planning on beating the snot out of those boys. "Did you make any friends?"

"I'm not sure. Three boys, Gwaine, Lancelot, and Leon were nice," said Merlin into Arthur's shoulder. "What about you?"

"I think I made friends with some two boys called Elyan and Percival, and this one girl, Gwen, was nice. I missed you, though."

"I missed you, too."

As the night got darker, the more they got tired. Sleep soon took them. A moonbeam peaked through the window, right on their faces. If one saw what the light revealed, they would see two little boys, one raven-haired and one blonde, curled together in something that was more than friendship.

A/N: Please review! ;)