Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Merlin. This ficlet is written for fun and pure silliness.

CAR TROUBLE

If Gwaine wasn't marrying his sister, Arthur swore that he could have killed him. Or at least knocked him out with a punch. Unfortunately for him, beating up your sister's fiancé was supposedly frowned upon. Supposedly. According to Gwen, anyway.

"How many times did I ask you to make sure that there was enough fuel for the road?" Arthur groaned when they were pulled over on the side of the road midst their road-trip because they'd run out of petrol.

"Why didn't you check before we left Camelot?" Gwaine retorted.

Of course, it was Arthur's fault. Fucking git. No, Arthur was going to kill him, and he didn't care that Morgana was going to never marry the supposed love of her life because, really, Arthur was probably doing her a favour.

"I didn't check because I believed that you would have done the one thing I asked you to do!" Arthur shouted back. "I really don't need this right now!"

"And you think I do?" Gwaine replied. "We're already behind schedule and Morgana is going to kill me. Kill us!"

Gwen coughed her fake cough as she tried to get their attention. "Sorry, as much as it is fun to listen to the two of you shout at each other...I've just messaged Lance and he said that he and Merlin can come and pick us up in ten minutes. Arthur, you could probably ring Leon, he's a mechanic, right? He can most likely tow your car to his shop and then on our way back—"

"Thank you, Gwen!" Gwaine said sounding relieved and he looked and smiled at Arthur who was still scowling.

"Gwen, there's three of us and Lance already has two other people in the car with him, we're not going to fit!" Not to mention that Merlin was riding with Lance, and Arthur didn't need that right now.

"I'm sure we can share," Gwen said quietly. She knew how much Arthur and Merlin didn't get along and Arthur could see the hesitation on her face.

"Gwen—"

"Come on, Arthur," Gwaine interrupted. "Morgana will kill both of us if we delay this any longer..."

"Share?" Arthur continued to protest. "With Percival in the car? There's barely—"

"We'll make it work! Why don't you just do your part and call your friend Leon?" Gwen said waving her hand in the air.

Arthur groaned but knew that he was quickly losing this battle. He couldn't just back out now, not when Gwaine and Gwen were depending on him. If he was alone, perhaps, he could have made an excuse to just not go away on this weekend trip. He sighed heavily and rang up Leon. He was going to owe that man a very expensive bottle of whiskey.

Fifteen minutes later, Leon arrived with his recovery lorry and still there was no sign of Lance and company. So much for "they'll be here in ten minutes," Arthur thought and sighed heavily again. He could feel his headache creep up from the back of his neck. This was going to be a very long weekend. Thankfully, Leon had agreed to drive up Arthur's car to the cottage the next day so at least he'd have his car back for the rest of the weekend.

Leon waited with Arthur and his friends until Lance arrived. If their luck couldn't have been worse, instead of driving his uncle's Land Rover, as they'd originally planned, Lance pulled up in a tiny Suzuki that could barely hold five people, and they were six. Including Percy, who was more likely to occupy over two seats.

They were fucking screwed.

"I can't sit in the front," Percy announced when Gwen tried to diffuse the situation and figure out a way for more space. "I'm going to sleep. I've just got off work after a 20-hour shift and I need to rest. I can't sleep in the passenger seat, it's not very helpful to the driver."

Arthur rolled his eyes and wondered if it was too late to call Leon back and just get a lift back to his flat. Surely, they could do without him this weekend. It was supposed to be for Morgana and Gwaine, anyway.

"I know what you're thinking, and no, you can't go back home," Gwen said looking at Arthur. He hated how she could always read his mind.

"But—"

"Arthur, this is for your sister, and my best friend. I'm not going to allow you to just go home because it's a little inconvenient. It's only a few short hours and we'll figure something out."

Arthur scowled and looked away from the group, only to lock his gazes with Merlin who was across the street speaking to someone on his mobile. How was this going to work, anyway? Clearly someone had to sit in someone's lap and there was no way Arthur was going to get that comfortable with Gwaine or—worse—Merlin.

"Why don't I drive?" Arthur asked.

"No!" Lance said immediately. "You're not driving my car."

"But—" Arthur groaned again. "If I drive, Gwaine can sit in the front and Gwen can sit in your lap; it's really the best option—"

"No. I'll drive, Gwaine can sit in the front, and—"

"And what? Gwen is going to sit in my lap?" Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow. He and Gwen used to date before Lance had come in the picture, there was no way Lance was going to allow that.

"That is not happening," Lance said, predictably.

"I'm gay," Arthur said, scowling.

"So is Merlin. Why doesn't he sit in your lap instead?" Gwaine said, grinning.

"That doesn't even make any sense!" Arthur retorted.

"What the fuck is going on?" Merlin asked as he walked back to the group, his mobile clutched in his hand.

"We're trying to figure out who is going to sit where—"

"Just flip a fucking coin," Merlin said, rolling his eyes.

That actually is a brilliant idea, Arthur thought. However, given how his day had been so far, he was sure he was going to be on the losing end of it.

The first coin flip, Lance won over Arthur and Arthur couldn't drive. The second coin flip was between Gwaine and Arthur; Arthur lost the privilege to sit in the front passenger seat. Next, Gwaine and Gwen, Gwaine won. He was sitting in the front. The last flip was between Gwen and Merlin to decide who was going to sit on Arthur's lap. Merlin won, or lost, Arthur wasn't sure, however, it was decided that Gwen was going to sit behind Lance, Percy was going to sit in the middle, and Arthur would sit in the corner with Merlin on his lap.

Brilliant.

If there was a God, it fucking hated Arthur.

The moment Lance pulled away from the side of the road and they were on their way to the Avalon cottage where Morgana the rest of their friends were waiting for them, Percy began snoring. Loudly.

Arthur internally groaned and looked out of the window; he rested his head back and hoped that he could fall asleep, too. This was going to be one torturous ride. He could sense how uncomfortable Merlin was sitting in his lap. He was trying to keep his weight off Arthur, and it was useless really, because every time the car swerved slightly, Merlin's body would shift and his weight would press on Arthur. Then, he'd try to adjust himself again, only to fail again.

Arthur was half convinced that sometimes Lance was driving recklessly on purpose. He turned his head to look over towards Gwen, and she too had closed her eyes, resting. Gwaine was busying texting with Morgana, Arthur was sure, and Merlin kept checking his mobile, as if he was waiting for someone to call.

He tried resting several times, but the fact that another man was on top of him, was not lost on Arthur. He didn't like Merlin—that really wasn't the truth—he barely knew Merlin, but the few times they'd tried to talk, they'd only ended up arguing. Arthur for the life of him couldn't remember what those arguments had been about. Still, this was the closest he'd been to someone in a very long time. Not since his last boyfriend had cheated on him with Mordred, and his other long-term relationship before that was with Gwen. Arthur sighed at how pathetic his life was becoming. At least he had work to keep him busy most of the time.

Merlin shifted to remove his mobile from his jacket pocket and checked it. Again.

"Who is it that you're waiting for?" Arthur asked. He wasn't sure why he'd whispered his question, maybe it was to not disturb his friends who were sleeping, or maybe he didn't really want others in the car to know that he was trying with Merlin again.

"Ghost vibrations," Merlin answered, equally in a hushed tone.

"But you were on your mobile earlier, that is before we started to drive, I mean," Arthur said, trying to sound nonchalant. No, he hadn't been watching Merlin since they'd arrived to pick him, Gwen, and Gwaine up.

"Yeah that was my mum, but, lately my phone keeps vibrating—or I think it is and—" Merlin sighed and looked out the window. "Never mind."

Arthur made a noncommittal sound and dropped the subject.

They were on the road of over an hour and it'd been quiet except for the electronic music that was emitting from Lance's mp3 player. No one had spoken for a long time. Gwaine had his headphones on and was watching a movie on his tablet. Gwen and Percy were still asleep and Merlin, Arthur could tell, was struggling to not check his mobile every five minutes.

"Maybe you should just turn it off," Arthur suggested.

"Turn what off?" Merlin asked, confused.

"Your mobile. If it's ghost vibrations, then just turn it off. So at least you can have some peace and not check your phone like a frantic schoolgirl waiting for her boyfriend to message her back."

"Sorry, didn't realise it was such an inconvenience to you," Merlin retorted.

"I was just trying to help. Sorry I said anything," Arthur said raising his hands in the air.

Merlin didn't reply and Arthur wasn't sure if he was glad for it or not. Arthur was about to say something else but Lance's voice cut him off.

"Shit, an accident!" Lance roared, and hit the brakes. Merlin slid off Arthur's lap and Arthur instinctively grabbed Merlin's hips, pulling him back. "Sorry, lads," Lance said and Lance swerved his car to change lanes.

Merlin's body kept swinging from left to right and Arthur's hands were still grasping his hips tightly. Lance sped up again and then hit the brakes one more time. Merlin groaned with frustration and he immediately shut up. Arthur wasn't sure at first, what'd happened exactly, and then he realised. Merlin's body rubbing against him had made him hard. He barely had time to react to what Merlin was doing to him because he was too busy getting frustrated with Lance's driving, and by the time his mind had caught up with his body—his cock—was rock hard.

Shite! Curse his black cotton trousers. He should've worn jeans. Merlin wasn't wearing denim either, so there was no way he'd missed Arthur's erection pressing against him.

"Uh..." Merlin began to say.

"I'm so sorry," Arthur whispered. "Please don't—"

"It's okay," Merlin whispered back. Arthur wasn't sure but he could hear the amusement in Merlin's voice.

"I'm never going to live this down," Arthur mumbled, mostly to himself and scowled when he felt Merlin chuckle. "Don't laugh at me. This is so fucking—"

"It's okay," Merlin said again, except this time, he rocked his hips while he said it.

"What are you doing?" Arthur asked, gaping at the back of Merlin's neck. Fuck him for wanting to leap up and whisper his words against Merlin's skin. Bite his ear a little bit.

Merlin didn't turn around, he just shrugged, and then his hand grabbed Arthur's wrist. He slowly guided Arthur's right hand towards his groin and Arthur felt Merlin's erection press against the palm of his hand.

"I've been like this ever since we started," Merlin said, almost confessing. Fuck, if it wasn't the sexiest thing Arthur had heard in a while.

"But—I—" Arthur struggled for words. He wasn't sure what he should have said; what he wanted to say.

Merlin leaned back and rested his back against Arthur's chest. "That's why I've been checking my phone... I was hoping for a distraction—"

"Are you talking to me?" Lance asked, turning the volume on his mp3 player down. "Sorry, my driving hasn't been the best today—"

Merlin straightened up and turned his head towards Lance. "No, it's okay. I was just checking something on my phone," he said and rocked his hips again just to tease Arthur. Arthur shook his head and squeezed the inside of Merlin's right thigh. Fucking bastard.

Lance nodded, not taking his eyes off the road, and turned up the volume again.

"You're such a prat," Merlin said and unzipped his jacket. He struggled to take it off until Arthur released his grasp on Merlin and helped him.

Merlin placed the jacket on his lap, conveniently hiding the bulge in his trousers and Arthur's hand on his thigh. He rocked his hips again when he leaned back and rested fully on Arthur's chest. Arthur nuzzled into Merlin's ear before whispering, "I'm going to get you for this, Merlin."

Merlin chuckled again and Arthur could feel his entire body vibrating. He slightly jerked his hips and thrust up, rubbing his cock against Merlin's arse.

"Well, I'm sure our friends will be glad that we're finally getting along," Merlin said, turning his head to capture Arthur's lips.

Arthur leaned into the kiss, and his palm brushed against Merlin's erection again. Suddenly, the weekend away, didn't seem so bad, after all; and maybe, just maybe, Arthur would be able to find some common ground with Merlin.

END