Chapter 1

"Hello?"

Merlin smiles at the groggy voice on the other line. "Finally you pick up, clotpole. Come on, we're bunking off today. Get yourself together and I'll meet you outside your place in ten minutes."

"Ugh, Merlin. Fuck off mate." Merlin hears the rustle of sheets as he assumes Arthur is rolling back over in bed and about to hang up on him.

"Oh come on," Merlin groans, pulling on his trousers as his mobile is pinched precariously between his head and shoulder. "Do you know how much effort it was to convince Mum I was ill. I planned this whole thing. It would be a shame to waste it all."

Merlin puts his phone on speakerphone and places it on his dresser, shuffling through his t-shirts and pulling out a blue one with a little dragon on the pocket. Arthur hasn't hung up yet, which is a good sign, but he also hasn't said anything either. Merlin pulls his red scarf from the wash bin, gives it a quick whiff, and wraps it around his his neck as a force of habit. The silence was beginning to be a little unnerving. "Arthur?"

"I'm glad you made plans and all. Have fun," Arthur says irritably. "But I'm actually sick, as in a terrible cold." Merlin hears a sniffle as if to indicate his point. "So I'll be going back to bed now. Have a good day Merlin."

The line cuts out and Merlin glares at the phone as if at had personally wronged him in some way. He rolls his eyes and dials Arthur back. After two rings, Arthur answers. "What," he snaps. "I will turn my mobile off if you don't stop calling—"

"Bollocks, Arthur," Merlin interrupts. "And not just to the whole turning-off-your-mobile thing. You aren't actually sick and we both know it, so get your arse out of bed, because I'm leaving for your flat now. And you better answer the door when I get there."

This time Merlin hangs up slipping his mobile in his back pocket, making sure the elaborate strategy he devised is in place to fool his Mum in case she comes home from hospital at lunch to check on him, and skips out through the window of his room and down the fire escape. He makes his way to the metro and takes the train to Arthur's neighborhood.

Merlin was going to miss this.

See, Merlin Emrys was going to graduate soon. So was Arthur. They soon would be off to different universities on the opposite sides of the country and Merlin just needed a day. One day to do all the things he hasn't done yet before life was different. Drastically different. And he wanted to do those things with his best friends.

Next step: get Gwen out of class.

***I***

"Alright, I'm coming. Keep your pants on," Arthur shouts after the third buzzing. He shuffles sleepily down the hallway, past Morgana's room, Uther's room, the library, the study, the home office, the dining room, the kitchen, the sitting room, and the den and whips open the door. "I hate you," he bites out, not really meaning it. Arthur could never really hate Merlin.

The brunette looks him up and down, taking in Arthur's complete lack of readiness. Arthur just rolls his eyes and gestures for the man to come in, closing the door behind him. Merlin is wearing his ridiculous scarf again partially hiding the t-shirt that eerily matches the man's blue eyes. Once inside, Merlin whirls on the blonde.

"I told you to get ready," he says, waving his arms wildly but managing to keep himself from knocking over the priceless vase Uther received from a client a few months ago. "This," he continues motioning to Arthur's flannel pajama bottoms and ratted vest that his father loathed so much, "is not ready, Arthur."

"That's because," Arthur mutters as he makes his way back down the hall to his room, Merlin following behind him, "I'm not going anywhere." He hears Merlin huff behind him but refuses to turn around.

"What is wrong with you," Merlin asks, but there's less heat in the words than Arthur had expected. It was almost as if Merlin was worried about him.

And Arthur supposed his mate probably should worry.

See, Arthur Pendragon was depressed. Well not completely depressed. Surely not. Arthur was just going through a bit of a rough patch, that's all. He just wanted a day to wallow in self-pity, away from all the pressures his father— school put on him. He wished everyone would leave him alone.

"Nothing wrong with me, MERlin," Arthur sneers, collapsing back into bed and pulling his sheet over his face. The darkness doesn't last long.

"Alright fine," Merlin reasons, removing the sheet and Arthur blinks blearily up at him. "Don't tell me what's wrong, but if you aren't going out with me today, could you at least help me break out Gwen?"

Arthur narrows his eyes. "Break her out? She's not in prison, Merlin. In fact Gwen loves school, you know that."

"But neither of us are there," Merlin whines slumping lazily onto the bed next to Arthur and poking him with a finger. "Who's she going to eat with, hmm?"

"Gwen has other friends besides us," Arthur responds, but even he's not convinced.

Merlin scoffs. "Really, who?"

"What about… that Elaine bird," Arthur supplies.

"You mean, Elena?"

"Yeah, that's what I meant," Arthur says, shrugging. He sighs dejectedly after Merlin just stares at him. "Fine okay," Arthur relents. "But it's not our fault Gwen has no other friends."

"Actually, Arthur, I"m pretty sure it is."

See, Gwen Thomas was two years younger than Merlin and Arthur. She and Arthur had basically started dating the second she moved to Camelot and started attending the same secondary school. She never really made any friends in her own year because she was only ever hanging out with Arthur who was only ever hanging out with Merlin. Practically since day one, the three of them have been inseparable.

Arthur groans and buries his face into his pillow. "Ugh, Merlin. Why didn't you just go to school today? I know that you've skivved before, but why today?"

There is a beat of silence that lasts a little too long for Arthur's liking. The blonde flips back over and looks at Merlin with a raised brow.

Merlin shakes his head and rolls his eyes. "There's no grand master plan. I just thought it would be a bit of fun, yeah? You, me, Gwen, no school, no parents." Arthur can't help but smile and Merlin nudges him knowingly. "See, it'll be fun," Merlin says hopping up from the bed and opening the curtains of his bedroom window with a flourish. "So rise and shine! Shake a leg! Up and atom! Let's have you lazy daisy—"

Merlin is interrupted when a shoe hits him in the back. When he whirls around, Arthur holds up his hands in innocence and points discretely at the cat. "It were George, I swear it."

"Right," Merlin says nodding. "I'm sure." Merlin leans down and picks up the offending trainer and examines it. "Funny, this looks to be about your size," he says playfully and before Arthur can register it, the shoe smacks him in the chest.

"You arse!" Arthur shouts getting up from the bed and tackling Merlin to the ground. They are both laughing too hard to really make any witty remarks as their wrestling leads them into the hallway. Out of breath, they both lay down shoulder to shoulder and stare up at the elaborate crown molding. Arthur's never really noticed it before. He concludes that it was a bit too ostentatious for a hallway and was probably the work of Uther's most recent ex-wife Catrina. Arthur thought everything she did was tacky and was ever so glad Uther had finally divorced her, even thought that meant most of the man's attention went back to Arthur.

"I got you out of bed," Merlin remarks cheekily. Arthur punches him in the stomach and Merlin just laughs. He rolls over and props his head on one hand leaning over Arthur. "So… you gonna help me spring your girlfriend or what?"

"Yeah," Arthur says with a shrug, knocking Merlin's arm out from under him and sitting up with a chuckle. "But there's just one problem."

"Yeah?"

"How the bloody hell are we going to that?"

***I***

"Thomas?"

Gwen continues staring blankly at her physics notes. She had already memorized everything on the page. She had no idea why she continued to revise if she already knew the subject matter like the back of her hand. Perhaps it was just something to do.

"Gwen Thomas?"

Gwen perks up immediately. The rest of the class is staring at her but she is looking at the door where the school secretary Alice stood with tears prickling at her eyes.

Gwen panics immediately. "Yes?" she squeaks.

"Would you mind coming with me dear? And bring your belongings."

Gwen nods, unable to speak. She grabs her bag and shoves the notebook inside, no longer caring about how pristine the pages are. Her ears are ringing as she makes her way out into the hallway, waving a quick goodbye to Professor Gauis. Once the classroom door shuts behind her she turns to the secretary. "Alice what is it? What's wrong?"

"We got a call from your father dear," she says. Gwen gasps. "He said that your grandmother has passed away." Before Gwen can comprehend what Alice just said, the woman wraps her in a big hug.

Gwen is so glad Alice made it so she can't see Gwen's face. Because she was confused.

See, Gwen's grandmother died four years ago. It was a very sad affair. She cried. Her father took her and her brother out of school for a whole week. And her other grandmother, the one on her mother's side, died before she was even born.

"Uh—" Gwen manages after Alice releases her from the embrace, schooling her features into one of sadness. "Wow… I don't what to say."

"Oh you don't need to say anything dear. I'm sure this is a lot to take in all at once," Alice says calmly and Gwen had to agree with her on that. This was certainly a lot to take in. "Come, Headmaster Aredian took the call and your father should be by to pick you up soon."

Gwen nods solemnly. She may not understand now, but she will soon enough. For now, Gwen could play the part of grieving granddaughter. She was a rather good actress actually.

The headmaster looked miffed when she and Alice arrive in his office. Aredian was never a cheerful man, Gwen knows, but he seemed extra peeved today. The only person Gwen knows that can make the man this upset is Merlin. And suddenly everything was starting to make a little more sense. Gwen has to stop herself from chuckling and rolling her eyes, reminding herself that her grandmother was supposed to have just died. She swallows a giggle and turns it into a choked sob. Aredian looks up from his papers in alarm.

"Oh dear," Alice murmurs, putting an arm around Gwen again, and this time Gwen hugs her back.

"I'm sorry," Gwen sobs into the woman's shirt for good measure. If she was going to do this, she was going all out. When she glances up, the headmaster looks a bit uncomfortable. Gwen resists the urge to smirk.

"Are you going to be ok, sweetie," Alice asks pulling back and smoothing down Gwen's curly hair tenderly.

"Yes," Gwen says with another sob. "Yes, I just— do you think I could get some fresh air?" She sniffs and pleads with her eyes.

"Of course, of course. Why don't you wait out front for your father?"

"Now wait just a minute," Headmaster Aredian interjects, but the withering look Alice shoots him stops him from continuing.

Gwen widens her eyes, feigning hurt at the headmaster's words. She turns to Aredian and begins weeping again. Prick, she thinks.

"Fine," Aredian concedes curtly.

"Thank you," Gwen simpers, and turns to leave. Before she heads out she takes one last look and notices the headmaster staring out the window which overlooks the parking lot.

Great, more acting would need to be done.

Once she is alone in the hallway she finally lets herself roll her eyes. Merlin and Arthur were nutters. But she can't help smiling.

They were her nutters.

***I***

"This is so not gonna work."

Merlin shrugs. "So then it doesn't work. Who cares? What's the worst that can happen?"

Arthur rolls his eyes and Elyan snorts. "You're insane, mate," Elyan says pulling the collar of the trench coat up to cover his face more. "Both of you," he continues looking pointedly at Arthur.

"Hey, this wasn't my plan," Arthur reasons.

"Yeah, but you're still going along with it you plonker," Elyan bellows.

"So are you," Arthur adds pointedly.

Elyan stops fiddling with the hat and looks at them both. "Fine," Elyan concedes. "We're all bloody mental then. Should be locked up in an institution the lot of us."

"Even Gwen?" Merlin asks.

"Especially Gwen," Elyan answers hastily. "Have always thought so. Have you seen how my sister eats pizza?! Crust first? I mean who does that?"

Merlin chuckles, glancing to his right where Elyan sits in the driver's seat. He had just convinced Arthur to let them borrow Uther's car for the little performance they were about to put on, and for some reason that took way more arm-twisting than all the other persuading he had done that day combined. And it took a lot of convincing to get Arthur to agree to anything.

First, Merlin had to get Arthur to agree to his ridiculous plan to call the headmaster and imitate Gwen's father. Then, it took a lot more convincing to get Arthur to be the one to imitate Gwen's father during the call. Merlin was positive that old prick Aredian would recognize his voice instantly. Once the call had been placed and everything seemed to have worked out, it finally struck the boys that Gwen was black. There was no way either of them could pass as Gwen's father even from afar. And thus, another idea emerged. He remembered that Elyan was in town visiting home from uni and now he had to convince Elyan to help them out.

Thankfully, Merlin didn't really need to do much convincing with him.

See, Elyan Thomas owed Merlin everything. They never spoke about that night. The night where Elyan called his little sister's boyfriend's best friend, because he didn't know who else to call. Merlin had rushed over to the coordinates Elyan had given him with 2000 pounds and his deceased father's training pistol. Elyan tried to thank him in the cab ride back to Camelot, but Merlin punched him in the face. He was beaten up pretty bad already, so another bruise wasn't going to make a damn bit of difference. The cabbie was shocked, but the rest of the cab ride was silent. When they stopped a couple blocks from the Thomas's place, both boys got out, Merlin handing over a tenner before the Cab took off. Elyan shuffled his feet awkwardly and looked up at Merlin, opening his mouth to speak again. Merlin cut him off.

"You're done."

It wasn't a question. It was a statement. Merlin would make damn sure Elyan would stop dealing if it was the last thing he did.

Elyan looked up from his feet and stared into Merlin's eyes. "Yes."

Merlin nodded. "How are you going to explain all that," Merlin asked gesturing to Elyan's face.

"I don't know," Elyan answered, and his shrug must have hurt because he winced and clutched his shoulder. "I'll think of something though. I always think of something."

Merlin nodded again. "Hey Elyan?"

"Yeah?"

"You're a smart bloke, you know that? Stupid as fuck, but I know you can be smart. So stop making a cock up of your life. You could do a lot better." Merlin turned and headed for the metro. Elyan called out after him.

"I'm gonna pay you back Merlin! Every last bill! And if you need anything, you let me know!"

Merlin halted and glanced over his shoulder. "I'ma hold you to that."

And now here they were, Elyan in his father's clothing making jokes about his sister's mental health, happy and smiling, and working his way through uni to become an architect. And keeping his promise to Merlin to be there if he needed him.

"So what am I supposed to say?"

"Well hopefully you won't have to say anything," Merlin answers. "Even in that clever disguise mate, there's no way you can pull off being Gwen's father. You look about twelve. So just stay by the car and let Gwen come to you. Headmaster Bellend will probably be watching. We just need to make it look good."

Elyan sighs acceptingly. "I really do think you might be mad, Merlin. Who thinks of this shite?"

"We're here," Arthur interrupts before Merlin can answer. Arthur and Merlin sink down in their seats, hiding from view. They both pop their heads just enough to peer out and there, standing all by herself in front of the doors, is Gwen. When she sees the car pull up, she hugs herself tightly and her eyes look red as if she had been crying. Merlin thinks belatedly that they might have made a mistake, but then he sees her send them a wink, and the brunette realizes she was just acting upset. Merlin chuckles and hears Arthur do the same.

Elyan steps out of the car and motions for Gwen to come to him. Gwen looks a little confused by the stranger, but as she gets closer it seems to dawn on her who he is. She looks like she's about to laugh, but she sucks in her lips and changes it to a grimace.

"Hey sister," Elyan says opening his arms and Gwen flings herself into the embrace.

"Elyan, how in the world did Merlin rope you into this," she asks incredulously, but her face is still full of absolute gut-wrenching heartache.

"He has his ways," he answers, pulling back and rubbing Gwen's shoulders gently. "Do you think we've done this whole sorrow charade long enough?"

"Yeah," Gwen says with a sniffle and rubs her nose even though there's nothing there. "Let's get out of here."

Merlin realizes that he's in the front seat. He crawls into the back, staying as far down as he can as Elyan leads Gwen around to the passenger side door.

"What are you doing," Arthur grunts, making room in the back seat.

"I think it would look a bit strange if Gwen's father made Gwen sit in the back, don't you," Merlin huffs.

Arthur rolls his eyes. "Well you should have thought of that before, you git."

"Hey, I came up with this whole ridiculous plan," Merlin says finally settling into the back seat, practically laying on top of Arthur. "I'm allowed one minor error."

The front door opens and Gwen enters, deliberately not turning around to make eye contact with Merlin or Arthur. Elyan shuts the door behind her and heads back around to the driver's side.

"Hey Gwen," Merlin supplies.

Gwen shakes her head minutely a small demure smile crossing her lips. "You are all idiots."

"Yes, we've already said so about a thousand times," Arthur says jokingly. "Tell us something we don't know."

"Aredian thinks you're behind this, Merlin."

Merlin rolls his eyes. "Arthur said 'Tell us something we don't know' Gwen. Aredian thinks I'm behind everything at this damn school."

The driver's side door opens and Elyan gets in, starting the ignition and putting the car in gear. Once they are safely out of view, Arthur and Merlin sit up, and Gwen turns around looking at Merlin with a pained expression.

"Aren't you?"

Merlin smiles. "Probably."