Author's Notes: My first fanfic ever so please, be kind. Rated M to be sure. Thanks to Girl With a Pearl Earring for beta. Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own Merlin. If I did… Well.

That Arthur and Merlin did not get on when they first met was common knowledge. So when word got around that Merlin was to be Arthur's manservant, more than a few gossips expressed their pity for Merlin. After all, having to serve a prince who had it in for him from the start probably wouldn't be very nice.

Arthur himself didn't think it would be very nice, having that idiot around. Even if it meant he could now order the man to carry out countless chores. No matter what some country bumpkins might think, Arthur was a real person with feelings, although he'd never admit it. He didn't exactly enjoy the expression of dislike that appeared on his servant'sface every time he laid eyes on the prince. So really, ordering Merlin around and generally being mean to him was just self defense, in addition to being good fun.

But as time passed by he got used to the presence of his manservant and, as of late, friend. The fact that Merlin had saved his life once or twice created respect, something Arthur would never have expected to feel for a servant. And he had a feeling that Merlin respected him, too. Probably thanks to all those hours of swordplay trainingthat Merlin was bound to have witnessed… Arthur couldn't help it, whenever he knew Merlin was watching he put in some extra impressive moves. There was no harm in showing the boy exactly how much better a swordsman the prince was than he himself.

When that guy Lancelot came around and hung out with Merlin, Arthur wasn't very pleased. Merlin was his manservant and he felt it was exclusively his right to save the idiot's ass. And anyway, how could anyone look good next to Sir Lance-a-lot?! The man was chivalrous to a fault, and ridiculously polite. And he looked good. No wonder all the girls in the castle were drooling after him. When Arthur found out about the faked family tree, he couldn't help feeling a little happy. The Perfect Man had some faults, thank goodness. But to be honest, Lancelot was one of the best knights he'd ever had and it just wasn't fair that he had to go. (Although the man managed to make himself look even more saintly and self-sacrificing by announcing a self-proclaimed exile. Honestly!) Well, at least his manservant would be concentrating on his work again. As if. Merlin could never even stay concentrated long enough to fold a shirt.

It was about that time Arthur started noticing odd things. Merlin, who had started out as a very unwilling servant, suddenly went about his chores in an almost cheery way. He'd started smiling and even laughing in the prince's presence. He'd started chatting, for god's sake! And when Arthur woke up in bed one day with a massive headache, remembering nothing about the night before except something about the girl, Sophia, he could have sworn he saw fondness in Merlin's eyes. He'd almost manage to forget about it for a while but then Merlin would give him one of those funny looks again. And then when the black knight came and Arthur agreed to fight him, Merlin seemed so worried for him. Much more worried than a servant would be for his master. Maybe even more worried than a friend would have been…

Arthur tried to ignore all these…odd incidents, he really did. But he couldn't help being a little suspicious. And since he'd started noticing these things, it appeared Merlin had started noticing him noticing. That was really awkward. They tiptoed around each other uttering subtleties and doing things that, interpreted one way, was just friends being friends, but interpreted the other way… Arthur tried not to encourage anything, but all these double entendres where turning his brain into syrup. And anyway, when he considered taking the matter up with Merlin and thought about rejecting him he found himself wondering if he really would go through with it, if it came to that. Arthur spent more than one night ransacking his heart, invariably ending his musings with a frustrated curse. He was getting nowhere, so maybe it was just best not to think too much.

Of course, it was rather hard not to think about Merlin as he was almost constantly around, and then the boy's village had to go and get into trouble, didn't it. Arthur convinced himself he was only helping Merlin because he was a friend and that's what friends did. And gods, that was certainly a very strange occurence time. For a moment there he almost thought Merlin was going to confess to being a sorcerer. So it turned out he'd only been hiding one. But that, too, was an offence. Why wouldn't Merlin trust him with that important a piece of information? Well, all right - Arthur did see how it would make sense not to tell the Prince of Camelot that your best friend was a sorcerer.

When the prince and his companions were riding home from Merlin's village, the tension between Arthur and Merlin was almost tangible. One night they settled in a little clearing in the forest, and Arthur went to wash himself in a nearby river. When he was getting out of the water, completely naked, Merlin appeared from the bushes carrying a blanket.

"Merlin!" Arthur said, jumping.

"Respect my privacy, would you?" He quickly reached for the blanket Merlin was offering and covered himself.

"I've assisted you a million times when you've taken baths back home, sire," Merlin grinned. "There's nothing I haven't seen before."

"Yes, but this isn't civilized old Camelot, is it? In these conditions I'm perfectly capable of taking a bath by myself." It came out a little sharper than Arthur had intended and he saw Merlin turn away with his shoulders up by his ears.

"Hey," he said and put a hand on Merlin's shoulder. Merlin turned around to look at him. "It's just… I rarely have a chance to be alone and I quite enjoy it."

"Yeah, I guess being a prince is quite a social job." The words were quiet and Merlin was smiling ruefully, not looking at Arthur.

"Well, I suppose I should have remembered to take a blanket myself, but you know, being a prince and having servants tends to alienate you from these practical, commonplace things…" Arthur's tone was mockingly arrogant and to his relief Merlin seemed to understand that he was joking. As Arthur watched from the corner of his eye he saw Merlin smile that cheeky, life-affirming smile of his. The servant gave his masters body a quick, furtive once-over before regretfully turning away.

"Um, I'll be going then," he said quietly, walking away.

Arthur watched him go, awestruck. Well I'll be damned - it seems he actually loves me, he thought, impressed. And he knows - he knows I can't return his feelings, so he's keeping it all to himself. Just so I won't have to take a stand. There can't be a better, more loyal friend than that… And suddenly a wave of grief struck him. At the thought of this man, Merlin, silently enduring months, years of unrequited love because there was nothing else for him to do, the Once and Future King felt like crying.

Arthur tried to be his normal self the next couple of weeks. As a matter of fact he thought he might have been overcompensating with the "merry and carefree" act, but on the other hand there always seemed to be one crisis or another which let him act just as worried and sad as he actually felt. Like that strange monster that managed to bite him. Had it not been for the fact that he was vaguely aware of the pain, it would've been rather nice to be unconscious, for the same reason he looked forward to going to sleep - it kept the thoughts away for hours at a time. But then he woke up, and as if it hadn't been enough to be back right where he started, thought-wise, Merlin had also come and seen him and acted strangely. And the next morning when Arthur woke up - damn, back to the thoughts - there was no Merlin to wait on him.

Nobody seemed to know where the boy was. Arthur was frightened by the strength of his feelings. Where was Merlin? He hadn't simply overslept as usual, that much was obvious, so what had happened? Did it have something to do with the dramatic things the servant had said last night? "I'm happy to be your servant until the day I die," or something like that. He hoped Merlin hadn't gone and gotten himself into trouble. And if he had? How utterly infuriating that Arthur was still recovering from his wounds, because if not… Well, he wouldn't be out looking for Merlin if he was well either, now would he, because the boy was just a servant and a prince did not go running around looking for a servant who had been missing for half a day. A whole day, by now. Arthur tossed and turned half the night before he finally fell asleep.

When Arthur found out the next day that Merlin was back, he couldn't help it. He came running to the boy like a dog when called. He only turned it into a suitably princely "storming in" at the last minute.

"Where the hell have you been?!" Arthur demanded.

"Oh, hello… I was just coming to see if you needed me, really," was the faint reply he got.

"Yes, well, it's a bit late for that now, isn't it? Seeing as I'm already here."

"I'm really sorry, Arthur, I was going to explain before I left but then there was no time-"

"About now would be the right time to do the explaining, then."

At this point, Gaius intervened.

"I'm afraid this is all my fault, Prince Arthur. You see, an old friend of mine had gotten into some trouble and he needed my help rather urgently."

Arthur stared at the elderly man, surprised.

"But… But you're the court physician! You were supposed to make sure I was alright. Couldn't you have sent someone else to help your friend?"

Merlin made a half irritated, half amused face at that comment. You could always count on the prince to be self-centered.

"You were doing really well already, Arthur, and Gaius was the only one who had the necessary knowledge. Only it was a trap, some bad people had forced the friend to send this message - they were planning to abduct Gaius so you'd have no one to cure you next time you fell ill!"

Arthur eyed Merlin skeptically.

"And I suppose that's why you rushed off - to save him valiantly from these 'bad people'? Just like you managed to bash me over the head from behind that one time?"

"Umm, yeah… Exactly like that." At least Merlin had the grace to look slightly shamefaced about that.

"Really, you don't think, do you, Merlin. I was - um - everyone in the castle was worried about you. And about Gaius too, of course."

It hurt Arthur to see how Merlin's face lit up at that comment. Was the boy's love for him really that obvious? It was a miracle that no one had noticed. Had they? Oh, bugger. A whole new worrying scenario to be thinking about.

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