Disclaimer: I don't own Merlin D:

Short onesided fic about Arthur watching Merlin sleeping

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Arthur could not sleep, there was simply too much going on in his head. Although he did not show it, the pressure of being crown prince had finally gotten to him.

He groaned. Tomorrow he would have to test out the new knights and train them in the basics. His father would be there and so he knew he had to get some sleep tonight.

And so Arthur did what he had promised himself he would stop doing, because this was one of the sure fire things that always calmed him down.

Arthur walked to his wardrobe and making as little noise as possible pushed it to the side. He grinned as he walked into the secret passage way leading to his incompetent manservant's room. Arthur highly doubted Merlin even knew about the passageway, though he suppose he couldn't blame his manservant, the door from Merlin's side of passageway was well hidden.

Arthur remembered the first time he had ever found a use for the passageway. It was built way before Merlin had arrived at Camelot as a secret escape route for the prince if the castle should ever come under attack, though Arthur knew that if anyone had tried to attack him he'd probably best them with his sword and stay and fight instead of running away. It was a stormy night and Arthur had sat unable to sleep, much like tonight. He had paced around his room, the only thing in his mind were mixed feelings about his manservant. He had not been able to take it anymore and decided that if the passageway would ever become useful it would be now. That led to an ongoing habit of visiting his manservant in the dead of night whilst everyone (including Merlin) was asleep.

Arthur reached the end of the passageway and he reached out to slide the wall apart to reveal the entrance to Merlins room. He grunted, looking around the room he could see that everything was a mess, not surprising for Merlin though he chuckled to himself. At last his eyes landed on what he had come to see.

The sight of Merlin asleep with the moonlight shining on him struck Arthur hard in the chest. He had seen this many times before but he was convinced that every time, his manservant just got more and more beautiful. Arthur walked to Merlins bedside, kneeling down and admiring the beauty of it all. The moonlight made Merlins skin look even paler than it already was, accentuating his cheekbones in the process. His raven hair, tussled from rolling around made Arthur smile.

Arthur chuckled quietly at the cuteness of his manservant who he had just noticed was hugging a pillow. Although Merlin didn't toss about in his sleep, he was exactly a still sleeper. Occasionally Arthur would spot Merlin stretching his legs or shuffling to the side ever so slightly.

Merlin buried his head into the pillow and hugged it closer. Arthur gave up and sat down closer to Merlins bed, placing his head next to Merlins, an awkward position but the view Arthur had made up for it. Arthur was tempted to hold his manservant, but instead settled for hovering his hand above Merlin's face, his fingers tracing Merlins features. "Merlin.." Arthur whispered, then quickly realising his mistake the prince withdrew his hand and clamped it to his mouth, hoping that his manservant would not wake up.

Arthur watched as a frown appeared on Merlins face, and then to the delight of Arthur, the frown turned into a soft smile. Arthur breathed out, relieved and captivated at the same time by the expression his manservant now had on his face. Deciding it was worth the risk, Arthur put his head closer to Merlins. His manservant's reaction was to mumble something along the lines of "Arthur you prat".

Arthur grinned and noticed that Merlin had discarded the pillow he was holding. In search of something new to hold, Merlin subconsciously reached out and instead of a pillow, found a certain princes head. Arthur gasped as he felt the hands of his manservant move slowly around his head and neck. Suddenly he was pulled forward, his head being cradled under Merlins chin. Merlin then proceeded, much to the princes delight to bury his head in Arthurs hair.

Savouring the moment, Arthur stayed awake in that position for the rest of the night. Only getting up at the hint of daybreak. Arthur had to use all his restraint to stop from staying there for a few more hours. He stood up slowly, replacing his head with the pillow, which lay abandoned on the floor. Arthur walked slowly back to his room through the passage way, feeling guilty once again for taking advantage of his unconscious manservant.

He wished, not for the first time, that he was not a prince. Just so he didn't need to hide his feelings, so he could actually do something about his infatuation with Merlin. He wished that his manservant felt the same and he wished they could just be together. Arthur reached his room and laid down on his bed. He had not gotten any sleep, as he had stayed longer than anticipated due to the compromising position his manservant had put themselves in, but that didn't matter, he felt refreshed anyway at the thought of having spent the night with his head cradled by Merlin.

Merlin woke up at sunrise and hurried to get dressed, before leaving his room to get breakfast, he went to go make his bed and was surprised to see a few golden hairs, unmistakably Arthurs, lying on his bed. The warlock frowned, probably from Arthurs laundry he had brought back to his room to clean magically he thought.