Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin, but if I did both of the boys would have their shirts off and be almost completely naked in every scene.

A/N: Hey guys, well here it is... my Modern AU. It's just an idea anyway, so if you think I should write more let me know and I'll continue it. Enjoy, and reviews are loved. =)

"But I don't want to go."

Since the moment Merlin arrived home from his last day of school for the semester, he had found himself thoroughly annoyed at his mother, who had enrolled him in the Camelot Summer Camp program that ran every summer holidays. It was quite typical of her. She hadn't even consulted him about it in the first place.

"Merlin," Hunith soothed, trying to calm her son down. "I realise how much you hate being around other people, but this will be good for you."

"Mum, please..." Merlin begged as he sat down in one of the living room chairs. The house was considerably small in contrast to other houses in the neighbourhood, but it was big enough. It had the basics; kitchen, dining room a bathroom which was also used as the laundry room, and two bedrooms. Simple, but Merlin preferred it that way.

"Don't mum me," Hunith crossed her arms in disappointment. "This is a great way for you to make new friends."

"I have friends," Merlin lied under his breath as he began picking at the armrest.

"Gwen is one friend, Merlin. Someone your age should have heaps of friends, not just one."

He knew she was right, but sure as hell he wasn't going to admit it. Merlin was the kind of person who didn't make friends easily. Instead he found it much easier to keep things to himself, the only person he really ever confined in was Gwen, who unlike everyone else at school, knew he was gay.

It had taken a while for Merlin to admit his feelings to himself, but once he had, he told the one person he knew he could trust. Thankfully she was completely fine with it, not to mention absolutely thrilled now that she could discuss who the cutest guy in the schoolyard was with him.

Unlike other people at school, Merlin preferred reading in the library in his spare time, especially to read all about myths and legends. Out of all the mythology and folklore that was around today, Merlin had found himself particularly drawn to Arthurian legends. I mean, come on, who doesn't like reading about sexy knights who go off to save the kingdom from dragons and other mythical beasts?

"Maybe I don't want friends," Merlin stated as he reached over to the coffee table and grabbed a book to read.

"You can complain as much as you want, but the form is already in and there's no turning back. The bus leaves tomorrow morning at eight," Hunith smiled warmly at her son as she walked over and placed her finger on the book, pushing it downwards so he was staring directly at his mother.

"But..."

"No buts," Hunith placed a soft kiss on top of his forehead. "Your bags need to be packed and ready by tomorrow morning. Give it a chance Merlin, who knows, you may even make some decent friends, and anyway, Gwen's going so you won't be totally alone. This is a chance of a lifetime, so get your nose out of those books and create your own legend for once."

Knowing that he had lost this battle long ago, Merlin sighed and headed towards his room, closing the door behind him as he flung himself onto the small bed.

Merlin was willing to give Camelot a chance, but he knew this very instant that he would not enjoy one moment of the camp. Not one bit.

*

The following morning, Merlin made sure he had every packed that he needed for the next two weeks in purgatory. Once he was totally sure there was nothing left to add to the already overflowing bag, Merlin made his way to the front door where his mother was already waiting, jangling her car keys continuously in her hand until she spotted him.

"Great! Every packed?" he nodded unenthusiastically, although she didn't seem to notice. "Come on, we're going to be late."

Before long, Merlin was sitting in the back seat of the car with his bag sitting on the seat beside him. As the engine roared into life, Merlin began daydreaming out the window of the car as they began to drive down the highway to the bus stop.

"Cheer up," Hunith said softly as they turned off from the highway and onto a side road. "You'll have a great time, I know it. I only wish I ever got the chance to do something like this when I was a kid."

"Care to go for me then?" Merlin asked hopefully, only to receive a laugh from his mother.

"I'm fine," she said as the car slowed down, eventually coming to a halt. "Here we are."

Hopping out of the car he looked around, there were only about eight other kids here at the moment, but as each minute passed, more and more people pulled up to drop their kids off. The next car to pull up Merlin immediately recognised.

"Merlin!" Guinevere shouted out at the top of voice from over the road. Saying goodbye to her father with a kiss, she rushed over the road carrying her luggage, and gave Merlin a tight hug. "I didn't think you would come. This is going to be so much fun, just you wait!"

"Sure," Merlin replied as he scanned the area. Some of the boys and girls around Merlin knew all too well, two of them being Nimueh and Valiant who often enjoyed giving him a hard time in school. Though there were a few faces he wasn't familiar with, obviously they went to another school in the district.

"I need everybody over here quickly!" shouted a rather commanding voice from somewhere within the crowd. "Come on, hurry up!"

Hunith nudged him in the back, and immediately Merlin rushed over to where all the other kids were gathering in front of the bus.

"Welcome," the man greeted rather dryly. "For the next two weeks you will embark on a journey that may or may not change your life. It is my job to see that you all have a fun time. Now, I'm fairly certain most of you know each other, correct?"

There were a few slight mumbles within the group, not to mention many rolling of eyes, but Merlin was neither, he was too busy trying to spot anyone else he might know. Unfortunately besides Valiant, Nimueh and Gwen, he had no idea who everyone else was.

Although he didn't know who most of the people were, Merlin found his eyes being drawn towards a tall, striking blonde haired boy who was standing on the other side of the group. Even from such a far distance, Merlin couldn't help but stare at the attractive blonde, but looked away when he noticed Merlin staring at him and shot him a deathly glare.

"Now, as I call out your names please get onto the bus as we will be departing in about ten minutes. Oh, and for those of you who don't know my name already, my names Uther, and yes, my reputation does precede me so no funny business."

None of the adults seems phased by Uther's speech. Instead, they actually seemed to be nodding their heads in agreement as he began reading names out one by one. Each person left their bags in a pile in front of the open undercarriage of the bus as they stepped onto the vehicle.

Valiant

Morgana

Freya

Lancelot

Arthur

"He's cute," Gwen said, nudging Merlin in the side.

"He sure is..." Merlin replied, daydreaming as he watched Arthur hop onto the bus, it was only then that Merlin realised she was actually talking about Lancelot who had just winked at Gwen.

Merlin

Guinevere

"That's us!" Gwen said excitingly. Never in Merlin's entire life had he seen Gwen move so quickly, as she darted onto the bus and sat just in front of Lancelot. As Uther continued calling out names, Hunith turned Merlin around and began wiping his cheek clean with finger, everyone who was on the bus all glanced intensely out the window to watch.

"Mum," Merlin groaned. "You're embarrassing me."

"Oh?" she said standing back with a smug look on her face. "So I guess that means you're too old for a kiss as well then?"

Merlin took one look at the bus, then back to his mother, rolling his eyes as he kissed Hunith on the cheek lightly. He could hear laughter from the bus, which caused Merlin to turn around to see everyone either pointing or laughing except for the girl Morgana, Gwen and Arthur, who was studying Merlin deeply.

"Have fun, and don't forget to call!" Hunith called out as Merlin hopped onto the bus.

Finding a seat close to the front, Merlin waited as the bus driver and some of the parents helped put the luggage in the undercarriage of the bus.

As the door hissed shut, Uther sat at the very front, behind the bus driver. The driver pulled off the parking brake and pressed on the accelerator causing the bus to jolt into life, and start to move forward. All the parents outside began waving to their children, wishing them a great time. Hunith blew a kiss to Merlin, who smiled gently as they pulled away from the bus stop. It wasn't long before they were on the highway heading towards Camelot.

Resting his head on the back of the chair, Merlin began staring out the window longing for this camp to be over already. But somewhere in the reflection he saw Arthur staring at him from the other side of the bus. Merlin didn't dare turn around in case the handsome blonde attacked him or something along those lines – It was the last thing he needed, especially seeing that he had to spend two weeks with all these people.

Though there was something about the way Arthur was staring at him that didn't make him feel anxious or afraid, but instead it was almost calming. Smiling to himself, Merlin began to wonder if the summer camp would be as bad as he first thought. To be honest, he was beginning to look forward to it.

To be continued...

A/N: So guys, what did you think? If you think I should continued please review, I'm still fairly unsure about this story....