Title: Past, Present and Future

Pairings: Arthur/Merlin

Prompt: Presents – From Ddriagcoch's advent Calendar page

WARNINGS: Fluff of Candy Floss type

Disclaimer: Merlin not mine *sob* It's the BBC's though I want to rob them and get away with Bradley and Colin ^_^ Cadbury's and Lush aren't mine either, sadly!

Summary: Its Christmas morning. Time for presents… and surprises.

Note: Day 25. I hope everyone has enjoyed reading these as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I apologise once more for the last few being so behind but I hope it was worth the wait. And I'm particularly sorry this one has taken so much longer. Thank you to Shutupeccles who gave me a final kick up the butt to get it done. Thank you to absolutely everyone who reviewed, your comments have been wonderful and are very much appreciated. I wish everyone a wonderful new year ahead. God, I hope it was worth it!

-x-

Arthur woke to gentle kisses and as his eyes fluttered open, he realised he was nose to nose with his lover and found himself gazing into his eyes, which were sparkling with delight.

"Merry Christmas, Arthur." Merlin whispered with a smile.

"Merry Christmas, Merlin." Arthur whispered back. Their lips met in a kiss once more, Arthur now fully participating, began to deepen the kiss further and slowly ran his hand up Merlin's side. Merlin began to hum appreciatively but just before they could get any further, they felt four little paws making their way up the bed. A furry golden face appeared looking down at them, tongue hanging out and tail wagging as excitedly as ever. Draco began licking at both their faces alternately. "Evil, little cock blocker." Arthur growled unhappily while Merlin laughed.

"Merry Christmas, Draco." Merlin patted the dog who tried to lick his hand. Merlin sat up and made ready to climb out of the bed.

"Where are you going?" Arthur asked, slightly annoyed at the dog for breaking the moment. Merlin looked back at him over his shoulder.

"I've got to take Draco out. He's been a good boy, but he is still only a puppy. And best try to get him house trained as soon as possible. Come on." He chirped at the puppy in question. Draco waddled over the bed, bracing his paws on the edge and wriggled his back, aiming for the floor somewhere. The dog gave a little yelp of surprise as Merlin picked him up. "That's still a bit high for you. Wait until you're a big boy." Arthur rolled his eyes at the baby voice Merlin put on for the dog. Merlin put Draco back down and pulled a pair of jeans on quickly and shoved his feet into a pair of trainers.

"You'll get cold like that." Arthur pointed out, leaning on one arm. Merlin looked at him with a smile.

"I'll be fine." Arthur shrugged and watched his lover walk out the door, the little golden demon following behind. As soon as he heard the front door shut Arthur fell back against his pillow and took a deep breath. He stared up at the white ceiling and felt his heart pound against his chest. He had hoped that he and Merlin could have had a slow and romantic love making session and he was sure it would have helped ease the writhing in his stomach. It would have at least numbed his senses a little and he wouldn't be in such a blind panic. He wondered once more if he was doing the right thing. It could all go so horribly, hideously wrong. He doubted he could deal with another year like the one previous.

Of course he had been in denial for most of it and it was only with hindsight could he see how much he had suffered that year. He had had two relationships, if they could have been called that. The first had been with Sophia. She had been pretty and blonde and definitely not Merlin. She had been everything that he wasn't. But looking back now, he could hardly remember what they had actually done together. Clearly there had been nothing very important there. Sophia had most certainly been a rebound relationship and quite clearly doomed to disaster.

His second had been almost as bad. Vivian. The daughter of one his father's work colleagues. She had been selfish and spiteful and Arthur knew that she had only been with him for his name. To be on the arm of a Pendragon was a statement in itself. He had never really loved her either, but she was there and she helped him forget. They had had sex once and although it wasn't a disaster, when Vivian had turned to him and asked how it had been for him and all he could manage was 'good', he had had to question himself. She had fallen asleep and had left him awake to think.

In the dark he had thought about it and he came to the conclusion that the problem was that she wasn't Merlin. He remembered how in certain lights Merlin's eyes could look almost gold, and when Merlin was lying in bed and how the moon shone right it would make his skin glow and make him look like a fairy creature, something not quite human and how Arthur had wanted him more than ever. He remembered how Merlin could say 'I love you' and Arthur knew he meant it but could never find the way to say it back. He had turned his head to see the back of Vivian's head and realised how much he had missed snuggling with Merlin, how he would rest his head on Arthur's shoulder and place his hand over his heart. He had shaken his head and pushed the thoughts to the back of his mind.

Of course, the next night had been when he had met Merlin again in the club, when Merlin had kissed him. He really had been too shocked, and he still hated what he had said to Merlin. But it had been what he needed. It brought back all the memories and Arthur remembered why he had cared for Merlin so much and why he could never really love Vivian and why sex with her could never be fulfilling, would always leave him wanting more. Because Merlin was everything he had ever wanted and more.

And that was why he needed to do this.

He decided that lying in bed wasn't helping anything so pushed off the duvet and got out of bed. He pulled on a pair of boxers, it was Christmas day after all, they were allowed to be lazy, and wandered through to the front room. He switched the fire on and grabbed a pillow off the sofa and threw it on the floor before sitting on it, near enough to the tree so he could dish out presents. The tree looked well packed after they had had various visits over the last few days. He looked up as he heard the door slam. Before he knew it he had a lap full of golden Labrador.

"Get off you little monster. Your paws are cold." Arthur carefully put the puppy back on the floor and looked up at Merlin who was standing next to the fire.

"Yeah, alright, it was cold." He shivered violently. "Draco decided he liked snow and wanted to eat it." Arthur chuckled slightly.

"So, ready for presents?" Merlin gave a bright smile,

"Absolutely." He sat down on the sofa, near enough to Arthur to take what he was offered.

"Where do you want to start?" Arthur looked at the pile, before finally grabbing one. He handed it to Merlin who pulled off the attached card, opened the envelope and read it.

"It's from my aunt and Mordred. She thanks us for helping out so much this year and she says the present is Mordred's idea." He handed the gift to Arthur to unwrap. Arthur shook the large, round present.

"It sort of rattles." He told Merlin.

"I hope you haven't broken it then. Are you going to open it or what?" Arthur nodded and pulled off the wrapping paper. Inside was a tin of Cadbury's Heroes. Merlin laughed. "Wow, Mordred really does like you. I think you've made quite the impression on him."

"Well, that's our chocolate sorted for a while." Arthur stated with a smirk. Merlin promptly ignored him, trying not to blush.

"I'll have that one." He pointed at the next present and after Arthur put the tin of chocolates down, he handed the slightly squishy present over and noticed one underneath it that was identical but had his name written on it. The hand writing was clearly Hunith's. "Oh no, I think mum's been busy again." Merlin didn't sound too upset though. From the brightly coloured wrapping he pulled out a thick, blue woolly jumper. Still feeling a little cold he pulled it on over his head and grinned at the big, red 'M' in the middle of it. He looked at Arthur who was looking at his own gift with something that looked almost sad. "Arthur?" Arthur looked up from his jumper and gave a smile.

"Sorry, I've never had something hand made for me before. With my mum… and I never knew my grandparents either. Father never did anything like this… I don't know, maybe I sound stupid…" Merlin smiled gently at him.

"You don't. Why don't you put it on? Besides, everyone's got to have a silly jumper at Christmas." Arthur pulled the red jumper on and Merlin grinned at the big, blue 'A' on the front. Clearly his mother had a sense of humour. Hunith had also bought them both socks, again, standard for Christmas, according to Merlin, and also a bottle of whisky to share between them and an invitation to New Year's dinner with her. Hunith had also bought a collar and lead for Draco and some dog treats in a Christmas stocking.

The next present was from Freya, it was to tickets to the cinema for a film of their choice but Merlin was perfectly happy with the gift and was glad that between he and Arthur had sent her the best roses and chocolates they could find. They went through a few other presents from work colleagues and uni mates and there were also some books from Gaius, before coming across the next two from Gwen and Lance.

"Here, you can have the bigger one." Arthur handed Merlin the bigger box. "It smells funny." Merlin lifted the gift and smelt it. Indeed it smelt almost flowery. Merlin grinned.

"Lush."

"I beg your pardon?" Merlin laughed at Arthur's confused face.

"It's from Lush, the shop that sells all the soap and stuff." He tore off the paper and looked at the box underneath. Merlin's eyes lit up with delight. "God, how much did they spend? There's loads in this. Ooh look, Gwen's put one of those rose bud bath bomb thingies in this." When Merlin looked up, he couldn't quite make out the look on Arthur's face.

"You. Are. A. Girl." The blonde said finally.

"Uh huh, you say that after I give you massage with this chocolate massage bar later." He held up a heart shaped block from the box. "You know this means we'll have to share a bath." He added absently with a smile. Arthur leaned forward and took the heart and smelt it. It did smell really good. Perhaps this wasn't such a bad gift after all. He opened the card that was attached to his part of the present.

"To Arthur and Merlin, Merry Christmas. We hope you have fun with this gift, we chose it especially thinking of you." Arthur looked up. "What's that supposed to mean?" Merlin was still looking through the box of 'Lush' goodies.

"I think they picked out all the romantic stuff. Like the rose bath bomb and the massage bar… ooh the one that smells of cherry blossoms is in here too." Arthur shook his head and continued to read.

"Lance thought that Arthur would start worrying for his testosterone levels – too damn right I am- so we bought you this other gift too. We are sure you'll find some good use for them." The note was finished with a winking smiley. Arthur put the note down and opened his present. Inside he found two boxes, each with matching cuff links and tie pins. Arthur guessed it was so they could wear them to Lance and Gwen's wedding. They really were rather beautiful. Merlin put down the box of 'Lush' stuff and had a look himself.

Arthur looked under the tree. He picked out one that looked as if it was professionally wrapped. Clearly it was from Morgana.

"Do you want to open this or shall I?" He asked offering the gift to Merlin. Merlin looked up from the cufflinks and shook his head.

"You go on. Knock your self out." Arthur nodded then opened the square package. Inside was a photo album. Arthur opened the cover to find pictures of both he and Merlin as children, including Arthur as the angel Gabriel, and a few of them during various meetings and parties and also that infamous one that Morgana had taken while they were getting ready at his father's house. The pictures made Arthur smile. He also noticed that there were plenty for them to fill in themselves. Morgana really had got it right this year. He handed the album over to Merlin who grinned at Arthur as a baby. "Aw, you were so cute!"

"At least I didn't look like Dumbo." Arthur pouted back, not really meaning the barb.

"Harsh love, harsh." It didn't stop Merlin smiling at the pictures though. Only a few more presents left now. He recognised the wrapping on some of them as his father's so pulled those out first. He handed Merlin his.

"Oh my god. I don't know if I should wear this or put it in a museum." Merlin looked down wide eyed at the box he held before showing it to his lover. Inside, there sat a stunning watch that looked like it was made from white gold, on its face instead of numbers there were diamonds except at number twelve which was a deep blue sapphire. Arthur had to commend his father on his taste.

"You know this is custom made." Arthur stated as he pulled the watch out of the box to look at it.

"Arthur, I can't wear that. I'd… I'd break it or get mugged or something."

"Knowing you, you probably would." The blonde stated thoughtfully as he inspected the watch.

"It's too good for me." Merlin whispered, his voice sticking in his throat. Arthur looked up at him then.

"Nothing is too good for you. Just wear it for special occasions." He handed the watch back carefully and Merlin placed it carefully next to his other gifts.

"What did he get you?" Merlin asked when he finally got his voice back. Arthur grinned.

"One of those new blue-ray players that can record and everything. It's brilliant. He sent us a few films too." Merlin looked at the disks seeing a few titles that Uther had asked him about. Not that Merlin was ever going to tell his lover that Uther had phoned to ask what films Arthur liked. Merlin found the few presents that he had got for Draco including some toys and treats. He unwrapped them in front of the dog showing him they were his. Draco didn't seem to know what to do with himself. First he would play with a toy and then found some of the screwed up wrapping paper and played with that and then back to the toy again. They finally got to the presents that they had bought each other.

Merlin had bought Arthur a new tie for work that he had designed and made special. It was red with a golden dragon on the front. He also had got him some books, some films on blue-ray which Arthur would ask him about later, some aftershave and a picture that they could hang up in the bedroom of a sunlit forest. He had also bought him a simple necklace with Saint Christopher on it.

"To watch over you when you're travelling." Merlin said. "When I can't." Arthur hadn't known what to say to that.

Arthur had bought Merlin some of the books he needed for uni, some other books that he wanted, games for his Play Station, a couple of CD's, and some really expensive chocolate that Merlin was sure you had to take a loan out to afford. Merlin looked at the piles of presents.

"Wow, that's a lot of stuff. Is that everything?" He looked at Arthur who had suddenly gone very quiet. "Arthur?"

"No, not quite everything." The blonde finally stated. He carefully stood up from his cushion on the floor and walked over to the tree, he carefully grabbed the small box he knew to be hidden there. "Merlin, you remember a few days ago, I promised that I would prove to you that I would never leave you." Merlin nodded, not sure where this was going, the realised Arthur still had his back to him.

"Yes."

"Well, this is me proving it to you. This is me proving to the world how much I love you and I don't care what they think any more. What's important is that you know how much I love you and that I would do anything for you. I would die for you if I had to. I never want to see you hurt but I know we will fight sometimes. It's inevitable but I always want to be there to make it up to you. I always want to be the one to make you smile or to wipe away your tears. I always want it to be my name on your lips when you're making love. I want to be the one you grow old with. I want to be by your side always and god it hurts so much when I think it could be otherwise." He turned finally and looked at Merlin who was looking a little like a rabbit in headlights.

"I know I'm selfish, but I just want to keep you away from everyone, I want to keep you safe. I've never known anyone like you. There's just something about you Merlin. You've crawled inside me and I can never be rid of you and I don't want to be. You make me whole, it's like you're the very air that I breathe. Without you I just couldn't go on living anymore. I don't know when you became such a part of me but you are. I can't deny it. You are the most important thing in my life. These things here." He pointed at all the presents. "I would give it all up without a seconds thought if that was the only way to keep you."

"Arthur- stop- I just- please- I don't-" Merlin choked on his words, unsure of what to say to Arthur's speech. He could feel himself shaking. If what he thought was happening was indeed happening he wasn't sure what he was going to do. Arthur knelt down in front of him and met his eyes.

"Merlin, you really are the most important thing to me in the whole world. If you… if you say no, I'll understand… I don't know what I'll do but I'll understand." He looked down at the box in his hand; he could feel himself shaking even if he had gone slightly numb. "This is the scariest thing I have ever done because I really could loose so much. I would loose everything. I have never been so scared in all my life." He felt a cool hand against his cheek and looked up to meet Merlin's eyes once more.

"Please. Tell me." Arthur looked at how scared Merlin looked as well and would have laughed with hysteria. They were both being such girls over this but Arthur couldn't help it. He really did feel he was on a sword edge and he was loosing his balance. He could feel his stomach drop as if he was already falling. He shifted onto one knee and finally opened the box he gripped onto and held it up to Merlin.

"Merlin Reginald Emrys." Merlin cringed at his middle name. Something he didn't love his mother for. "Would you do me the greatest honour and privilege of becoming my husband?" Merlin looked at the ring held in front of him; it really was a beautiful but simple thing. A band of what he was guessing to be platinum, it looked too… bright to be silver or even what gold, inlaid with two diamonds and an aquamarine in the middle. "I thought it, uh, matched your eyes." Arthur stated a little nervously trying to break the silence that seemed to drag on. "I'm sorry, this was a stupid idea, I'll just-"

"Don't." Arthur looked down at his wrist where Merlin gripped him. He looked up and met blue eyes pouring with tears. "I just… don't know what to say." Arthur replied quietly,

"You only need to say one word." There was another long pause and Arthur held his breath, simply waiting, knowing Merlin's answer would make all the difference.

"Yes. A million times yes." Merlin finally sobbed out before bursting into full blown tears. He practically launched himself at Arthur and gripped him tightly. Arthur may have been in his boxers and a jumper his mother had knitted but Merlin couldn't imagine it being any more perfect. "I thought you would never ask me."

"I'm sorry I took so long." Arthur whispered against Merlin's neck. Merlin pulled back slightly and kissed his lover and now fiancé. Arthur managed to pull the ring from its box and took Merlin's hand and slid the cold band onto his finger. Merlin looked at it and gave the brightest smile Arthur had ever seen. The blonde looked at is fiancé then down at Draco who had fallen asleep among the piles of wrapping paper. His family. "I don't think this day could be any more perfect." Merlin closed his eyes and smiled.

"Arthur, it's snowing." Arthur smiled too.

"Alright, now it really is perfect. I think we should get dressed and take Draco for a walk." Merlin nodded happily.

"That really does sound perfect." Arthur took Merlin's hand and ran his thumb across the ring that now sat there.

"I love you, Merlin Emrys."

"I love you too, Arthur Pendragon." They leaned in together to kiss once more.

-END-

Author's note- It has been suggested by my so-called friend, Ddraigcoch that there is a possibility of doing a 'Summer Advent'. Fourteen days through the summer holidays. Would anybody be interested in this AU possibly being continued? If you would like to give me an item or summery song etc. please feel free to do so but do bear in mind there are only 14!