Disclaimer: I do not own the TV show Merlin…BBC owns it…I am not making any profit from this and I don't intend to

Author Notes: This is the promised sequel to my previous Merthur story Sacrifice. I got started on this before but it felt all wrong so I deleted it and decided to go at the story from a different angle and I like this one much better :D

Story Notes: The story will be self explanatory and can be read as a standalone as of that, but I think it wouldn't hurt to read Sacrifice before you get started on this anyways :D

It deals with Merlin's return to life and the consequences which come from it…

This is a Merthur story…there will not be anything overly explicit but still if you don't like it you might want to consider to refrain from reading…If you like it though I'd be honoured if you'd be my guest and just go ahead ;D

Also as of that some OOCness was unavoidable...I tried to stay in character where it was possible but...yeah :D

Rated T for good measure :D

That's it from me for now...Enjoy :D

Chapter 1: Used To

With an audible groan the young prince of Camelot, Arthur Pendragon awoke and stretched on his bed. He was still sleepy, so it took him a while to realize that he had far too much space in his bed. Eyes still closed he reached for the place where his lover was supposed to sleep. It wasn't even warm anymore.

A shock went through the blonde and he jerked his eyes open and jumped on his feet. That only managed to give him a head rush which made him stumble forward, hit his toes at a large wooden box on the floor, jerked his foot up and jumped back in pain which had him stumble backwards, clutching to the curtain of his bed for support. It didn't help though. He ripped the curtain off and fell on the floor wrapped into it, ripping down the jar of water from his nightstand which broke, of course, and soaked him completely.

He breathed hard, trying to contain his anger, but, as he tried to get off, he slipped and fell down again, pulling at the curtain further, which had the curtain rail which had previously landed on his bed fall down and hit his head, it was just too much.

"MERLIN!" he yelled angrily. Soon he heard the approach of quick footsteps and the door opened.

"Arthur?" Merlin entered the room, oblivious to what had happened. He looked around in the room confused and slightly worried when he saw the mess that the room was in.

"Arthur? Arthur where are you are you..." he asked again, more urgently, but he stopped dead when he had walked around the bed finding his lover on the floor, completely wet and wrapped into the curtain of the bed.

He tried very hard not to break into laughter as he saw the blonde prince free himself from the heavy fabric to glare at him. The young warlock felt himself utterly reminded of the day when the goblin he had unintentionally released had ridded the king of all of his hair. The indignant look on Arthur's face closely resembled the defiant glare of the king and Merlin knew it wouldn't be wise to laugh, or even grin, but it was not easy to act accordingly.

"Merlin..." The blonde said, still on the floor "Where have you been?" the words were casual enough, but it was easily to see that Arthur was about to explode.

Which was why Merlin was very reluctant to answer truthfully. He had been with Gwaine, who had just decided that he had enough of Arthur going into overprotective mother bear mode and keeping Merlin close by all the time and spend some quality time with him. Arthur wouldn't be happy to hear that. Merlin had no actually proof, but he was sure that when he had died something must have happened between the two men to create a light tension between them, to put it charitably.

Arthur picked up on his hesitancy though "Merlin...are you deaf? I'm waiting?"

The young warlock huffed at that. In spite of them becoming lovers, hardly anything had changed in their relationship, Arthur was still a bossy prat and Merlin still chose to ignore him and do what he felt was right. He was glad about that most of the time because he loved the prince just as he was and he didn't want anything to change, but on the other hand, since nothing had changed it was still just as annoying as before.

"I..." he started fidgeting nervously but he was saved by Gwaine who suddenly burst into the room, obviously expecting Arthur to be mad at Merlin for simply taking off. The warrior came to a halt directly next to Merlin and shot stared down at Arthur wrapped into the deep red curtains. He couldn't suppress a chuckle.

"The colour suits you...Sire." he said and burst into a fit of laughter.

At the sound of it, Merlin could no longer hold back, not even for Arthur's sake and he joined in. The two friends didn't even notice the death glare of the blonde as they laughed until they were gasping for air.

xxXxxXxxXxx

"I hate it when he does that" Gwaine grumbled lowly, as he looked at the large pile of boots which Arthur had ordered him and Merlin to clean after they had stopped laughing long enough to actually listen.

The prince was sitting across the room, watching them closely. He wasn't about to let Merlin out of his sight. He thought of how he had thought he had lost him forever and flinched internally at that thought. But the feelings for the raven haired boy didn't change anything about the punishment.

Merlin looked at Gwaine and chuckled before he answered equally low so the prince wouldn't hear "You know how he gets."

"Yeah, he's a class a prat. I can't believe you put up with him."

"He's not that bad, he's actually..." Merlin defended his lover.

At that moment said walked over to them, taking a bucket of water and throwing it at them.

"I said no talking." he ordered, walking back to his chair.

Gwaine glared at the retreating prince for a moment before he turned his glare at Merlin.

"You were saying?"

Merlin just looked at him sheepishly, spitting out some water.

After that they continued their work in silence, only exchanging meaningful glances under the watchful eyes of the prince.

xxXxxXxxXxx

Later this day, after finishing some other rather inconvenient tasks, Merlin and Gwaine were walking towards Arthur's chambers with some clean sheet for the bed and a new jar of water.

"Merlin, how long will you go on sleeping in his room, people started noticing you know." Gwaine suddenly said totally unprompted, leaving Merlin at somewhat of a loss for what to say.

"Gwaine, ..." he started, but then he broke off.

"You could just move back into your old room. I'll take the floor if you're uncomfortable with sharing a bed now that you are with Arthur but you can't just stay with him."

They stopped their walk and Gwaine looked at his younger friend with a serious expression on his face. Merlin met his gaze, but then he dropped his head.

"I can't, you know that. I..."

"Can't you or won't you?" the warrior asked intently.

"I...I don't know." The young warlock confessed.

"You really love him, don't you?"

Merlin shot his friend a surprised look.

"Where did all of that suddenly come from?" he asked.

"I don't know maybe I just miss sharing a bed with you" Gwaine responded jokingly before he continued more seriously "I'm just worried about you...and the prat too, don't give me that look." He threw in as he saw Merlin's accusatory expression. "I don't know how to say this to you but...I'm afraid that sometime soon reality will catch up with the two of you and you'll meet an obstacle that'll end your relationship. Because if I'm honest and please don't be mad at me for this, but I don't think that you have a future together, not as a couple anyways."

He broke off dropping his gaze, suddenly doubting that it had been wise to say something like that. Maybe he was just being pessimistic. But he was worried about the two. As it turned out friendship was a lot more difficult than he had expected, it obviously had its benefits to be a lonely guy who cared about no one.

Merlin didn't say anything at first, then he grabbed Gwaine's sleeve and he dragged him into the empty armoury where he sat down, making Gwaine sit across of him.

Gwaine looked up to shoot him a questioning look. He was surprised to find the blazing blue eyes of his friend looking at him, but he could tell that Merlin wasn't really seeing him.

"I'm not mad at you Gwaine, I am grateful to find that you care enough about me to tell me the truth even if you had to fear that I would be angry with you."

As Gwaine heard it he could tell that it was the truth and he decided that he easy life of a careless man wasn't worth missing the feeling of having a true friend.

"And just as well, how could I possibly be mad at you for telling me what I've known all along?"

"What do you mean?"

Merlin sighed before he responded, his eyes no longer looking into the void.

"How can I put it..." the sky blue eyes closed as he brought his hands up to his face, fighting for composure. "I will always be by Arthur's side" he suddenly continued "No matter what happens, I will always be there to protect him. But I am not stupid, I know that our relationship is doomed to end. Arthur will become king and as such he will have to produce an heir. I also can't allow him to be so dependent on me. After I died, I could watch you guys for some part. He can't just fall apart should that happen again..."

Gwaine interrupted him there, startling himself and Merlin with what he said.

"Give him some credit here. He loves you. Of course he is devastated when you're gone. I mean..."

Merlin cut him off with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"I know I know, trust me I know. It's just... this whole situation is getting way out of hand. With Arthur being overprotective and me being unwilling to leave his side for even a moment this will soon turn into a disaster. I need your help Gwaine."

"All you have to do is ask." The warrior responded and Merlin nodded gratefully.

xxXxxXxxXxx

"You what?" the young prince asked flabbergasted, staring at his lover and Gwaine who were both standing in front of him.

"I will move back into my old room. I can't stay here, people already started talking." Merlin answered calmly. Well at least on the outside. He knew that he had to do this, but he couldn't bear the thought of being separated from the blonde. He felt safe and loved when Arthur was around and he feared that his nightmares would return should he try to sleep in his own room.

His only consolation was that Gwaine and Gaius, his brother and father, if not in blood then at least in heart and soul, would be close by and he wouldn't be alone.

"Who cares about the people?" Arthur prompted.

"You know you don't mean that, I know how much you care about them. It is what will make you a great king one day."

The blonde closed his eyes in defeat. He knew that Merlin was right. It didn't matter whether he liked it or not, but he had been aware that sooner or later they would have to go back to how things were before Merlin had died and come back. He was the crowned prince of Camelot, Merlin was just a servant, not to him he wasn't but that didn't matter. They had a responsibility, him as future king and Merlin as what he thought of as the magical guardian of the kingdom, towards the people of Camelot.

"You're right." he admitted grudgingly.

"I know." Merlin sighed stepping closer until they were almost touching.

"Gwaine, I'll be right over. I'll just..." the raven haired boy started but he was cut off.

"Yeah...got it...I'm outta here...see ya in a few." with that the warrior backed out of the room, closing the door behind him with mingled feelings. While he was somewhat relieved to see that both of the boys were reasonable enough to see the problems he still wished for them to be happy without having to hide their feelings.

Merlin and Arthur looked after him, both smiling weakly as he closed the door. After he was gone Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin and pulled him into a tight hug, which was eagerly returned.

Merlin was perfectly content just standing there letting the comfortable heat of his lovers body seep into his, chasing away the cold, physically just as mentally. He revelled in the feeling of safety and comfort that this gave him.

The prince closed his eyes and lat the feeling of holding Merlin chase away his fears. It was only now that he became aware of exactly how much he feared to wake up and find him gone.

After a short while Merlin pulled back a little, to look at the blonde who met his gaze. He appreciated the absolutely gorgeous physique of his prince and his face lit up in a smile as he noticed something.

"What?" Arthur wanted to know

"I never noticed this before, but in this light, your eyes actually look more blue than green." he responded.

"Nah...they're green...maybe green blue..."

"What don't want to be a blonde and blue eyed beauty?" Merlin teased affectionately.

"Mhh I think I could get used to the beauty part but..." he was interrupted by Merlin who pulled him in for a long tender kiss. It didn't speak of desire or need, it merely conveyed their love and affection.

Again it was Merlin who pulled back first, leaning his forehead against Arthur's.

"I love you...clotpole." he said lowly.

Arthur smiled gently.

"I love you too...even though you're an useless idiot."

Merlin grinned and carefully freed himself from the embrace.

"I have to go, Gwaine is waiting and I don't want to wake Gaius."

"Yeah...I know..." Arthur acknowledged almost inaudibly. "Will you...I mean...you can...if you..." he broke off, not finding the right words to say.

Merlin knew what he wanted to say anyways.

"I am not leaving you...ever...Things will just go back to how they used to be."

And with that he planted another kiss on the prince's lips before he walked out of the room.

Arthur looked after him for a short while, thinking about what Merlin had said.

"Things will just go back to how they used to be."

Before he had died, Arthur guessed. He would be alright with that. Unfortunately he had the distinct feeling that that might just not be quite as easy as they hoped.

Chapter End Notes: Hehe...So this was that...this is basically the set up for the following story, because the Arthur/Merlin/Gwaine dynamic will be the foundation for the future events.

I'm rather glad I finished this, sort of a little Christmas present for myself ;D

I hope you liked it...please review and tell me what you think :D

Merry Christmas to all of you and your families :D