The huge white doors engraved in gold, when opened, revealed what seemed like a miniature house. What engraved the door lined the ceiling, too, and just about everything else in the room. And yet, it was not the owner's pride of joy. It was merely one room in a mansion of at least fifty like it, save Merlin's secret favorites: the library, his haven, his bedroom, and the kitchen, and—that was about it. Merlin had been happy at first, moving from the slums of his old life to the riches of his new, but that was quickly scattered as he'd realized just how selfish and ignorant the rich could be, their fancy parties, their expensive boats and, their complete disregard for the people that they ripped off or stepped on to get to the top.

"This is where you will be staying," said Richard, who was the cold-hearted owner of the mansion they stood in. He walked inside of the large room, the one lined with gold, and the one Merlin held no particular secret love for. "This is your living chambers. When you're not cleaning the house or tend to the yard, you will live here. It's completely equipped with a kitchen, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, and a living room. Each room has—"

Merlin stopped listening. He knew it all. He knew most details of the fifty rooms in the mansion, unlike Richard, who only bothered with his own study, bedroom, and the rooms his staff were lodged. Richard held no reverence for Merlin's secret favourites. He barely held any reference for Merlin himself. Merlin couldn't help but feel sorry for the Pendragon family. Richard had completely destroyed their company, tossed them into poverty, and then, adding insult to injury, offered them a job as their maids because they absolutely needed it. It made Merlin sick to his stomach.

Merlin and Richard were very different. Step-father and step-son, Richard loved money, and Merlin hated it. He hated the 'Introduction Ceremony' his step-father put on every time a new pair of hands were hired to help around the mansion. He hated how pretentious it made him look for being related to the man, hated the fact that a pocket full of money placed his worth higher on the social food chain.

Uther Pendragon was the first to approach. He held out his hand. Merlin, looked at him, then his hand, then him again and extended his hand in return, giving Uther a less than proud hand-shake. The second to approach was Uther's wife, Ygraine. She gave a delightful curtsey and then extended her hand. Merlin took it with pleasure, he always enjoyed when people acted their class and showed respect, it was a mixture of classy and distinguished and it gave him a sense of belonging, like a mutual agreement that they're both respecting one another.

Uther looked around with a tint of irritation on his face. "My son, Arthur, should be here soon, I don't know where he's retreated to," A sad look fell on his face and he eyes drifted to the floor, "He's been least keen on this change, he was used to being on the other side of the proverbial golden spoon, as one might say."

Richard chuckled at the remark and Merlin leaned back against the wall, finishing his sandwich, bored and consistently agitated, he spun around and walked out the door.

Arthur drove up to the extraordinary large house that he was to be staying at for the next few years. He never was on this side of the fence and the humility was almost ground-shaking. He felt his heart sink into the pit of his stomach, all of the things he had planned to do with his father's money, when he had inherited it, were supposed to be life-changing, not just for him, but for the people he wanted to help, the community where he grew up.

He took his box out of the very broken down car and walked up the many steps to the front door. He rapped quickly, trying not to drop the box he was expertly (so he thought) balancing.

He heard the door open and looked around the box, in front of him stood a young man about five and a half feet tall. His hair was short, dark, and slumped gently over this face. Arthur glaired with irritation. So... this is the boy who's dad completely made my life shit.

"Hi, I'm Merlin."

Arthur said nothing. Merlin stared at him for quite some time, expecting some kind of response. Merlin's eyes we're locked onto the blond boy's body. Feeling a sense of familiarity and an essence of passion wash over him. That blond hair, those lips, those teeth, those eye-

"Are you going to move?" Arthur asked finally. Merlin shook as the harshness of Arthur's words and the place his mind was just in forced a slight alarm from him.

"Oh yeah," Merlin responded, stepping out of the way and letting Arthur pass into the hall, "... sorry" he said under his breath.

Arthur carefully unpacked his things in his new room. His eyes gazed over his own bookshelf, his own computer, tv, stereo. He was happy that, at least, he had all the pleasures of his old life, while he may not be rich he could at least enjoy himself. As soon as he was done unpacking his things, he walked over to his own personal bathroom (something he didn't even have in his old home) and brushed his teeth. He couldn't get Merlin of his mind, however. Maybe he was too mean, or maybe he was too blunt, it didn't matter, however, because Arthur hated him and his family and everything they stood for, taking advantage of your fellow man so you can make a pretty penny. Arthur smiled into his tooth brush.

Arthur laid in bed for only a few seconds before falling asleep, his mind restless and his dreams vivid:

Arthur was sitting on his throne. He saw many people in the hall in front of him, sitting and eating, enjoying themselves. Flowers filled the room and he felt the cool wisp of the twilight air on his face. He was so happy, but he couldn't tell why. Arthur knew he was dreaming, or his dream self thought so, but his mind couldn't process that. Everything in this world was so real. The soft feel of silk across his chest, the scent of freshly cooked meat and stew. He could hear the gentle roar of the town outside of the castle windows, a town he knew nothing about, but would give his life for.

He turned to his right and saw, beside him, on his own throne. Merlin. Merlin?

Merlin turned to him, and held his chalice up, deep pagan text was engraved decoratively into the chalice and it was filled with delicious wine, unprocessed, like Arthur was used to.

Arthur smiled at him. At that moment, he was the happiest he had ever been. He felt himself get lost in Merlin's eyes. Felt all of his pain and anger wash away into the Autumn eve.

Merlin stood up, his royal robes mimicked Arthur's, red and beautiful. "A toast." he yelled. The room quieted to a soft rumble and Merlin continued, "A toast to the best king that Camelot has ever seen, and to the best friend and lover I could ever have. To Arthur!"

"TO ARTHUR!"

There was a roar of cheering and clapping. Merlin looked behind him at Arthur, who gazed back longingly, the rims of his eyes tinted red as he tried to contain his emotions.

Merlin was in awe at the blond boy. It had been a few days since they moved in, and Merlin barely had enough courage to go downstairs in his presence, let alone talk to him. Every time he wanted to saysomething to Arthur, when he passed him in the morning to the computer lab in his home for school (Merlin hated public schools) or on his way to the bathroom, he couldn't. He didn't know why.

Merlin entered the kitchen. Arthur was moping the floor and Merlin was doing his best to walk around the places where Arthur had already walked. Arthur seemed to pay no attention to the fact that Merlin was there and continued to mop in silence. Merlin pulled a pitcher of kool-aid from the fridge and turned around to face Arthur, hoping to be able to start up a conversation.

"So... d'you like it here much?" Merlin asked finally.

Arthur looked up at Merlin with a half-glare half-scowl. "Sure..."

Merlin was surprised at the rudeness, but figured maybe Arthur just had a long day. "Do you want a glass of kool-aid?" Merlin asked.

Arthur looked up again at Merlin and laughed, then resumed moping. Merlin was appalled. He was just trying to be nice, what did Arthur have up his ass? He began walking over to Arthur to give him a piece of his mind.

Kool-aid went everywhere. The container held almost five liters and a wave of red liquid poured over Merlin and all over the white tiled floor. Merlin stared at the ceiling as he tried to gather what happened. Merlin sat up in the pool of juice and looked at Arthur, who's mouth was hanging open.

"Do you have... any idea... how long... it takes... TO MOP A FLOOR OF THIS SIZE?" Arthur yelled. Merlin looked down and saw that the entire kitchen floor was red and it even began to seep into the carpet of the hallway. Merlin stood up and brushed himself off. "Sorry..." he said, blushing and looking away.

"Sorry..." Arthur laughed into the word, "First your dad undercuts my dad," "Step-dad..." Merlin corrected. "Right, step-dad sorry, anyway," Arthur continued, "and makes him go bankrupt, then you insist on plaguing me while I'm trying to work and just, can you please just leave me alone?" Arthur looked into Merlin's eyes with an insistent glare of anguish.

Merlin was taken aback by Arthur's rudeness. Merlin crossed his arms in front of him. "You don't have to be such an insufferable prat, you know." Merlin said bluntly, "I was just trying to be nice and you... whatever." Merlin finally said, and walked out of the kitchen, dripping red all through the house.

A few days later, Merlin had tried, yet again to gain the attention of the stunning young lad. He had hoped that maybe he would warm up to him, maybe just a tad.

No. Such. Luck.

"Do you insist on pestering me every chance you get, Merlin?" Arthur had whined. He was whipping down Richard's car with a foamy soap. Merlin had offered to help wash the car with him, as a gesture that he wasn't as useless as his father was, that he really wanted to get to know him, but Arthur, being the obnoxious prat that he was, refused any help from someone as "spoiled" or as "low-life" as Merlin Bane.

"I'm not trying to pester, I'm trying to help!" Merlin cried. He tossed his arms down, irritated.

"You want to help?" Arthur asked. He picked up the hose and placed his finger at the end of it, creating a taut spray of water. "Run. It will please me." And with that he turned the hose to Merlin who was already running towards the house. Arthur smirked as he watched Merlin's arse toss around in his shorts. Arthur could feel himself twitch at the sight of it, a unique sensation traveling through his groin. He shook his head at the thought and returned to cleaning the car, hopefully Merlin wouldn't annoy him anymore.

The rest of the week consisted of awkward glances and them both doing the best to avoid one another. Richard made crude jokes at the Pendragon family behind their backs, how tasteless. Richard was more of an arse than anyone Merlin'd ever met and Merlin hated Richard even more because it was his fault that Arthur hated him so much. Merlin tried to say something when he wasn't feeling stupid or awkward but he couldn't help but find his tongue caught in his throat. Arthur was out of his league.

Merlin was a little heartbroken, he didn't understand how Arthur could hold him accountable for what his stupid step-dad did. He felt anger rise in his chest. It wasn't his fault, he didn't even LIKE the guy, and here Arthur was implicating that he was just like him, that he would do the same things.

Merlin sat on his bed, holding his pillow tightly, even though Arthur was so mean, Merlin couldn't help feel attracted to him. He felt a rush of sorrow fill over him, something inside him hated the fact that they were like this. It was strange considering that he wasn't the type to get hung up on someone not liking him. Merlin sighed and laid back onto his bed, letting his mind wander away with him.

Merlin was watching Arthur clean the windows at top of the house from a ladder. He knew it was creepy but he couldn't help feel a sense of guilt. He wanted to apologize and maybe even be friends or something, he didn't know. He sat in the gazebo in the yard and watched Arthur over the top of his book, he was doing his best not to be obvious but Arthur was so far away it wasn't like it mattered.

Merlin's eyes drifted to the clouds of the spring sky. He felt his mind ease and he imagined what it would be like to soar, to spread wings and drift off into the open day. He felt air pass under his arms as he envisioned the life of a simple bird, soaring as high as it could, feeling the life of the air, the power of its flapping and the sharpness of its wings as it continued its journey into the open.

Arthur looked down at Merlin. Look at him. Arthur thought He looks so comfortable, not a care in the world. He signed and returned to wiping the fresh coat of cleaning solution he had just applied to the window in front of him. It was only moments later that he looked down at Merlin again. He was so far away but it still felt as if he was right next to him, talking to him, smiling at him, kiss- Arthur felt his leg slip as he stumbled backwards into the empty air.

"Shit!" Merlin looked up to see Arthur mid fall from the second story window. A split second later he heard the inevitable crack as Arthur hit the ground. Merlin stood up in shock, his body paralyzed by what he just saw. He felt his body tremor and his eyes felt hot and irritated. A split second later he was running over to the unconscious man laying flat on his back on the flower bed, motionless. Merlin leaned down and sat beside Arthur while dialing 999 on his phone, tears falling from the sides of his eyes in horror.

Arthur hasn't had a headache like this since he went to his cousin, Morgana's, secret sweet sixteen where they both got extremely drunk and made out – which was weird to both of them so they never spoke of it again. Arthur's eyes slowly opened to a dark room with a television gently showing an infomercial about some type of knife that could cut through anything. Arthur continued to look around the room. It seemed like a hospital, but he doesn't know why he's there. His eyes reach the window and the small chair below it. Merlin.

Arthur sat up slowly. He felt his back ache and looked to his right hand, which was wrapped in a cast. He raised his hand to his head and felt the bandage that was around it. Looked to his left hand he checked his watch. Two days, two days had gone by since he last remembered anything. What happened? He thought. His mind was blank, whatever it was, it must've been bad. His back, legs, head, hell, his entire body ached. He looked over at Merlin again. He was gently snoring

Arthur laid back down and slipped back into his dreams.

Arthur lifted his sword in triumph. He looked at the battle field. His loyal knights, his friends, they stood with him. He saw the fallen bodies of his enemies litter the war-zone.

"Impressive, sire." Merlin said.

Arthur spun around. His eyes locked with Merlin's and he felt fire grow inside him. He walked forward and placed a hang on Merlin's shoulder.

"You know I couldn't have done that without you, Merlin," Merlin blushed at the compliment, he stepped closer to Arthur.

"None of us could have done it without you either, you clotpole." Merlin said gently, his hand resting gently on the front of Arthur's armor.

Arthur leaned in, feeling the heat of Merlin's flesh, the fire from his eyes, and the breath of his body pushing goosebumps out from underneath Arthur's skin, their lips we're so close.

Merlin sat up in his chair. He looked over at Arthur who was engorging himself on a bowl of grapes and a salad. His right hand in a cast and awkwardly trying to fish meat and carrots from the bowl.

"Arthur!" Merlin exclaimed, "You're awake!"

Arthur reluctantly looked over at Merlin. "Yes, I – I'm... fine." he said coldly. He looked back to his bowl, and continued to scrape his food around, suddenly uninterested in eating.

Merlin's smile dropped from his face. He looked down at the floor, at his shoes.

Arthur noticed the change in shade on Merlin's face, he felt bad about being so mean. "What happened? I don't remember anything."

"You fell... from the second story window's while you were cleaning." Merlin responded, he looked around the room and then back to Arthur, and with a little pride continued. "I... I found you and called for an ambulance, your parents we're here a few times but you were sleeping."

Arthur's eyes squinted as he tried to remember the incident. He remembers cleaning... the a slip? He felt light as a feather for a split second then... nothing.

"The doctors said you were lucky, could've easily died." Merlin finished. He felt good about himself, maybe this could be how they connect, maybe Arthur would see that he wasn't anything like his step-dad.

"Well... I suppose I should thank you for that, eh Merlin?" Arthur said without looking up from his food.

"I dunno, You don't have to... I was just... doing the right thing, I guess." Merlin responded, obviously flustered. His cheeks bore a bright red blush and he turned away from Arthur in a bad attempt to hide it.

Arthur sighed. The dream, this incident, he didn't understand anything, he doesn't even know Merlin, but something inside him can't stop thinking about him. NO! Arthur thought Merlin is a spoiled brat just like I was, his father ruined us, I don't need to be associating with him. Ever.

Arthur looked up from his food at Merlin, who was playing with the laces on his hoodie. Merlin's pale fingers gently gnawing and kneading the strings that fell from the side's of his neck. Merlin's chest just barely visible but enough to give Arthur's heart a race. Arthur's heart machine began to speed up and beep faster.

Merlin looked up at Arthur who looked ridiculously uncomfortable. "Are you alright?" He asked?

"Of course I am, I just wish you weren't here is all." Arthur stated dryly.

Those words stung Merlin like a colony of bees. He looked down at the floor and began to inspect the dirt between the tiles. He looked back up at Arthur, his eyes we're glazed with irritation.

"Fine," Merlin said coldly, he turned away from Arthur and let out a deep frustrated sigh, "I'll leave."

Arthur watched as Merlin walked across the room and out the door. He slammed his head back into his pillow, feeling a sharp pain race across his head. As soon as he was sure no one was looking, he dropped his hands into his gown. Thinking of nothing but of the pale boy who just saved his life and how he just wished he'd have let him die.