Heartbreak Stains Us All {Modern Merlin Au}

Meet the parents

Merlin stood outside Arthur's house with a piece of bread hanging loosely out of his mouth. He was still struggling to put his jacket on properly when Arthur swung the door open.
"Merlin?"
Merlin froze once he heard his name, and he looked up at Arthur. He gave him his best smile with his mouth of bread and mumbled something.
"HeArthraniomen?"
"What? Speak without the bread you idiot."
Merlin rolled his eyes, fixed his jacket as best he could, then took the bread out of his mouth.
"Hey Arthur, can I come in?"
Arthur rolled his eyes again, but stepped aside so Merlin could come in. Merlin walked into the white living space, finishing his bread without making too much of a mess. "Okay, Gwen is out with Morgana right now so we can talk freely." Arthur said, pushing Merlin to his black red leather couch. Merlin plopped down on the couch and nodded as Arthur sat on a black chair across from him. Merlin felt a twinge of sadness at how Arthur didn't sit next to him, but he ignored it for now.

Arthur stared at him for a moment, his hands clasped together under his chin, before he began to speak.
"My relationship with Gwen has been going on for longer then you've seen. Granted it hasn't been to long, but still quite a while. She wants us to move fast, meet the parents, talk about future living spaces, pets. It's a lot to take in Merlin, and, as much as I hate to admit it, you are the only person I can talk to about this."
Merlin rolled his eyes at his last sentence and leaned back on the couch. He sank back slightly and sighed.
"How long has the-relationship," Merlin hated saying that word. "Been going on?"
"Four months."
If Merlin were drinking water, he would've spat it all over Arthur.
"Four months? And you still haven't met her father and brother? What excuse have you been giving her all that time?" Merlin almost wanted to laugh. Almost. Instead, he kinda felt bad for Gwen. He also felt bad for himself, he hadn't had the slightest chance with Arthur for four months, that stings. Merlin noticed that Arthur had been talking, but he wasn't listening. Instead, he just nodded and hummed when it seemed appropriate. Arthur didn't seem to notice, and just kept on talking. Probably about Gwen's family.
   Merlin wondered how he could've thought he would stand a chance against a girl like Gwen. She was everything he wasn't. She was beautiful, the right weight, the perfect height, she has great hair, a beautiful smile, smart, a cute sense of style. He was the exact opposite in his eyes. He was decent looking, too skinny, too tall, bad hair, bad smile, not smart enough, and he wore baggy clothes. Who wouldn't pick Gwen?
    "-Lin? Merlin! Get out of your head you idiot and help me." Arthur snapped him out of his thoughts with some light slaps to the face. Merlin snapped his gaze back to Arthur and stared at him with a confused gaze.
    "What? I was listening." He said automatically, blinking rapidly.
Arthur rolled his eyes at Merlin and snaked the side of his head. Merlin flinched and put his bandaged hand to his head.
"You are the worst for this, you know that, right? You're absolutely horrible." Arthur said, leaning back against his chair. Merlin shrugged at that and asked Arthur to repeat the most important parts of what he missed.
   "Alright. My excuses have always been work, and that seems to be working for now. But soon it won't work anymore. She doesn't seem to mind at the moment, and that's great. I don't want this to be serious yet. And-"
"You do realize that if you've been dating for four months, it's already quite serious?" Merlin cut him off, looking at him like he was the most idiotic human on the planet.
   Arthur paused for a moment, staring blankly at Merlin. Merlin rolled his eyes once again, but before he could say anything, the door opened. Both men stood up immediately and stared at the door. In the house, stood Gwen, Morgana, and Gwen's family.
"Holy crap." Arthur muttered, while Merlin burst into a fit of laughter. Arthur shot him a murderous glare but he ignored it.
  "Merlin," Morgana said, walking towards Merlin and taking his wrist. "Let's go, they need privacy for the family meeting." She had something in her eyes as she pulled Merlin away, but he couldn't tell what it was. As Merlin was pulled out the door, he shouted goodbye and waved at everyone.
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      "How do you think Arthur is doing?" Morgana asked, walking down the beach with Merlin. Merlin shrugged, he didn't really want to think about it. Meeting the parents was serious business, and Merlin always wanted Arthur to meet his mother in the sense of getting the stamp of approval.
   "Probably getting his ever growing ego smashed to pieces."
Morgana laughed at that, pushing Merlins shoulder gently.
"His ego can never get smashed, Merlin. You should know that." She said, sending him a goofy smile. Merlin shrugged again, and the air filled with some tension.
   "You do know you can talk to me, if all this gets to much, right?" Morgana said after a few minutes of silence. Merlin froze in his spot, no one had ever told him that.
"Thanks for the offer, Morgana, but I'm good." He said, not looking over at her. He could feel Morgana's gaze on the side of his face, but he just stared out at the ocean.
"Are you sure, Merlin?"
Merlin just nodded. Morgana sighed but let it go, staring out at the ocean just like Merlin.
They stood their in silence for a around ten minutes before Morgana spoke up again.
"I know how you feel."
Merlin turned his gaze to hers, confusion written on his face.
"Loving someone who doesn't love you back. It's the hardest thing I've had to deal with. But I try not to let it control my life. I still live , I still hang out with my friends, I still do everything, but they are in my mind no matter what. I know how you feel, Merlin, I can help. Trust me." She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and looked at him with eyes full of raw emotion. Merlin wanted to lean into her touch, to cry into her shoulder, to tell her his problems, to let her help him, but he didn't, he couldn't. He had to be okay so others didn't have to be.
"Thanks, Morgana. And I'm sorry you feel the way I do. I'm sure you'll find someone." Merlin said, he sent her a warm smile and his pocket buzzed. He took it out and saw that Arthur was calling him. He held up a finger to Moragana and she nodded.
"Arthur?"
"You knew, didn't you! You knew they were coming over! You were a distraction!"
"Arthur, I didn't know, honest. Gwen just wanted to get it over and done with I guess. It had nothing to do with me."
"Don't lie to me Merlin."
"Arthur, I'm not lying to you. If anything, yell at Morgana she picked them up with Gwen." That sentence earned him a look and a push to the chest. He wink back at Morgana.
"You're right for once Merlin. Maybe I will do that."
"Arthur, I was joking. Anyway, how'd it go?"
"I don't know. Im sure I did amazingly, cause it's me. Who wouldn't like me?"
  Merlin rolled his eyes.
"More people then you think, Arthur."
"Shut up Merlin."
"You're the one who ho asked."
"Alright, Gwen's car just pulled up, I'll talk to you later."
Arthur hung up without a second to lose and Merlin just slowly put his phone back into his pocket.
"How'd it go?" Morgana asked carefully. Merlin shrugged.
"Merlin, I've gotta head back. It's already ten, see you around?" Morgana said, giving Merlin a quick hug.
Merlin nodded, "see you around."
Morgana ran off, leaving Merlin alone on the beach.
  Meeting the parents. God fucking dammit, all my shots, no matter how small, are finished. How could they not like Arthur? He'll protect Gwen, love her, keep her, cherish her, admire her, that's all a family would want for their little girl. Right? Maybe I should take Lancelots' advice and try to find someone else. I doubt that would be possible, how could I find someone like Arthur? You know what? Screw love! I don't need anyone. Screw Arthur and screw romance! I'm done with it all.