Merthur One Shots

And You Thought He Didn't Notice You

Somehow, Arthur's eyes always caught a glimpse of the lanky raven haired boy with big ears and eyes of a blue deeper than the ocean. He wasn't looking for him at first, but he noticed him in whatever big and crowded room, in whatever small corner of the cantina, in whatever far corner of the street. Everywhere. He thought it was weird, though that never stopped him from studying the boy with an unwavering interest and he found that he really liked what he saw.

The way that pitch black hair framed his face perfectly, making his cheek bones stand out even more, the way his long fingers coated the medicine books he was always reading, the way his rosy lips twitched when he disagreed with something, the way the tips of his ridiculous ears turned red when in a hot debate or the way his eyes flickered with curiosity every time he looked around the room. Arthur found the boy truly enchanting, with that mysterious, yet kind aura surrounding him and he felt an inhuman attraction to him, though he could not quite say why.

Arthur promised himself many years ago that he would one day talk to the boy, find out more about him, not just his name that Morgana had known or the things he assumed, and hoped, to be true about him. But he never did. Why, he didn't know. It was as though he was scared, shy, like a little kid meeting new people, which was so uncharacteristic of him.

Merlin? Merlin knew Arthur. Everybody knew Arthur. Some would say he's the popular rich guy cliché, but Merlin knew there was more to him than what met the eye. It was easy to tell, had anyone actually looked a little deeper than the handsome package and the made up tough attitude. And analyzing people was a bit of Merlin's hobby.

Behind the somehow arrogant, superior side of Arthur, which, Merlin had to admit, was real, there was a child, a small child, caring and full of compassion. He could easily tell this by the way the blonde's eyes flickered with worry every time Morgana came to him with a problem, though he would always mask it with mocking comments, thing that his sister was obviously used to. Well, Merlin could shamelessly admit that Arthur truly was an enigma to him. How a man can be so arrogant yet so caring and kind at the same time long pushed past the boundaries of Merlin's psychology knowledge.

As far as Merlin could tell, Arthur only had one true friend, and that was Leon, who the man had known for a long time now, but the rest of the guys usually sitting at his table at the cantina were just assholes who could not see past the so thin wall of arrogance.

"You're staring again!" Gwen giggled amused while taking a seat next to her friend.

Merlin just adverted his eyes, but did not even bother denying anything. Gwen knew, after all. She knew things he still denied.

"And he's looking right back at you!" the girl ascertained, though it wasn't a surprise for her.

"No he's not", Merlin answered quickly while picking at his food. "He never is, Gwen! He's just looking this way but that doesn't mean he's looking at me! He probably never even noticed me."

"Don't be silly, Merlin! You've been saying this for years!"

And Gwen did not exaggerate.

"Merlin, you've had a crush on this guy ever since second grade! Highschool is almost over and you've never even talked to him once!"

"I don't have a crush on him! You said it yourself, we never talked", the boy denied, still refusing to look up from his very boring plate of food.

"Stop lying to yourself!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are!"

"No, it's impossible to like someone you know nothing about!"