A/N: Final Part!
Merlin stood, frozen. Part of him screamed to turn around, to see if it's really him. But a louder part said that he was hallucinating, that Arthur couldn't really be here.
"Merlin." 'Arthur' spoke quietly. "Merlin, you idiot, it's us." The warlock trembled as he turned around slowly, coming face to face with what couldn't be real.
Merlin was met with seven smiling faces as he swallowed the lump in his throat. The small feeling of doubt reared up again- it was too good to be real.
"This-" Merlin's voice cracked. "This can't be real. I'm hallucinating again."
"'Again'?" Gwen- the hallucination stepped forward to place a comforting hand on Merlin, but stopped when he flinched away.
Merlin pretended not to see the hurt in the fake Gwen's eyes. "Back in World War One. There was a bomb, and I had to stop it. But... my magic wasn't strong enough, and it went off anyway. I was lying in a ditch, burnt half to death for three days before I was found. During those three days, I constantly saw you. All of you."
When Gwen put a hand over her mouth while tears formed in her eyes, Merlin almost felt convinced. His eyes searched over each of their faces.
Gwaine and Lancelot both looked torn to pieces. Percival and Elyan seemed sick. Leon appeared sympathetic. And Arthur eyes glistened with... tears?
It had to be fake.
Because Merlin had never seen Arthur shed a tear over him in his entire life.
"Mate-"
"Stop." Merlin snapped. "Just go away. Please. Haven't I suffered enough? Wasn't losing all of them enough penance for the mistakes I made? Please, just-" A sob tore its way from Merlin's lips. "I can't do this anymore." He closed his eyes to stop the tears from falling, and suddenly, he felt a pair of strong arms around his neck.
When he looked, he saw Arthur holding onto him like his life depended on it. He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he could see Gwaine out of the corner of his eye. Gwen walked over, reaching down to grasp Merlin's hand, holding it tightly.
"This is real, Merlin." The warlock's eyes met Lancelot's. "It's all real."
Arthur's voice whispered in his ear. "We're here for you."
And Merlin didn't doubt it.
YOU ARE READING
Merlin One Shots
Fanfiction***Requests are currently closed!*** A series of one shots, headcannons, and drabbles by yours truly! It will include: Fluff Gwaine Freylin Angst Ships Freylin Gwaine's hair Freylin And crack THERES GONNA BE A HECK-TON OF FREYLIN OK? I hope you like...
