Only A Boy

Happy Birthday

"What... just happened?"

Merlin could hear his heartbeat flutter with panic. A rabbit thudding a melody in his chest. He tried to calm down, tried to tell himself that there was a perfectly reasonable explanation for all the water to suddenly vanish. But he didn't have one. He couldn't move, sitting frozen on the hard linoleum floor.

"I—"

He needed to calm down. He needed to calm down now. The panels of light above the mirrors started to quiver, and their brightness waxed and waned. He closed his eyes and tried to take deep, calming breaths but his racing thoughts made it difficult. This wasn't good. Actually, this was a complete disaster. Even if Silas didn't notice the water evaporating, the lights were kind of hard to miss.

"Merlin, are you—"

His eyes shot open. All the composure he had managed to grasp fell through his fingers and one of the light bulbs exploded with a loud pop. Silas managed to strangle a yell of surprise, but Merlin was already scrambling to his feet. He had to get out of here—he had to get away from the onslaught of magic. He had broken the Statue of Secrecy so badly, the ministry had to be on their way. What would happen when they got here? Would they throw him into a dark cold dungeon or just execute him? He never did ask what was the punishment for revealing magic.

Merlin was halfway to the door when something warm and comforting seized him around the middle, forcing him to stop. Silas had hugged him.

"It's okay."

In what universe was this okay?!

He wanted to run, but the small hands tightened. "I promise I won't tell anyone you can do magic. I—" Silas swallowed. "I'll keep it a secret. Please don't go. Don't—"

"Silas," Merlin finally choked out. "I can't breathe." Silas had started squeezing him so tightly that all the air had been pushed out of his lungs. Sometimes he forgot that he was just a little kid too and that these hands were only slightly smaller than his own. Silas let go.

"Sorry! I didn't realize—"

Merlin released a breath of shaky laughter. He let the gravity of the earth pull him to his knees. He was glad that Silas was behind him so that he couldn't see the shinning in his eyes. Gods, he had no control over his emotions, did he? This kid, this young child had known him barely two months. Arthur had taken over a year to start trusting him and confiding in him and he'd never dared to expose his secret even then. But this little kid, his new brother...

"Merlin," and he felt a hand on his shoulder. "If—" and he heard Silas' voice crack. "If you have to, you can wipe my memory, c-can't you? You don't have to leave. You could make me forget—"

"You," Merlin interrupted softly, "—you don't hate me for hiding this from you?"

"Of course not!"

"Then... don't forget." Merlin swallowed the lump in his throat.

"But—"

"You said you're okay with it, aren't you?"

"Well yeah..."

"Then nothing else really matters does it?" Will had known about his magic, Gaius, Freya, and they had all kept the secret for him. In fact, he wasn't sure he would have been able to handle the weight of his destiny if they hadn't. He needed someone to know. "You are not allowed to forget, all right? Never."

Silas didn't say anything for a long moment. Then, and with an air of blinding happiness, "I won't."

Merlin discreetly wiped his eyes on his sleeve, he didn't want Silas to know he'd actually cried – how lame. He turned around and saw that Silas was kneeling on the ground too. His hazel eyes were large and his face was shamelessly wet. He stared at Silas, before trying to touch the damp spots on his shoulders.