Always and Forever (Merlin)

Chapter Four

It's been a month since the beginning of school and for once, everything seems to be going okay. I've spent as much time as Arthur's house as possible, causing me to not be at home. I help Arthur study, and he continues to be an annoying prat of a boyfriend.

I've also begun to hang out more with the new kid, Mordred. He's actually a pretty cool. Just a little weird sometimes, but aren't we all?

"Hey Merlin!"

I look around and see Mordred lightly jogging towards me.

"Hi Mordred."

When he gets to me, he swings an arm around my shoulders.

"You know if Arthur sees you, he'll kill you on the spot. Or worse, he'll kick you off the football team."

Mordred quickly takes his arm off.

"You're right. We wouldn't want that. You may be cute, but not football cute."

"Hey!"

I try to shove him, but he doesn't budge.

"You can try, but you're too weak."

"It's not my fault that all football players are built with two hundred pounds of muscle."

As we walk into the school, I see Arthur standing around with his other group of football friends.

I look over at Mordred.

"Hey, can you tell Arthur I'll see him after class?"

Mordred gives me a questioning look.

"Okay. Is it because of the others? You know you don't have to be shy around them. They all love you."

I look down and blush a little. I always get embarrassed when people compliment me.

"No, I just have to do something for class. I'll see you later."

I know that was a bad excuse since Mordred is in that class too, but it was the only thing I could think of on the spot. The truth is, I always feel out of place when I'm with the other football players with Arthur. I'm just tall and skinny while they're all muscular.

I walk into class and pull out my earplugs. At least I can listen to some music and read before class starts.

I put on my favorite band, The Beatles. Arthur always makes fun of me for listening to, and I quote, "Old people music," but I like listening to the classics. It's not like the audio tuned music from this era.

As I'm reading, I suddenly feel my earbuds being pulled from my ears. I quickly look up, only to see Arthur standing there, grinning at me.

"You're telling me, this 'class thing' you needed to finish was reading a book?"

"I- I ummm. I-"

Arthur takes the seat next to me and continues staring at me.

"Please, do continue."

I look down in shame and mumble my next sentence.

"It's a really good book."

Arthur then takes the book out of my hand and closes it, without the bookmark in it!

"Hey! What the hell?!?"

"Le Bizarre Incident du Chien Pendant la Nuit by Mark Haddon. What an interesting book."

"You closed the book without a bookmark!"

"Tu sais sur quelle page tu étais."

"Oui."