They Way It Should Be (Merthur)

Chapter 5 (Short)

After this Arthur did something shocking to both the young men and he pulled Merlin into a hug. The warlock took a deep breath and hugged back, unaware of how much he needed this. He slowly let himself break down in the king's arms, silently crying tears of relief. A giant weight had been lifted off his shoulders and he had no idea how long he'd needed this for.

Arthur just sat silently, letting Merlin cry into his shoulder. He had no idea what it must've felt like for the servant. He wondered what it must have felt like to hide a giant part of who you are due to the fear of being killed over it. He understood what it was like to hide a part of yourself, but lucky for him the amount of women around him made it very easy to hide the fact that he was attracted to men. There was also no extreme punishment for homosexuality in Camelot, only shame from others. But, sorcery could get an innocent person killed.

They lost track of time, but both knew they'd been hugging for a lot longer than what was considered normal. Although, neither cared. Eventually Merlin pulled away and smiled. "Thank you," He whispered. The warlock's face was stained with tears, yet his eyes glowed bright with happiness and relief.

"Hey, Merlin?" Arthur started, "Never let anyone tell you to be someone you're not."

"Arthur, you know I can't do that. There are laws."

"And I can change them. I know what it's like to hide and I don't want you to have to do that."

"What would you know about having to hide?" Merlin asked sadly.

"Goddamnit Merlin! I'm homosexual!"

"First of all, no need to yell. Secondly, I'm sorry I assumed you had nothing to hide. Thirdly, me too, so you're not alone."

Arthur looked at Merlin, shocked. "So you don't hate me?"

Merlin laughed, "Arthur, I said: Me too. Of course I don't hate you."

"How the hell did you, Merlin, keep these secrets from me?"

"I can keep a secret when I need to. Anyway, what about Gwen?"

Arthur let out a sigh, "I don't know. I mean I do love her, it's just not in the 'lover's' way. Does that make sense?"

Merlin could tell he was confused and he had every right to be. "It does. It means, she's your friend. God knows how you made one of those."

"Shut up. Although, I guess you're right. How do I tell her that?"

"I wish I knew. I'm sorry. Though, we should get some sleep. I don't want to hear you complaining about not getting enough 'beauty sleep' tomorrow."

At this comment Arthur threw his spoon, from the bowl he'd set on the ground, at Merlin who ducked just in time. The pair laughed before readying themselves for bed then soon falling asleep next to the warm air from the fire.

---

Merlin woke up first and gathered all his stuff before waking Arthur up. The king's blond hair was messier than usual, which was most likely due to sleeping on the ground. Merlin laughed as Arthur sat up tiredly, his hair sticking up in multiple places. "What?" Arthur asked.

"Your hair. Here." He said, reaching over and fixing his friends hair. "Now you look slightly less like an idiot."

"That's rich coming from you."

Merlin flashed a sarcastic smile in response. "Let's get going. You said we'd make it there by midday today. We may as well try and get this over with as soon as possible."

"Couldn't you just kill Morgana? You know, with magic?"

"I could. It wouldn't be easy though. Also, I try not to kill people unless absolutely necessary."

"I guess I understand that."

"I don't think you do. You fight people to the death for fun."

"Yeah but they signed up for it."

"I think it's stupid."

"Let's just leave."

"Sounds good to me, clot pole."

"Shut up, Merlin."