Hi guys! So this is my first long Merlin fanfic. Given that this show is the reason I've been depressed since Christmas 2012, I decided to write a light, romantic fic instead of angst because we already have enough of that from the real show. Also, in case the T rating didn't tip you off, there's no smut... sorry!

A few things:

1) The story is set in a modern day Camelot. Which basically means that it's like modern day, except they're living in Albion not England and the kingdoms are set up in the way they are set up in the show. ALSO the university system is a little bit different from the current British university system.

2) I'm Indian. a.k.a. Not British. So if my slang is a bit off, I apologise. I tried to make it as accurate as I could, but shit happens.

3) This is loosely based off of the Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie 'You've Got Mail', but this fic was also inspired by a Wicked fan fiction by Vinkunwildflowerqueen also called 'You've Got Mail'. This is in no way a copy of her fanfic, it's just that it was her fic that gave me the idea to put Merlin and Arthur in a 'You've Got Mail' type situation in a university setting so I thought I'd mention it. But yeah, if you like Wicked you should check her fic out because it's great!

Anyway, I'll shut up now. Hope you enjoy it!

The Raven

Chapter One

Merlin was in his seventh year when he was speed-walking down the school hallway and accidentally crashed into a distracted brunette who was hovering near a bulletin board, making him spill his cola all over himself.

"I'm so sorry!" Merlin had stammered, "I was trying to make it to Economics before the bell!"

Merlin waited for an angry retort, but was instead greeted by howls of laughter. He stood blankly before the sopping boy, looking from the white shirt he had ruined to the green eyes that were streaming with tears.

"What?" he asked, when the red-faced boy finally stopped laughing.

"Nothing." The boy replied, wiping his eyes. "I just didn't realize there were people in this school who were that excited to get to Economics class."

Merlin later told his mother that he hadn't ever met anyone so peculiar. Which is why, he admitted, he had to become friends with him.

It had been six years since that day. Six long, wonderful years that comprised of eating buckets of ice cream while yelling at the telly, of almost burning down the kitchen, of music festivals, sombre conversations and lip-syncing to dramatic Beyoncé songs while the other kids were off smoking in 'the alley'. After six years of friendship, Will was more of a brother to Merlin than his actual half-brother was. Not that Galahad was a bad brother. But the large difference between their ages, and the unfortunate fact that Galahad had moved to the outskirts of Camelot, kept the two boys from being anything more than adoring acquaintances. Will, on the other hand, had been there through it all. He'd laughed when Merlin choked on his first cigarette, patted him on the back when he'd had his first kiss, defended him when Henry Miller had called him an emaciated owl and shrieked with joy when Merlin had announced he'd gotten into Sorsbrooke. What meant the most to Merlin, however, was the way he had reacted when Merlin had told him his secret.

Merlin could remember the day vividly.

He had known Will for a year and a half at that point, and he finally felt like enough time had passed in their relationship to tell him the truth. He later told Will that he had been 'nervous', but that was actually a colossal understatement. He was so anxious he could barely breathe.

Hunith had advised him not to. "People change when they find out things like this," she had warned him, "I would wait a while longer."

But Merlin had insisted. "You're the one who taught me that it's nothing to be ashamed of. That it makes me special. How can I let Will call me his best friend when he doesn't know something that's such an important part of me?"

He'd known it was dangerous. After all, his revelation could result in a lot more than just a broken friendship. But he trusted Will. So he had gathered his courage, dropped his gaze and said the three terrifying words.

"I have magic."

He remembered hearing Will's breath hitch right before the room dropped into a steely silence. Merlin had continued staring at his shoes, heart pounding, not daring to look up and see the expression on his friend's face.

Finally he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and glanced up to find himself staring into those familiar green eyes.

"And despite that, you still haven't found a way to fix your hair." Will shook his head, reprovingly. "Honestly Merlin, there must be some sort of spell to keep it from… jumping all over the place. It looks like it's trying to run away from your scalp."

That was Will. Flippant, obnoxious and an absolute joy to be around. Which is why it killed Merlin that in a few short months he'd be leaving Ealdor - and the two people he loved the most in the world - to attend Sorsbrooke Academy in Camelot.

"I'm so bored!" Will whined, emphasising his words with a feigned nasal tone. He sat up on the bed and threw Merlin an accusatory look from across the room.

"I have to study." Merlin reminded him, waving the thick book in the air before opening it up again.

"Why?" he demanded, "You already got into university."

"That doesn't mean I want to fail sixth form."

Will flopped back onto the bed, making the bedsprings screech in protest.

"I can't believe you're leaving," he mumbled.

Merlin peered up from his book and watched his best friend stare at the faded glow-in-the-dark stars Galahad had stuck on the ceiling all those years ago.

"Will?" He asked, cautiously.

The boy didn't respond.

It made Merlin's heart ache when Will fell into such silences, because it was a reminder of just how much his looming departure was affecting him. Will usually gave off an air of nonchalance regarding everything, so seeing him brood made Merlin want to apologize a thousand times more for choosing Sorsbrooke over Ealdor's Sera University.

But Merlin knew he'd made the right decision. While it pained him to leave Will (and even more so to leave his mother) it was essential that he get away. He'd never set foot outside of Ealdor, yet he'd grown up knowing that he didn't fit in. He'd always been a friendly and outgoing person, but apart from Will he hadn't really been able to relate to the kids he went to school with. They were close-minded, unable to fathom that there was a world beyond the narrow walls of their stifling town. It wasn't that Merlin wasn't happy with his life in Ealdor… he just never felt like he served any purpose there.

"I promise I'll keep in touch," he said, earnestly.

"I won't have time to read your colossal emails," Will groused. But he sat up on the bed and glared at Merlin.

"Why are you going anyway?"

There was a short pause as Merlin stared helplessly back at him, desperately seeking the right words. But once again they evaded him, and he settled instead for his trademark answer. "You know why."

It was vague, but somehow Will seemed to understand. He scowled at Merlin like a petulant child who had just been denied a chocolate bar.

"But why Camelot? It's so bloody far away. Why don't you go somewhere closer? Somewhere in Ascetir?"

"I… don't know."

"You want to be closer to your old pal, Uther Pendragon, is that it?"

Merlin grimaced, the name filling him with a rage he didn't often feel. "Don't talk about that old troll."

"Then why the hell do you want to go there? He's the bloody king, you know that, right?"

Merlin shrugged uncertainly and received a withering look from Will in response.

"I honestly don't know," Merlin confessed. "The university sounded fantastic, the campus is gorgeous…"

"You want to leave, don't you?"

They stared at each other again - Merlin's light blue eyes trying to hide their distress and Will's green-brown ones filled with determination. As expected, Merlin broke first, sighing deeply.

"I just want to see what it's like."

"Why?" Will demanded.

Merlin internally flailed to find the words to explain. 'To find my purpose in life' would sound melodramatic and empty, even though it was the truth. He'd been born a child of magic in a world where magic was banned. He was like a werewolf in a land of hunters, hiding in plain sight but scared of the day when he would be discovered. Merlin didn't believe in a god, but he'd always felt like he had been put on earth for a reason. He refused to believe he was just a pig bred for slaughter. He had never told Will (or his mother) because he knew they would misunderstand… but he'd always felt like he was just half a person. Incomplete. A puzzle missing a piece right in the centre of the picture.

And he knew the missing piece wasn't lying at home.

"Because I don't know what it's like," Merlin said, simply. "I've never been outside of Ealdor. I just want to explore other kingdoms."

Merlin could practically see the thoughts raging in Will's mind.

Then why don't you wait till we graduate and we'll explore other kingdoms together.

How can you abandon me here?

I know you want to do this alone… but why?

But he knew Will would never voice what he was feeling. He never did.

"I'm bored." Will said eventually, looking around the room.

Merlin rolled his eyes, and turned back to his book.

"Where's your laptop?"

He waved a listless hand towards his bedside table and Will grabbed the thin Macbook with enthusiastic glee.

"Your password is still Eragon, right?"

"Yeah."

Will snickered, "You are such a dork."

"Hey!" Merlin protested, "Eragon was a fantastic book. You would know if you read it."

"I watched the movie. Eragon was a very badly CGI-ed dragon."

"Ok firstly, the movie is utter rubbish. Secondly, Eragon is the boy, not the dragon and third something cannot be CGI-ed. CGI stands for…"

"Way to prove you're not a dork, dragon boy."

Will's head was buried in the laptop, and Merlin could hear him typing furiously.

"I'm the dork? You're the one who practically started crying when Andrew Scott signed your copy of 'The Final Proble…."

"What's your email address?" Will asked, interrupting him.

Merlin frowned, "critter95 at 5kmail… why?"

"No reason."

He looked at Will suspiciously, and the boy gave him a guileless smile before turning back to the computer screen. Merlin was about to turn back to his book when a sudden realization hit him and he groaned.

"You're not changing my facebook status to 'Merlin is a dingbat' again, are you?"

Will laughed. "No, but that was hilarious."

Merlin threw down his book, accepting that studying for his upcoming History test was a fruitless endeavour while Will was in his house, and sat down on the bed beside him, trying to peer over his shoulder.

"Honestly, what are you doing?"

"You'll see," Will said, moving the laptop away.

Merlin didn't like the impish glint he had in his eye. He lunged for the laptop, but the brunette anticipated his move and held the device out of reach.

"What are you doing?" Merlin demanded, getting on his knees and trying to grab the laptop again. "If you are downloading another Hannah Montana album, I swear to god…"

Will finally brought the laptop down and dumped it on the bed-spread. Merlin stared perplexed at the purple web-page open before him.

"The Raven?" He asked, turning to Will uncertainly, "What's this?"

"You've never heard of it?" Will asked, disbelievingly, "There are ads for it everywhere."

Merlin stared at the computer screen. The page was cluttered with white boxes filled with text, above which hung the title written in calligraphic black lettering. The namesake bird was perched on the 'n', staring down at the tagline:The Raven will show you the way.

Merlin snorted, "The Raven will show you the way? To what? The loser who came up with that line?"

He reached for the laptop, but Will grabbed it from the bed.

"I'm not done creating your profile yet." He said, matter-of-factly.

"My what?"

"Your profile. This is a pen-pal website."

"Huh?"

Merlin leaned over Will to get a better look at the screen.

"Basically," Will continued, the keys chattering beneath his fingers, "you make a profile about yourself. Sort of like an ad for yourself, if you will. Then you post your email address. People who want to be your pen pal will email you, and you can send a few emails back and forth to see if you get along. If you don't, you hang back and wait for someone else to email you. But if you do get along, you remove your profile, essentially showing the world that you have found your pen pal soulmate."

"That doesn't sound too… I'm a girl?" Merlin yelped.

Will had started creating the profile, but it wasn't about Merlin. It was about an 18 year old girl who sounded extremely dramatic. It wouldn't have bothered Merlin, except that 'she' had his email address.

"What is this crap? Give me that…" Merlin dove for the laptop again, but Will managed to grab it in time.

"You know I always get my way with these things," He said, smirking at him.

Merlin knew it was true. There was no one in Albion more stubborn than Will. So he huffed and fell back into the pillows, fuming silently as Will typed away, breaking into giggles at regular intervals. After a few moments, the computer was shoved proudly into Merlin's hands and he read the profile slowly, groaning as he realized that Will had already submitted it to the site.

Girl, 18.

A wild-eyed dreamer.

Abandoned, Forsaken, Forlorn.

No one understands me. Am I speaking another language?

I'm a melancholic alcoholic, trapped in the neon colours of my mind.

I just want someone to talk to. Someone to sympathise with me. Someone to care for me and think about me and hold my hand while I take flight and defy the rules. Someone.

Someone.

I need someone.

"Lost and snared in the twilight forest of your mind

Strangling claustrophobia, losing your sense of time

Besieged by people, yet consumed by isolation.

Hollow thoughts, empty dreams, a mental stagnation."

Merlin was giggling by the time he finished reading the profile. He'd always claimed that Will had a talent for coming up with the most absurd ways to alleviate his boredom, and this just proved it.

Unfortunately, the repercussions of Will's boredom-induced antics always ended up affecting Merlin. Like the time Will had 'friended' random people on Merlin's facebook, so that he was constantly getting bizarre messages from odd people. Or when he'd tried to do tie and dye and ended up colouring all of Merlin's socks bright pink. Not to mention the time Merlin's first and only girlfriend, Freya, had found the Hannah Montana album Will had downloaded on to Merlin's computer and made him watch all four seasons with her.

"Seriously Will?" Merlin asked, turning to his grinning friend.

It was obvious that Will's ridiculous profile would only attract weirdos. His so-called 'best friend' had basically made sure that his inbox would be plagued with emails from overly dramatic, mournful people for the next few months.

"Abandoned, Forsaken, Forlorn?" Merlin asked, disbelievingly.

"I just looked up the word 'alone' in the thesaurus," Will said, chuckling. "Didn't you like the melancholic alcoholic bit? It rhymes!"

Merlin shook his head, trying to seem pissed but was unable to hide a smile.

"Hey, It's not completely made up," Will pointed out. "I put that poem you wrote in it."

"Yeah, I noticed."

The last four lines of the profile was from a poem on Merlin's blog. It was a very simple poem. One of his worst - in Merlin's opinion - but it came to him on a day he felt particularly alienated from the rest of the townspeople. He had left it on his blog because he felt like it managed to capture, in a very raw way, what he was feeling at the time. As usual, Will had read it, laughed and called Merlin a powder puff. He'd always thought Merlin's poetry was 'lame'… which was probably why he made sure to put some in the profile.

"Bloody hell, Will, now my email address is out there for the whole world to see. What if someone we know sees the profile?"

Will's mouth dropped open in feigned surprise, "You know other people!?"

Merlin stuck his tongue out at him and Will laughed.

"Relax. You'll get a bunch of weird replies, we'll laugh over them and then delete them. No big deal. I'm hungry. Are any of those cookies your mom made still there?"

The first few chapters are kind of an introduction, but it will pick up.
Please review! I'd love to know what you think.