A/N : Hi everybody! So, here's a new Merlin/Arthur friendship story that will consist of several chapter - don't know how many yet, I'll let my fingers take me there.. The story is set some time after the season finale (about two weeks, I reckon), and it's about Arthur finding out about Merlin's gifts, and Merlin runs. But when Arthur is in trouble, he has to find a way back - somehow.

Please tell me what you think? Reviews mean the world to me!

Xo, as always

Merlin

Merlin looked at the outlines of his self-made hut, which, despite the use of magic, didn't look all that stable. He longed to be back inside the walls of Camelot, living in the attic with Gaius, his small but comfortable bed sheltering him from the harshness of the earth. Gaius had insisted to come with him, but Merlin had shaken his head resolutely and asked the man to stay. Gaius' life was in Camelot, serving the king – keeping Arthur safe from the possible physical aches he might suffer.

Arthur. It hurt Merlin to even think of his friend, knowing the pain he had caused. Arthur might try to act as if he didn't care about Merlin any more than a master would care for his servant, but neither of them bought the act anymore. On the stoney beach of Gedref, Arthur had been willing to lay down his life for Merlin – and when the young boy had been poisoned, it had been Arthur's choice to search for the flower, knowing full well that he would be disobeying his father, yet again. Knowing it was dangerous.

"Sounds like fun." He had said, before mounting his horse and walking straight into a trap, a web spun by Nimueh where her eager friends were waiting. Merlin had been able to sense the danger from miles away and watched in agony as Arthur's hands reached for the flower, knowing he was losing precious time.

This is how Merlin repayed him. Acting on pure instinct, he had protected Arthur from the creature when it came for him, out in the open field. He had felt his own body shift, his hand outstretched towards the animal, and his lips had moved out of their own volition. The assailant had disappeared in a haze of blueish light, but Arthur hadn't even noticed. His gaze had turned to Merlin the moment he had spoken in the language he now was so very fluent at, and his eyes had widened at the sight of his servant, portraying the skills of a most dreaded enemy.

Merlin couldn't bring himself to try and identity the emotion in that gaze, but he had a pretty good idea what it had been. Anger. Hurt. Fear.

"I'm sorry, Arthur." He had quitely mumbled before turning around, breaking into a frenzied run. Arthur never called for him.

If there was one thing Merlin didn't want, it was to put Arthur in that place, where he would have to chose between killing Merlin or turning a blind eye and overruling the very law that held his father's kingdom together. So he packed his bags and left a note stating a false explanation for why he could no longer be Arthur's sidekick. Something about his mother being ill, and that he had to go back to her, because she was the only family he had left.

Arthur was like a brother to him.

"You don't have to do this, Merlin." Gaius' voice had been soft, gentle – trying to ease the burden he knew now rested on the young boy's shoulders. It didn't work, it only increased his resentment towards himself. "Maybe there's another way."

He'd shaken his head. "There's no other way out of this mess, Gaius, and you know as well as I do that I could be executed before this day has passed. I won't put Arthur in that place."

"Then I will come with you.."

"No." A hand was placed on Gaius' shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "It will make Uther more suspicious, and I can't have your life be questioned as well as mine. Just…" he sighed, defeatedly, "just take care of him until I find a way to come back. Until I'm sure he'll let me."

So now he lay on the soft peat moss, staring through the cracks in his roof, smiling as he saw the small lights in the darkness watching over him. He would be safe here, for a while.

-

Arthur

He hadn't known that there would come a time in his life when he had so much emotion raging in his body that it neutralized his entire being. He felt numb as he sat at his table, watching the faceless nobody serve his meal, placing it in front of him with a deep bow.

"Promise me something : if you get another servant, don't get a boot licker."

A boot licker was exactly what he wanted, and exactly what he would get. No one he had ever met in his entire life had called his bluff as often as Merlin had, and no one had ever had the nerve to call him a prat. Much less a royal one.

A small smile appeared around his lips. Merlin had kept him grounded, centered. Merlin was a warlock.

The goofy grin disappeared as quickly as it had come. Merlin had lied to him, in the worst way possible. Despite the fact that he had promised not to. "I wouldn't lie to you."

He wondered who the bigger fool was : Merlin, for thinking he could keep his secret from Arthur until the day he died, or himself – not being able to see treachery right in front of his eyes. This had not been, no doubt, the first time his friend had ever practised magic, nor would it be the last. Unless his life were taken from him.

For what seemed the millionth time in his life, Arthur felt the weight of reality crushing him. He had always painted Merlin as the dreamer, the carefree wanderer who had left his home searching for a place where he fit in, but now it seemed that all this time, he had been carrying around a great secret, that he couldn't share with anyone.

The spoon he held in his hand dropped to the floor, and the servant hurried to pick it up. He motioned the boy not to, for all that remained of his appetite had disappeared. There was one person Merlin would have been able to trust at all time, never fearing rejection or imminent death.

Gaius.

-

He stormed into the attic without even bothering to knock, knowing that there wasn't anything he could find there that would surprise him anymore. For goodness sake, all he had been able to uncover the last time he had searched these quarters had been a cupboard. Pointing it out to Merlin as yet another reprimand for his clumsiness.

"What I don't understand," he started, his voice rising, "is how he ever deluded himself into thinking I would never find out."

At Gaius' befuddled look, he raised his eyebrows sceptically. "Please don't pretend you don't know what I'm talking about, physician. I could have you thrown in jail for that simple fact alone."

"My lord." Gaius bowed slightly, meaning to show respect for the young prince, knowing he had earned it, time and time again. "I apologize for the deception, but Merlin's life was…is, at stake. He means very much to me, sire."

"So much you were willing to risk your own life – knowing you could be executed for giving comfort to a young warlock?" The answer was clearly written in the old man's eyes. Yes.

Arthur shook his head violently. "I don't understand you people."

"Merlin is the son I never had, sire. I couldn't not give him all the comfort I had to offer."

Sure. Well, okay – that made sense, at least. Arthur was glad to discover some sense of logic in all this madness. "…and as his pseudo-father, I suppose you don't have a clue as to where he is at the moment?"

Gaius shook his weary head. "No, I don't. And Arthur, this time you have to believe me, for I am telling you the truth. In his note to you he said he went home to his mother's village, but you and I both know that Ealdor is not the place where he currently resides."

Sick of having people make assumptions about what he did and did not know, Arthur snapped. "And exactly how do we know that, Gaius? Because I don't think I know Merlin anymore. Maybe I never did." He turned his face to the walls, staring up at the small window, looking to the clear, open sky.

"Because that's the first place the executioner would look for him. He fears for his life, and there are many things he has yet to do. Many paths along which he must travel."

"To fit in." Arthur mumbled, hoping the old man's ears weren't what they used to be. Merlin was just looking for a place to fit in, with friends who didn't have the power to end his life at every possible second. Friends like Will, who would accept him as he was, completely. Ending up as Arthur's servant was probably the worst, most dangerous thing that had ever happened to him.

"My father knows nothing of this. I suggest you keep your secret for a little while longer, old man." He stalked out of the room in large strides, needing to feel confident again – needing to feel worthy. He had already neared the door when Gaius spoke up again.

"He asked me to tell you he was sorry. That ending up at your side was the best fortune ever to befall him."

Arthur's fingers touched the hardwood, slowly trailing his hand up and down the door. His head moved from side to side almost unnoticeably, as he struggled to keep the small sigh inside of his chest.

-

Merlin

It was on the fifth night away from home that he finally identified the feeling that had been building up inside of him ever since he had left Camelot. It wasn't merely homesickness that tore inside of his guts, it was the dreaded feeling of something amiss.

The feeling that had been there every single time Arthur had been in danger – it was there, more powerful than ever, when he rode to the isle of the blessed, and it had returned to him this evening.

There was trouble ahead, and he needed to be there to stop it.

Please tell me what you think? Please review? If you do, I'll post the next chapter asap.

Love,

Maesíde