Disclaimer: I do not own Merlin or any of the characters. If I did, I'd lock Merlin and Arthur in a room and say "You're not coming out until you admit your love for each other, damnit!"

Story: In an attempt to challenge myself I am writing from Arthur's POV instead of Merlin's like I usually do. I have taken eight words, chosen at random from a dictionary, and made a story about how those eight things bring Arthur and Merlin together.

NECKERCHIEF

"Now, Merlin, are you sure you've got enough socks?"

"Yes, Gaius, don't worry, I'll be fine, really."

"Alright, alright, I'll leave you to finish packing," Gaius said, leaving Merlin alone with his thoughts.

His first trip with Arthur. Merlin had fallen ill shortly before the trip to Cendred, and Arthur, Morgana and Gwen had had to go without him. Luckily, some more business had come up two weeks later which meant Uther had to return to Cendred, this time Merlin was well and could go with them.

As Merlin folded up his red neckerchief to put in his bag, pleasant memories had come back – how sad Arthur had looked when he had gone to visit Merlin and Gaius had told him that Merlin was definitely in no fit state to go on the visit. And when they had got back, Morgana and Gwen had come to see him, at this point he was out of bed, though still slightly weak and sickly, and Gwen gave him some flowers she had picked from Cendred, while Morgana told him that Arthur had talked about him constantly on the visit and acted "like a wet rag" without Merlin by his side.

It hadn't occurred to Merlin that another trip might come up, and he felt a nervous anticipation at the thought of being alone with Arthur so often. Things had changed between them now, they'd grown a lot closer, and it was becoming clearer to those around them that Arthur was treating Merlin less like a servant, even though he still had to order Merlin to do things to avoid arousing Uther's suspicions.

"Merlin! You're going to be late if you don't get a move on!" Gaius called.

Hastily cramming everything in his bag, Merlin made a clumsy dash towards the stables where everyone else would be, calling to Gaius to look after Midnight for him.

"You took your time. I thought you weren't coming," Arthur said quietly to Merlin who had arrived next to him, as Uther loudly called to the crowd, assigning them to horses.

"I lost track of time. I'm not a very good packer."

"Evidently," Arthur said, pushing a shirt into Merlin's bag where it had been hanging out. Keeping his eyes to the front, he took Merlin's hand in his briefly. Merlin kept his eyes to the front too, but a smile was on his face.

It had been planned, by Morgana who was the most efficient of the four, that they would travel round the kingdom, showing Merlin the sights he had missed last time. And they did have a fun day, visiting the various cathedrals, and markets and landmarks. Arthur may have been recognised by some in Cendred as the prince of Camelot, and so there was no hand holding or PDAs, not that Merlin was a PDA kind of guy anyway. It took the pressure off slightly, making it easier for them to have fun, but he couldn't deny at points that he felt annoyed at not being able to touch Arthur.

Morgana and Gwen picked up on this, and when Arthur had gone off to find them some lunch (they sent him because he was a man and "Yes, we know Merlin's a man too but we're showing him the sights!") they cornered Merlin on the matter.

"So Uther still doesn't know about the two of you?" Gwen said, the worry in her voice reflecting her fear of the King. It wasn't surprising – Morgana and Arthur were probably the only two people in the entire kingdom of Camelot who didn't fear him.

"No. I mean, Arthur is afraid to tell him, I think. He's expected to marry a woman of noble blood."

"So to be involved with a male servant goes against that," Morgana finished.

Their conversation finished at this point as Arthur returned. And Merlin was secretly glad for he didn't really want to dwell on the forbidden nature of his relationship with Arthur, the idea that Uther might force Arthur to end it was too painful to bear.

After a long day of sightseeing, even Morgana became weary, and they all rode back to Cendred's castle, in which the king had kindly made arrangements for them to stay. However, the royals had been given a separate part of the castle to stay in than their respective servants such as Merlin and Gwen. They even ate at separate times.

However, just before they parted, Arthur pressed a note into Merlin's hand, which he slipped into his pocket. Neither Gwen or Morgana noticed this as they were having a goodbye hug.

I'll sneak into your room tonight, but you'll have to leave something on the door handle so I know which room is yours

Arthur

Merlin traced his finger over the princely scrawl, and willed the sun to set faster. Once the darkness had finally arrived over Cendred he placed his red neckerchief over the door handle and closed the door. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but the fresh air and walking all day had worn him out...

"Merlin! Merlin."

"Arthur?" It took a moment for everything to come back to Merlin as he sat up on the bed, rubbing his eyes and yawning.

"No, don't sit up," Arthur said, pushing Merlin back down and climbing over him. "I've wanted to do this all day," he said, and began kissing Merlin.

"Well, I'm definitely awake now," Merlin commented, once Arthur ended the kiss and allowed him to sit up. He glanced out the window and saw the sky was pitch black but for numerous dots of light from stars.

"It'll just be me and you tomorrow, Morgana and Gwen wanted to spend the day on their own." He hesitated at Merlin's shock. "Is that...alright?"

"Yeah, yeah, that's great," Merlin smiled. "Morgana's sightseeing is a bit tiring anyway."

"Merlin, I want to tell my father about us. When we get back to Camelot. Will you be there with me?"

"Yeah," Merlin nodded. "Don't you think maybe we should wait a bit longer though?"

"I know...how I feel, Merlin," Arthur said in a low voice. He reached for Merlin's hand, took it in his, and looked Merlin in the eyes. "I love you."

Rendered speechless, Merlin managed to exhale, shock and happiness altering his features. "I...I love you too," he replied, and the relief and happiness was also evident on Arthur's face.

"You don't, have to say it back just because I said it you know," he told Merlin.

"No, I mean it, I do," Merlin said. "I love you, Arthur Pendragon."

They sat in silence for a while, just holding hands, then Arthur spoke up, his voice rough with vulnerability, love and desire, and fear of rejection.

"Merlin?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I stay here tonight?"

His heart beating faster and faster, Arthur couldn't tear his eyes from Merlin as the black haired boy blushed and lowered his eyes, obviously not expecting the question and not knowing what to say. Maybe he shouldn't have asked. Was it too soon? They had been a couple for a month, but friends for much longer, and then there had been that period of time where they were something in between. He loved Merlin, but his desire to make love to the servant boy was growing every day, and the way Merlin had kissed Arthur had always indicated his desire was as strong.

Finally, Merlin spoke, relieving the tense silence. "I'd like that, Arthur." He pulled Arthur down on top of him and they began to kiss, Arthur not holding back his desire to possess Merlin as it was unlikely anyone would walk in on them.

As desperate as he was to make love to Merlin, Arthur was a kind and gentle lover, wanting to limit Merlin's pain as much as possible when he entered him, though almost as amazing as being inside Merlin for Arthur was feeling the whole of Merlin's naked body against his own, and both men couldn't repress their shudder of delight at the skin-to-skin contact. Arthur rubbed his clammy palms up against Merlin's back, burying himself into Merlin's neck to kiss it over and over.

"Merlin..." He breathed, dragging out the man's name with an exhalation. They kissed again, a rough, passionate kiss, but Arthur broke off sooner than he'd intended as a spasm of pleasure rocked through him. "Could you...do that again?" He requested softly.

They rolled over, and his head over Arthur's shoulders, Merlin closed his eyes and began to repeat the clenching action he had done earlier as a reaction to Arthur saying his name in such an aroused manner. Though Arthur hadn't realised this turned Merlin on, as Merlin clenched, he gasped and moaned and shuddered his name again, and soon both boys were panting for breath, as Arthur rolled Merlin over again and drove into him, his eyes closed. All he could think as the sensations rocked him was 'I'm making love to Merlin at last and it feels amazing.'