The first day of summer dawns bright and cheerful… and Merlin is utterly miserable. He knows what the first day of summer means – the summer quest. Four weeks of running around after Arthur and his knights as they chase down whatever catches their fancy.

It's no ordinary hunting, the summer quest – this is a hunting trip for creatures of magic. They invariably end up killing something beautiful and defenceless, and Merlin is never able to save it. His spirits drop further as he sees Arthur walking across the courtyard. He could have pretended he was sick and gotten out of the quest… if it wasn't for Arthur. Though he never said it, Merlin knows that Arthur wants him there, and Merlin can't refuse Arthur anything.

Merlin shoves the last of Arthur's tunics into the bag and leaves his chambers, heading for the stables to prepare his horse. He dodges Arthur on the way, his eyes on Jack, hovering in the shadows. Merlin reaches out for Jack, who pulls him into the shadows.

"I'll miss you," the stable hand whispers, planting a kiss on Merlin's mouth.

"I'll miss you too," Merlin says honestly. He knows he's not being fair to Jack. In truth, all he will miss about Jack is the distraction he provides. Merlin ignores his scruples and kisses Jack, allowing himself to focus solely on the physical, forgetting all of his other problems.

They jump apart when a crash sounds just outside the stable door. Arthur is standing only a few feet away, his feet covered in water from the bucket he just dropped. For a second, Merlin thinks he sees something flicker across Arthur's face, but it is gone too quickly to be sure. Then Arthur's face goes brick red.

"What do you think you're doing!" he yells at his servant. He strides forward and yanks the two of them apart, shoving the stable boy roughly into the wall, feeling a wave of satisfaction when the boy winces.

"What – what do you mean?" Merlin stammers, not meeting his eyes, blushing.

"What part of 'get the horses ready' did you think means 'kiss the stable boy'?" Arthur yells in his face. "Do you think this is what I pay you for? You're a lazy, useless, sloppy servant, Merlin, and you're lucky I don't get rid of you right now."

Merlin is frozen before him, looking like he's trying to hold back tears.

"Just get out of my sight," Arthur says, turning away from Merlin, fuming. Merlin doesn't need telling twice. He turns and runs.

Arthur turns back to the stable boy. "And you. If I ever see you near my servant again, you'll be in the stocks all summer, do you understand?"

"Y – yes sire," the boy stammers. Arthur storms off.

He doesn't get far before he is intercepted on the steps by Morgana. "What was that, Arthur?" she demands, looking scary.

"What do you mean?" he mutters angrily.

"What did you just assault poor boy for?" she says, following him as he tries to get away.

"He was with Merlin," Arthur growls, fighting the urge to go back and give the boy a good beating.

"So what? Why should you care? Since when do you have any claim on what Merlin does with his personal life?"

Arthur opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. "Look, Morgana, I don't have time for this," he spits. "I need to get ready for the quest."

"You'll push him away, you know," Morgana calls to his retreating back, but Arthur ignores her, too busy trying to block out her earlier words to hear. He slows, leaning against a windowsill, thinking. If he's really honest with himself, she has a point. He has no reason to be mad at Merlin for who he sees. It's not like Merlin did anything wrong, really…

He's my friend, Arthur argues with himself. He should have told me. Why exactly he expected Merlin to tell him, he's not sure, but it feels almost like a betrayal that Merlin never mentioned the stable boy before.

Unable to find a satisfactory answer as to why Merlin's rendezvous bothers him so much, Arthur settles for punching the wall as hard as he can. The corresponding pain has him sorely regretting it, but at least it takes his mind off things.

Merlin rushes to the kitchens to get food for Arthur's lunch, trying to pull himself together. There's no reason for him to be upset that Arthur saw him with Jack. After all, it's not like Arthur will ever return Merlin's feelings; why shouldn't Merlin distract himself? And if Arthur sees, it's not like it will make any difference.

Still, Merlin can't help feeling guilty, like he's betrayed his love for Arthur, one sided as it is. He doesn't understand why Arthur reacted like that. It's not like Merlin disappeared for a day or anything. A few minutes with Jack wasn't going to make him late, so why did Arthur care?

Maybe he's just in a bad mood, Merlin thinks, and taking it out on me as usual. Yes, that's probably it.

Merlin hates it when Arthur is angry with him for whatever reason. He yearns to take Arthur into his arms and whisper comforting things in his ear, but he knows Arthur would never allow it – Merlin would probably be banished for even thinking such thing.

He forces a smile onto his face. Maybe if he is cheerful enough, it'll help ease Arthur's bad mood. He is humming when he brings in Arthur's lunch, hoping that it's enough to mask his melancholy.

When Merlin walks in, Arthur looks at him only briefly before turning away. Merlin is smiling brightly, but Arthur can still tell that he's upset. He knows Merlin too well for his servant to be able to hide things from him.

Guilt washes over Arthur. Should he apologise? No, he can't apologise to a servant. He'll do something to cheer him up, though.

"Sit down," Arthur says as Merlin lays the tray on the table. Merlin hesitates before lowering himself onto a chair. By his expression, he expects to be shouted at again.

"I'm not that hungry," Arthur says, gesturing to the large plate of food. "You'll have to help me finish it."

Merlin's eyes widen. "Are you sure, sire?"

"Yes, Merlin," Arthur says, rolling his eyes. "Just eat."

A smile tugs at the corners of Arthur's mouth as he watches the incredulous joy spread across Merlin's face. Merlin seldom eats food this good; it's clear that he's very pleased with the treat. Arthur picks at his food, still pondering Morgana's words. He wonders if he should talk to Merlin about the incident earlier, but decides against it. Now that Merlin seems more cheerful, Arthur doesn't want to ruin it by bringing it up.

Seeing Merlin's bright, genuine smile, Arthur's spirits lift slightly and he puts the conversation with Morgana from his mind, digging into his food with more enthusiasm.

A couple of hours later, the party is leaving for the month-long hunt. Merlin rides behind Arthur as usual. The knights who chose to come this year follow behind. Arthur holds the compass, following carefully.

His father never told him where the compass came from, but it has proved invaluable in the summer quest. The compass points, not north, but towards the closest beast of magic. All they need to do is follow it.

As the day goes on, Merlin babbles as usual. Arthur smiles to himself, remembering how boring these quests were before Merlin came along. He glances up at the sky, surprised to see storm clouds forming. Evidently, summer isn't as over as they had thought.

"Merlin," he calls.

"Yes, sire?" Merlin rides up next to him.

"I want you to ride ahead, see if there's a place for us to make camp. I don't want to be riding when that storm hits."

"Alright," Merlin says brightly. Arthur shifts his reins and winces slightly as the hand he hit the wall with gets jostled.

"What is it?" Merlin asks.

"Nothing," Arthur mutters.

"Let me see." Merlin doesn't give Arthur a chance to refuse, grabbing his hand and examining it gently. Merlin's heart rate picks up as it always does when he touches Arthur. He hopes Arthur doesn't notice. He looks closely at Arthur's hand. The knuckles are bruised, and Arthur holds his hand stiffly, as though moving it causes him pain.

"Why didn't you get Gaius to examine this before we left?" Merlin demands.

"It's nothing," Arthur says.

"How did you even do this?" Merlin murmurs, stroking his fingers over Arthur's hand. Arthur jerks his hand away and Merlin blushes, realising too late what he was doing.

"It's nothing," Arthur says, sounding embarrassed.

However, Merlin won't shut up until Arthur tells him. Finally, Arthur gives in. "I hit a wall," he admits.

"Why?"

"Merlin – just go ahead and try to find a campsite, ok?" Arthur says impatiently.

"Clotpole," Merlin mutters.

"Idiot," Arthur shoots back, but he's not sure Merlin hears him.

Merlin rides with his eyes peeled for a likely looking spot, his mind full of Arthur. What did the stupid prat hit a wall for? It's not like Merlin can just heal him with magic – not if he wants to keep his head. He starts looking around for herbs. Gaius isn't here, so Merlin will just have to do the best he can without him.

By the time they have finished setting up camp, a light drizzle is falling. Merlin makes sure Arthur has everything he needs before rushing out to collect herbs to help with Arthur's hand. The drizzle gets heavier and heavier until it is pouring and Merlin is soaked.

"Merlin, why are you all wet?" Arthur demands as a shivering Merlin pushes through his tent flap.

"It's raining, you prat," Merlin says, clearly grouchy.

Arthur bites back a harsh retort and watches as Merlin grabs one of his bowls and starts grinding stuff up in it. "What are you doing?" Merlin ignores him until he has a fine paste in the bowl.

"Here," he says, reaching for Arthur's injured hand. He is surprisingly gentle as he spreads the paste all over the sore knuckles. A lump forms in Arthur's throat as he watches. Merlin is shivering, soaked to the bone – as he surely knew he would be, going out in the rain like that – but he still did, just to get some herbs to ease Arthur's pain.

Arthur sighs in relief as the ache lessens, almost vanishes.

"Thanks, Merlin," he says. Merlin looks surprised, but smiles happily. He makes to leave the tent, but Arthur grabs his arm. "What do you think you're doing?"

"I was going to go to sleep – unless you need anything else?"

Arthur rolls his eyes. "You're not going outside again, you'll just get even more soaked. You'll sleep here tonight."

Merlin looks at him with wide eyes.

"Well come on, get those wet clothes off," Arthur says impatiently. "I'll lend you a tunic until tomorrow – we can hang your things by the fire so that they dry overnight."

Merlin is still looking at Arthur with panic clearly written all over his face. Sleep with Arthur? No, he can't deal with it. He's going to mess up, say or do something he shouldn't. It's already hard enough to be close to Arthur in the day. He's about to say no when he sees Arthur shiver slightly, Arthur is also cold, despite the fire. Merlin can hardly let him stay here cold and alone, can he?

Merlin keeps his back to Arthur while getting changed into the spare tunic. He inhales deeply, trying not to let Arthur see. Arthur's tunic smells amazing.

He turns, shaking with what he hopes Arthur assumes is cold, to see Arthur already in bed. Merlin forces his feet forward and forces his imagination back. Arthur's cold and you're a warm body, that's all it is, he tells himself firmly. When he climbs into bed with Arthur, he can't stop himself sighing at finally being there. True, the circumstances aren't what he would have wanted, but this is the closest he's ever likely to get.

Arthur hesitates before wrapping one arm around Merlin. Merlin seems to sink into him, sighing softly. He's still shivering, but his body beside Arthur's is oddly warm and comforting. Arthur shakes his head slightly, trying to shake out the fuzzy thoughts that are jangling around in the back of his mind.

Merlin is tense at first, but as Arthur's breathing evens out, his does, too. Arthur does not sleep well, for he is plagued by confusing dreams about Merlin, dreams he can't make any sense of. He wakes with a start in the middle of the night. Merlin has turned over in his sleep and his face is nuzzled into Arthur's shoulder. This should make Arthur uncomfortable, but for some reason, it doesn't. He sighs, wrapping his arms around Merlin, and drifts back to sleep.

Please read and review! This is only my second fan fiction, so any feedback is much appreciated! :)