"Do we have to go?" Merlin asked, tugging at his shirt.
"I'm afraid so, Merlin." Arthur chuckled, batting Merlin's hands away and straightening the shirt.
"Why?" Merlin whined, much to Arthur's amuse.
"We promised Morgana we would at least come and greet her."
"But I hate parties. She knows I hate parties." Merlin grumbled, which made Arthur laugh.
"It's their housewarming, Merlin. Besides Gwen would be so disappointed if we don't come."
"But..."
"For Gwen, Merlin." Merlin sighed, resting his head against Arthur's chest.
"Only shortly then."
"Merlin! Arthur!" Morgana said enthousiastically when her friends entered their house. "How good of you to have come."
"What a nice place, sister." Arthur said, hugging her.
"Thank you. I'm surprised you managed to convince Merlin to come."
"Im only here because I promised to come." Merlin grumbled, accepting the hug morgana offered.
"Oh, cheer up, will you? Some people from highschool are here, maybe you'll enjoy seeing some of them again."
"I highly doubt it." Merlin muttered. Morgana laughed.
"Where's my sister in law?" Arthur asked.
"Gwen's in the kitchen." Morgana replied.
"Okay, let's go to the kitchen then. See you later, Morgana." Arthur said, taking Merlin by the hand. They made their way through the livingroom to the kitchen were they found Guinevere chatting away with Mithian, an old school friend.
"Hello Gwen," Merlin said, entering the kitchen.
"Oh hello, Merlin, Arthur. How good of you to have come." Gwen said, smiling at them.
"I had to, he made me." Merlin pouted, which made everyone laugh.
"We'renot staying long." Arthur rolled his eyes. Then he met the eyes of an old friend and smirked. "Well, well, if it isn't Miss football champion." Arthur said, approaching the girls.
"Pendragon," Mithian nodded, a smile appearing on her face. "Still pissed that I beat you in football?"
"You didn't beat me, I let you win." Arthur said defiantly.
"Yeah, he's still pissed." Merlin whispered loudly. Arthur made a protest noise, which Merlin ignored.
"Merlin, how good to see you." Mithian said, her smile growing wider.
"You too, Mithian. How've you been?"
"Oh, you know." She shrugged. "Me and elena are trying to find an apartment."
"So you're still together? How lovely." Merlin smiled.
"We are, we're very happy." Mithian blushed.
"I'm glad." Merlin smiled at her, before glancing at Arthur who was in a conversation with Gwen.
"So, you and Arthur are still close?" Mithian asked.
"We are." Merlin nodded. "As close as ever, right Arthur?"
"Sorry love, what were you saying?" Arthur turned to look at Merlin.
"Arthur." Merlin whined punching his arm lightly. "You ruined it, I wanted to take the piss." He sighed. Arthur chuckled, pulling Merlin into a side hug.
"I'm sorry, love. It's a reflex, I can't help it." He said apologetically.
"You're a couple?" Mithian asked, her face lighting up.
"Married, actually." Now it was Merlin's turn to blush. "We wanted to invite you to the wedding, but you were abroad, apparently."
"Yeah, me and Elena wanted to move abroad for a few years." Mithian nodded. "But now that we're back, we want to settle down, get an apartment, maybe get married, that kind of stuff."
"That's lovely, I hope you find an apartment soon. We should grab a coffee sometime and catch up." Merlin said. "We're not planning to stay very long today."
"I get it." Mithian nodded. "Still don't like parties?"
"Yep." Merlin replied. She nodded again.
"We should definitely meet up some time, I'm curious to hear about your life since high school."
"I'll text you later then." Merlin smiled.
"Great." Mithian replied. Merlin leaned onto Arthur's shoulder and whispered to him.
"Can we leave?"
"We just arrived, love." Arthur laughed.
"You know I'm not fond of parties." Merlin pouted.
"Can we stay a little longer? I heard some boys from the football team are here and I want to see them." Arthur asked, using those stupid puppy eyes of his. Merlin sighed fondly.
"Alright then."
♧
"You have got to be kidding." Merlin groaned.
"What?" Arthur asked, confused.
"Vivian is here." Merlin sighed.
"Who?" Arthur frowned.
"An old classmate of us. You remember that blonde girl that had this huge crush on you? She used to follow you around."
"Oh right! Vivian. I remember her." Arthur laughed. "God, she used to follow me everywhere."
"I hated it, she was so annoying." Merlin rolled his eyes.
"You just hated the fact that she liked me because you did too." Arthur smirked.
"No. That was merely an annoying factor adding up with the other ones." Merlin said glaring over Arthur's shoulder. Arthur frowned at him, but before he could ask, someone came up to them.
"Arthur," a woman said. Arthur turned to face her, realising it was Vivian.
"Vivian," he said, nodding shortly.
"It's been so long since I last saw you. How have you been?" She asked, her voice sugar sweet.
"Just fine, thank you." Arthur replied. He wasn't interested in a conversation with her, remembering how annoying and rude she used to be, espcially to Merlin. "How have you been?" He asked, purely out of courtesy.
"Very well, thank you." She smiled sweetly, but as she looked on the right of Arthur, her face fell into a sneer.
"Ah, Merlin," Vivian sneered, nose turned up. "Still following Arthur around, I see. I wonder what his wife thinks of that." Arthur clenched his jaw, ready to step in, but Merlin raised a hand to stop him.
"First of all, that's Mr. Pendragon to you." He replied casually, smirking at the look of horror that came over her face. "Second of all, not sure. Let me ask. Merlin? Yes Merlin? What do you think about you following Arthur around? I think it's wrong. Why, Merlin? Because he's the one following me around." Arthur chuckled at this.
"He is right, you know." He put his arm around Merlin's waist, pulling him close. "Well, it was good to see you, Vivian. But we must be off now. Goodbye." Arthur smiled at the still shocked looking Vivian and walked away, arm still around Merlin's waist.
"God she's still as awful as in high school." Arthur muttered as they left the room, making Merlin laugh.
"I did enjoy the look on her face when she realised we were married, though." He chuckled. Arthur pulled him closer.
"It was rather enjoyable, indeed." He agreed.
"Can we go home now?" Merlin asked, leaning into Arthur's side.
"Yes," Arthur spoke. "Let's go home."