Merlin doesn't notice when the others come back at night or when they leave in the morning. As he looks around, he assumes Gwaine hasn’t been in the whole night judging by the untouched bed.

He gets dressed, brushes his teeth using water from a bottle, too lazy to go to the communal bathroom and sets out for breakfast.

As soon as he enters the room he gets ambushed by Arthur who throws an arm over his shoulders and whispers into his ear.

“Finally! I thought I'd go crazy in here.”

Merlin glances in the direction of the table Arthur came from and sees Gwen with Lance feeding themselves from one plate and Morgana sat on Leon's lap, snogging the life off him. He doesn't see Gwaine though which is probably the cause of Arthur's distress. He isn't used to be a fifth wheel.

“Let go of me. I need to get my breakfast,” Merlin says, in truth wishing Arthur will never stop touching him.

Arthur pulls his arm away as if burnt.

“Do you want coffee or tea? Or juice?” he asks.

“Juice, please,” says Merlin.

“Orange or apple.”

“Orange,” he says and smiles at Arthur.

He fills his plate with a bit of everything. Arthur adds a glass of juice and a handful of grapes.

“What?” he asks as Merlin looks at him questioningly. “I notice things. You like grapes, don't you?”

Merlin nods, warmth spreading through his belly, even more so when Arthur grabs his tray and carries it towards their table.


* * *


The bus takes them to a tourist route leading through the forest. They will be on their own for a day, travelling through the national park Sumava, main attractions of their planned route being glacial lakes and a waterfall.

There’s no need to hurry so Merlin and Arthur choose their spot at the end of the whole group. They’ll be able to enjoy the nature better and use the time for conversation without worrying about eavesdroppers.

Merlin listens to Arthur explaining the football rules and rambling about the teams. Even Merlin's usual disinterest in sports is overcome by Arthur's enthusiasm.

They switch the topic to PC games later and then it’s Merlin's time to ramble. He goes on and on about Bioware and how awesome at making games they are, how great Mass Effect is and that he has played both volumes four times already. He starts showing Arthur pictures he has saved in his phone and then starts explaining the game mechanism.

“It all depends on your decisions. What you say, what you do, whose side you choose,” he says. “You can even date almost everyone on your crew. And they promised gay pairings to be available in the next one. Until now it’s been possible only with a little bit of game tampering.”

Merlin's brain catches up with his mouth and he blushes.

“Not that you would be interested in such a thing,” he mumbles with a nervous laugh.

“I don't know. I'm not much into sci-fi games,” Arthur says, avoiding the topic. “The only game I’ve played in last two years is The Witcher. I liked that one.”

“Yeah, it's great,” Merlin says, his eyes lighting up. “It took me weeks to get to the end. The story is so sophisticated. And the graphics... I had to lower the resolution and shut down some special effects to get it working without lagging, but it still looked bloody amazing.”

“Who did you choose to be your partner? Triss or Shani?” Merlin asks.

“Triss, of course. She is a pretty badass sorceress after all,” Arthur said.

“I say it all the time. There’s nothing to think about.”

“True,” Arthur says. “It was all for Geralt's good. She would be able to help him fight, then cast a healing spell, if needed, and probably would be good in bed too, you know, magic fingers and all.”

Arthur wriggles his own in front of Merlin's face, and they both burst into laughter.

“Gwaine was right, you have a very dirty mind,” Merlin says. “Anyway, have you know, that the second volume is out already?”

“I bought it two weeks ago, but haven't had time to play yet,” Arthur says.

“I thought about asking Mum to buy me one for my birthday, but I know how hard she works to earn the money, and she bought me a new phone for Christmas so I'll manage without it. There's so many more important things she can spend it on,” Merlin says with a smile. “I wouldn't exchange my Mum for anything.”

“Your Mum is awesome,” Arthur says. “When I think about my mother, I imagine her like yours. All I know about mine is how she looked, thanks to the photos my nanny gave me. And the sound of her voice from the recording. She made it when she was pregnant. She sang to me...”

Arthur's voice is thick with emotions.

Merlin feels his eyes sting with tears and notices that Arthur is looking down and away from him. He hears him letting out a shaky breath and Merlin puts a comforting hand on his forearm.

“Sorry,” Arthur mumbles.

“You don't have to apologize for being sad,” Merlin says gently.

They walk in silence for a while.

“Sometimes I cry for not knowing my Dad. He lost his job and was forced to leave when my mother was freshly pregnant. She didn't even know about it at the time. When she realized, she moved to Ealdor to live with her parents. She didn't want to be alone. She didn't have any address or phone number, so she couldn't let him know.”

Arthur takes Merlin's hand and squeezes gently. Merlin squeezes back and continues.

“I still hope I'll be able to meet him some day. It's one of my biggest dreams.”

Arthur is stroking the back of Merlin's hand with his thumb and Merlin thinks he might go crazy from how good it feels. He knows it’s just a gesture of sympathy, but it can't stop him from enjoying it thoroughly for the entire half an hour before the group stops for lunch.


* * *


Arthur takes off for the forest to, as he delicately puts it, take a piss, leaving Merlin to find them a spot. All the benches at the picnic tables are already full, so he settles on a log slightly aside from the group. Gwen appears beside him even before he opens his pack.

“What's with the hand-holding?” she asks.

“Nothing,” he says.

“Did Arthur tell you how much he loves you and that he wants to be with you forever?” Gwen says with a dreamy expression.

“What? No! We were just talking.”

“So you asked him out and he said yes,” she says, bouncing on the log.

“No! We talked about our absent parents, okay?” Merlin hisses at her.

“Oh... I'm sorry...” Gwen says and lays her arm over Merlin's forearm. “But you still looked cute.”

“I'm not some cuddly animal.”

“You so are.”

“I don't know why I put up with you,” Merlin says, face buried in his hands.

“Arthur's coming. I'll go back to Lance. He's got my lunch,” she says and goes without waiting for an answer.

* * *

Arthur truly emerges from the woods with a few other boys in tow. They talk to him and laugh and Arthur doesn't look happy at all. Merlin sees him turn around and snap at them and, judging by their fading smiles, Arthur is probably using his infamous glare. They start backing away from him and join the others at the tables.

Before Arthur can continue on his way, Vivian is by his side. She grabs him by the arm and drags him aside. She isn't yelling, but her body language indicates anger. Arthur stops her at some point and says just a few words. That’s when she slaps him and rushes to her friends without a single glance back.

“What was all that about?” Merlin asks him as soon as he sits down next to him.

“Vivian had a fit about the way I was treating her. That I was ignoring her all day and then holding hands with you. I told her she's not my girlfriend and never would be,” Arthur says with a grin.

“And the guys before?”

“They were laughing at us because of the hand-holding. I explained them that it's none of their business.”

“So, you don't regret it, then,” Merlin says, looking at the ground, suddenly finding the scattered leaves fascinating.

“Of course I don't. I wouldn't do it if I didn't want to.”

Merlin feels the familiar warm feeling spreading through him and smiles at Arthur, who watches him with a question in his eyes.

“You didn't mind, did you?” he asks.

“No, it was nice,” Merlin says quietly and feels his cheeks heating up.

Arthur takes his pack back from Merlin and fishes out his sandwiches.

“Eat your lunch. Can't let you waste away. I promised to your Mum, remember?” Arthur says with a poke to Merlin's side.

“You tell me at least three times a day. How could I forget?” Merlin says, but bites into his sandwich.

“Happy?” he says with his mouth full.

“Idiot,” Arthur says with a smile.


* * *


Merlin looks in the direction of the table, eyes widening in surprise.

“Morgana's sitting next to Val. What the hell?”

“I noticed too. I doubt it's coincidence,” Arthur says.

At that moment, Morgana makes a wide gesture with her arm, sending Valiant's opened bottle of water to the ground.

“Here we go,” Arthur says, looking absolutely unsurprised.

Then she starts apologizing to the git.

“What?” Merlin says, unable to believe what he’s seeing.

She fishes out her bottle and practically forces Valiant to take it.

“What?” Merlin says again when Arthur starts laughing beside him.

Merlin eyes him suspiciously.

“You'll see soon enough if she did what I think she did,” Arthur says before bursting into laughter again.


* * *


 They reach the first lake, Certovo (Devil's), about an hour later. Merlin is watching Valiant who’s been fidgeting for past ten minutes.

Gaius has his usual talk about the place. According to the legend, a girl tied a boulder to devil's tail and he made a huge valley dragging it behind. The valley filled with water, the devil couldn't outrun it and drowned. So they named the lake after him.


Valiant runs off into the forest before Gaius finishes speaking.

“See? I told you so,” Arthur says with a chuckle.

“Right, but it still doesn't explain what was in the bottle.”

“Isn't it obvious? Why would someone go to forest in such a haste?”

Merlin thinks about it for a sec.

“Oh god, she gave him a laxative?”

Arthur nods, laughing.

“Why does she even have it with her?” Merlin asks.

“Because it's Morgana. That's how she fights.”

“Remind me never to make her angry with me,” Merlin says and shudders at the thought.

“She has a soft spot for you,” Arthur says, patting his shoulder. “And I wouldn't let her do anything to you anyway.”


* * *


The second lake, Cerne (Black), and Valiant once again disappears into the forest during Gaius's talk. (The lake is called Black for its colour which is caused by the deep surrounding forests reflecting in it. It's the biggest glacial lake in the National park Sumava.)


Val is pale and this fact combined with his sudden trips to the woods get Morgause's attention. After a short discussion with Gaius, they come to the decision that she will take Val to the bus if he wanted to, skipping the visit of the waterfall. He takes the offer and a few others who are tired as well, join them.


* * *


Water is falling down, cascading over the rocks. Merlin can't tear his eyes away from the sight before him.


They are watching from an outlook, their group still too large to allow everyone their space at the railing. Arthur is standing behind Merlin, looking over his shoulder. He’s close enough for Merlin to feel the heat radiating from his body.

The crowd slowly dissipates until they’re the only one there. Arthur still does't move.

“Beautiful,” Merlin says and looks back at Arthur who is watching him with a soft expression.

“Yes,” Arthur says, but doesn't even glance in the direction of the waterfall.

Merlin's heart is beating impossibly fast.

“Come on, lovebirds, we're leaving,” Gwaine calls from behind, breaking the moment.

They pull away from each other.

“How was your night?” Merlin asks to overcome the silence.

“Amazing,” Gwaine says. “I think I'm in love.”

“Yeah, sure,” Arthur says with a derisive snort.

“Who is it then?” Merlin asks.

“Her name is Elena. She's perfect. She won the drinking game yesterday. I think we made out later.”

“Oh god, another one,” Arthur says with a sigh.

“No, this is different,” Gwaine insists. “We talked about soccer for hours. And then about Formula 1. She's practically a man with womanly bits.”

“I'm happy for you,” Merlin says with a grin.


* * *


Back in the camp, Morgana takes Merlin by his arm and drags him to her cabin. It’s empty. Gwen has already left for dinner.

She opens her laptop and turns its screen in Merlin's direction. There’s a photo from that morning of him and Arthur, both looking down, holding hands.

She clicks to go to the next photo. It was taken at the waterfall. Merlin is looking straight ahead and Arthur, standing really close behind, is watching him.

“Why are you showing me this?” he asks her.

“Arthur is my brother, not by blood but in my heart nonetheless,” she says. “He likes you and I know you like him. I'm glad you're finally getting it.”

Merlin nods reluctantly.

“But if you hurt him, I'll never forgive you,” she says, looking deadly serious.

Merlin gulps and the image of Val running off to the forest comes to his mind.

“I won't,” he says.

Morgana smiles at him.

“You don't have to look so scared, Merlin. I know you care about him. I told the same warning to Sophia, but she was stupid enough not to listen.”

“I thought that Arthur was the one to break things up,” Merlin says.

“Yes, he was. Their break-up wasn't what hurt him.”

“Then what was?” Merlin asks without thinking.

“I don't think I have the right to talk about this, but let's say she forced him to do stuff he wasn't ready for. Don't make the same mistake,” she says.

“I won't.”

“Good. Let's go get dinner.”


* * *


They go to play beach volleyball after the dinner. The boys (Arthur, Gwaine, Lance and Leon) against the girls (Gwen, Morgana, Elena and her friend Katy). Merlin is cheering from the side.

At first, it looks like girls won't be much of a competition, but soon they’re beating the crap out of the guys, and they win the first round.

Arthur takes off his T-shirt during the pause, rest of the team following his example, and Merlin finds it really hard to not stare and drool. If it is a plan to distract the enemy, it works pretty well. They win the second round.

The third one is even until the last minutes when the girls get their winning points.

“We let you win, right guys?” Arthur says.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Morgana says with a smirk, takes Leon by the hand and starts dragging him towards her cabin. “Enjoy the rest of the night,” she calls over her shoulder.

“I don't think I want to go there any time soon,” Gwen says after a short pause.

“I was thinking about a walk. Want to join me?” Lance asks.

Gwen nods enthusiastically.

“Anyone else?” Lance asks for a good measure, but nobody really wants to intrude.

“We're going to continue what we started yesterday, aren't we, ladies?” says Gwaine, holding both Elena and giggling Katy by the waist. “You can come with us.”

“No, thanks,” says Merlin. “Not good with alcohol as you know.”

Gwaine looks at Arthur expectantly.

“I'll stay out too. The evening's nice,” Arthur says.

“Yeah, sure, whatever,” Gwaine says with a shrug. “Just use protection, okay?” he adds.

Arthur rolls his eyes.

“Why didn't you go with them?” Merlin asks when they’re all gone.

“I meant it about evening being nice. Besides, there's not many places from which you can watch stars in London. There's too much light pollution.”

“It's too early for stargazing.”

“It won't be in an hour. I can go for a blanket and we could wait for it,” Arthur says.

“Okay,” Merlin says with a smile.


* * *


As Merlin finds out, Arthur knows quite a lot about night sky. He shows Merlin a few of the most known constellations, adding a story for each one of them.


* * *


Merlin is lying on his back on the blanket, Arthur sitting next to him, silently looking at the sky.

“How come you know so much about stars?” Merlin asks.

“It's kind of my hobby. I've got a telescope at home.”

“Really?”

“Universe is fascinating. For instance, did you know that every year at the roughly same time comes a meteor shower called Perseids? They should arrive in a week and will be coming from that direction,” Arthur says and lowers himself to lie on his side facing Merlin, propped on his elbow.

He points at the sky.

“That's constellation Perseus that the shower is named after.”

Merlin looks at the sky for a moment and then back at Arthur who is very close and watching him. Merlin shivers under his gaze.

“Are you cold?” Arthur asks and runs his fingers over the top of Merlin's hand lying on his stomach.

Merlin shakes his head. Arthur's fingers move up his arm, his shoulder, his neck, the journey ending with Arthur's thumb caressing Merlin's cheek. He is slowly leaning closer.

Merlin's breathing quickens, he licks his lips unconsciously and closes his eyes at the same moment Arthur's lips meet his.

It’s just a press and slide of lips at first, but then Arthur shifts slightly and licks Merlin's bottom lip. Merlin opens his mouth instinctively and Arthur deepens the kiss.

Merlin doesn't really know what to do, so he lets Arthur take the lead and brings one of his hands to tangle in Arthur's hair. Arthur lets out a pleased moan and slides his hand to Merlin's side. He slowly pulled away, letting the hand rest where it lies.

“So, what now?” Merlin asks.

“What do you mean?”

“What is this?”

Arthur seems nervous all of a sudden.

“Dating?” he mutters. “If you want.”

Merlin kisses Arthur's cheek.

“I do,” he whispers.


* * *


They are lying on the blanket, snuggled close. Merlin has his head on Arthur's shoulder, arm wrapped around his waist, while Arthur's hand lies on top of his, the other securing Merlin at his side.

“Are we going to tell the others?” Merlin asks.

“I think they'll figure it out on their own,” Arthur answers and pulls Merlin even closer.


Day Six