Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandom:
Relationship:
Characters:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Series:
Part 17 of Merlin In The Modern Era , Part 85 of Merthur Short Fics & One-Shots , Part 2 of And We Are Rolling!
Stats:
Published:
2021-07-06
Words:
2,796
Chapters:
1/1
Comments:
35
Kudos:
641
Bookmarks:
42
Hits:
4,561

by a landslide

Summary:

“God, let’s just… Get this over with,” Arthur muttered, visibly cringing.

Merlin huffed softly. “Oh, grow up. Ready?”

“No, but go ahead.”

Merlin would have laughed, but he wasn’t quite ready either.

 

Or

 

Merlin & Arthur, famous YouTubers, do a video reading a fan-picked fanfic of themselves, after Morgana & Gwen force them into it.

Notes:

hihi here it is! i hope the ending isn't rushed asdjfkahsldk

i hope you both like it!! <3

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

“No, I just—goddammit, I can’t believe Morgana talked me into this…”

Merlin raised an eyebrow from where he stood setting up the camera at their recording desk.

“It’s not that bad, Arthur,” he told him, despite his pounding heart and the voice in his head that told him it was, in fact, that bad. “It’s just a fanfic. It’s not the end of the world.”

Oh, but it was.

The end of the world that is.

Merlin’s world, of course.

Fanfiction. Of him and Arthur. He was going to die before the end of the video. No way he would make it through it.

“Right, it’s just… Fanfiction. Of us, not weird at all.” Arthur dropped down into his chair in front of the desk, huffing.

Merlin knew he would be pouty about this, but gods, this was a whole new level.

“Look, I already said if you were uncomfortable, we could do something else and let Morgana stew in her disappointment, but you decided we would do it and sent out the form for viewers to send in their favourite one shot,” Merlin reminded him.

He finished setting up the camera quickly and looked back at Arthur. “So, put on your best smile for the camera, and get ready to die a little inside…”

“God, let’s just… Get this over with,” Arthur muttered, visibly cringing.

Merlin huffed softly. “Oh, grow up. Ready?”

“No, but go ahead.”

Merlin would have laughed, but he wasn’t quite ready either. He took a deep breath and hit the record button before quickly backing up and sitting down in his chair beside Arthur.

They began their video as usual, their welcome opener too cheery and almost forced this go round, and Merlin felt his heartrate quicken as they got closer to the part the audience had been waiting for.

“Right, so, two weeks ago we posted a google form where you could send in the link to your favourite fanfic of Merlin and I,” Arthur spoke to the filming camera. Merlin shifted anxiously in his seat. “Then, last week we asked you in a poll to pick one of five of the most suggest fics. So, today… We will be reading… What is it, Merlin?”

Merlin quickly reached forward and grabbed his phone off the desk, unlocking it and opening the web browser to the fanfic page. “Ah, and for only the arms of yours can hold me so, is the title.”

Arthur nodded slowly; Merlin swore he saw a gentle pink tint to his face but told himself he was imagining it.

“It’s fairly short, but it won by a landslide,” Merlin continued after a moment, as his eyes scanned the tags. Silently, he noted that he’d never read this one before.

He briefly wondered how, considering it was apparently so popular.

Alright, yes, he read fanfiction of himself and Arthur. Could he be blamed? Was it wrong to read fiction where he was happily with the man he loved so?

… Perhaps, but that’s Merlin’s issue.

“I don’t—well, I do, know why it was so heavily suggested,” Merlin chuckled as he read over the summary, before looking to the camera. “Thank you, for this. We, ah, we appreciate it.”

“What is it?” Arthur asked, frowning as he leaned over to try and look at Merlin’s phone. Merlin took a breath and angled the phone so his flatmate could read the summary. “Arthur and Merlin spend an evening together, finally confessing the feelings that have been weighing on their chests for years… Oh, I see, the classic confession fanfic. Lovely.”

Merlin raised an eyebrow at Arthur. “Classic confession fanfic?”

“What? They are classic,” Arthur defended, crossing his arms.

“Do you… read fanfiction, Arthur?”

“Do you read fanfiction, Merlin?”

“There is no shame in reading fanfiction, Arthur, of course I do,” Merlin huffed, looking back to his phone, “I enjoy a show or a book, and it finishes… It’s only natural to want more of something you loved when it’s gone.”

“Of course,” Arthur murmured, before looking to the camera and speaking slightly, “which is why it’s okay that I read it as well.”

“Yeah, okay.” Merlin rolled his eyes.

He looked back to his phone and sighed. Trying to prolong the inevitable, Merlin rolled his shoulders and hummed.

“So, what kind of fanfiction do you read, then?”

“Merlin, I don’t believe this is the topic of today’s video,” Arthur quickly deflected, a blush rising to his cheeks that had Merlin wondering just what kinky fanfics his flatmate had been reading. “Anyway, if you’re not going to start reading, I will, give me—”

Before Merlin could think to protest, Arthur took the phone out of his hand, and cleared his throat.

“Right. From the beginning, okay… It had been a long day for both Arthur and Merlin, between filming their next video and editing, they hardly had a second to relax and take a breath,” Arthur snorted softly after reading the opening line, glancing to the camera, “well, they got that right. Filming and editing take a lot of time, and it can be exhausting, but we enjoy it, and you all enjoy it. We love what we do.”

Merlin rolled his eyes, but smiled at his words. It was true. Gods, it took up so much of their time, but they loved it and wouldn’t rather be doing anything else. They once discussed it, and came to the conclusion they were happy as could be doing this.

Even when it meant… Reading fanfiction of themselves for the public.

“For Arthur in particular, though,” Arthur paused, “oh! We are in my point of view then! Alright, interesting. For Arthur in particular, though, it was borderline unbearable. He loved filming with his flatmate more than words could ever explain. It was somehow simultaneously not the problem and the biggest problem he’d faced.”

Merlin watched as Arthur raised an eyebrow while reading. “He loved filming with Merlin, yet, perhaps too much. After all, he couldn’t get him out of his head. His thoughts. No matter how hard he tried, Merlin plagued his every waking thought. Not even in his dreams, was he safe. Though, perhaps those were more…pleasurable—ahh, I get it, aha, because they’re sex dreams?”

Merlin couldn’t help the laugh that forced itself out of his throat at Arthur’s amused comment. “Yes, Arthur, that is in fact what the writer would be referring to, I am glad your reading comprehension skills have improved!”

Arthur shot Merlin a look, but didn’t comment on his jab.

“It was getting harder each day, though, to keep silent. To not speak on the thoughts and dreams that haunted him so. This is—I am very distraught in this story, aren’t I?” Arthur asked, staring down at the phone.

“Hey, no reading ahead!” Merlin chided, as Arthur started to read silently, “and yes, it would seem so. You’re quite tortured in reality, so it fits. We run out of milk the day we get groceries and it’s all woe is me, poor Arthur.”

“I resent that.”

“I know. Are you going to keep reading, or shall I?”

Arthur rolled his eyes at Merlin and cleared his throat loudly. Merlin just bit back a grin.

“Arthur could only pray Merlin didn’t see the way he looked at him. It would be so obvious to anyone else with eyes, but Arthur prayed for Merlin to be blind to this one thing,” Arthur read, “prayed for Merlin not to notice his longing. God, how he longed… Longed to feel those hands on his skin, see those eyes look at him—the way Arthur looks back, and to hear those words, oh… How he longed to hear those words he constantly thought.”

Merlin held his breath as Arthur read, ignoring the ache in his heart that wished what he was reading was real. He watched the way Arthur’s brows furrowed into a frown, and took it as confusion over how he was being written.

“I’m pining, then, hm?” Arthur commented and Merlin barely managed to pull himself together to chuckle.

“You in love? You’d be a pining fool, but you’d not let anyone know it, gods forbid you hurt your poor pride,” Merlin teased half-heartedly.

“I do not pine, Merlin. I would not be a pining fool,” Arthur huffed defensively. Merlin didn’t believe him for a second.

“Whatever you say…”

Arthur narrowed his eyes at Merlin, and Merlin just grinned. Despite the ache in his chest, he found himself enjoying filming the video. He turned to the camera and stage-whispered conspiratorially, “but comment if you think he’d be a pining fool that says nothing due to his massive pride.”

He knew from the amount of Arthur pining fanfics he had found out there when reading late at night, there would be a sea of comments agreeing with him.

Just as there would be a whole load dragging him for being the exact same way. Though, for Merlin it wasn’t his pride that kept him silent. It was fear.

Fear of ruining the friendship he and Arthur have had for going on eight years.

“…was torture. His heart ached everyday that passed, when Merlin laughed that brilliant laughed that lit up the world, or when Merlin said one of those jokes Arthur would always pretend was stupid… Even when he insulted him, his heart would speed up, knowing the affection behind the words, only to be crushed when he recalled it was only platonic,” Arthur hadn’t stopped reading. Merlin quickly began to pay attention again, listening closely. He cleared his throat, taking a pause.

“Merlin, I think it’s your turn to read,” he declared after a moment, his voice sounding a bit strained, as he passed the phone over.

“Right, okay,” Merlin cleared his throat and took the phone. His eyes scanned the digital page in his hands, and his chest tightened. Oh, why had he agreed to this? Merlin took a deep breath.

“Some days, he dreamed,” he read, his voice soft but loud enough for the camera to hear, “he dreamed of arms around his waist and lips against his own, and he dreamed of words whispered in the dark for only him alone to hear. Soft confessions of adoration, promises of devotion, and perhaps even one very special night… Maybe a few years down, a proposal. They were simply dreams, though, dreams—ah—dreams that would… that would never come true…”

If Arthur noticed the way his breath hitched at the word proposal, or his slight faltering at the end, he appreciated his silence on it. He briefly wondered if Arthur could really ever think about these things, before shoving the thought deep down.

It was fanfiction for a reason.

It was fiction.

He couldn’t let his thoughts venture in such a direction. It would only hurt himself.

“In his thoughts, though, in his thoughts he would confess it all,” Merlin continued reading, not noticing that he accidentally skipped a few lines, too distracted by the ache in his chest and wish for Arthur to truly feel this way. To be as in love with Merlin, as Merlin was with him. “Arthur watched as Merlin put away his laptop, finally deeming editing done for the evening, words perched on the tip of his tongue like a diver on a cliff, but unwilling to fall off the edge. Oh, analogies… I like analogies…”

“It’s an interesting analogy,” Arthur agreed, clearing his throat.

“Yes… He opened his mouth, lips parted just a fraction, but his breath caught in his throat and the words died out before being spoken when Merlin turned, a great, exhausted grin on his face. He was stunning,” Merlin cleared his throat, pausing a moment before continuing, “Arthur couldn’t help but think it—God, he was beautiful. Only one thing filled Arthur’s mind at that moment, he needed to tell him. He needed to break this godawful silence hanging between them, and say the words he’d been dying to say since those years ago. As Merlin stood from his desk and walked over to where Arthur sat on the couch, Arthur made a decision. He needed to tell him that—”

“I love you.”  

Merlin froze, a strangled noise forcing it’s way from his throat. Slowly, he looked over to Arthur, who sat still in his chair, eyes wide and horrified, and face reddening.

“Actually, the next line was he meant the world to him,” Merlin replied finally, voice strained. His heart was pounding rapidly in his chest, as he gripped his phone tightly in his hand.

Arthur looked ready to flee the room, and for a moment, Merlin thought he may. Until finally, Arthur took a deep breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he reached over and grabbed the hand of Merlin’s that wasn’t holding his phone.

“Merlin,” he said, a soft tone to his voice that sent a shiver down his spine. Oh, gods, he’d rarely heard that tone. That sweet, gentle tone… He’d really only heard it when Arthur was too drunk or falling asleep on the couch during move night… “Merlin, I’m telling you now—God knows I should have told you sooner. I love you.”

“Arthur don’t fuck with me,” Merlin chuckled nervously, his eyes flicking to where Arthur clutched his hand in his own two hands. “If this is just some big joke…”

“It’s not a—I would never joke about this with you,” Arthur promised, squeezing his hand gently, “we prank each other a lot, yes, but never like this, never with something like this. I love you, Merlin, I have for years. I can only…hope you feel the same and that I’ve not just humiliated myself.”

“I…” It was like his dreams were coming to reality. Like he’d been tossed into the fanfiction he read so frequently in the middle of the night when Arthur slept only a room away, wishing he were closer. Arthur loved him.

Arthur loved him.

Arthur fucking loved him and—oh, he should respond, because Arthur was looking nervous.

“I love you, too,” he breathed, his voice barely a whisper.

Arthur’s eyes widened a fraction, before a grin lit his face and Merlin swore the world stopped spinning.

Gods, that grin… He’d do anything to see that grin.

“We’re such idiots,” Merlin chuckled after a moment. At Arthur’s raised eyebrow, he just shook his head. “I’ve been in love with you for years. As you have me. Do you know how much sooner we could have had this revelation moment had we just… talked?”

“Well, technically it took fanfiction of us for it to happen—”

“Even worse. Our fans saw how in love with each other we were, and we couldn’t get our heads out of our asses long enough to see maybe we felt the same way for each other,” Merlin cut Arthur off, grinning widely despite his complaining.

Arthur hummed, letting go of Merlin’s hand. “Right, perhaps we aren’t the most perceptive at times. We figured it out, though…”

“Yes, we figured it out,” Merlin sighed, leaning forward and setting his phone on the desk before sitting back in his chair. “Thanks to our fans. Who… Gods, we are still filming…”

“Well, we could edit this out,” Arthur suggested. “Or… Not.”

“Send them into a frenzy?”

“They’ve been waiting almost as long as we have for this.”

“You are so in love with views, aren’t you?”

Arthur just grinned at Merlin’s playful accusation. “Don’t pretend you aren’t, too.”

“Not as much as I’m in love with you,” Merlin shot back.

Arthur sucked in a sharp breath, his eyes widening at Merlin’s casual statement. Merlin’s heart stuttered, a sense of pride shooting through him at the reaction. Arthur shook his head slowly before huffing out a small laugh.

“Actually, we may have to edit some parts out after all,” he suddenly announced. Merlin’s brows furrowed together in a confused frown. Before he could ask what he meant, Arthur was standing from his chair and moving in front of Merlin. “I don’t think it would be good to post what happens next for free.”

Merlin held his breath, his eyes widening as Arthur straddled his lap, his thighs pressing into the arms of Merlin’s desk chair. Arthur cupped Merlin’s cheek gently, before leaning in close. Merlin let his hands move from the arms of his chair to Arthur’s hips, holding him in place gently.

Just before their lips touched, Merlin bumped their noses together.

“You could have at least stopped the camera before you sat down, you ass,” he murmured.

Arthur only laughed, before pressing their lips together firmly. After that, the camera was the last thing on his mind.

The battery would die soon enough anyway.

Notes:

Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed!