Arthur was adapting better than Merlin had imagined. It was taking time, sure, but life was slowly returning to normal. They still went everywhere together. Merlin hadn't quite deemed Arthur ready to explore the world on his own yet - just yesterday he was stood in the middle of the road for 2 whole minutes staring at the traffic lights change colour.

Merlin couldn't get over the fact he was really here.

Arthur was slowly getting used to life here. Merlin would go out most days for work. Sometimes he'd only be eight hours but sometimes he'd be 12. Arthur stayed at home, watching TV or reading one of the many books that lay around the house. There were all sorts but the most used ones were fairy tales or romance stories or more commonly, poetry books.

Arthur liked to read the poetry books because sometimes Merlin had underlined sentences or phrases. That made them special.

He was sat now, in the garden. It was a very beautiful garden that reminded him of the one in Camelot. There were fruit trees, apples and pears, and a thousand flower beds of roses and lavender and sunflowers and vibrant red poppies and white magnolias. There was a big oak tree that stood grand, with a swing swaying under it.

Arthur sat on a comfy garden chair on the grass, with a poetry book in one hand and a glass of something brown and fizzy that he forgot the name of but couldn't get enough of.

He let the words sink into him, and felt strangely content. Every page he thought of how Merlin thought when he read these words.

He turned to one page that had been marked with a scrap of paper. It read:

You might not have been my first love

but you were the love that made

all the other loves

irrelevant

Arthur thought about this. He thought of Lady Vivien and Gwen. Gwen. He thought about how he had felt for her. Yes, he had loved her. He'd married her. But he hadn't thought about her once since coming here. All he'd thought about was... Merlin.

Yes, he had loved her. But, he'd also loved Merlin. With Gwen, he had wanted to be around her, he liked her. But with Merlin, he felt weightless. Like an unearthly force had tied them together. It didn't matter if they liked each other or not, the universe had set out to keep them together at all costs. He wanted to hold Merlin, he wanted to be around him all the time.

He thought about Merlin when he'd first seen him, unshaven and tired and starved. Now, Merlin was smiling more. He was eating properly, he was sleeping better and Arthur knew he was happier. Because of him.

He makes me happy too, Arthur thought. This whole thing, the whole travelling through time had terrified him, and he thought he might die, but with Merlin at his side, it was going alright.

Arthur's eyes drifted to the back of the book where, on the last blank page, something had been scribbled in pencil.

my heart cracked

my world collapsed

all because you stopped breathing.

your warm hand would never

hold mine

the same way again.

He reread the poem and felt something light settle in his chest. He didn't know what. But he had an idea.

"I'm home!" Merlin called, kicking the door closed.

"I'm in here!" Arthur yelled from the living room. Merlin set his things down and found his friend reading the local newspaper and circling things in red marker.

"Good boy, you're still job-hunting." He grinned. Arthur rolled his eyes.

"It's useless. I don't understand half of what these words mean." He complained.

Merlin laughed. He'd been shopping on the way home.

Arthur had been complaining about modern day bread. ("It's so square, and what do you call it... processed! Where's the fresh bread from Camelot?")

So Merlin had bought him some flour and yeast so he could make some himself.

An hour later, they both pottered around the kitchen. Merlin was cooking a beef bourguignon and Arthur was experimenting with the bread.

Honestly, Merlin thought he was going to mess it up. He used to be a king after all, he'd never cooked a meal in his life.

They chatted while they did their jobs on different sides of the kitchen.

"Woah, Arthur, that actually looks like bread." Merlin grinned, impressed.

Arthur smiled, then looked at Merlin.

"I don't remember my mother." He said, quietly. "I never met her, I only remember what people have told me of her. My father refused to talk about her. But Gaius once, told me something. He said she often did her own things. He said she used to make her own bread. The cooks would want to do it for her, but she insisted. She would make bread most nights. She was good at it, and she enjoyed it. My father told her it was a servant's job and she shouldn't do it, but she couldn't see why she couldn't if she enjoyed it. "

Merlin placed a tentative hand on Arthur's arm. Arthur stopped kneading and looked down at it.

"I like to think I got this from her." He said. Merlin smiled.

"I think she would too." He said quietly.

They put the bread and the bourguignon in the oven and left them to cook.

"This is really good," Arthur said appreciatively. Merlin took a bite.

"All the better with the world's-best-bread." He said. Arthur blushed. The once and future king actually blushed.

"Where did you learn to cook?" He asked. Merlin laughed.

"America in the 1920s." He said. "I worked as a chef in the Gatsby house."

Arthur smiled although this meant nothing to him. Then he asked

"what happened, after I uh died? What did you do?"

Merlin continued eating and Arthur thought he wouldn't answer but he did.

"After you died, I sort of went mad trying to find a way to bring you back. For years, I researched spells and charms to get you back but nothing. So I found a cottage in the country and I lived there alone. I couldn't bear the thought that it was my fault. My destiny was to protect you and I failed.

A hundred years later, I moved around. I picked up different jobs, different skills. But I kept praying every night that you would return. Things got better, I guess. But recently.." Merlin swallowed, "Recently, things just kept getting worse. I forgot to eat and shower and sleep and just kept working and working and thinking and then.. you came back."

The two sat in silence for a bit.

-my heart cracked, my world collapsed-

-the love that made all the other loves irrelevant-

Arthur's head spun. He tried to say something but couldn't so he just put his hand on Merlin's and held it.

-your warm hand would never

hold mine

the same way again-

Arthur had never been one to talk about his feelings. Even with Gwen he just couldn't get words out.

"Thank you, Merlin." He breathed. Merlin squeezed his hand.

They cleared the plates and went up to bed quietly.