"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you home? I'm your boyfriend and that's what boyfriends do."

"Yes, I'm sure. You're going to be picking me up later for dinner anyways. I don't want to be a hassle for you."

Arthur wraps his arms around me and looks at me with a serious expression on his face.

"Hey. Don't you ever think that you're being a hassle for me. I love you and would give up anything for you."

I smile slightly. I would give up everything for him too.

"Even football?"

"Well, not football. But everything else."

We stare at one another for a few seconds longer before we both burst into laughter.

"And I though I was your everything."

"You think so highly of yourself, book nerd."

"Hey, that's mean!"

"Are you not a book nerd?"

I open my mouth to do a witty comeback but come up with nothing.

"What? Cat got your tongue?"

"You know what. You just lost yourself a goodbye kiss."

I can see a look of shock cross Arthur's face.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

I raise my eyebrows, as I'm challenging Arthur to argue with me.

"Okay, fine. I'm sorry for calling you a book nerd. Can I get my kiss now?"

"Let me think about it. How about-"

I get cut off by Arthur's lips to mine. I immediately start kissing back.

"You know, I never gave you my answer."

"Your lips responded for you."

Arthur gives me his cocky smile and I walk out of his arms.

"Whatever, I need to get to class now."

Arthur grabs my arm and pulls me towards him. Our lips crash for a moment and then Arthur pulls away.

"Now bye. And by the way, you're getting so skinny. Have you been eating?"

"Yeah, I've been eating fine. I have to get to class now, love you."

Before I hear a response, I turn around and walk away. I hate lying to Arthur but he can never know the truth.

*Three years ago*

I'm looking at the ground. My cheek is stinging and tears threaten to escape my eyes.

"You stupid, fat boy. Do you know how ugly you are? No wonder you're a faggot, you couldn't find a girl to love you. Do you even know how fat you are?"

My dad is drunk again. I know that he is just taking his anger out on me.

I feel myself being shoved against a wall. Please make this be as quick and painless as possible. For some reason, I know that won't be the case.

"I'm sorry dad, I'm so-"

"I told you not to call me that! You are no son of mine!"

I can smell the alcohol on his breath and a sharp pain hits my side. I collapse onto the floor.

"Maybe with a little discipline, you'll learn how to take a punch like a man and not a scared little girl."

I can feel something continuously hitting my chest. Everything feels numb. I curl myself into a ball and all I can think about is that I'll get to see Arther later.

But, even the thoughts of Arthur can't get my father's words out of my mind. It's like they're playing on a loop.

"Fat."

"Ugly."

"Faggot."

"No son of mine."

I don't know how my dad expects me to change who I am? I will always love Arthur, no matter what.

I know I can't change who I am inside, but that doesn't mean I can't change who I am outside.

This moment is the moment I declare that my father will never be able to call my fat again.

Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out.

That's all I can think about as I the third lap around the track for gym. Why do people like running so much? It's so boring.

I wonder where Arthur is. I haven't seen him since gym started. We usually meet up and he makes fun of how I run like a girl. He's probably just running with some of his friends.

Suddenly, I feel a pair of arms wrap around me. I gasp in pain as the arms squeeze my side.

I quickly turn out of the arms, only to come face to face with a concerned Arthur.

"Merlin?"

"Oh, hey Arthur."

I put on my usual grin.

"You surprised me. Were you running with Leon and the others?"

Arthur lightly puts a hand on the lower part of my back and guides me to the turf.

"What's wrong? You gasped in pain when I touched you?"

I take a shaky breath and try to keep my voice level.

"It's nothing. You just spooked me when you came behind me."

Arthur puts a hand on each of my shoulders.

"Merlin, you can't lie to be. Did your father do something to you?"

I look around and see people staring at us as they run by. I can't do this now.

"Arthur, nothing is wrong. Please drop it."

I turn around to keep jogging, when I feel a tight grip go around my wrist.

Out of instant, I pull my wrist out of the grasp and pull it to me. Too many memories come to pass when my wrist was harshly grabbed.

With a panicked look on my face I see Arthur looking straight at me.

"I said to just drop it!"

I yell at Arthur and immediately run in the direction of the teachers. I knew I was being unfair to Arthur and that he was just being a concerned boyfriend, but I couldn't talk about it there. Too many people.

"Excuse me miss. May I go to the bathroom?"

The teacher gives me a nod and I jog back to the school. I need to be anywhere but here right now.

When I get inside, I run into an empty, unlocked classroom, and I begin pacing back and forth.

Deep breath in, deep breath in.

The tears prick my eyes, threatening to escape. Not now. I refuse to cry in an empty classroom. To clique for me.

When my back is at the door, I hear it open up.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

I stop short when I see who's standing at the door.

Arthur.

He closes the door and begins to walk over to me, slowly.

Suddenly, all the guilt hits me at once. The lying to Arthur, the lying to my friends, the lying to everybody.

I feel my knees buckle and I prepare to fall to the ground. Only, that doesn't happen. I feel arms wrap around me and then my body is against something warm and solid.

I grip onto the person's shirt and then I'm being lowered to the ground. My knees lightly hit the ground and I'm still clutching onto the person's shirt.

I begin to sob quietly, continuously whispering.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

In between sobs and apologizing, I hear quiet reassurance.

"It's okay."

"It's not your fault."

"Let it all out."

"I'm here for you."

"Just breathe."

I don't know how much time has passed before no more tears can leave my eyes.

I take a few deep breaths.

"I'm sorry."

I feel a light kiss on the top of my head and I look up to see Arthur staring at me.

"I didn't mean to break down like that."

Arthur gives me a small smile.

"It's okay. I don't want you ever apologizing for needing to cry a little bit. I'm sorry I pushed you earlier. I should've dropped it."

"No. You were just being a concerned boyfriend. I just couldn't talk about it with all those people there."

"It's okay. I know it wasn't the right time to ask about something like that. I should've waited."

Arthur takes a gulp before continuing the next part.

"Just, why didn't you tell me? Or, why didn't you call me and I could've picked you up or something? When did this happen?"

I look back down into my lap. I know Arthur just wants to know, but it doesn't make it any easier to talk about.

"If I would've called you, you would've beat my dad to the pulp. You know how you can sometimes get. And you are big and strong."

"But it isn't fair how he gets to beat you to a pulp everyday and you won't let me do anything about it."

"It isn't your problem. It's mine. I don't want you to get involved."

Arthur takes my chin and makes me look up at him.

"I don't think that you understand. You are my boyfriend. Your problems are my problems. Promise me next time, you'll call me."

"I promise."

Arthur leans in a gives me a short, sweet kiss.

Bing.

The bell. First day of gym class and I already skip out on the entire thing. At least I get to go home now.

I stand up and Arthur follows.

"I should probably head to the bus now. Wouldn't want to miss it."

"Here, let me walk you."

We walk together in silence to first his locker and then my locker. After I pack my bag with my books, Arthur grabs my bag out of my hand.

"Let me."

We walk in silence until I reach my bus. I turn to Arthur and hold out my hand.

"Bag?"

"Yeah, here you go."

Arthur drops the bag into my hand and pulls me into a hug. His head drops to my shoulder and I hear him quietly talking.

"I'm so sorry I pushed you today. I never meant to make you feel scared or push you too hard."

I know Arthur truly means those words. I smile and lean back so I'm looking at Arthur in the eyes.

"It's okay. I should've let you in. Let's just put this all behind us, okay? We have a dinner to go to and I don't want us to be all sad and gloomy during it."

Arthur does a light chuckle.

"Yeah. I'll pick you up at six, okay?"

"Okay."

I give him a quick kiss and go onto the bus. I sit in a window seat and look out to see Arthur standing there, waving at me.

I smile and give a small wave back. With that, the bus drives away. I put in my earbuds and being listening to music.

After a few minutes, I feel the other side of my seat drop and a finger poking my shoulder. I turn, only to see the new kid, Mordred, sitting there. I pull out my earbuds and smile at him.

"Hi there Mordred. You take this bus too?"

"Yeah. I live on Sesame Street."

"Oh cool. I live two blocks away from there. I live on Wildberry Street."

"That's cool. By the way, was that guy you were with before your boyfriend?"

"Yeah. His name is Arthur. Do you have a girlfriend or boyfriend?"

"No. I used to have a girlfriend, but it didn't work out. I decided my next relationship will hopefully be more masculine. I'm bi."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear about your ex. I'm sure you'll find somebody soon."

"Yeah, I think I might. Do you want to maybe hang out some time? You seem like a pretty cool person and I don't have many friends over here."

"Yeah sure."

I see the bus pull up at my bus stop.

"This is me. I'll see you soon."

"Yeah. Bye Merlin."

"Bye."

With that, I walk off of the bus and begin walking to my house. Mordred is a nice fellow. Maybe we'll become good friends.

I turn the corner and see my house down the block. Ugh, my dad is home. Why couldn't he be at the bar or something? At least then I wouldn't have to deal with him. I already know he will be drunk. Hopefully he will be in a good mood. Somehow, I doubt that.

I finally make it to my house. Checking the mailbox, there is only bills that need to be paid. Thank god my mom gets some money a month from disability.

I walk inside and am immediately hit with the stench of alcohol. I look to the right and see my father yelling at the television. He's watching football and his team is loosing. Upon my arrival, my dad looks at me.

"Come here boy."

I follow his request and walk over to him. When I get close enough, he grabs my wrist and pulls me forwards. I trip from the sudden motion and fall right on my side.

I let out a small gasp of pain as my dad's grip on my wrist tightens.

"Useless you are. Can't even walk straight without tripping."

He pulls my wrist upwards, causing me to have to stand up to prevent my wrist from snapping.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"And I didn't mean for you to be born, but here we are."

I can feel tears begin to fill my eyes at the harsh words. I refuse to give him the satisfaction of me crying.

When I stand completely up, I get a punch straight to the stomach. This causes me to double over in pain, but I immediately stand back up when he twist my wrist.

"So pathetic you are. I need you to go the store later."

"I can't. I'm going out with friends later."

I close my eyes and clench my teeth together, preparing for whatever punishment I'm about to receive. I don't feel anything for a few seconds until a sharp pain comes from my jaw. The next thing I know, I'm on the ground. My head is spinning and my jaw hurts immensely.

"Like I said useless. Go with your pathetic friends."

Hearing my passage to leave, I scramble to get up and go straight to my room. It can barely fit a bed and a dresser, but it is my room. I look into the mirror and see a version of myself. A version of myself I try to keep hidden away from everybody. My redden eyes, bruised jaw, red face, and my blood red lips from piercing them together.

I take off my shirt and go into the bathroom. I throw water at my face and take out ointment from the medicine cabinet. I rub some over my bruised torso, some over my jaw, and some over my wrist. How am I going to hide this?

I look at my watch and see I have a half hour until Arthur comes. I change into brown pants, a blue long sleeve shirt, and a red scarf.

Bing.

'Hey. I'll be there in ten. Wear something cool, it's hot out.'

'Okay, see you.'

Great. Hopefully the restaurant will be cool. Arthur will get suspicious if I continue to wear a scarf while sweating.

I spend the next ten minutes on my phone until I get a text from Arthur.

'Here.'

'Coming.'

I grab my wallet and do one last look in the mirror. Everything is covered up.

As I'm about to close my front door, I hear my father's voice.

"Have fun tonight. Don't get back too late."

"Thank you."

I shut the door and walk over to Arthur's car. I just have to put on a smile and act like me.

Arthur walls out of his car and gives me a kiss.

"Hey, I though I said it was hot out. What are you doing wearing this outfit?"

I do my usual smile and answer him.

"Just because you're packed with muscles and are warm all the time, doesn't mean the rest of us won't get cold."

Satisfied with this answer, Arthur laughs and open my door. I go in and think about when Arthur first got this car.

*Two years ago*

"Morgana, what's all this about that we couldn't talk about it in front of Arthur? He's going to get suspicious of us sneaking around."

Morgana continues pulling my wrist until we reach the garage door.

"Can you keep a secret from Arthur?"

More then you can think.

"Sure? What's this about anyways?"

Morgana opens the garage door and pulls me inside. I see a beautiful, red Lamborghini.

"Wow. Arthur didn't tell me you guys got another car."

"That's because he doesn't know. It's for his birthday. Do you think he'll like it?"

"Do I think he'll like it? If he doesn't, I'll take it."

Morgana laughs and pulls me into a hug.

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Morgana pulls away and begins walking back inside. Right before she reaches the door, the door flings open.

"What are you two doi-"

I see Arthur standing in the doorway, staring at the car.

"Since when did father-"

"ARTHUR! GET OUT NOW!"

I laugh at Morgana's sudden outburst. Knowing she's use to everything going her way, Arthur ruining her surprise.

"Hey, earth to Merlin, we're here."

"Oh, sorry. Got lost in thought."

With that, I walk out of the car and head inside the restaurant.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Word Count: 2842