Gwaine had a bit of a suspicion about his friend Merlin. There was not his magic part, that was something that he knew, but the fact that the other seemed to have trouble seeing sometimes with how there was squinting. Leading him to believe that he might need help with how the other almost more than once walked into something.

Yet whenever he asked Merlin, it was denied and told him that he wasn't having issues. But it was clear to him that the male was lying about something, but couldn't argue with his best friend to know how much this would distress the male.

And so it was decided by himself to have a close eye on the other, even mentioning it to the knights and Arthur. The king was at first not seeing it, but after the male started to observe their friend, it was clear that there was something going on.

Leading for all to be worried, yet none had said anything. His heart ached and could just hope that Merlin would be fine. God, why did he have to start falling for the stubborn male, even as stubborn as the king was?

A sigh went out and he wondered how long it would take for his crush to admit that something was not right.

With Merlin

He could not tell anyone at all cost about his sight getting worse each day. At first, it was just a small issue, but by now he could barely see and it was getting more and more difficult to hide. How will he do this when they end up going on a hunt?

Merlin would not be able to see and got lost entirely. Nor would he be able to protect or work as a servant any longer. A reason why he hid this from anyone, even though people were watching him closely. Making him just guess that it had to be Gwaine.

Obviously, it was the one person that knew him the most from anyone, not even Lancelot had that much of an understanding. It's no wonder as most of the times when he ended up having some spare time he was pulled into the tavern with Gwaine.

They often talked and he was pretty sure that the male knew somehow from his magic, even without him mentioning it ever to the other. Either way, he knew that when they would talk about his magic it would just be 'oh, well knew about it, so don't worry, got your back and that would be it.

A reason why he was seeing Gwaine as a best friend and wished they could be more. It was not his magic that was getting in the way, but the fact that he was a male and soon he was for sure being blind. There was nothing that he could do and he treasured the memories he had of everyone but feared that he would forget how they looked after a while of him being blind.

Not even his magic stopped this and he did his best to find a spell that he could use, yet no spell worked. Meaning that he would soon be blind and that caused him anxiety and distress. Merlin did not want to be a burden nor did he want to have to stop working as a servant. Yes, it was sometimes annoying but he was not wanting to leave Arthur out of his sight. Which was ironic as he would not be able to see anyone any longer soon. A sigh went out as he had finished mucking the stable, that was what he assumed.

His magic roamed around to make him feel where the things were, but it was still not easy to finish and took him way too long for sure. Just the thought of Arthur scolding him made him wince.

"Yo Merlin." The sudden voice of Gwaine caused him to gasp out in surprise and the tool fell out of his hands.

"Jesus didn't want to scare you this way." Gwaine softly replied, making him smile nervously with a reassurance that it's fine.

"Merlin we need a talk now." The male stern voice made it clear that he can't argue and it led to him letting out a sigh and deciding to follow.

Which was not that easy, with him almost not able to see anything and there was more than once that he would have bumped into something, wouldn't it be for Gwaine that stopped it? Now he was sure that there was no way that he could deny something was not wrong.

"Alright spill." The male said as soon as the door gets closed they are alone.

"I-" Merlin could not even get something out, swallowing and feeling his anxiety slowly get worse.

"Merlin, let me be blunt with you: you're not fine and I need to know what your hiding and not talking about your magic mate."

It was clear to him that he could not continue lying to the other and so he blurted the thing out that he did not ever want to tell the male, and no it was not his crush.

"I can't see well." His mouth instantly snapped closed and there was this thick silence that made him worried.

"Merlin what do you mean, you can't see well?"

He really wanted to avoid that topic at all cost and was tempted to leave, but knowing Gwaine, the male would not rest until he would tell the other what was wrong, and so he explained exactly what was going on.

"You're telling me that you did not tell Gaius about this and are hiding it to the point that you can barely see anything?" It was said with disbelief and he nodded slowly as shuffling around knowing that the male will for sure scold him.

"Merlin you absolute moron. I swear you will be death to me at some point." It was said with a huff and he blushed at this knowing that Gwaine had many times worried for his safety with how many times they were getting into many close calls.

"Uh."

"Don't you uh me. Merlin, you're getting blind, how did you think this will work out when we are going to our hunts, or worse you sharpening our swords."

He opened his mouth to argue, but shut it instantly, knowing the male was worried sickly for his health.

"I am sorry but I just did not want to worry any of you guys and I am sure I can adjust." He was reassuring the other and wanting to say more but the words stuck as he felt himself in a pair of arms.

His cheeks heated up, making him know that he was for sure blushing furiously at the close proximity.

"No Merlin, we will have to tell Arthur and then the others about this and figure something together out. No working with sharp objects and alone without any of us being able to watch you. And from now on you will not go out without me or any of our friends making sure you get to your destination without issues." It was a full-on rant and made him nod into the other's chest knowing that there was no way that he could avoid this.

Let's just say it was since then that they paid even closer attention and Gwaine was the more protective of him. It seemed that he had missed the hints of how much the male cared for him until their first kiss that had happened a few weeks later and even though Merlin was blind, he had people that would watch over him and that was making this situation a bit better.

A/N sorry for not updating more. I am struggling at writing something with this pairing and would love to have new ideas when you have some. Hope you all have a nice day.