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Arthur closed the door behind him with a soft click making sure not to make any noise, not that it was going to matter seeing as his roommate was the deepest sleeper he had ever seen in his life.
Merlin wouldn't even wake up if the building was on the verge of collapse which normally would have annoyed Arthur since it was Merlin's unofficial duty to make him tea everyday since Merlin's classes would be before Arthur's and he had to wake up early but the idiot would probably still be dreaming in his fantasy land hence being late almost every day and in his haste would forget to make Arthur his tea, Arthur really needs to get Merlin a clock.
Shaking his head out of the thoughts Arthur still tiptoed carefully across the room his hands clenched around the blue neckerchief he had stolen-to be read as borrowed-because he wanted to keep it safe, obviously.
Arthur walked into his room, observing his work, he admitted that it was a bit of a mess, an understatement to be honest but to his defence, he had never done anything of this sort before. His father, Uther Pendragon, was a firm believer that Pendragons do not show any weaknesses and Arthur being an Omega was already one of the biggest weaknesses one could have in the eyes of his father.
Ever since the tale of time the Pendragons were a long list of Alphas; every single person in the family was an Alpha, including his half-sister Morgana.
Somehow, Arthur who was supposed to be the best Alpha Pendragon to date presented as an Omega, effectively ruining the Pendragon legacy something his father loved to bring up in everything they talked about. Uther thereafter forbade anything which he deemed weak including making a nest, which was equivalent to the safest place an Omega felt.
Ever since Arthur had left his house for college far away where his father couldn't hold the cards to his life, Arthur, for once in his life felt like he could live freely but everything collapsed again when he found out his roommate was an Alpha something he still found hard to believe.
Merlin in no sense gave off the vibe that he would be an Alpha which was also the reason Arthur hadn't applied for room change in the beginning, he stupidly thought his roommate was just another Beta since Merlin never gave any indication or showed any attributes of an Alpha and by the time he realized he was already too close to Merlin to change his rooms.
Merlin was like an addictive drug and Arthur just couldn't get enough of him, which unfortunately brought him to his current predicament. Not long after Arthur found out Merlin's identity as an Alpha, Arthur's crush which he was in utter denial about up to that point just walked out of the conversation and even he had to admit to himself that he was utterly and completely in deperately love with his roommate.
The catch?
Merlin had no idea that Arthur was an Omega, to be honest no one knew he was an Omega, hence him being assigned to a room with an Alpha, else Omegas usually are roomed in different rooms to avoid forced or accidental mating.
His father had advised which was basically an order for Arthur not to tell anyone his real identity instead Arthur was hiding his scent passing off as a Beta since it wasn't uncommon for Betas to be scentless or have a very negligible scent.
So here was Arthur posing as a beta eight months into their year finally gathering the courage to build a nest in his room hidden from everyone since both he and Merlin had separate rooms and Arthur kept his locked every time he went out. Arthur took out the cushion from the middle burrowing the neckerchief of the Alpha into the heap then covering it with the cushion again so no one could find it and Merlin's scent could rub into the rest of the nest which Arthur had to admit looked more like a mess than a nest no matter how many times he tried to make it and he had tried a lot of times.
Every time he tried to make it only to destroy it again cause it wasn't comfortable or not as pretty or homey or upto his level, the blond felt his eyes getting moist but he refused to back down, especially with his heat coming.
That night, Arthur slept holding the neckerchief close after taking it out seconds later after putting it behind the cushion. He just hoped Merlin wouldn't remember his missing neckerchief.
.
.
"Hey, Arthur have you seen my blue neckerchief? I swear it was in my room yesterday," Merlin muttered the latter part more to himself while Arthur froze in the middle of drinking his tea acting as if nothing was wrong.
"No? I mean absolutely not you are clumsy as hell Merlin, you must have probably misplaced it somewhere or left it with someone. With how forgetful you are I won't be surprised if you actually just lost it somewhere." Arthur replied as coolly as he could making sure his tone was normal.
"Hmm...weird."
Merlin continued to ramble but Arthur's mind went into overdrive with thoughts that he needed to hide the neckerchief because if Merlin found it he would figure out everything. For all the times Arthur called him stupid Merlin was really observant whenhe needed to be and Arthur wasn't ready for Merlin to realise how deep and pathetically Arthur was in love with his roommate.
The blond didn't pay any attention to what Merlin was saying more focused on figuring out a way to hide the neckerchief, something he would later come to regret severely.
"-So they're hosting a party tonight on the floor, it's going to be crazy tonight probably would be a good idea to lock our doors wouldn't want couples to stink our rooms with sex scents and what not. What do you say- Arthur? Wha-" Merlin cut off mid-sentence when he realised Arthur had left the room hastily. Shrugging at his roommate's weird behaviour Merlin watched him hurry into his room.
The entire day the omega was hell-bent on avoiding Merlin, not wanting to be caught by his roommate and in his haste to leave, Arthur forgot to lock his room gathering his things as he almost ran out of their room.
For the rest of the day Arthur tried to come up with a solution on how to proceed but couldn't come up with a way to tell Merlin not about his status and certainly not about his feelings.
How does one go about telling their roommate that not only are you an Omega but also in love with your roommate without the said roommate running off complaining to the school board? Because that is what would happen once Merlin knew the truth although Morgana, his so-called sister who apparently thought otherwise judging from the way she's been alternating between laughing at Arthur's expense and throwing him pitying looks, none of which Arthur is particularly fond of.
"Arthur for god's sake, Merlin would not run away nor would he tell the authorities and get you suspended, you wouldn't have to change universities or change names and live in another city. Merlin isn't cruel and you know it too my darling albiet stupid brother."
"That is the problem Gana, Merlin would probably pity me. I would rather not look at him staring at me pityingly. I'll be that one guy who is in love with their roommate who pities their pathetic roommate. I simply can't be that person." Arthur murmured into his hands whining unlike a Pendragon.
"Alright, fine you know what just tell him Arthur you have got to trust Merlin if he is really how you say he is. Worst case scenario he tells you he just looks at you like a friend and then everything goes back to normal. And in case if anything does goes wrong I'll straighten that bastard out."
"Morgana!" Arthur exclaimed not wanting Merlin dead at his sister's hands.
"Plus you don't have much time, you can't show up in front of him one day in the middle of your heat which I assume is very close seeing as your scent's getting stronger and you look flushed and pale. Now come on let's get some dinner, my treat."
That was true Arthur who was usually under suppressants or would be holed up in his apartment in the other side of the city for days to get over his heats was close to one right now like a few hours away from entering right into it. Never had he put himself in such a vunerable position or anyone. Merlin better be worth it.
After a quick dinner, Arthur left Morgana's room to head back to his dorm only to be led to a fully crammed hallway filled with students dancing around, empty beer bottles lying around without care. The air was filled with mixed pheromones which frankly overwhelmed Arthur's senses. He hastily made his way to the room, dodging people left and right who were deep into their state of drunkenness.
Their room door was closed which meant either Merlin had gone somewhere out or he was in his room sleeping, since Merlin wasn't a big fan of parties thrown by Cenred and his gang and if looking at the people was to go by it was definitely Cenred's party probably to celebrate their latest win at the football match.
Arthur entered his room his nose crunching instantly at the overwhelming Alpha scent in the room. It wasn't Merlin's scent, it was acidic and rotten making Arthur want to puke. Something bad settled in Arthur's gut as he called out for Merlin but received no reply. Moving towards his room from where the scent was the strongest Arthur opened the door only to find it already unlocked.
What was uncertainty earlier turned to a deep-rooted fear; someone was in his room, someone who shouldn't have been. His room had his nest...his nest!
Panicked Arthur rushed inside to find a stranger lounging in his nest, their clothes thrown carelessly around wet and stinking. Everything crumbled inside him as he watched the stranger turn around to find Arthur standing in the room who then grinned brightly upon seeing him as if nothing was amiss.
"Hey mate, don't mind me, it seemed like your omega had left their nest behind. I had never slept in one as sweet as this scent. It was everywhere and damn the scent makes me want to pound the Alpha right into its nest. You sure are one lucky guy you not only got to sleep with the Omega but them building their nest in your room. Hell must have been one lusty Omega. Was he good? I mean the scent is heavenly although a bit male for my tastes but hey, we can't be picky if the Omega is begging to be taken , that must have been a really slutty omega. Although you don't smell like an Alpha, if your Omega ever wants a real Alpha send them to me I'll make sure to take him like how an actual Alpha is supposed to."
"Get out." Arthur gritted, glaring at the stranger his knuckles turning white stopping himself from punching the daylights of the bastard.
"Relax dude, I didn't mean any harm, maybe we could share-"
"Get the fuck out!!" Arthur yelled as the guy scampered to find his clothes muttering about unreasonable people but the blond didn't pay him any mind.
Arthur faintly registered the Alpha leaving the room as he finally crumpled to the floor staring at what was his nest or what was left of it. Everything was scattered around in a mess his sheets thrown in a corner the overpowering scent of alcohol and Alpha making Arthur want to puke or at least burn everything so he could make the scent go away. Out of the corner of the eye, Arthur saw something blue lying in a dark corner, his nest didn't have anything blue, the only blue being Merlin's Neckerchief....Merlin's Neckerchief!!
The blond rushed to the piece of fabric and picked it up carefully as he held it close sniffing it, only to find the scent almost gone instead it was soggy from alcohol.
Arthur slumped against the wall burying his head into his knees as he brought his legs close to his chest holding the only thing left of his nest close to his chest. Arthur felt his eyes get moist although he tried not to cry his father's words ringing in his head about the Pendragon manners but Arthur couldn't help it. Someone had entered into his nest and ruined it!
Sometime between his sobbing and burying his head in his legs, Merlin must have entered his room as he felt a soft comforting voice panickedly asking if he was alright. Arthur only cried harder hearing the Alpha's voice, while Merlin must have been staring at him in horror.
"Arthur, Arthur...it's okay, everything is okay...are you hurt? Injured? Come on buddy, help me out here. Tell me what happened...I can't help you unless you tell me. It's okay if you don't want to." Ever the soft and patient Merlin, even now he was comforting Arthur who finally chuckled wetly as he shook his head. Arthur could smell the comforting scent coming from the Alpha being so close to him maybe it was the scent that made him ask something he wouldn't have normally.
"Can I sleep in your room tonight, please?" Arthur asked in a soft voice almost like a plea.
"My-my room? Okay...ya okay..you can, Arthur." Merlin replied, stuttering not a moment longer. He helped the blond stand up as they walked to his room quietly.
Mentally, Merlin cursed himself for not cleaning his room before but he didn't know he'd be hosting Arthur to a sleepover. But the Alpha simply couldn't say no when Arthur looked so distraught. A sleepover with Arthur, he could handle that, right? Just two buddies sleeping side by side, a buddy who was Merlin's crush, a term which he used very lightly, a term his friends would very likely disagree with.
Merlin it's called love, repeat it with me L-O-V-E love, Gwaine would say. Merlin knew an Alpha-Beta couple was rare but he could make it work for Arthur.
Merlin watched as his roommate slept next to him a frown on his pretty face, as Merlin wondered what had made the blond cry. In all their time as roommates Merlin had never seen Arthur look never distraught and crying about something; to make the blond cry something must have seriously gone wrong.
Merlin looked over to the blonde as he felt something like protectiveness take over him, a dark sense of possession. He wanted to keep the blonde safe from everything always smiling like a prat that he was not this sad version which was tearing stings at Merlin's heart. Who had hurt his Arthur?
Merlin placed a quick kiss on the other's forehead making sure the other was asleep and buried his face into the blond's hair which were as soft as they looked.
Merlin woke up the next morning disoriented and with a serious morning wood. He stretched to relax his muscles but found he couldn't move an inch, smelling the faint smell of an Omega.
That was weird since he didn't remember sleeping with an Omega, he would have remembered if he did, right?
That's when the memories of the previous night flashed in front of him. But wait, where was the Omega smell coming from?
It was almost non-existent, hidden in a sort of way, overlapped with something different, something masking although it was almost faded. Merlin normally wouldn't have recognised it, hell he hadn't until now when he was so close to Arthur. Merlin could smell the sweet scent that was usually Omega's but that couldn't be right, could it?
Arthur was a beta, not an Omega.
But the sweet scent that smelled like Musk, cedar and a little bit of Lilac told a different story. Everything unravelled like a movie climax, like a stone had dropped.
Merlin had caught a whiff of the same intoxicating scents so many times before but brushed it off as one of Arthur's omega friends had come to meet him, even when he knew no one but them was in the room, the times when Arthur was really happy and the faint scent of musk and lilac would surround Merlin. It was like a Siren's call and Merlin was only happy to follow it, now knowing it was coming from Arthur, it was like someone had told him they breathed Carbon dioxide instead of Oxygen.
It was then Merlin noticed something held tightly in Arthur's hands due to the darkness of the night he hadn't noticed it clearly but now in the clear daylight, Merlin could make out the neckerchief, his neckerchief but when had Arthur gotten his neckerchief?
Before he could spiral in his mind it seemed Arthur had finally woken up from his slumber letting out a quiet whimper something that shot right through Merlin's body his blood rushing downwards. It only made everything even harder literally, Merlin wanted to find out what other sounds the blond could make when he was- NO god, he was so gone on the boy it was pathetic. With nothing else to do Merlin decided to tease the blond.
"Morning, Sleepyhead."
"Shut up Merlin." Came the reply while Merlin smiled. 1....2...3
"Wai-GAHHHH! MERLIN! What are you doing in my room?" Merlin chuckled as Arthur woke up his hair stuck in different directions. Cute.
Something seemed to register in Arthur's mind as he quickly stood up ran to his room muttering a series of No's. Merlin followed him to his room his instincts pushing him to follow Arthur -protect mate, harm Alpha, protect mate-it screamed. Like the previous night, Arthur slumped to the ground staring at the mess in his room which now Merlin registered looked something like an omega's nest, Arthur's nest. Merlin stared at the bedsheets then at Arthur trying to figure out what had happened when he caught the foreign scent of an Alpha.
Merlin tensed as he felt his hackles rise. Someone had entered Arthur's nest, someone a random Alpha had forcefully entered and destroyed his Arthur's nest. He was going to kill that bastard.
"It's my fault." A quiet voice interrupted his internal revenge-planning.
"Wha-?"
"It's my fault, I should have locked the door, I-I forgot. I didn't know, I swear I didn't. When I came back he was already in there sleeping on it. I couldn't-I just froze I should've-" The blond kept mumbling.
"Hey...hey...Arthur...Arthur, it's not your fault you hear me, it's not your fault. Whoever he was it wasn't his place to enter an Omega's nest, alright. It's not your fault."
"It wasn't even a proper nest! I- I mean, I've never even made a nest I was never allowed to. I just wanted to try. It wasn't even done, and I didn't know what I was doing. I shouldn't have made it. Father was right. It's alright though, I shouldn't have made it in the first place, so no harm done." Merlin's fury which he had barely managed to control so as not to scare Arthur sky rocketed again upon hearing the blond's words.
"Hey- no none of that." Merlin interrupted as he gathered Arthur then continued to utter words of comfort to the blond and also to stop himself before he could go and beat up whoever had made the omega believe that. Arthur got up confusing Merlin, who got up with him still holding Arthur in his arms.
"I need to go get a bath and freshen up, I've got assignments to complete," Arthur muttered, wiping his face with his hands, Merlin could see Arthur trying to go back into his shell.
"Oh, here sorry I took it." A blush crept up on the blonde's cheeks as he handed the neckerchief back to its owner rather shyly.
Without another word, Arthur left taking his towel to the bathroom which left Merlin to stare at the room. Merlin stared at the neckerchief in his hand which now smelled faintly like Arthur-No it smelled of them both like they were one. Oh, and wasn't that a lovely thought?
Merlin stared at the sheets when an idea formed in his head without giving it another thought Merlin started cleaning up the room, he arranged the blankets as he had seen his mother do in his childhood, bringing in his bedsheets and blankets from his room. Although it was for Arthur Merlin selfishly wanted to get rid of the unknown Alpha's scent from his blonde's nest and if the nest smelled like Merlin, it was just a side effect not that he wanted to make any other Alphas back off far away from his Omega.
"Oh!" A gasp from behind pulled Merlin out of his daydreams. He watched as Arthur came closer to the nest Merlin had created, holding out his hand but not really touching it.
"You can change it if you want. I could bring you more things but no Omega should be forbidden from making their nests. I am sorry you couldn't build your comfort place and it got ruined when you tried to. But I promise no one will touch your nest from now on." Merlin promised softly but his voice held a vow he's follow to the end.
Merlin's Alpha internally preened when Arthur entered his nest walking carefully not to disturb anything. His eyes shining, a sob broke out from the blond which panicked Merlin. He must have messed up something like usual he shouldn't have trespassed, he must have stepped over a line, he was a bloody idiot now Arthur was distressed and it was all his fault. Merlin cursed his actions.
"Thank you." Wait what?
"Nobody has done anything like this for me. Thank you." Oh.
"Come on now, are those manners I see? Since when did you learn these words? Shocker." Merlin teased, breaking the tension and grinning when he saw Arthur break into a smile.
"You can come in if you like."
What? It seemed Arthur was dead set on breaking Merlin. Inviting an Alpha into one's nest was an intimate act one which meant that the Omega trusted the Alpha with their life and everything in it.
"What? Arthur, I can't it's-no-I..." Merlin stammered out unsure if Arthur actually wanted him or he was just offering.
"Please." Arthur smiled his one of the rarer smiles and how could Merlin refuse anything when the other looked at him like that? Taking care not to disturb anything, Merlin softly entered the nest sitting in front of Arthur who looked very pleased. The scent of Lilac spreading across the room reminding Merlin that they really needed to talk. Arthur seemed to understand Merlin's train of thought.
"Yes, I...I am an omega not that anyone knows except my father. He warned me not to tell anyone he said Pendragons aren't weak and for him Omegas are the lowest kind of weak. So yes, I hid passing as a Beta with the help of Suppressors. I am close to heat which is why you can smell me well also the fact that my suppressants ended. It's alright if you want to switch rooms, I can understand. You might be probably wondering about the neckerchief." Arthur said as his cheeks reddened in embarrassment and Merlin couldn't have that.
"Hey, it's okay its normal to want an alpha scent it-" The Alpha rushed to assure the blond.
"It's your scent that I wanted, my Omega- I like your scent it's comforting, safe fuck what I mean is I like you, really really like you like pathetically in love with you like I am making it worse aren't I...I'll just- mpffhs" Whatever Arthur was going to say cut off as Merlin attacked him well attacked him with his lips. Everything went silent as Arthur kissed back, Arthur kissed him back! Somewhere between Arthur's hands made their way into Merlin's hair while Merlin trailed his to Arthur's waist bringing him closer. It was Arthur who had to lean back due to the lack of air.
"I am pathetically in love with you too." Merlin grinned as he watched Arthur go scarlet to his ears. The brunette wanted to whistle and follow the blush to see where it would go.
"Oh. That's good." Merlin knew he was gone deep when his heart stuttered at the smile he received.
.
.
"Hey, princess have you seen Loverboy anywhere?" Gwaine called out from across the field as he jogged towards the group. Morgana smacked him on the back of his head as Gwaine howled acting to be hurt while Morgana rolled her eyes.
"You gotta admit the way Arthur behaves and with Merlin pampering him like that, he's no less than a princess." Gwaine joked when someone wrapped themselves around Arthur the scent of Pine, earth wrapping around him, smelling just like home.
"Hmm....mine." The voice mused contentedly as Arthur turned around while their friends cat-called, even Gwen smiling teasingly.
"Oh, my eyes! My eyes! God save me." Gwaine squealed while Merlin showed him the finger although the smile on his face said otherwise. Everyone was happy that the two had finally got together after so much pining and after some time Arthur had even managed to tell their friends the truth about his second identity.
"He's my mate, get lost!" Merlin muttered as he burrowed his head into Arthur's neck, scenting him, his hair tickling Arthur, while the rest of their friends moved ahead to give them space. Arthur took Merlin's hands which were sneakily entering into his shirt.
"Not here! Your hands are always wandering when they shoul-wait, Merlin why are your hands bruised and bloody? What did you do now?" Before Merlin could explain anything Arthur was already pulling him towards their shared dorm yelling out to his friends to go ahead while ignoring Gwaine's catcalls and kissy faces he was making.
Merlin knew he was in for a lecture but if he had managed to find the Alpha who had entered his Omega's nest and politely taught him a lesson on how he should act with an Omega then it was nobody's business. After all the other man was fine, he would live (unfortunately), so it didn't matter.
Merlin just grinned as he followed his Omega to their room. Maybe if Arthur was in the mood, he might even get lucky.