“Don’t give me that face. You are gorgeous. Your eyes, your hair — I fucking love your hair. The way your fingers are, and just the whole /length/ of you.” She disdained answering the bit about sociopathy.
Tag Archives: flatmate!au
“Weird text messages. Saying that Mor was cheating on me and that I wasn’t good enough for him.” He smiled bitterly before shaking his head. “Then I started thinkin’ bout my Dad and my mum…”
“You’re going to beli—” she cuts herself off short. “Well. You started thinking, and that led to more thinking, and you just went round in a spiral, down and down and down. Did you block the number?” She sits up, still holding Merlin’s hand, and gives him a look that can only be described as parental.
He frowned, looking down at the white sheets before he sighed. “I’m sorry…” He whispered, shutting his eyes after a moment. “I just got sick of everything… Then the text messages started, and… It got out of control…”
She forces herself to take in a deep breath, and not cry. “Don’t, okay, don’t think about that I’m upset with you. Don’t — it’s not about blame. I’m just asking, as your friend, your best friend I hope, that you try harder to talk to me first next time. What text messages?”
He smiled, hand still locked with Mordred’s, who was asleep next to him in the bed. “Hey… ” He whispered, holding his free hand out to his best friend.
She pulls a chair over beside the bed — one of those horrible plastic chairs that are never ever comfortable — and takes his hand when she sits down. She squeezes it, once, and then leans over and rests her forehead on the bed and says, roughly, “Please, please call me the next time things get like that.” Her throat hurts with the effort of forcing back tears.
[text: gingy ging] yeah, that’s the one
[text to: magic hands] be there shortly then
Summer makes her way easily through the various protocols to Merlin’s room, though she has to struggle to ignore the memories they awaken.
“Hey,” she says quietly, to the figure in the bed, wrists bandaged.
[text: gingy ging] Yes, please. You’ll be here in a bit, then…?
[text to: magic hands] five minutes to get out the door. st bart’s right?
[text: gingy ging] Are you going to be stopping by later. [text: gingy ging] I miss you.
[text to: magic hands] if I look at this code much longer I’ll go bonkers so I can stop by now if you like
Summer stared at her phone — at those two texts — for what felt like ages but was more like a second or two, before she shook it into her shoulder bag and took off down the street. ‘You failed again,’ cried the little voice, the voice she hated with all her heart, in the back of her mind. Fiercely she told it to shut up and ran harder.
He’d cut a vein? What the hell? He’d been happy; Mordred was back from his tour and they were deeply in love; they were going to move in together; usually he would talk to her about these things before they got out of hand — as clearly something had. Hair tangled in her eyelashes and she shoved it impatiently out of the way, fumbling her keys off her hip and taking the stairs two at a time.
“Mordred? Merlin?” Summer yelled down the hall, stopping herself short just barely before crashing into Merlin’s flat’s door.
‡
There was no mistaking those long arms and fingers. Summer made a sleepily welcoming sound. “Hey baby. Finally going to sleep?” She rolled over onto her back and slid sideways enough to make space for him, smiling sweetly. As soon as he laid down, she cuddled close, head on his shoulder and arm over his chest.
‡
Instinctively Summer scrunched over, eliciting feline grumbles and a thump. She rolled half onto one shoulder, blinking owlishly and frowning in the dim light. “Merlin?” she mumbled. “What is it? Thought you were with Mordred … ” She lifted that arm and put it around his shoulders.
“I am,” he simply mumbled, snuggling into his best friend’s arms. “Mordred’s working late and I hate a nightmare…” He simply replied, shutting his eyes. “You don’t mind, do you…?”
“Wrong with, hon.” She rubbed his shoulder. “‘s fine. Don’t snore. Nightmares won’t get you here.” She shifted over again more consciously, and Helios, dislodged, stretched mightily and padded over to sit on Merlin’s feet instead.