Just to put up what we were working out:
-Arthur and Merlin go to a very costly private school
-Uthur owns the school
-Merlin is in on a scholarship for both his straight A's and his art skills
-Arthur is there because his father owns the place, and he's a Jock
-Gaius is a doctor, not a very good one, he likes to do things that could be seen as old, but older people who don't trust new medical practices people usually come to him
-Merlin and Arthur meet when Merlin is offered money to tutor Arthur who is a D average and his low grades threaten to get him kicked off the football team
-Morgana is Arthur's adoptive older sister, she's 23 and lives a few towns away from Arthur
-Arthur knows he's gay but the only one he has ever told was Morgan's
-Uthur is a homophob and would probably kill Arthur if he ever knew of him being gay
-Uthur can be kind of abusive when he lets his anger get the better of him and has hit Arthur many times
-Merlin came to live with his uncle, Giaus, when his father died and his mother could no longer care for him
-That was when he was ten, both Merlin and Arthur are seventeen now
-Merlin had gone to public school until he was offered a scholarship
-Merlin is often bullied because he's poor (poorer than the people who usually go to the school anyway)