AN: Modern AU! Which I feel like I've not written for a while. I hope you enjoy it and thank you in advance for any comments! :D

Prologue

Had anyone told him that he would be happy living in a tiny one room apartment and driving a wreck of a car three months ago, he would have scoffed at them. He had grown up in the lap of luxury, silver spoon in the mouth and just three months ago, he was living in an exclusive apartment, waited on hand and foot by his housemaid and dining in the best restaurants. Now, he was dialing for Chinese food.

"Don't forget the sweet and sour pork! You forgot last week."

And that person, wrapped up in blankets on his battered sofa in the room next door, was the reason why.

"I won't! I still remember how you sulked that whole night because - oof!" Guinevere, still clutching the blankets around her shoulder, popped into the kitchen and smacked him. In response, he leaned over and kissed her, smiling when she snuggled into his chest.

"Yeah, that's right. Thank you." He hung up the phone, picked his girlfriend up and tossed her gently back onto the sofa. "You're supposed to be sick."

"I feel much better already. I would feel even better if you massage my feet," Gwen fluttered her eyelashes at him and wriggled her toes.

Unable to deny her anything, he flopped down on the sofa next to her and dragged her feet to his lap. "I only do this because I love you."

"I know," she grinned. "If it helps, I love you too."

Three months ago

"The only reason all these girls swarm to you is because you're rich and only going to get richer. Plus who doesn't want to be part of the Pendragon empire? I sure do, which is why I'm your friend." Gwaine was halfway drunk already and for some reason, Arthur's love life was the topic of conversation no matter how much he tried to change it.

"He had a point. This is why all your relationships are so short lived. They don't really like you - they like who you are. Except for Elena but that was never going to work out anyway."

"No. Not when she really loved someone else instead. Why are we dissecting my love life again?" Arthur took a gulp of the cool beer in front of him and frowned at his friends.

"Because the reason we are here tonight is that you called it quits with your latest squeeze. You go through girlfriends as quickly as I go through boxers." Percy pointed out. "And it's always the same. You always say that they are more interested in your money and connections than you. Maybe you need to change how you find dates."

Leon put his mug down and shook his head. "You are one to talk. What happened to your last boyfriend?"

"Leon, you haven't even had a date in years," laughed Gwaine. "Where's Merlin anyway?"

"Out with my sister again." Arthur couldn't believe that Morgana, the socialite who hung off various millionaires' arms, somehow ended up in a long term and apparently stable relationship with his assistant, the man who couldn't tell the difference between a Ferrari and a Honda.

"Ah he's a lucky one. See, she clearly loves him and not his money -"

"- because he hasn't any!"

"You need to attract people with your personality," Percy said quite seriously.

Gwaine roared with laughter and Arthur surreptitiously removed the beer from him and dumped it with a passing waiter. "If it were left to his personality, Arthur wouldn't be able to attract anybody."

"Shut up Gwaine. And I don't need my money or connections to attract a girl. And can we talk about something else? Maybe the football -"

"You know what?" Gwaine slurred. "How about this? You get a girlfriend without using your money or your name and I'll give you that painting you've been trying to buy off me."

"Are you serious?" Arthur perked up. "The painting that rightfully belongs to my mother. The one your father fleeced off her."

The lively chatter around them faded, attention on both Arthur and Gwaine. That painting had been a bone of contention between the two men for years. Any mention of it was usually accompanied by a huge argument.

Gwaine tsked. "Your mother lost it fair and square. But yes, that painting."

"And you'll give it up if I get a girlfriend without being me." Ideas started to form in Arthur's head as he contemplated Percy's words. He was getting tired of all the dates his father foisted on him and invariably when women approached him, it was because they already knew who he was. And if this resulted in him getting his mother's painting back, all the better.

"It's a deal."