A/N: My first modern Arwen (Arthur/Gwen)! I've seen people doing these and wanted to do one of my own. Please note, updates MAY be a bit on the slow side, since I am busy with other, more important, writing projects as of the moment. Anyway, this is inspired by and somewhat based on the movie Serendipity, as well as some snippets based on other similar romantic comedies, but done up Arwen style! Also, some Freylin (Merlin/Freya) thrown in as a side-pairing for good measure.

Obviously, AU. Hope you like it!

THE BRASS BELLS on the glass storefront door jingled as Arthur Pendragon wedged his way in along with a young blonde woman and an older, more distinguished-looking brunette.

He almost couldn't get in at all. The last three times he tried, he got bumped out of the way by a pack of screaming, candy-cane brandishing children, whose tired-looking guardian, yawning and bobbing his head and muttering, "Yes, Lovey," every three seconds, did nothing to calm them down.

One of the beastly little brats had even hit him on the arm with their candy and then cried loudly when it broke in two. A middle-aged woman, standing nearby, looked at Arthur disdainfully, evidently thinking him a lout for having an arm so hard it would snap sweets in half and make a poor child sad.

Thankfully, the blonde was so busy jabbering on to the brunette that she didn't notice Arthur squeezing in there. "I love singing, you know," she prattled. "I sing all the time. My fiance says I have the voice of a fallen angel."

The brunette didn't reply. She just looked witheringly at the girl like she was a gnat she was going to have to swat before it bit her and ruined everything.

Of course the store was jam-packed with Christmas shoppers, the holidays being right around the corner. Arthur wished his father had told him he was setting him up for a holiday date with Elena Gawant before all their shops turned into madhouses. No, better still, he wished he wasn't being set up with Elena at all. They'd met as children, and he hadn't been particularly fond of her. Oh, she was all right, he supposed, he'd nothing against her... It was just when he looked at her he felt, well, nothing...

And now he had to buy her a present.

What to buy for the girl who made you feel...erm, nothing whatever...?

A fancy box of chocolates, perhaps? What about a pot-holder with pretty flowers on it? Girls liked that sort of thing. Except, Elena was from a wealthy family, same as he was; somehow he doubted she'd ever have to touch a pot.

No, a pot-holder would not do. Not even the ones with kittens and flowers and all that other nonsense girls got all moony and soppy about. Uther would never let him hear the end of it, if he was so tactless in his gift-choosing.

Walking towards the door Arthur had just come in by, was a pale, blue-eyed chap with big ears, black hair, and what looked like a woolen red scarf wrapped around his neck. Standing close to him, looking a little forlorn, eyes all blood-shot and lackluster, as if she'd been crying, was a beautiful girl with dark hair, all bundled up in a winter coat of purple and russet.

The big-eared fellow, who seemed to be her boyfriend, gave her a shimmering shopping bag with a little red rose tied around the handle.

"Why are you so good to me?" murmured the girl.

"Because..." he began, then faltered. "Because, I can't help it. Because...I..." He forced a smile through his obvious sadness. "I like you."

She looked down at the bag in her hands and shook her head.

"Open it," he encouraged her.

Reaching in, she pulled out a snow globe containing a miniature lakeside scene, glittering water surrounded by wildflowers and mountains. There was something else, too. Putting her hand in again, she discovered a box of chocolate-covered strawberries.

Her whole face lit up with a beaming smile. "You remembered."

"Of course," he told her.

The girl put the snow globe and strawberries back in the bag, just as someone who had been unable to get in the store shouted from behind a growing mob of shoppers, "Miss Lake, your taxi is ready!"

"I'll be right there," she called over her shoulder.

Big, glistening tears filled the scarf-wearing boy's eyes. "I don't want you to go."

The girl embraced him. Pressing her lips close to his ear, she whispered, "One day, Merlin, I will repay you." Pulling away, she added, "I promise."

"Now, Miss Lake!" shouted the person outside again.

"Yes, I'm coming!" She curled her fingers around the shopping bag's handle and looked once more at Merlin before turning to leave. "Goodbye, Merlin."

"Freya..." he sighed, watching her disappear into the darkness and the crowd outside on the street.

What a loser, thought Arthur. What kind of man got all weepy over some pretty-faced girl he'd just been forced to spend money on?

Back to the matter at hand. He had to find a present for Elena.

Over on a shiny gold rack, a single pair of black cashmere gloves were harmlessly waiting to be picked up and purchased.

Perfect! Arthur was relieved; he could get the hell out of there now, before the other shoppers' jawing gave him a headache. Gloves were a most excellent gift. Classy enough that his father wouldn't disinherit him for giving them to a woman he'd picked out, but stable and simple enough that a sensible lady wouldn't necessarily think she had a real claim to any man who gave them to her. Neither romantic nor platonic, neither here nor there. In other worlds, perfect.

Unfortunately, at the same moment Arthur, after fast-walking to the rack, reached for the gloves, so did someone else.

They both tugged at them at the exact same moment.

Arthur, rolling his eyes in frustration, looked to see who it was. Oh, God! It was that Merlin boy who got all emotional over his girlfriend getting in a taxi.

"Hey!"

"Let go," he snapped.

"But you don't understand," protested Merlin. "I need these!"

"For what?" said Arthur. "You already gave your girlfriend a present. I saw you just a minute ago."

"They're not for her, they're for a friend."

"Who?"

"His name's Gaius."

"Well, your precious Gaius is going to have to make do without them," Arthur insisted. "Buy him a toaster instead. Everybody needs a good toaster."

"You buy a toaster!" Merlin barked, continuing to tug on the gloves.

"Let go of those at once," Arthur ordered, "or I swear I will have you blacklisted from every store within a five-mile radius of here."

"Who do you think you are?" Merlin glared at him. "The president of Albion Goodies and Gifts?"

"No," he hissed, leaning close to Merlin's face. "I'm his son, Arthur."

"Not fair," Merlin lamented. "I have to spend over a hundred pounds here just to get a ten percent discount, and a prat like you can just buy up the place because his daddy owns it!"

"You can't talk to me like that!"

"Right." Merlin made a fake apologetic face. "A prat like you can just buy up the place because his daddy owns it, Sir." But he let go of the gloves, letting Arthur have them.

Arthur's fingers lost their grip, leaving them unattended for a brief moment, only for a smaller, smoother brown hand to slip in between Merlin and Arthur and reach for the coveted cashmere gloves.

Arthur immediately lurched to protect them from the swooping vulture, but then he caught a glimpse of her, and his expression softened.

It was a lovely young woman, maybe Arthur's own age, maybe a year or so younger, with deep brown skin, warm twinkling eyes, dimples, and curly black hair.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed, noticing Arthur. "You had them first."

"No..." Arthur waved it off and let go of the gloves. "No problem at all. They're yours."

Merlin glowered.

"I'm Arthur." Arthur introduced himself to the woman.

"Guinevere," she said. "But most people call me Gwen."

"I'm Merlin," Merlin interjected. "Most people call me idiot."

"I can see why," muttered Arthur.

Gwen laughed and shook Merlin's hand, then Arthur's. "Listen, I can't take the gloves. It's sweet of you to offer, but you did have them first. I'll find something else."

"No, you take them."

"No..."

"Please, Guinevere."

"I can't!"

"Well, I'm not buying them. So you should."

"Sooo... Can I buy them?" Merlin interjected helplessly.

Arthur narrowed his eyes at him.

"What? She doesn't want them, and you just said you-" Merlin shook his head. "Never mind. I'm shutting up now."

"Please, Guinevere, take them."

Gwen was just about to give in and accept when suddenly yet another pair of hands got into the mix, grabbing for the gloves!

A large old man with a white beard and no-nonsense look about him had stepped in and now had the gloves in his possession.

"Wait a minute," Arthur protested, grasping the man's arm. "We were just discussing those."

"Well, you can keep on discussing them long after I've bought them," said the man.

"Look, what's your name?"

"Geoffrey."

"Well, Geoffrey, it just so happens that those were meant to be a very special gift for someone." He raised his eyebrows at Merlin and Gwen. "Isn't that right?"

"Yeah!" Merlin chimed in.

"Yes, a special gift," Gwen added.

"You see?" Arthur cocked his head at the old man.

"Who for?"

Arthur hadn't thought of that. He looked nervously from Merlin to Gwen, then back at Geoffrey again. "My girlfriend!"

Gwen, only trying to help, made the mistake of blurting, "My boyfriend!" at exactly the same moment.

"One pair of gloves for two people?" Geoffrey clearly didn't buy that.

"It's a little hard to explain," said Arthur. "You see, she is currently, as of this very moment, my girlfriend..."

"...But, in six months..." Gwen prompted.

"After the operation..." Merlin helped.

Arthur looked horrified and mouthed, "Operation?" at Merlin.

"She will be..." Gwen continued.

"He will be," Arthur corrected, joining back in.

"Right, he will be..." (Gwen struggled to keep a straight face) "...my boyfriend."

Merlin nodded emphatically.

"That didn't really work, did it?" Gwen winced sheepishly.

"No," chuckled Geoffrey, "but Merry Christmas anyway." He handed her the gloves.

"Please buy them before we have to do that again," Merlin pleaded.

"I will," Gwen promised. "Thank you, Arthur." She glanced around, looking for a free register. "You, too, Merlin."

"You like her..." Merlin teased.

"Blacklist, Merlin..." Arthur picked up a decorative gift spoon and held it in front of his face. "Blacklisted forever."

"You're threatening me with a spoon?"

Over at the register, Gwen thought she heard Merlin yelp. A few minutes after that, just as she had gotten the gloves bought and wrapped up, Arthur came up behind her.

"Thanks again," she told him.

"No problem." He shifted from one foot to the other, not sure what to say. He liked her, but she wasn't like the other girls he knew; not the stuffy, posh princesses Uther liked setting him up with... And he wasn't knowledgeable on how to talk to anyone who wasn't like that.

"It was very kind of you. If there's anything-"

"You could grab a bite to eat with me," Arthur ventured. "I mean, if you're hungry."

"All right, but my treat," Gwen said. "It's the least I can do."

Arthur wanted to offer to pay, but he didn't want her to be uncomfortable, especially since he'd just given up the gloves to her. "What if we split the bill?"

"All right."

"I know a great place, right around the corner," he added.

"Sounds lovely."

Pushing past the hordes at the entrance, this time barely noticing them, Arthur held the door open for Gwen and then followed out behind her.

The tune of the brass bells seemed a little merrier as he was leaving, Gwen glancing over her shoulder, waiting for him to join her out on the sidewalk. This was shaping up to be a lovely night after all, and for the first time in a long while Arthur couldn't wait to see where it might lead.

A/N: Any good?