Disclaimer: Not mine.

This is my first foray into the Merlin fandom - this was written for the WinterKnights 2015 fest on LJ as a pinch hit with a self-prompt. It kind of got out of hand, but I hope you enjoy it!

It was snowing.

There were times when Morgana hated the winter – she hated slogging through the slush on her way to work when the snow turned to slush as soon as it hit the ground. She only hoped that it would stop – or even stick – before she and Gwaine had to leave for the New Year's party her brother was throwing. (Really, it was Merlin who was throwing the party – he was just letting Arthur take the credit for it because Arthur's flat was better for parties.)

Morgana glanced at the clock on the far wall, then out the window. There was time for it to stop. Gwaine had not even gotten back from work yet and she had hardly started getting ready beyond the dresses scattered around their bedroom and the shoes that were scattered in front of the full length mirror. She had the choice narrowed down to two – but it would all depend on her fiancé, who was already almost an hour late.

The sound of keys rattling in the front door reached her and brought a smile to her face. Finally. She reached across the pile of rejected dresses and pulled the jumper she had shed earlier out from under a pair of shoes she had tossed onto the bed earlier. She pulled it over her head and headed for the front hall and hopefully a fiancé that was not completely exhausted.

Gwaine had just hung up his coat when she entered the hall, which gave her the perfect moment to wrap her arms around him and rest her head on his back.

"Hey you," he said softly. He put one hand on hers and shifted to nudge the door closed, then raised one arm to pull her to his side.

"Hey you," she echoed, moving to kiss him.

When she pulled away, he caught her and tugged her back against his chest. He settled his arms around her waist and smiled down at her. "You look nice."

"Thank you. You didn't forget about the party, did you?"

Both of Gwaine's eyebrows rose. "How could I? Merlin has only been texting me every ten minutes and panicking about everything being perfect. You'd think he hadn't thrown parties for New Year's Eve for the last three years."

An unladylike snort escaped her. "I imagine my brother has something to do with that. Arthur hasn't been letting Merlin forget about last year when somebody thought it was a great idea to play chubby bunny with the chocolate covered marshmallows."

"In my defense, Percival started it. How was I supposed to let him get away with that?"

Morgana sighed dramatically. "Oh, I don't know – not try to kill yourself with Merlin's sweets again? I don't want to have to explain to everyone why the person training to be a medic is the one who choked and passed out because he did something stupid like shove too many marshmallows in his mouth. Again."

Gwaine snorted. "Fine, fine. You win. No more chubby bunny. For your sake – and Merlin's."

"Good. I think Merlin would strangle you if you pulled that again."

This time Gwaine laughed, shooting a grin at her before he let his arm drop and he started down the hall. "I'd rather live, thank you very much. Besides, if he strangles me and I die, you'll kill him and then you'll bring me back and you'll kill me again for ruining the wedding."

Morgana rolled her eyes. "I would not. I would just find a replacement for you."

He turned around as he reached the doorway to the kitchen. He raised both eyebrows, a bright twinkle in his eyes. "Oh, so I'm replaceable now?"

They stared at each other for a long moment before she let out a huff. "Fine. No, you're not. Are you happy now?"

The smirk he gave her made her knees week. "Of course I am. I get to marry the most beautiful, amazing woman in the world in a few months because – God knows why – she loves me." He moved back over to her, pulling her into his arms.

Morgana's cheeks heated. A shiver ran down her spine at the way he looked at her. They were centimeters away when her phone started ringing all too loudly and the moment was ruined.

They both audibly sighed as he dropped his arm, obviously deflating. "You'd better get that. I'm sure it's Merlin wanting to know why we're not there yet."

"Merlin can wait," Morgana said. She reached out and took Gwaine's hand, leading him away from the kitchen. "Help me pick out a dress. Then we have an excuse for not answering the phone."

A slow smile spread across Gwaine's face and the twinkle returned to his eyes. "I like the way you think."

"That's why you asked me to marry you," she replied.

That drew another laugh. "You're going to be the death of me, woman."

"If you think this is good, wait until you see my dress."

Gwaine audibly groaned as they entered their bedroom – and that was before he saw the mess. He stared at the piles of clothing strewn about the room, then looked at her, then back at the clothing. "How did you-?"

She cut him off with a kiss before he could get any further, pulling back when his hand started drifting down her back. "It's better not to ask," she whispered. She slipped out of his arms, crossing to the two dresses she had narrowed her selection down to. She held both of them up for his inspection. "Which one?"

The staring seemed to be a new trend. Gwaine did not answer for a solid two minutes and she had begun to shift uneasily. Then he seemed to snap out of the daze he had been in. "The red one. Definitely the red one."

She did not even have a chance to respond before he closed the distance between them and captured her mouth. The hangers clattered to the floor, completely forgotten.

"You're late."

Merlin had not even gotten the door all the way open before the words were out of his mouth.

Gwaine and Morgana exchanged glances, then looked back at their friend. "I told you he was going to say something," Gwaine muttered.

"I heard that."

"We're an hour early, Merlin," Morgana said. "The party hasn't even started yet."

"Leon is here. He's eating all of the crisps and talking to Arthur instead of helping. Something about the latest cricket match or polo or something. They're supposed to be finishing the decorations while I get the food done and put the appetizers out."

Gwaine shook his head. "I'll take care of the two of them. You two finish with the food."

Merlin was visibly relieved as he backed away from the door. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it," Gwaine replied, releasing his fiancée and sliding past his friend so that he could put an end to the trouble.

Morgana could not help the chuckle that escaped her as Merlin shut the door behind her. "Don't worry, Merlin. Gwaine will take care of it."

"I know," Merlin replied. He ran a hand through his hair, his gaze far away for a moment. Then he shot her a smile. "Come on, Mithian is already in the kitchen helping out."

"Of course you recruited her," Morgana said. "Arthur would starve without the two of you."

Merlin's grin widened. "He probably would. He tried to make her dinner last week. I doubt he mentioned it, since she said she got home from work and he had burned the roasted vegetables he made. She said the chicken he made wasn't bad, though, so we must be rubbing off on him."

Morgana's eyebrows rose. "That's an improvement. My brother has many talents, but cooking has never been one of them."

"I appreciate that he tried," Mithian said as they entered the kitchen. "I'd also like to think that he won't be eating out every night I'm at that conference next month. Though, knowing him, he will probably just mooch off of Merlin once the leftovers run out."

Merlin let out a sigh. "Probably so. He's lucky business management doesn't require cooking." He reached for the open wine bottle on the counter and poured it into a new glass, then offered it to Morgana. "I think Mithian and I have dinner handled. If you want to finish getting the appetizers arranged so they can go out when the others get here that would be really helpful."

Morgana nodded, moving over to the plates Merlin had indicated. "No marshmallows?"

Merlin gave her an exasperated look. "Not after last year. I do not need one of them starting that stupid game again."

"I had to make Gwaine promise he wouldn't do it earlier," Morgana told him. "Imagine all the trouble they would get into without us, Merlin."

"We do not get into that much trouble without you," Gwaine said. He walked into the kitchen shaking his head at them.

Merlin rolled his eyes. "You say that like I didn't rescue you from three fights at the pub we went to in uni and a crazy ex-girlfriend the same week I introduced you to Morgana."

Gwaine waved a hand as he crossed the room to stand behind Morgana and reach for one of the appetizers she was arranging. "Details."

She swatted his hand, turning around. "Those are not for you. You have to wait, just like everyone else."

"I'll trade you a kiss for one," Gwaine teased. He slipped an arm around her and pulled her against him. "Or I'll just take a kiss instead."

Morgana chuckled and leaned in to kiss him, ignoring the gagging noises Merlin was making across the kitchen.

The pulled apart a few moments later when someone cleared their throat behind them. "I would appreciate it if you two wouldn't snog over the food I'm going to eat later."

She rolled her eyes, leaning around Gwaine to shoot a glare at the owner of the offending voice. "We don't complain when you snog Mithian. Hush, Arthur."

Arthur let out an exasperated sigh and muttered something as he moved to inspect the food before Merlin started shooing him away.

Morgana turned her attention back to Gwaine, smiling when she caught the smoldering look he was directing at her. "This reminds me. I've been thinking about New Year's resolutions and how we never manage to keep ours – so what do you think of this one? We'll go out less and stay in more this year?"

Gwaine was silent for a beat, then he gave her a smirk. "I like the sound of that. But only if it means that sharing is optional."