Title: Maybe Love

A/N: This fic won't be my main focus, as I'll be working more towards finishing my other fics first. However, this will be one that I'll update in between the other stories I have going on. It won't be consistent, but I will try to wrap up each chapter so that there won't be any huge and frustrating cliffhangers. Anyways, R&R!

-McDiggin'It

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Summary: Morgana and Merlin have never been friends. They've never liked each other... in fact, they hate each other. But the death of their best friends and the responsibility of godparents will force them to live together. Can they spend a whole day together without murdering each other? Read to find out!

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Chapter One: Maybe Together

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There's seriously something wrong with the air. Why else would his lungs feel like they're about to fall out of his chest? The young man gasps as he stops running and makes a face as he grasps desperately at the stitch in his side.

"Come on, Merlin. We're not even halfway there." Arthur says as he jogs in place and grabs his best friends arm. "Morgana and Gwen are not far behind us."

Merlin swallows hard and glares at his best friend. "Remind me again why I'm here this early, running with you, Gwen, and the wicked witch of the west?"

Arthur chuckles as he shakes his head. "Because I'm your best friend and you're here to support me."

Merlin rolls his eyes and sighs heavily before starting up a jog again beside Arthur. "Right, well I think we should minimize our friendship activities to a range from 10am to 8:30pm. This early morning jogging is not really my thing." He half jokes.

Arthur slows to a stop as they come to the halfway mark on their trail. "Absolutely not. Gwen needs Morgana for moral support, and I can't be alone with them because they like to talk about things that bore me to death..." he wrinkles his nose. "...like hearth rugs and scented candles."

Merlin makes a face of disgust. "I used to envy you when we were younger. Can't say I still feel the same way."

Arthur looks at Merlin, surprised. "You envied me?"

Merlin nods and lets out a laugh. "Oh yeah. Big time. You remember in 3rd grade when we had that school field trip to the M&M factory?"

Arthur blinks confusedly. "No. What M&M factory? And I didn't know you until the 7th grade."

Merlin pauses and looks deep in thought. "Huh... that might've been Gwaine."

Arthur rolls his eyes at Merlin. "So you never envied me, but you envied Gwaine?"

Merlin nods his head up and down as he frowns. "He got to go home with two bags of M&M's that day because I wasn't in school and he took mine and ate it!"

Arthur gapes at his best friend in wonder. Merlin really is the simplest person on the planet. The man doesn't have a single jealous bone in his body. "You're telling me you envied Gwaine because he ate your bag of M&M's?"

"M&M's are my favorite candy!" Merlin says defensively. "Besides, I was looking forward to that field trip."

"Why didn't you go?"

Merlin shrugs and looks away towards the trail where Gwen and Morgana are emerging. "I didn't have a parent to sign my permission form."

Arthur doesn't say anything to that. He knows about Merlin's parents dying in a car accident when he was only 5 years old. He can't imagine what that's like, growing up without a family. Merlin had gone through some really tough times, and yet he's probably the nicest person he knows... besides Gwen.

"This doesn't count." Morgana pants as she and Gwen come to a stop behind them.

Gwen nods in agreement. "Yeah. You guys have longer legs than us."

Merlin scoffs. "How is that our fault?"

"Because everything is your fault." Morgana tells him menacingly, to which Merlin flips her the bird.

"You guys still lose." Merlin sticks his tongue out at the girls.

Morgana glares at him. "I just said it doesn't count! You guys sprinted as soon as we started!"

"You did too!"

Morgana glares even harder. Gwen and Arthur just watch them with amusement.

Merlin rolls his eyes at Morgana. "Whatever. We got here long before you two did, took a nap, learned another language, and had a conversation about M&M's. Speaking of which, you two lost, so you both owe me waffles with M&M's on top."

"I don't owe you shit!" Morgana spat.

"Okay!" Gwen jumps between the two and puts her hands up in front of them. "We lost," She tells Morgana, silently pleading for her to drop it. She then looks at Merlin and smiles. "I'll make you waffles with all the M&M's you want, okay?"

Merlin smiles triumphantly and nods. "Thanks, Gwen... for not being a sore loser like someone I won't name." He then looks pointedly at Morgana and smirks. She flips him off and rolls her eyes at him.

Arthur sighs and throws his arm over his wife's shoulder. "Ready to head back?"

Gwen smiles at him as she wraps her arm around his waist. "Yes, please. Before Merlin and Morgana start strangling each other."

Arthur snorts. "They're just unwilling to admit that they care about each other."

"We do not!" Morgana and Merlin shout simultaneously.

"I wouldn't care about you if you were the last man on earth!" Morgana yells at the dark haired man.

"And I wouldn't kiss you with a ten foot pole if you were the last woman alive!"

"It's touch!" Morgana screams angrily.

"What?!"

"The expression is touch with a ten foot pole! Not kiss!"

Merlin stops and blinks at her as he thinks about it for a second. Realizing she's right, he shrugs at her. "Right... well— I wouldn't do that too."

Arthur laughs as Gwen sighs heavily. It's really a miracle their friends haven't killed each other yet.

...

It's early in the morning when Merlin receives the phone call. He's half asleep when he answers, sitting up and groaning into the receiver. "What do you want?"

"Merlin…"

Merlin's eyes snap open as he pulls his phone away and looks at the name on the phone. As he suspected, Evil Witch is what pops up.

"Morgana?" He asks as he puts the phone back up to his ear. "Why are you calling me?" He looks at his alarm clock and nods. It's 3a.m. "Oh right. It's the devil's hour."

"Merlin!" Morgana snaps at him over the phone.

"Morgana!" Merlin snaps back mockingly.

"I— I'm at the hospital."

Merlin scratches his head as he gets up out of bed and walks towards the bathroom. He suddenly wants to pee. "Are you pregnant?"

"Wha— no!"

"Have you finally contracted an STD from your latest conquest?"

"Fuck you, Merlin!" Morgana spat angrily. "I'm not here for me! It's…" she trails off as her voice tapers down to a small whisper. "It's Gwen and Arthur."

Merlin frowns as he turns on the light in his bathroom. "What about them?" he asks, finally being serious. Something about Morgana's tone makes him feel uneasy.

Morgana doesn't say anything for a long time, choking on a sob she's so desperately trying to suppress. "They were in an accident."

It's then that Merlin's sense of hearing fades out, and a loud ringing fades in. The only thing he can hear is his own breathing, growing louder and louder as his heart sinks.

"Merlin?"

… nothing.

"Merlin?"

… absolutely nothing.

"Merlin!" Morgana shouts over the phone for the third time.

Merlin finally snaps back to reality as he stares at his own reflection in the mirror. Somewhere along the line, he'd been thrown right back to when he was five years old and his babysitter was waking him up to go to the hospital. He'd been confused and sleepy as his babysitter carried him to the car and drove him down to the hospital. He'd then been approached by a woman in a business attire, and she'd told him that his parents were badly injured in an accident. "I— I'm— I'm here." Merlin finally stammers into the phone.

Morgana sighs shakily. "They didn't— they didn't make it." not a moment later, she lets out a soft sob, which she tries to hide by pressing her hand over her mouth.

Merlin's eyes sting with tears as he asks, "What hospital?"

Morgana gives him the name and location, punctuating nearly every word with a sniffle.

Merlin nods slowly. "I'll be there soon."

…

When he arrives at the hospital, he has trouble trying to find the Emergency room. When he finally finds it, he stands outside for a few long minutes, trying to will his hands not to shake. The whole drive there, he'd tried desperately not to cry, but it was impossible. Tears had come and gone, and his hands wouldn't stop shaking as he gripped the wheel tightly.

He finally manages to take a step towards the door and pull it open, stepping inside as he takes a deep, but shaky breath. He almost immediately sees Morgana, sitting on the floor in a corner. There are two other people in the room and plenty of empty seats, but Morgana chooses the floor. He goes to her, instantly forgetting about how much he loathes her.

He stops a few feet away and stares at her, noticing her face in her hands as her shoulders shake lightly. His heart sinks even further at the sight. He'd known her for over ten years now, and he'd never ever seen her cry. She had always been independent, stubborn, arrogant, and admittedly, tough. But tonight, she truly looked anything but those. He walks over to her, stopping right in front of her, the tips of his shoes almost touching the tips of hers.

Merlin stoops down, pausing for a moment before finally raising a hand and touching her shoulder gently. Morgana gasps, raising her head as if surprised by the interruption. Her eyes are red and raw from crying, her hair is all over the place, and her usually flawless makeup is absent. She takes only a few seconds to take in the unshed tears shining in Merlin's eyes before she throws herself forward into his chest and sobs uncontrollably into his white shirt.

Merlin doesn't even think about the hate they'd always had for each other. Right now, she needs him, and maybe he needs her too. He wraps his arms around her body, rubbing soothing circles on her back.

They stay that way for what seems like forever, until a Resident Doctor comes out and asks to have a word with them. The young man and woman nod and follows the Doctor to a backroom, where they continue to explain what had happened during the accident, and what caused it.

Turns out, Arthur and Gwen were out on a date last night, and were on their way home when a drunk driver ran a red light and hit them from the side. Gwen and Arthur both suffered major injuries, and almost immediately lost their lives.

"They've been cleaned and taken down to the coroners office if you both wish to go and see their bodies." the Doctor says sympathetically.

Merlin nods as Morgana turns away and places a hand over her mouth. She doesn't say a word as she suddenly leaves the room and runs to the nearest restroom. Merlin suspects she's feeling sick because he feels sick too. He thanks the doctor before following Morgana to the restroom. He waits outside for nearly 15 minutes before he begins to worry. Looking around, he makes sure that no one is any rush to use the restroom before he quietly slips inside to go check on Morgana.

He immediately hears her, throwing up in one of the stalls. He makes his way over, finding the last stall's door, open, with Morgana kneeling on the floor, throwing up her guts into the toilet. He never thought it would ever happen, but he actually really feels horrible for her… and for himself.

Tucking his hands into his pockets, he shakes his head to himself. He's not sure he's entirely accepted the fact that his friends are really gone… forever. Or maybe he's just better equipped for death of loved ones. He'd lost his parents when he was really young, but he'd felt the loss of them. He'd dealt with the grief and loneliness. He didn't have anyone to console him, except a bunch of strangers who only did so because it was a part of their job.

Today, despite the bad blood between Morgana and himself, he won't let her go through what he did when he was but a child. He won't let her suffer alone, or with strangers. So he goes to her, shushing softly, comfortingly, as he reaches down and pulls her hair back from her face.

Morgana throws up two more times before she finally sits back and leans against the stall. Merlin slides down and sits across from her. They say nothing, do nothing, as they simply stare at each other with tears running down their faces. Today, they mourn the death of their best friends. Today, they are not enemies. Today, they will find comfort with each other. Tomorrow, they can go back to reality… but today, they'll wallow in misery, regret, pain, and suffering; and they'll do it together.

…

A/N: I really hope this chapter was good for you all. I tried to make it as realistically emotional as possible without going overboard with the cheesiness. Also, I want to apologize sincerely for killing off Arthur and Gwen on the first chapter. I love and adore them, but the plot is simply for the development of Merlin and Morgana. Also, the first part of the chapter is like a sort of feeler for the kind of relationship that Morgana and Merlin has. Anyways, I hope you all liked this chapter. This is a fic that I plan to write many many chapters of. It won't have a serious, meaningful plot. It's just going to be lots of Mergana moments that will be good, bad, happy, sad, frustrating, and as realistic as I can write them. I just wanted a fic that I can always add to, as opposed to posting random one-shots that could easily be related. So, many thanks for reading! Please review!

-McDiggin'It