Title: Home

Summary: It doesn't matter where she is or who she's with. At the end of the day, he'll always be her home. Mordern MERGANA.

A/N: Kind of a stupid summary, but I've seriously run out of creative summary ideas. But anyway, I hope you guys like the chapter! Thanks for reading!

-McDiggin'It

…

Chapter One:

…

Merlin is almost convinced that his best friend has been evicted or something. Why else would she show up every night to his flat, just to sleep in his bed? It's a Saturday, and he checks his watch as he sips his tea and leans against the kitchen counter. Like clockwork, his doorbell rings at exactly 8:25p.m. The blue-eyed man grins as he sets his warm cup of tea down and walks out of the kitchen, through the hallway, and to the door. Pulling it open, he smiles widely as Morgana's face comes to view.

Her pale skin is flush from the cold, her hair is sprinkled with snowflakes, and her eyes are a dark green now.

Merlin quirks an eyebrow at her and folds his arms across his chest. "Seriously, Morgana. Just say you're homeless and I'll let you move in." he says jokingly.

Morgana rolls her eyes and lightly punches his arm. "Are you going to let me in or not?"

Merlin takes a step back and lets her pass in front of him as he shuts the door and follows her into the den. He hides his smile as Morgana stops by the couch, turns, and grins widely at him. "You made me tea."

He shrugs, "I figured that since you practically live here now, I'd go ahead and make you a cup so you'd feel right at home."

Morgana chuckles lightly as she shrugs out of her coat, handing it over to Merlin's outstretched hand, and then taking a seat on the comfortable couch as Merlin goes to hang her coat in the closet by the kitchen entrance. "Thank you, Merlin." she says with a smile as she picks up her cup of tea and takes a sip. She closes her eyes and groans as the hot liquid begins to warm her almost immediately.

Merlin snorts as he crosses the living room and plops down beside her with a grin. "You've thanked me a thousand times within the past week, Morgana. I told you, what's mine is yours, so you don't have to thank me."

The green-eyed girl rolls her eyes as she scoots in closer to her best friend's side, leans against his chest, pulls her feet up beneath her, and relaxes into Merlin's warmth. She will probably never admit it to Merlin, but every single time she's close to him like this, she feels like she belongs there.

Merlin instinctively wraps an arm around her shoulder and pulls her close, laying his head on top of hers as they both enjoy the companionable silence.

Suddenly, Morgana sits up quickly and looks at Merlin with wide eyes. "Guess who I bumped into today!"

Merlin's eyebrows furrow for a second. "That's not a very fair thing to make me do. We know about six-thousand people, Morgana."

His best friend rolls her eyes at that. "You and your technicalities... just say you give up."

Merlin huffs and shrugs his shoulders at her. "Fine. I give up."

Morgana grins widely as she turns and sets her cup back down on the coffee table before turning back. "Nelson."

At this, Merlin's eyebrows furrow again in confusion. "Nelson?" he shakes his head. "Doesn't ring a bell."

"Exactly!" Morgana laughs. "It's the one guy you don't know!"

Merlin looks further confused. "I don't even know what that's supposed to mean."

Morgana huffs, "You've known every man I've dated before I even met them, right?"

Merlin nods slowly. "Yyyyyeah. I believe so."

"Well I've finally found a guy who you haven't met!"

This makes Merlin frown. "I'm not sure I'm following."

"He asked me out!"

Merlin has no idea why, but his heart suddenly sinks at her revelation. "Oh… he did?"

"Yes." Morgana nods with a wide smile.

"And uhhh— what did— what did you say?" Merlin stammers and silently curses himself for it.

"Well I said yes, of course!" Morgana says excitedly. "He's tall, dark, handsome, has light brown eyes, and quite possibly the healthiest hair I've ever seen on a man."

Merlin frowns even harder and looks down at his lap. "Really." it comes out a bit more nonchalant than he intended. Not that he actually intended to sound interested. "Where did you meet this… Nelson?" he inwardly cringes at the way he says the guys name in such distaste.

Morgana doesn't notice as she blushes, "I actually met him at work."

"At the firm?" Merlin asks incredulously. "Isn't there a no-dating co-workers policy?"

Morgana nods, "Yes… but he's not a co-worker."

Merlin immediately knows where that leaves Nelson. "He's a client." he states.

Morgana nods again and bites her lip. "He's really nice."

"What's his case?" Merlin questions curiously.

Morgana hesitates for a long moment before sighing, "His ex-wife is accusing him of abuse… and infidelity."

Merlin's eyes widen as he looks at his friend. "Morgana, those are serious accusations. Not to mention, they're not very endearing qualities."

"Well I don't think he did those things. I think his ex-wife is lying so she can get custody over their son."

"They have a son?!" Merlin flies out of his seat as he bellows incredulously at her. "Jesus Christ, Morgana… This guy is divorced with a kid, cheats on his wife, and beats her too?!"

"He didn't do it!" Morgana argues. "I know him."

"For how long?!" Merlin exclaims. "Like a week?"

"Two! And you haven't met him, Merlin… If you did, you wouldn't think he did those things either." She pauses and looks down. "He's really nice."

Merlin groans loudly, "They're all nice! Alvarr, Howard, Sean, Ken, and even Jerry the weirdo, were all nice when you first met them! And where the bloody hell are they now?" Merlin asks rhetorically. "I'll tell you where they are, Morgana. They're no longer in your life!"

"Well what am I supposed to do?!" Morgana yells at him. "Am I supposed to just push away every man who wants to be with me? Am I supposed to stay single for the rest of my life?"

Merlin sighs heavily as he stares at her. "Of course not… but that doesn't mean you have to jump at every chance that presents itself… Sometimes you have to sit back and think about your options."

"Well maybe I don't have options, Merlin! I'm 2 years short of 30 with no husband in sight. And correct me if I'm wrong, but you're the main reason why I'm single!"

"What?!" Merlin bellows angrily.

"Oh, don't deny it Merlin! You kept trying to talk me out of relationships with anyone I showed interest in!"

"Because I knew those people and what they're like!"

"And that's exactly why I'm choosing Nelson!"

Merlin feels his heart sink even further at that. It's an odd and unfamiliar feeling. He has known Morgana for 14 years. They met in High School when they were both in their 1st year, and they instantly clicked. Of course, he thinks she's absolutely beautiful. But he had never really thought about ever dating her, except for the rare occasions when he's drunk. Other than that, he had been the perfect male best friend. He's there for her whenever she needs him, and he always looks out for her. Especially when it comes to the douchebag boyfriends in her life. The same goes for Morgana whenever it came to the girls in his life.

But recently, he's been feeling these weird feelings towards her. Feelings that he had felt for his ex-girlfriends, but intensified by a hundred. As he stares at her from the other side of the couch, his heart sinks even further. She's his best friend… and more than anything else in the world, he wants her to be happy. So he nods and backs down. "I just don't want to see you hurt, Morgana."

Morgana nods to him, "I know… but it's not your job to worry about me, Merlin."

He nods too, knowing that she's right. "I know… but it doesn't stop it."

They decide to watch a movie and cuddle on the couch. Morgana gets comfortable in his arms, smiling and laughing along with the movie. Merlin stays silent, trying not to react to every sound, sigh, and movement she makes. It's hard to not just grab her by the shoulders and just snog her, but he resists anyway. He would much rather have her in his life and let her unknowingly hurt him by dating whoever she wants, than to not have her in his life at all.

…

A/N: I could be cruel and leave this story like this, angsty and all… but sadly, I'm not cruel. This'll be a 2-shot or 3-shot. So for the reviewers who requested a modern Mergana fic, this is for you guys! Hope you all like this first chapter. I will do my best to update as soon as possible. Thank you all for reading, and please let me know what you think of this!

-McDiggin'It