A/N: Hey Merlin readers! I always knew Arthur asked Gwen to marry him for the first there was a scene missing in Lancelot Du lac after the proposal scene and I thought I would write what I think would have happened after that scene. I think Arthur would have gone to Merlin and Gaius and told them seeing as Merlin, having been in the room when Arthur announced to Agravaine what he had intended to do had a aright to know if Gwen had said yes or not so this is merely my version of events. I started to write this ages ago but uni started to get in the way and I thought I would finish it and post it up now. I have another few one shots in the works and I should have those up soon as well. So I hope you all enjoy this and please let me know what you think.

No More Hiding

After his proposal to Gwen, Arthur walked happily down the corridor towards Gaius' chambers. He needed to tell someone that wasn't Agravaine and actually approved of his relationship with Gwen. He knew that two of these people were just behind the rickety old door. Stopping at the door, he quickly knocked and a moment later, Gaius' voice summoned him inside.

"Arthur!" Gaius greeted with a grin. Merlin looked up from his place on the floor. Gaius had told him to scrub out the leech tank for the third time that week.

"Did you do it?" Merlin asked getting to his feet.

Arthur was unable to keep his smile from taking over his face. He nodded.

"What did she say?" Merlin and Gaius asked together.

"She said yes!" Arthur practically cried.

Gaius and Merlin were lost for words. Exchanging looks, Merlin cheered at the very top of his lungs and hurried over to hug Arthur.

"Congratulations Arthur. I know Gwen will make you happy." Arthur returned his best friend's hug.

"Thank you, Merlin. I know she will. She will be the best Queen that Camelot has ever seen!"

"Why did you come and tell us, sire? We thought you would have told Agravaine before you told us." Gaius frowned.

"Agravaine might be my uncle but he is naïve as to how to feel about someone you love. I cannot put my finger on it but I think he has it out for Guinevere. I do not know why." Arthur frowned at the last half of his own statement. His gut had been telling him that Agravaine didn't like Gwen at all but he knew that it had nothing to do with Gwen being a servant. It had to be something else.

Before anyone else could speak up the door of the chamber creaked over and the Knights of the Round Table filed inside without a word. Arthur frowned at the sight of his friends.

"What are you lot doing here?" he asked before his eyes widened in realisation. "Merlin, please don't tell me that you told them."

"What? Of course, I had to tell them. They think of Gwen as a sister and they would never let me live it down if I didn't tell them." Merlin told him in desperation.

"Yeah and besides," Elyan said as he stepped forward. "Gwen just so happens to be my little sister. Anything that concerns her has everything to do with me." Arthur could see that Elyan wasn't joking. He hadn't even thought of asking Elyan about asking Gwen to marry him but he supposed Merlin telling them wasn't so bad after all.

"I know I was suppose to ask your permission Elyan and I am truly sorry for not asking you first but after the Lamia incident I thought the moment was right." Arthur said awkwardly.

"Right, and if you ever hurt Gwen. I will hurt you. I don't care if you're the king." Elyan said sternly.

Arthur smirked and looked at his feet briefly before returning his eyes to his soon-to-be brother-in-law. "Don't worry Elyan. I would never do anything to hurt Gwen. You know that," Arthur's eyes darted to the other knights, Merlin and Gaius who had all stepped forward to join Elyan. "What?" he asked.

"Gwen is like a sister and a daughter to us and Elyan's right: If you ever hurt Gwen in any way, we'll kill you, we won't hesitate for a second. Even if you are the king." Merlin said as he indicated himself, the knights and Gaius.

"Overprotective much?" Arthur teased, a smile forming on his face.

"She's more than Elyan's sister she's our sister," Gwaine said. This amazed Arthur, as it was the only sane thing Gwaine had probably ever said in his life in the rare moments when he wasn't drunk with pride.

"He's right," said Percival who was probably the most timid of the knights. "We all love Gwen and if you set one foot out of line, we will be on you like a ton of boulders am I right fellas?" He said shooting the king with a smile that was both teasing and threatening.

"Right!" the knights and Merlin commented in unison. Gaius and Arthur looked at each other before the king decided to speak up again.

"Right," Arthur said as he rounded on Gaius, Merlin and Leon. "Leon, Merlin, Gaius I suspect you have something to say as well." Arthur said his arms were now crossed against his chest.

"Ah," Merlin turned his attention to Leon.

"I have known Gwen since she and Elyan were children and I came to look upon her as another sister like my fellow knights and Merlin have just stated and as your second-in-command Arthur I would say as a brother myself, to look after our sister and to treat her in the same manner that you would treat the rest of us." Leon said awkwardly. He had almost always addressed Arthur formally but because of the current situation he was laying down the law when it came to his childhood friend whom, like his friends, treated Gwen like another sister. He turned his attention to Merlin who had been dying to say something.

"I would like to say that I have been there for you two since the very start and was one of the first people to know about the huge secret you were keeping from your father and the rest of the court. I have been your counsel and I will be glad to see you become the greatest King and Queen that Albion has ever known." Arthur wasn't surprised by Merlin's words. He was always going on about Albion and other things like destinies.

"You done, Merlin?" Arthur asked playfully.

"Yep. Pretty much." Merlin said smugly before Gwaine pulled him by his tunic behind him and out of the way.

"Gaius?" Arthur said turning the elderly physician.

"I have known you since you were born and I have always believed that you would be a great king and here I stand as I look upon you as the king you were destined to be and now I look at you as your father would have saying that you are about to make the woman you love your queen and I must say this: there is no wrong or right way to be a husband. Treat Gwen with the love and compassion and she will treat you in the same manner, I might be old but I have seen the love that you and Gwen share and I know that she will be make a fair and just Queen of Camelot." Gaius said confidently. Arthur nodded slowly as his old friend and advisor's words sunk in.

Gaius was right. There was no right or wrong way to be a husband and Arthur knew that. He had grown up watching the lords of his father's court interact with their wives and knew from every one that he watched that every man was different. He didn't know what kind of husband his father had been to his mother but from the little information that he knew, his father loved Ygraine with all his heart and would never have hurt her he unless he had to and that meant going behind her back and asking Nimueh for heal in conceiving an heir to the throne. He didn't know that Morgana had been the result of an affair that his father had with Gorlois' wife, Vivienne while his mother was still alive but he knew that Gorlois had been a great husband in his time loved Morgana like his own when he didn't know that Morgana wasn't actually his daughter.

From Uther's stories, Arthur had learned that Gorlois would do anything to make Vivienne fall in love him every time he entered the room and that when he was in Vivienne's bad books, he would always make it up to her in some way. Arthur had always loved hearing his father's stories even when he was of age even though he would never admit it aloud.

"Arthur?" the king snapped out of his memories at the sound of Elyan's voice.

"Sorry, I was remembering something that my father use to tell me and it was exactly what you said Gaius. There is no right way to be a husband and you're right. I would never hurt Gwen and you all know that. I am not my father. I do not believe most of what my father said in the past about marriage being for wealth and gain and not love. I was right to listen to you Merlin when you said that people should marry for love and not wealth. My father loved my mother so I do know why he tried to force me into all those arranged marriages." Arthur looked around at his friends.

"And?" the group chorused.

"And I know that my parents' marriage was arranged but my father loved my mother from the first time he set eyes on her and knew that she was right one, in the same way that Gwen is right woman for me." Arthur grinned at his friends and at that moment he simply knew: in a few days, he and Gwen no longer had to hide their relationship from the world. If their love was strong it could conquer anything. But little did he know the night before the wedding; things would take a turn for the worst.

So there you go. I will have the next chapter of Ever Ever After up soon and I hope you enjoy the rest of most Merlin stories.