AN: Hello, my lovely readers! This is a modern, non-magical AU one shot. Quick note, this hasn't been beta read, and I am neither Irish nor British. I made Merlin Irish, because Colin Morgan's natural Irish accent is freaking adorable! I don't own anything and please read and review!

My Wayward Heart

Morgana sighed happily as she finally sat in her airplane seat. She couldn't believe how long it had been since her last holiday and therefore she had finally told her father and brother that enough was enough! She was taking a break from the demanding career at Pendragon Industries; being the head of the fashion department was stressful enough, but when Uther Pendagon is your employer and your father, that's extra pressure. She was finally taking a much needed holiday and was extremely excited to visit her mother's homeland of Ireland. Ever since her mother passed away a few years ago, Morgana had always wanted to go to Ireland to gain just a little bit more of a sense of her mother. Morgana was suddenly brought out of her peaceful thoughts when someone tapped on her shoulder.

Morgana looked up to see a handsome young man with ruffled, black hair, pale skin, blue eyes, sharp cheekbones, and slightly overlarge ears. "Excuse me," he said politely, his Irish accent sending slight chills down Morgana's spine. "Yes?," Morgana answered warily, slightly uncomfortable at how physically attracted she was to this perfect stranger. "It's just that that's my seat," he said, pointing to the empty seat next to her, "And I just needed in." "Oh, of course. Sorry," Morgana said with a blush as she stood up to let him in. "Thanks," he replied as he settled into his seat, "My name's Merlin."

"Morgana," she introduced as she shook his hand in greeting, the touch sending a warm sensation coursing through her body.

"So, why are you going to the old country?," he asked with a teasing grin, unaware of Morgana's slight panic at the effect his touch had on her.

"Just for a much needed holiday," she replied back, unconsciously rubbing her hand where his touched, "and yourself?'

"Just visiting me family for a short time before going back to the old grind."

"You don't live in Ireland?"

"Nope," he said with a wide smile, his eyes sparkling in quiet mischief, "I work in London."

"Do you mind if I ask what you do?," Morgana asked, curious about this mischievous elf-like young man.

"I don't mind at all. I am an architect."

"Oh really? My brother is an architect as well."

"He must be a very good guy! After all he is an architect!," he chuckled.

Morgana quietly laughed at his excited silliness and said, "He can be, but sometimes he can be a bit of a noble prat."

"A noble prat? That's an odd description."

Morgana shrugged and said, "It's true. He has a good heart, but sometimes he can be a bit of a prat while being his noble self."

Merlin laughed at her description of her brother and Morgana found herself mesmerized by the joyous look on his face. They continued to talk throughout the entire flight. Talking about anything and everything; anything from Dr. Who to Morgana's new fashion line. Morgana deliberately did not tell Merlin her last name or where she worked, because she didn't want that unnecessary attention that her name often brought her.

Merlin and Morgana continued to talk while their plane landed in Dublin. Their conversation was flowing extremely well, and Morgana couldn't believe how easy it was to talk to Merlin. He was sarcastic, mischievous, optimistic, and had a slight morbid sense of humor that Morgana completely enjoyed. Morgana and Merlin continued their conversation while they walked through the airport and even when they picked up their luggage. When they finally exited the airport, Morgana was saddened at the thought that she would probably never see Merlin again. "Where you staying?," Merlin suddenly asked. "At the Hilton," she answered. Merlin whistled in appreciation for her ritzy accommodations and replied, "I could give you a ride if you would like."

Morgana blushed and said, "I don't want to inconvenience you."

"No inconvenience at all. It's on me way anyway," he replied with his trademark mischievous smile, "Come, come. I already got a rental car ready in advance."

Morgana blushed again at his insistence and quietly agreed to let him give him give her a ride. Merlin grinned widely at her agreement and quickly led the way to pick up his rental car.

When Merlin drove up to the entrance to the Hilton where Morgana was staying, Morgana was again saddened at the thought of never seeing Merlin again. "Well, it was great to meet you," Morgana said with a sad smile as she was about to exit Merlin's rental car. "You as well," Merlin said and quickly got out of the car, ran around to Morgana's side, and opened the door for her before opening the boot of the car and got her luggage out. Morgana smiled at him as she grabbed her luggage, their hands touched and that familiar warm, tingling sensation coursed through her. "Say, you mind if we go somewhere for breakfast tomorrow? I can pick you up and drop you off anywhere you want," Merlin asked, his blue eyes displaying hope and fear of rejection all at once. Morgana blushed again at his obvious interest in her and agreed to go to breakfast with him, making him smile widely before he quickly kissed her cheek in goodbye. Morgana continued to feel a warm tingling sensation on her cheek where Merlin had kissed all throughout the rest of that night.

The next morning came with Merlin's mischievous grin and joyous blue eyes as Morgana greeted him at a nearby cafe. The more Morgana got to know the joyous elf-like young man, the more she realized how much she actually liked him. It almost scared her, how much she truly enjoyed being with Merlin, for every time she thought about going back home and probably never seeing him again, she would have cold, unwelcome shivers down her back. So, instead Morgana tried to focus on the present of just being with Merlin and enjoy the time that she had. "So, you going anywhere in particular?," Merlin asked.

"Avalon Lake," Morgana answered.

"Really? Me mum lives not very far from there. If you want you can stay with me and me mum during your holiday. She wouldn't mind," Merlin said, hope gleaming from his blue eyes.

"You sure? I would really hate to inconvenience you and your mum, and I really don't want to impose upon your holiday with your family."

"No inconvenience at all. Mum wouldn't mind at all and it'll be free for you and close to Lake Avalon."

"Well, if you're sure and it wouldn't cause any trouble for you or your mum, I would love to," Morgana eventually agreed and was once again rewarded with Merlin's infectious smile as he made a quick call to his mum.

Morgana quickly found that she absolutely adored Merlin's small little house that he grew up in. It almost seemed like a cottage; it was made of wood with a small chimney and had a small vegetable garden in the back. Morgana also adored Merlin's mum, Hunith. She was shorter than both Merlin and Morgana, had long brunette hair that she constantly had up in a messy bun, and wise dark blue eyes. Hunith was kind and obviously knew the benefits of a hard day's work. Morgana had a lovely evening having dinner with Hunith and Merlin as Hunith told embarrassing stories about her son when he was younger. Morgana couldn't remember the last time she laughed as hard as she did that night at Hunith's small, cozy home. The three of them stayed up late into the night, trading stories and laughing the night away. Finally, after many poorly hidden yawns, Hunith bid them a good night and told them to not stay up much longer. Morgana and Merlin quietly continued to talk as Merlin lead Morgana to the small guest room she was staying in. As she entered the room, she turned to Merlin and asked, "Would you mind if you could drive me out to the lake tomorrow. I don't want to inconvenience you anymore than I already am, so if you can't that's okay." Merlin quickly stopped her rambling as he gave her a kiss on the check and said, "I would love to, Morgana. Sweet dreams." Morgana blushed and bid him goodnight as the familiar warmth of his touch coursed through her body.

Merlin and Morgana quietly walked around the large lake as they took in the beauty of the scenic view that it provided. As they continued to walk, Merlin quietly asked, "So, why did you want to come to this specific lake?" Morgana sighed, but felt like she could trust Merlin almost explicitly and told him, "My mother passed away a few years ago, and ever since I have wanted to visit her homeland. She had often talked about Lake Avalon as one of her favorite places, where she would go just to look out at the beauty of nature and bask in it." Merlin simply listened and took her hand in his and stroked his thumb over her hand in a gentle caress as Morgana continued to talk about her mother.

Morgana spent the next few days in a happy dreamlike state as she continued to roam the Irish countryside with Merlin occasionally at her side and spending the evenings at Huntih's cozy little house trading stories and staying up late into the night. Morgana could easily forget about her hectic life in London at Pendragon Industries as long as she was with Merlin. Merlin seemed to magically take away all of her stress and give her some much needed some happiness and laughter in her life. However, this happy state came crashing down with a single phone call. Uther had called her and told her in a slightly quivering voice that her brother, Arthur, had been in a car accident.

Morgana was in a state of chaotic distress as she told Hunith goodbye as her eyes water at not only at the thought of her brother possibly dying, but also at the thought of the possibility of never seeing the wise, kind woman again. Merlin kindly offered Morgana a ride after she had made arrangements for the next available flight to London. They drove in a tense silence as Morgana's mind was constantly pulling her in different directions of worrying about Arthur and having to truly say goodbye to the man that she had found that she was falling in love with. She was quietly shaken out of her thoughts as Merlin quietly took her hand in his and began to caress it in a calming manner. The tense silence soon turned to a comfortable silence as Morgana let Merlin silently comfort her and slowly let the stress go away with his magical touch. Merlin drove up to the airport and helped Morgana with her luggage and entered the airport, almost never letting go of Morgana's hand. Soon they came to the point where Morgana would have to finally separate from Merlin's comforting touch and have to truly say goodbye to him. "Thank you for everything, Merlin. I shall truly miss you," Morgana said as she tried to hold back her tears and quickly gave him a kiss on the cheek and quickly turned and practically flew towards her gate, because she couldn't bare to look behind her. She knew that if she looked back, she would beg for Merlin to come with her, and despite his generous nature, Morgana knew it was too much even for Merlin.

Morgana finally made it to the hospital where Arthur was and she spent many days and nights at the hospital waiting as Arthur slowly recovered. Arthur just laughed at Morgana's frantic worry as she tried helping him with his physical therapy, but Morgana simply ignored his laughter and continued to play nurse to him. Morgana was greatly relieved that Arthur had simply broken a leg and some ribs. The bruising slowly went down and he was quickly recovering from his wounds. Morgana had finally thought that Arthur made enough progress in his physical therapy that she went back to work. Without the distraction of Arthur's physical therapy, Morgana's thoughts continued to stray towards Merlin. So to distract herself from thinking about her almost love, she dove back into her work and continued to help Arthur in his physical therapy.

On one of the last days of Arthur's physical therapy, Morgana was about to leave Arthur's room when a familiar voice reached her ears. "Arthur, you prat! How could you not let anybody tell me you were in the hospital for so long?!" Morgana turned around in surprise as she came face to face with Merlin. "Morgana?," he asked in surprise as he entered Arthur's hospital room and looked back and forth between Morgana and Arthur. "Oh, you two know each other?," Arthur asked in surprise.

"Yes, we met recently when I went on holiday" Morgana answered warily, "how do you know each other?"

"We went to uni together. Surely I mentioned Merlin to you before? He's my best mate of course."

Morgana gaped in surprise as she was sure that Arthur had never mentioned the name of his best mate in uni. Morgana was quickly brought out of her thoughts as Merlin asked how she and Arthur knew each other. "Merlin!," Arthur cried out incredulously, "Surely I've mentioned my annoying half-sister, Morgana?" Morgana and Merlin looked at Arthur in confusion as Morgana could tell that he never mentioned their names to either of them.

Morgana was secretly pleased to find that Merlin decided to stay in Arthur's ritzy apartment and help Arthur get back to regular life as Arthur finally was discharged from the hospital. Many weeks passed in which Morgana spent many late night evenings in Arthur's apartment, glad to spend more time with Merlin. Finally, the day came when Merlin told Morgana that he felt that Arthur was well enough to live by himself and it was time for Merlin to return to his own home and return to work. Morgana was again saddened at the thought of not seeing Merlin everyday as she had finally admitted to herself that she had indeed fallen for this mischievous elf-like young man. As Morgana was walking Merlin to his car she said sadly, "I guess this is goodbye yet again. I don't think I'll be seeing you much more after today." Merlin quickly grabbed her hands and told her, "Morgana, you surely don't believe that we will never see each other again?! I must admit to you that I have become quite enamored with you and I must ask if you would go out with me?" Morgana grinned widely at him and quickly leaned up and kiss him passionately. Merlin responded with equal passion and when they separated, Merlin laughed in joy and asked in a teasing grin, "I'll take that as a yes, then?" Morgana grinned again as she reached up to pull him into another kiss.

THE END