sorry for the delay in update!


Chapter Two

Silence filled the room, only interrupted by the sound of pencils scratching paper and abrupt coughs. Arthur could've sworn he heard a whimper once, but he hoped it was just the sound of his imagination, or that would be very worrying and pretty sad.

His blue eyes flickered up to the clock above the door. 2:17. The hands seemed to drag themselves around in a circle, slowly, as if they moved too fast it would disrupt the test-takers. It felt like every minute was five minutes and every ten minutes felt like an hour. How long had he been in there? It felt like ages, but he knew it had only been around half an hour. He ran a hand through his hair, eyes flickering back to the page, and bit his lip. He had tried five questions and found the wrong answer almost every time – and they were multiple choice. That was the easiest part of every test, especially math.

He didn't even want to pass; he just wanted to get out of there.

Arthur tapped the end of his pencil against his teeth. Honestly, why did math have to be so hard? He wasn't going to use it later in life. It was needlessly difficult. Maybe it was something adults did, just to watch their kids squirm in discomfort. Arthur wouldn't put it past his dad to have that sort of attitude. He felt bad thinking it, but it was just the truth.

Glancing back up at the clock, he saw something through the window on the door on his way up, but he ignored it. He just needed to know the time. When he looked back down, however, he saw a face – it was hard to make out, with all of the light coming into the room, but after squinting he realized that it was a familiar face – in fact, it was Gwen. What was she doing here? He smiled at her through the window and then her head darted out of sight, which was disappointing. That was the first friendly thing he'd seen since he entered the god-forsaken room.

He looked back down at the test, studying the questions. For some reason, seeing Gwen made him remember how to solve some of the questions and how to properly use the formulas. Maybe because the other day had been popping up in his mind so often since it happened that he actually remembered what she and him and gone through. Quickly, he sped through the multiple choice and true or false sections of the test, and it was only the last batch of word problems that had got to him, but then again, they always have, no matter how many times Merlin tried to teach them to him. For the last pages, he tried his hardest, although he knew that he had not done great, and he had finished the test with his best efforts by the time 2:45 rolled around. He confidently strolled to the front of the class, handed in his paper, and walked out the door with his backpack slung over one shoulder.

When he exited the room, Arthur looked around the hallway for Gwen. However, he couldn't seem to spot her in the crowd of kids meandering to their next class. He was sure he had seen her, so she must have ran away once he spotted her through the window. He wanted to talk to her and tell her how he did, but it seemed she didn't want to talk to him right now, which was rather disappointing. But he couldn't blame her. If she saw him somewhere where he wouldn't normally be just to see her, he would probably run away too.

Wait, what?


Text to Merlin, 12:03 pm

Hey

Text from Merlin, 12:05 pm

Hey, whats up

Text to Merlin, 12:06 pm

Not much, wbu

Text from Merlin, 12:07 pm

Wondering why youre texting me about anything other than tutoring

Text to Merlin, 12:08 pm

Im getting to that

Text to Merlin, 12:10 pm

If Gaius wants you to take extra volunteering hours im okay with it

Text from Merlin, 12:12 pm

? wheres this coming from

Text to Merlin, 12:14 pm

Im just telling u

Text from Merlin, 12:16 pm

Thanks, Im gonna have to bail this week

Text to Merlin, 12:17 pm

Okay

Text from Merlin, 12:18 pm

Lance and Will r busy, who do u want

Text to Merlin, 12:20 pm

Is Gwen free?

Text from Merln, 12:21 pm

Ill ask

Text to Merlin, 12:35 pm

Okay thanks


Football practice was rough.

Early on, he tripped flat on his face while they were warming up – in front of the entire team, the coach, and Morgana, who was sitting in the stands, waiting for Val to finish. Arthur noticed she looked like she was waiting for someone, but he didn't dwell on the thought too long. If he did badly in practice, he would get hell after from Coach, and he did not want to get yelled at today. Uther had already screamed at him for something so mundane and stupid, and he did not want to feel even worse than he already did. And from then on, his mood only got worse.

He failed to catch a ball during passing, tripped again, and wasn't looking when he should've, which resulted in him getting tackled to the ground. What was wrong with him today? He had never done badly just because his father had yelled at him before, so what was so different about today? Maybe he was just having an off day. Hopefully that was the answer, because he had no explanation other than that and frankly he did not feel like doing soul-searching for his life problems. Not that there were any, anyway. He would just have to suck it up and do his best for the rest of practice to the extent that he could. And he would have to pretend to feel good, as well, or else it would bring the morale of the team down, and he did not want to be blamed for their bad moods.

Water break came soon enough, thank god. Arthur pulled off his helmet and tossed it to the side, grabbing his water bottle and squirting some water into his mouth, as well as splashing some onto his face. He glanced curiously up at the stands again – this time Morgana was with someone, and he had to squint to try and see who it was. After a few moments, it kicked in that it was Gwen, and she was probably there to help tutor Morgana as she waited for Val to finish practice. He groaned and turned away. Now that she was there he would feel ten times more embarrassed if he screwed up than he normally did when she hadn't been there. Now he was on-edge and nervous and jumpy.

"Hey, are you alright?" Lance said, walking up to Arthur and slapping his shoulder pad gently. "You're not doing great out there today."

Arthur nodded and took another swig of water. "Yeah, I'm alright," he responded. "Just… tired, that's all."

Lance smiled. "Well, cheer up, dude," he laughed. "Gotta do our best. That's what coach says."

Arthur grinned. "Maybe coach should run ten laps every second day," he chuckled.

Lance laughed. "Yeah, I'd like to see him try," he agreed. "See you out there."

Just like it had during the math test, seeing Gwen made Arthur do better than he had been doing before. Whether it was the thought of not wanting to embarrass himself in front of her, at all, ever, or the happy feeling he got in his stomach whenever he saw her, something was pushing him to do well. Halfway through the next hour of practice, though, something in his mind seemed to click and the gears in his head started turning. Butterflies in his stomach, thinking about her, wanting to impress her… was it all part of something he didn't even realize? Was he starting to have… feelings for her? For Gwen?

Surely not. It was too early to tell – they had only met about two weeks ago, and feelings couldn't have formed that fast, especially when they only had one real conversation. Seeing her around made him feel better, sure, but that was nothing. He always felt better when he was hanging out with his friends, like Lance and Val and Leon, so it was probably just something like that. Of course he didn't like her. What a silly thought. He was just being stupid and thick, like always. His mind was just playing tricks on him. Of course he didn't like Gwen. How could he? No, he did not like her.

Still, the thought continued to nag him throughout the rest of practice.

Finally practice came to an end. Arthur changed out of his sweaty uniform and shoved it in his locker, wincing whenever he touched something damp, slamming the door shut once he had managed to somehow cram it all in. He ran a hand through his hair, fixing it so it at least looked decent, and pulled out his phone. There was a message waiting, but he ignored it and slid it back in his pocket. He just wanted to get home and play video games or do something to get his mind off the thought of liking Gwen. Not that it would be a bad thing, but he was so sure he didn't. And she would never like him back, anyway.

They were two opposites. She was smart and a tutor and dorky and wore glasses and he was the quarterback on the football team and he was thick and not very smart and didn't know what he was going to do once he left high school. They would just never work out. Not that anything would happen between them anyway, though, because he did not like her and she would not like him and… nothing could ever happen between them.

Backpack slung over his shoulder, Arthur left the change room and made his way out onto the football field to retrieve his water bottle from the sidelines, only to see Gwen hanging around by the water container, sipping water from a small cup and watching Morgana and Val laugh with a couple of the other guys. She wasn't standing near them, though, so she must have wandered a few steps away. Who knew how long she had been standing there saying nothing? He smiled and made his way casually over to her, wondering what funny thing he would say to start conversation. Maybe he would talk about tutoring or the practice or seeing her outside the math classroom. He would at least have to think of something charming and non-awkward to say to her.

"Hey there, stranger," he said as he walked up, flashing her a grin and snatching his water bottle from the bench.

"Hi, Arthur," Gwen said, pushing up her glasses.

"Enjoy watching a bunch of sweaty teenage boys chase each other around?"

Gwen giggled. "It's my favourite pasttime."

"What are you doing here, anyway?" Arthur asked, then realized it could've sounded rude and said, "I didn't mean for that to come out as harshly as it did, sorry." He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck as she pursed her lips.

"Morgana wanted me to meet her here and we would go back to her house to study… although I think Val is taking up my time slot." Gwen stared at Morgana and her lover with careful eyes, then sighed. "This happens a lot," she mumbled, half to herself and half to Arthur – at least that's how it seemed. "Oh, I'm – sorry, I didn't mean to say that out loud."

Arthur shrugged. "It's okay, don't worry about it." He drank from his water bottle again. "So, uh, how've you been?"

Why on earth was this so awkward?

Gwen looked surprised that he was speaking to her again but shrugged. "Life's been good," she said with a gentle smile. "And how about you? How was that math test?"

Arthur was going to jokingly mention seeing her head pop through the window but decided against it. She probably didn't intend on getting caught and he didn't want to embarrass her. "A solid 81 percent."

Gwen's smile grew wider and she nodded curtly. "That's great, Arthur," she told him.

"Yeah," he said, "it's better than what I normally do with Merlin. I normally get mid-seventies with him. You must be magic."

"Yes, I suppose I must be," she replied with a giggle.

There was silence and the two stood awkwardly distanced from each other while they stared at Val and Morgana talking a little way's away. She did not look like she was going to be ready to stop hanging off his arm any time soon – something that made Gwen look not only sad but angry because of. This happened a lot? "Why do you keep doing it?" Arthur asked abruptly.

"What?" Gwen asked, turning to face him.

"Oh, erm…" He shuffled on his feet. "I mean, why do you keep… tutoring Morgana? You don't seem to enjoy waiting around very much, and if it happens a lot, it must really suck. And isn't it a waste of your time?"

Gwen nodded. "I… guess," she responded. "Yes, it is, but… I don't know… I suppose it's because there's a part of me that's afraid of her, you know? And how she would react if I cancelled. Or said I didn't want to do it. And I know she doesn't mean to do it and just really likes him, but I just wish she would… care a little bit more about me and my time."

"I get that completely," Arthur said. He didn't have experience with that sort of thing, but it was annoying just to watch and hear about happening. But he did know Morgana, too, and knew as well that she didn't mean to do anyone wrong. "We used to be quite good friends, Morgana and I, actually." His eyes went back to Gwen. "Like all those innocent childhood friendships in those movies. Our parents were good friends, and we lived close to each other and went to the same school, so it was just kind of… easy to be in a relationship like that." He smiled wistfully. "Then her parents got divorced, and they sold their house, and she moved in with her dad across town. We didn't talk as much. I suppose we both just changed." The boy shrugged. "But what can you do about it, you know? People change. It happens."

"I wish she would change to be a bit more thoughtful about other people's time," Gwen said, her voice mocking a bitter tone, and they both laughed quietly. "But I do like her. She has a good heart. Stubborn, but means well."

"Speak of the devil," Arthur whispered when Morgana scurried over.

"You two know each other?" she asked in disbelief, smiling a wide smile. "I didn't know that."

"Gwen tutored me a couple weeks ago when Merlin was busy," Arthur explained. "Enjoy practice?"

"Of course, don't I always?" Morgana laughed, then grabbed Gwen's arm. "Val is busy tonight, so are we still on for tutoring?"

Gwen nodded at her friend. "Yes, of course."

Morgana smiled even wider and nodded in return. "I'll go pull my car around." She reached out and squeezed Arthur's bicep. "We should hang out soon, okay? You and Val and I can go out to a movie. I'll find you at school this week."

Arthur smiled. "Sounds great."

After she left, Gwen turned to Arthur. "Thanks for… keeping me company while I waited. And for listening to me complain."

Arthur chuckled. "I did my fair share of complaining, as well," he replied. "I'll see you around, okay?"

"Yes, see you," Gwen chirped, and then the two parted ways.