Merlin's oversized hat was a distraction. Not just to her but obviously to everyone around who were trying to pretend they didn't notice it.

"What are you wearing?"

Grinning, Merlin sat down on the chair next to Gwen and took off the hat.

"Can you believe that Arthur got this for me? Probably his idea of a joke but I like it. It's branded you know."

"You're stroking it."

"It's amazingly soft to the touch! Come, you touch it."

She shook her head. "No. What was so urgent anyway?"

"Arthur sent me actually - not really, I mean, he'll be glad I'm doing this when he finds out what I am doing. I hope."

"Merlin, what are you talking about?" Merlin's ideas weren't always the greatest and she eyed him suspiciously.

"Arthur needs a date."

For a moment, just before her brain could kick in, her heart jumped with excitement. Obviously her silly crush on Arthur was still there. Silently berating herself, Gwen probed Merlin for more details. There had to be more than that - Arthur was hardly the sort of person to have difficulties finding a date.

"The thing is, Arthur may have inadvertently told Uther that he was getting married during a heated quarrel."

Gwen's heart clenched in response but she tried to keep her face neutral. While she was dying to pepper Merlin with questions, she also wanted to play it cool. And surely if Arthur was planning to take such a big step, he would at least have mentioned it to her.

"The problem is, he's not actually getting married. Now he has to get a date for some major fund-raising party his dad is holding. This lucky, or unlucky girl, depending on how you look at it, is going to have to pretend to be his fiance for the night."

"Ok, so what does this have to do with me? There are so many girls who would love to marry Arthur - I've seen that silly poll on that gossip website - plus not to forget all his various dates. How many girls has he dated this month alone? What about Sophia?"

Merlin just laughed. "Sophia's married and Arthur's not like that. You should know that of all people."

Gwen just grunted, refusing to acknowledge the truth in Merlin's words. It was easier to think of Arthur as the perpetual bachelor, never wanting to settle down rather than just having not found the one.

"If you'd accompany him to all his dinners and events, he wouldn't have to date all these people."

"Pfft." She waved her hand dismissively at Merlin who simply shook his head in response. "I'm sure it is such a hardship for him to go on dates with all those girls."

"Anyway, I was thinking that perhaps, you might play his fiance for the night."

"Oh Merlin, you know I can't," Gwen said meaningfully. Only Merlin knew about her less-than-proper thoughts about Arthur and while he had teased her mercilessly in the beginning, he had also been incredibly supportive and kind about it - meaning he said nothing to Arthur despite being completely useless at keeping secrets. Surely, he wouldn't put her in such a situation right?

Wrong.

By the end of lunch, Gwen had grudgingly agreed to pose as Arthur's fiance. She wasn't very sure why but it probably had something to do with Merlin's puppy dog eyes and the fact that she was big pushover. Also, as much as she hated to admit it, the idea of going on a date with Arthur was a teeny bit thrilling. For once, she'd get to experience what it would be like to have Arthur as a boyfriend.

Oh god. She was pathetic. She should turn Merlin down.

She didn't.

"Brilliant," smirked Merlin as he walked Gwen to her shop, "you two know each other so well, it shouldn't be difficult to pretend to be engaged."

Gwen gave him a look.

"Both of you owe me big," she yelled at Merlin who responded by grinning and giving her the thumbs up sign as he walked away. Merlin was so annoying.

The rest of the day passed fairly uneventfully. Her little bookshop had enough business in recent years that she no longer worried so much about making ends meet. Arthur's hints and advice has been particularly valuable as she positioned and marketed her bookshop in the beginning. Thinking about it, Arthur had been incredibly good to her. Although she fought him every time he offered a helping hand, especially of the monetary kind, she could not deny that his keen business mind played a big part in the success of her bookshop. Perhaps she did owe him a favour.

When Morgana popped into her bookshop, Gwen tensed. They used to be friends - they might actually still be friends now - but things changed when Morgana had a huge spat with Uther, tossed her resignation papers at him and walked off to work at a rival company. Arthur had hated being caught in the middle and eventually, Morgana hated that he was too.

"Has the new Megan Lone book come in?" Morgana leaned against the counter, idly looking through some bookmarks.

"You know I'll call you when they do," said Gwen.

Morgana frowned. "What's up?"

And because the whole thing had been on her mind the whole day and because she had no one else to confide in, the story tumbled out of her.

"Are you sure this is a good idea? The press will go mad and your picture will be plastered everywhere," Morgana narrowed her eyes at Gwen.

"Well, I -"

"- couldn't say no? Really, Gwen, I've told you before. You need to distant yourself from the Pendragons! Uther's a selfish, greedy and corrupt politician and associating yourself with them is a recipe for disaster. When they fall, and mind you they will, you'll fall with them."

Gwen frowned as she listened to Morgana. She should have known that telling Morgana about this fake date wasn't a good idea. It was just that sometimes Gwen wished very much that things could go back to the way things were. To a time when they could discuss almost anything under the sun. To a time Gwen didn't feel judged for being friends with Arthur and Merlin.

Thankfully Gwen managed to steer the conversation to less explosive matters and by the time she bid Morgana farewell, she could almost believe that nothing was wrong between them.