No chance, no way

I won't say I'm in love

You swoon, you sigh

Why deny it?

It's too clichéd

I won't say I'm in love.

'I Won't Say I'm In Love- Hercules OST

Gwen was not in love. She'd fallen into that trap before and was not going to do it again. It wasn't worth the emotional pain and heartbreak that love caused. She was not in love. She was not falling in love. And she certainly wasn't planning on falling in love anytime soon.

Liar. You love him!

Oh shut up you. I'm not in love. He's arrogant, a bully, rude-

Handsome, charming, funny and a good kisser! Admit it, you're in love!

No I'm not!

Gwen and Arthur sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!

I'm not listening to you!

Gwen wasn't hearing voices in her head; she was having an inner argument with her heart. Who it seemed was actually quite the loud-mouth. Gwen lay on her bed and rubbed her forehead. For the past few weeks Gwen had been slowly driving herself mad. She did not have feelings for Arthur. She did not see him as anything other than a prince and a sort-of friend. And she most defiantly was not suffering from some form of denial.

Yes you are!

"Oh shut up!" Gwen muttered under her breath.

And so the insanity began again. Somehow Arthur just kept wandering into her head and controlling her thoughts. It was surreal. Nobody had ever been able to do this sort of thing to her before. Whenever he caught her eye, she could feel herself blushing. There was something about the way he smiled at her; it was different from how he smiled at other people. Not to mention the way he said her name. Guinevere. Never Gwen but always Guinevere. Gwen had always hated her full name. Ever since she could remember, she had insisted on being called Gwen and the only time someone called her Guinevere was when she got into trouble. There was something about how Arthur said it; he made her name sound more important, more regal. Like it was the name destined for a princess and not a servant. The problem was that Gwen had always been a rational and level-headed person who tended to deal with realism and not fantasy. Whatever existed between her and Arthur could never become a proper relationship.

He was the prince. Someday he was going to marry some lady or princess and Gwen will go back to being nothing more than a servant. After having her heart being used as a plaything by a certain dark-haired someone who shall remain nameless; well, it was understandable why Gwen wanted to be cautious.

Forget caution, take a risk! What have we got to lose?

Oh I don't know, my dignity, my ability to trust people as well as making a complete and utter idiot of myself. Not to mention how Uther would react. Call me crazy but I like both living in Camelot and living in general.

Chicken!

Am not!

Are too!

Am not!

Prove it. I dare you.

Gwen sat up in her bed and shook her head. This was stupid. This wasn't going to be like some child's story where the handsome prince and the pretty maiden ride off into the sunset and live happily ever after. This was the real world. And in the real world a servant and a prince could not be anything other than that. Servant and prince. Besides it wasn't like Arthur felt the same way. She was just Morgana's servant. The shy, meek little mouse with the bad temper and a short fuse. There was nothing amazing or extraordinary about her, certainly not anything that would appeal to a prince. Maybe that was what she was to him? She was the forbidden fruit. Uther said Arthur couldn't be with someone who wasn't a noblewoman so this was Arthur's way of rebelling against the rules.

Harsh? Yes. True?

Maybe…

NO!

That's the thing, how could she be sure? Gwen was hardly going to ask him how he felt straight out. There were just some things that weren't done. But what was she supposed to do?

"Why does this have to be so complicated?" Gwen asked as she flung herself back onto her lumpy bedding and sighed deeply. Maybe she should just sleep on it; get a fresh look at the situation in the morning.

With that thought in mind, Gwen fell slowly into an uneasy sleep.

Gwen pushed open the door, a pile of linens in her arms. As the door opened she walked into to see Arthur kneeling in front of a beautiful woman, dressed in an expensive and elaborate dress and bedecked with the fined jewels.

"Oh Arthur of course I'll marry you." The woman said as Arthur slid the ring onto her finger and they kissed and Gwen's heart shattered into a million pieces.

Then the dream changed. Instead it was Gwen sitting in front of Arthur who adorably stammered his way nervously through the proposal and there was only one answer she could give him.

"Yes,"

Gwen woke up simply feeling more confused. If she didn't love Arthur then why was she dreaming stuff like that? Why would it affect her so much if Arthur did marry another woman if she didn't hold any feelings for him? What the hell was going on? Was she going insane or something? Gwen remained in a daze for most of the morning and at around midday, Morgana had had enough.

"Alright Gwen, who is he?" Morgana asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Gwen denied.

"You've been in a complete daze the past while so come on. Who is he?" Morgana pressed, smiling at the woman she considered to be like a sister to her.

"Nobody," Gwen denied.

"Is it Merlin?" Morgana asked and Gwen burst out laughing. "Ok maybe not. Hmm, it must be someone I know otherwise you would have told me."

"She would have told you what?" Arthur asked as he barged into Morgana's room without knocking and flung himself onto the bed.

"Don't you ever knock?" Morgana asked. "Anyway it's none of your business."

Arthur pulled a face at Morgana before he turned to Gwen who returned to her work to avoid making eye contact with the prince, concerned that if they did make eye contact, she would somehow betray herself. Now that he thought about it, Guinevere had been acting strange lately. She had been quieter than usual and didn't even react whenever he tossed a goblet at Merlin in front of her yesterday. He hoped nothing was wrong with her.

"So you do have any reason to be here?" Morgana asked after a few moments.

"No, I just felt you should be honoured by my presence." Arthur joked with a grin. Morgana raised an eyebrow and Gwen smiled briefly before returning to her work.

"We'd be more honoured if you left. Right Gwen?" Morgana asked. Both Morgana and Arthur looked at the servant as they waited on her answer.

"It's really up to the both of you. Excuse me," Gwen replied as she gathered up the laundry and left the room before she put her foot into her mouth. Morgana watched her friend go before turning back to Arthur who was looking as confused as she felt. Usually Gwen sided with Morgana, giving a polite excuse for Arthur to leave or else stayed silent.

"I need to be going anyway. I told Merlin to shine my armour; God knows what sort of state it's in now." Arthur said as he got up and left the room. As the door shut behind him, Morgana thought about what had happened and it hit her.

"Oh my god," Morgana muttered to herself. Gwen liked Arthur. Arthur! The same annoying pig-headed person who went out of his way to drive them mad. It looked as though he succeeded in Gwen's case. If Morgana's memory served correctly, Gwen had never shown interest in Arthur before like this. She didn't know whether to be confused, supportive or to chase down Arthur and threaten him with various forms of torture if he ever did anything to upset Gwen. Morgana felt like the sister Gwen had never had and she just wanted to protect her. Morgana grinned to herself as she considered the possible punishments she could inflict on Arthur if he did so anything to hurt Gwen.

"Guinevere, wait a minute."

Gwen turned and watched as Arthur jogged towards her before quickly curtsying. "My lord,"

"How many times have I asked you to call me Arthur?" Arthur asked with a smile.

"Sorry, Arthur. Is there a problem?" Gwen asked.

"That's what I was going to ask you. You haven't been yourself lately. Is something troubling you?" Arthur asked as he took her hand.

Yes, you!

"Nothing, I'm fine. It's probably just a case of overwork. Not-not that Lady Morgana overworks me; just you know it' just one of those things. Except you wouldn't know-"

"Guinevere, calm down." Arthur reassured and Gwen bit her lip. She hated that she babbled whenever she got put on the spot or nervous and these were two things Arthur unknowingly excelled at doing to her. Arthur smiled reassuringly at her and Gwen wasn't sure whether the tingling sensation in her stomach or the feeling of Arthur's fingers wrapped around hers was supposed to make her feel better or worse.

"Just so you know, if there is something troubling you then you can tell me. I care about you and I want to help you if I can. I have to go but I'll hopefully see you soon." Arthur said and he quickly kissed her cheek before walking away. Gwen watched him go and leant against the wall to gather her thoughts.

Ok maybe he is handsome and funny and can be very sweet if he wants to be. But it doesn't mean I'm falling in love with him. We're just friends. That's all. I'm not in love with him!

Yeah, you just keep telling yourself that and maybe you'll believe it.