Day 1

He hummed as he shaved, as he pulled on his clothes, as he made his way down the stairs. A smile curved on his face as he ran through the events of the previous night in his head. Kissing Gwen had been everything and more than he'd imagined. Even the sight of Morgana and his father at breakfast failed to dampen his mood.

"You look in good spirits. Did you clinch another contract?" Morgana asked as he poured milk into his coffee.

"Not that I know of. Although he did well with that contract crisis with Tristan. Even I was impressed by your calm negotiations."

"My, praise from father. You must have done a brilliant job." While her tone was mocking, Arthur could hear the underlying affection. He slanted her a look and she grinned at him. "As lovely as this family breakfast is, I'm late for work."

Uther harrumphed but Arthur counted it as a victory that Uther managed to stop himself from making a disparaging remark about Morgana's job at some animal welfare group.

"Bye, Morgana," Arthur muttered around a mouthful of bread.

"Be a good boy Arthur," she thrilled then waltzed out of the room. "I'm not going to be home tonight."

"Is she still with that friend of yours?" Uther asked, his eyes focused on the newspaper in front of him, as if he wasn't really interested.

Arthur knew better. "They are in love."

"Love! What nonsense. I hope you don't go falling into that trap." Uther shook the newspapers. "Look, another divorce and another multimillion dollar settlement. Ridiculous."

"You loved mother."

"We liked each other well enough." Uther said with little emotion. "She was a good wife."

Arthur gulped down his coffee. "Speaking of mother –"

"You're not going to start on her painting again, are you?" Dropping the newspapers on the table, Uther stood, signaling to the housekeeper to clear his plates. "I told you to leave it. Igraine was foolish enough to use it as collateral."

Arthur's lingering good mood from the night before dissipated. "Only because you wouldn't give her the money. Money that –"

"Arthur! This is not an argument we will have. Perhaps I made a mistake but the painting is sold, your mother is not with us anymore. Leave it alone." Without waiting for Arthur to respond, Uther left the dining room.

Annoyed, Arthur stuffed the last bit of bread into his mouth, then grabbed his phone, glancing down at it when he noticed the notification light.

Good morning! I just wanted to thank you for last night.

Pleasure filled Arthur and he quickly replied as he slid into his car.

It was my pleasure. I hope your notebook is working well.

I think we both found last night pleasurable. I am probably going to have lunch at Corner Café today. It's a pity Vivian won't be able to join me.

Arthur smiled. Such a pity. Oddly enough I was planning to have lunch there too.

What a coincidence. I will probably be there at 1.

Me too. See you later.

:) See you!

By the time Arthur reached work, he was humming again. Even Merlin's snide remark about his tuneless humming didn't stop him.

Day 4

Arthur hated the tube. As he sat, squashed between one man who seemed unable to close his legs and a lady who had apparently had such an exciting night that she didn't sleep and was now napping on his shoulder, Arthur wondered how Gwen would feel if he told her he was so attracted to her that he'd even bought his own travel card so he could take the tube. Something he'd not had to do in years. At that thought, that little bubble of guilt that had taken up residence in his stomach since he first kissed her made its presence known but he squashed it. When the time was right, he would explain everything to Gwen. It would be fine.

The doors opened at his stop and he found himself pushed onto the platform. People pushed and shoved around him and after a while Arthur found himself on another platform. He was late already after misjudging how long the tube ride would take and now he wasn't any closer to the exit.

"You got lost?" Gwen gaped at him, before breaking into a laugh. "You don't have to make up silly excuses. Were you busy with work?"

Arthur took her hand, loving how her fingers slid against his. "I did get lost."

"Alright. Now, you said you wanted to eat pasta?"

"That sounds good. Where do you suggest?"

She flashed him a smile. "How about home cooked pasta?"

"Sounds divine."

Gwen liked to talk – from work to her views on various topics. And Arthur never knew he loved listening so much. Hand in hand, they strolled the short distance to her apartment. She was talking about Excalibur and how he came to be her pet. It was a story of a lonely girl and a cat caught in the rain. Arthur had never been more charmed.

Back at her apartment, he lounged on her lumpy sofa as she prepared dinner. As he studied her small apartment, her carvings caught his eye. Getting up, he snagged one – it was a carving of a sparrow. It must have been one of her first works since it didn't seem as polished or detailed as the others that flanked it.

"The sparrow isn't quite as nice as the others," said Gwen.

Arthur turned. "I like it. It's not as delicate as the rest but there's a lot of heart in it."

"I like it too. I was just learning to carve then." She leaned against the door frame, smiling, her mind clearly on something else. "My dad taught me."

"You're very good."

Her eyes went back to him. "Practice makes perfect. Now, dinner is ready. Shall we?"

Day 13

"The tube is brilliant," Gwen declared one day. His arm was slung around her shoulders and he'd just finished grumbling about more delays on the tube. Somehow, Arthur found himself taking the tube to work. Instead of being chauffeured to his office, he woke up earlier, got driven to the other side of the city, met Gwen at her tube station and rode into the business center with her.

"It's a necessity. That doesn't make it brilliant." He grunted as someone's umbrella poked into the back of his leg.

"It is! On the tube, everyone is equal."

"You mean equally likely to be pushed and shoved and stomped on?"

Ignoring him, Gwen went on. "And look at the variety of people you get to meet! See that woman over there?"

Arthur raised an eyebrow and nodded, his eyes focusing on the woman clutching the pole like her life depended on it. "She looks like she understands the perils of the tube."

"Well, I think she works in HR and she's not in a good mood this morning because her husband forgot to make her morning coffee."

A smile tugged at Arthur's lips. "Do you make up stories about everyone you see?"

"It makes the tube journey much more fun."

"Well then, what if you had seen me?"

Gwen smiled up at him and tugged at his tie. "I would have thought you were a grumpy businessman who thinks of nothing but his job."

"Am I?"

"I know you're grouchy in the mornings."

"And, you're far too perky for mornings." Arthur pressed a kiss to her head.

"You say it like it's a bad thing."

They finally made through the crowd and out of the station. Turning to face her, Arthur placed his hands on her shoulders. "It's a wonderful thing."

Her blush only made Arthur's affections grow. "I should go. Wouldn't want Annis to be annoyed."

"Of course."

Yet, for a few moments, they stood on the sidewalk. Until someone bumped into them. With a wave of her hand, Gwen disappeared into the crowd.

Day 21

"Obviously this can't continue. For one thing, you are head over heels in love with her." Merlin tutted as he lounged on Arthur's bed.

"Why are you on my bed? There's a perfectly good sofa in my room."

"Stop avoiding the topic. You're in love with Gwen. Admit it."

Arthur rolled his eyes and walked over to his bed, planning to yank the offending Merlin out of it. "You already share Morgana's bed. Do you really have to be in mine too?"

"Arthur and Gwen - sounds almost legendary,"

"Shut up Merlin." Arthur kicked his bed which only resulted in his foot hurting. "I'm not sure how I feel."

"Hmm, let's see. Let's do some word association."

"This sounds ridiculous Merlin."

Merlin grinned. "Don't knock it till you try it. Elena?"

"Uh, too girly."

Merlin scoffed. "Regina Westernberg?"

"What? Um, too short?" Arthur frowned at Merlin.

"Gwen?"

"Oh." He couldn't stop himself from smiling.

"Well then," said Merlin smugly. "I think that speaks volumes."

"I need to tell her the truth. Yesterday -" Arthur faltered as he thought of the previous evening - the hurt in Gwen's eyes, the guilt that almost made him sick. "I can't keep lying to her."

"No better time than now."

Every time Arthur thought of how he'd been misleading Gwen, he felt ill. It was no different now and he slumped into his chair.

"It's only going to be more difficult the longer you wait."

Arthur scowled at Merlin. "I know that."

"We're meeting the guys for drinks on Wednesday."

"What does that have anything to do with - oh."

Merlin finally slipped off his bed. "I think Wednesday is a good day to come clean, don't you?"

By the time Arthur replied, Merlin was out of the door, probably to head towards Morgana's room.

AN: Thanks for all the comments! They really make my day.