Chapter 12 Tell me lies, tell me sweet little lies…
Disclaimer: Merlin & its characters are the property of BBC / Shine ; This is a work of fiction and any similarities to real persons is purely coincidental =)
AN: Sorry for the late update…RL is kicking me in the butt so have been quite busy. Anyway, I hope this chapter is not as lame as it seems to me…*sigh* Unbeta'ed so all mistakes are mine.
"Arthur?"
"Morgana!"
"What are you doing here?" They both say at the same time before they take stock of each other.
"I…uh…" Think Arthur, think!
"Yes?" Morgana asks silkily, a hint of mischief evident in her grin.
"I was just going to ask Gwen if she wanted to go out later…" The answer comes out before he could think about it properly.
"On a date?" Morgana's question shoots out rapidly.
"What?" Shite! "No…of course not…" Arthur backpedals quickly.
"Oh?" Morgana asks with an eyebrow raised.
"It's just drinks with the lads…they're the ones who sent me to ask her…" Arthur groans silently at what comes out of his mouth.
"And you couldn't do it over the phone?"
"I left my phone in my room…" he offers lamely.
"I see…and Gwen gets a personal invite but I don't? What am I? Chopped liver?" she asks in mock anger.
Arthur blushes at this. "Of course…it goes without saying that you're invited too..."
Morgana laughs. "Right…"
They both wait for the other to move.
Neither does.
"Weren't you just leaving?"
"I was…"
"But?"
She shrugs. "I forgot something in her room."
Arthur tries hard not to show his irritation. He knows perfectly well that Morgana is just being…Morgana. "Of course…" he mutters just before he turns to face the door and moves to make sure that Gwen is able to see immediately that he, unfortunately, isn't alone, when she opens the door.
Morgana smiles gleefully behind Arthur's back, knowing full well that her co-star is taking great pains to hide the fact that he is here, not to invite Gwen out, but rather to stay 'in' with her, having already been 'briefed' by her friend about where and with whom she'd spent the whole of yesterday and night.
"So…tell me…"
"Tell you what?"
"Where did you two go off to yesterday?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You and Arthur…"
"What makes you think I was with Arthur yesterday?"
"Are you saying you weren't?"
"Yes."
"Liar!"
"I'm not…"
"Don't even bother…you're a bloody brilliant actress but you never could lie worth a damn for real…"
…
"Come on spill…"
"Again, what makes you think there's anything to…uh…'spill'?"
"Hmm…let me see, you were both off yesterday. You were both NOT in your respective rooms. Your cells were BOTH out of reach…AND you both didn't come back to the hotel last night…"
"So? For all you know he could have been with Elena…"
"And I suppose you were with Michael huh?"
"Right!"
…
"Ouch! Bloody hell Morgana why did you do that?"
"Oh, I was just checking if your nose had grown from telling that boldfaced LIE!"
"That hurt!"
"Well it should you liar!"
…
"Well?"
"How did you know I was lying?"
"Because we happened to be with Michael last night…"
"Okay you caught me…I wasn't with Michael."
"Now she tells me…"
"But Arthur could have flown to see Elena…"
"Is that so?"
"Yes, that's…"
…
"Bollocks! You mean SHE was here last night too?"
…
"Okay fine! I was with Arthur…"
"I knew it!"
"JJ made us do it…"
"What?"
"Morgana!"
"What?"
"I meant, JJ sent us to some location high up in the hills for an alleged photoshoot…"
"Alleged?"
"Well when we got there, no one else was…"
"Oh. How come you didn't leave?"
"The driver had already left when we realized there was no one else. And there was no signal and then it rained…"
"Oooh…and?"
"Well?"
"Well what?" Arthur's irritation is obvious.
"What are you waiting for?" she asks innocently at Arthur's obvious hesitation in knocking.
Gwen looks at her watch for the nth time since Morgana left her room. Although she's basically admitted to her co-star that she had indeed spent the day and night with Arthur, she isn't quite up to having both of them in the same room just yet, knowing that the Irish actress would most likely tease them both endlessly.
She wonders what is keeping Arthur. She knows he is on his way, having sent a text message to Merlin earlier to inform her when shooting ends so she knows when to usher her friend out of her room. She is about to go take a shower when the knock on her door comes.
"Arthur!" She happily greets him as soon as she opens the door and moves to give him a hug.
"Gwen!" He sidesteps her quickly.
Her befuddlement at his avoidance of her embrace eases as she spies Morgana behind him. She sighs loudly and asks, "Morgana! What brings you back to my room?"
"I forgot something…" The other actress answers as she blithely enters the room.
"You did huh?" Gwen asks smoothly, knowing full well that her friend is just being her bratty self.
"Yes."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"What is it that you forgot?"
"Arthur has something to ask you…" Morgana ignores her question.
Arthur isn't quite sure how to answer.
"He wants to know if you're free tonight…" Morgana supplies helpfully.
Gwen looks at him in question.
"And no, before you turn him down, it's NOT a date…isn't that right Arthur?"
"Shut up, Morgana!" Arthur mutters in annoyance.
"What? Wasn't that what you said earlier?"
At Gwen's look of confusion, Morgana continues, "Apparently, the LADS sent him to ask you if you're free to join them for drinks at the pub later…"
"Drinks?" Gwen asks.
Arthur shrugs in silent apology. "Yes."
"At the pub?"
Arthur nods.
"I see. And is that really what you want to do tonight?"
"Of course not!" He shouts in his head, but answers "Apparently…" instead.
Silence.
"Okay…I guess out for drinks it is then…" Gwen's answer startles him. He's been banking on her making an excuse not to come so they can still spend the night in.
He is too busy kicking himself mentally that he fails to note the look exchanged by the two women. "I guess I'll just go to my room and get changed then…" he answers morosely as he slowly makes his way to the door.
"Oh! For crying out loud Arthur!" Morgana's exasperated call stops him in his tracks. He turns to look at her in question.
The Irish actress rolls her eyes at him. "I know!"
"Know what?" He asks in confusion.
She just shakes her head before she beats him to the door and turns to Gwen. "Oh, go ahead and put him out of his misery."
Gwen laughs at his reaction and moves to peck him on the lips before telling him, "She knows."
"She knows?" He asks stupidly.
The two women laugh and nod at the same time.
"Oh!" He suddenly realizes what they mean. "Damn it, Morgana! Why didn't you just come out and tell me…"
"What? And miss your clumsy attempts at 'concealing' the truth from me? Where's the fun in that?"
"One of these days…"
"Yes?"
"One of these days I'll get even with you…"
"Oh, I shall count the days till then…" she flutters her eyes at him teasingly.
"So?" Gawaine asks as soon as she joins them in the pub.
"So, what?" Morgana feigns ignorance.
"What did she say? Were they together?" Merlin asks.
She shrugs. "Where's my drink?"
"They were, weren't they?" Gawaine asks.
Morgana sighs. How to not tell the truth without actually outright lying? Normally, she would just tell them both what she found out…BUT…Arthur and Gwen deserve to be given a break. More specifically, Gwen, who she knows is petrified about that potential backlash that them going public will bring. Particularly since everybody had been under the impression that Arthur is (still) dating Elena. Still, it's just Gawaine and Merlin…it's not like they'd blab about it…
She is saved from answering by the arrival of the rest of the gang.
"Gwen's still AWOL?" Elyan asks.
"No, she's back." Morgana answers while avoiding her fellow Irish actors' stares.
"Is she joining us? " Percy's question draws her attention.
She shakes her head. "She's tired." Which is true…somewhat.
"You'd have thought she'd be well rested having two straight days off…" Leon offers his opinion.
"She's probably avoiding Arthur…" Elyan offers.
"Well, he's not coming tonight so maybe you can convince her to come…" Gawaine nudges her playfully.
Drats!
"Sure…let me just call her…" She moves to leave the booth.
"I'll go with you…" Gawaine offers. "I need to call someone too…"
"I thought you were calling someone?" Morgana asks as Gawaine makes no move to take his cell out if his pocket when they got out of the bar.
"I thought YOU were calling Gwen?"
Morgana sighs loudly. "Fine!" she mutters as she dials Gwen's number.
It rings a couple of times before Gwen answers.
In a breathless voice…
breathless…
right!
"Uhm…sorry to disturb you…" She knows she's blushing and she turns to hide her face from Gawaine, who is staring quizzically at her reaction. "The lads wanted to know if you wanted to come out…"
"Didn't we already…"
"Because Arthur isn't coming…" she cuts off her friend, "Oh you can't? Of course…I'll tell them. Bye." She saves Gwen from answering further and hangs up. "She's already in bed…" she starts to say as she turns to look at Gawaine and nearly jumps out of her skin when she finds him standing close.
Way too close.
She blushes at the heat that skitters along her spine at his nearness.
"Are you okay?" Gawaine asks.
"I'm fine!" She snaps.
He laughs before he leans even further into her personal space and whispers in her ear. "You know I'll get it out of you sooner or later…"
She shivers inspite of herself and strides quickly back into the pub to hide her reaction.
What the hell is wrong with her?
It's just Gawaine!
