Arthur snuck a look at his phone, disappointed that Gwen hadn't messaged, even though she had said that she wasn't going to. She needed to work on her book and Arthur completely understood. That still didn't stop him from missing her especially when he was stuck at this boring benefit dinner.

"Checking up on your patients?"

"Sorry." Slipping his phone back into his pocket, Arthur smiled at Elena, who was looking at him with great concern.

Her eyes darted to Uther who was in deep conversation with the woman seated next to him. "Do you have to go back to the hospital? I will be perfectly fine here on my own."

Part of Arthur wanted to grasp at the excuse Elena made - it would be enough for the other guests, although he knew it wouldn't work with his father. He shook his head. "No. It was nothing urgent."

"You have been glancing at your phone the whole dinner," said Elena.

"I was hoping a friend would text me."

"Merlin? Wait, is it a special friend? Is Merlin the special friend?" Her eyebrows waggled causing Arthur to laugh, drawing attention to them.

"You're an adult woman. Special friend?"

Elena grinned, then dropped her voice. "If the name fits. Well, have you and Merlin - you know - hooked up? All that UST -"

"UST?"

"Unresolved sexual tension."

"Between me and Merlin?" How was this the most interesting conversation he'd had the whole night?

"Well, you two bicker all the time." Elena lifted a hand and counted off her fingers. "You spend a lot of time together. You -"

"I think I should stop you there. I was waiting for Gwen to text me. Gwen, my girlfriend." He'd thought it many times but he'd never said it out loud - it was strange. Strange and exciting - as if just by saying those two words out loud cemented their relationship.

"I knew it! My father seemed to think that you are still single, hence this."

"This?"

Elena rolled her eyes. "You're not a fool, Arthur. What do you think our fathers are trying to do?"

"I was hoping if I pretended they weren't doing this, then -" His thigh vibrated and his hand immediately went to his pocket. "- then it wouldn't actually happen. At least there isn't a dance floor."

"Go on," said Elena. "I'm going to tell the waiter to refill my glass. You?"

Arthur nodded as he pulled out his phone.

Guess I'm the first to crack. I'm imagining you in a sexy suit and it's very distracting. How is the food? My dinner is canned soup and ice cream. Feel sorry for me.

Biting down on a smile, he quickly typed in an answer just as the waiter came by the table.

Elena bumped his shoulder, getting his attention. "You should tell her that I'm happily attached as well, in case she gets the wrong idea."

Slipping his phone back into his pocket, Arthur frowned at Elena. "Why does your father think you're single then?"

"He thinks that if he ignores my girlfriend, she won't exist." Elena shrugged, then took a long drink from her glass. "Fathers can be jerks."

"Yeah," said Arthur. His thigh vibrated again and he found himself smiling once more.

"You can't hide her forever though."

With the big battle behind them, Heather and Nani were discussing the aftermath but left unsaid was Heather's obvious infatuation with Selina, the sullen new dragonrider that Nani distrusted despite her efforts during the battle.

Gwen had been dying to write the huge emotional climax for ages but now, all she kept doing was looking at the photos of Arthur and some blonde woman called Elena at the hospital benefit dinner. It wasn't as if Arthur hadn't told her about it. Also, in the middle of their little chat during his dinner, Arthur had suddenly mentioned that Elena was very much happily attached.

She reached out and touched her screen, dragging her finger across Arthur's face. Then, she noticed Uther standing in the background. Blonde Elena was probably Uther's idea of a perfect wife for Arthur, Gwen thought sullenly. For the first time, Gwen questioned what she was doing with Arthur, son of the influential Uther Penn and brother of the gossip columns' favourite socialite Morgana Green.

With a shake of her head, she closed her laptop and dragged her attention back to her writing. She only had a few more days before she had to return to the city. Elyan's leave was ending and she needed to get back to keep an eye on her father. Both he and Elyan insisted that Tom was well enough to look after himself but Gwen didn't quite trust them. Despite feeling poorly, Tom had refused to see a doctor until Gwen and Elyan practically shoved him into her tiny car and dragged him to the clinic, and even after that, Tom refused to admit when he was in pain and insisted that he was fine. And with Elyan's flightiness, Gwen was sceptical of their cheerful assurances that she could stay at the cottage and finish her novel.

Focus, she told herself. No sleep until you finish this scene.

She dreamt of dragons and new book covers and coffee. No, the coffee wasn't a dream. She could smell it. Gwen blinked as she lifted her head from the table, the smell of coffee teasing her nose. Her eyes felt swollen and gritty and although her vision was still blurred, Gwen was pretty sure that was a damp spot on the page she had fallen asleep on.

There was a clatter, loud enough to clear some of the cobwebs from her brain. And for a moment, she froze. There was an intruder. Someone had broken into Arthur's cottage. She sucked in a deep breath and counted to five, trying to calm her pounding heart. As quietly as possible, Gwen picked up her phone and fumbled to turn the screen on.

Then, she smelled bacon. Whoever had broken into the house was cooking, which didn't make any sense to Gwen. But surely that meant whoever it was wasn't dangerous. Phone in her hand, she gingerly pushed open her bedroom door and peered out.

Only the light in the kitchen was switched on and Gwen could make out someone pottering around inside. Gwen grinned as she recognised the silhouette although his presence made no sense. Patting her hair, she padded out of her room and into the kitchen, leaning against the counter and indulging in the sight of Arthur cooking.

"I know you're there," said Arthur. "I can feel your eyes on me."

"It's a surprising and delightful sight."

Arthur turned his head. "Hello Gwen. I missed you."

That was her cue to walk over to him and slide her arms around his waist. "I missed you too. Don't you have to work?"

"Afternoon shift, so we can have breakfast together before I have to leave."

"Sounds wonderful. Let me wash up and I'll be out for breakfast." Gwen lifted herself up on her toes and pressed a kiss against the back of his neck.

Gwen wasn't sure if the bacon and eggs were so delicious because someone else had cooked them or because Arthur was eating it with her or because she'd been surviving on coffee and cereal for the past few days. Whatever it was, Gwen was having a very good morning, so good that whatever misgivings she had been feeling the night before had completely disappeared.

"How's your writing coming along?"

"Alright." Then she sighed. "I have to go back to the city soon."

Immediately, Arthur's eyes brightened. "How soon?"

"By next week, latest. My brother has to go back to work so I will need to get back to look after my father."

"Will you have finished your draft by then?"

"I hope so," said Gwen. "I'm almost done. And you can tell Merlin that he should read chapter 10 carefully."

Arthur's hand covered hers. "You're going to make Merlin very happy. And I am going to be very happy when you get back into the city."

Gwen lifted Arthur's hand and kissed his palm.

"Gwen," said Arthur as they stood in the driveway after breakfast. He held her hands, swinging them slightly. "Come with me to my father's birthday party."

"Oh." She'd wondered about whether Arthur would invite her and her feelings about the matter had flip-flopped so often she didn't even know whether she wanted to be invited. "Well -"

The smile disappeared and a slight frown replaced it. "You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Of course I want to." She nodded vigorously, as if doing so would shake out any doubts she had in her mind. "Definitely."

Arthur didn't look fully convinced but he bent and kissed her anyway. "Great. It's next weekend so you should be back in the city by then. Let me know when you want to get back, I'll come get you."

This made Gwen smile. "And we drive back separately in two cars? Don't be silly. I drove here on my own and I can drive back on my own as well. You had better go - don't want to be late for work."

"I'll call you after my shift." With those words and another kiss, Arthur got into his car and drove off.

Gwen continued waving until his car was nothing but a speck in the distance. Then, she went back into the house, inhaled the bacon smell that still lingered and grabbed her notebook.

An accident led to Gwen being stuck in traffic for most of the afternoon and forgetting to charge her phone meant it died halfway through her trip back, so by the time she arrived at her apartment in the city in the middle of the night, she was tired, grumpy and not in the mood for the message Arthur left.

The party is a black tie event so you might want to get something appropriate to wear. Ask Morgana. I think she has a personal shopper you can use. Charge whatever you want to me ok? And call me when you finally get back.

Rolling her eyes, she tossed her phone onto the sofa, dropped her bag next to it then went into the bathroom where she took a nice long hot shower. Despite that, the moment she stepped out of the shower, she could barely sum up the energy to pull on her pyjamas before collapsing onto her bed.

The next morning she woke up to twenty missed calls from Arthur and several increasingly frantic messages.

"Arthur," she mumbled into her phone, swearing when it went to his voice mail. "I'm home. I'm fine. Just tired. I'll talk to you later."

She spent the rest of her morning tidying up her apartment, putting a kettle on and sipping tea as she took one last look at her draft. Arthur messaged her throughout the day and Gwen found herself making plans to join him for drinks at a pub after his shift. At lunch, she called her father, glad to hear that he was sounding well, then went back to working on her draft. She had to send it to her editor by tonight before she met Arthur for drinks.

The pub was bursting at the seams, apparently because it was quiz night. Gwen lingered outside the entrance, waiting for Arthur to show. She bounced and tugged her coat tighter around her, trying to warm up as the night air cooled. Loud, boisterous laughter caught her attention and she turned to see a group of men walking towards her. One of them waved at her and she squinted. Merlin. She waved back and caught sight of Arthur slightly behind. Her heart did a little flip and she knew she was smiling widely.

Merlin grabbed her into a hug the moment he could. "This," he said to the two other men in the group, "is the fantastic author of my favourite book. Leon and Gwaine, Morgana's husband. And of course, you know Arthur."

Arthur shook his head, slipped one arm around Gwen's waist and tugged her close to him. His whispered greeting was clearly for her ears only and his hot breath against her ear sent tingles down Gwen's spine. "Let's get inside and get a table. Are you up for a pub quiz?"

"Oh, definitely," said Gwen, leaning into Arthur.

Arthur's friends were a fun lot and with them, Arthur loosened up, very much unlike the man she'd met in the holiday home that first night. But then again, Arthur hadn't been that man once they became friends. Despite their best efforts, which included Gwaine flirting with the game hosts and Merlin negotiating every answer, their group, The Doctors, didn't win. Gwaine left early, having to take over care of Gerty from Morgana and Leon said he had to get to bed early for an early shift, leaving just the three of them in the pub, having one last drink.

"How's your father?" Arthur asked when Merlin wandered off in search for more drinks.

"He says he's feeling good. But he never tells me when he's feeling poorly, so I'm not sure whether to believe him or not."

Arthur nodded. "Some patients can be quite stubborn about not being sick."

"We could have had his cancer diagnosed earlier if he had been more willing to see a doctor. I practically had to drag him to one."

"It must have been tough for you."

Gwen snuggled into Arthur's side. "He's in remission so hopefully, it'll all be better. Also, I am now dating a doctor. Surely that should my life easier."

Arthur kissed the top of her head. "Of course. Come home with me tonight?"

"Sounds like a great idea."

They were snuggling in Arthur's huge bed when Arthur mentioned shopping for something to wear. "Morgana said she would be glad to help you shop for something for Sunday. You should call her."

"I think I have an appropriate dress. I wore it for the launch of my first book." Gwen shifted slightly from Arthur.

Arthur rubbed the back of his neck. "Maybe you should let me see it."

"It's probably not very fancy but I think it'll do."

"Gwen," said Arthur. "You've never been to one of these events before. There will be media and lots of judgemental people, including my father. At the very least, you will need to dress the part."

"Are you afraid that I will embarrass you?" Gwen moved further from Arthur. It was bad enough when she had to deal with her own worries about the relationship, but to have Arthur come out and say that he was worried about how she dressed? When their relationship was hidden in that tiny village, all was fine but now, back in the city, apparently Arthur was having second thoughts.

He reached for her but she dodged his arm. "Of course not. But I am worried that you'll feel out of place."

She got out of the bed. "You know, if you are so worried about me fitting in, then perhaps you shouldn't have started anything with me."

"You're being unreasonable. I just want you to -"

"- look like blonde Elena?

Arthur frowned and left the bed as well, walking towards her. "Blonde Elena? What - Are you jealous of her?"

"No, I'm not jealous." She rubbed her forehead, trying to fend off the headache she could feel building. Maybe he was right and she was being unreasonable about this. "Fine. If you want me to buy some fancy dress for this, I will."

His arms went around her and Gwen felt his lips on her head. "It will be easier this way."

"Yeah," she said into his chest. "Ok."

Arthur lifted her chin and kissed her, his lips clinging to hers, his kiss desperate. Her hands went into his hair as her body melted into him. Finally, Arthur pulled away, his eyes warm and full of affection as he stared at her.

"Come back to bed, please?"

Gwen took his hand and let him lead her back to his bed, letting the desire that flared between them push her doubts from her head.

AN: Once again, thank you for all the reviews. :)