'And you expect me to pay that?!' Arthur shouted, slamming Gwaine's tavern bill into Merlin's chest with a resounding thud as the impact rocked the servant's thin body.

Merlin shrugged pulling his best innocent face. 'You did say he was to be given anything he needed.'

'Exactly, Merlin. Needed. I'm sure Gwaine didn't need fourteen quarts of mead, three flagons of wine, five quarts of cider and four dozen pickled eggs. I mean four dozen pickled eggs! Who the hell needs four dozen pickled eggs, Merlin?'

Merlin stood in front of his master, unsure of what to say. His innocent face was slipping away fast.

'You'll pay for this,' Arthur told Merlin firmly, hitting him with the piece of worn parchment again.

'What?' Merlin exclaimed. 'I can't afford that!'

'No, I know you can't afford it. What I meant is I will pay the bill and you will pay by doing all my washing, polishing, fetching my food, tidying my room and running any other errands I see fit to send you on,' Arthur said very matter-of-factly, like this should have been obvious to Merlin.

'But don't I do all of that anyway?' Merlin asked, puzzled.

'Yes, you're right, you do. Have you finished cleaning my armour for the melee?' Arthur enquired. Why had he changed the topic? He was wearing his cunning 'I'm planning something horrible for my servant face' and Merlin didn't like it.

'Yes, why?' Merlin asked suspiciously, certain he wouldn't like the answer.

'Oh good,' the prince grinned. 'In that case, you can back down there and polish the armour and weapons belonging to ALL the knights. By tomorrow,' he added, clapping Merlin's cheeks either side, grinning from ear to ear like he was extremely pleased with himself. Why did Merlin always have to open his big mouth?

'Oh and while you're at it, find some flowers and send them to Gwen for me, will you?'

'Like I'll have time!' Merlin retaliated throwing his hands in the air, dropping the grubby bill in the process. 'Fine,' he huffed, storming from the room, making sure he slammed the door behind him to show Arthur he wasn't happy about this. Secretly though, he was extremely happy that Arthur was finally starting to admit his feelings for Morgana's maidservant. Then he realised that maybe him and Arthur weren't so different after all: they were both in love with people they shouldn't be and neither of them could ever be with the people they loved because of it.

XXX

'Are those for me?' asked the voice belonging to whoever Merlin had just bumped into in his hurry to deliver Gwen's flowers before returning to the armoury. He looked up, apologising. Of course, it had to be Morgana.

'Um no, they're…' he trailed off at the sight of her smile visibly disappearing. Oh why did she have to pull at his heart strings like this? 'Only kidding,' he smiled, attempting a chuckle. 'Of course they're for you.' He gave her the flowers and watched as her smile relit her face. She looked around them - they were in the lower town – ready to explain away what they were doing if anyone had seen them but it seemed no one was paying them any attention.

'Did Gwaine see us?' she asked suddenly, lowering her voice to little more than a whisper to ensure she wasn't overheard.

'I don't think so,' Merlin replied just as quietly.

'You don't think so?'

'No, he didn't. He hasn't said anything. Just that he doesn't remember anything that happened after he entered the tavern so it is highly unlikely that he saw us kiss,' Merlin assured her.

'Merlin, if he saw us…' she hissed.

'I know, I know. You don't need to remind me what will happen if we're caught.' That was ironic, it was normally him reminding her of the dangers of their relationship. That's what it was now, wasn't it? A relationship? Neither of them had officially called it that out loud but they had kissed and they had admitted their love for one another. Wait… She hasn't said she loves me, Merlin thought. And he realised it was true, she hadn't actually said it, it was only him who had used the word love.

He began to feel uncomfortable. Did she love him? Well, she'd hardly put herself through all these risks if she didn't. Would she?

'Merlin?' she waved her hand in front of his face.

'Sorry, what?' he stuttered.

'I said thank you for the flowers.'

'Oh, it's alright. Anything for you,' he replied, maybe a little distantly.

'I'll see you later then?' she asked, returning her voice to a whisper.

'Sure,' he nodded, watching her as she walked off, unable to stop a smile as she smelled the flowers. Drat, the flowers… Now he'd have to go back to the forest to pick up another bunch for Guinevere! Life could be mean… correction, Arthur could be mean.

XXX

'So,' Gwaine started, leaning back on Merlin's bed tossing an apple between his hands, 'What's with you and the posh girl?'

'What do you mean what's with me and the posh girl? Who's the posh girl?' Merlin asked, not looking at his friend for fear his face would give away his dishonesties. Not that he was really being honest, more buying time to actually come up with a suitable time.

'You know, Morgana is it? I saw you giving her flowers earlier,' he explained, taking a large bite out of the green fruit.

'Oh her. I- er, Arthur told me to,' he lied.

'Right?'

'Yeah. Um, she's had a hard time recently and he just wanted to cheer her up so he sent me to get her some flowers. You know women, they like flowers.'

'Yes, I know women,' Gwaine smirked, mouth full of apple, not a very attractive a look if Merlin was totally honest – something he probably hadn't been in a while. He cringed slightly at this thought. What had happened to him? He'd never been a liar, not if you excluded hiding his magic.

'Of course you do, Gwaine,' Merlin sighed.

'Hey! What's that supposed to mean?' he asked indignantly.

'Nothing, nothing,' Merlin said quickly, trying to deflate the situation before it ended in argument; he didn't have the energy for one of those.

'Hmph. I'm off to the tavern,' Gwaine informed Merlin, standing up and throwing the apple core out of the open window.

'Gwaine!'

'What? Come with me if you like?' Gwaine offered, already out of the room and half way across the next one. He clearly had no intention of waiting for Merlin even if he did want to join him. Merlin groaned and threw himself down in his bed. Why did life have to get so complicated all of a sudden?

AN … Apologies for the less than long length but I was in a rush to get something written because I haven't posted since Saturday. I know it's not a very exciting chapter but hey, nobody's life is exciting every minute of every day, plus my English coursework is driving me craaaazy! Seriously, it's making me cry, so the less said about that the better before I sprout white hair! Thank you so much for helping me cross the 100 reviews barrier. To reach over 100 reviews on my first full-length fanfiction is really incredible (well, it is to me anyway) so thank you all sososososo much! Love you all!