*Clears throat* Have I lost some people?

It's a beautiful night, we're looking for something dumb to do
Hey baby, I think I wanna marry you

Chapter 8

There was one thing that Morgana would allow herself to say that she had missed and that was a coffee from Gaius' coffee shop. She had been to so many independent coffee shops trying to get the same feel and taste but failing to. The only reason that she hadn't been there since she had come back was her fear of running into Merlin. Now that they had met up again, she felt like she could go in there. With the weather changing very little since she arrived back in London, it was perfect to spend the afternoon there after doing a little shopping.

She was surprised to see Merlin standing behind the counter. It was a very familiar sight and one that was oddly welcoming.

"Still helping out then?" She asks as she reached the counter.

"It could be seen like that."

"What do you mean by that?"

"What do you want? From the shop. Some of us don't have all day to just stand around and talk."

She was taken aback slightly. "Whatever you called what I used to have."

He picked up a cup and started to make it. She hoped that it would taste like what she remembered it tasting like. She knew that she probably should have let it be but she hadn't been the best at letting things be.

"You have a lot of free time for being a doctor."

"I am not a doctor."

"Why? It was what you wanted to do."

"Things didn't work out that way."

"So other than helping out Gaius, what do you do?"

"I am Arthur's PA, when Uther allows it. When I said that it could be seen that I still help out, I mean there is more to it than when I was 16. I part own the shop now."

"Really?"

"Yes."

She found herself scoffing. "You had a lot more ambition than that."

"Well, things change."

"What changed?"

He placed the drink down in front of her. "Will that be all?"

The man in front of her was familiar but the look and the anger was something that she hadn't seen in him before and she was certain that it was all directed at her. Arthur hadn't told her what had happened. How was she meant to know what had happened?

"Merlin, it is three o'clock."

It broke Merlin out of the mood that he was in and he turned to look at the big clock on the wall. Gaius moved next to Merlin to take over his place. Merlin took off his apron and placed it underneath the counter. She thought that was the end of it until he leant over the counter.

"There was one point that you waited a year for me. Why couldn't you have waited a couple of weeks?" He whispered.

She knew that she had to ask Arthur about it now. There was something that she was missing. The one thing that she hadn't missed was that Merlin had probably left all his plans because of her disappearance. It wasn't what she wanted. It was the reason that she broke up with him.

The walk to the hospital had done him some good and by the time he had reached the ward that Freya was on, he had calmed down. It had put him in a good mood knowing that Freya was having a good day. He just hoped that she was going to make his day better.

Of course, Morgana was going to come into the shop on the one day that he wished that she didn't. Of course, she was going to ask questions that he didn't want her to ask. The problem was, this should have been them. What he was about to do was what he had planned to do six years earlier. He loved Freya. He knew that he did. But only because the plan six years ago didn't go to plan.

He placed his hand in his pocket just to make sure that the little box was still there before he pushed open the door. He walked to her bedside with a smile.

"I should have brought more flowers. Those are almost dead."

Freya automatically shook her head at him. "You can bring some next time if you really must." She paused for a moment. "I am glad to see you."

"So am I."

"You have been the talk of the ward with the news article."

"That. This girl wouldn't leave Arthur alone. I couldn't think of anything else to do."

"Are you okay though?"

"Of course. Arthur has asked me every day since it happened."

"He is only trying to be a friend."

"I know. I know. Still didn't mean that it didn't hurt a little. But we didn't go out with the gang and it was down to me to try and get this girl to leave him alone."

"But you have got to think about yourself sometimes."

"Probably didn't help that the only reason we were out was due to the fact that Morgana wanted to go out. It would have been chaos if it was just them two."

"Again, you have got to think about yourself sometimes. Your selflessness is something that I love about you but it isn't good to be like that all the time."

"I know." He snorted. "Every time I try and do something for myself, it just seems like I just get knocked back. Which is why I had more ambitious plans and thoughts about how I was going to do this but I suppose that beggars can't be choosers."

"Wait. Do what?"

He thought that she might have guessed. He knew that she definitely would when he got the little box out of his pocket and opened it up towards her. There wasn't some big speech that he had prepared. They didn't have the time for that. He knew that they didn't have the time for that. He just needed to ask her the question.

"Freya, will you marry me?"