Hello my dear readers!

Look at that quick update! Reason for it: I leave for a week end in London tomorrow soooo I thought you deserved a treat as a sharing of my utter happiness :D (I am going to the Doctor Who Festival, I'm going to meet my heroes Steven Moffat & Mark Gatiss, hope they'll strike inspiration! It's almost too fantastically great to be true :D).

So, I hope you'll like the next chapter :)

As always, a huge thank you to my wonderful Beta :D

Enjoy!

Chapter 20:

Gwaine woke up slowly, groggily. It took a long time of lying unmoving in his bed to get his bearings. His head felt heavy and sluggish like he had too much drink but it was devoid of any pain. Which was probably the weirdest thing as he distinctly remember going to the tavern the night before. He moved his arm to scratch his dark hair only to hiss as pain flared in his forearm.

"What?" He mumbled, opening his eyes to frown at the white bandages around the limb.

He tried to remember how that had happened but the memory was only a vague echo at the edge of his consciousness. He was literally jerked out of his introspection by the door opening with a loud noise. He turned to see Percival coming in.

"Oi mate, a little less noise would you?" He moaned as he was forced into total awareness.

His friend just raised an eyebrow at him.

"Nope, don't think you deserve it."

"What did I do?" Gwaine asked, utterly confused as his mind flashed back to a Percival with a similar expression… Was it last night?

"Seriously Gwaine?" Percival expression would have been comical if the drunkard hadn't felt so guilty.

Once more he frowned as he tried to remember what had happened the prior night. He remembered a great evening having fun in the tavern, lots of ale and delicious mead. And then a voice emerged from his memory. Cold and cynical. Well I'm sure he's just warming the king's bed like the servant he was. Probably the only thing he's capable of and the king would just show him pity.

He could feel his anger ignite again. He remembered the fight. Getting hit by a shard of glass. That explained the wrapping.

He carried on trying to remember.

"Oh god." He said after a long time as the conversation with Alice came back. He jumped up, feeling agitated. "Oh god. I didn't do that, did I?"

"If you are referring to the fact that you more or less gave away Merlin's most important secret then yes, I can confirm that you did."

Gwaine sat back down feeling defeated and ashamed. He really was the worst friend anyone could have. He would never be able to face his oldest friend again. He already had half a mind to just take his bag and leave.

Percival seemed to read his mind as his face became less cold. He put his large hand on Gwaine bowed shoulders.

"He is never going to forgive me." The long haired knight lamented.

He felt Percival sit down next to him with a sight.

"Well. If there is one thing I have learned about Merlin is that he doesn't hold grudges easily. And he considers you as one of his dearest friend."

"I really do not deserve that term anymore."

For a long time, neither of them spoke and then, Gwaine stood up.

"Well, I guess I can only go and tell him myself, right?" He announced, going behind his changing screen to put on fresh clothes.

"Want me to come with you?"

"No, thanks Percival. You'd better go to training. There's no need for Arthur to be mad at you too."

The "he will be mad enough at me" was left clearly hanging in the air.

"Okay. See you then."

And with that, Gwaine heard the door close, leaving him alone.

With no real will, he pushed himself up to change clothes and roughly splashed cold water on his head, completely waking him up.

He then made left to make his way to Merlin's chambers. Even with a slow walk, it felt like IT took him no time at all to arrive there. He took a deep slow breathe before knocking.

He didn't have to wait long before the door opened to Merlin's young manservant.

"Hum… Hello… Is Merlin there?"

"Oh, yes, of course my Lord, please enter."

Gwaine nodded and entered the room. His eyes quickly fell on Merlin sitting at his oak table, an old book in front of him and a plate of food next to him. He distractedly picked at the cheese and bread. He looked relaxed.

"Oh! Gwaine! I wasn't expecting you! Shouldn't you be training with Arthur?" He frowned and his eyes roamed over him to watch out for something wrong. "Is everything alright?"

The knight opened his mouth before closing it again.

"I have something to tell you… In private."

"Luke, can you leave us for a few minutes?" Merlin asked, clearly concerned at Gwaine's unusual behavior.

"Of course." The servant bowed and left.

"I hate it when he does that." The warlock commented, trying for a normal comment to diffuse the growing tension.

Gwaine couldn't bring himself to raise the bait.

"Okay, what is it Gwaine? You look like your favorite apple tree has been cut down."

That Merlin was cracking jokes tugged at the knight's heart.

"No… Hum… Look Merlin, I am really sorry… I… Well… I accidently revealed your magic to Alice." There, he said it. No other way to go around it. He averted his eyes, unwilling to see Merlin's disappointment.

He had so broken his trust.

For a long time nothing was said and the more time passed, the more nervous Gwaine became, fidgeting on his seat. He wanted to beg Merlin to say something but he wasn't sure he wanted to hear what the younger man had to say.

When he finally thought he couldn't take it anymore, Merlin breathed in.

"Well… I knew that it had to happen one day or another." He commented, sounding far calmer than Gwaine had expected.

"What?" He looked up, dumbfounded to see an accepting Merlin.

"Alice and Gaius were very close, Gwaine. And she is clever. She was bound to discover the secret sooner or later."

"But…. Why aren't you mad at me? I told her you had magic! I divulged your biggest secret!"

Merlin frowned, staring at the knight.

"You… Want me to be mad at you?"

Gwaine shrugged. "You have every reason to! You trusted me and then I got drunk and told her you turned a dragon human!"

He heard Merlin sigh.

"Really Gwaine. I'm not mad at you. I'm sure you didn't mean to. And I would have told Alice ultimately. You just sped things up a bit."

The knight didn't say anything and Merlin lightly kicked his right foot under the table.

"Oh, come on Gwaine, cheer up. The long face doesn't suit you."

"You are too forgiving for your own good Merlin."

The warlock laughed softly at his friend's mumbling.

"Well, maybe. But I am sure that Arthur will find some really awful chore to punish you in my place."

Gwaine groaned and let his head fall onto the table in dramatics. He was kind of reassured that Merlin wasn't truly angry at him but he still felt he didn't deserve such clemency. He would have understood if the warlock had decided he should leave Camelot and never talk to him again.

"Come on, have some food, hopefully it will cheer you up." The warlock added when Gwaine still looked like a kicked puppy.

Almost reluctantly, the knight reached for a slice of apple and only then realized that he was, in fact, starving.

"That's more like it. Thought, I still want the complete story about what happened in the tavern." Merlin added, nodding to Gwaine's arm.

So? How did you like that? Are you feeling the crossroad coming? I'm sure that as clever as you are you can see it :D