(15)
(She's sobbing into his arms and he's never seen her cry before, and to be honest he never wants to again. She's so distressed he wants to yell, he wants to scream, he wants to take away her pain.
"He's dead," Morgana gasps into his shoulder, whimpering. "Dead."
Arthur kisses her mouth and steals the sobs away from her. He kisses her on the staircase with his hands digging into her hair and blocking her ears from the shouts of the EMS. She tastes like loss and pain and blood, and he can feel her nails claw insistently on the back of his neck.
"Arthur," Morgana says, pulling away abruptly. "Promise," she says, her voice breaking. "Promise not to leave." Her eyes are burning into his, her nails digging even deeper into his shoulder. Arthur stares at her for a moment, and he doesn't even think before he replies.
"It was never possible for me to leave you." She gazes at him unblinkingly, then rests her head on his shoulder. They fall asleep like that. Fingers interlocked, and him leaning a bit uncomfortably on the staircase rail. They forget reality because sometimes, sometimes reality is too harsh for even the already-broken.)
Uther's already made arrangements to adopt Morgana, spouting lofty speeches about duty and honor, but Arthur knows the real reason. He's seen the way Uther looks at Morgana, as though it's his fault The Duke is dead, and Arthur doesn't say anything but he suspects.
Arthur watched Morgana walk away from Uther, thanking him kindly and kissing him on the cheek. He watched her choose simple furniture and bed sheets for her new room, and order dozens of dresses for the new school year, but he knew better.
He tried to talk to her at the beginning of the year, but she refused to listen.
"Arthur," she growled. "I'm fucking fine."
He only nodded tentatively and tried to think of something to say. "You know, I meant it." His fingers curled around hers, but she moved them away.
She looked a bit confused, raising an eyebrow as she looked at him. "Meant what?"
"I'm never going to leave you." He turned away and he saw her mouth open in small o in his peripheral vision.
(She comes into his bedroom that night and he doesn't say anything, just watches her as she climbs into his bad and fits herself next to him. He wraps an arm around her and kisses her neck. She smells like ashes but tastes like rain.
"I had a dream," she says softly, her body tensing.
"What was it about?" He asks, pulling her closer. She's warm and familiar and he hadn't realized how much he'd missed talking to her till now.
"You died." She says it softly, just barely loud enough for him to hear. They lay in silence for a few moments, before Morgana gets up, her figure paling in the moonlight. She lets her fingers trail over his cheek thoughtfully and they speak the eons she can't say.
Arthur watches her leave in a flurry of skirts and wonders when she turned into someone he didn't know.)
(Or maybe he never really knew her at all.)
author's note: So if you could review the story that would basically be amazingggg, and I'm sorry this chapter's so short, but I'll be updating soon at least:)