Note: Sorry this has taken me so long. Spring Break has forced me to focus on some "last minute" tests and vacation plans! But you know it's time to write some fanfic when your dream last night merged reality with fantasy. No joke, I had a dream I was in Merlin with the warlock himself and King Arthur when all of a sudden I switched to reading a very descriptive narrative about their adventures I was witnessing. It was happening at the same time, and it basically gave me the wake-up call I needed! To TheCookieDoughMonster's review, yes I am American! But I absolutely adore British things! And thanks to all of the reviews for Chapter 15! I am always grateful for any feedback, but this past chapter has really received some particularly lovely comments!

Chapter 16

April showers bring May flowers was a phrase that Lance had heard before. It was in the letters sent from his sister when she was still alive in America. Although Lance had never contacted her back, he had never forgotten the words. Supposedly, it meant that good things can come out of tough times. When his sister had died he had found out what truth the saying had. That truth was his relationship with Gwen. She was the shoulder he literally cried on as he coped with his loss. Their bond was a beautiful thing. They had both respected and trusted each other deeply. It was the type of foundation true love was built upon. Of course, once Lance had started becoming a public figure these traits were strained. Gwen hadn't done very well adjusting to the idea of being in the spotlight, but Lance had slowly made her more comfortable.

He had been all ready to propose to her. He had been thinking about it from the moment she was able to comfort him after his sister's death. She just felt right with him, and he with her. Of course, they hadn't been dating for very long when the event had happened, so he bided his time. He had purchased the ring to propose to her almost immediately after his grieving period was done. However, he didn't have the guts to actually do anything about it for months. Of course, once he did, it was too late.

So now he was sitting on his couch in a darkened room, wallowing in self-pity. It was the precise kind of act which Gwen would admonish, and he himself despised. There was never room for self-pity when there were plenty of people less fortunate than himself.

He took another breath, sighing heavily before slowly standing up. He had been going, going, going for so long, burying his emotions, it felt good to take a moment for himself. But now it had passed. And he had to go into work today.

Lance got up and dressed himself in his slightly ruZCXzmpled work clothes. 'My grey suit matches my mood,' he thought grimly. He grabbed his keys and shut the door behind him. It was time for another dull Monday at work.

'Oh great, it's raining, another omen of bad fortune,' Lance thought as he trudged along his normal route to work. He quickly turned into his favorite coffee place, run by his Spanish friend David.

"Hola amigo!" Lance greeted him cheerfully as he opened the door.

David was behind the counter making the coffee, and turned to smile at Lance.

"Hola! Como estas?" Lance was greeted with a dazzling smile from his childhood friend.

"Eh, terrible," Lance sighed, switching to English as he went to talk with the Spaniard. He approached the front of the counter and leaned heavily on it. There was no line at the moment.

"Why?" David asked in a thick accent as he mimicked Lance's actions whilst polishing a piece of the coffee maker.

"Gwen. She said no." Lance's answer was short and to the point. But David knew what he meant. He had been Lance's confidant since their boyhood.

David stopped polishing the piece of machinery and started bustling around behind the counter again.

"Oh no! Are you kidding me, hermano?" David exclaimed over the sound of the coffee maker.

"I wish," Lance responded glumly.

"Well then here," David said, thrusting a mug of the steaming liquid towards him, "Your favorite. On the house."

Lance silently took it, and nodded a quick thanks. He had time to sit down, and he could tell that David wanted to talk with him about her. As he made his way to the nearest open table, however, a ringing of a bell signaled that a new customer had come in and David had to do his job.

"I want espresso-two shots with, a biscotti" a commanding, rather snobbish, voice rang out.

"Of course," David responded.

As he busied himself making the order the skinny blonde made her way over to Lance, "May I sit here?"

Lance gestured to the empty seat, and decidedly occupied his attention onto his mug. He realized where he had seen this woman before. She was the girl with whom Arthur attended Merlin's gala all those months ago. He hoped that she wouldn't realize that he was Gwen's date. Was. 'Such an ugly word,' he thought. He remembered that they had had a good time talking at the party, but he didn't feel like entertaining today.

The blonde-Vivian, wasn't it?-was now rustling around in one of her many shopping bags that she had. It was slightly annoying, yet Lance knew that he shouldn't be angry at a woman who did not influence Gwen's choice to "choose" Arthur over him. If anything, Arthur might've burned her in a similar fashion to how he was currently mending a broken heart over Gwen. And maybe her way of coping with it was shopping. It would certainly explain her multitude of brand names which now surrounded her feet like a cloud.

She finally procured from its depths a newspaper. 'Slightly anticlimactic,' Lance thought as he sipped from his mug. He had been watching these proceedings out of the corner of his eye because he had nothing else to occupy his mind. However, as she opened up the paper the headline nearly spit out his recently swallowed coffee.

It read: GUINEVERE LEODEGRANCE PLAYS WITH BRITAIN'S LEADING MEN?

Beneath its large heading was a photograph of Arthur and Gwen exiting a cab together, holding hands, unaware of the camera's presence.

"Tisk tisk," Vivian muttered as she rifled through the pages.

"Excuse me, but may I borrow that?" Lance abruptly asked. He needed to see what they were saying about Gwen, and Vivian looked like she was almost done anyways.

She huffed slightly, but nonetheless handed Lance the paper. He nodded his head in thanks and quickly devoured the article, reading:

Lance DuLac and Guinevere Leodegrance: Britain's favorite political power couple since William and Kate. However, this seems to no longer be the case, according to an inside source. The couple apparently broke up during an ill-fated Christmas party when Prime Minister candidate Mr. DuLac proposed to Ms. Leodegrance, and she rejected him. A close friend of Mr. DuLac's says, "The rejection was a huge surprise to us all. They never fought, and they seemed perfectly happy and in love. Personally, I believe an affair might have been the reason for the separation. Gwen-as she's known to her friends-has a strong conscience, from what Lance tells us, and she might have felt too guilty to continue on with Lance." And an affair might have been what was eating away at Ms. Leodegrance.

Recently discovered reports have indicated that she had been seen around Merlin Emrys, the renowned writer and artist, and-most surprisingly of all-Mr. Arthur Pendragon, also known as Mr. DuLac's competition for the title of Prime Minister. An insider who claims to be closely associated with Mr. Pendragon confirms these reports, "Arthur has been inseparable from Ms. Leodegrance. I haven't seen Arthur like this over a girl-ever. He only has eyes for her." Another source tells us that Mr. Emrys could actually be the catalyst behind this new-found romance. However, whatever the reason it is clear that the two of them have been spending an awful lot of time together (below left Mr. Pendragon and Ms. Leodegrance are seen exiting the Pendragon Mansion together). Mr. Pendragon's publicist refused to comment on the matter, stating, "Mr. Pendragon's personal life should remain that way-personal."

But what is it about Ms. Leodegrance that has both men who are competing to take control over Britain losing control over their feelings? Perhaps it's her good looks, or maybe it's something to do with the idea that you always want what you can't have. Whatever the case may be, voters on both sides seem to dislike this turn of events. In particular a Mrs. Walker voices her strong opinion when she says, "That young lady is just playing both sides. Who is she to break Lance DuLac's heart just to go and toy with Arthur Pendragon's next? I'm not saying that I am partial to either side, but what Guinevere Leodegrance is doing is just plain wrong. If you ask me she's just doing it all to somehow benefit from them-or maybe its to get some publicity. All I know is that it all just seems a bit dodgy to me."

Who indeed knows what Ms. Leodegrance's motives are? But her change of alliance certainly helped Mr. DuLac with his campaign. The man who was trailing behind in the polls easily surpassed his opponent's after a wave of sympathy (mainly female) came flooding in from all corners of Britain. However, it didn't seem to hold on for very long as Mr. Pendragon's campaign seems to once again outshine Mr. DuLac's. According to last month's reports Mr. Pendragon has again surged ahead-but now with a very minimal lead of 0.3% of the votes. With Ms. Leodegrance's change of affiliations, there no longer seems to be a clear winner of this election (which was formerly Mr. Pendragon). With the elections coming up this May it will be exciting to see what will happen not only pertaining to Britain's future, but to Mr. DuLac's, Mr. Pendragon's, and Ms. Leodegrance's as well.

Lance couldn't believe his eyes. The article had basically trashed Gwen's reputation simply because of rumors that she was in a relationship with Mr. Pendragon now. Or at least, he assumed they were merely tall tales. Whatever her relationship status was it gave the papers no right to do write these things about her.

As he continued to stew about it, he heard a throat clear.

"Excuse me, but are you done with my paper now?"

Lance snapped out of his reverie as he handed the paper to Vivian again. As he did so their hands brushed, and suddenly Vivian looked up at Lance, directing their attention away from the paper he was giving her.

"Wait a second-Lance? Lance DuLac? Is that you? Why I haven't seen you since the gala a few months ago!" Vivian was gushing now, all thoughts of the awkwardly suspended paper vanished.

"Oh, yeah," Lance mustered up a smile. He really didn't feel like answering Vivian's undoubtedly forthcoming questions. However, maybe he needed a little distraction. And she certainly could provide one.

"So what are you doing here?" Lance offered up, half smiling as he took a sip from his previously forgotten mug.

"Oh just relaxing after a quick shopping trip. I quit my job, you know-as Arthur's intern, I mean. That man is nothing but naïve and trouble. When we went to the gala he hardly spoke a word to me! And he acted so cold! Of course, you would know all about the trouble he and that Guinevere can cause…I read that article-so tragic! I'm deeply sorry that it didn't work out. But there's plenty of fish in the sea, right?" Vivian chattered away breathlessly.

Lance nodded slowly in all the right places. Vivian certainly was a distraction like no other Lance had ever had. Although she talked about his broken relationship he couldn't help noticing how her perfectly coiffed curls bobbed up and down on her shoulders.

"…And what about you?" the question seemed like it was hastily tagged on at the end, the owner suddenly remembering their manners.

"Oh just grabbing a quick mug before work. David-the owner-and I are long-time friends," Lance said slightly robotically. He had tuned out of her babbling as he was mesmerized by her hair.

"Oh really?" Vivian cooed, "Well do you have any openings? Since, you know, I'm looking for work now thanks to Mr. Pendragon."

She laughed hollowly, and sighed deeply-posing "just so" so that she would appear as the perfect picture of being forlorn and destitute.

"Actually, I do," Lance surprised himself by answering.

It was true that his campaign office had been looking for an intern for a while now, and he had had several interviews already. He wasn't quite sure what had made him say this suddenly, but maybe it was because he felt a sort of connection with the blonde. She and he had indeed connected at the gala, and they had both been burned by their lovers. Maybe this would be the start of something new.

….

Merlin hadn't been to work in several weeks. Not that his line of work had set days-or that Merlin really needed the money. However, Arthur didn't need to know that his best friend had been seeing increasingly less time in his studio and more time in the area on the opposite side of the house. He might have noticed, if he hadn't been too busy dealing with Gwen and his emotions, but Merlin seriously doubted it. If he wanted to, he could be quite secretive, and Merlin had no idea what could be more important-or secretive-than that which he was guarding right now.

"Don't worry, I'll be right back," he said before leaving one of the multitude of empty rooms in Arthur's abode.

"You are going to come back, right?"

The question caught him as he held open the door, preparing to leave. And he stopped at the threshold, turning around with a quizzical look on his face, as if he couldn't believe that his companion had just asked him something like that.

"Always," his clear honest voice rang out.

To be continued