Hey guys!

So I had a few more reviews on the last chapter, so thank you for them! This story now has 67 followers, so that's got to be a good sign! I'm not going to keep you much longer, I just wanted to say thank you, really!

Enjoy!

Megz

oxox

The next night, Merlin sat on Gwen's bed, laughing until his eyes filled with tears. A tub of cookie-dough ice cream sat between them, as they took turns eating spoonfulls. Gwen was laughing as well, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she did so. She'd invited Merlin over to stay the night, saying that they had lots to catch up on. Merlin wasn't entirely sure what that meant, but he never passed up an invitation to Gwen's, as there was usually ice cream involved. He'd only been there about half an hour, and already he'd eaten more ice cream than he thought was humanly possible.

He loved having Gwen as a friend, because she always knew exactly what to say, and always knew exactly what he needed to hear. But not only that, she never failed to make him laugh. Take right now, for example. Merlin's sides were splitting with peals of laughter, and he wasn't even sure what had made him laugh in the first place.

Gwen wiped a happy tear from her eye, and took another spoonful of ice cream, looking thoughtful for a moment.

"So . . . ." she began, and Merlin knew where the conversation was going. Whenever Gwen's voice took on that particular tone, he knew that he wasn't really going to like the question that followed. "Is there anyone you're . . . interested in at the moment?"

Merlin just glared at her. Gwen always assumed that he was "interested" in someone, and practically lived to talk about boys. She just liked the gossip, he supposed. Although he complained about her always asking him about it, he did like having someone to talk to about that kind of stuff. Because, if he didn't talk to Gwen, he doubted there was actually anyone else he could talk to about it. Of course, there was always Gwaine, but it wasn't really the same.

"I was only asking . . . " Gwen mumbled, but Merlin could tell that she wasn't about to drop the subject that quickly. She took another spoonful of ice cream, again, looking very thoughtful as she did so. Then, her eyes lit up. "Gwaine?"

"No, Gwen."

"Leon?"

"No."

"Percival?"

"No."

"Elyan?"

"Guinevere! He's your brother! No, of course not!" Merlin yelled, picking up a very large, fluffy pillow from behind him, and throwing it at her head. But Gwen saw it coming and ducked skilfully. Merlin envied her sometimes, as he did most people, for how agile she was. He, himself, was incredibly clumsy, and constantly tripping over everything. Had it been him that the pillow had been aimed at, not only would it have hit him, but it probably would have knocked him off the bed altogether. That's how bad he was.

"Well, you never know," Gwen replied, grinning smugly, bringing the pillow to rest in her lap, and bringing her arms around it.

"Anyway, there's no need to ask who it is that you're interested in," Merlin teased, and Gwen faked confusion, claiming to not have a clue what he was talking about. Taking the spoon out of the ice cream, Merlin ate the ice cream on the spoon, and then raised it to his mouth once more, using it as a kind of microphone. "Lance, how I love you, Lance how I dooooo. When we're apart, my heart beats ooooonly for yoooooooooooou!"

Gwen just glared at him, trying her hardest not to laugh, but Merlin could see her smiling anyway. Gwen's attraction to Lancelot had been clear from the first day Merlin had met her, and it turned out that everyone else had noticed it too. Well, everyone but Lancelot himself, it seemed, though he appeared to be just as infatuated with Gwen as she was with him.

"Oh shut up," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "So there's really no one?"

"Nope," Merlin replied, without a moment's hesitation, though, to be perfectly honest, he wasn't sure. Him and 'A' had been getting pretty close recently, and though he knew it was stupid, Merlin was actually getting quite attached to the mysterious stranger. He knew it was bad, as he'd never actually met the guy before, but he felt like they had . . . . a connection. Still, he wasn't going to tell anyone about it. Not yet, anyway. Not until he was sure.

"Oh really?" Gwen asked smugly, raising her eyebrows. Merlin wasn't sure what she knew, but from the look on her face, she knew something. "So what was that, between you and Arthur, that I witnessed, yesterday? You two seemed very . . . happy."

"And . . . ?" Merlin asked, suddenly getting very defensive, and his heart was suddenly beating very fast. He wasn't sure why, but he put it down to the fact that Gwen was accusing him of having feelings for that prat. "Am I not allowed to be happy anymore?"

"I'm not saying that, it's just . . . I've never seen you two have a conversation that didn't involve an argument. It just . . . seemed a little odd, don't you think?"

"Don't get your hopes up, Gwen," Merlin said, shaking his head, and looking down at the tub of ice cream. His heartbeat slowed back down to normal, and even he could detect a hint of sadness in his voice. "He was probably just having a good day, and didn't feel like picking on me. It was nothing more than that."

"If you say so," Gwen whispered, realizing she'd struck a nerve. It was clearly something Merlin had been thinking about for a while now, and obviously something that he didn't feel like talking about, so she left it there, changing the subject to something more light-hearted. Merlin would talk about it when he was ready.

It was a few hours later, when the doorbell rang. Gwen and Merlin's laughing ceased immediately, both wondering who could be coming to Gwen's door at this time. Her parents were out, as was Elyan, so it was just the two of them. The house was quiet, and most of it was in darkness. Merlin knew it was stupid to be scared, but he could see the same fear reflected in Gwen's face. It was like something out of a bad horror move; two teenagers, alone in a dark house, at midnight, and an uninvited stranger shows up at the door.

Diiiiiiiiing-doooooooooong.

Merlin gestured for Gwen to go and get the door, as the bell rung out again, but she shook her head. Standing up, she pulled Merlin with her. As they made their way towards the stairs, a flash of lightening caused Gwen to grab his hand, but Merlin didn't complain, as he himself had let out a . . . very manly shriek at the lightening. Clearing his throat, Merlin lead the rest of the way down the stairs, stopping when the front door came into view, a few steps before the bottom.

Diiiiiiiing-doooooooooong.

Gwen's front door was the kind that had a window of frosted-glass, the kind that you can't see through very well, just outlines. Merlin could hear the sounds of the wind, and rain outside, as well as the thunder, and see the flashes of lightening. And the shadow he saw through the window was just as frightening. It was tall, and slim, and was dressed in all-black, with a hood up. If he wasn't scared before, he definitely was now.

Diiiiiiing-doooooooooong.

The two teenagers stood, looking at the door, unsure of what to do. It was clear by now that the visitor wasn't going away, judging by the amount of times that they'd rung the bell, they obviously knew that they were in there. The only thing they could do, was to open the door. Deep down, they knew they were being stupid, and it was probably just Elyan, or Gwen's parents, but, at the same time, they were still incredibly scared, especially as they'd been watching some horror movies a few hours before.

Diiiiiiing-doooooooooong.

Merlin looked at Gwen, and she nodded. He moved slowly towards the door, trying not to make any noise, whilst pulling Gwen behind him. He reached for the lock on the door, and pushed it across carefully. He could hear his heartbeat in his ears, and his palms were beginning to sweat. What if it was an axe-murderer? Or a gunman? Or . . . . or - Stop it! he thought to himself, pausing for a moment, just open the damn door!

Diiiiiiing-doooooooooong.

On three . . . . his hand reached for the handle, shaking as it closed around the cold metal.

Two . . . . . he looked behind him at Gwen, giving her a nervous smile.

One.

And before he could stop himself, Merlin flung the door open with a flick of his wrist, to reveal . . . . . .

Morgana.

Breathing a sigh of relief, he stepped aside, so that Gwen could see who it was. The same look of relief washed over her face as well, as they both stepped aside to let Morgana in. She was soaked to the skin, and only wearing a very thin hooded top and jeans. And when she pulled down her hood, Merlin could see her face more clearly, and could tell that she'd been crying. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and make-up was running down her face. She was shivering, and her breathing was erratic, though from crying, or the cold, Merlin couldn't tell.

Closing the door behind her, without a word, Merlin brought the cold, shivering girl into his arms, as she cried into his shirt. Whenever Morgana cried, then there was something seriously wrong, that much was obvious. He kept one arm around her waist, and used the other to rub her back soothingly. Over her shoulder, he mouthed for Gwen to get her some towels. Nodding, the brunette scurried off, in search of some.

Morgana pulled herself out of Merlin's embrace slowly, brushing her damp hair away from her face. She gave him a sad, thankful smile, while he looked at her quizzically.

"Do you think Gwen would mind if I stayed the night here?" Morgana asked, her voice coming out sounding very hoarse. Merlin wondered for a moment how long she'd been crying for, but that wasn't important right now.

"Not at all," he replied, still looking very concerned and confused. "But why? If you don't mind my asking?"

"Arthur and Uther got into a fight," Morgana answered shortly, looking down at the floor. If Merlin didn't know any better, he'd say she almost looked . . . guilty.

"Why, what happened?" Merlin asked, wanting to find out more, but it was too late, Gwen was back with the towels. Morgana smiled at her thankfully, and Gwen lead her into the living room to get herself cleaned up. And after a moment, Merlin followed.

I know . . . it's very short, and not very good, I'm sorry, but I PROMISE you, the best is yet to come! So please, please, please review!

:)