Welcome to the next chapter. Once again, I have way too much free time on my hands... So enjoy :)

At 4:30 pm, Merlin and Morgana were out in London, searching for food, having not eaten since last night. Both had avoided looking into the other's eyes since the events of the morning, but they each wore a small smile. Seeing the hotdog cart from the previous evening, Morgana led them to it, thinking about how much things had changed since then.

Even the air was different, crackling with something she wasn't sure of. It wasn't magic, Morgana would have recognized that – it was more like energy, powerful energy. She wasn't sure whether or not she liked it.

Eating their hotdogs as they walked, Merlin and Morgana continued down the street. This was a new dynamic between them, and neither was sure how to treat it. Merlin looked shyly at Morgana and quickly looked away. In that moment, an empty water bottle rolled into his path, and with a grace only he was capable of, Merlin managed to trip over the water bottle, sending his hotdog flying across the sidewalk. Morgana burst out laughing and didn't stop for the next two blocks.

"It wasn't that funny," Merlin insisted, ears bright red with embarrassment.

Morgana continued to laugh. "But you're face," She gasped. "And the hotdog." Merlin dropped the subject. A few blocks later, Morgana composed herself.

"I know we didn't talk about this," Merlin began, finally breaking the silence between them. "But should we still go find Arthur tonight? What should we do? What do we tell him? He'll kill me, you know, just for looking at you." With each question he asked, another sprang to Merlin's mind.

"No need to worry," Morgana interrupted. "We can cross all those bridges when we get there."

"But I can't lose him," Merlin whispered. "And I can't lose you again."

Morgana kissed him. "You won't lose me. I promise." He smiled.

"About the finding him thing, though..." Merlin continued.

Morgana smiled flirtatiously. "Maybe that can wait until tomorrow..." Merlin nodded, shocked by her confidence.

"Yeah, yeah," He stammered. "Tomorrow's good. But, um, what do we do tonight?" He was both exited and scared for the answer.

"Tonight," Morgana replied. "I'm taking you on a date."

It seemed so normal, so ordinary that it was almost wrong. Almost, but not quite. Merlin had been on dates before. He'd been on many, many, many dates, each leaving him with the same impression that he would only end up hurt. This time, he felt that his luck was better. It was Morgana, after all. They'd already been through so much, there wasn't much else that could go wrong. He agreed.

"Sounds like a plan. Where do you suggest?" He asked.

"Dinner and a movie is a little high school, right? How about just dinner then." She offered.

"We just ate," Merlin pointed out.

"Way to be a spoil-sport. After dinner drinks then?" He nodded.

~oOo~

The curtains did little to filter the harsh glow of the early morning sun, and Merlin flinched away. As he woke up, the night came back in bursts, like a puzzle that his hungover mind was unable to put together. He turned and saw Morgana next to him. He smiled and fell back asleep.

~oOo~

It was almost noon when Morgana woke up to find herself lying next to Merlin with the biggest hangover she'd had since she came back to life. Stumbling to the sink, she filled up a cup of water, gulping it down to wet her dry mouth. The idea of food was entirely unappealing to her in this state, so she chose instead to get dressed and sit in the armchair at the side of the room. She would have picked up a book, but her headache was too bad to look at small fonts. TV was out of question due to the unbearable volume. Instead, she just sat and thought, glancing up occasionally to check if Merlin was awake.

He finally stirred at 1:30, blinking until the image of Morgana became clear to his sleep-fuzzy eyes. "Remind me," He muttered. "Whose idea was it to go drinking?"

Morgana smiled. "That would be mine."

"Remind me never to listen to you again."

"Will do. Other than the hangover, how do you think our first date went." She tried her best not to sound too expectant. She refused to be the girl who let some boy dictate how she felt about herself. Of course this was not some boy; this was Merlin.

"The parts I can remember were really good," He told her honestly with a big, sleepy smile.

"So, do you think we should do it again?" She asked, the same way as before.

"I think we should do it a million more times." His tone was soft with sleep, and she decided that she liked this early morning Merlin. And she liked the late night, drunk Merlin. And she liked the happy goofy Merlin. And she liked the sad, old Merlin. Morgana liked every side of Merlin she'd ever met, and she realized that she was finally understanding what it meant to be really and truly in love.

Thanks for reading. As always, review and follow and you'll be my best friend. Until next time.