~Author's Note~

*Rises from the dead* Ah, I have finally brought you another chapter for this story. Procrastination does a lot to one who is not studying for exams... I hope you guys like this chapter... Please?

Sincerely,

Ms. AtomicBomb

Guinevere had practically dragged the short blonde along with her towards the science department after school. The walk there had not gone without a struggle and a scolding—three scoldings, in fact. The brunette already had a bright smile on her face, seeing as she had won over her (much) stronger friend.

Arturia stood next to her friend, the way a dog would when it was upset. There was a deep frown on her lips, cutting deep into her cheeks. Her eyes were trying not to land on the door as a teacher went looking for Diarmuid after the brunette had asked to see him.

"Come on," Guinevere tugged the blonde's shoulder, "smile already."

Arturia ignored her friend, the unsettling in her stomach very prominent when she noticed the man coming into view past the bend in the hallway. She bit the inside of her cheek, telling her stomach to stop with the somersaults—it was quite annoying.

He came into view, with all his handsome glory. Arturia could already hear the giggle in Guin's throat.

"Hello girls," he gave them a soft smile, the corner of his lips twisting smoothly. He always seemed to have everything under control. He slowly rolled up her dress shirt sleeves and ran a hand through his hair, "I have the chocolates in my class, I didn't want to clutter my desk. Right this way," he snaked past the two girls and instructed them to follow him. He decided it best to round the hallways of the school as opposed to cutting through the science office. It was just because he did not want to disturb the other teachers.

They reached the door of the dreaded chemistry classroom, Arturia pouting her lips all the while. Upon entering, the man walked towards a pile of chocolates on the countertop of the display bench.

"Take as much as you want girls, there's no way I could have this all by myself." He leaned onto the table top a bit, his arms crossing over and holding him up.

Guinevere gasped, "Oh! I forgot!" She called out.

"What?" Arturia immediately shot her head towards her friend, "What is it?"

Diarmuid raised a single eyebrow in question, analyzing the brunette before him in her odd panic.

"I'm allergic to chocolate." She frowned, red lips straightening and cutting into her cheeks.

The blonde scoffed, "What?" she gave a short and stupefied chuckle, "You had about ten chocolate bars this lunch break."

"They were gluten free. I' not allowed to have gluten, okay?" Guinevere was great at acting but not at lying.

"You had a piece of bread this morning—that you stole from me." Arturia's green meadow eyes darkened like the deep forest as she glared.

Guinevere shrugged, "I made sure it was gluten free." She mumbled, "Anyway! I'm sure Lancelot is waiting for me. Make sure to get a lot of chocolates, Gawain really loves them!"

Arturia couldn't help but grit her teeth as her friend disappeared behind the door. She kept her eyes on the blue metal door for a while, hoping her friend was joking around. After a few minutes of silence, she gave up, turning towards the teacher.

Diarmuid sported a shiny perfect-toothed smile. His white dress shirt fitted to him accurately, not failing to accentuate his strong arms. She preferred the colour green on him, it suit him best.

Her green gaze, as he liked, was also on him, "I fear I will not be taking any of these. They were given to you." She finally had thought of something 'witty' to say.

He pushed himself off the desk, rounding it and slowly stepping towards her, "Just a couple of chocolates will not hurt." He blinked.

Another step was taken towards her. She inched back, bottom hitting the desk, "I do not want cavities."

He was closer to her now. Standing only a foot in front of her, black tousled hair losing its hold when he ran a hand through it. Diarmuid took a small step towards her. Then, out of nowhere, placed his hands on the desk, on either side of her; caging her in place, "Why do you keep on ignoring me?"

His amber eyes had her entranced. Her heart began thumping in her chest, her cheeks setting on fire as he drew closer. She watched his eyes flicker down for a second and when he brought them back up, she noted they were clouded over.

"Why do you ignore my questions?" He asked, tilting his head slightly, his hands finding their way to her waist gently.

Right as she felt his hands, her skin burned. Her stomach might have fallen, she wasn't sure, but she felt empty, "I'm not ignoring them…" She hushed over. Why was she so quiet? Why did her voice nearly quiver?

"Then answer me," he too hushed it, as if he was trying to keep their existence a secret. His face approached a bit more, their noses nearly touching. His voice was now at her ear, "Are you upset with me?"

She felt his warm breath tickling her neck, his smooth voice sending shivers down her spine, and the sweet smell of cinnamon making her head spin, "Y-yes." Oh dear, she was trying to hide her sudden uneasiness and she went and stuttered?!

"Why?" She almost jumped at the soft squeeze of his hands on her waist.

Why? She asked herself, Why are you doing this? Her hands were gripping the edge of the desk, her knuckles turning white as she felt the high possibility of her heart jumping out through her mouth.

"I…" Arturia was finding it hard to focus with his breath on her neck. She had to shake her head slowly, "Because you still love her."

Diarmuid pulled away, his hands slipping from her waist. He bit his lower lip, "Arturia." His chest rose as he took a deep breath, "You want to talk about her?"

Once his hands had slipped away, she immediately felt the cold emptiness that was left behind on her hips, the butterflies escaped, and his eyes seemed to clear up, "We need to," she cleared her own throat; hoping to dispel the stuttering she had acquired a few moments prior.

"Why do you want to know so much about her? Whatever happened between her and I is in the past."

Arturia sighed, crossing her arms over her chest, "I have the right to know since I'm your girlfriend."

"Fine. I'll tell you." He nodded.

"Really?" Her eyes lit up instantly. This is all she wanted.

Diarmuid looked at her, his eyes intently looking at her, "I'll pick you up from fencing this Friday and I'll answer every question you have."

Arturia blinked, brows furrowing, "Friday?"

"I want sometime to prepare. Plus, I would really like to spend Valentine's day not fighting." He took a deep breath, "Well, Arturia, please take some chocolates. I won't be eating them all. Happy Valentine's day." He mumbled as he stepped towards her, quickly placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Happy Valentine's Day," he mumbled against her forehead before turning away, "Ill see you on Friday."

Arturia watched as he gave her a smile, exiting the room quickly after.

"How's your knee doing?" The blond boy next to her asked as they walked through the nearly empty hallways of the gym.

The fencing practice had gone rather well. She was starting to get her fencing game back on again, though, she knew it would take her a while to get into small scale competitions. She wasn't hoping for championships anymore, she did not want to go back after the accident, and she knew her bad knee wouldn't let her either.

Arturia managed a shrug, past the heavy gym bags, "It's going strong for now. Aches a little when I'm trying to sleep, though."

"True," he laughed, "You should warm up water and vinegar and apply it, it would be good."

"Thanks," She gave a soft nod as they made it to the sliding doors of the bright bricked hallway.

There was a light flurry of snowflakes falling in the cold February night. The gym lights only lighting up half of their faces as they turned towards each other to talk.

"What are you doing this weekend?" Bedivere asked as he brought a hand to rub the back of his neck.

Arturia thought about it for a while, "Well, nothing as of right now. It might change later, though. Depending if my father gets home."

"I was, um," he cleared his throat, a soft blush dusting his cheeks, "thinking that maybe you'd like to go out Sunday night? Like a coffee or something?"

Arturia's lips stretched, "Sure, it's been a while since we hung out like old times. It would be nice."

The snowflakes in her hair were enough to make any man's heart beat, but with the sparkle in her eyes and the smile on her peach lips was making the poor boy melt in the middle of winter.

"Your birthday is coming up…maybe we could do something then too…" He mumbled, his eyes lingering dangerously on her lips.

She seemed to have forgotten about her own birthday because she let out a gasp, "Oh! Right… I have to check if my father will be back by then."

"Of course," he nodded, "I can text you later."

Arturia smiled again, and here he knew he couldn't hold back anymore. She'd been his friend for years and ever since they joined fencing together he liked her. Her rare smiles, golden hair and vibrant green eyes… her smooth voice and strong nature—he liked all of her.

His hand reached out towards her, cupping her face and catching her off guard. He brought her face towards him slowly, his eyes steady on her lips.

She was stunned, still in place without any muscle moving, her mind completely blank.

The snow flakes fell without a worry; fluffy, slow, sweet…

Beep! Beeeeeeeeeeep!

Bedivere jumped, retracting his hand from her cheek as if he had almost been burnt to a crisp. His cheeks were burning, his heart beating rapidly, "I am so sorry… I… I don't know what came over me."

The loud obnoxious honking of the car had snapped Arturia out of her immobility. She flipped her head in the direction of the bright headlights past the falling snowflakes. Diarmuid.

Arturia turned back towards Bedivere, her lips in a straight line, "No need to worry. I understand."

He gulped, "Arturia," he stopped her before she turned on her heel, "I… I like you. A lot." He sighed, the weight lifting off his shoulders.

Her green eyes widened as she looked up at him, "Pardon me?"

"I was hoping we could go on a date, maybe we could be more than just friends…" Bedivere was rubbing the back of his neck now, butterflies in his stomach.

"Bedivere…" she frowned, her gaze dropping to the whitening concrete, while her heart was filled with remorse, "I…"

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

She sent a glare in the direction of Diarmuid's car before turning back, a solemn expression on her facial features. She was scared to turn him down, their friendship seeming to be tested, "Actually, Bedi," She thought it best to call his nickname like the olden days, "I have a boyfriend…"

Arturia watched as the hope in her friend's eyes was sucked away. His hopeful and nervous smile faded slowly and he seemed a bit shocked, "Oh…" his cheeks were set ablaze with embarrassment, "Oh, is that who keeps honking?"

Arturia managed a nervous laugh as she nodded, "Uh, yes."

"Ah…right." He nodded, "I…I should go apologize. He's probably really upset." The young boy began to make his way towards the nice silver car.

"No, no, that's not necessary." She stopped him, reaching out towards him in the cold night, "I'll explain it."

"I insist." He spoke, sternness in his voice.

She shook her head, "I assure you, he is not upset. Dia is a forgiving man." It took a bit more convincing but she was successful in coaxing him to not speak with Diarmuid after a few minutes.

"Who is that?" It simply had to be the first question Diarmuid asked when she got into the car, didn't it?