Hello everyone! I'm so sorry it's taken so long to put up another chapter! Things have been crazy! We will definitely be quicker in the future! Thank you so much for the reviews we got and we're quite excited that people are taking an interest in this story! We won't let you down!

This is actually Bri again for this chapter! Kim was super busy, but will be up for the next one! :D

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Thump! Arthur's backpack landed heavily on the leather couch, followed shortly by a tired teenager. He swung his legs up over the cool back and groaned.

"Don't be so dramatic. We've only just finished the first week."

Arthur jumped and floundered for a moment. "Morgana, how many times have I told you to quit sneaking up on me like that?"

"I wasn't sneaking. I came in right after you."

"Yeah, but you're freakily quiet, so can you just, you know, announce your presence in some way before you just appear?"

"We drove home together Arthur. I didn't think my presence needed announcing." He scowled at her while she returned it with a smirk, knowing she had won this round. "Besides, what are you complaining about? You've got less work than me."

"But that was your choice."

"Well that depends on how you look at it. I didn't choose to be this smart." Arthur swiped at her, but she had already moved away, laughing. She grabbed two string cheeses from the fridge and leaned on the counter. "I'm only kidding, Arthur. You're still smart, just in a different way. You think I could come up with your elaborate battle strategies for the team? Or the work out routines you create?"

"Morgana, you don't even work out, so it's not like you've even really tried."

"Are you kidding? I work out." With that, she skipped up the stairs to her room. "See? All done." She winked and walked through the doorway.

Arthur rolled to his stomach, and in the process, knocked his backpack off the couch- not that he cared. Five days. They'd been back only five days and school was hell already. He already had one paper to write for his WWII class about the socioeconomic conditions of Germany, though he was anticipating Morgana to help him with that one. He was a bit pitiful with his writing capabilities, especially when it came to history, and Morgana did like helping him, though it may take some begging. Plus, they were in the same class so she'd be familiar with the project. Not that it mattered since she would've figured it out anyways. Morgana was incredibly clever, a trait which Arthur greatly envied, though he would never admit it. He also had a project in Biology, a subject he himself took pleasure in and was rather good at, too. He was partnered up with a girl named Vivian, who was very pretty but got confused easily. He didn't mind though. He loved explaining things, especially this unit. They were talking about the gene pool and punnett squares. He already knew he had recessive traits for both his hair and eyes, but dominant ones for being right-handed and the ability to curl his tongue, and was greatly anticipating learning more about his genealogical heritage. Calculus and government had only assigned homework so far, but it was a only matter of time before things piled up there too. Oh, and I have that Lit project with that idiot, Merlin.

He hadn't liked Merlin from the moment he saw him talking with Morgana. He had liked him even less later when Merlin had back-talked him. And now thank to his luck, and a sneaking suspicion that the teacher found it amusing, they were partners. They were given the play Much Ado About Nothing and had to write at least a 3-page paper explaining each type of verse Shakespeare had used throughout the script, in addition to making some kind of movie trailer for the play. They had a month, but that still didn't give them a lot of time. Especially with it being football season.

The guys were coming over later for pizza and hanging out in celebration of getting through their first week of school. They considered it a treat before the real work began. They needed to obliterate Gaul High School and their stupid Saxon mascot. It wasn't even a good name for a team. He rolled his eyes. No, they were winning this season for sure. They had to.

Ding dong!

Arthur raised his torso. Who was here? The guys weren't due to come for another few hours and his dad was working late tonight. He slid off the couch and opened the door to find Gwen. He almost didn't recognize her behind the mountain of stuff she was carrying.

"Oh! Uhhh, Gwen, come in." He opened the door wider, beckoning her in. Closing the door behind him, he called up, "Morgana! Gwen's here!"

"Be down in a minute! We need the kitchen!"

"You have to be gone befo-"

"Yes, Arthur, I know they're coming! We will!"

Arthur nodded to himself, and found himself in an awkward situation. He had never actually had a conversation with her without Morgana being there and had no idea what to say.

"Shall we?" He gestured to the kitchen and almost turned before remembering all the things she was holding. "Here." He reached forward and took one of the over-stuffed bags. "What is this even for?"

"Well that one has my clothes and toothpaste since I'm staying over. While the bags here-" holding up a tote, "and here-" turning to show her backpack, "are full of homework and ingredients."

"Ingredients?" he asked, setting her bag down on a kitchen stool.

"For this weird chicken dish Morgana wants to try. I just picked up the food she didn't already have here."

"Right. What's in it?"

"Uhhh, I guess it's like a pot pie, but it's got four different kinds of cheese and instead of normal crust, the outside is made of pretzel bread."

Arthur made a face. "I can't tell if I want to try it or not."

"Well, maybe we'll let you have a little piece if you're good."

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "I'll make sure to be on my best behavior."

"I'm sure you'll try." She chuckled.

"Hey! I can be good, especially if there's food promised."

She laughed again. "Well then, you'll just have to prove me wrong."

"Hey!"

Arthur jolted to find Morgana once again standing right behind him.

"Scare you again? That's twice in less than an hour. Maybe you are sick."

"I'm not sick, just sleepy," he grumbled, sliding away from them. "I'm gonna nap before they get here. Wake me in like an hour."

~x~

"So have you prepared your song yet?"

Gwen stopped mid-bite and looked up confusingly at Morgana. "Song for what?"

"The auditions of course! They're in, what- four days? You need to prepare!"

Morgana still wasn't certain what was stopping her best friend from auditioning for Beauty and the Beast. Gwen was an excellent singer, and performer in general. She loved the movie as well, and could quote almost every line.

"Gwen, what's holding you back? Are you scared to audition? Scared that you'll only get a small part? Or do you think you're just going to be too busy? Tell me! I want to understand what's making you so hesitant! Please?" Morgana knew she could be pushy, and maybe was being a bit over the top right now, but she always wanted to do the best she could for her friends, and right now Gwen needed to decide what she wanted.

"It's just, I don't know. I haven't done theatre since middle school and I don't really know any of the people in it anymore."

"You know Lance."

"Hardly. We only became friends when you two dated sophomore year. We haven't exactly stayed in touch since then."

"But he'd love to have you, I know it! I was talking with him today, and he knows how good your voice is. He thinks it's a good idea too. He can introduce you to people. Oh come on, Gwen, I know you really want to do this!"

"I do. I'm just scared."

"I can come to the auditions with you if it'd make you feel better?" Gwen nodded. "Good. Now that that's settled, what song shall you sing? Actually, how do you even know what to pick?"

"Well, our school's auditions let you choose a song from the show, though I know at other school's they have you choose one yourself from any Broadway selection. I decided that if I'm going for Belle, I'm going to sing 'Home'. It's in the Broadway show, but it's not in the movie."

"I knew you'd been paying attention to audition details."

"Oh hush."

Morgana just chuckled. "Have you been practicing the song too?" A silent Gwen gave her the answer. "Well, let's hear it then!"

"No, not now! They'll all hear me downstairs! You can hear me at the auditions."

They fell into a comfortable silence, eating their food. The boys' laughing could be heard, even though they were two floors down in the basement. Morgana was going to miss this. Sure, everyone would come back from school during the summer and holidays, but it was going to be less frequent and not everyone would always be able to make it. Speaking of which, she really needed to start sending her applications in. It was hard enough deciding what she wanted to major in, but now she had to choose between colleges too. Hopefully, it'll make it easier once she started getting accepted.

"So what do you think of Merlin?" Gwen asked between bites.

"I think he's adorable." What did she think of Merlin? Well, she was right in saying he was adorable. He was also very smart, a trait she found rather attractive, and his smile was one-of-a-kind. He was easy enough to talk to, and a great lab partner. She also finally found in him someone that was equal to her in a battle of wits. But, he sometimes seemed nervous around her, and she wasn't certain why. She didn't feel like she was being intimidating. Maybe she came off too strong? Or he just wasn't attracted to her like most guys were.

"You two seem to get along well."

"We do. It's nice to find someone else that's capable of doing group work." She giggled. "Do you remember physics last year?"

"No one knew what the hell was going on except us." Gwen laughed.

"But he's also different than most of the guys here. It's intriguing."

"So, you're interested in him being more than just a lab partner?"

"I didn't say that."

"Oh, but I know you Morgana. Don't pretend you haven't been looking."

"Shut up, it's not like I'm not going to date him yet. We've known each other for five days."

"Yeah, but we have the whole year."

"Maybe. But I think I scare him sometimes."

"You scare everyone."

"I know, I know. All I'm saying is we'll see."

"Homecoming is soon. Maybe he'll ask you?" Gwen teased.

"But that's later. Right now, we've got to get you set for the musical." Morgana pushed the thought aside. Maybe he would. Maybe he wouldn't. She wouldn't dwell on it. She didn't like to be the kind of girl to moon over guys and get stuck thinking about them and playing the 'what if' game. She liked to take things as they came at her. Right now, she had to get her friend ready for the auditions.

~x~

"Hey Arthur! What would you say if I asked your sister to Homecoming, eh?" Gwaine asked, sauntering over from the pizza, his mouth half-full.

"I'd say good luck, and tell you to buy some ice cream before you do."

"Do you really have so little confidence in my ability to pick up women?"

"Women, no. Morgana, like I said, good luck."

The guys all laughed, further continuing the jokes on Gwaine. Arthur smiled. What would he do without these guys? Gwaine, Lance, Percival, Elyan, and Leon. These guys had been his best friends since grade school. They'd already been through so much together, he wasn't sure if there was anything they couldn't handle.

"How is everything, boys?" Arthur's dad peeked into the room. "Need anything before I head up?"

"No, I think we're good here."

"We've got everything."

"Thanks, dad."

He nodded and closed the door as everyone told him goodnight. He may be the respected, and sometimes feared, principal at school, but here, he was just Arthur's father. The guys all got along with him and there were never any big problems. There was one time during their freshmen year where Percival and Gwaine had gotten in trouble for taping funny pictures of Coach Agravaine around the entire school, so it was a bit icy between them and his dad for a bit, but it eventually blew over. Lance also had his troubles the following year when he and Morgana had dated for a few months, but since nothing big had happened with that, he was fine as well. His phone beeped, signaling a text. Opening it, he saw it was from Merlin. I definitely regret giving this to him.

Merlin: So how do you wanna do this project?

Arthur: can we figure it out later im kinda busy now

Merlin: We only have a month and the sooner we start, or at least figure out how we're gonna work on it, the better.

Arthur: why don't you divide it up and tell me later

There was a pause in his answers. He's probably thinking about it now. What luck to get partnered with the one guy that wants to make sure all the work gets done, but won't actually do it all himself. His phone chirped again.

Merlin: Ok, so over the next week, we should both read the play. I don't care if you have football, at least SparkNote it or something. Next weekend, we should find a time to get together and work on the essay part of it, and who writes what. And then maybe figure out what to do for the trailer thing too.

Arthur: fine we can meet at my house

Merlin: Day/time?

Arthur: sunday around lunch we can get pizza or chinese or whatever

Merlin: Chinese is fine. Can't have pizza.

Arthur: why

Merlin: I'm lactose-intolerant.

Arthur: oh. that sucks man im sorry

Merlin: It doesn't really bother me. But this sounds good. See you Monday then.

Arthur: see ya

That actually wasn't that terrible. Maybe this kid isn't as bad as he seems. But that really sucks that he can't eat pizza. Shrugging, Arthur slid his phone back into his pocket and tried to find where the conversation had gone since he had jumped out.

~x~

Merlin set his phone down and picked up his Chem book. Gaius had already assigned them a lab to complete over the weekend. It was simple, but still would've been easier if he didn't have to do it alone. Maybe next time I'll ask Morgana or Gwen if they want to work with me. He started reading the instructions when his phone buzzed again. It was from Freya. They had been texting on and off the past few days, and he was starting to like the girl. She was two years his younger, but he didn't mind. She was sweet, and kept him company in the class from hell. They were convinced their Foods teacher was insane. She hadn't actually let them boil water that next day. Far from it. All week they'd been watching instructional videos on proper slicing techniques and kitchen etiquette. A few of the videos had even been played twice because she couldn't remember having the class watch it and wouldn't believe anyone when they told her they had. The only way that kept the two awake was through passing notes. He knew it was old school, but if it distracted him from those videos, even for five seconds, it was worth it.

Freya: So whatchu up to? =)

Merlin: I'm just reading the instructions for the lab I have to do. What are you up to?

Freya: Nm. Boooored. Whats the lab about?

Merlin: It's a lab that has us use different tests to see if a substance is ionic or not. He gave us the substances he wants us to use, so it's basically a test and record lab.

Freya: Hmmm sounds hard! But your really smart so I'm sure you'll understand!

Merlin: It's not too bad, but thanks.

Freya: Your welcome! =)

He didn't have anything to reply to that, so he just tossed his phone onto his bed. He wanted to start this lab anyways. He fished out the materials Gaius had sent each student home with, but he knew he needed other objects to use for the tests. Gliding out of the room, he went to search his new home. Hopefully, the things he needed weren't still packed away in boxes. He figured his mom was already asleep, but Merlin heard the quiet murmur of the TV from her room. He gently opened the door to find his former assumptions had been correct. Ms. Ambrosius peacefully slept as Pretty Woman played out on the screen. He switched it off and silently closed the door. After grabbing various items, he made one last stop in the kitchen to add an apple to his pile and proceeded upstairs. Munching on the apple, he reread the directions. Yep, definitely going to want to work with a partner next time.

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A/N: Second chapter complete! I hope you enjoyed it! Side note: Yes, I am perfectly aware that Freya did not use the correct 'you're' either time, and that bugged me to no end, but I wanted to give a feel for her character.

Sorry once more for being so late, it won't happen again! Please leave any comments or critiques in the reviews! I love to hear them! See you next time! :D