I can't believe the reviews and follows for this! Eeek! Anyway, I also can't believe how long it's been since I updated this story and I apologise for that. Because of Merlin ending, I really want to know whether people are going to keep reading and writing their own FanFiction for the show, or whether this is just a waste of ideas? Please PM or review to tell me! Onto the chapter and I hope it's okay!
Oh! There are also some mentions of drugs in this chapter, so don't read if that sort of thing offends you or something. Thought I'd better put a warning. :)
"Maybe you should take some painkillers," Morgana suggests as Alvarr complains for what seems like te 50th time about his hangover. She watches as he groans and stumbles slowly around the kitchen as he searches for some.
"I don't think we have any," he grumbles, after many cupboards have taken a bashing.
"Oh," she says, and tries to feel sorry for him, but is interupted as he suddenly goes to kiss her. Morgana quickly ducks out of his reach and sighs - these swift mood changes were becoming more and more frequent and he was in desperate need of some toothpaste.
"I'm going to the shop," she explains to his confused and slighty hurt face. "To get some painkillers."
"We don't have any money." Alvarr says bluntly.
She rolls her eyes at him. "I'm sure we'll have enough for that. Anyway, I'll only be a few minutes," she tells him and Alvarr nods.
A few minutes of freedom, Morgana thinks to herself as she steps out of the doorway. She walks up the road to the small corner shop at the top of it, not very far away at all, but far enough from that stupid house and all the tension inside it. She takes her time walking despite the cold, dodging patches of ice, almost stopping at one point because of her speed and when she finally gets to the shop she browses it like a library, before going to pay for the tablets.
"Gwaine!? What the hell are you doing here?" She hisses to the man at the till.
The familiar face looks up and smiles. "Such a nice way to be greeted!" He laughs. "I work here."
"Since when?"
He sits up straighter in his chair and points to his name badge. "Gwaine," he reads in some kind of robotic voice, "I joined the team in 2011."
"How come I've never seen you in here before then?" She asks, almost accusingly. Her eyes shoot to the door, expecting Alvarr to be there, probably ready to kill Gwaine. There is no-one there, but Gwaine follows her gaze to the shop entrance before answering her question.
"Oh, I mainly worked in the back of the shop doing storage and deliveries and that."
"Sounds like fun," she comments flatly.
"Feel free to enlighten me on how your job is better," Gwaine jokes lightly and watches her blank expression. "Unemployed?"
"Sort of."
"Sort of?"
"Well, I work for my father and his business, like my brother, they're both away on a work trip at the moment, but it's a bit..." Morgana trails off.
"Dead?" Gwaine offers.
"Yeah. But it should pick up soon. A deal is currently being made between him and Alvarr's parents, so it should be okay in a bit," she explains to him.
"£1.50, please." Gwaine's face hardens and he looks down at the item he has just swiped through the till. Out of the corner of her eye, Morgana can see another man stood behind her, a bottle of something in his hand, waiting to pay. She doesn't even have to look properly to know that it's him.
How long has he been stood there? How dare he spy on her? She practically throws Gwaine the money and she snatches up the packet of tablets, scurrying out of the shop. Through the fear and the panic, she hears Alvarr mutter something as she walks past, but is already out of the shop before she realises he was talking to her. What he said, Morgana had no idea. She half walks, half runs down the street, forgetting the icy patches. Her foot goes down on a glistening patch of the frozen water and slips backwards, her left wrist breaking her fall. Morgana winces as a hot ache travels up her arm and her spine.
Sniggering comes from a small group of hooded men on the other side of the street. Tears prickle at her eyelids, but she forces herself to scowl at the horde of men. Eventually they look away, and she watches one male share something out - sweets? - between the gang and they split into two groups, walking in opposite directions.
She sighs and pushes herself to her feet, brushing the wet, white ice-shards from her clothes. Racing through the front door, she begins to pack the paracetamol away into a cupboard. She does not hear the the door open again and then click quietly shut. But she does feel the strong, cold arms go to her waist and wrap tightly around her. It feels like she is suffocating, like he is the snake and she the prey, he constricts her and squeezes the air from her lungs.
"I think me and you should have an early night." He suggests and kisses her shoulder.
Surely he doesn't mean...? An unpleasant shiver goes through her, as does the adrenaline. "It's 5 o'clock in the evening." Morgana states, trying to sound flat and casual, but failing horribly as the panic sets into her voice.
"So? Come on, sweetheart, you didn't even let me kiss you earlier." The sudden caring tone of his voice scares her. Alvarr is never like this with her.
"You're kissing me now."
He smirks into her neck and presses his lips to it. "Not where I want to."
A cold shudder ripples up her spine and it cruelly reminds her of how much her back hurts from falling on the ice. How stupid can he be? How can he go from hurting and humiliating her one minute, to expecting her to sleep with him the next. Even having him touching her now feels revolting. Kissing him would feel wrong. As though she was cheating on someone else with him. She feels guilty even being seen with him now, like it's all some big secret.
Damn you, Merlin, she thinks. Damn you for making me feel like a terrible person for even being with Alvarr in the first place. Damn you, with your beautiful eyes and your kind smile and your protectiveness and your friendly hugs and cups of tea. Well, Gwaine's cups of tea. She smiles at the memory.
Alvarr rudely interrupts her of her thoughts. "So, shall we?"
Her eyes burn with rage. The flight repsonse has been seemingly abandoned, the fight taking over her brain. She is not doing this.
"No," she objects through gritted teeth.
His grips slackens a little, which allows her to breath a bit easier. "Why not?"
Because you made me sit in a pub on my own for 2 hours, punched Merlin in the face, hurt me, threatened me, controlled me, followed me, oh and you make me feel like a bit of dirt on your shoe, that's why.
"I just feel tired," she sighs. In past times she would just give in to his bedroom requests because it kept him happy and she feared what he would do if she argued for too long.
Alvarr laughs slightly and it makes her jump. "Really? Because you looked like you were running down the street a few minutes ago. Care to explain?" His tone is patronising, like a smug older sibling who has caught the younger child doing something they shouldn't and cannot wait to tell the parent.
"It was cold," she gulps. "i didn't want to hang around."
She swears to God she can actually hear him smirking behing her.
"Of course. That's why you were going so slowly on the way up."
She is about to protest about him spying on her, but he spins her roughly in his arms to face him, causing her to gasp. At first, she feels better that she is facing him, as she can see what he is doing. But at the same time she feels more vulnerable, with the palms of his hands resting firmly on the kitchen counter top on either side, so that she has nowhere to go but him.
"I think you're lying. I think we should play a game," he mutters and the hot, liquid anger that was not long ago rushing in her veins, freezes. He seems to sense her distress as she wonders what sadistic methods he will use to get the information out of her.
"Have you heard of the game 'Three Questions'?" He asks and she nods. At many a sleepover, her and Gwen have played this game, giggling away into the night about boys and very personal questions.
"You know the rules?"
"Yes. Person A get to ask Person B three questions and they have to be Yes/No questions. Person A is not allowed to reply to any of Person B's answers. Person B has to answer them completely honestly. Then you swap." She informs him nervously.
"Good. I'll go first. Did you know that man worked in the shop?"
"No."
"Do you love me?"
"Yes," she lies. Well, maybe a part of her does love him. But it must be an extremely small part.
"Before you answer the last question, I want you to swear on your brother's life that you will answer it truthfully," Alvarr demands.
"I swear on Arthur's life." She dreads whatever the next question will be and what her answer is.
"Are you attracted to the dark-haired man I punched last night?"
"He has a name, you know," she snaps before she can stop herself.
Alvarr smiles at her. "I guess that answered my question then, didn't it?"
She closes her eyes in disgust for allowing herself to be tricked by him into standing up for Merlin, showing her affection for him.
"My go," she says quickly, knowing that Alvarr can't talk to her about her answer. "The money you always seem to be spending on drink, do you recieve it as payment?"
His face hardens. "Yes."
She breathes a sigh of relief - at least he hasn't been stealing it. "Is this payment legal?"
He licks his lips. "No."
She stiffens. This afternoon. She left the house. He leaves the house a few moments later. She goes into the shop to buy painkillers. He goes into to buy alcohol. Which means whatever trans-action Alvarr did to get the money for beer happened between the shop and the house. She thinks back to the shifty group of men on the other side of the road who laughed at her, weren't they handing something out? And then, slowly, it all falls into place.
"Are you involved with drugs?" She asks coldly.
He grins at her. "Great work, Sherlock Holmes."
She shoves him away from her, catching him off guard. And then, in one fluid movement, her palm connects with his cheek and it feels as though a large weight has been lifted from her. It feels good to know that she can actually inflict pain on him, lash out and be angry, instead of him just using her as a punchbag to get his own way. Alvarr, however, does not feel the same way.
"What the hell was that for?" He yells and the disbelief in his eyes mirrors in her own.
"What in God's name were you thinking!? That you selling drugs could just solve all the money problems?" She screams at him.
"Keep your voice down!" He hisses at her. "Someone could hear you!"
"Oh, don't worry! I don't think the neighbours will care about your dealings, but I know the police will take an interest." She leaves the threat open before exiting the kitchen and makes her way to the front door, grabbing her coat on the way out.
"You won't report me to the police," Alvarr calls to her form the kitchen. "Because you know as easily as you can get me arrested, I can call off the deal between our parents. That's what this is all about, isn't it? That's why you're with me. To secure the business."
Morgana curses him loudly and walks outside, slamming the door for good measure. She stares at the empty street. She hates the way the sky can get so dark so quickly in the winter, and how the air can get so cold. She pulls the coat tighter around her. Where now? Uther and Arthur are away. Gwen will be busy working one of her many late shifts at the hospital. What about Merlin? Didn't he say to ring him if she needed anything? She smiles slightly and reaches into her pocket for her phone, only to find it isn't there. it must've fallen out when she'd thrown her coat down earlier in her panic to get back to the house. She knows that if she walks back through that door now, Alvarr will be stood there, smug and smirking. She will not go back into that house if it kills her. Merlin just better be prepared for a visitor.
Half an hour later she finds his house, only about a mile away, but searching for his house at night and from memory wasn't really a fun expedition. Her hands shake from the cold when she knocks on the door and she sees a light flick on behind it. She smiles when Merlin opens the door in jeans and a t-shirt, his black hair sticking out in every direction.
"Morgana!" He smiles brightly and desperately attempts to flatten his hair down. "Come in, you must be freezing."
She thanks him and steps into the warmth. He quietly shuts the door behind her and takes her coat. She hides a smile. "I'm so sorry I couldn't ring. I left my phone at home. Also, sorry if this is really inconvenient, but I don't have anywhere else to go."
"Why? What's happened? You're not hurt, are you?" His eyes are filled with more worry and concern in one moment than Alvarr's have shown in over a year.
"No, no I'm fine thank you, Merlin." She reassures him.
He gives a small smile of relief and leads her into the living room. "Well, what's happened then?"
She slumps down onto the surprisingly comfortable, pale brown sofa and he sits next to her. The room is fairly untidy, with stacks of books and and old CDs piled high and dotted in lots of different places. Messy, but cosy. "Just Alvarr being a complete and utter twat."
His eyes widen. "Oh God, he didn't have a go at you about last night, did he? Because if that's why you're here then you should just go back and talk. I don't want to... disrupt things between you two."
"Alvarr was... okay about it," she hesitates, deciding to leave that piece of information out. "But I'm not going back because I'm too angry and he won't listen to me. And I'd much rather be here with you."
"Wow, you can almost smell the cheese from that last sentence," Merlin comments sarcastically and she laughs, which causes him to grin, too. "But if this isn't about him getting angry the other night, then did you just have an argument or something?"
"A bit more than that," she sighs and Merlin sends her a questioning look. "I found out that he's involved with drugs."
"Oh." He looks stunned.
"Yeah, I know," she says sadly, the realisation of it all suddenly getting at her, too.
"What are you going to do?"
"I have no idea."
Before she can say anything else, Merlin pulls her into a giant hug and holds her tightly, stopping every so often to wipe away her tears with his thumb.
"Do you mind sleeping on the sofa?" He asks, after a while.
"No, I shouldn't stay. It's not fair on you," she says and pulls out of the hug.
"Please? I'd feel better if you did. And where would you go?" He smiles sadly at her.
She tries to resist the deep blue eyes and the encouraging smile, but can't.
"Well, only if you're sure..." she says shyly, not wanting to intrude.
"I'm sure. I'll just go and find you a spare duvet or something, I think I have one somewhere." He tells her.
"Merlin, thank you," she smiles and he disappears from the room, leaving her on her own. Or so she thought. A tiny, furry face pokes it's head around the door and mews at her. Morgana giggles and rubs her thumb and index finger together to try and get the cat to come closer. "Hello, puss," she whispers to the tortoise shell cat as it lets her stroke it's head. She gently scoops the cat up and lifts it onto her lap, still stroking the soft fur.
"I've got it!" Merlin calls brightly from the stairs and a few seconds later he walks into the living room with a thick blanket clutched in his arms. "You've found Aithusa, then."
"Why didn't you tell me you had a cat?"
"Never got round to it, I suppose," he explains, depositing the blanket down next to her. "You're not allergic, are you?"
"I don't think so," she frowns. "What did you say her name was, again?"
"Aithusa."
"Aithusa," she smiles, testing the name. "That's pretty."
"Yeah, I guess so. She's normally quite shy." Merlin says, puzzled.
"I'm honoured," Morgana laughs as the cat rolls onto her back, wanting a belly rub.
He smiles at the scene, Morgana seems a lot happier now. "Is there anything else you need? Like a drink?"
"No, I'm fine, Merlin, but thank you. For everything."
"You're welcome. Goodnight," he says softly and flicks off the light as he walks out, she hears his footsteps creak on the floorboards as he goes upstairs. She hadn't reaslied how late it was. Or how tired she was. She wraps the heavy blanket around her and lies down on the sofa, quickly falling asleep, with Aithusa curled up on her feet.
Yay! A longer chapter for once!
Should this be M rated with the drugs and that?
Maybe I made Alvarr a little too evil, but I needed a big reason for why Morgana would leave him. I did watch 'Parked' the other day which may have influenced me a lot - such a beautiful film though! I cried for ages :(
Anywho, please please please review because I need to know if you will all still read this, give me ways to improve, etc and you aren't too angry with me. If you are angry, then please feel free to come and scream at me through PM and be like "WTF! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN! ASDFGHJKL! I HATE YOU!"
Thank you for reading! :)
