A/N: Hey guys! Just wanted to say that I'm really sorry it's taken this long for me to update when I said that I'd post them sooner. It's just that I've been sick for the past few days so I didn't have the energy but, anyway, now that I'm feeling much better and I'm about to go back to college again on the 18th, I'll try to do as many updates as I can before I can't again. As for those who knew about my story "Fight for Me", the updates will be up soon. I'm just making some last minute revisions. So, without further a do, here's Chapter 7! Thank you so much for writing reviews on the previous chapters. They really motivate me a lot :) and just the same on this update, please review and I hope you enjoy reading this chapter. Thank you! :D
This was it. It was the time when Gwen was finally coming back home. Presently, Morgana and Merlin are on their way to the airport to pick her up while the others are at Morgana's place, setting everything up for the welcome party. As Merlin was driving, he noticed that Morgana seemed to have something on her mind.
"Morgana." Merlin calls her attention as she stared at the window. Morgana heard him and turned to him.
"What?" Morgana asks.
"Are you alright?" he asks, noticing that she's been quiet since last night. Morgana casually shrugs.
"I honestly don't know, Merlin. I'm worried about Arthur. He's so much worse than he was before. It's like he was kept in the darkness for such a long time and he can't seem to find his source of brightness." she said sympathetically, thinking that Gwen might be Arthur's only hope in becoming his happy, contented self again.
Merlin sighs and glances at her before looking back at the road "Did you talk to him?" he asked.
Morgana sighed and nodded "Last night, before he left. I was talking to him and he was so devastated. I've never seen him like this before."
"That's because he's never been affected so much by anyone before. Not until he started to have feelings for Gwen." he stated casually, trying to keep the conversation on a positive level.
"That's what I'm afraid of. I'm afraid that he might not be able to move on from this. But at the same time, I feel that Gwen hasn't moved on too. I hear a bit of sadness in her voice every time I talk to her on the phone... It's so strange to think that both of your loved ones are badly affected by each other and you know there's nothing you could do." she said as she sighs deeply.
Merlin glances at her again and gave her shoulder a light squeeze, turning back at the road "It's going to be alright, Morgs. I'm sure they'll figure it out themselves. Maybe not easily, sure there'll be so many disasters ahead that neither of us could handle…" by this, Morgana smiles and chuckles lightly, shaking her head before he continued "but, they'll figure it out soon."
"Oh I'm sure they will." she responds knowingly, suddenly excited for what may come in the future. Merlin notices this and starts to panic.
"Oh no, I know that look. Whatever you're planning in your head, I'm telling you now, don't do it. You're going to get yourself in trouble." he tells her off, knowing that although in a good way, Morgana can be a mischievous, intriguing woman when it comes to planning something.
Morgana giggles lightly and looks at Merlin "What are you talking about?" she asks innocently and relaxed onto her seat, as if really certain that everything will turn out fine. Merlin gives her 'the look' again and she responds.
"And who said anything about doing it myself?" she said casually and stared out the window.
With her statement, Merlin widen his eyes, panicking inside as he continued to drive. He breathed deeply, as if trying to prepare himself.
She's doing it again. *sigh* I'm not going to like this am I?
As Morgana and Merlin were driving out to the airport to pick her up, Gwen, on the other hand, had been thinking about her conversation on the phone with her father the other night, staring blankly in space as she fiddled with the necklace around her neck, mostly holding its pendant.
"Hey Dad." she answered while she was packing.
"Hey Gwennie." he answered back, happy that he's able to talk to her.
Gwen automatically smiled as she hears her father's voice.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
"I think I'm supposed to be the one asking you that." he answered back with a chuckle.
Gwen shook her head at his silliness. "Dad, really?" she asked, suspecting where the conversation could go.
"I just miss my daughter, that's all." he said, hinting innocence in his voice.
"I'm fine… and you're not going to miss me any longer. I'm coming back remember?" she reminded.
"I know. But five months have been too long for you to be away from your family." he answered back sincerely.
"I know. I miss you too. That's actually why I'm going home." she answered, chuckling, keeping the conversation as normal as it can be, not leading into any serious kinds of conversation.
"Well, I'm glad that you'll be here, especially at the gala." he replied with a bit of excitement in his voice.
"I'm looking forward to that too." she agreed. After a few silent moments, Tom became serious with his tone.
"Seriously Gwen, how have you been?" he asked her, with a bit of worrying. Gwen sighed deeply.
"Dad, I've told you many times before… I'm fine. I'm alright." she reassured him.
"It's what you keep saying to me but it's not what I hear in your voice…" he told her directly. Gwen knew it was too good to be true that they'd be able to avoid talking about this. Gwen shut her eyes for a moment and breathed deeply, stopping what she's doing and sat on her bed.
"Dad… not this again. We've talked about it before. Don't worry about me." she said frustratingly, trying to hide the hurt that's starting to take over her.
"But I'm your father. You can't expect me to not worry about you…" he then sighed and continued "you know you can talk to me about anything, right?" he asked.
Gwen nodded, even though Tom can't see her "Of course, Dad. I know." she said, calming herself. And after Tom had asked her something, she fell silent.
"Does Arthur know that you're coming back?" he asked hesitantly. After breathing deeply, Gwen spoke.
"No… he doesn't." she sighed then continued "but I assume, knowing Morgana… she might have told him. One way or another." she said, feeling that Arthur might know already… or if she's just imagining it.
"Is he going to be at the gathering Morgana's arranged?" he asked.
"I seriously hope not. Morgana's arranging everything, I don't know what to expect and what's going to happen." she said frustratingly.
"Why didn't you want him to know?" he asked, thinking that his daughter might still be affected by Arthur.
Gwen breathed inwardly "Dad-" she tried to reason.
"I just want to know." Tom said firmly but with gentleness. Gwen sighed deeply.
"I'm not ready to face him… I don't know what to do if I see him again… I'm worried and scared that if I see him- I..." she said as she stuttered, not being able to continue, disappointed in herself that she wasn't really able to move on while she was away.
"Oh, Gwen." Tom said, sighing and asked something harder for her to answer. By this time, tears were threatening to fall from her eyes.
"You still love him, don't you?" he asked, knowing his daughter very well, that after all this time, she still cared for Arthur.
Gwen closed her eyes and let her tears fall freely, realizing there's no point in lying to her father. At the moment, Tom took her silence as a "yes".
"Don't worry. It'll be our little secret." he said. Gwen chuckled slightly at his silliness as the tears continued to fall.
"Gwen?" he called when it fell silent. She breathed deeply.
"I'm here… it's just, this is all so confusing. I don't know what to feel anymore, Dad." she answered desperately, controlling her wobbly voice.
Tom sighed, knowing that Gwen is still hurting from all that had happened.
"It's going to be alright, Gwennie. I promise you, it will. And you seem to be forgetting something." he hinted. Gwen wondered.
"What's that?" she asked.
"We, Leodegrances always know what to do in the end. We never fail to know what we really want… and you're a Leodegrance. You'll figure it out. Soon you'll know what you really want." he encouraged.
Gwen smiled "Thank you, Dad." she said, trying to stop her tears.
"Anytime, sweetheart... Make sure to be safe on your trip." he reminded gently.
"I will… I love you." she said.
"I love you too. Try not to think about it too much alright?" he offered.
"… Alright." she whispered.
With that, they said goodbye and she ended the call, finally letting her tears fall freely, remembering the hurt.
By this time, Gwen was being called out properly by the stewardess. She was patted on the shoulder twice, coming back to reality and looked up the stewardess.
"Excuse me, ma'am it's time for the passengers to get their belongings. We're arriving at the airport and the plane's about to land." the stewardess informed her nicely, seeing that she still had her seat belt on and her hand-carry still at the upper compartment.
"Oh. Thank you." she said and started to gather her things. As she kept herself busy, she ignored the negative thoughts coming into her mind and acknowledged the positive ones.
I shouldn't worry about this. It's just Arthur. I doubt I'll see him very often. Of course he'll be busy and I'll be thinking about my clothing line so we'll both be busy. It'll be fine. I have a lot of catching up to do with everyone else. Sure, we'll see each other but it doesn't mean that I'll have to talk to him. We'll just keep it civilized and everything will be fine. I hope…
As she goes out of the plane, she started to call Morgana, letting her know that she'll be out in a few minutes.
Standing by the arrival area, Morgana and Merlin were keeping an eye out, seeing if Gwen had already arrived somewhere. While they stood, Morgana gets a call from Gwen, saying that she'll be out soon. As the call finishes, Morgana turned to Merlin.
"Merlin, let's go. Gwen just called. She's here!" she said enthusiastically, wanting to see her best friend as soon as possible.
They both go nearer the department and after a while, Merlin smiled as he sees Gwen along with her bags, looking around for them. Merlin turns to Morgana and points to Gwen. They both see her, still looking and they both started yelling her name, waving their hands up so she could see them.
As Gwen wanders around, she hears someone call her and when she turned around, she smiled widely, seeing Morgana and Merlin calling and waving at her. She waves her hand once and runs toward them. Morgana and Merlin met her halfway and they all laughed happily together as they neared.
"Morgana! Merlin!" Gwen said excitingly, let go of her luggage and bag and immediately hugged them both. They hugged each other tightly and they stayed that way for a while. As they all pull away, Morgana spoke happily.
"Gwen! Oh my goodness! Look at you! You're so beautiful!" she said as she held Gwen's hands, looking at her wearing a gray sleeveless, semi-fitted jumpsuit that suited her curves matched with pumps and a cropped black leather jacket. After looking at what she's wearing, Morgana's eyes went to the silver-chained necklace on her neck, customized with a heart-shaped pendant with the letter "A" engraved onto it. She suddenly recognized that it was Arthur's gift to Gwen before they broke up, remembering that he showed it to her first before giving it to Gwen... although she wasn't going to mention it, not wanting to change the mood. Gwen giggled at what she said.
"Thank you. I'm so happy to see you… and you, Merlin, how are you? Morgana tells me that Freya's been keeping you on your toes." Gwen said teasingly as she turned to Merlin, playfully poking him at the side. Merlin chuckles.
"Ah, you know, when you know she makes you happy, then that's it for me." Merlin says happily.
Gwen smiles at him sincerely, trying not to think about a man she once dared to remember.
"Of course. I can see that nothing's changed much, has it?" she asks coyly. Morgana giggled.
"Oh I'm afraid so." Morgana agreed. "Come on. We have a welcome party to get to." she reminded happily.
They all chuckled, held onto Gwen's things and started walking to the parking lot.
"So, where are the others? And Dad and Uther?" Gwen asked as they walked.
"They're all at Morgana's place, waiting for you. They're all excited." Merlin coyly.
"I'm excited to see them too. Oh and Morgana, you will not believe the dress I made for you to wear at the gala tomorrow." she says excitingly as she turned to Morgana. Morgana simply smiled widely.
"Perfect. Then I'm sure Gwaine won't be able to stop looking at me." she said teasingly.
Merlin and Gwen looked at her with wide eyes and she laughed at them "What?" she asked innocently.
Merlin and Gwen just chuckled at her, shaking their heads.
After they made their way to the car and put the bags in the trunk, they all got settled as Merlin got on the driver's seat, Morgana on the front seat, and Gwen on the back seat.
"So… am I going to meet the lady loves tonight?" Gwen asked coyly.
Morgana and Merlin chuckled. "But of course, you are. They're all invited." Morgana regarded, smiling.
"I'm excited to meet them. I bet they're wonderful." Gwen stated.
"Well, they are." Merlin agreed as he drove. Gwen chuckled.
"Seems like someone's smitten." Gwen assumed.
"Oh I think all of them are, not just Merlin." Morgana said as she chuckled, glancing at a stupidly grinning Merlin.
"Does that mean you're smitten too, then?" Gwen asked her teasingly, knowing that in one of their late night phone calls, Morgana and Gwaine already said they love each other.
"Don't tease me, Gwen." Morgana scolded her playfully.
Merlin and Gwen chuckled, slightly shaking their heads. After a few moments of contented silence, Gwen started asking.
"So… is anyone else going to be there?" she asked them, not exactly sure if she'll have the answer she's looking for.
Morgana shrugged casually "Not really. It's just us … Why?" she looked back at her, wondering if Gwen was actually looking for Arthur, thinking that maybe she just doesn't want to say it.
Gwen smiled casually "Nothing much, just curious." she said and stared at the window.
Morgana watched her as Gwen stared out of the window. She then returned to her normal position, facing the front. She began thinking and glanced at Merlin, who looked at her too, seeming to think about the same thing and shrugged slightly at her.
Should I say something? What if it just puts her off? *sigh* You haven't changed much Gwen. You're still the loving, caring, generous, kind, overthinking Gwen we all knew.
After a few moments, Morgana decided to say something when she noticed that Gwen became quiet. She glanced at the rear view mirror, sneaking a peak at Gwen on what she's doing and she sees that Gwen is still staring out the window. If she looked closely, it's as if Gwen almost had tears on the brim of her eyes.
"Gwen?" Morgana called.
Gwen turned away from the window as she heard Morgana, sniffling a bit, hoping that Morgana or Merlin doesn't notice.
"Yeah?" she asked casually.
"Is everything alright?" Morgana asks gently.
*sigh* Morgana noticed. Why did I have to think about HIM?... It's fine, everything is fine.
Gwen was silent for a few seconds and said casually "Of course. I'm fine… maybe just a bit tired.", trying to cover up what she's really thinking.
"Oh. Okay." Morgana said as she smiled and continued to glance at her every now and then through the rear view mirror.
"Um… Well, everyone is going to be at the party… of course, all except… you know." she said awkwardly but tried her best to sound casual.
As she says this, she thought that it might have been a wrong time to bring it up, knowing that Gwen's only just arrived. She shut her eyes and hoped that Gwen would say something.
"… except Arthur… I know." she heard Gwen muttered.
Morgana knew immediately that it was the wrong time through Gwen's voice. She glanced at Merlin, who stared at her and angled his head towards Gwen, as if telling her to do or say something. She then breathed deeply.
"Oh well, it's going to be fine. I'm sure we'll all have fun tonight. It's going to be great." she said too enthusiastically, trying her best to change the subject and mood around them. It seemed to have worked when she heard Gwen in a slightly cheerful tone.
"Of course." Gwen said. As the three of them went quiet, Gwen began thinking again, feeling like she's been betraying herself for wanting to see Arthur at some point.
What is wrong with me? I was the one who didn't want Arthur to know about me coming back in the first place so, what's changed? Why did I seem so disappointed when I knew that I wasn't going to see him?*sigh* This is ridiculous. Is it because I miss him? Because I haven't seen him in five months? Because I long for him? Because I still lo- wait, what?! What am I saying?! This is not how it's supposed to be. I'm just here for my family and my business… that's it. Even if the family does include HIM, I'd just have to live with it and hope that we don't cross each other's paths that much. Even if-
As she berates herself internally, Gwen's train of thought was interrupted by Merlin's voice.
"We're here. They all must be so excited to see you." he said cheerfully as he parked the car, trying to amp up the positive mood.
Gwen smiled casually "I'm really excited too." she said, honestly cheerful this time although hinting a tone in her voice that she was deep in thought.
"Let's go." Morgana said excitingly as she went out of the car.
Gwen waited after a few seconds, trying to compose herself. She shook her head slightly and started to go out of the car just as Morgana and Merlin were doing.
Forget about it, Gwen. You're here to be with your family and friends. You're here to have a good time. You're here to be happy. And most of all… You are not here to get hurt by anything… and certainly not by anyone.