"Arthur, hurry up" Morgana turned briefly, seeing the king, Gawain, Percival and Emrys walk behind her "This is something you must see"

"I can't understand why I have to wait," the man complained. "I thought we were on good terms, at least, good enough for you not to keep a surprise from me"

"I'm still your older sister, I reserve for myself the right to have some mystery, what fun it would be if I always told you everything," Morgana shrugged, standing in front of a door, taking a deep breath, her fingers hesitated against the lock.

"Is everything alright, Morgana?" Gawain questioned; Morgana forced a smile in her features after her eyebrows twitched.

"Everything is as good as it can be," she smiled enchanting the door. The doorknob fell, and she pushed the door.

"Oh!" Morgana spoke, eyes wide open, feigning surprise "Oh my, I'm so sorry, I think I have gotten the wrong bedroom, silly me, I guess living in my husband's castle has made lost a bit of Camelot's directions" the people froze as they walked into the room, Lancelot and Guinevere tangled in a tight embrace, his armor lying on the floor. Her dress next to it.

"Guinevere" Arthur spoke horrified, staring at the woman and Lancelot who hurriedly broke apart. Not a word was spoken, and the silence weighted heavily on everyone in the room. Arthur didn't move, not for a while. Morgana had wanted to smile, but as Arthur's expression turned into a deep scowl, she realized she couldn't.

"Get ahold of them" He sentenced, his expression as severe as it could be and his voice devoid of any warmth that had made it so familiar. He turned his back on them, giving one glance to Guinevere, whose eyes were brimming with tears.

"Wait, no Arthur! Wait! Please let me explain!" She tried taking a step backwards when the knights approached her. Gawain was at the front, he was the first to throw the sword against Lancelot. Arthur raised his own sword turning to them pointing Excalibur towards Lancelot's neck, and then at Guinevere's, never hurling against any of them. He returned his sword to the sheath waiting for his order to be executed. Morgana watched the scene unfold withholding a gasp that died in her throat when Arthur left the room.

"I hope you are happy" Emrys said, walking past Morgana trailing behind Arthur, in silence.

Morgana watched at Guinevere who stood straight, as the guards walked behind her, avoiding to look at her, swords in hand while she dressed herself. Her face bright red, silent tears coming down her cheeks. Lancelot fought against Gawain, who did not relented on his attack, until Lancelot barely managed to dock an attack and run, giving Guinevere a quick promise of coming back for her. Morgana's eyes turned to the floor before she left the room, a weight settling in her chest.

Valerie remained frozen, her eyes shifting from Gabriel's surprise to Audrey's horror.

"Oh," she said simple, a lump forming in her throat while she blinked trying to stop the tears that were threatening to form in her eyes.

"Valerie," Audrey let go of Gabriel, rushing to Valerie, her hand tried to reach for the brunette's arm. Valerie moved faster, pushing her hand away and taking a step back.

"Don't." Valerie recoiled, shutting her eyes tight taking a deep breath, glaring at Audrey and barely glancing at Gabriel "I don't... you... How could you?" Valerie's voice broke, her eyes shifted to the ground, her hands curled in fists tight at each side of her.

"Valerie, listen, please, let me explain." Audrey tried, her voice coming soft and desperate, Gabriel stood behind Audrey, as her eyes looked at her wide open, but her eyebrows hung low, Valerie's lower lip trembled.

"Explain what? That you were mocking me behind my back, knowing how much I liked him while you obviously liked him too?" She spat; her eyes filled with anger.

"I was going to tell you," Audrey pleaded, Gabriel put a hand over her shoulder that burnt something inside Valerie.

"When, Audrey?"

"I don't know!" Audrey's voice broke, her eyes avoiding Valerie's for the first time. "I just didn't know how to bring it up!" She looked at her again, but Valerie found it hard to find any line inside her that felt bad for her friend.

"So instead you let me get my hopes up," Valerie spat, letting out a bitter laugh. "That's just wonderful, thank you for being such a good friend Audrey" Her voice was dripping with sarcasm. She took a step back when Audrey took a step towards her.

"I am your friend!" Audrey crossed her arms in front of her chest, dropping them just as fast letting out a sigh. "Do you really want to stop being friends with me for a boy?"

Valerie leant backwards, repeating Audrey's words in her head.

"A boy? You think that's the problem here? Gabriel? No Audrey" Valerie glared, shaking her head.

"Will you please just let me explain it to you?" Audrey begged.

"Oh, do so, please, I am thrilled to know" Valerie put up a fake smile, rolling her eyes dropping it as soon as Audrey answered.

"I was dating him before you met him"

"You what?"

"No, Valerie, wait, that came out wrong" Audrey shook her head, her hands in front of her.

"I don't want to see you" Valerie choked out, turning her back on her, ignoring her pleas to listen to her.

Valerie began to wipe the tears off her face, until she crashed against someone. Lifting her eyes up, she saw Jonathan staring at her. She continued cleaning the tears off her face and stood still, her eyes focused on his converse. He lowered himself to her level, his hands rested on his tights, glaring at the pair behind her.

"Is there anyone I have to beat up?" he furrowed his eyebrows trying to make himself as threatening as possible making Valerie laugh instead.

"We both know I would be the one beating people up if they ever made you cry" She mumbled, finishing to clean up her cheeks, snorting.

"True," he conceded, giving a reluctant tilt of the head, his eyes looking up. "why are you crying then? You can cut people in half now, what happened, that you are crying and no one's blood is in your hands? I've seen you break people's noses for less than that."

"People are shit," Valerie sentenced, to which Jonathan arched an eyebrow, standing straight listening to her words "Audrey and Gabriel are together, and she... she didn't tell me, I really liked him, you know?"

"I know" Jonathan mumbled, putting his arms around her as she took a deep cut breath, her hands over her chest.

"And like a fool I always helped him with his Spanish homework, because I thought he only asked me because he thought highly of me. I was a bloody idiot." Her arms slowly wrapped around him.

"You are not a bloody idiot" he hugged her tightly and she sunk into the hug as he began rubbing her back and tracing shapes on it with a finger "A regular idiot perhaps, but not a bloody one."

"Shut up," She mumbled; it came muffled due to her face pressing against him.

"Now, why don't we go to my house, we eat something, and we watch a movie, or play something, whatever you want" Valerie loosened the hug and took a step back crossing her arms over her chest.

"I don't think I'm in the condition to play something or watch a movie. I look and feel like a mess" she muttered letting her arms hang at each side.

"That's nonsense" he brushed off with a wave of the hand "you look as good as you always do," he spoke, Valerie blushed for a second, her eyes opening wide. At first, his face shone with the ghost of a smile, until his cheeks turned pink under the streetlights that were just beginning to light on.

"If you say so" she half smiled. He put one arm over her shoulder as they crossed the street to his house.

Jonathan opened the door of his house. Valerie trailed behind him, looking around the place.

"I thought you were going to Valerie's hous... Hello Valerie, what brings you here?" Su-Wei came from the kitchen, giving Valerie a warm smile upon noticing her presence "Is everything alright?"

"Jonathan, what did you do?" Dolores peered over her wife's shoulder. Jonathan stared at her with wide open eyes.

"Why did you assume this is my fault?" Jonathan claimed, pointing at himself with his index finger., Valerie couldn't help the smile that rose to her lips.

"Because you went to this poor girl's house and suddenly you're back and the child looks like she's one insult away from crying, it has to be your fault" the woman put one hand on her waist while she moved a spatula that still had some batter on it with the other.

"Why would I bring it here if I made her cry?" Jonathan raised his arms, putting one arm in front of Valerie.

"Not now you two" Su-Wei sighed, rolling her eyes, turning to Valerie who stood behind Jonathan's arm "Was it Jonathan's fault?" She raised an amused eyebrow, Valerie laughed, shaking her head.

"He's trying to help"

Jonathan sighed with relief, Dolores and Su-Wei stood up straight. Jonathan rolled his eyes while Dolores narrowed her eyes at him.

"What happened, then?" Dolores tried soft voice and smile looking at Valerie as if Jonathan wasn't there.

"I'd rather not talk about it" Valerie lowered her voice, eyes on the floor, both women gave an understanding nod.

"Very well then, Dolores and I are going to be watching a movie if you two need anything" Su-Wei put a hand on Valerie's shoulder on her way to the living room, Dolores walking behind her.

"Sorry about that," Jonathan mumbled leading his steps to the kitchen, Valerie leaned against the frame watching him open multiple cabinets until he found a green jar.

"Don't be," she smiled "I've always thought your mothers are cool."

"I guess they can look like that when you don't live with them," Jonathan shrugged walking to her to hand her the jar out of which she pulled out a cookie. He shifted to the fridge, taking out a cake his mother had baked.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Jonathan's laptop rested closed on his desk alongside a half-finished milkshake, Valerie turned the chair over and over again while the boy laid in his bed.

"Men are trash" Valerie cried, drinking the last remnants of her milkshake.

"Fuck yeah, we are" Jonathan said, throwing popcorn up, hoping it would fall in his mouth. None of them did, so he cursed, picking them up from the bed before throwing it in the trashing bin he kept in between his desk and his bed.

"Aren't you supposed to tell me not all men or some bullshit like that?" Valerie raised an eyebrow, leaning against the chair feeling it go back.

"Nah," Jonathan turned to her, resting his head over his arms "I tricked you into spending the night with me, clearly, I'm the prime example of how men are the lowest of scum," Valerie rolled her eyes, laughing, throwing a pencil lying on the desk at him. He laughed when the pencil hit the wall instead of him.

"Men are trash and friends betray you." Valerie threw herself onto the bed, leaving Jonathan a few seconds to move so she could fall onto his side, when she did, he blushed.

Jonathan nodded, as if she had spoken the deepest of truths, "We should follow Merlin's example and fuck off to the woods"

"And then wait until someone will let us out, because no, powerful people like us wouldn't be able to release ourselves" Valerie said and Jonathan laughed, listening to her laugh along.

"You're not trash, though" She turned to him, and he quickly avoided her eyes "I mean, fuck, we've been friends for years and I can count with one hand that times you've actually been a shithead to me" Jonathan felt the heat raise to his cheeks.

"What can I say?" He shrugged, turning his eyes to the ceiling "Maybe because we've been friends for so long you've muted yourself to my asshole-ness, or probably because when we were younger my mom said that if I was rude to you like I had a tendency to be with other kids she would ground me for a week"

"Are you saying our friendship was born out of obligation?" She feigned offence turning her away from him and then to him again "I still think you aren't as much of an asshole than you think you are"

"I have a reputation I've carefully crafted throughout my entire secondary Valerie; you can't just say I'm not an asshole"

"You're not one to me" She said with absolute resolution, he blushed.

The ceiling was far more interesting than ever before "How would you know?" he narrowed his eyes.

"It's nearly one a.m. in a school night and you are awake while I drown my sorrows in cake and milkshakes"

"Oh, that's different" he shrugged.

"How so?" she raised an eyebrow, an amused smile threatening to leave.

"It's you" he said, glancing at her, "besides, moping Valerie is the dullest Valerie to have ever existed, I don't want to deal with that tomorrow."

"Fuck you" She raised her arm, slapping him in the chest with little to no strength.

"See? I'm a full-fledged asshole" he laughed.

"Sure you are" Valerie rolled her eyes.

Jonathan's cheeks grew pink, and he found himself drifting a little further from Valerie when her arm brushed his.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Morgana wrote Valerie a reply with Emrys peering over her shoulder.

"Do you allow her to spend the night at a boy's house when she has duties tomorrow?" He questioned, raising an eyebrow. Morgana held her phone close to her chest, turning to him.

"You might still be getting used to all twenty first technology but reading over someone's messages over their shoulder is considered rude and it's very frowned upon" Morgana said, leaving her phone on the kitchen counter.

"Is that so?" his rang with a hint of amusement. Only then she realized of how close they were to each other. She didn't move. Instead, her eyes diverted to his lips, glancing upwards just as quickly.

"It is," she said rolling her eyes "besides, it's Jonathan's house she's staying at, his family is lovely and they'll make sure she wakes up in time for school," she shrugged, crossing her arms as she leant against the counter, playing with the tips of her hair that hung loosely from a ponytail. Emrys took a step back his shoulders leaning backwards, as his eyes darted to Morgana's figure.

"Right" Merlin sighed, Morgana scoffed.

"Still set on believing the worst out of everyone?"

"What can I say?" he gave her a half smile "Most trustworthy people I have known had worked really hard to make themselves as loathsome as humanly possible" Morgana nodded trying to hide a smile.

"What?" he furrowed his eyebrows.

"I just think they are a separate incident," she mumbled with a confident smile.

"If you say so"

"Surprise me then, great Merlin" Morgana mocked. He rolled his eyes, still failing on hiding a smile, "Who are those trustworthy people who remain in your good graces?"

"Arthur, Igraine, Gorlois, Gawain and you"

"Me?" Morgana laughed.

"I must admit I had my doubts for a while" Emrys said "But if they inherited anything from Arthur, keeping the family alive must be quite a feat, the boy was never particularly clever or collected"

"Remember the time where they got captured by an enemy because Arthur insisted on challenging their strongest fighter?" Morgana said, Emrys let out a scoff that soon turned in a sincere laughter.

"How can I forget?" he said, "We had to drag them out while Arthur kept talking about how big of a feat that was" Morgana laughed.

"It was a lot of fun to sneak them out" She said "It was way easier then sneaking in"

"That was because you sent half of the guards to sleep" Emrys mumbled with amusement.

"And you threw the other half against a wall" She shrugged "Point is, none of them ever knew exactly what happened in between catching Arthur and Lancelot and waking up during the next day with a few bruises and a wide-open dungeon where the freshly crowned king of Camelot should have been"

"I don't want this to stick into you, I know how sentimental you are" Emrys said. "But those quests Arthur insisted in dragging everyone into were a lot more enjoyable when you were around"

"Oh?" Morgana mumbled, feeling the heat raise to her cheeks. "Of course you did, I've always been an absolute delight to be around"

"And a sight for the sorest eye" He added.

He leaned closer to her. Morgana felt her heart skip a beat on her chest. Leaning closer, she tilted her head and parted her lips, feeling him closer until his lips touched hers, and although brief and soft, he just as quickly leant over for a second kiss under which Morgana melted.

One hand travelled to his chest, and the other to the back of his neck, his hands moved to the lower part of her waist, pulling her closer to him.

They broke apart eventually, his eyes glinting.

"Took you long enough" Morgana mumbled.

"I wasn't sure how welcomed it would have been" He laughed "And a long time passed, I couldn't know if you felt the same way"

"I do" She assured, trailing a finger over his chest "There is a lot left to do"

"And this time, we can do it together" He blurted out, quick and hopeful "I wouldn't mind, as long as I get to be near you"

"Is that so?" She lifted an eyebrow.

"No one can go through what we went through without developing some kind of bond, even if one of us is a dirty Clíodhna"

"And the other is a lazy fomorian" Morgana added, with a tilt of her head, smiling as she leant for a second kiss.

"It will be complicated to tell the kids" She smiled amused.

"I'm not going to let them stop me, a kid already did and I'm not prone to committing the same mistake more than once" Emrys laughed "It can be our secret, though I'm sure you know all about those, don't you?" Morgana laughed, throwing her arms around his neck and leaning for another kiss.

  A.N

I want to thank all the people who have been reading my story lately, really thank you so so much. If you liked this chapter, and I hope you did, please consider leaving a vote or a comment, it would really make my day. Have a lovely day!