And Everything ComesTumbling Down (3/?)
He said.
AN: This was a lot harder to write for some reason - can't seem to get the knack of writing the Knights' characters but I hope I didn't completely drop the ball here. I thought about having Merlin do that heart-to-heart with Arthur, but I don't know...Gawaine seemed more up to the challenge.
Anyway, thanks for reading.
Part I , Part II
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Arthur wishes he could chuck his cellphone out of his hotel room. It's been beeping and ringing intermittently for the last couple of hours and after making the mistake of answering that first call without checking caller ID, he now knows the folly of such a move. So he switched it to silent and unhooked the one in his room to avoid another tongue lashing from his mum. Of course, he knows he can't hide in his room forever, as he'd have to emerge for his next shooting schedule, but for tonight, he wants to pretend he hadn't just ruined his chances with Gwen forever.
The sudden knock on his door startles him out of his reverie. He thinks about pretending to be asleep, but he has a pretty good idea who the person on the other side would be so he reluctantly moves to open the door. That it's Merlin does not surprise him. What does surprise him is that he's not alone. They all walk past him without so much as a hello.
"Did I say you could all come in?" he asks grumpily.
"Hey, you opened the door." Gawaine shrugs as he jumps on his bed.
Arthur takes a moment to consider how utterly small his room has become with the presence of five extra bodies, three of which were standing uncomfortably since there wasn't anywhere they could sit. Without saying a word, he opens the closet to get his hoodie, knowing that a trip to the pub is expected.
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They're all ensconced in a booth at the nearby pub, drinks in hand when Merlin takes a stab at him.
"So what was that all about?"
Arthur considers ignoring the question for all of 30 seconds before the collective gazes of his fellow cast mates breaks him down. He groans loudly as he slumps in his seat.
"You're such a swot!" Trust Gawaine to state the obvious.
"You should have asked our resident Lothario for pointers…" Merlin, who's already downed a couple of pints, points to the actor sitting next to him.
They all snicker at this.
"Hey! I've never had any complaints about my snogging abilities EVER." If he's more sober, he probably wouldn't even dignify that dig with a response.
"You're lucky Gwen didn't slug you." Elyan asserts.
He groans at that. "It probably would have been better if she had so it's over and done with…"
"I thought JJ was gonna have a heart attack…" Merlin recalls.
"What were you thinking?" Percy asks, completely baffled.
"Obviously, he wasn't." Leon raises his bottle at this.
"Which reminds me, Elena called me earlier. She said you weren't answering." Gawaine looks at him in question.
"Uh oh…do I smell trouble in paradise?" Elyan asks.
Arthur shares a look with Gawaine and Percy at this.
Merlin notices and raises his eyebrow at Arthur in query.
He just shrugs in response. He feels like crap for not telling Merlin about his arrangement with Elena but he knows how close he is with Gwen too and for the sake of his pride, he needs to keep up the pretense. Of course, he's probably coming off as a complete tosser with the stunt he just pulled earlier.
It had all seemed like a good idea at that time. Tease her to try to get her to smile at him again and make her see how good it could be if she just gave him a chance. Use her wariness of publicity to gain her compliance. He should have known it was a bad idea. He'd forgotten about Elena and how it would look to people. He's probably made things worse for her.
The sound of Merlin's beeping phone brings him out of his musings. Gawaine takes a peek at the phone message over his shoulder and smiles widely when he sees who it's from.
"Oops…got to go." Merlin starts to move to get out of the booth.
Arthur looks at him in confusion. "Go where?"
"He's going to see Gwen." Gawaine replies, ever helpful.
Arthur tries not to scowl at Merlin. He really does, but fails miserably. His annoyance increases further when Merlin just shrugs at his silent question. He's glad that the rest of the gang were all a little drunk and so didn't realize something was amiss. Surprisingly, it is Gawaine who remains sober and whispers to him, "Have you talked to her yet?"
Arthur grimaces. "She disappeared on me as soon as her scenes were done."
"You know where she's staying."
"And what pray tell, should I tell her?"
"That you're an idiot." Percy surprises both at his assertion. They didn't know he was listening.
Leon and Elyan, both more than a little buzzed, sniggered.
"Don't you all have early call times tomorrow?" Arthur asks in annoyance.
"We're off." Elyan supplies helpfully.
Leon nods. "I think they're doing the forest scene with Morgana, Gwen and Merlin tomorrow morning."
Gawaine smiles at Arthur's discomfiture. "Should I be breaking out my hoodie and glasses tomorrow then?"
Arthur glares at him.
"Huh?" Leon, Elyan and Percy sport equally baffled looks at Gawaine's question.
Arthur struggles not to react. "I need another drink." He answers instead and makes a move to stand up.
"I need one too." Gawaine asserts as he follows Arthur.
"Hey, get me one too." Elyan calls out.
"I'll order one for each of you." Gawaine promises before he goes after Arthur.
"What the hell are you doing?" Arthur asks.
Gawaine feigns a clueless look. "What? I'm just getting them drinks."
Arthur glowers at him as they both stand just outside the pub. "The bar is that way." He says as he points back to the interior of the pub.
"I needed air…"
"Whatever."
"Why haven't you told Merlin?"
Arthur ignores him.
"You do know that as long as Gwen thinks you're with Elena that she won't…"
"It doesn't matter…" Arthur interrupts.
"The hell it doesn't."
"She's with that Michael fellow now, so obviously my plan backfired. What does it matter if she continues to believe that?"
"You really are an idiot!"
"Whatever. I've moved on."
Gawaine laughs at this. "Yeah, because that kiss was all about moving on…"
"I was just taking a mickey out of her…"
"Keep telling yourself that."
"What the hell do you want me to do?"
"Simple. Get that massive stick out of your arse and tell her how you feel."
"Don't you think I haven't?" Arthur loses his cool. "She doesn't believe me. She never has!"
"Of course she wouldn't! Who would, when you keep telling everybody how 'highly' you think of her."
"What the hell are you talking about? I haven't been telling people what I think of her."
"Let me see…what was it? Political? Or was it mechanical? Oh, how about that you're into her cause she's the only girl around?"
"What? That's ridiculous! I was talking about our TV characters."
"Yes. But you know how some fans can be. Don't tell me you're completely unaware of how much hate she already gets and how much worse it becomes when you shoot your mouth out of your ass."
"I…"
"And you've just made it worse with that stunt you pulled today."
Arthur slumps in defeat.
At this, the other man sighs loudly. "Look, I'm probably the last person you should come to for romantic advice. Goodness knows I don't have the greatest track record, but please listen to me when I say that messing with her head is not the way to get her."
"I'm not messing with her head…" He defends himself.
"If you really love her…" Gawaine continues without acknowledging what he said.
"Who says I love her?"
Gawaine looks at him with exasperation. "Ok then, IF you really DON'T love her then leave her alone. Stop holding her hands and stop kissing her outside of shoots."
"As opposed to what? Just kissing her onscreen?"
"At least you get to do it…"
"That's different. That's acting."
"Acting, my foot! Is your tongue acting too?"
"Don't be a perv."
"Tell that to your own tongue."
"I've never…"
"Pants on fire…what do you call this then?" Gawaine asks, as he whips out his phone to show the slow-mo version of a series three kiss.
"You sicko! Why the hell do you have that on your phone?" Arthur growls as he tries to get the phone out of his friend's hand in order to delete the image.
"That's not the only one too…"
"And your point is?" Arthur tries to deflect as he gives up the fight, hoping his friend doesn't notice how flushed he is.
"My point is… actually I don't know what the point is. It's your bloody mess."
Arthur sighs at this. "I was just…It's harder than I thought it would be."
At Gawaine's questioning look, Arthur continues. "I thought that when I walked away from her last year that I really could…that I could give it up... that I couldn't wait anymore. And then Elena…it seemed like a good idea to save face…But then I saw her again and I just… I don't think I know how to stop."
"Is because you can't have her?"
"What?"
"It's a fair question. Is it just the chase?"
"Of course not!"
Gawaine gives him a blank stare.
"It's been four bloody years! I've never chased anyone nor have I ever waited for anything this long in my life."
"So tell her that."
"I did."
"Tell her again."
"She won't listen."
"Make her."
"How?"
"I don't know." Gawaine says in exasperation. "Tie her up?"
"You think that'll work?"
Gawaine's eyes widen at this. "It was a joke."
"I don't know…seems like a good idea…"
His friend looks at him in horror.
"Relax Gawaine. I was joking…"
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