Always Maybe

Gwen

Merlin felt weird walking into school with Arthur's hand in his own, but he refused to let go. Morgana was after him, but she still felt like she was welcome to hang out with Merlin's friends. Lance and Gwaine were more than happy to just be in her company, and when Merlin saw all of them together, he made sure to kiss Arthur's cheek so they wouldn't think he needed them. He had Arthur, and he convinced himself that was enough.

"Hey," Gwen said as Merlin walked to his first-period class, Arthur free.

Merlin was surprised that Gwen was talking to him after the lunchroom fiasco, but he accepted her company.

"Gwen," Merlin smiled as politely as he could.

Gwen walked with him to the English wing.

"I just wanted to say thank you," she said.

Merlin's jaw dropped.

"Thank you? What for?" he asked.

"I haven't seen Arthur this happy in a while," Gwen explained. "Thank you for making him happy."

"Gwen, I stole your boyfriend. Aren't you even a little bit mad at me?"

Gwen shrugged. 

"I mean, I love him, but I knew that it wouldn't last long. The way you two looked at each other made me realize that our relationship would be very short lived," Gwen explained with a soft smile. 

She started to walk away to go to her class, but Merlin stopped her.

"Gwen," he said as he caught up to her, "I hope we can be friends."

She smiled and squeezed Merlin's hand.

"Of course," she beamed. 

Merlin thought about Gwen in class that day. He wondered if she was secretly helping Morgana get revenge on him, but he didn't think that Morgana was that evil. She wouldn't try to ruin Merlin's life because he had unfriended her. Then Merlin's thoughts drifted to Arthur, and then to the bleachers. He wondered who Arthur had hit with his car, and why he was even driving while drunk in the first place. He decided to put it behind him. It was before they knew they loved each other, so Merlin factored it as "unimportant". 

Morgana turned around and handed Merlin a note during class. 

Freya 

Merlin cringed but pretended not to be bothered. Freya was always somewhere in his mind anyway, so what did it matter if his dead girlfriend's name was written on a piece of paper? Merlin remembered how scared he was to get into a car after that day. He could remember the fear that shook through him so vividly, and he had sworn that he would never drive again. It wasn't his fault, the accident, but he still felt as though her death was.

Was this Morgana's plan? Crush his insides with thoughts of helplessness?

Merlin clenched his fists and told himself that she would never win. Morgana would never win this war because Merlin knew things about her. Things that could bring her down if he needed to.