Hello it's been a while. I'm still here, mostly reading other people's stories, into other fandoms. This is a new story but I'm not sure how long it will be. I have started writing updates for my other stories, but this one won't let me finish them, so I decided to just put it out there. Thank you to those who continue to read, review, follow and favourite my stories and to those of you who continue to think of me.

I do not own Merlin or the characters.

Almost eleven years earlier

Ten year old Guinevere Anderson warmly hugged her dad and alighted from his vehicle with a sense of purpose about her.

She walked confidently, her head in the air and her back rigid, as she went through the gate of her school.

She had awoken that morning with a determined spirit and with one goal in mind; to show her tormentor, none other than Arthur William Pendragon, that she was done being a pushover.

As she headed towards homeroom, she knew he would be there at the door, waiting for her. She spotted her dear friend Merlin coming towards her, and sent him a sweet smile.

'Merlin is such a sweetheart. Why can't he be more like Merlin?' she thought to herself.

She watched as Merlin stopped just outside the door, looking around as if he was expecting someone to come by.

Gwen, as she is often called, smiled to herself. She knew exactly who he was looking for, her best friend and her nemesis' sister, Morganna Pendragon.

Merlin has had a crush on her since forever and he always wait for her by the door to escort her in.

Nearing the door, she spied a head of blonde hair, above the students as they entered homeroom and knew without a doubt, whom it belonged to, Arthur. She quickly schooled her features and walked purposefully to the door, where she greeted Merlin and briskly entered.

Arthur Pendragon was frowning.

As always, he catches a ride with one of his best pals' parents, just so that he can get to school early and wait by the door for Guinevere.

He always complains about his sister taking too long to get ready and can never wait for their chauffeur.

This morning he came with his cheeky buddy Gwaine Mc. Bride and as usual, they separated at the door.

He had watched as Gwen approached the door and softly squeezed Merlin's arm as she by-passed him. There was something different about her today.

She walked right past him, without even glancing his way and strode to her seat.

He was so surprised at her behaviour, he didn't even try to say anything to her. Slight sadness clouded his features, for a few moments, but it quickly turned to anger. He was upset at the way she greeted Merlin and didn't even spare a smile or a look at him.

'I'm going to make her pay for that. She can't just ignore me. How dare she touch Merlin…Merlin! What a wimp!' he screamed inside of his head.

After their teacher Mrs. Nelson had taken their attendance and given the announcements, the class headed for their first period of the day, Science.

On the way to the Lab, Morganna, who had arrived just as the teacher was about to speak, and Gwen held hands chatting as they walked.

"Gwen, can you come over this weekend?" Morganna asked. Gwen hesitated for a few seconds, causing her friend to pick up on it.

"Don't worry about Arthur. I won't let him trouble you. Besides, he has a sleep over with his friends. He won't be in our way…unless we get in theirs, if you know what I mean," she said with a mischievous smile on her pretty face.

"I don't know Morgs, Arthur always makes me miserable. He is such a brat sometimes.

Why can't he be more like Merlin, or Percy, even Gwaine isn't that bad," Gwen said. Morganna sympathized with her best friend.

She knew her brother and she knew he meant no harm, but sometimes she felt as though he couldn't get through a day, unless he annoyed Gwen.

His face would light up the minute he saw her and even in the deepest of conversations, he would turn and follow her until he got her attention. She had a sneaky suspicion that her brother fancied her best friend and only felt happy if he got a rise out of her.

"I know Gwen. I don't understand what's wrong with him, but he would never hurt you…at least not on purpose. I think he likes you, actually," she stated.

Gwen looked at her friend and rolled her eyes.

"Are you crazy Morgs? Likes me? Do you really think he likes me? He torments me by pulling my hair, he tweaks my nose, he makes fun of my freckles, my height, my size and the list goes on. How can you say he likes me Morgs. If that is the way you show someone you like them, I wouldn't like to see what happens when he actually hates a person," she ranted.

Morganna was speechless.

Her jaw dropped as she listened to her friend raving about her annoying brother. She placed a calming hand on Gwen, steadying her, as her chest heaved following her outburst. A few seconds later, she pulled her into a tight embrace and whispered,

"I'm so sorry Gwennie…so…so sorry."

Gwen felt her eyes water and try as she might, she couldn't stop the tears that leaked hotly down her cheeks. She quickly composed herself and felt eyes boring into her back.

She looked around and was met by stormy blue eyes, with a hint of concern in them. She rapidly wiped her face and gave a watery smile, as she re-took Morganna's hand and headed to the Science Lab.

Arthur walked to his station in the lab, with his thoughts on Gwen.

He wondered what could have happened to make her cry. His fists balled automatically and anger blossomed inside of him. He might annoy Gwen everyday, but that's not to say he didn't care about her. He did, in his own way, and anyone who hurt her would pay. He will make sure of it.

He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn't even hear the teacher enter and announced his instructions. He only came back when he felt someone's presence next to him and knew immediately who it was.

Beside him stood Gwen, with the cutest pout that Arthur ever saw. Her hand softly came into contact with his and it felt as though he had been given a slight shock.

They both stepped apart and looked at each other, which clearly meant they both felt it.

The teacher clearing his throat loudly broke through their haze and they both snapped their eyes in attention.

"I have paired you today to do two simple experiments, a levitating orb and a volcano. The class has been divided and that means, half of you get to make the orb and the other half of you get to build your very own volcano.

There is a piece of card on top of the table you will be working on. It either says orb or volcano, so go ahead and look at it, and then collect the items you will need from the big cupboard in the back, along with all of your safety gear.

Before everyone dashes off to the back of the lab, decide between you and your partner, who will go and get the stuff for the experiment. You have ten minutes in which to decide and retrieve your items. You may begin."

Gwen wasn't feeling Science Lab today at all. It was if the universe was out to get her.

She was in such a great mood when she arrived this morning and now it all seems to be going downhill, very fast.

She looked at Mr. Wells, he was one of her favourite teachers, but right about now, he was rating very low. She and Morganna were partners, always. They usually did their experiments together and she can't understand why her teacher would put her with him.

Stiffly, she drew closer to Arthur, looked at the card in his hand, and tersely asked him,

"Shall I get the stuff or do you want to get them?"

Arthur was taken aback.

Gwen spoke to him, a bit harsh, but she spoke to him first, nonetheless. His heart did a flip inside of his chest as he looked into her brown eyes.

"I…I…I should get them," he stuttered.

With his cheeks flaming, he dashed off to the back of the lab to gather their items, leaving Gwen to roll her eyes. He returned a few minutes later and placed the items on the table.

"Since we get to do the orb, we can use either a balloon or a piece of PVC pipe, they have both. Which one do you want to work with?" he kindly asked.

It was Gwen's turn to be surprised. She was amazed at his kind words. She shook her head slightly and answered,

"I think the pipe will be better. Whose hair are we going to use yours or mine?" Hesitating for a beat, Arthur replied,

"If you don't want to use yours, we will use mine, in fact let's just go ahead and use mine."

Once again, Gwen was quiet. She felt sure that he would have used that opportunity to pull her hair.

Opening up her trust to him a smidgen, she relaxed her posture and divided their safety gear. Once they were both out-fitted in their lab coats, gloves and safety goggles, they begun their experiment.

Minutes later, they were both bent over their table, working as a team, and anyone looking at the two of them, would never guess that they don't get along.

They had just got through rubbing the pipe in Arthur's hair, with both of them finding it hard to contain their giggles, much to their surprise, when Arthur grasped her hands and pulled her to the ground.

She landed on top of him, hard, but before she could gather her wits, there was a loud explosion and something gooey landed on her feet.

Gwen was completely taken by surprise. She can't understand what could have happened to cause Arthur to pull her to the ground.

Anger grew inside of her. She was just about to let Arthur have a piece of her mind when she heard him softly asking,

"Are you alright Guinevere? Please tell me you are not hurt." At the tone of his voice, she softened a bit and decided to get up.

She felt him gently push her as he scrambled to his feet and helped her up. She stood looking at him as if she was seeing a new person.

She could tell he was embarrassed, seeing as his face was a bright shade of red. She immediately blushed and ducked her head, that is when she saw her feet and shoes covered in colourful goo. Looking around, she saw almost everyone in the lab, including the teacher covered in the same colourful goo.

Her eyes travelled to Morganna, who looked fit to strangle Merlin, by the way that she was looking at him. She felt a warm hand brush hers, startling her, and she turned to meet Arthur's concerned eyes.

With a slight nod, he repeated his question, "Are you alright Guinevere?"

Gwen was still in a state of confusion wondering what had happened, although she had a pretty good idea, and wondering who this boy beside her was.

"I'm fine Arthur. Thank you…for pulling me out of the way," she muttered softly. Arthur released the breath he was holding and with a sincere smile he said,

"It was nothing. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt." He opened his mouth to say something else when they heard the teacher say,

"Well…that was…some experiment there Mr. Mc. Ginty. Um…Ms. Pendragon you can stop hitting him now. I think he's sorry. This however has brought our experiment session to a halt. The rest of this period will be spent cleaning the lab… and yourselves of course…also me…I mean…I need to get myself cleaned up also. Get started, I'll be back to check on you."

After the teacher had left, Morganna rounded on Merlin and chewed him out.

"I can't believe you Merlin. I told you not to put anymore vinegar into the container. You only needed to put an ounce, but nooo the nerd knows everything and he's always right. I don't know why Mr. Wells paired us together; Gwen and I would have been fine with each other…"

She was cut off by Arthur getting in her way and telling her,

"That's enough Morganna. Merlin didn't do it on purpose. I'm sure he's sorry, if you keep at him, you're going to make him cry…in front of the whole class."

Morganna's shoulders slumped in defeat.

She looked at Merlin and she knew her brother was right. Merlin looked about ready to cry. Her heart softened and she quietly mumbled,

"I'm sorry Merlin. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. Let's forget about it. Accidents happen."

Gwen too was feeling sorry for Merlin. She rushed in and hugged him tightly, rubbing his thin back as she spoke comforting word to him.

She didn't see the hurt in Arthur's blue eyes, neither did she see his jaw set in anger as he turned abruptly away from them and started cleaning up their table.

'I saved her from getting splashed and what did I get? Nothing…but Merlin…the wimp…he got a hug…a very nice hug too…and he caused the accident. I'll show her. No more Mr. Nice guy!" he ranted internally.

After that day in the Lab, Gwen began to hate Arthur.

He had turned into a monster. The Arthur from the Lab was long gone, and the sad thing is, she had begun to like him.

He would team up with his friends, mostly Gwaine, and every time he saw her, he would pull her long curls and poke fun at her.

Morganna would always try to defend her, but he would run away before she could even land a punch or get two words out.

Everyday Gwen would leave home determined to ignore Arthur and show him that his actions didn't faze her. Deciding to be brave, she finally took up Morganna on her offer and headed to Pendragon Manor for the weekend.

Morganna was excited. She screamed when her best friend arrived and they both rushed up the stairs to her room.

They were in the midst of unpacking Gwen's things when Arthur barged in and startled them.

He had just invited Merlin, Gwaine, Percy and another friend Leon Michaels, over for the weekend, when he heard the girlish screams of his sister. He knew only one person could evoke that reaction, Guinevere.

He took the stairs two by two and without knocking stepped into his sister's room.

"Arthur! Don't you know how to knock? I could have been naked," Morganna exclaimed.

Arthur shook his head as if to clear that particular memory from his brain and said,

"God forbid. I just wanted to see what you were screaming down the house about. Now I know. Hello Shorty, any new freckles today?"

Gwen immediately flushed a different colour. She pinned Arthur with a hard stare and lifted her chin in defense.

"Get out Arthur. Don't you have a sleepover of your own? Leave us or I will tell father that you are bothering us," Morganna shouted. At that, Arthur turned on his heels and with a sly smirk, he said,

"It's so on now," and left.

Gwen flopped onto Morganna's huge bed and sighed audibly.

"You know what that means right Morgs? He is out to get us. Why can't he leave us be?" she lamented. Morganna dropped beside her friend, as she too felt a bit defeated.

"Don't worry Gwen. If he tries anything I'll go to father, besides, we can fight fire with fire," she said.

Gwen wasn't so sure. There were five boys to the two of them and she expressed that to her friend.

"Percy and Leon will never join with Arthur against us Gwen, and I'm pretty sure that Merlin will find us and tell us anything he knows. That just leaves him and Gwaine, two against two. We can handle it," Morganna confidently said.

That weekend, Arthur showed the girls exactly who they were dealing with.

As much as he wanted to get his sister, his sights were trained on Gwen. When she decided to only play with Percy, Merlin and Leon, it made him angry.

They had played video games together, guitar hero together and danced together.

He made up his mind to get her back for that.

The way she laughed as she played and danced with his friends swam before his vision and planted itself on his brain.

He released frogs in their room, he added salt to their fruity drinks, he placed oil outside their room, causing them to fall, he dropped ice 'accidentally on purpose' down Gwen's back, he turned up the Air Conditioner on Gwen as she went to the den to pick out movies, but the straw that broke the camel's back was when they all decided to have some fun in the pool.

The girls were the first to head out to the pool for the remainder of the afternoon.

It was the culmination of their weekend and they just wanted to have fun...by themselves.

Arthur saw when they went out and gathered the boys to go as well.

After a while of being by themselves, on one side of the pool, the boys ventured over to the girls.

A game of 'Chicken-fight' ensued, with Morganna on Leon's shoulders, whilst Gwen sat on Percy's.

Arthur was livid. He sat stewing as he watched her laughing and having fun on top of Percy's strong shoulders.

'Why can't she sit on my shoulders?' he asked himself. After a while, he couldn't stand to watch anymore and a devious plan formulated inside of his head.

The fight had just wound down, with Morganna declared as the winner. Just as Percy carefully placed Gwen on her feet, close to the shallow end of the pool, Arthur cannon-balled into the water and splashed her from head to toe.

He proceeded to go after her, knowing he was a much stronger swimmer than her. He gained on her, and reaching with his long arm, he pulled the strings on her top and it came away in his hand.

Gwen felt as though she would die.

She was quite sure that everyone had seen her with her top off. Damn that Arthur Pendragon!

She closed her eyes tightly, willing the tears to stay away, as she covered her budding chest with her arms. She felt movement in the water beside her and heard the soft voice of her best friend saying,

"Gwen, it's okay, you can open your eyes. No one saw anything. You were facing me."

Gwen slowly opened her brown eyes to see Morganna standing with a towel in her hands. She looked into her worried eyes and saw the truth there.

From that day, Gwen vowed she would always hate Arthur Pendragon.

She never reclaimed her top, due to embarrassment and Arthur never got rid of it. To him, it was a small victory and every time she ignored him for one of the other guys, he proceeded to make her pay.

This was written all in one go. I hope it was good enough. Until next time.