Owning The Prince

"I love you Madeline." "I love you too Scott." "Best friends forever?" "Best friends forever." "Wait...What are you doing Scott?" "Saying goodbye to my best friend" Madeline hugged herself, imagining herself in Scott's arms. Their goodbye had been an emotional one to say the least. Her ten year old self had cried so hard at the thought of not seeing her best friend for the longest time. Eight years to be exact. Scott had been the brave one. Just two years older, he had hugged her and promised her that the years would pass by so fast their meeting again would feel like a blink in time. It had been the longest blink she had ever known but now it was over and her best friend would be stepping through her bedroom door in just a few hours and maybe they would enjoy their late night ice cream snack on his return. Just like old times. She inhaled and exhaled happily before dropping her hands. "I bet your hug will feel different this time too." A smile broke out on her lips and so did something else. She moved closer to the mirror wide eyed. "What the hell?" She rubbed both her cheeks at the same time trying to get rid of the deep shade of colour that flooded her face. "Did I just blush?...at the thought of Scott hugging me?" "Ooh Miss Madeline!" "Amanda?" Madeline jumped at the sound of one the castle's servants and her mother's apprentice. "I did not see you there." She croaked out, her hands on her cheeks trying to hide her blushing self. "You look so pretty!" Amanda exclaimed, her eyes fixated on Madeline's sky blue flared dress, which Madeline appreciated. The dress was already too much and adding her obvious blush to it, then everyone would know why she had ditched her usual way of dressing which included just pants and a Tee. She just never saw the need to dress up when she was home, until now. "Thank you." Madeline blushed...again. "I've never seen you look this pretty for the kitchen before? Is it because Prince Scott is coming back after so long and you want to look especially pretty for him?" Amanda gushed, making Madeline blush even more. "Why would I look good for the kitchens anyway?" She mentally rolled her eyes and even though half of the assumption was correct she was not admitting to anything. And just as well, Amanda was so taken with her new look to notice anything else. "Queen Teri insisted everyone look their best today since it's going to be a special day." Madeline lied. "And since when do you ever listen to any one, let alone the queen?" Amanda sat down on her single bed, arms folded and a judging look thrown her way. "Something is fishy and I trust my gut more than that pretty mouth of yours." "Whatever." Madeline smiled into the mirror once more, the funny feeling she woke up with this morning intensifying. It's been like that each time Scott's face popped up in her head. "You are smiling…" "I am not." Madeline defended. "Of course you are." "And what if I am? I do it every day, don't I?" Madeline struggled to keep a straight face knowing she couldn't hide the happiness bubbling in her soul. "Not like this." Amanda noted. "And I don't care what you say, this has got Prince Scott written all over it." "Why are you here anyway?" Madeline asked. Knowing she'd been caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she tried to change the subject. "A little thing called kitchen duty. Something about getting dinner ready for Prince Scott." Amanda winked before getting up. "Wouldn't wish for the prince to feast his eyes but end up sleeping on an empty stomach now would we?" "For the love of God, I did not dress up for Scott." She sighed before pushing her mother's apprentice out of her room. "So you say." Amanda flashed her a wide grin as they walked towards the royal kitchens. A garden and lawn separated the royal staff's living quarters from the main castle and as they walked through the garden Madeline couldn't help but feel like she was another pretty flower in there. She got a few surprised looks from the gardeners and the royal guards too as she passed them by, convincing her that she had nailed her virgin maiden look. "Wake up Cinderella!" An apron landed on her face and she glared at a smirking Amanda. "Since your head is in the clouds today, chopping duty is where you'll be. Wouldn't want you burning dinner simply because you couldn't stop thinking about a certain future king." They were in the largest kitchen Madeline had ever known and every one else was busy with one thing or the other, except her. She didn't seem to know her place there and always needed to be placed somewhere by Amanda or the head cook who happened to be her mother. "I told you already, I'm not--" "Yeah, yeah." Amanda cut her off. "Just make yourself useful and get chopping, ok princess?" "So bossy." Madeline mumbled as she took a basket of vegetables off of Amanda's hands. "And I'm not a princess." She grumbled as she put on her apron and got ready to start peeling the onions. "Wake up Cinderella…" She smiled at Amanda's words though, and before long her mind drifted to the tale of the orphaned girl that captured her prince's heart, only she was the Cinderella in the story. "You don't want to annoy the queen with a late dinner, now do you?" "Mom! You are here." Madeline rushed to her mother's side and gave her a side hug. "How long have you been there?" She looked up at Katherine. With her towering figure, her mother stared back at her with one of her serious looks. She wasn't furious with Madeline though...not yet at least. "Long enough to notice that all you've been doing since you got assigned to chop those onions is daydream." Her mother commented, her brow raised. "Oh mum, you know I can't wait to see Scott again." Madeline gushed. Ignoring her mother's tone, she took her hand excitedly. "It's Prince Scott to you. Please don't forget that." Her mother rubbed her temple with her free hand as if she was getting a headache already. "Sure mom." Madeline nodded. She hated calling him that already but if that was what it would take to make sure she didn't blunder and be kept away from Scott, then so be it. "Give me that." Her mother exhaled, reaching for the knife. "I was going to do that." Madeline curled an eyebrow at her mother. She could already sense her mother's frustration at her lack of seriousness with her duties. "I know. I just wanted you to take care of something that you will actually want to do." Her mother pointed to a cookie jar that was full of Scott's favourite cookies. "Take those up to his room." "Sure." Madeline grabbed the jar gladly. "But you do know that he's not twelve anymore right?" "Doesn't mean his taste buds have changed." Her mother shooed her away and she headed out of the kitchen hoping her mother was right. She too hoped Scott hadn't changed from the boy she remembered, at least not his heart. "Madeline, is that you?" Her heart stopped. Definitely not the voice she remembered. Silky smooth, deep, alluring and she found herself scared to turn around. She was about to let go of the handle to Scott's room and for a moment she thought of opening that door again, getting in, locking it while she waited for her heart to begin functioning properly again. "Madeline?" "The one and only." She turned around, still nervous and smiled awkwardly. Scott was early and she was not expecting to meet him up here if he ever did arrive. Everyone was expected to line up outside the castle doors to welcome their prince back to Burton castle. "You are early?" She squeaked. "Oh, you know me, always hated making a grand entrance." "Y...Yeah right." She stuttered and cursed herself for being so lame. "It's only Scott, Madeline." "You changed. You look..." "Yes Scott?" She said out of breath and totally forgot her mother's advice to address him by his title. Her only interest at the moment was to know what Scott thought of her look. "You look absolutely…" "Your highness, won't you introduce me?" The voice felt like a slap to Madeline. She knew she hated the owner even before seeing them. And when she turned to look at the person, hate felt not good enough to describe how she felt looking at the perfect girl that walked up to them and straight into Scott's arms. "Oh sure. Madeline, this is Jill. Jill, this is Madeline. She was my best friend when we were both younger." "Was my best friend?" Madeline's heart broke and she didn't know why. All she knew was that she had lost Scott and it hurt like hell. "Thank God she was your best friend. Otherwise as your new best friend, I was going to be jealous. Nice meeting you Madeline." Jill threw her a look Madeline didn't like. "Likewise, Jill. Now if you will excuse me. I'm needed in the kitchen." She tried to master the friendliest smile and she thought she nailed it because the two people in front of her smiled. Scott's smile, however, knocked all air out of her lungs. "I'm sure dinner will be lovely. Are you a cook yourself?" The witch broke the moment she thought she was having with Scott when they both couldn't look away from each other. Okay so witch wasn't a very nice thing to call her but that's all Madeline's head could come up with at the moment. "My mother is, actually." "And she's the best there is in the whole kingdom--" "It's only because she let you have whatever you wanted--" "Well that too--" Scott winked at Madeline and her stomach did the little thing. It was something he did often even when they were kids but now it felt different...She felt different at a useless and harmless wink from someone whom she was just supposed to be friends with. "I'm sure she is." Jill's bored tone made Madeline shift her gaze towards her. She had her hand on Scott's chest. Madeline hadn't noticed how broad and defined he had become or how something in her wanted to slap Jill's hand away. "You said you had somewhere to be?" "Yeah right." Madeline answered, her words keeping her from glaring at Jill. "I'll see you later?" The question was directed at Scott but when she looked up at him it was though she had already stopped existing. His eyes were on Jill, staring at her like she was the most precious thing. "Sure, 'cause we have somewhere to be too. Right babe?" Jill stood on her toes and moved towards Scott's face. The kiss wouldn't have hurt if Scott hadn't actually met her half way, okay maybe more than half way. "He wanted it and actually kissed her. He already had his first kiss?" "What did you expect, him to wait to be your first?" Madeline mumbled bitterly. Her heart ached as she headed towards the royal kitchens. And was she crying? She wiped away at her eyes but the stupid liquid wouldn't stop pouring "Hey Madeline!" She froze on her spot and wiped her eyes dry quickly. "Scott?" She turned around, surprised that he had followed her. She was even more surprised to find that Jill was not by his side. She wasn't about to ask after little miss perfect though. "You look good." Scott said hesitantly before giving her a bone crushing hug. It was unexpected, but she was right. His hug did feel different and she wanted more than anything to stay there but as she realized earlier, she wasn't getting any of her wishes. At least not today. Scott let her go and stood back. "What's with the dress?" He let out a nervous chuckle, making her feel a little embarrassed. "Why do I look bad?" "Well you look..." His eyes darkened a shade while he took her in and she was tempted to strike a sexy pose, which would have been awkward by the way, but Scott suddenly looked up. "I liked you better in pants, you know those flowery ones that your mom was convinced were your Sunday best?" "Ouch! What was that for?" Scott cried out. "You know I hated those pants along with my own mother, each Sunday she made me wear them." She said with a pout, forgetting everything else that just happened a while ago. Right here, right now she had her best friend back and he was right all those years ago. With the ease with which they slipped back into their banter, it felt a lot like eight years had just been a blink in time. "So...ice cream? Later?" Scott sounded nervous and she eyed him thoughtfully before smiling. "I can see you still kept your bad manners." Madeline said with a smirk. "You know that's what you liked about me." Scott smirked before pulling her into his arms. "You did like getting into trouble with me." He whispered against her ear, making her bite her lips. "Until we were caught." She punched his chest playfully hoping he'd let her go, because it was getting hot in there, but he still held on. "Gosh I missed you Mads." "I missed you too Scott." She smiled against his chest, loving the nickname he gave her on his lips. She had missed him too, more than she cared to admit. "So later, tonight?" "Sure." She flashed him her pearly whites, nodding. "Great! Me and Jill have this thing so I'll just get back to her. But I promise to see you later." He gave her one last hug and disappeared the way he came and she wished she had said no to seeing him again. Because no matter what she thought earlier, she was wrong, he was no longer her best friend, Jill was. Eight long years made sure of that.