Owning The Prince

#3 - Complicated

"What's with the dress?"

Laying on his bed hours after dinner, Scott mentally slapped himself for being so lame. He could have come up with anything for a conversation, but he found himself feeling too stupid to think of something brilliant the time he went after Madeline.

Her unexpected appearance outside of his room had short circuited everything.

It was a surprise, a hot one, and he would be lying if he said that he didn't consider pushing her right back into that empty room and keeping her trapped there.

Seeing Madeline in person had flipped a switch he didn't even know he had. He had wanted to hug her and not just some random friendly hug but really hug her. Hold her close and do things to her that he probably shouldn't have even been thinking about. Not when he had a girlfriend.

He admitted to looking through her socials, all her accounts, and he knew how beautiful she had turned out, but...seeing her in person...in that dress.

"I didn't even know she did dresses." Scott exhaled, the temperature in his room seemingly went up a few degrees despite having one of the windows wide open.

The sight of her while she waited on them at the dinner table was so distracting it left him tongue tied and unusually quiet. Madeline in a dress was innocent and angelic but at the same time so alluring and she left him stealing glances, sometimes staring at her shamelessly despite Jill being by his side. Thanks to Jill's enthusiasm for carrying on a conversation with his mother, Scott could take Madeline in more times than would have been possible if Jill had been solely focused on him.

He knew adjusting to life back home would not be easy after being away for so long. So much had changed, he had changed. He was no longer that twelve-year old that ran around the castle with no care in the world. Being a prince and fulfilling his duties was more important now. Making his parents proud was everything. But after seeing Madeline, he realized that he had it all wrong. It wasn't just about adjusting, his priorities and loyalty were about to be tested and he had a feeling that complicated would define his future.

"She is...was my best friend, how hard can this be?" He sighed before getting up and heading to take a shower. He hoped that would cool him down and wash out all thoughts about Madeline from his head.

"Need me to join you babe?" Jill's muffled question made him stop and turn to his girlfriend.

"Not tonight babe, you must be tired."

"To the bone," Jill mumbled, and then all went quiet.

Scott lingered by the bathroom door, staring at Jill with a smile, thinking of how far they had come. From the day she had kept him from jumping. The beautiful girl with the beautiful teary eyes that had made him realize that there were worse problems in this life and that he should have been grateful for what he had on his plate.

That day, he had wished Madeline was there to hold his hand like she had done countless times before, but it had already been four years. Four long years of him being quiet and he wasn't sure she'd want to talk to him.

Jill stirred in her sleep, exposing her almost naked body and, for whatever reason, Scott could only imagine that being Madeline.

"That shower..." He mumbled, hastily taking off his shorts and walking right into the shower. He opted for a cold one and when the water hit, so did a memory from eight years ago.

Then he had dared Madeline into taking a shower with him and, because she hated losing, the next time he came in to shower, she was there in her full bikini waiting with a smug smile on her chubby face.

He laughed to himself at the cute sight, though it was interrupted by a more hot, yet to happen memory. Madeline was still in her bikini, right under the shower with her hair wet and looking all kinds of se--"

"Damn it!" Scott opened the tap more, as he needed all that water to keep his head under control.

"I need to get a grip." He thought to himself. But the more he wanted to avoid thinking about her, the more that beautiful face and smile assaulted his senses.

He knew then that he needed to see her, for the sake of his sanity. And his ice cream promise that he made earlier would be the perfect excuse for visiting her room so late in the night. He would have gone to see her sooner but he knew Jill would have given him an earful for choosing to abandon her on their first night at his home. Something that had completely slipped his mind when he suggested having ice cream with Madeline.

Closing the tap, Scott jumped out of the shower, suddenly impatient to get to Madeline's room. Jill was still out when he stepped back into his bedroom and while he stood over her, he apologized for breaking his promise to her. He would be back before she even missed him.

Putting on his track bottom and light Tee, he headed straight to the kitchen. The fridge was fully stocked as usual and he spotted what he was looking for with ease. Madeline's favorite strawberry flavored ice cream was in full supply.

"Bless you Katherine." He grinned as he shut the door to the fridge and scouted for spoons.

The head cook, a.k.a Madeline's mom, was the best at running the royal kitchen. He hadn't forgotten about the jar full of his favorite cookies that he found waiting in his room. The woman knew how to spoil him rotten and he had a feeling she made sure there was more strawberry flavored ice cream than any other flavor just for him. What she didn't know, however, was that he wasn't really a strawberry flavored ice cream fan. He didn't even like ice cream as much as his cookies, but her daughter did and he had become a fan by association.

Once he found the spoons, he walked out of the kitchen and down a familiar path towards a certain maiden's bedroom. Excitement bubbled within him and his feet couldn't carry him fast enough.

"Your highness?"

"Damn it, Bert!" Scott jumped and cursed at the familiar voice that came from behind one of the bushes in the garden.

"You haven't changed." The guard curled an eyebrow at him.

"Well, it's still me. God, where did you come from?" Scott's heart was still racing after being scared out of his mind by Bert's sudden appearance.

"Around. Off to see Miss Madeline?"

"Yeah." Scott dropped his eyes on the package in his hands. "Don't tell my mom, it's only ice cream."

"Of course not." Bert let out a chuckle, no doubt remembering the days he would catch Scott's twelve-year-old self sneaking out of the castle late in the night. "Your secret's safe with me."

"Gosh, I missed you." Scott gave their long-serving guard a side hug.

"Me too, sire. It's so good to have you back. And I hope you'll cheer her up, with the ice cream I mean."

Scott frowned. "Why is that? Is she not happy?"

If there was someone who would know such a thing about Madeline, it would be Bert. Scott had no doubt the guard's unlikely friendship with Madeline had continued even after all these years.

"Well she is, was happy, excited even, until you came."

"Are you saying my return made her unhappy?"

"Well, you did come back with a new best friend."

"Right." Scott was hit with a dumb moment. He had sensed that when Jill had asked to be introduced to Madeline, but she had seemed just fine when he went after her and over dinner.

"Well, I hope the ice cream does the trick then."

"I hope it does." Bert said, but Scott sensed some reservation in his voice.

"What is it?"

"It's probably not my place. "

"I still want to hear it."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Bert curled an eyebrow at Scott, making him frown.

"I don't follow."

"This is not like it used to be. Things have changed, you have changed and I did see how excited she was about you coming home. Things are still the same for her as they were before you left, Scott. And I bet she hasn't even realized it yet herself..."

"Are you saying that I'm going to hurt her? It's just ice cream for crying out loud." Scott hissed even when he knew it wasn't just ice cream, for him or for Madeline. He knew Bert was right too. For Madeline, it was as if those eight years had not passed and she was so ready to pick up from where they left their friendship. He wanted nothing but to do that too, but it had been eight years and things were not the same any more. She may not have changed, but he had and so had everything else in his life.

"My mistake. If the queen asks, I did not see you." Bert bowed, but not before flashing him his usual friendly smile that made the truth punch Scott in the gut.

"You know what, here." Scott handed the ice cream bowl to the guard and placed his hands in his pockets. "You are probably right."

"I hate to be, but she's got her whole life ahead of her and--"

"And I'm just the guy that would ruin it for her. I get it."

"That is not what I was going to say, sire."

Scott sighed. "Just...will you stay and have it with her? I'm sure she will need it."

"Of course, what's a few extra pounds compared to making the poor girl smile?"

"Good night Bert. It was good seeing you." Scott walked away hesitantly, a smile on his face, but deep down a familiar bitterness was brewing.