Street Rat

Chapter 16

Enjoy!

“We’re friends right?”

The words just kept playing in his mind. The way she cocked her hip, pursed her lips and just stared at him. No matter what he did, the image just wouldn’t leave his head.

He never meant to hurt her, that was the last thing he’d ever wanted to do. Even at the start, before this mess started, he hadn’t wanted to hurt her. While it had originally been a plan to earn Jasmine’s trust, to become her friend and encourage her into doing as the law commanded, Aladdin had never intended to cause her harm. Emotional harm that is, because quite frankly even with Jafar’s interference, he’d have probably had some kind of limb removed if he’d actually physically hurt the princess. Not that he ever would have. He just wasn’t that kind of guy.

“Tell me the truth Aladdin”.

Even now the words still caused him to wince. There had been fire in her eyes when she’d approached him. Her hands trembling with fury, while he so desperately tried to keep her happy. Bad things tended to happen when the princess wasn’t happy.

“You lied to me”.

Never before had he heard her sound so broken, so like the child she still was. While there were still some who may have taken pleasure in her pain, for Aladdin it was just sickening. The thought that he’d hurt her so, when he’d tried so hard not to, it just made him feel terrible. A mixture of guilt, grief and much to his distress, a sense of relief that it was all over. Everyone knew who he shared his bed with. Everyone knew, but only Jasmine really cared.

Aladdin had known she liked him, she’d told him so many times. But like the fool he was, he’d believed it was just out of friendship. So used to scorn, he hadn’t understood what someone like her could see in him. They were complete opposites; an ex-street rat and the princess of Agrabah. Just the very idea they could be anything together was positively ludicrous. But apparently not to Jasmine.

“I’m sorry”.

It was all he could say before she fled in tears. The sight was enough to make his heart constrict painfully. Not out of love for her, at least not the type of love she’d secretly hoped for, but because he knew he’d lost a friend. One of the few friends he actually had within the palace. Of course Jasmine had it worse, because now she had no friends to turn to. And that just made Aladdin feel guilty all over again.

-

“Can we talk?” Aladdin asked, hovering in the doorway. Nearby a group of maids giggled and whispered to one another, pointing at him at regular intervals.

“No. I thought I made it clear I want nothing more to do with you. Just leave me alone”. Jasmine turned away, her brush dangling from her fingers as she fought to keep the tears at bay.

“Jasmine, please? I’ve been a terrible friend I know, but I didn’t want anyone to know about it. You were the first person I planned to tell”. Aladdin spoke softly, scowling at the maids as they blatantly tried to eavesdrop on their conversation. “Don’t you have somewhere else to be?” Aladdin finally snapped at them.

“Ooh look who thinks he’s so big now that everyone knows about him and his master”. One sneered, drawing giggle from what Aladdin assumed to be her friends.

“I don’t know what Jafar was thinking, picking someone like him to warm his bed” another chimed in.

“I bet he thinks he can give the orders now. It’s not like Jafar would ever let him take control, in or out of the bedroom”.

Aladdin was quite proud of himself for refusing to rise to the bait. Abu on the other hand…well let’s just say he didn’t quite have his master’s level of self-control. As a result, the girls left shrieking and squealing and not at all in amusement.