A Christmas Walk

12.

After Edward left King William and Prince Hayes had another meeting. I wondered the castle once more. Still so much to discover. Surprisingly I was getting to know my way around. Maybe I'll be an expert before I leave. King William walked out of a room a head of me.
"Your majesty." I curtsied. "Where's Prince William?"
"I believe he went back to his room for the night." I nodded softly. "Are you looking for him?" I shrugged my shoulders slightly.
"Well I wasn't but I figured he was still in meetings. I'm just restless I guess." He smiled at me.
"Christmas will do that to someone. He was quiet restless himself." I tried not to smile. "I have to say, I enjoy your presence around the castle." I felt my cheeks blush as I smiled.
"Thank you. I like being here."
"Good to know." His eyes seemed to sparkles like his sons did from time to time. "Well, go find William, I'm sure he's looking for you." I nodded.

I knocked on his door. The heavy latch on the other side clicked over.
"Hello." Hayes answered. I looked at his pajamas.
"Does your pajama shirt button up?"
"Yes." He looked down at what he was wearing. "Why?" I tried to search for words.
"Um," was I managed to get out. I shook my head and stared over. "Do you want to hang out?"
"Now?" I nodded. "Okay?"
"One rule." I help up my finger. "That is not in dress code."
"And what is?" I leaned in closer to Hayes. The fresh smell of him tickled my nose.
"Your secret pajamas." I whispered. A smile spread on Hayes face.
"Okay. One moment." I stepped back and next to Ben.
"How long have you worked with the family?"
"They hired me on just before Prince Williams birth." I nodded. That's a long time. Especially watching a baby turn into a boy who turns into a man who will rule a country one day.
"Have you always kept Prince Williams secrets?" He nodded.
"Yes ma'am."
"Why?"
"You try being raised in a castle with royalty. He deserves some sense of normalcy." I nodded a little. "I hope you know, you are not an exception from the normalcy part of life for him."
"What?" I turned my head a little. Ben just smiled softly. Hayes was standing next to me.
"Now what?" I smiled at him.
"Do you have popcorn?"
"I believe so. Ben, could you-"
"No." I cut him off. "We are going to make it."
"I'm in my secret pajamas." His words were a mix between shock and being scolded. I laughed a little.
"I'm aware. You have to have faith in me."
"Okay." He answered with almost no hesitation. A smile spread on my face.
"Good." I nodded. "Now lets go!" I grabbed his hand. "Wait," I turned back around to Ben. "your can enjoy the time off, goodnight Ben." Ben's eyes grew wide.
"I beg your pardon Miss Leon." He was flabbergasted.
"Autumn, what are you doing?" I looked at Hayes.
"Relax, if you get time off to be in secret pajamas and eat popcorn. He gets to have time off to do with it whatever he pleases. These people have lives too, well they attempt to anyways." Hayes eyes flickered between mine.
"Your royal highness?" Ben was asking for clarification. He didn't speak for a second, just keep staring at me. Hayes slowly turned his head to Ben.
"Enjoy the night. I'll see you in the morning. Make it 7:30 tomorrow, alright?" Ben looked at me. I smiled softly.
"Welcome to normalcy Ben." He nodded.
"Goodnight your royal highness and Miss Leon."
"Goodnight Ben." I said softly. I grabbed Hayes's arm. "Okay, now to the kitchen!"

The kitchen was much bigger on the inside than I thought; than we both thought. From the dining room it looked so small every time I peeked in. Everything was spotless. All the metal shined.
"Wow, this is a nice kitchen." We both stood in the doorway with out jaws on the floor.
"I had no idea it was this big."
"And you live here." Hayes giggled. In all the time we'd spent together I'd never heard him giggle. He sounded so juvenile. I adored it. I clapped my hands grabbing us both for our awe of the kitchen. "Popcorn isn't going to make itself. Okay, where is it?" He looked at me.
"I don't know."
"Okay, first scavenger hunt, then popcorn." He laughed. We split up and scoured every cabinet, cupboard and pantry. When I found the olive oil I tucked that under my arm.
"I've got it!" Hayes yelled. I slammed the cabinet closed and grabbed the jar from him. "You're grabby." Hayes poked fun. I looked at him.
"Do you know how to make popcorn?" Hayes stares at me blankly. I felt almost impatient for his answer.
"No?" He finally spoke.
"That's why I took it. Now come on, let's make popcorn, it's simple." I set a pan on top of the stove and showed Hayes how to make popcorn.

We snuck around the castle back up to my room with the bowl squished to my chest. We acted as if we were CIA agents. Neither of us were nearly that stealthy though.
"I can't believe we're doing this." Hayes whispered as if anyone was around. I giggled quietly.
"Have you ever been this imaginative and sneaky before?" Hayes was close on my heals.
"No." I started humming 007 theme song. I think we both knew that no one was around but pretending we were spy's was more entertaining. "Wait." He grabbed my arm and pulled me back and we ducked into a room.
"What?" I whispered as I ducked out of sight. He dug his hand in the bowl for a handful of popcorn. I looked at him with scolding eyes.
"I just wanted some popcorn." I smacked him playfully.
"You're bad." I twirled back out into the hall and quickly ran down the hall.
"Hey!" Hayes harshly whispered after me. I heard his light patter of feet following me. I couldn't help but smile to myself. I glance back at Hayes as he tailed me. I don't remember the last time I played like this this. This was abnormal for me, to be the childish one. It felt almost natural with Hayes though. I enjoyed seeing this side of him. It honestly took me by surprise that he played along as well as he was.

I curled up and leaned into the Prince without thinking. My heart started to beat hard in my chest. I was so used to just cuddling up to Vanessa when watching a movie. I decided I should sit up, since it wasn't proper.
"Sorry." I mumbled.
"It's okay, I didn't mind it." He said softly. I smiled a little and leaned back on him. It was always comfortable to use someone as a pillow.
"What movie do you want you watch?" I grabbed my laptop and started searching through Netflix.
"Well, I don't watch many movies, we don't have a lot of time for that." I looked at him.
"That's crazy." He licked his lips. Our eyes met again. "Have you ever watched Disney Princess movie?" My words came out a little breathy. I felt my face grow a bit warm. Hayes shook his head a little. "Well now you can see that princesses and princes I grew up believing in."
"You don't believe in them any more?" I found a Disney Princess movie.
"Well," I looked at him. "I've met a real one."
"And what do you think of him?" I smiled softly.
"I'll let you know."

The credits rolled and I exited out.
"So what did you think?"
"Walt Disney knows how to write a love story." I laughed a little.
"He does. What about the royalty?"
"I understand the worlds confusion now. They think we have all the free time in the world!"
"They also don't know about your secret pajamas!" I poked at him. Hayes laughed.
"They aren't bad, are they?" He slightly tugged at his shirt.
"No, it's my favorite thing I've seen you in yet." Our eyes met again. My mouth started to water. Does a Prince taste just like any other boy? Prince Hayes moved in a little closer. "So." I looked back at the laptop screen. "What movie next?"
"Uh," He readjusted. "I'm not sure."
"Have you seen 16 Candles? It's from the 80s."
"Isn't that a really old movie then?"
"Yes. I mean no, it's not. It's about a high school girl who is basically invisible but has a crush on the hottest and most popular guy in school. Basically it's her dream to be with him and he finds this out and now gets stuck on her." I smiled at him quickly before I turned my attention back to the laptop screen. He was silent for a moment.
"I feel like there is more meaning to this movie." I didn't dare look back at him. Maybe there was a bit more to the wish than just Molly Ringwald's.
"It's just a classic 80s movie and quiet frankly on of my favorites." I hit play. We had just started and I was ready for the ending. I was ready for the kiss, for the mess of a wedding. As cheesy as it sounds but I wanted Prince Hayes to see himself as Jake and me as Samantha. Sure he's a prince of a country and I'm just a dancer in a ballet. There was more to both of us. That's what Michelle has made me believe anyways. This movie was something I watched when I was sad or felt ignored. It gave me glimmers of hope. I'd seen this movie many times, I could recite it in my sleep. Sleep, that sounded nice. I drew in a deep breath and fell more into Prince Hayes.