A/N: I got inspiration off a fic. They're around fifteen here. Also it's not connected to the previous chapter.
***
"Pull that little stunt again or I guarantee you'll never ever be free from us and the Royal Court will hunt you down wherever you go."
The threat still hung up in the air as Jax stomped his way around the table. Gilly eyed the fidgeting boy sympathetically as he remained put in his seat even when Jax slid a chair out and sat.
Jocelyn whistled nearby. "Oh, he definitely pushed his buttons now." The witch was the only one who was delighted with how the boy had acted.
Ollie shook his head while shoving a caramel treat in his pocket. He had fought it back from Professor Sebastian. "Serves him right for not listening. Don't ever make Jax mad. Not a pretty sight."
Gilly watched as Jax took out books and scrolls as the boy he tutored obediently flattened and arranged them on the table. The poor boy was still shaking in fear. Jax didn't notice nor care, a scowl was still on his face and he didn't hold back on the assertive tone. Jax wasn't lying that the kid, Quincy, hid his clock; he was disheveled, clothes wrinkled and hair tousled, clearly woken up late. He probably hadn't eaten yet either. Perhaps the kid did deserve the scolding.
Gilly didn't always see him get mad though, not at her for sure. But she had to admit, a teeny tiny and maybe traitorous part of her found it really attractive when he got mad. Not that she would out herself for that. She caught herself before he saw her staring and went back to scribbling notes for Anna.
"I saw that," Jocelyn sneered. Gilly looked up and scrunched her nose in distaste.
"Saw what? Me taking down notes for Anna's research on Enchantasia Equestrians?"
"No, never mind. I did not see you making heart eyes at your dear best friend. No, not at all."
Gilly shot her a look before glancing around her to make sure no one heard. No way was she getting another teasing from Ollie and they would combine forces to rile her up. "Keep minding your own business," she hissed.
"As you wish, your highness."
Her head shot up.
"Oops, what I meant to say was, as you wish, thief."
Jocelyn was lucky Gilly didn't bring her arrows that day.
***
"Good riddance," Ollie muttered as Maxine dragged away a whining goblin. Quincy was packing his scrolls under Jax' watchful eye. Him and Maxine had to tutor other kids falling behind their class work. Jocelyn and Gilly were in the library to work on other things, Kayla was outside with her mother, and Ollie had nothing better to do and simply joined everyone else. Once the goblin boy belched out one last remark, the group of friends let out sighs of relief.
"This is way worse than dealing with villains," Jocelyn grumbled.
"Tell me about it, that little shit of Maxine's keeps taking my food!"
"You aren't even needed here in the first place!"
"To be fair Ollie, you shouldn't eat in the library," Maxine quipped. She was exhausted but never said anything bad about the kids. "You okay Gilly?"
"I can't strangle kids, Maxine," Gilly deadpanned. Paulo, the goblin boy, kept throwing his papers around much to the annoyance of the others trying to do their own work. She had to pry off the notes she had taken for Anna out of his grip and she was ready to throttle him outside the library's windows. It was a good thing Professor Sebastian reserved the room for tutoring, making them the only ones to hear the loud noise of Jocelyn's fireballs without any intervention.
Jax silently put his books back inside his book bag. He was still cranky, albeit not that much anymore, but he still was in a displeased mood. Gilly forced herself not to idle, and walked briskly at the boy.
"You good?" she asked, even though she knew he wasn't.
"Yeah, I feel fantastic," he said sarcastically. In spite of what he was feeling, Jax managed to give a weak smile. "Sorry you had to see that, I had to rush out quickly and find him. I didn't even have time to eat."
Gilly nodded sympathetically. "It's fine. Having two rowdy twin brothers banging pots to wake you up for breakfast doesn't compare to that." To Gilly's delight, Jax chuckled a bit. His bad mood was diminishing now that the kids had left and she humored him. "Either way, you still have the most experience between the two of us." He brushed his hair our of his eyes again and Gilly fought with the inner voices in her head. Don't. Even. Think. About. It.
But she did. Jax was always neat and tidy, waking up early to iron his clothes, clean his boots, and brush his hair like the prince he was. But right now, his blond curls were popping up, dangling around his face. His clothes were wrinkly, creases and folds on his dress shirt and pants, his vest not straightened. Not to mention his rolled up sleeve that he didn't bother to pull down. His natural charm was ever-present even if he looked like he had just woken up. Kayla would think it was unfair someone was naturally good-looking, but then again, she herself was a looker.
She knew she was definitely staring. Her stupid crush on him always did that to her.
"Thief?" his voice brought her back to her senses. "You good? You're awfully quiet."
"Yeah," she fibbed. Good thing she knew how to lie. "I was just wondering if you want to come to the cafeteria with me."Okay, most of the time she knew how to lie, but it was the only thing she could think of at that moment to hide the fact she was ogling at him. "You haven't eaten right? I think we have a free period."
Jax' eyes studied her curiously. Gilly forced herself to stay planted, even if the intensity of his violet eyes made her want to shrink away. She made herself seem as nonchalant as possible, though she inwardly grimaced as her cheeks betrayed her, feeling them burn. It wasn't her fault his gaze was intense! And he had violet eyes! Violet! That were pretty and made her calm during stressful situations. That seemed like they could sense anything hidden underneath. The same eyes she's looked at several times, but still manage to take her breath away the same way she first met him years ago (even if he was attempting an escape on the chandelier). Curse those violet eyes!
Finally, Jax spoke. "Okay, but you're buying me an extra."
Gilly suddenly became alert. "Excuse me? I offered to join you in eating. Why do I have to buy another snack for you?"
His mood was definitely sobering up because he grinned in a familiar way she knew all too well. "The look on your face tells me you're surprised I can look like this. Just because I'm a royal doesn't mean I don't have my least presentable moments, thief."
All thoughts of her earlier ogling dissipated, replaced by her familiar joking annoyance. "Don't assume things, Jax. Besides, I thought you usually fixed yourself up."
The blond simply shrugged. "I don't feel like it. There's nothing wrong with me looking like this anyway." He stood up and slipped on his book bag. Then he moved his hands to fold his other sleeve up, hastily folding it the same way as the other. He brushed his hair once more, lingering his fingers much longer to comb stray curls, and smiled at her. "There, good to go."
Oh sweet apple cobbler.
He had to smile of all things. And brush his hair out of his eyes. And look back at her to see as if he had made one of the best decisions he'd ever thought of.
She was never going to recover from this.
This stupid, blasted, weird CRUSH!
"Yeah, yeah, that's nice, your highness," Gilly managed, hoping the tremor in her voice wasn't heard. "Let's go."
Her heart was beating fast and she hoped the flush on her cheeks would just seem like a residue from earlier. Gilly never focused on physical appearances, but aside from being smart, crafty, prudent, fiery, and polite, Jax had to put a blow against her expectations. It made her silently scream at how perfect (she would never EVER say this word out loud) he was, and she had nothing to do but nitpick over her conflicted feelings over her best friend/possible love interest.
"I think they have figgy pudding today," she murmured, shaking her head from thoughts of her feelings. Not now, stop fawning over him. It made her feel like the girls in the RLWs, who would squeal and giggle whenever he walked by (Funnily enough, she was an RLW herself).
"Nice, my favorite," Jax said as he walked with her to the exit of the library.
The others had already left and they were the last to leave, entering the hallway with a few lingering students on the way to their classes. Passing through the hallways, Gilly noticed from the corner of her eye the looks thrown at them. Or at Jax. Mostly Jax. The volume of a gaggle of pixies and trolls from one of the hallways that led to the Hexes and Potions class increased a pitch as they spotted the prince. If there was any indication he noticed the attention given to him, he didn't say anything. They turned the last corner to the cafeteria when Gilly spotted the group she didn't want to see. She inwardly groaned once she spotted the matching sparkly pink sashes worn over their uniforms and the incoming squeals she expected to hear.
"PRINCE JAXON!" a loud voice said.
So much for being lady-like. Gilly frowned as Tessa and Raza marched towards them, alongside some other RLWs in pink sashes and ridiculously meticulous hairdos. A light from a nearby window hit Tessa's tiara, sparkling so brightly both Gilly and Jax had to shield their eyes. The goblin herself was unfazed, too busy whispering-arguing with Raza whether her rainbow clip was positioned in her hair properly.
"Good morning Prince Jaxon!" she said sweetly and the rest of the RLWs chorused with her.
"Tessa, I thought I said I didn't want to be called prince," Jax' smile didn't reach his eyes, but he was trying to be polite. Gilly knew otherwise with how his hands clenched behind as he straightened his back. He didn't like how the others treated him with special attention. Plus, Gilly supposed, his earlier crankiness was probably still intact a little bit since he hadn't eaten yet. Jax didn't like being interrupted after all.
"Oh, where are my manners," Tessa snorted. "I'm sorry Jax, I won't do it again."
Raza didn't roll her eyes but she did raise an eyebrow. She subtly pushed Tessa aside. "Jax, we were just on the way to the gardens to tend to the plants, do you want to come?"
Tessa's eyes narrowed at her but she nodded along with Raza and so did the others.
"I thought you guys don't have free periods right now," Gilly said dryly. She really wanted to leave them. Her patience wasn't as long as his.
"Gilly, we're RLWs. We get to receive permission to beautify around the grounds if we wish to," Tessa said pointedly. "You can come since you're part of us too."
Before she could reply, Jax held her elbow back. "That's nice Tessa, but we have other things to do. I'm sorry we can't join, but I hope you understand." he added, flashing his charming smile.
The girls faltered a bit and someone even swooned. "Oh, erm, I see Jax," Tessa murmured, flicking a lock of her hair behind her ears. Gilly almost snickered at her action. It was sort of funny watching them try to impress him. They're a lot worse than I am, she thought. "We understand, don't we girls?"
The RLWS all chorused out a "Yes!" with Raza replying with "Of course!".
"Now if you'll excuse us," Jax said, carefully pulling Gilly with him to the side. "We've got to get going. Farewell everyone."
The RLWs all said goodbye until they spotted Gilly. She felt a bit smug as Tessa and Raza wrinkled their noses at her. "Bye," she whispered, and looked away before anyone glared at her. Jax was still holding her arm when they had reached the cafeteria and Gilly broke free from him.
The cafeteria only had a handful of students, but the lunch ladies and snack bars were still open. They picked the nearest empty seat which wasn't hard since most of the seats were empty.
"Your fans really like you," she joked as they settled down. Jax rolled his eyes as he placed his book bag on the table. "There's nothing that terrifies me more than Tessa and Raza."
"That's not a nice thing to say, prince. If they heard that, it'll hurt their feelings."
"Well thief, I'm not necessarily a nice person."
"Of course. The snobby and fancy royalty you are."
Gilly laughed as Jax hit her with his bag playfully. He brushed his hair out as his eyes glinted mischievously. He still looked disheveled, but it seemed natural on him. Gilly thought he'd never been more handsome.
"Anyway, my extra snack?" he grinned.
"You are insufferable," Gilly grumbled, but stood up anyway. Out of spite, she reached out and tousled his hair, inwardly ignoring the sirens blaring in her head. A part of her wanted to cup his face too, but she ignored it. "You'll settle for one slice, I reckon." He reached out and held the hand stuck on his hair, and Gilly flinched at the sudden action.
"Thanks Gilly," Jax said. "You're always so thoughtful with me."
If her heart could burst, it would burst now.
She squabbled something out with cheeks flaming and Jax laughed, not unkindly.
She was lucky, she had to admit. Even though three years had passed, he was still beside her. Even though she thought of him as something more, it didn't hinder their relationship. And even though she was getting irritated by the constant "When are you getting together?" from their friends (mostly Jocelyn), she was fine with the way they were right now. She still hasn't admitted to her feelings out loud; reckon she'll get it out some day and it'll quiet her friends down. But still, sometimes the stray, single, and comforting thought and confirmation that Jax liked her back always made her giddy on the inside, and wonder what it would be like if they were that something.
Not right now, but they'll get there, eventually.