A/N: Oneshot based on episode 14 of season 1, "Cookin' With Romeo and Juliet." I own nothing!
"Todd!" London felt like crying. She had never felt like this about a guy in her entire life. She just wished her father would listen to reason.
"London!" Todd yelled as Ilsa dragged him out of the Tipton's lobby.
"I can't believe I feel like this about a guy." London told Maddie later that night. "I've never felt this way before. Is this really what love feels like?"
"Pretty much." Maddie said gently. "It feels like you will fall to pieces if he's not within a foot of you, it feels like nothing is worth eating and nothing worth experiencing if he's not there."
"It feels exactly like that." London was in rare form; she was making sense. "But how do you know? You don't have anyone in the picture, do you?" London asked seriously.
"No. I did, once, but that's long over."
"What happened?" London wrapped an arm around Maddie's shoulders. Maddie looked like she was about to cry.
"An accident. Ben was on a plane, and it crashed. They never found any survivors."
"That's horrible!" London gasped. "Where was I when this happened? Why didn't I comfort you?"
"We weren't friends yet. It was almost a year ago now. I still have dreams about Ben." Maddie did start to cry now, but dried her tears as best she could. "The important thing is to let your love for Todd flourish like mine would have with Ben." Maddie hugged London. "And I'm going to help you."
Over the next few days, Maddie did just that. She ran interference for London and Todd with Ilsa and Mr. Moseby, and she even put her life on the line to distract Ilsa's terrible dog from Todd and London!
London and Todd finally decided, after Maddie was nearly mauled by Ilsa's dog, that they had to be upfront about their relationship. They stood in the center of the lobby, ignoring Ilsa's and Mr. Moseby's shouts of protest, and shared a long kiss. At that moment, both Mr. St. Mark and Mr. Tipton entered the lobby. They separated their children and began berating them.
"Daddy!" London yelled to make her father stop. "I love Todd, and you can't change that!" Then London and Todd broke free of their fathers and met in the center of the lobby, wrapping their arms around each other. Mr. Tipton looked like he was going to break the teens apart again, so Mr. Moseby stepped in.
"The only thing that separating those two will accomplish is total alienation from your children, gentlemen." Mr. Moseby addressed Mr. St. Mark as well. "I would recommend you put aside differences. We don't want this to end like Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet", now do we?"
Both men shook hands with one another, and then went into Mr. Moseby's office to discuss a possible merger.
"Well, London, Todd," Maddie tried to smile, "you are free to love each other." She looked disappointed, and London left Todd's side to help her friend.
"It's about Ben, huh?" London asked softly. Maddie could only nod, tears streaming down her cheeks. Maddie shut her eyes, and London began to hug her.
"Don't cry." Maddie had expected those words to be coming out of London's mouth, but the voice wasn't London's, and the person hugging her definitely wasn't London. She opened her eyes and found herself in Ben's arms.
"Ben!" she cried. "How...when...?" Ben silenced her lips with a gentle kiss.
"As Westley would say, "Death cannot stop true love; it can only delay it for a little while." And I truly love you, Maddie." He sealed this statement with a long kiss. And they all lived happily ever after!