A/N: This story has long chapters. Thank you to my lovely beta who left the best comments on what I wrote. An example of her words: "WOW. WOW. OKAY LEMME STOP YOU RIGHT THERE GIRL" (Context - A character began doing bad things.) So now, please enjoy the weakling writings of myself and enjoy the ride.

Today was not unusual. It was like every other day of my life. I woke up at 5am and took a shower, then I dressed in my provided suit and bow tie. I could hear the other servants preparing themselves for work as well. I checked in the mirror to make sure that I had forgotten nothing and ran my fingers through my hair making my fringe perfectly swoosh to the side. I set his pajamas from the previous night in the basket that I was instructed to from the first day I'd arrived to put outside his room each morning. The basket also held my clothes from the previous day. It was the same outfit, only now it was no longer clean after wearing it. I was grateful that the castle was normally cold, otherwise wearing a suit all day could grow to be a problem. As quickly as possible, I left the servants wing to get to my work station in the kitchen. I wasn't a cook there. All I did was clean up after a meal had been prepared along side of another servant named Carrie. Carrie didn't clean up, she got the food that the chef needed. She was about the same age as me, which meant we both weren't old enough to become chefs. Carrie busted into the kitchen fifteen minutes after I had gotten there, knocking over a few pans as she made her way in panting.

"Morning!" She exclaimed.

I laughed at her dramatic entry.

"What have you been doing?" I asked, not really sure if I wanted an exciting answer or just that she overslept.

"Well, I was running on time to begin with, but I ran into The King. Literally. I turned the corner and just ran into him." I nodded.

It was a very rare and quite an exciting experience to run into The King. However, thats not where her story stopped.

"He was really anxious about something and so I asked him and he said that Prince Philip had gone missing."

"Missing? Like he was kidnapped? Did someone steal The Prince?!" I replied in disbelief.

Prince Philip was often quite rebellious but it was always a big deal whenever he did something.

"Well, not quite." Carrie continued. "He was just acting really weird I guess and then said he was going to practice archery. A couple of the other servants said they saw him running down the halls on the opposite side of the castle than archery. He was laughing so he wasn't being threatened. No one has been able to find him since. Leading me to tell you that; any servant that is only in training shall be searching today instead of working to help find Prince Philip!" Carrie laughed happily.

"I hope I find him. Maybe I'll get a reward from The King and Queen! Or maybe Prince Philip himself." Carrie said in a suggestive tone.

"So come on then!" I said excitedly.

They weren't the only 'in training' servants that this castle had. Loads of 17-22 year olds needed to help their siblings and mother. That range of people included me.

"Alright. So you go to the A wing and I'll go to B wing." I suggested.

"Why can't we go together?" Carrie whined.

"If we split up, we have a better chance of finding Prince Philip. Now what do we do if we find him?" I asked.

"Call for someone of authority?" She guessed.

With that we split. I knew my way around the castle pretty well now. I wasn't really set on finding Prince Philip so I just walked neutrally and leaned over once in a while to check in some rooms. The Prince wasn't exactly my favorite of people. He was actually kind of awful, though I had only seen him in person twice. Once while passing him in the hallway and another time when he just kind of waltzed in the kitchen, winked at either me or Carrie, then left.

I was about to go back to find Carrie and just give up, even though I'd hardly even looked, when suddenly I heard a closet door shut. Directly after that three staff members raced by, going the direction the person who had hidden would've gone had the closet not existed. As soon as they were gone, the closet door opened. Prince Philip fell out, snickering to himself. He looked up and saw me standing there. I was about to shout for the others but he quickly stood up and covered my mouth with his hand.

"Hello there. You're the trainee from the kitchen. Your name is Daniel. I'm Phil. I memorized all of the servants name a while ago. I'm not just like... being odd. Please don't tell where I am?"

In the current situation, I was in no place to shout for anyone. Besides, what would it matter? It was going to be a boring day but if I stayed with Prince Philip, maybe it wouldn't be boring. I nodded.

"Okay, Daniel! You seem fun! Maybe its because we're about the same age so we think alike?" The Price theorized joyfully.

Suddenly he grew still, and stuffed me into the closet he was in before. Once I was in, so was The Prince and the door was shut. I could hear voices from people that had come around the hall. 'The Prince had amazing hearing.' I thought. The closet was awfully small and I could feel Prince Philip breathing on my neck. I was probably breathing on Philip's neck too, which I sort of felt bad for. After a while the voices stopped and walked away

The Prince opened the door and we both tumbled out. He grabbed my hand and helped me up but once I was standing he didn't let go.

"Um, Prince Philip, if it's all the same to you, why are you doing this?" I asked.

"Phil." He interjected.

"What?" I said, confused.

"I would feel more comfortable hanging out with you if you called me Phil. Everyone in my family and my friends all call me Phil." He announced.

"Okay Phil. No one except you calls me Daniel. Well except my mom when she was angry and I still lived with her. Everyone calls me Dan. Again, why are you doing this?"

"Dan, I am doing this, because I can and its fun."

That was good enough for me. Phil, who was still holding my hand, lead me to where ever he was planning to go. Our first stop was The Master of Ceremonies room.

"Follow my lead alright?" Phil whispered.

First he checked to make sure that no one was in the room, then he glided in with me following swiftly behind.

"Do you know how to short sheet?" He asked.

Any fool with a brain knew how to do that. Especially me. "I grew up with two older brothers, three younger sisters and one younger brother. Of course I know how to short sheet." I replied.

Phil smiled and motioned me towards the bed before heading to the balcony door. I quickly did my part and went to see what Phil had done. "So?" He said, waiting for a response.

"What did you do?" I asked confused.

"If I keep this door open it shouldn't lock but when he goes out and enjoys the sunset later today, click! It will lock behind him!" Phil explained.

"You're truly a genius." I said sarcastically, but quite honestly, he kind of was.

This pranking bit carried on throughout the day. Sometimes we would put female clothing in the rooms of people who stayed with spouses, other times we would bring one persons item to another persons room, making it seem that it was stolen. We never went back to see the outcome. By the time it was 11pm, we had decided that it was getting late and Phil knew I had to get up at 5.

"The servants wing is cold." Phil complained.

I laughed.

"It's underground. Of course it's cold."

"Where is your room." He asked. I pointed down the hall a bit. We walked and once I'd gotten to my room I paused. "Thank you for not ratting me out Dan." Phil said softly.

"I had a really fun time. This can't be the last time we hang out. Do you want to meet again tomorrow?" He suggested.

"Definitely. Today was extremely fun!" I replied. "Bye Phil!"

"Bye Dan!"

I shut the door, stripped myself of my suit and put on some sleeping pants and a required striped shirt. That's when it hit me. I'd spent the entire day with The Prince. I smiled an unnatural smile and attempted sleep.

When I woke up at 5am, I did my usual morning routine. Shower, dress, laundry, rush to work. Carrie arrived soon after.

"So, I guess Prince Philip just kind of showed up in his bed around 11pm and acted like nothing happened." She said. It was weird hearing him be called Prince Philip again after a day of calling him Phil, like he were his best friends.

"He did? I spent all day trying to find him!" I lied.

For some reason, I didn't feel guilty at all lying to Carrie.

"Well you must have been looking in some pretty obscure places because I couldn't find you. Chris, PJ, and I wanted to hang out with you." Chris and PJ were servants that works more in the gardens.

The chef walked in as plump and as angry as ever. We never knew why she was angry, she just was. Nearly two hours into working, we were interrupted by the door opening and a voice screaming the lyrics to a song that was unknown to the world. Phil strutted his way through the kitchen and loosely swung his arm around the chef.

"So, I quite like french toast. I don't remember the last time you've made that. Suggestion for further reference, french toast is love and with each toast of french I receive, the more I love you."

Phil rambled on some more about his love for french toast and his dislike for omelets. Not that he didn't like the effort, he just didn't like the cheese. I wasn't paying brilliant attention to him though. My attention was tuned more towards Carrie who had visibly started turning pink due to her closeness to The Prince. She smiled greatly, which probably only freaked Phil out rather than make him want to date her. In the middle of Phil's french toast monologue, he stretched. Why do I feel this is important to note? Well that's exactly it. He stretched so far back that he made it possible to drop a note onto my head. I read the messy handwriting on the paper.

"Meet you at midnight?"

He watched me read the note. I know he did because right after I looked back up, he stopped talking and made his exit. Phil glanced over for a second which was just enough time for me to nod. Then Phil left.

The rest of the day went by slowly. Carrie talked about how dreamy Prince Philip was and how she would give anything just to spend one day with him. If only she knew. Although, I had to agree on the dreamy part. Phil was absolutely brilliant, not to mention good looking. His blue eyes stood out in comparison to his black hair. A straight guy wouldn't be thinking such thoughts because it was morally wrong of course. But this is where things change. I hadn't ever been a straight guy. Not that I'd ever told anyone; no one ever told anyone these things. Unless they were looking to be a disgrace to their family. Once we were release from our duties for the day, Carrie and I walked to the servants wing together, as we always had before.

"See you tomorrow!" I called.

"Wait! Dan, do you maybe want to go to the Staff night with me?" She asked nervously.

"Yeah! Of course!" I replied and shut my door.

The Staff night was a once a year dance sort of thing that the castle held every year for the staff. It was pretty nice, and it would be fun to go with my friend this year! I changed into my sleep wear, almost forgetting about my midnight visitor. From then until midnight, I sat in silence. I thought about yesterday and wondered what the reactions were to our pranks. Thats when I heard it. Three knocks. Loud enough for me to hear, quiet enough to not wake my surrounding fellow servants. I jumped from my bed and opened the door. Phil stood there smiling and walked in.

"How has your day been?" I asked.

"Boring, what about you?"

"Boring unless you count when you came into the kitchen and now." He blushed. Had I really made him blush?

"I brought cards. I'm sorry that there is nothi-"

"Its fine! Lets play cards!" I said cutting him off.

We began to play a game of something that he would teach me and then after three games of that we moved to something I would teach him. It was enjoyable to say the least. Phil told me about his loneliness because no one really wanted to be around him that he felt the same towards. I told Phil of my god awful siblings and how I'd misjudged him. It was strange; sharing stories and playing cards with a prince was amazing, but odd. Around 3am, I grew drowsy. Phil noticed and cleaned up the cards helping me into bed.

"Sorry for keeping you up this late." He whispered as he tucked the sheets up to my neck.

"S'alright..." I replied.

"Goodnight Dan! I'll see you tomorrow."

"G'night Phil."

I heard the door shut and fell into a sleep that was calmer than usual and for some reason this castle felt more like home than it ever had.

5am came quicker than I would've liked it too. The area just under my eyes stung. I almost regretted staying up with Phil, though I somehow made it to the kitchen without falling over and passing out. For once, Carrie was there before me.

"Hey sleepy head." She sang.

I rolled my eyes.

"What's up with you?"

"Just tired." I replied, hoping she wouldn't ask too many questions.

"Couldn't sleep?" She asked and I nodded.

"I get what you mean... I was up later than usual thinking of the prince." She said.

It was like she spent her days in a fantasy.

"I was up because of The Prince too." I mumbled.

That was 100% true. No traces of a lie there. We went on with our day as usual, breaking for lunch, and sitting with Chris and PJ. I wasn't really that hungry, just overwhelmed with the tiredness that prevented any other feelings. I decided that it would be appropriate to nap while I could. While the others chowed down, I rested my head upon the cold table and shut my eyes.

Carrie woke me up far too early than I would've liked. We began our way back to our jobs together. Chris and PJ worked closer to the food court than us but it was on the way. We all laughed and talked as we walked, until Carrie started squealing quietly.

"Carrie? Carrie what's wrong?! Carrie!" PJ whisper yelled as he tried to capture her attention.

Carrie didn't reply. However, she did raise her hand and pointed a finger at something coming up in the hallway. I looked up, curious to see what had gotten into her. Down the halls strutted the one and only, Prince Philip. Suddenly all three of them started smiling and squealing while I kept my cool. As we passed, Phil purposely ran into my side.

"Oh, so sorry about that." grabbing my hands and clasping them together to make a formal apology.

I felt him leave paper in my hands. I looked down and it read the word, "Midnight?" in messy handwriting. I looked up at the prince and mouthed the word, "yes" before he let me go.

"Oh my god Dan.. You are so lucky! The PRINCE TOUCHED YOU." Chris said excitedly.

I shrugged and continued walking, feeling rather refreshed after my lunchtime nap. The day was dreadfully long. Carrie walked me to my room, like always. I changed into my nightwear and waited. The minute that I heard the palace clock hit midnight, I heard the knock as well.

"Hello stranger." I greeted Phil as I opened the door, welcoming him into my room.

Phil smirked and walked in. "So, how was your dinner peasant?" Phil joked.

"Meh, it was the usual. I ate whatever sounded good in the kitchen, like I do with breakfast." I replied.

Phil nodded and set up checkers on the floor.

"I might just have to join you during that. I was thinking that we could play checkers tonight? Is that okay with you?" Phil checked.

"Its okay with me." I approved and sat on the opposite side of the checkerboard.

Phil was the red checkers and I was the black checkers. My neighbor taught me how to play checkers when I was very young. She moved when I was 6 or 7. No one really liked her for some reason. But I liked her.

Once again, Phil and I played until all hours of the night. Phil got me into my bed apologizing for doing this to me again.

"Dan, I'm going to convince them to pardon you from work for an hour in the morning. Again, sorry for keeping you up."

Before I could argue that I'd be fine, he left. As tired as I was, I couldn't get right to sleep. I was starting to feel for Phil. I was starting to fall for him. I'd only known him personally for about three days really, but he was just so fun and easy to talk to. I decided it would just be best to get some sleep. Besides, he's a prince. Everyone knows being gay is wrong, so why would a prince be gay?

This morning, I woke up at 6AM rather than 5AM. It was quite refreshing and relaxing. I wished everyday could be like this. When I got to the kitchen, I was welcomed by the chef who'd began preparing breakfast. From just around the bend, Carrie flew over to me and hounded me with questions about how I got pardoned a whole hour. I had to lie and tell her that I was clueless about it. She didn't look like she believed it for a second, but I had to stick with it if Phil and I wanted to continue our 'secret meetings'.

Free invisible cookies for feedback! Next chapter will be posted on Sunday hopefully!