The dark had long fallen when the princess and her beau walked out of the little 24-hour diner that was just on the outskirts of the city. She was giggling as she wrapped her hands around his arm, leaning her cheek against his shoulder. They began walking to his car and he pulled away from her as he fished the keys out from his pocket.
"So I guess I should take you home now," Dylan said, unlocking the car.
Maesi sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. I'm already way past curfew so I guess we probably shouldn't push our luck."
Dylan nodded and opened the passenger door for Maesi, causing her to lightly roll her eyes. She then thanked him and slipped into the vehicle, clicking her seatbelt into place as Dylan closed the door and came round to the other side of the car.
"I've had fun today," Maesi said, looking over at him.
Dylan smiled and reached out to squeeze her hand. "Yeah, me too. Let's get you home though, or this might be the last time we see each other."
Maesi laughed. "My parents are cool about this kind of thing, don't worry. I mean, Mom used to do worse than stay out after curfew."
"Still, they'd probably have a problem with you staying out this late with someone like me." Dylan began pulling out of the car park.
"My parents like you," Maesi argued. "They've told us so many times."
"Yeah, but that was before I was dating their daughter. Their youngest daughter."
"There's only three and half years between us. That's like the same as my grandparents!" Maesi exclaimed.
"Three years and seven months," Dylan countered, "And I know, but it's different."
"Not really," Maesi argued. "And they didn't seem to have a problem with you when you came around for dinner last week."
Dylan didn't look convinced but he decided that it wasn't worth arguing. He enjoyed being with her - that was what mattered more than anything else.
When they arrived just outside of the castle grounds, Maesi quickly pecked his lips and hopped out of the car, waving as she headed to the back gates. The guard on duty raised an eyebrow when he saw the young princess but said nothing as he quietly let her through the small gate normally used by servants who didn't live at the palace. Maesi thanked him and headed to the servants' door that led into the kitchen.
Luckily, the kitchen staff had finished a little earlier and so she was able to sneak through the palace to her own room completely undetected.
With a sigh of relief, Maesi opened her bedroom door and walked in.
"So where have you been?"
Maesi jumped out of her skin when she saw her older sister sat cross-legged on her bed. "La-la! What are you doing in my room?"
"Why are you avoiding my question?"
"It's none of your business," Maesi replied, "I'm home now, aren't I?"
"Two hours after your curfew."
"I lost track of time. It's not that big of a deal."
"I beg to differ," a male voice said behind her. Maesi cursed in her head and turned around to see her parents stood with their arms crossed.
"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad."
"Don't," Mal replied, holding a hand out, "Where were you, Maesi? We were worried sick."
Maesi cringed slightly at the lack of nickname. She knew she was in trouble now. "I told you, I just lost track of time. I was safe." She then turned to Lia, "I can't believe you ratted me out!"
Lia raised an eyebrow at her, "Excuse me?"
"Mom and Dad usually go to bed before my curfew. There is no way they'd have known if you hadn't said anything."
"Oh, forgive me for coming into my baby sister's room an hour after her curfew to find her still not home and then telling my parents because I was worried, especially when she wouldn't answer her phone."
Maesi frowned and checked her phone to see that she had a lot of missed calls from Lia and from both of her parents.
"I'm sorry, it must've been on silent," she murmured.
"Where were you, Maesi?" Ben asked, repeating his wife's earlier questions.
"I was safe," Maesi repeated, fighting the urge to roll her eyes, "See, I'm fine. No need to worry. We can all go back to bed now."
"We didn't know that you were safe, though," Mal argued, "It's late. It's dangerous out there. There's a reason we gave you a curfew."
"Oh, like you would've stuck to a curfew when you were my age," Maesi snapped, fed up and tired.
"Enough," Ben barked, making Maesi jump, "You don't talk to your mother like that. Now, I will ask you one more time, where were you?"
"Just at a 24/7 diner," Maesi replied, "And I was driven home. I wasn't on my own at any point."
"Who was with you?" Mal asked. "You told us you were going out but you never said with who."
Maesi sighed, "Mom, look, can this interrogation wait until morning? I'm tired."
"So are we," Mal replied, "Because you broke our trust, meaning we stayed up later than usual to see if you would get home while worrying ourselves sick."
"I told you, I'm fine."
"That's not the point, Maesi," Ben said, "The point is you broke our trust and you haven't even told us why."
Maesi huffed, "Fine! I was out with Dylan, okay? We just wanted to spend some time together and we lost track."
Ben's jaw twitched slightly. "Dylan? You're telling me that you, a sixteen-year-old, were sneaking out with a guy who is four years older than you?"
"Three and a half years," Maesi argued, "And he's my boyfriend. You should know that. We had dinner last week! You like him."
Ben sighed deeply, "That was before he was keeping my sixteen-year-old out late at night."
"Oh my gosh, Dad! I'm the one who wanted to stay out, not him! And I'm mature enough to know what I'm doing! I'm not a baby."
"You're still a kid, dating an adult," Lia piped up.
"Oh shut up, Lia," Maesi snapped, "Just because you're jealous that I have a boyfriend, which you've never had."
"Jealous?" Lia asked, incredulously, "Of my baby sister making stupid choices with some guy who's too old for her? Yeah, sure, I'm really jealous."
"Lia," Mal said, calmly, "Please go to bed. We're all tired but there's no need for you to be up too. We're her parents, we can handle this."
Lia nodded, "Yeah, sorry. Night." And with that, Lia departed from the room.
Maesi huffed again and went to sit on the bed.
"Come on, Dad, Mom. I know what I'm doing! You know you can trust me to make good decisions and Dylan is a good guy."
"That's the thing, Mae," Mal began, "We thought we could trust you, but you broke curfew to hang out with a guy much too old for you. We know Dylan is a good kid, but when you begin breaking the rules that we put in for your safety, we lose our trust in both of you."
"Oh, would you stop with the 'he's too old for you' thing? That didn't seem to bother you when you actually found out we were together. Besides, Papa and Nana have the same age difference as Dylan and I do."
"Nana and Papa were both legal adults when they got together," Ben reminded her, "And we were actually bothered by it but we chose to trust him and you."
"And, what, one broken curfew and that trust is just gone? Sounds like it was flimsy in the first place."
Mal sighed, "Maesi. It's not the broken curfew alone. You know we have rules in place. If you're going to miss curfew, you text one of us and you tell us. You keep your phone on so that we can contact you if need be. We had no idea what to think or what to do. We had no idea if you were safe. And the fact that you were out there, knowing that we would worry if we were to find you gone, and you didn't let us know that you were okay."
Maesi sighed, "Look, I'm sorry, okay? My phone was on silent and I thought you would be asleep. It won't happen again."
"Nor will you be staying out after curfew again," Ben added.
"Not without warning you, I know," Maesi replied.
"No," Ben said firmly, "Not at all. We've clearly been too lenient if you think that being two hours late after curfew is acceptable, so now you're expected to be home exactly at curfew."
"Which is also now an hour earlier," Mal added.
"What? Come on, that's not fair! It was one time!"
"It was two hours, Maesi," Mal reminded her, "You were two hours late without telling us where you were. Trust us, we would love to reinstate your curfew back to what it was but first, you need to start coming back on time. Understood?"
Maesi huffed and sagged slightly, "Yes, Mom. Yes, Dad."
Mal then sat down next to her, "Look, Maesi-Beth, I know you think that we're being harsh but we're just trying to keep you safe. You were being irresponsible."
"Are you seriously telling me that you and Dad never snuck out after curfew?" Maesi asked, looking her mom in the eye.
"Trust me, responsible is never a word that you'd have used to describe me as a teenager. We also lived in a boarding school so the adults there had a few more kids to worry about than just us."
"Not to mention we lived in a time where it was believed that nothing bad could ever happen in Auradon," Ben reminded them, sitting on Maesi's other side. "Look, we know we sound like hypocrites but we just want you to be safe. It can be dangerous out there and as the princess and second in line to the throne, it's even more dangerous."
"I know but...I wasn't completely irresponsible. Dylan didn't leave my side all night."
"We know, Maesi-Beth," Mal said, gently rubbing her shoulders, "But your father and I would still prefer it if you were to come home earlier from now on. Just until we feel that we can trust you to not stay out stupidly late when we extend your curfew again."
Maesi nodded, "Okay, fine. Can I please go to bed now?"
"Yeah," Ben replied. "Goodnight, baby girl." He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and then he and Mal left the room, leaving Maesi to get ready for bed in peace.
The next morning was relatively quiet. Maesi apologised to Lia for snapping at her, which Lia accepted graciously and the two sisters shared a hug. Her grandparents then came down and she was wrapped in another hug by her grandmother, as her grandparents had been awoken by the raised voices the previous night and Ben had explained to them what had happened.
After breakfast, Dylan turned up to pick up Maesi so that they could spend some more time together while he was in town. He felt slightly intimidated by the sight of Ben and Adam stood with their arms crossed as they looked at him, while Mal's eyes just slightly narrowed at him as Maesi walked over.
"Ignore them, they're being overprotected because I was a little late last night," Maesi told him.
"Maesi," Ben warned in a tone that was almost a growl.
"Okay, very late. Still being overprotective."
"I'm sorry she was out so late last night, sir," Dylan said to Ben, "I know it's not a good excuse but we just lost track of time. It won't happen again."
"It'd had better not. Especially now that her curfew is an hour earlier." Ben then sighed. "Dylan, could I speak to you alone?" Dylan nodded and followed Ben to the next room. He could hear Maesi begin to protest but she was shushed by her mother.
"Is something wrong, sir?" Dylan asked once Ben had shut the door.
"I need you to understand something here. I don't like the fact that you're dating my sixteen-year-old daughter. You're legally an adult and she's still a child. I'm not going to force you two apart," he said quickly when he saw Dylan was about to say something, "Because I do trust you somewhat. However, another incident like last night and that trust will wear very thin very quickly. I'm trusting you to protect my daughter and make sure that both of you make responsible choices. I trust but I'm also very aware that reason can sometimes be blinded by love or by thrill or by anything else. I need you to be aware of that."
Dylan nodded, "I understand, sir. I promise. We won't act irresponsibly. And she'll definitely be home on time from now on."
Ben nodded, "Good man. I think I speak for both Mal and myself when I say that we love our daughter very much. Don't let anything happen to her on your watch."
"Yes, sir."
"You can drop the 'sir' now," Ben replied with a smile. "Ben's fine. Just take good care of my daughter."
"Will do," Dylan agreed.
The two men left the room, both with smiles on their faces. A quick, wordless exchange happened between Ben and Mal, after which she gave Dylan a genuine smile. Dylan held out his elbow to Maesi and the two of them set off, both feeling determined to not disappoint Maesi's family again.
Here you go, Eli201! Hope you enjoyed! :D
Request Count Down: 18
Response to Reviews:
Grace: Yes, I have the capability to say the word 'cute' ;) And yes, the supernatural connection was intentional. I figured this was as good a couple as any to test writing those kind of things :)
RPM Shadow: Thank you. She probably would've been with Jane, to be honest. But you're right. That is indeed what fanfiction is for!
Anonblueberry: Thanks!
Rerere: Aww, thank you! I'm glad you like them :)
ultimatebookworm08: (25) Online shopping is great and yep, I love writing Evie as the mother of the group (though, to be fair, she can sometimes be equally chaotic as the rest of the group) and yep. I have a headcanon that Evie and Jane both love taking pictures of their friends and especially of couples having cute moments together. (53) Lol, yes. My favourite line in that fic. I am the kind of the person who would say that to other people (or about myself, lol).
Love you guys so much! Stay safe! SparkyGurl
P.S. Please don't be afraid to leave constructive criticism. It helps me get better!