The Last Place You Look
Chapter Eight: My Heart and Me Surprised
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Sorry for the wait on this chapter. The past week was unusually busy for me, and I didn't have much time for writing. But to make up for it, I'm uploading two chapters today. Anyway, in the this chapter I wanted to incorporate some of the things we M/E fans have talked about in the forum and in reviews and stuff. So keep a look out for that. And now on with the show.

Love in a subtle dream disguised
Hath both my heart and me surprised
-Ben Johnson, The Dreame

For a second, Esteban wasn't sure if he heard her right. Maddie's question made it seem as if she were a mother, and she was asking him, as the father, where their children were. It was kind of eerie, really. Especially considering how everyone thought he felt about her.

"What do you mean?" Esteban asked warily.

"I don't see Zack and Cody anywhere." Maddie said, her eyes round and frightened.

"But they're right here," Esteban replied, and gestured behind him. But when his eyes turned to follow his hands, he saw that there was no one there, or at least, no one that was Zack or Cody.

While Maddie and Esteban's attentions had been elsewhere, (Maddie's on giving the evil eye to the ferris wheel operator, and Esteban's focused firmly on the ground,) the twins had made a mad dash down the ramp and out of sight behind the large plywood facade of a nearby kiddie coaster, where London was waiting for them. After joining up, the three of them took off towards the carnival grounds' exit, taking care to mix in with large crowds, and keep low to the ground, so they wouldn't be seen making their getaway. From there, they made a break for the Tipton, running as fast as they could up the street to the hotel. London had wanted to stay and watch the Maddie/Esteban action, but the two youngsters pointed out to her that the carnival grounds were only so big, and they couldn't keep out of sight forever. So it was back to the Tipton they went.

"Ow, ow, ow," winced London as she ran.

"What's the matter?" Zack asked as he jogged beside her.

"These boots were definitely not made for walking, much less running," London said, pointing to the stillettos she had on.

"But you knew we were going to do a lot of moving today," Cody pointed out between breaths. "So why did you wear them?"

"I had to look good for the Cavalli show," London replied, unfazed.

Neither of her companions even bothered to answer.

Back at the carnival, Maddie was walked to and fro, scanning her surroundings for two matching flaxen heads. But there were none to be seen.

"This is bad. This is really bad," she repeated to herself. " Their mom told me not to let them out of the hotel, but I did it anyway, and now I've lost them."

"Don't worry, they can't have gotten far," Esteban said, fidgeting nervously. He wanted to do something to help her, but he wasn't sure if she wanted his help.

"But what if they have? Then I'm sunk for sure. Esteban, you have to help me find them," Maddie said finally. She wasn't sure if he would be willing to do it, but she had to ask anyway. He had always given her aid in times past, so she had to believe he would do it now, even if it was only for old times' sake.

"Esteban, help me.." The words rang like church bells in his ears. Maddie was actually asking him for assistance, just like she used to do back before they grew apart.

"Of course I'll help," Esteban said, trying to keep the smile from his face. He knew it would be odd for him to walk around grinning while Zack and Cody were missing. So he decided to keep talking in order to prevent that from happening. "When Zack ran away to math camp, Carey almosr ate me," he continued. "I wouldn't want that to happen to you."

"Uh, thank you," Maddie said. She was confused as to how a person could eat another person, but apparently Esteban was under the conviction that it could be done. Although, considering their recent estrangement, Maddie would have expected him not to care whether she were eaten or not. So she was rather pleased that he would instead want to keep her from such a fate. She found that, in spite of her worry for the twins, and what their mother would do to her, a smile was beginning to creep over her features, because she and Esteban were back to normal. Or at least for the time being.

As they moved away from the ferris wheel and began their search, Esteban reflected on how situations like this were what he had missed the most about Maddie during their time apart. He missed how she would run to him for her every impulsive wish. He always felt so important, so needed, whenever she put her trust in him. Maddie was the only person at the Tipton who saw him as more than just a clumsy bellhop. She had always had faith in him, even at times when no one else did. For example, after he got beaten up by London, Maddie still saw him as a strong man on whom she could depend.

And that wasn't the only time she had sought his protection. Esteban remembered the bowling match with the St. Mark's, and how Maddie had clung to him as Gretl, the terrifying giantess, had turned her bowling ball into an airborne missile. And he recalled how she had slipped her hand into his when they had searched for the Tipton's hidden treasure in the honeymoon suite. It was too bad she was only associating with him now because she had no other choice. If the twins hadn't run off, she wouldn't have spoken to him all night. Just because she thought he was sweet on her. Well, it was possible to enjoy a person's company without having a crush on them. And here was his chance to tell her that.

"Do you see anything?" Maddie asked just as he was about to speak up.

"What? Oh - No, I don't see them yet." Esteban said, startled by the interruption. "But we still have a lot of places to look," he added, seeing the disappointment in her face.

As he spoke these reassuring words, Maddie thought about how nice it was to have Esteban on her side again. Until now, she had never understood how much his prescence was necessary to the stability of her world. Whenever she had something she needed to get done, she realized, it was always him that she went to for backup.

When her house was being fumigated, and she wanted to keep Scamp at the hotel, Esteban was the one who helped sneak him inside. When she wanted to send London fake horoscopes, she had again gone straight to him for support. And who did she depend on to take care of the daycare kids the time she had to rescue her grandmother? Esteban. She missed having him to share these things with, but she was grateful to have him back. It was a bitersweet feeling though, because she knew that after they found the twins, he would probably go back to ignoring her again. Just because he thought she liked him. "But wait," she thought, "Here's my chance to tell him the truth! "

"Maddie, I - " Esteban said, and turned to her suddenly.

"Esteban, I - " Maddie said, turning towards him at the same time.

The result was that they almost ran smack into each other. Luckily for them, they didn't, but they now found themselves looking each other square in the face, and at closer quarters than they had been for some time. As each gazed upon the other's features, something began to dawn on them both. Somethng that all of their friends had already figured out - that their stubborn denial of attraction no longer held true.

Maddie looked up at Esteban in shock. She couldn't believe that London and Cody had been right all along. How could they have understood her feelings so easily, when she herself didn't even understand them? And since when did she start to feel this way, anyway?

It was true that when when they first met, she had only seen Esteban as a friend. But they had been thrown together much more than normal friendly co-workers would be, thanks to the many misadventures of Zack and Cody. It was during these times that she really got to know him. His likes, his dislikes, his full name and family history, his lame sense of humor, his sincerity and earnestness, even his incorrigible clumsiness. And when Zack and Cody weren't around to make mischief, Maddie realized in surprise, she had taken to inventing reasons to be in Esteban's presence. Did she really have to have someone help her with Scamp? Probably not, because Esteban had actually caused more harm than good in that situation. And did she really have to have someone help her with the fake fortunes? She had come up with most of those herself, and Esteban ended up using her as a human shield against London's wrath anyway. And when Moseby put together a Tipton flag football team, she only signed up for it after she found out Esteban had.

Similarly, Esteban was mulling over the progression of his feelings for Maddie. In his case, as well, it was mainly thanks to Zack and Cody's adventures that he had come to appreciate her quirks and personality traits. He learned about her proneness for smart-aleck remarks, how she liked to experiment with different hairstyles, how she wore tube socks with almost everything, and how she got into almost as many scrapes on her own as she did with Zack and Cody. It was then that she most often needed his help, that she would look up at him with those chestnut eyes, and make him feel so strong, like he could take on anything.

Maddie thought about the time Esteban tried to rescue London's purse from a thief. When he had been unable to do it, the policewoman on the scene told him he was lucky to have London around to protect him. While the woman probably didn't mean to insult him, Maddie had seen the hurt flash in his eyes. She really wanted to do something to lessen his embarrassment, but when she went to speak, she found herself go suddenly shy. "I...I think you did you did good, Esteban," she had stuttered, then turned on her heel and ran inside. Why had she been so shy then? And why had Esteban's pain stabbed at her so deeply in the days that followed, when he sulked about in a depression? Looking back on it, Maddie saw that it was only more evidence of her affinity for him. That would explain why she had been driven to concoct an elaborate plan just to make him feel better.

Esteban found that he was drawn to her company more and more after this incident. He began making time every day to visit with her at her counter. Sometimes he didn't even wait that long. He would often come to her when she first got in the door, like when she had the parenting project with London. While he did think the baby was beautiful, it was Maddie that he was most interested in looking at. And he had volunteered to be the baby's nanny in hopes that he could spend extra time with her. Kind of like the time her crazy grandmother had been found dancing in the lobby, and he was the one who volunteered to tell her. No wonder her name had come to his lips on the day he babysat Zack and Cody, when all three of them had said the name of the person whose opinion they valued most. Cody had said his mom, Zack had said Mr. Moseby, and Esteban had said Maddie. But if he thought he was going to look bad in front of her then, how would he look to her now? She had gone AWOL when she merely heard a rumor he liked her. What would she do now that he really did?

As per usual, Maddie was having a similar thought at a similar time. In leafing through her memories, she had arrived at the fateful day when London caught her writing her and Esteban's names together in her spiral. At the time she thought it was an accident, but she saw now that her unconcious was trying to tell her something. She couldn't believe that she had spent so much time denying that she liked him, only to find that she actually did. What would London say to her when she learned the truth? What would Cody say to her, after she had snapped at him about it? And most importantly, what would Esteban say?