The Last Place You Look
Chapter Twelve: What I've Been Looking For
by Aeris Tiniel Mirime

Here it is, the grand finale! I hope you all love it. It's been a blast writing the story and reading everyone's generous reviews. I love all of you guys!

So lonely before, I finally found what I've been looking for
-High School Musical

Maddie shut the doors to the small room, not trusting her privacy to the scruples of her coworkers.

"So, um what were you saying?" she asked Esteban, once they were safely closed in.

"Oh...well, I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry for being so rude to you recently, you know, like ignoring you and everything. If I had known it was hurting you, I never would have done it. I thought it was what you wanted."

"Don't worry about it, Esteban. I was doing the same thing to you, and I'm sorry I didn't just come talk to you about it." Maddie told him. "It seems like we were both so afraid of ruining our friendship that we almost really did ruin it. It's a good thing we found out in time, though."

"Lucky for us, Zack and Cody disappeared, or else we wouldn't have." Esteban said, repeating the words from Maddie's tirade earlier in the night.

The mention of these names made Maddie remember her anger at them. "You know," she said, "I still can't believe they were here at the Tipton that whole time. After they begged and begged me to take them out to the carnival, the last place I would've expected to find them was back at home."

"It's just been a day full of surprises," mused Esteban. "First of all, I didn't expect to see you at the carnival,"

"And I didn't expect to see you," Maddie added.

"And we didn't expect the little blondies to run away.."

"And we certainly didn't expect to find them here,"

"And I never thought I would hear you say those amazing words to me after you reamed me out at the carnival. And before today I never knew how much I wanted to hear them." Esteban told her.

"Oh that..." Maddie blushed for what seemed the hundredth time that day. She didn't why she was doing it, really. After all, she would have felt a lot worse if she hadn't told him how she felt. "Well, before today I never thought I would be saying them. I didn't even know I felt that way until right then," she said finally.

"I guess great minds think alike," he said, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"Hey!" she protested, and reached up to try and tousle his hair in return. But before she could do so, Esteban had taken hold of her outstretched arm, pulled her in close to him, and kissed her. And, dear readers, I am happy to report that she had not a single objection to his doing so.

But now I must return to the idea of their incomplete solitude. As you may have guessed, Cody, Zack, and London were not content to make the match without seeing the results. They had not really gone upstairs, but instead, had stealthily followed their friends as far as the pink-paned doors, where, as Maddie had closed them, they had to be content with peeking through the glass.

"I knew my plan would work." London whispered. "Yay me...I mean, yay them."

"Isn't that just most adorable thing?" Cody sighed, being rather girly.

"Yes it is," Zack said, staring at the wad of bills London had just handed him.

But the trials of Esteban and Maddie were not over just yet. One more mishap was destined to occur before the perfect happiness of their union was to be settled, and this mishap came in the form of Mr. Moseby, giving a tour of the hotel to a potential convention hostess. The three young spies were so occupied with their spying that they didn't notice him coming until it was too late to stop him from walking straight for the boutique.

"You'll love our staff," Moseby was saying, giving the standard line he gave to all his guests. But when, upon entering the room, he saw Maddie and Esteban, he let out one high-pitched shriek, then immediately pushed the surprised client back out of the room and tried to laugh it off.

"Apparently they love each other, too." he said, forcing a smile that came out looking more like a grimace.

At this point, the loyal London jumped up, wanting to help Moseby save face.

"You know what they say," she exclaimed to the shocked woman. "Welcome to the Tipton, where everything is sweet!"

And everything was sweet for the Tipton's bellboy and candy girl, because their search for the missing Zack and Cody had led them to find something less tangible, but no less valuable. And so it was that Maddie and Esteban discovered that the things which they had been looking for, and all things worth finding, are always in the last place you look.

-Fin-