Prompt: Modern day Cinderella roller coaster AU

"Nathan, quit being such a baby!" Duke was saying to his friend as they walked passed one of the biggest rides at the park. He turned to Audrey, Nathan's girlfriend, "Audrey, c'mon, back me up on this."

Audrey just smirked as she took a bite of cotton candy, biting her tongue.

Duke rolled his eyes at her, "As helpful as always, Parker." He turned back to Nathan, "A roller coaster isn't gonna kill–Ow!"

As the words left his mouth, something hit him in the back of the head. Hard.

"Aw Jesus, what the hell?" Duke said as he looked around him to see what it was that hit him, while Nathan was actually laughing. At him, of course, but at least he was laughing.

Finally, Duke spied a floral print flat, resting on the ground just a bit to his left. He picked it up before glancing up at the ride that he'd previously been trying to get Nathan to go on. It didn't take a detective to figure out what happened.

"Some girl must've lost her shoe on that ride." Nathan pointed out, before smirking at Duke, "Won't kill ya, huh?"

Audrey grinned, "He's not dead; he's just been beaned with his own Cinderella story."

Duke turned the shoe over in his hands, and smirked, "Cinderella, huh?"

Audrey tugged on Nathan's arm, leading him away while Duke started scanning the crowd that was coming off the ride. She called over her shoulder at him, "Just gotta find her, Prince Charming."

Jennifer had kept her eyes squeezed closed the entire ride and squeezed Holly's hand so hard that, according to her, "I'm pretty sure you broke my fingers."

So she didn't notice her shoe was gone until she took her first shaky step off the ride. She looked at her foot and groaned loudly, "Aw hell."

Holly, still high on adrenaline from the ride, basically threw herself onto Jennifer's back as she got off the ride herself, laughing, "What's the problem, darlin'?"

"The problem," Jennifer said as they exited the ride, "Is that I lost my damn shoe because of the ride you forced me on!"

Holly laughed, still keeping her arm around Jennifer's shoulders, "Oh I'm sorry, Jen. I'll buy you another pair."

Jennifer sighed, "Okay that solves my problem for later; I can't very well spend the rest of the day with only one shoe!"

Holly just squeezed her shoulders, "I'm sure there's a pair of really awful sandals we can find in the gift shop."

Jennifer mockingly glared at her, "I loved those shoes."

Holly rolled her eyes before something in the crowd caught her eye. A slow, wide grin spread across her face, earning a confused look from Jennifer. Holly gently turned Jennifer in the direction she was looking, and whispered in her ear, "Looks like Prince Charming's got that figured out, Cinderella."

There was a tall, remarkably attractive man standing under one of the trees across from the exit of the ride, and he was holding her other shoe.

Something about her caught his eye and he smiled, waving at her to come towards her. She heard Holly laugh behind her as she gently pushed her towards him. She walked nervously to him, glancing back at Holly as she went before he met her halfway.

He smiled at her, gesturing with the shoe, "Cinderella, I presume."

She smiled nervously in front of him, placing her unshoed foot over her shoed one; he was looking at her like he thought she actually was the princess he called her, "Only if that makes you Prince Charming."

He chuckled before he crouched in front of her to help her put her shoe back on, "I don't know about that. By day, though, I go by Duke."

She giggled back, blushing, as she steadied herself by placing her hands on Duke's shoulders-trying really hard not to show that how impressed she was at feeling the muscles there-and slid her foot back into her shoe, "And when the wicked step-family isn't tormenting me, I go by Jennifer."

Duke looked from her feet to her, beaming at her, "A perfect fit."

Her blush deepened as she quickly took her hands off his shoulders and nervously tucked her hair behind her ears, "Um. Thank you. For getting my shoe. Where'd you find it?"

Duke laughed as he stood back up, "It kind of found me. Hit me square in the back of the head."

Jennifer gasped and touched his arms before she could think to stop herself, "Oh god, I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

He laughed, liking the physical contact, "I'll live."

She smiled at him before realizing that she was unnecessarily touching him and pulled her hand back to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear again.

"But," he continued, taking the slightest step closer to her, "If you really want to make it up to me, I could go for an ice cream."

She arched an eyebrow at him, but allowed herself to smile back at him, "Oh well if it's the only way to make it up to you…"

He grinned as he fell into step next to her, heading for a nearby ice cream vender, "Oh I never said it was the only way."