Aladdin went to the nearest drink vendor to get ice. He brought it back in a Ziploc bag and gingerly touched it to Jasmine's jaw. She flinched at the cold.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

She nodded. Phoebus had gone after Esmeralda and Jasmine didn't know where Sadira was. And she didn't care. She and Aladdin were finally alone, but all she could think about was Esmeralda. Did Esmeralda truly believe she and Phoebus would sneak around behind her back? Or was she just trying to cause drama; be the center of attention and play the victim?

"Good." Aladdin stepped away from her. "I should take you home."

"Aladdin, wait. What Esmeralda said, it's not true. There is nothing going on between Phoebus and me and I'm not using him to try to make you jealous."

"But, it bothers you that I'm hanging out with Sadira?"

Jasmine shook her head. "I'm not insecure or jealous; I don't think Sadira is going to steal you away or something. What bothers me is that you keep inviting her to hang out with us. Like tonight. I thought this was a date, but then you invited Sadira to tag along."

"I was just trying to make her feel included. She doesn't know anyone here."

"I know. And that's very thoughtful of you. But, I think you need to learn where to draw the line."

"Jasmine!"

Jasmine and Aladdin turned to see Phoebus making his way through the crowd back to them.

"Are you okay?" Phoebus asked her.

"I'm fine."

Phoebus turned to Aladdin. "I swear, man; there's nothing-"

"I know," Aladdin told him. "We're good."

"What happened with Esmeralda?" Jasmine asked.

"Nothing. She wouldn't stop to talk to me. I guess we're really done."

"Phoebus, I'm so sorry."

"Me, too. But, I should have seen it coming." Phoebus ran his hand through his blonde hair. "I'm gonna head out. I just wanted to check on you before I left."

"No permanent damage," Jasmine told him. "To my face, anyway."

Phoebus nodded. He looked like he was going to say something else, but changed his mind and walked away.

"Do you wanna leave, too?" Aladdin asked.

Jasmine nodded and let Aladdin lead her through the crowd, to the parking lot. She tossed the bag of partially melted ice in a trash can before getting in Aladdin's car.

Neither of them said anything the entire duration of the ride. When they got to her house, Aladdin walked her to her door. Jasmine didn't go inside, though.

"This isn't exactly how I pictured tonight going," Jasmine admitted, with a small laugh.

"A bruise is already forming on our jaw." Aladdin leaned forward and kissed her jaw.

Jasmine sighed and pushed her fingers through his hair as his kisses moved to her neck.

Aladdin's phone going off interrupted them. Aladdin groaned and rested his forehead against hers.

"That's probably Flynn," he told her. "I told him I'd meet up with him tonight. I should go."

"All right. Tell Flynn I say 'hi' and that he did a good job tonight."

Aladdin kissed her forehead. "We'll hang out tomorrow, I promise. Just us."

XXX

"Am I terrible person?" Aurora asked Belle.

It was Sunday afternoon and Maurice had permitted Aurora coming over for lunch and to do homework with Belle. Maurice was currently in the basement working on something and they were getting very little homework done. Rather, Aurora was getting very little homework done. Belle had hers done Friday night.

"Of course not," Belle replied. "It's perfectly normal to want some space and have time to yourself. I'm sure Phillip would understand if you told him."

Aurora stabbed at her mac n cheese, but didn't eat it. "I don't know. What if it hurts his feelings?"

"And what if he's feeling the same way and is afraid to bring it up to you?"

Aurora looked up at her best friend. "You think?"

Belle shrugged. "Sure. Everyone wants alone time."

"How should I bring it up?"

Belle shoved a forkful of mac n cheese in her mouth and chewed it slowly while she thought. "Maybe you don't have to. Eric's his best friend, right? And Eric is going through a tough time right now. Why don't you suggest he and Eric have a guys' night? That would give you a night to yourself."

Aurora's face lit up. "That's brilliant."

"All of my ideas are."

Aurora raised an eyebrow. "Really? Because I thought sneaking out of the house last night to meet up with Adam was a bad idea."

"Shhh!" Belle hissed. "My dad didn't catch me. You wanna rat me out now?"

Aurora laughed and shook her head. The truth was, she was kinda proud of Belle for rebelling a little this week; first with ditching school and getting detention because of it, and then sneaking out of the house while grounded. It'd do Belle some good to let loose this year. Not that it would stop Aurora from teasing her a little for it.

"Speaking of Adam… have you guys talked about what you're going to do next year when you go to college?"

"What do you mean?"

"All of your dream colleges are out of state. Do you know where Adam wants to go to school?"

"I think he's planning on going to AU."

"Andalasia University? He's staying here?"

Belle nodded. "I think so."

"You're not going to stay here just to be with him, are you?" Aurora didn't know if that was something Belle would actually do, but it didn't seem entirely out of the realm of possibility.

"I haven't thought about it. Adam and I haven't talked about next year. We still have plenty of time to figure things out."

"If you say so…"

"Well, what about you and Phillip?" Belle asked. "Since you brought it up."

Aurora shrugged. "No idea."

Belle laughed. "Little Miss Hypocrite, trying to make me figure out the future of my relationship when you don't have a clue yourself."

"Okay, so we don't have to figure things out now. But, we should at least think about it; keep it in the back of our minds, don't you think?"

"Yes," Belle agreed. "But not right now. Right now you need to do your U.S. Government homework."

Aurora groaned. "What happened to Fun Belle?"

"She's grounded."