One Question

- A Londie One-shot -

"MADDIE!?"

Maddie froze at her place behind the counter, when she heard London's shrill voice all the way from the other end of the lobby. Not that she didn't want to speak to the beautiful heiress, in fact, she'd love to speak to the beautiful heiress, but sometimes when London (especially after having shopped) talked to her, she was annoying, and too self-centred.

Well, Maddie scoffed, as she realized what she was just thinking. London was practically always self-centred, except at a few selected times, so that was not an excuse. But it was also what she loved about London. She was so funny, and so air headed. Maddie couldn't help but love her for that. It was always fun to be with her, even if she did screw up.

London stopped in front of the counter, and placed her sparkly purse there, with a huge smile, "Maddie, I need to speak with you."

"Oh, really?" Maddie sarcastically replied, as if she hadn't already figured that out. London sorta gave her a hint, by screaming her name across the full lobby.

"Yes, very surprising, right?" London said, before letting out a deep sigh.

Maddie rested her chin in the palm of her left hand, and closed her eyes for a second, before looking at her best friend, "What did you want then? I'm sorta working, so make it quick."

London jumped into the air, is if she had just realized she was actually there for something, and grabbed a hold of her purse, "Oh yeah, that's right. You see, Portia was supposed to come over here for a girls night, but she's suddenly 'busy'," she used air quotes, after having now learned (after a very long lesson with Maddie and Cody) how to use them, "…and I'm all alone. Do you wanna spend the night?"

"I'm supposed to be workin' until eleven." Maddie replied, with a shrug, "It's kinda late, so I'm gonna have to pass on that one, London."

"Aw, Maddie," London said, and gave her a begging look, "I own this hotel, I can get you off. I already bought all the stuff, like nail polish, facials, and other beautifical things."

Maddie ignored her use of the non-word 'beautifical', and shot her a soft smile. She did sorta want to go. She wanted to spend some time with London – just the two of them, "Sure, if you can do so…"

"No problem chica, I'm your gal." London smiled, and grabbed her purse, to leave for her room, "Just come on up around seven, alright?"

"I'm your gal!" Maddie replied, and gave her a wave off.

London smiled, and happily skipped into the elevator, which took her to the penthouse. She was so excited now. She just wanted to spend some time with Maddie. She didn't know how she was gonna tell her exactly what she was feeling, since she was all sure about that herself, but she was gonna have to try. With some good planning though, it could be very easy. And she wasn't London Tipton for nothing – she could scheme. She was very good at it. And if she wanted to lure Maddie in, she'd do it.

When she got to her room, so got everything out, that she believed they'd need. She even picked out an outfit for Maddie to wear when she arrived, since it wouldn't be comfortable in her work-clothes. She just chose a sort of pyjamas, one she knew Maddie would look good in… She grinned at the mental picture, and checked the clock. It was long until seven. She almost couldn't wait.

LondieLoveLondieLoveLondieLove

Maddie checked her watch, before knocking on the door to London's suite. She was right on time. She heard a faint 'come in' through the door, and opened it, peeking inside. She found London in the sofa, already dressed in a night gown.

"Hey London." Maddie smiled, and sat down in the chair she always used, "Moseby was not happy about me skipping work. I'm gonna have to make it up to him tomorrow."

"I'm sorry," London replied, though she really wasn't. She had a plan to start, and she needed Maddie there if it was gonna work out, "I put some clothes out for you, I you wanna change."

Maddie grabbed the stack of clothes from the table, and hurried into the bathroom. It was nice getting out of that skirt and shirt. She always wore it, and frankly, she didn't think blue was her colour. She quickly brushed her hair with one of London's golden brushes, and tied it in a lose ponytail, before skipping into the other room again, where London was unpacking all her nail polishes.

She looked up, when she heard Maddie sit down, "I figured we could do this while just chat? It's been so long since we hung out."

"Sure," Maddie smiled, and pulled her feet up beneath herself, "Should I do your toes, and then you can do mine? It's more fun, and it looks nicer."

"Yeah!" London smiled; she really liked that idea. For Maddie to touch her feet. It would without a doubt send a rush of emotions through her body, but she loved the close contact, "Can you do them pink?"

Maddie grinned, and grabbed the pink nail polish, "Of course, London… Just give me your feet, and you're gonna look real hot in no time."

London shoved her feet into Maddie's lap, and relaxed in the couch. She closed her eyes, as she felt Maddie's fingers brush her toes gently, before she opened up the nail polish, and started applying it. London opened her eyes again, halfway, and watched Maddie, as she got engrossed in her work. A few strands of her blonde hair, which weren't held back in the ponytail, fell in front of her face, shielding her from London, like a curtain.

"You're really pretty…" London mumbled, simply because she couldn't help herself. It wasn't very 'her' to compliment Maddie like that, and she knew it. But since she realized she'd fallen for her best friend, she just changed completely. Some of her other friends even told her how different they thought she was, but she didn't feel that different. It was just a few single things, because she didn't want to change. Maddie always said she loved her for who she was, and not for her stuff. So wasn't it alright to be London, but with a few adjustments?

She didn't know if there was a possibility Maddie might feel the same. But she was London Tipton, and she was used to get everything she wanted. She wanted Maddie now, and she was gonna do everything in her might to get her. She needed Maddie; the blonde bombshell was her everything. Even more important that shopping for new dresses. It was that bad.

Maddie looked up, and blushed when their eyes met, "Thank you London… You know," she said, with that typical Maddie-smile, that had London melting every time, "…I really didn't want to do this. But you're not so bad. You've changed."

"For the better?" London wanted to know.

"Yeah," Maddie said, and looked down to work on the nails again, "Definitely."

London watched her in silence for awhile, until she decided to put her plan into action; "Wanna play a game?" she asked, "Like, a Get-to-know-each-other-kinda-game?"

Maddie furrowed her brow, "What did you have in mind? Surely not Truth or Dare?"

"Nah," London said, and dismissed her idea with a flick of the hand, "I was thinking more like… we ask each other questions, and we have to answer them truthfully."

"But then we should have a number of questions, right? Or else we can continue all night long!" Maddie smiled. She liked the idea though. The idea of getting to know London better intrigued her. She wanted to know what was beneath the shallow façade. At times, she had been close, and had gotten to know her better, but it was never enough. It didn't seem like enough. She wanted to know everything about her, to dig to the bottom of her heart, and find out her deepest, darkest secrets.

"What about ten?" London asked, "Ten for each of us?"

Maddie smiled, with a nod, "Yeah," she said, "Yeah. You wanna start asking me?"

London nodded, and digged through her brain for a good question. She had a some planned already, but she had to start out easier. She couldn't get right to the point; it'd seem suspicious and rushed. And if she chickened out of telling Maddie, it was better to ask some other questions. She hoped she wouldn't chicken out though, because she needed to get these emotions out in the free. They were eating her up from the inside; "Oh," she snapped her fingers, "I've got one!"

"Shoot," Maddie said, and padded London's left foot, because it was done. London shifted her weight, and placed her right foot in Maddie's lap, instead.

"What's the lowest grade you've ever got?" London asked. She didn't really know this, which surprised her. Maddie cared so much about school, and a best friend should know this, when they knew so much other stuff, right?

Maddie blushed a bit, and bit her lip, "…a B, in finals. I've gotten lower from the nuns, but I won't tell you them." she revealed. It was kinda tough on her, since she really needed good grades, to get some credit at home. Her older sister was so popular, and beautiful. She was married, and was already brining their parents grandkids. And what was Maddie? She was a nothing. By getting good grades, she could be a little something.

"Aw," London replied, "Don't think that much about it, Maddie, it's okay. You're so smart. Don't feel bad."

"Thanks, London," Maddie said, and then wanted to ask her question. It was something she'd always wanted to know. She'd asked a few times before, but never gotten a clear answer, "Don't you miss your father? I mean, he ain't here a lot, so don't you miss him?"

"I do…" London quickly answered, not a doubt in her mind, which surprised Maddie; she had never gotten an answer out of her before, but apparently London was determined to share, "I do, a lot." She confirmed, with a nod of her head, but then quickly moved onto other things, the next question. And since she was determined to ask something random, and her eyes settled on an apple in her fruit bowl, it came out like this; "You like apples?"

Maddie didn't seem too surprised by the question. She just smiled, and looked London in the eye, "Yeah. Yeah, I mean, I like the sour ones, not so much the sweet ones."

"I like 'em sweet." London replied.

Maddie nodded, and moved onto the next question. After thinking about it for a second, clicking annoyingly with her tongue, she came to a conclusion, "Can you roll your tongue?"

"Huh?"

"Like this?" Maddie asked, and quickly rolled her tongue, before speaking, "Like, where you bring the two sides of your tongue inwards in a 'u' shape?"

"Oh…" London said, and arched her eyebrows in confusion, "I dunno…" she mumbled, before awkwardly trying to roll her tongue, which she didn't succeed at. She tried a few times more, but she didn't have luck, "And to answer your question; no!" she giggled.

"I ca-an!" Maddie teased, and did it again, for good measure.

London stuck her tongue out at her, and kicked her heel into her stomach, "Very funny, Madeline." She replied, with a sigh, "Here's my question instead; Who was your first kiss?"

Maddie stopped in the middle of her laughing fit, and eyed London. She hadn't expected that sort of question, since they'd just been goofing around until now. But if London could play, then so could she. She just had to answer first, and it was pretty easy… "A guy named Dave in 7th grade. We kissed each other quickly, and then ran off, never speaking to each other again."

"Aw, how cute!" London exclaimed, excitingly clapping her hands together.

"Who was your first kiss, then?" Maddie quickly asked, since it was pay-back time, if there really was anything to pay back. And really; who wasn't interested in that? They were best friends, she should know this stuff.

"Kyle Lawford… You remember him?" London started, "We've always been friends, since we were kids, and we went out shortly, and kissed… We've been on and off for times since then."

"Sure, Jason's friend…" Maddie remembered, getting a dreamy look on her face. She had really liked Jason, it was just a shame they couldn't be going out for real. It would have been too complicated, even if he accepted her for who she was. Poor, and all.

"My turn now," London said, and shot Maddie a huge grin. It was time to start the game, and it would be easy, it would be natural, "Since we're on the subject of kissing… you ever kissed a girl?" London wanted to know. This was one thing she had to know. If Maddie had kissed a girl before, she could be luckier than she thought. If Maddie was disgusted by the question, she had to keep her feelings to herself. She prayed on the inside.

Maddie took in the question and grinned to herself, "No," she replied, shaking her head, "No, I haven't. Have you?"

London quickly shook her head. She'd wanted to, though, plenty of times. She couldn't count them all. All those times when she'd wanted to place her lips on top of Maddie's, and never let go. "No, I haven't."

Maddie smiled at London, fighting the urge for them to develop the subject. She just padded London's foot, and pushed it off of her lap, "You're all done. You have to do mine now."

"My pleasure, Candy Girl," London said, and padded her thighs, "Swing 'em up here!"

Maddie giggled, and placed her feet on London's thighs, "You can do them green with glitter, right? I wanna look nice for a change."

"Anything for you." London smiled, and reached out for the right nail polish. She grabbed it, and unscrewed the lit, "Maddie…?" she wondered, as she started on the work, "Who's your best friend?", it wasn't really a question on her list, but she wanted to know, right that moment, because she'd never felt as comfortable and close to anyone, as she did to Maddie, right that moment.

Maddie couldn't help but smile, "You, of course. How can you even ask that question?"

London looked up, and offered her a weak smile, "Just makin' sure…" she whispered, before continuing with the nail polish.

Maddie leaned back in her chair, and enjoyed being relaxed for once. She was always so stressed, with work and school and family. Now, it was just her and London, and she could get rid of all the stress of the real world. She had always wanted to live like London; having such an easy life, being admired by everyone. She let out a huge smile, when she was reminded by just how much some people admired London. Like Sister Dominick, and… "London?" she quickly asked, breaking the silence, "You do realize that Corrie is like, in love with you, right?"

London paused, and looked up from Maddie's left foot, looking her deeply in the eye, "She is?" she asked, confused. Was Corrie in love with her? A girl? Huh. That was weird. Though she shouldn't be one to talk… She was in love with the blonde in front of her. But she wasn't attracted to Corrie at all. Maybe she was just Maddie-sexual, and not gay? Hmm, now she had confused herself even more.

"Uh-huh!" Maddie said, and couldn't help but giggle, "She admires you so much. It's actually kinda scary."

"Yeah…" London whispered, before getting back to work again, to finish the foot, "Anyway, my turn… Hmm, oh yeah; But Maddie then, you sound like it's a bad thing… don't you ever check other girls out?"

Maddie bit her lip. She didn't know how to answer that question. It wasn't like she checked girls out, but… There were times, when she felt her eyes linger on someone longer than intended to. And the last time she saw 'Honey', she was practically drooling over Jessica Alba, "Nah…" she said, because she couldn't deny it, "Not really…"

London seemed satisfied with the answer; she just blew on Maddie's toes, and pushed her foot off of her lap, "Other foot, Candy Girl."

Maddie smiled, and placed her other foot in London's lap, as she admired the work on the first one, "Aw, it looks awesome. Thanks London."

"You're welcome," London replied, and quickly looked at her, "You have to ask a question, I believe it's number… uhm, five?"

"You like other girls, then?" Maddie heard herself ask, before she could even stop. She didn't know where this courage was coming from, and why they were suddenly on the subject of two girls going out, and kissing. It was weird, but the subject seemed interesting, and it was something she wanted to know about London.

London looked up, and suddenly got a very serious expression on her face, which scared Maddie a bit. London was almost never serious. She bit her lip softly, before whispering, "That's the thing…" she swallowed, "I don't know."

Maddie was taken aback by the revelation. She had believed London would say 'eew', and then they'd forget all about it, but this was really weird. It wasn't London at all…

London didn't wait for Maddie to answer, but jumped right to the next question – on of the questions on her list, "You wanna try to see if you're gay? Someday, maybe?"

Maddie had no answer for that question. She closed her eyes, and thought it over in her head. She didn't know what to say. Did she? Did she want to experiment and find out if she was to her own sex, or not? Or wasn't she sure…? She'd dated plenty of boys already; having experienced big love with some of them, too. But it still didn't help her. Maybe she did want to try out. She couldn't dismiss the question with a 'no', so she simply shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno. Maybe, someday."

London nodded, and fought to hide her huge smile. She focused only on Maddie's cute toes (except for her baby-toe, which looked a little freaky), so she wouldn't show Maddie exactly how much that answer pleased her. She couldn't let her know.

Maddie felt like the last couple of questions had gotten just a little too personal, so she decided for something easy. Something that'd be easy to answer, and something that didn't express feelings about relationships and possibly sexuality. She cleared her throat, and mumbled; "Do you ever do something for other people? Well, except me?"

London looked up, and her expression was truly adorable. She looked so confused. Maddie almost couldn't hide her giggle, "Like? When I'm painting your toes now? But not for you – for other people?"

Maddie just nodded.

"No." London quickly replied, before focusing on the freaky baby-toe.

"Wow…" Maddie mused, and couldn't hide her smile, "I must be very special then."

"You are," London replied, and pushed her feet away from her lap, "You're all done missy. But we still need some questions, so no watching a movie yet." She padded the spot on the sofa, next to her, "Wanna sit here with me?"

Maddie quickly switched places, so she was sitting closer to London, "No, no watching a movie yet…"

"It's my turn," London stated, and leaned back in the couch, turning her head to the side, so she could watch Maddie intensely, "Did you love Trevor?"

Maddie thought about it for a second, before shaking her head, "Nah… Not really, no."

"Alright…" London sighed, a happy feeling on the inside. She was glad Maddie hadn't loved Trevor. He'd be one hard rival to beat out for the Princess' heart.

Maddie was really curious now. She felt like London had asked all the good questions, and she'd just asked the same thing back. She felt really stupid. She was supposed to be the smart one, right? She was supposed to figure out some great questions. And she did have a great one. She'd considered it too personal until now, but after all London's questions, she might as well just ask…, "You a virgin?" she questioned, hating the fact that her cheeks decided to grow red right then and there.

"Yees," London replied, and reached out to grab Maddie's hand tightly, "Yes, I'm waiting for the right one. Are you a virgin?"

Maddie blushed even more, and stared into her lap. That was so embarrassing. She'd thought London was not a virgin too, so she wouldn't be alone. Now she was just sitting there, and London had probably put two and two together by now. She looked up at her friend, and swallowed hard, "No."

"Ooh," London's face fell, but she quickly pulled herself together, and mustered a girly giggle, "Who, Maddie? Tell me who! Is he a hot who?!"

"Trevor…" Maddie just whispered, before she let go of London's hand, not liking the close contact.

"Hey, cheer up!" London said, not liking the fact that Maddie was suddenly turning sad. It had been such a great, and fun night so far. She couldn't have Maddie get down – they had so much more they needed to talk about (if her plan went well)!

Maddie looked up, and offered her a weak smile, "I'm sorry," she quickly said, and flicked her own forehead with a finger, "I'm sorry, I'm a bummer. Here's my question;" she pondered over it for a few seconds, before she got one, "…before, you said you were waiting for the right one, who is the right one? Got anyone in mind?"

"Yeah," London quickly said, and stared Maddie deeply into the eyes. She wanted to do this now. She could feel her heart start to beat faster and faster, because she got nervous. She was so used to get everything she wanted, but now she wasn't too sure it'd succeed. She had to try though. She'd never know, if she didn't try, "In fact I do… Which leads me to my last question…" she swallowed hard, and licked her glossed lips, "…can I kiss you, Maddie?"

She didn't wait for Maddie to answer; she was too scared. She just went right for her target, planting a kiss on Maddie's tempting, red lips. She had no idea if Maddie would push her off, and never see her again. She couldn't think clearly, not the moment her lips touched Maddie's. But luckily enough, she didn't feel a hard shove, she felt gentle hands move to her cheeks, to pull their faces closer.

Her stomach was filled with butterflies, and she felt like she was soaring. She felt Maddie's tongue brush through her lips, in search for something warm to play with. She happily accepted, before they parted, both breathing heavily, as their eyes locked, and a smile came upon London's face.

"Wow…" she whispered, reaching her hand out to stroke Maddie across the cheek, "That was wow…"

Maddie's eyes were filled with such emotion, as a small smile tucked at her lips too, "I know…" she said, before looking into her lap, and then into London's eyes again, "Well…" she said, "I believe I have one question left?"

"That's right…" London said, as she pulled back, slightly confused. That couldn't be good, could it? It seemed like Maddie had enjoyed the kiss, but now she wanted a question?

"…can I be your girlfriend?" Maddie cheekily asked.

She really didn't need to answer, she just went right back in, attaching her lips to Maddie's, who responded immediately. See, London Tipton got everything she wanted. Maybe that one question wasn't that bad at all.

Please give me your honest opinion – I can take constructive criticism. And yeah, else than that; merry Christmas.

Disclaimer; I don't own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, or the mentioned movie 'Honey' (I love that one, lol!).