I Promise

MaddiexCorrie

--ooo--

"So I was thinking, that guy from AP Biology is cute." Mary-Margaret said, as they dug into something Maddie couldn't even tell was food… maybe it wasn't?

"Yeah, so?" Maddie questioned and tried to chew the rocks she was eating. It was supposed to be mashed potatoes with peas and carrots, but it was all gray and tough to even stick a fork in, "What are you trying to do?"

"Well, my father works with his father – his name is David by the way – and he's a really cool guy." Mary-Margaret exclaimed, a smile tugging at her lips, "He's not my type at all, but I reckon you two would look great together; want me to set you up?"

"No thank you." Maddie quickly said, as her eyes followed the two figures that had just entered the lunch room. It was two small girls with long, dark hair, and they were now getting in line to get lunch, one of them talking wildly, while the other looked bored.

"Why not?" Mary-Margaret questioned, her eyes searching Maddie's, but she couldn't hold her gaze for more than a second or two.

"Just 'cuz…" Maddie started, but trailed off, as London poured her plate onto Corrie's tray, making the smaller girl carry it; she didn't seem to mind tough.

Mary-Margaret sighed, "What's up with you today, Maddie?" she exclaimed, which caused the blonde girl to turn around, eyes wide, "You didn't even listen to me! You won't let me set you up with a cute guy. You haven't been on a date in ages…"

"I'm sorry, okay?" Maddie said, and turned in her seat; trying to ignore the two other girls, who were coming their way, "I'm paying attention to you now, Mary; speak your case."

Mary-Margaret laughed. She loved speaking her cases; she wanted to be a lawyer. "Well, he is tall. He has brown hair, it's slightly long… He has blue eyes. You guys are a lot alike, he cares about the environment, and Madeline – you really need to get some action."

"Who needs to get some action?" London asked as she and Corrie sat down around the round table, next to their friends. She snapped her fingers and Corrie placed her lunch in front of her.

"Maddie does." Mary-Margaret said, as she decided to include their friends in their conversation, "I was jus telling her about David. Don't you think they'd make a cute couple…?"

"Sure, he's kinda cute. I mean…"

Maddie zonked out of it as her eyes travelled to Corrie's face. The small Hispanic girl was slowly chewing her rocks with a distant look in her eyes. Maddie wondered what was going through her cute little head. She seemed to be thinking a lot, because her face scrunched up in that cute little way she always had it when she was pondering over something. Perhaps she felt rather weird about all this; having to listen to Mary-Margaret talk about dates and boys and everything.

Maddie knew that she would find it awkward if their friend tried to set Corrie up on a date. But she wouldn't anyway, because as far as everyone knew, Corrie was obsessed with London and it was that way it was – nothing could change that.

"So really Maddie, can I set you up?" Mary-Margaret asked her, cutting through Maddie's train of thoughts, "Want me to ask him?"

Maddie locked eyes with Corrie and saw the emotions swimming through those brown pools she loved so much. Her face wasn't smiley as usual; this wasn't the Corrie she loved – she wasn't bouncy and happy, and Maddie knew why.

"No… No thanks, Mary." Maddie said, and relief streamed through her by the smile Corrie got on her face; she could see it out of the corner of her eye, "I don't need a date. I appreciate the effort, but I'm good."

"What!?" London joked, trying to sound funny, even if her jokes always hurt, "You've already got a secret partner we don't know about?"

"Yes." Maddie and Corrie said, voices meddled together; joined as one.

Mary-Margaret looked confused at them, eyebrows cocked together, "Explain that, please?"

"Maddie's got a secret partner." Corrie just said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Oh my God." London said and turned to Maddie, disbelief streaming through her eyes, "You tell her and not me? I thought I was your best friend?"

"You are, London," Maddie quickly said, trying to reassure the heiress before she started yelling up, "you are, but I just… I just told Corrie first."

"Psh," London said, and gave Maddie a hard look, before turning to Mary-Margaret, "you wanna be my new best friend?"

"Have you got tickets for that fashion show in New York?" Mary-Margaret quickly asked, seeing an opportunity.

"Yes."

"Hey, new best friend!"

Maddie rolled her eyes and discreetly glanced at Corrie, giving her a reassuring smile. No matter what was going on, Corrie always looked either really confused or really happy about something. There was just something about Corrie that Maddie loved. She was so adoringly cute and Maddie couldn't resist the giggle she had or the way she always blushed. She couldn't help but just wish she could say it aloud, but Corrie was Corrie, and even if Maddie loved everything about her, she was still weird and she was hard to understand at times.

But then there was times – like now actually – when she sheepishly smiled from across the table, her hair falling around her shoulders, and her eyes sparkling with that glint, were Maddie knew she was making the right choice by following her heart and keeping this up. Even if she knew everyone would look down at them if it ever got out.

Maddie smiled back at her and lifted her foot to touch her on the shin. Corrie grinned again and bit her lip.

'Later…' Maddie mouthed and right then zonked back to the real world – back to London and Mary-Margaret. The latter was looking at them all curiously.

"Okay," she said, and glared at them, "whoever's playing footsie with me…" she paused, "Would you please stop?"

Maddie glanced at Corrie who suddenly sat up straight, and closed her mouth tightly. Maddie almost couldn't help but laugh.

London decided to break the silence, "So, I have more than two tickets for that fashion show, you know." she paused, and frowned when no one responded, "You guys wanna come too?" she then tried.

"No." the two of them answered. At once; again.

"What's with you two today?" Mary-Margaret asked them; she looked really suspicious, "You're acting really weird?"

"Yeah," London added, giving them both her most serious look, "what are you two doing since you can't go? Hello, it's fashion! Everyone wants to go."

Maddie locked eyes with Corrie, before slowly answering, "Well… Corrie is coming with me to my house today, because-"

But London cut her off, by grabbing Corrie's arm, "You do not wanna go there!" she exclaimed, "She doesn't have her own bedroom, and there's some wrinkly person in the bathtub. And! Her bed keeps doing this." She made a gesture with her hands, like the bed folding up to the 'closet', like it had kept doing when she was there.

Mary-Margaret laughed while Maddie frowned, but Corrie didn't look affected at all.

"What's wrong with that?" she softly said and London looked at her as if she was dumb, "I think Maddie's house is nice. We can always do homework there even if her brother teases us. Her mother brings us hot chocolate and I usually spend the night."

London rolled her eyes, "If you say so…" she trailed off. Everyone could tell she found Corrie crazy after that speech of hers. Not that she hadn't found Corrie crazy before – it just got worse.

"I do." Corrie finished with a small smile in Maddie's direction, which caused the blonde to feel all fussy on the inside.

--ooo--

Maddie was walking down the school's hallway, contemplating; thinking about the way her life was going right now. She was making okay money at the Tipton, but she also paid the price. She worked for hours no end to a shitty pay, but when she worked enough and during the weekends it paid off. She couldn't afford not to work – her pay check was helping them stay in the house since her father was a lazy bum who laid around all day, watching TV, while her mother got an even shittier pay check than she. But she also earned some money to herself. She had saved forever to make her room perfect; and now it was. She could also buy herself nice stuff once in awhile. It was okay.

Of course it took time, so studying was the second thing on her list. It was important, because she wanted certain things with her life; she studied until late hours of the night, and she got good grades (except for from Sister Dominick!), which pleased her. These two things had been the main things in her life until recently, when she had fallen into some kind of love with Corrie.

She couldn't even explain what it was, or how it happened. They had been hanging around Maddie's bedroom on one of Maddie's free-evenings, just chatting, doing a bit of homework. Nothing huge. And for some kind of reason (Maddie still didn't know how or why it happened), Corrie had kissed her. It had been feathery at first, but then it had gotten deeper and within seconds, Maddie had felt herself responding. It had soon, after a couple of weeks, blossomed to some sort of relationship, and Maddie felt herself falling quickly. She hadn't understood why Corrie wanted her like that, giving she was so obsessed with London and to this day she still didn't know what really went on in the adorable girl's head.

She was humming the Tipton commercial song as she skipped down the hallway all alone. She was going to drop by the library. She was just minding her own business when two hands grabbed her by the collar of her uniform and pulled her into the depot-room, where a set of full lips met hers. There was no doubt in Maddie's mind who this was, and she smiled into the kiss, her hands immediately combing through Corrie's locks. She moaned into her lover's mouth and a few seconds later they pulled back, both breathing heavily.

"Corrie?" Maddie questioned.

"Hi…" Corrie giggled and rested her forehead on Maddie's, "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too." Maddie whispered, her lips hovering just inches from Corrie's, "It's been too long, I dunno how to do anything these days. All I think about is you."

Corrie smirked in the dark, but Maddie knew she was doing it, "Well…" she trailed off, "I am pretty hard not to think about. I've got such a cute smile. But deal with it. Life's tough."

Maddie laughed lowly and it could almost be taken as a sexy growl, "I like your tight butt the best." She revealed and smoothly slid her hands from Corrie's shoulders and down her back until they reached her lover's but; then she squeezed it softly, "…yup. It's still great." She chuckled.

Corrie shook her head, brown curls flying everywhere, "You're impossible. I honestly don't know why I even show you off as my girlfriend."

"You don't," Maddie quickly said, facing the problem head-on; she had wanted them to talk about this for some time now anyway, but Corrie always avoided it, "and that's sorta the problem." She finished.

Corrie frowned, "The problem?" she questioned, "We have a problem? I thought we were great?"

"We are, we are." Maddie assured her, moving a hand gently up Corrie's arm, just to make her feel better, "I love you, Corrie, you know that, I just… I hate that we have to hide this thing and that you act so obsessed with London all the time."

"I hate to hide this too," Corrie admitted, "but we sorta have to because of everything." She paused and flashed Maddie a smile, "And what's this crap about London? Are you jealous?"

"No!" Maddie quickly answered, and as soon as the words had left her mouth, she realized how fake they sounded.

"You're jealous!" Corrie exclaimed, disbelief streaming through her voice. Her eyes were wide in amusement; she almost couldn't believe this; was Maddie really jealous because of her?

"Am not." Maddie replied and pulled back, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

Corrie scoffed, "You are so jealous!" she giggled, and reached her hands out, unlocking Maddie's arm-cross, "You have nothing to be worried about, Blondie. You know I only obsess over London so no one will get suspicious. Mary's so smart, she'll figure us out if I don't throw her off." She paused and took in a deep breath, "I love you. London's just… London. I hope you know that."

Maddie didn't want to look at her. Corrie did have a point but it still hurt her to see her obsess so strongly over her best friend. She knew, of course, that nothing would ever happen, but it still worried her to no end. She hoped they would just be able to come out one day, but that wasn't likely.

"Maddie…" she trailed off.

Maddie looked back at her, brown eyes full of emotions, "I know Corrie…" she said, and reached a finger out to brush Corrie's hair aside, "It… it just bothers me to see that. I love you so much. I wish we could just be honest about this and just be together."

"I do too." Corrie answered her, happy that she wasn't sad about the whole London-subject, "But we can't. We'd probably be thrown out of here – my parents would kick me out too. As much as I want to be open about us, I'm not willing to risk that just yet. I want us to graduate. You'll make such a perfect lawyer."

"And you'll make a perfect doctor." Maddie whispered, a moved look across her face. She wanted those things too. She wanted to graduate so they could both get the lives they wanted. She had always wanted to be a lawyer; she wanted to fight for justice and for rights. But she also wanted to be with Corrie. She couldn't have both right now. Their parents would kill them if they knew, and if they as much as held hands at school, they'd get expelled on the second.

Corrie chuckled, "So don't you think it's better to keep this to ourselves?" she questioned.

Maddie sighed, "I hate it when I'm not right!" she groaned, but she also couldn't help but chuckle.

"Besides…" Corrie added, with a lick on her lips, "It'd be nice to have a few more sleepovers without our parents getting on our cases. If we'd even be allowed to see each other, if they knew."

Maddie couldn't agree with her more. She leaned down and placed a soft kiss on the Latina's lips, "You're right, Cor." She whispered, "You know…" she leaned against the wall of the closet, "I shouldn't even be complaining about all this. I've got you, haven't I? You're so amazing to me. I just want to be with you."

Corrie couldn't hide the huge smile coming to her lips. These words warmed her heart. Maddie always shoved her with affections; she always told her sweet things in her ear. But this meant a lot to her. She was happy that Maddie, in her own funny, little way, had just realized how much she meant to her.

"So…" Maddie trailed off again, "You wanna sleep over tonight? I'm sure my parents wouldn't mind?"

"I'd love to!" Corrie's face lit up. She loved spending the night with the Fitzpatricks; even if Maddie's parents were one of a kind, they made sure she had everything she needed. Her excitement fell though, when she realized, "Don't you have work?"

Maddie squeezed her eyes tightly, before peeking through her lids, "Yeah," she said, and bit her lip, "but you can join me. Sit in the lobby and do homework or whatever. Just don't disturb the guests or Moseby will freak."

Corrie nodded, "I'll zip my mouth and lock it with a key!" she promised and pretended to zip it and then throw away the key.

Maddie giggled, "Well unzip it for a second and give me a kiss before we have to go to class!" she demanded.

Corrie frowned, "But it's gone!" she got through her closed mouth, peeking up at Maddie with huge questions in her eyes, "It's all gone." She said and threw her arms to the side.

Maddie gave her a firm glare before she bent down to pick up the 'key' from the floor. She grabbed it and pretended to unlock and then unzip Corrie's mouth before she put the key in her pocket, "All good now, girl?" she asked her.

"Yup!" Corrie happily said, her smile reaching her eyes, "I'm awesome. Can I kiss you now?"

"Certainly."

--ooo--

Maddie was rearranging chocolate behind her candy counter – on the shelves – while trying to keep an eye on Corrie. The cute Latina was sitting in the lobby couch, crunched over a book and a piece of paper. It seemed like she was trying to do math, because once in a while she punched some numbers into her calculator.

Maddie loved watching her work. She was so serious and she looked so adorable with these thinking-lines on her forehead. Her hair fell across her back gently and Maddie just wanted to walk across the lobby and kiss the exposed skin on her neck.

She went back to work, though. A little girl wanted a lollipop and Maddie handed her one with a smile on her face. When the girl bounced away, sucking on the strawberry lollipop, Maddie rested her head on her hands, elbows resting on table, and just watched her girlfriend. She could do that for hours. Just watch her.

It was as if Corrie could feel Maddie's gaze, because she slowly turned around, a smile on her face. She giggled lowly, before she got off of the couch and crossed the lobby to stop in front of Maddie. She had that goofy smile on her face, while Maddie stood up straight, a smile on her face too.

"Hey…" she whispered, wishing they were in her room – just them alone.

"Hi!" Corrie happily cheered.

Maddie giggled, "You doing homework?"

"Mhmm." Corrie said, glancing quickly towards her things on the table, "But it's so boring without you. Are you done soon?"

Maddie checked her watch. It felt like she had done nothing but that since she arrived there earlier, "Just around twenty minutes to go, Cor." She said, a glint in her eyes, "Get your things together and we'll run home!"

Corrie chuckled of her silliness, "Haha. If you say so, Madeline." She finished, before she went to pack her things.

Maddie watched her through it all and was little by little trying to close everything off. She hoped Mr. Moseby wouldn't notice. He was busy yelling at Esteban and ordering Lance around, so when the clock struck five, Maddie quickly placed the 'closed' sign on the counter and rushed to meet Corrie by the door.

As they left the Tipton, she was happy that London hadn't been around, because she wouldn't have liked to watch Corrie ogle over her more than ten minutes before losing it. Corrie was quickly starting to mean more to her than she'd ever admit, and what they would be doing today would be proof enough. She knew that their homework would be the last thing on their minds; and she was okay with that. She just wanted some Corrie-time.

When they arrived home, they yelled 'hello' to Irving and Angie, before hurrying into Maddie's room, closing the door smack behind them. They both placed their bags on the floor, before meeting in a slow kiss.

"It turns me on to watch you do homework at work." Maddie whispered, her lips hovering just inches from Corrie's. "I have no idea what I ever did without you."

"You were lost." Corrie giggled; and Maddie loved when they were alone together like this, because Corrie always got so confident. She was cocky and giddy, and she always made Maddie happy. After a crappy day, a minute with Corrie would make anything better. And Corrie knew that she knew how she affected her, and she always used it to her own advantage.

Maddie placed another kiss on Corrie's pink lips before she turned around and flipped her bed down, so they could sit on it. She sat down and Corrie joined her quickly, lying down on the mattress, placing her head in Maddie's lap.

"Mhm," she mumbled, and looked up at Maddie with complete adoration; she wasn't the only one who was in deep need of the other; Maddie affected her so much too, "did you hear Mary at lunch today? She just wouldn't give up on that guy."

"Nah," Maddie said, and stoked her fingers through Corrie's long raven hair, "she's like that, you know. But you have nothing to worry about. I love you…" she smiled softly, "I love you so much, Cor…"

"I love you too." Corrie said, and stared up at her again, a soft smile on her lips, "And we'll make it through, Madeline. We'll find a way to make it through."

"You promise me?" Maddie questioned, and again, she felt like she was the stupid one; the little one who needed tender care from her partner, just so she could function.

"I promise." Corrie replied, and relaxed, closing her eyes tightly. There was no doubt; they'd have to make it through, they just had to.

I had no idea how to end this, but yeah :D The whole idea came from me seeing that depot-room-scene clearly in my head, y'know, them talking about Corrie's obsession and stuff, and then I knew I had to add to it. I know nothing really happened in this story, and that it was mostly just fluff, but I still hope you liked it. My favourite couple in this fandom is still, and always will be, Londie, but these two are just cute. But that may just be the Gabpay-fan in me speaking ;D

Please leave me a review and tell me what you think.

Disclaimer; I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.