Quick A/N the italics portion is a memory :) happy reading!

Ella's days have become very routine. She wakes up, gets dressed and does her chores until it's time to go to bed again. It's been a little over a month since her father died; her life hasn't been the same since. Not only is there a gaping hole in her heart that is slowly scarring over, but Madam Tremaine has changed every aspect about the house. The first thing she told Ella was that she was to be called "Madam". She fired all the people who worked around the house, saying that it was now Ella's duty to work for her. Ella, lost and confused, was left alone with her and had to follow her newly implicated rules. One of the first things Madam had her do was move to a small room on the side of the kitchen, it was the size of a small storage room. Ella didn't complain, wanting to avoid conflict, she simply moved and started her new daily custom.

Ella sighed as she woke up to her dull old ceiling again and the chiming of the clock right outside her door. Rolling off her pile of pillows she used as a mattress she sat up and pulled on her apron. She checked the small furnace in the corner of the room, the embers were still glowing, barely giving off any heat. She held her hands in front of them for a moment to warm them up before forcing herself to start her day. She slipped on her shoes, tied up her hair and stepped into the kitchen, quickly eating a chunk of bread and cheese for breakfast. She grabs the broom and starts to sweep up the kitchen and surrounding area, the first on her todo list for the day. As she's sweeping she sees the little bracelet that Will made her for her fifteenth birthday.

Ella felt excited. She did her chores with an exuberance that she normally didn't have. It was her fifteenth birthday and she was determined to finish early, even with the extra tasks. She asked to spend the day with Will this morning and Madam Tremaine had accused her of laziness and added on extra things for her to do.

As the day passed she realized how impossible it would be to complete everything. She resigned herself to spending her birthday alone, so when she saw Will and Ms. Tessa poked their heads into the kitchen she squealed in delight. "Happy birthday!" Will ran foreword, wrapped El in his arms and swung her around in a hug.

Ella giggled and threw her arms around Will's neck, happy that her best friend was here to celebrate with her. When Will finally let her down she turned and hugged Ms. Tessa. "I'm glad you came! I thought I was going to be spending the day alone..."

Ms. Tessa looked at her, "You didn't think we would let you spend your birthday alone, did you?"

Ella ducked her head and smiled, "Well no, but I have a lot of chores to do."

Will's eyes widened, "Even on your birthday? That's unfair!"

El shook her head sadly, "Madam doesn't care, she says I shouldn't try to be slacking off for any reason."

Will face grew dark, "Slacking off?! It's your birthday! You deserve a day of! She can't keep working you into the ground!"

"Will! Leave it alone." Ms. Tessa gave Will a look that said they would be talking about it later. "Anyways dear, we brought you a present."

Ella's face lit up in joy as Will took out a small parcel wrapped in cloth and placed it in her hands. She could tell he was still upset about Madam Tremaine but she saw him shove that aside and wait with bated breath for her to open her gift. Ella turned it in her hands before carefully unwrapping an intricate bracelet. It was woven with some type of string that Ella couldn't identify, but it had her favorite colors and she could tell that someone had put quite a bit of effort into making it. "It's beautiful. Who made it?"

Will smiled, "I did! It took me forever, but I finished in time for your birthday."

Ella wrapped her arms around Will once again. "Put it on!" She held out her wrist practically bouncing up and down in excitement. When Will finished tying it she let out a small squeal and hugged both Will and Ms. Tessa once more.

Ella laughed to herself as she remembered the rest of the day with Will. She finished sweeping, grabbed the sack of chicken feed, and headed outside. Ella was glad that Madame hadn't sold the animals, she liked to spend time with them whenever she was feeling lonely. She threw hay to the horses and put the slop out for the pigs, then started to feed the chickens. As she was walking throwing out the seed, she realized how different her life must be from Charlie's.

Yesterday she had gone to see Charlie, and she was going to tell him about her life. She was going to tell him that she was a servant for her stepmother. However, when she got there Charlie had said he had news too. She smiled as she remembered him stumbling at the beginning before rushing through his words. She was still shocked at what he had said. He told her that he was the prince. Ella laughed and thought he was joking at first before realizing he was serious. Charlie started to ramble really fast and it took her a moment before she realized that he was nervous she wouldn't want to be his friend any more or treat him differently. As soon as Ella shut him up and reassured him that she didn't think any different they had a great time together. Yet she never got to tell him her news, and now she wasn't sure she wanted to.

Ella sighed as she finished up outside and headed into the kitchen to start breakfast. She sympathized with the maids who have done this for years, she never quite realized all the work that went into the house. She was starting to fill the kettle up for morning tea when she heard Madam Tremaine yell for her. Ella glanced at the clock, panicked that she was running late for breakfast, but she was on time. Confused, Ella finished setting up the kettle over the fire and pattered up the steps to Madam's room to see what she needed.

Ella stopped outside the room and knocked, she could hear Madam walking around inside as she opened the door. Ella stepped inside the door and closed it behind her, "Yes ma'am?" Madam turned around, a look of contempt on her face, took two steps toward Ella and backhanded her. Ella lost her balance and fell to the ground, her mouth open. She'd never been hit before, certainly not by an adult.

"Don't ever be late. When I call you, you come straight here. Is that understood?" Madam Tremaine stalked away, leaving Ella on the floor, wondering what just happened. As Ella slowly stood up Madam began speaking as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened and Ella's face did not have a bright red hand print on it. "Now, I want you to bring the girls and I our Sunday best and be sure they are cleaned and pressed. This does not mean that you can slack off with breakfast, I'm sure my girls are hungry." She paused for a moment, staring out the window, "By the way, don't bother gathering your own Sunday clothes, I've decided that the church doesn't need your presence there. You aren't worthy enough to be in the house of God."

At these words Ella felt tears coming to her eyes. Going to church was always something she did with her Mum and Papa, along with praying at every meal. She was very religious. Being told that was denied to her was taking away another thing that connected her to her family. Still staring out the window Madam waved a hand at Ella, "Now, child." Ella flinched when the hand was flung towards her, but quickly made her exit.

Later that evening, Ella was washing laundry, she was focusing all her anger on the piece of clothing in her hands as she scrubbed it up and down. She didn't hear the footsteps behind her, nor Will calling her name, she only became aware of his presence when he grabbed her shoulder. She flinched and jumped away from his hand, letting out a little squeak, but when she realized it was only Will she relaxed and smiled, "Will! You scared me!"

Will looked at her wide eyed, "El! What happened to your face? It's bruised!" Ella panicked for a moment, she didn't think that it would bruise.

She racked her brains for some time of excuse. Some part of her mind thought that she should just tell him the truth, but something else told her that would be a bad idea. "Um...well," El glanced around and saw the barn, and an idea came to her, "when I was feeding the horses this morning one of them head butted me. Caught me unawares. It's no big deal." She smiles at Will like nothing was wrong, praying that he didn't catch her lie.

He looked skeptical for a moment then he relaxed, "Okay. Why weren't you at church this morning? I wanted to introduce you to someone. Are you sick? You never miss church." Will quickly stepped foreword and placed a hand on El's forehead, ignoring the small step backwards she took.

Ella sputtered and swatted at his hand, "I'm not sick!" Ella glanced down and became quieter, ashamed of what had transpired this morning, "And the reason I didn't come to church this morning was because Madam told me I wasn't allowed to."

Will became very still and stared at Ella, "I'm sorry, I must have heard you wrong. Did you say 'not allowed'?" Ella gave a quick jerk of her head, "That woman! How dare she! She has no right." Will had started to pace but he stopped, turned to Ella, realizing how upset she was, and scooped her up in a hug. "I'm sorry. I know that you go to see your parents on Sundays." Ella nodded and surreptitiously wiped away tears. They stood there a moment before Ella mumbles something about finishing the laundry, and without a word Will bends down to help her. They finish the laundry in companionable silence, occasionally making a comment but for the most part enjoying each others company.

Anastasia looked down from the window, watching as Will helped Ella outside, she smirked as she stalked off to her mother to explain how Ella was slacking off. Maybe this time she'll get what she deserves, which in Anastasia's mind is much more than a measly smack. She barged into her mothers office ranting about the spoiled brat, telling her mother that it wasn't fair for her to slack off in her duties and that she should be punished.

Luckily her mother agrees.

Hey guys :) soooooo I have decided to make no more deadline promises...because i can't keep them and it makes me feel like a terrible person. But I've spent A TON of time writing this chapter the way I like it and so its much longer than the last one :) You're also seeing like the fourth version of this chapter so...yeah...that's also what takes me forever to write things. Please review! It makes my day! Oh and if you could tell me if you prefer shorter chapters that come out sooner or longer chapter which take me a while that would be amazing :) You guys are awesome!

-tft