Muggle Kingdom

Maya rested her head against the trunk of the tree that stood by the lake, listening to the gentle lap of the water. It was nice. Serene.

Though her mind was troubled. She wanted to tell Zach about what had happened. On that night when she couldn't find him for comfort, and then she had wandered the streets and that man-

She raked a hand through her hair, trying to expel the images in her mind. She had come here in search of peace, not more anxiety. Maya looked round quickly for Zach. He still wasn't here.

She loved him. So, so much. He felt like a part of her now. But after the attack...

She felt so alone, it was unbearable.

He couldn't even force himself to smile, not even for the light of his eyes. Troubled and tired, that's how he felt nowadays, ever since his sister ran away from home and never came back. Well, he knew she was okay, hoped that everything was right, for she was probably in that school of hers but still...no letters, no phone calls from her, nothing. It was all making him feel empty and confused all the time.

And now, him being so different than he used to be, living without parties, wild nights, alcohol, cigarettes and pot, there was just one thing that could help him, one person that could get him back on track, the one, his breath of fresh air, the girl who made him better, his little birdy, Amaya.

"Hey", he said warmly to her, his eyes filling with love. "You know I missed you like crazy?"

Zach turned to the person standing next to him and gave her a warm smile too. "I brought someone with me, someone I would like you too meet."

Maddie was one of Zach's friends. His bestest one in fact or that was what she thought at least. She looked at the girl Zach had told her about many times. The girl that always made him smile. Maddie noticed Zach going downhill what with his sister leaving and all and thought that Amaya was the only person that can bring him up of the whole he dug himself into.

She looked at Amaya then. She was as Zach described. Brunette, Pretty and she was surely smart. But Maddie couldn't help but notice she was slightly troubled. She had a keen eye for these sort of things.

She smiled slightly back at Zach a bit nervous to be meeting her best friend's girlfriend. "Hello" she said meekly her french accent kicking in. "I have heard a lot of tales of you from Zach."

Maya looked up from her hands at the sound of footsteps coming towards her. Her heart instantly lightened at the sight of Zach and she smiled warmly at him. It had been far too long since they had last seen each other. She frowned inwardly, careful not to let her concern show. He looked- he felt- different. Like, something was a bit off about him. The last time they had met again, he had immediately enveloped her into a hug.

Now it was just a smile.

Shaking herself mentally and forcing herself to brush it off, she hugged him briefly and kissed him on the cheek quickly. It took all the effort she had to step away from him again. "Missed you too." Maya said shyly, conscious of the other person there.

"Hi." Maya said, half of her body hiding behind Zach's. French. And Lord, she was really pretty. Had Zach ever mentioned her before? She didn't remember anything about a French girl.

"Really?" she asked with a small smile, moving a little bit more forwards.

As she kissed him on the cheek, he took her in his hands and pressed his lips onto hers, passionately but gently at the same time. He wanted to show her how much he wanted her, but felt awkward about Mads looking at them so he controlled his emotions and smiled, looking directly into Mayas eyes. "You are beautiful", he said and kissed her again.

The boy frowned as his best friend gave his secret away. Looking at Mads first, and then shifting his eyes at Amaya again, he made a weird smile. "Don't trust anything she tells you", he said, still smiling weirdly. "I mean, you are my no.1 topic these days, but she'll probably tell you only the embarrassing stuff, and I'll look like a stalker."

He moved from his girlfriend for a moment and stood between them. "Maya, this is my best friend in the whole wide world, Mads." He was extra careful while he said that, trying not to sound too nervous, for he was feeling nervous as hell, for no apparent reason, well at least, not to him.

"Mads, this is the one that I'll never let go off, the girl of my dreams, the one I can see myself next to for the rest of my life, Maya."

Maddie quickly looked away from the kissing couple, whistling innocently as she did. She glanced back at them. "Can I look now?" she said childishly but smiling all the while. She frowned at Zach "Hey! I won't tell her how you've been dying to see her for who knows when and that you keep a picture of her in your wallet at times!" she proclaimed before her hands went to quickly cover her mouth.

She smiled sheepishly, shrugging small. "Woops?" she said. She nodded at the girl, giving her a bright smile. "C'est un plaisir.." she said before mentally whacking herself then saying in English" It's a pleasure to meet you and yes really"

Maya felt a dark red blush stain her cheeks as Zach began to kiss her right in front of Mad. Maya shifted uncomfortably, but kissed him back gently all the same. It was easy for Zach, he was always the more sociable of the two of them. It was so natural for him to be with people, and people loved being around him. She returned his small smile silently as he broke away from her, not taking into account the compliment. He always said ridiculous things like that, it didn't make them any more true. Though, he was still sweet for saying it. But how could he honestly say that with Mad standing right behind him? Feeling slightly disheartened and hurt by her own thoughts, she zoned out a bit when he continued to speak. She just nodded and laughed quietly- although it was fake. Noticeably so. God, why was she so bad with people?

Maya bit her lip worriedly when he moved away from her. What was her problem? She wasn't usually so...God, she wasn't usually so clingy. But then, there weren't usually intimidating, beautiful French girls who were-

Best friends in the whole wide world.

She thought... Why was she such an idiot?! Just because she was so anti social it didn't mean that-

"Hey." she said with a small, polite smile. "Um." Maya shifted. "Pleasure to meet you too."

"Speaking in French again?" he asked, smirking and giggling in the same time. "Guess what, I know some French too. Omelette. Yup, that was it." The boy turned around to look at Maya again, smiling at one of his bad jokes, but when he noticed her facial expression, he deeply frowned. He didn't want to make a scene in front of Mads, but he knew that something was wrong, cause it was pretty obvious.

Usually, Zach didn't notice the little things, but this time his head was in the right place.

"So, Amaya, do you remember when you met, well actually saw Mads for the first time?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

Mad blushed in embarrassment before rolling her eyes and grinning. "Sure Zach! You sure know your french!" she said before looking at Amaya. She frowned a bit noticing something. She wandered to her side and cupped her hands on her ear. "Maya..." she whispered quietly so Zach would not hear. "Do not be intimidated or jealous of moi... It is you who Zach loves not i" she said, knowing the girl was feeling self-conscious with her around.

She moved back before coughing convincingly.