Nothing says 'I'm sorry' like gumbo

One Shot

Lol today is literally Normani Day and yet, here I am dropping another fic. To all tuning into this fic, I hope y'all enjoy it.:D Feedback of any kind is very much appreciated.:)

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Audrey looks up from her plate and into the eyes of her childhood friend, giggling at having caught him staring.

            Ben laughs along with her, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry." He pauses to stare at her hair for the umpteenth time, the tresses having been blonde yesterday but now dyed a nice shade of black. Smiling, he says, "It's just that you were a brunette from the day you were in diapers and then went blonde and now—" He raises his hand, using it to gesture toward her hair. "—this. It's a great look, though."

            Audrey smiles sunnily. "Why thank you, Your Majesty." Her and Ben were early birds, the princess having been out on an early morning stroll through the campus when she'd run into Ben, the royal giggling internally at the memory of Ben coming to a stop before shamelessly gaping at her.

            Ben brings his glass of orange juice up to his smiling lips. After getting over the shock of accidentally encountering his best friend in her new hair, his hunger for food is what had him insisting to the girl that they go out to the local diner for breakfast with him paying, of course. "We haven't come here together in forever."

            Audrey nods. "Yeah." She's aware that it's rude to have her elbows on the table but the princess doesn't really care at the moment, the beauty saying, "You wanna know what else we haven't done together in forever? Have dinner at my place."

            Ben chuckles. "Right you are."

            "Then it's settled," Audrey says smilingly. "You're officially coming over to Honeymoon Cottage tomorrow night for dinner."

            The grinning king opens his mouth to reply but he's interrupted by an unfamiliar voice.

            "Audrey!"

            Audrey blinks at the sound of that voice, it being more than familiar to her ears. She could only confirm if it was really who she thought it was with her eyes, Audrey raising her head up and staring at a blonde girl she hadn't seen in quite a while. The princess's mouth comes apart. Janice...

            Janice giggles, approaching the table her old friend and the king of Auradon were sitting at, grinning at Audrey. "I thought that was you. How have you been?"

            Ben looks away from new arrival to observe Audrey's face, the smile on his friend's face forced.

            Audrey laughs awkwardly. Well, with everything that had happened, she could definitely be a lot worse. "I've been getting by. What about you?" Seeing Janice again was definitely a surprise. Whether or not she could consider her appearance a nice surprise is something Audrey is still having trouble determining. No, of course it was nice to see Janice! Janice was her friend, after all.

            Janice smiles. "I've been doing great." The mole faced girl's smile falls from her face. "I heard about what happened." She winces, laughing as she says, "That definitely wasn't your best moment as princess of Auroria."

            Janice's insensitivity brings a frown to Ben's face, his closed mouth moving with a desire to break his silence.