A Not-So Charming Family [Re-Writing]

4. A Half Charming Family Reunion

Daring sits in his chair listening to his father ask a series of questions to him and his siblings. Of course, most of them were for him, but it's not like Daring minded. He has no complaints about feeding his already overflowing ego. Although, as the minutes pressed on each answer he gave seemed to be the bare minimum. He had begun to zone out, too focused on staring at his jawline or admiring his perfect eyebrows that his heart nearly dropped out of his ass when his father asked him the exact question that he had been avoiding.

"Daring, my boy, how is your relationship status?"

He swears to the gods he can feel the beads of sweat forming on what was his perfect brows. "Well, I, um . . . it's absolutely charming of course! Apple and I are perfectly happy. Oh, yes we're doing spelltacular!" Oh curses, now he's probably going to say something about our story. 

He desperately wants to tear his golden locks right out of his scalp. One mention of Apple is all it takes for his father to dive into a conversation about Darings future.

"Excellent! Hexcited about your story, I see."

"Yes, of course! Why wouldn't I be . . ." Daring is a nervous laugher. He can't help but chuckle under pressure. Not to mention he's a terrible liar. There's no doubt that he's lucky his parents don't catch it.

King Charming rises to his feet and claps Daring on his shoulder, grinning with pride. "That's my boy," he pauses momentarily before turning to Dexter. "Dean, why can't you be like your brother here? He's got a wonderful girlfriend, he's perfect, and he know his fairytale future. It's time you take a few pointers and better yourself for the sake of our reputation."

"Sorry, sir. I'll do my best." Dexter apologizes.

The change in atmosphere is hard to miss. Even Daring feels bad after hearing his father's mean remarks.

"Well, um, actually, Dexter has been seeing a girl from—" Darling kicks him at the side of his leg, hinting for him to stop talking.

"What I meant to say was, he saw a girl in the hall and almost talked to her, but sadly he got nervous, and I, um had to help him out." His attempt to build his brother up had failed, putting him back to square one yet again.

"Tisk tisk. Wimpish and completely unprepared. Daring, make sure to take your brother under your wing," To be honest, it sounded more like a command than a request or a suggestion.

"As I always do, dad."

"Charming Family meeting dismissed. Everyone enjoy the next few hours of free time before the ball begins."

"Um, dad, can I ask you a question?" Dexter suddenly prompted as everyone was rising to their feet, preparing to leave the room.

King Charming mumbles a few things and adjusts his crown before speaking, "I suppose so. What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering what this homecoming ball is for? I mean, we didn't do that last year. What's the special occasion?" He questions, pushing his thick framed glasses up his nose bridge.

"This ball is to support and show our dedication for the Legacy Year. The storybooks are close to opening once again, beginning the next cycle of fairytales and destinies. Don't strain yourself too much over it, though. You barely have one to stress about anyways, Dexter," How charming...

Daring visually frowns. Those words were royally unexpected. He does feel a sense of slight guilt, had he really prompted such crushing remarks from his father? Did that make Daring a terrible person? Sometimes it's hard for him to see outside of himself. He tends to forget how difficult his siblings have it.

"Right, thanks for answering my question, dad."

Their father says nothing more and exits from the room, disappearing in the many hallways of the palace. Dexter rips his glasses off of his face and rubs the palms of his hands over his eyes. Darling offers him her support by patting him on the back, her features overtaken by a mixture of worry and anger.

"The one freaking time he gets my name right . . ." Dexter whispers to himself.

Daring shifts his weight from foot to foot. He's debating whether or not he should give some words of encouragement, too. Ultimately he offers quietly, "I know that's gotta sting, little bro . . ."

"Yeah, well, it does. It hurts a lot, Daring," his voice reaches a higher octave and it sounds like he might just cry, "I feel like such a disappointment. Like no matter what I do or what I say will never be good enough for him. What on fairytale earth am I doing wrong? I don't get it,"

In that moment Daring feels his heart sink. Maybe he shouldn't be here, his presence is just making things worse. He shouldn't try to help anymore, all it does is backfire and hurt his beloved brother. Daring squeezes passed the twins without another word. On his way out, he lets the door loudly shut behind him, pretending that the sight of his sister comforting his sullen brother doesn't bother him at all.

—

"Maybe it's because I'm the middle child or something. I seriously can't wrap my crown around it. I've done everything he's ever told me and I never complain! If he hates me that bad then it's his fault for helping put me in this world. It's not my fault that he couldn't—"

"Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there," They're sitting down again, Darling calmly holding his hands in attempts to ease his nerves and to let him know that she's there for him.

"Dex, you're a great guy, you don't need dad's approval to know that. Stop letting Daring's perfectionism get into your brain, alright? I love you just the way you are, with or without all of your dorky qualities, and I sure as hex know that anyone would be lucky to have you. Know that you are worth it and you will always be enough. There's no reason to change for someone that isn't yourself." Darling encouraged me while playfully nudging me in the arm.

Dexter let's the words sink in. His sister is right, he doesn't need to change himself for anybody at anyone's expense. He's already perfect in his own distinctly charming ways and it's quite alright that he's different from others in his family. He's so grateful to have someone so kind as his sister. Without Darling being the mediator in the family so many things could have gone wrong.

"Why don't we hang out in my room? We can watch something to get your mind off of everything?" She asked, nudging him with her elbow. It's a regular thing that they like to do when situations like this happen.

"Do you mind if it's my room this time? I brought some new edition comics if you want to check them out. Or we can just talk?"

Darling springs to her feet. "Can a princess be her own rescuer? That sounds spelltastic,"

That makes Dexter crack a smile. They're laughing when they reach Dexter's room, retelling old stories from when they were kids. Darling waltzes over to her brother's comic book shelf and begins flipping through a few of the selections before deciding on one that she liked, fittingly named 'Princess Charming: Tales of a Warrior Princess'. Dexter looks at her with a goofy expression, letting her know that he got the hint.

"What? It's like the best comic ever next to Wander Woman!" She playfully argues.

Dexter crashes on his bed holding the thin paper between his fingers, skimming the lines of dialogue between the hero and the villain. "Of course. My apologies, your Royal Highness," He teases flipping to the next page.

"Whatever after, Dexterous Charming." She says, introducing and imitation of their mother.

"Well played."

"Indeed."

Before he knew it, Dexter was beginning to feel better already. Though, do not be mistaken, he still carries the burden of his family expectations; it's just that, now, they're not at the forefront of his mind. He's more interested in finding out how his favorite protagonist will set things right within their world of fictional chaos. The ball is meant to be worried over another time.