Ever After High Ships One-Shots

What The Future Holds (Darlapple, Darling x Apple)

Author's Note: More on the author's note below this story. Also, I'm very sorry for I am very rusty! It's 6AM and it was 3AM (or was it 2AM?) when I randomly decided to write this despite having finally flushed out the entirety of Ever After High from my noggin. THANKS FOR READING AND HOPE YOU ENJOY! Image is not mine, this is its link: https://66.media.tumblr.com/2251603c12f37ed433f3761d61da5ffc/tumblr_pl6vu5cmji1uijk27_540.jpg

After the events of the Dragon Games, Apple was confused about multiple things, including, but not limited to, her future, her beliefs and her sexuality. Everything she had believed about her Prince Daring Charming and her perfect, planned fairy tale had crumbled into puzzle pieces that had to be glued back together. Unfortunately, when she joined the segments together, every matching end to its corresponding matching end, the big picture depicted a new, different story.

She broke up with Daring immediately after the games, she was only dating him because marrying him was an inevitability, so it's better to get to know him first before being thrust into accepting a sudden and forced proposal and bearing his children. She lamented as she remembered the heaps of money she spent on wooing him, trying to be a better girlfriend.

Perhaps, not all was lost, Apple thought, for she always preached looking on the bright side and she would never forget to practice what she preaches (Raven whole-heartedly disagrees to this, spell, even I, the Narrator, disagree). Apple noted with futile hope that her prince is still in there somewhere, because the word "princess" retains its "prince", and her last name later on will remain exactly the same, Charming. "Later on... Later on, huh?" Apple pondered aloud as she sat on the staircase of the school she dominated, plopping her arms that were carrying her books onto her thighs.

She began to imagine what her future with Darling would hold, like she usually would, sometimes. The further she went into her visions, the more she saw that everything would be more or less the same. Except for a feeling that wasn't there before, a lovely feeling that even the most handsome boy with the most gorgeous and blinding smile couldn't bring out, specifically Daring. And a feeling that Daring was able to, on the other hand, had disappeared from these fictional moments with her Darling, previously present in the fictional moments with Daring. That feeling was akin to pain. These fresh and fluttering feelings with Darling was, too, however, the pain was more from resisting an irresistible urge to grin widely.

In her prophecies of the future, every time Darling would take her to admire a sunset on the moist sand of the seashore, or romantically glide across the ballroom with her hands firmly yet gently grasping her waist, or plant a sweet peck on her forehead before they drifted off to sleep on their king size bed made for two queens, or invite her to a special night out consisting of beverages, feasts and an unhealthy amount of shopping at the mall, or simply tussling her hair as she applied her make-up (which Apple would sincerely remark that she didn't need), her heart would just feel a spark. The edges of her mouth would curl upwards. Her cheeks would forget to maintain homostasis (Narrator's note, yes, I mean homeostasis, let me make a gay joke slash pun, okay? The author made me do this). Every square centimeter that Darling would touch would heat up. Every moment of her daydream would muddle her further yet leave her with a feeling of joy, along with a feeling of longing, but Apple would never admit that out loud.

Apple heard the bell chime. The last period is beginning. It snapped her out of her trance, she began to stand up to head to her room and... study? (Nah fam she was gonna continue her gay fantasies and I oop). Earlier, she was in no rush to leave to her dorm because the last two periods were free periods for her and the halls would usually be empty and as silent as the room when Darling kissed her. "Ack!" Apple regretted recalling that blissful feeling, "This is NOT spelltacular." Her joints had given in, she watched pitifully as her poor textbooks were tumbling down the stairs and she cursed as her heavy History textbook plummeted on her foot before bouncing off to a step below and she wondered why she even ticked the history subject box on the form when deciding which subjects to study and she tensed when she heard Darling's voice behind her as her mind fell along with her books.