Chapter Text
It was a lovely spring day at Ever After High. A rare time when there was nothing to do, not even a dragon to slay.
The only thing left to think about was love.
The Charming siblings were meeting up for their weekly coffee break.
Dexter and Darling were chatting animatedly about their classes and recent endeavours, Daring, however, was somewhere else entirely. He had been staring off into space ever since they got there.
“Daring, what do you think?” Dexter asked, turning to his older brother.
Daring did not respond and instead sighed.
“Daring?” Dexter called, waving his hand in Daring’s face.
“Daring!” Darling said loudly, making heads turn in the café.
“Hmm? Oh, yes. I agree.” Daring said absentmindedly.
“Really? Are you sure Raven will like a bracelet?” Dexter started to mumble about other options.
“I’m telling you, Dex, Raven will like anything you give her. She’s not the picky type.” Darling said.
“It’s our first anniversary, and I really don’t want to mess this up, Darl. What if I get her something so horrible that she breaks up with me and avoids me forever!”
Darling gave her twin brother a skeptical look.
“I know, I know. I shouldn’t worry so much.”
“That’s better. Now, Daring, what have you been thinking about this entire time?” Darling asked.
“Me? Oh, nothing at all, little sister. No need to worry.” Daring said, while fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
Darling and Dexter shared a strangely mischievous look. The twins clearly had the same thought.
“Do you…by any chance…have a crush, Daring?” Dexter asked, as casually as he could.
“What! No, I mean yes, I mean…no?” Daring sputtered.
This was definitely new for the siblings. Never had Daring ever had a crush. It was usually just other girls having a crush on him.
The twins were especially worried about Daring, because he had been different since he found out that he wasn’t going to be Apple’s prince. That wasn’t his destiny, and it never would be. His destiny was also not the beast of Rosabella’s story. Rosabella had made it quite clear that she didn’t want to follow her mother’s destiny and would write her own story. They had remained friends, of course, because they weren’t in love. He had been seemingly given two destinies, which were both taken away from him.
Daring sighed, defeated and unable to come up with another refute.
“It’s not really a crush. I’m dating someone.” Daring said.
That dropped like a bomb on his siblings, who both had wide eyes and their mouths ajar.
“YOU’RE DATING SOMEONE!?” The twins screamed.
Daring gave them a light glare. “Sure, just announce it to everyone.”
Luckily, the café was relatively empty and everyone was polite enough not to stare. Still, Daring wanted to crawl into a hole and never come back up.
“Who is it?” Dexter whispered, over-correcting his previous reaction.
“It’s Sparrow.” Daring muttered, only loud enough for the other two to hear.
If him dating someone didn’t fry their brains already, who he was dating did. They sat in an awkward silence for nearly 5 whole minutes, before Darling collected herself and cleared her throat.
“So, when did you two start dating?” Darling asked.
“It’s been on and off since first year.” Daring said with a shrug.
That was news. It was no secret that Sparrow was Daring’s best friend. Despite seemingly having nothing in common, they were always quite close, and they had been roommates since their first year at Ever After High. However, nothing about their relationship seemed to go beyond platonic.
“Wait, if you two are already dating, then why the sighing?” Dexter asked as Daring started to stare deeply into his coffee.
“I was thinking about introducing him to mom and dad.”
“But they already know him? Did you forget he’s at our castle almost all summer every year?” Darling asked.
“But as my boyfriend, they don’t! Can you imagine how they’ll react? They weren’t exactly thrilled when I told them that I wasn’t Apple’s prince. How are they going to react when I tell them that I want to write my own destiny?”
Their parents weren’t the most open-minded and had already made it quite clear that they weren’t very happy with Sparrow being Daring’s friend, let alone his boyfriend.
“I find it’s best to just tell mom and dad these kinds of things. They’ll have to get over it eventually.” Darling said. “They weren’t super happy about Dex dating Raven, but it’s not like they disowned him.”
“This is different, Darling! I’m supposed to be the golden child. I’m supposed to be the one who does things right.”
Darling was taken aback. She had never really seen her brother blow up like this. She also never knew how much pressure their parents really put on Daring.
“Daring, if you’re really that nervous, we can be there when you tell them.” Darling suggested.
Daring sighed. “I don’t really know it that’ll help, but thanks sis.”
“Anytime, big brother.”