Work Text:
See, Apple White never saw herself as the jealous or the protective type.
First of all, jealousy—while understandable—was an evil emotion. An ugly emotion. It was something Apple did not want to encapsulate at all. After all, how could she ever be anything less than perfect?
And being protective? That wasn’t proper of a princess, nor was it her job. That was the job of the knights or the princes of the fairytale world. A princess could not protect anybody, and there was no need for her to do so, anyways.
Not that she had to be a perfect princess, anymore. Not since they’ve left all of that Storybook of Legends stuff in the past, but of course, it still lingers with Apple. The scolds of her mother, the threats thinly disguised as compliments of Headmaster Grimm, or the sickly sweet treatment she gets from that student body.
That desire to be perfect. That need to be perfect.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?”
Apple blinks. Suddenly, she’s in the Hocus Latte. There’s a piping hot cup of coffee in her hands and she immediately places it down once she feels the scorching heat seep through her bones. At the realization that she had gotten all caught up in her head, she melts into the cushion beneath her out of embarrassment.
“Apple.” The voice calls again. When Apple looks up, she sees Darling and Raven both in armchairs similar to the one she was sitting in in front of her. Despite her embarrassment, they look awfully fond of her judging by the soft smiles on both of their faces.
It makes little fairies explode in Apple’s stomach—figuratively, at least. She remembers when Faybelle had played that prank on Duchess. The swan had been infuriated about it for months on end, and Apple really doesn’t want to live through that same pain, as much as she doesn’t like Duchess.
“Apple, you didn’t answer Darling’s question,” Raven repeats herself. She looks slightly concerned, but the fondness overtakes anything else. This must have been a usual thing for her.
Apple takes a good look at the two girls in front of her. Both of them are large parts of her destiny, and yet she found that she couldn’t care less about that factor anymore. They had been there for her even when she had been difficult, mean, and all-around a less-than-fairytastic person to say the least.
All the assurances from them were more than enough to undo all of the insecurities her mother and Headmaster Grimm had unapologetically piled on top of her shoulders. Suddenly, she feels herself cracking a smile as she sits up straight, all prim and proper like she is used to.
“Never better!” Apple exclaims, with a smile so wide it makes both of her girlfriends melt.
Of course, possessiveness over destiny has never been something Apple had found easy to shake off.
Especially with the fact that she is actively in love with two major factors of her destiny…well, she can’t help but still feel obligated to be with them at all times. It was funny, really, but she never quite cared whenever Daring ran off with his other red-coded girl of the week, so the destiny part surely wasn’t the main reason why she was jealous.
It made her blush sometimes, how clearly in love she was with Darling and Raven.
So, when she sees Dexter Charming speaking with Raven in the hallways as she walks out of her last class of the day, she feels something akin to annoyance at the sight. Apple’s eyes narrow angrily seeing the way Dexter tries to inch ever closer to Raven as the conversation went on, and Apple never hesitated when it came to her girlfriends.
She doesn’t notice her feet bringing her closer and closer to them.
“Hi, Raven,” Apple says in a sickly sweet voice, getting on her tippy toes to place a loud kiss on the rebel’s cheek. Surprised, Raven blushes madly as she places her hand on where Apple had kissed her, still unused to Apple’s physical affection.
“Hey, Apple,” Raven greets back, sounding lovesick earning a satisfied huff from Apple.
Then, Apple looks at Dexter, and Dexter feels the ends of his hair stand on end as Apple’s expression morphs into a blank one. It was extremely uncharacteristic of her, and Dexter hadn’t seen anything like it before. He could feel his hands grow clammy. Without even a greeting, Apple looks Dexter up and down before asking in a sweet yet accusatory tone, “Don’t you have bookball practice today or something?”
Dexter, clearly not getting any sort of hint, simply smiles confusedly.
“Er, no, Apple,” He states, his nervousness growing as Apple’s eyes narrow despite the smile on her face persisting. “Actually, bookball practice is in two days—“
“Are you sure about that?” Apple pouts a little too nicely, batting her eyelashes. Despite her somewhat kind tone, her next words come out as more of a threat, a clear bite in her words. “You know, Coach Gingerbreadman doesn’t do well with absences.”
Dexter seems to have finally gotten the hint, or maybe it had something to do with however Apple looked at that moment.
His eyes were wide out of fear, and Apple swears she sees a bead of sweat drip down the side of his face. “Right, I’ll recheck,” He stammers out almost pathetically. He doesn’t even say a goodbye, running away as if he had a tail in between his legs and nearly running into a locker in his haste to get away from one Apple White.
Apple’s usual smile spreads across her face once more, a delighted hum escaping her lips.
Her expression was a comical contrast to Raven whose expression shifted into one of annoyance. Turning to Apple, she frowns.
“What in the hex was that, Apple?”
“He had a crush on you,” Apple replies as if it is obvious, as if that was a satisfactory answer.
“Had is the keyword here, Apple.” Raven says with a frustrated sigh.
“Are you sure it’s just a ‘had’, Raven?” Apple almost growls, and her eyes immediately widen when Raven looks almost taken aback. About to quickly apologize, a devious, uncharacteristically evil grin suddenly spreads across the girl’s face and Apple feels dread crawl up her spine instead.
“Is somebody jealous?”
Apple’s eyes widen comically.
“Princesses don’t get jealous!” She is quick to squeak. All of her bravado is fading away right in front of her very eyes in the face of Raven’s teases. “Look, he was trying to get closer to you! I saw it!”
“Yeah, because he couldn’t see what I was showing him on my mirrorphone.” Raven laughs. “Do you think his glasses are just for show, Apple?”
Apple pouts, grumbling to herself, “He didn’t have to get that close.”
Raven raises an eyebrow. “You are so jealous.”
“So not.”
“So are.”
“So not!”
“So are.”
“Raven!” Apple groans.
Raven rolls her eyes. “Okay. Even if you apparently aren’t jealous…” Apple pouts once more, crossing her arms. “…you still spooked him.”
“Maybe, he shouldn’t get so close to you next time.”
Of course, it wasn’t just Dexter, as much as he was definitely one of the more annoying ones. Apple feels her annoyance grow thinking of all the times people hounded Raven with all of their requests regarding her magic. At the time, she thought she was just jealous of Raven and her growing popularity. In actuality, she supposed she wanted to steal Raven away for herself instead.
“So, you aren’t jealous?”
Apple thinks about it for a few moments, clicking her tongue.
“No.”
Raven, knowing this conversation wasn’t going to go anywhere, merely rolls her eyes playfully.
“We’re going to go apologize to Dexter later, okay?”
Apple huffs, draping herself all over Raven much to the girl’s amusement. It seems the mere mention of talking to Dexter once more made her annoyed and possessive all over again. Of course, Raven would be lying if she said she didn’t enjoy the affection.
“Do we have to?”
After a few beats of silence, there are suddenly lips pressed to her cheek, insistent and loving. Apple lets out a soft gasp as Raven’s lips curl into a fond smile against her cheek. When she pulls away, the proof of Raven’s love stays on Apple’s skin through the purple outline of her lips.
“Will that make you go apologize to Dexter,” Raven starts, “Or will I have to kiss you more to convince you that I’m yours and Darling’s and only that?”
Apple looks away shyly.
“Maybe…maybe, one more kiss could convince me.”
Raven wants to comment on the girl’s audacity, but she decides to laugh instead as she cups Apple’s cheek so lovingly and places a kiss to her lips. Apple feels her heart explode as she returns the kiss, curling her fingers around Raven’s own and squeezing it protectively.
“For somebody who acts so high and mighty when someone else gets close to me or literally around anyone else, you sure do get all shy when it’s just us and Darling,” Raven whispers against Apple’s lips as she slightly pulls away.
Apple doesn’t even bother to respond, far too happy with today’s turn of events judging by her stupid smile.
Raven’s next words, though, make her smile drop in the blink of an eye.
“Now, let’s go apologize to Dex.”
Apple groans. “Do you have to call him Dex?”
Raven playfully raises a teasing eyebrow, and Apple shrinks in on herself once more.
“…alright.”
The fact that Raven’s lipstick left a purple mark on her cheek as she eventually apologized to Dexter, though, filled her chest with a strange sense of pride, her chest almost puffing out the whole conversation. The way Dexter’s eyes seem to shyly glance at the mark every now and then fills her whole being with a sick sense of satisfaction.
“So,” Raven questions as they walk through the hallways of Ever After High after that conversation. They seem to be getting a lot of attention, and it’s probably the dark purple lipstick mark standing out against the pale skin of Apple’s cheek.
“…are you going to wipe that off anytime soon?”
Apple responds with a chipper, “Nope!”
At that, Raven merely shakes her head fondly, pressing another kiss atop the mark she just made.
“You are impossible.”
Apple is very used to receiving all sorts of gifts from strangers. In fact, it’s almost something she expects. Delusional men with personalities as interesting as paper who thought giving her roses plucked out from nearby gardens or baked treats from the local shops that Apple could easily get herself would be enough to have her swooning over them.
As sympathetic as she felt towards those poor men—who would never get a chance because, well, she wasn’t exactly into men—it never bothered her so much.
But when it happened to one of her girlfriends?
“Here, I baked this for you!”
And Apple isn’t stupid.
She can see the way Ginger stutters and blushes in front of Darling like the said girl’s girlfriend isn’t right there. How she shyly glances at Darling’s face every now and then before quickly looking away like she can’t take the girl’s beauty.
And there Darling was, almost as oblivious as Raven, simply smiling and nodding politely to everything Ginger was saying.
At one point, Darling flashes her a bright smile when Ginger extends the bag of cookies out towards her and the way Ginger melts at the expression causes Apple to dig her fingernails into her skin.
Apple doesn’t really notice how scary she looks. She’s just crossing her arms behind Darling, a smile on her face. That isn’t anything out of the ordinary, is it not? She’s just waiting for her girlfriend to return back to their conversation which Ginger very kindly interrupted.
She doesn’t notice the way poison drips from her irises or the way her lips are curled into a smile far too wide to be meant for anything good.
At some point, Ginger’s eyes stray from Darling to what was behind her, and the sight must have been so terrifying that all the color seems to drain from Ginger’s face.
“Sorry!” Ginger squeaks, shoving the bag of cookies into Darling’s hands and quickly sprinting away down the halls leaving behind a very confused knight. When Darling turns back to look at her, Apple’s uncharacteristic expression causes her eyes to widen a little.
Before Darling can say anything, Apple’s fake smile morphs into a frown.
“Does Ginger always have to give you sweets?”
Darling blinks as if she thinks she’s in a dream, before her usual charming smile returns back to her face. Walking over to Apple, she pockets the sweets before taking Apple’s hand. The affection doesn’t make the princess’s expression budge in the slightest.
“She gives everybody sweets.”
“No, she doesn’t,” Apple quickly replies. “I don’t get any. Briar doesn’t get any. Blondie or Ashlynn don’t either.” That realization only annoys her further.
“I’ve only seen her give sweets to you.”
A little more force was put into that ‘you’ than necessary.
Darling tilts her head. She looks like she just had an idea of what had gotten Apple into this state.
“Well,” She starts carefully, “maybe she’s simply thanking me for being the White Knight.”
Apple can’t hide a scoff at that.
Does Darling not know how many girls love her whole knight getup? Perhaps, aside from Raven, she’s probably the most sought after person in the school. Apple knows how many suitors Darling has gotten since she’s known her since childhood, and that number has only increased when she was revealed to be the White Knight.
And Ginger was one of the first people to be saved by her, to Apple’s knowledge.
It makes her face twist in annoyance.
“Does she have to thank you every single week?”
“How do you know she thanks me every single week?”
At this point, Darling looks almost teasing, but Apple didn’t get it. Of course, she knew Ginger gave sweets to Darling every week considering so many of their talks and dates have been interrupted by that girl! The memories make her frown.
“Apple, you’re weirdly interested in Ginger giving gifts to me,” Darling states, tilting her head out of confusion. “Is there anything hexactly wrong with that?”
Apple must have known she was fighting a losing battle judging by how she goes silent. Now, there was another factor annoying her. There wasn’t anything inherently wrong with it, and yet it was rubbing her the wrong away.
Finally, Darling can’t help but smile, dropping her act.
“You’re cute when you’re jealous, baby.”
“I’m not jealous,” Apple grumbles through gritted teeth, turning away and crossing her arms.
It’s after a few beats of silence does Darling sigh.
“I’m yours, you know that, right?” Darling questions, tenderly taking one of Apple’s hands and placing a soft kiss to the inside of her palm. Apple feels herself reflecting her namesake, her face turning a bright red color and her heart beating a million miles a minute.
“I’m only yours and Raven. I am dedicated to the two of you and the two of you only, and I do not plan on changing that forever after,” Darling mumbles against Apple’s palm, allowing the princess to feel every hot breath against sensitive skin.
Oh, fairy godmother help me.
“Curse you, Charming.” Apple finds herself blurting out, and Darling only laughs.
“You love me,” The knight responds with a cheeky wink only making Apple grow redder.
Apple uncharacteristically rolls her eyes. “So do many other girls.”
“And yet, I only love you.”
That makes Apple go dead silent, squeaking as she hides her bright red face in her hands, making Darling let go of the palm she was holding. This makes Darling laugh as she takes Apple’s hands and pries them away from her face, revealing Apple’s embarrassed yet adorable features.
“There’s my girl,” The knight whispers fondly as she presses her soft lips to Apple’s own.
Apple is shocked frozen until she very quickly melts into the kiss, her lips curling into a prideful grin as she places her hands on Darling’s hips and pulls her closer.
Take that, Ginger!
Apple knows pushy suitors more than anyone else (except Darling, she supposes.)
She thought she would have gotten used to it by now. The candidates for her prince charming that her mother would send her way before Darling, or even Daring, came into the picture. Once more, the delusional men that thought her heart could be bought with status or money. Or even brute force, which were definitely her least favorite ones.
And yes, maybe she had gotten used to it.
Yet, seeing her girlfriends facing a pushy suitor was an all-around different experience.
With the ball they were attending being open for all students from across the fairytale world, it meant the ball was open to pushy princes who desperately wanted a princess for themselves too.
Apple, returning from the concessions stand with a half-eaten plate of fairy fries, stops dead in her tracks at the sight of a prince very clearly flirting with her girlfriends. And he wasn’t only flirting, judging by the looks on their faces.
Darling, as strong as she was, clearly looked uncomfortable as the prince inched closer and closer. She very subtly held out a protective arm in front of Raven, yet the fear in her eyes broke Apple’s heart for she knew how much Darling loathed any sort of suitors. She had been locked in a tower for years because of it, after all.
And Raven….oh, Raven. Raven who never quite experienced suitors the way Apple and Darling did clinged onto Darling like a lifeline. The fear in her eyes was much more clear to Apple than Darling’s, and the scared frown on her face made Apple clench her fist.
This was meant to be a night of fun. They were all so excited to party, Apple thinks disappointedly to herself, gripping her plate
People who had crushes on them, Apple could somewhat handle. She just got a little jealous, she begrudgingly admits to herself. Yet when it came to making her girlfriends uncomfortable?
Apple was seeing red. She didn’t even notice shoving her plate into an unaware Daring’s hands. Next thing she knows, she had walked up to them. Next thing she knows, she was tapping on the prince’s shoulder to get his attention. When he turns around with that stupid grin all the cocky princes wear, Apple just wants to punch him in the face.
“What in the hex do you think you’re doing?”
She doesn’t bother being nice, anymore.
“Oh, Apple White,” The prince almost purrs and it makes Apple sick to her stomach. She can see Darling and Raven’s terrified expressions flash in the back of her mind. “Funny to see you here. I was just entertaining your friends.”
Friends.
The thought of Darling and Raven just being her friends leaves a bitter taste in her mouth.
“You didn’t answer my question,” Apple grumbles through gritted teeth.
“I was just offering something.” When he says this, Apple can see Raven and Darling shaking their heads behind him. Not like Apple needed any confirmation to know they were uncomfortable. “I was just thinking about how wonderful it would be to have two wives to ensure a lineage!”
He grins so sickeningly. “You would agree with me, wouldn’t you, Apple White? I know you know how important lineages are in royalty.”
Apple connects the pieces far too quick and the implications fill her stomach with bile.
“Those are my girlfriends,” Apple cries almost desperately.
“Do you believe I do not know that?” The prince raises his eyebrow.
Apple watches with bated breath as he suddenly grabs both Raven and Darling’s wrists earning yelps of pain and protest from both girls. Darling, even with her strength, cannot seem to escape his hold out of clear shock. It seemed horrible memories Apple knows of well were flooding into both of their heads and Apple can feel her anger increase tenfold.
“Oh, don’t worry about them, Apple,” The prince coos, “In fact, I wouldn’t mind sharing them—!”
The sound of the slap echoes throughout the whole ballroom gaining everyone’s attention in the process.
Raven and Darling were set free, both looking at Apple with wide eyes as they tried to soothe the bruises on their wrists. The prince had crumpled to the ground, cradling the broken skin on his cheek. What shocked everyone the most though was who was standing over him, with fiery eyes and a terrifying look on her face.
“You stay away from them. Now and forever after, or else I promise you will not even see tomorrow!” The scream echoed throughout the ballroom and everyone watched the scene in shock as the prince glanced at Apple before looking around nervously.
In the corner of her eye, Apple could see a few students smiling proudly at her. She swore she oculd hear Maddie cheering in the distance. Some seemed shocked as well, never having seen this side of her, and some students even looked terrified themselves despite not being the target of Apple’s rage. Who knew all it took to tip off Apple White so badly was to hurt the people she loved the most?
“It’s whatever,” The prince haughtily replies, trying his hardest to save face. His eyes narrow at Raven and Darling as he adjusts his tie. “You two were not beautiful enough to be worth the effort, anyways.”
If Apple had powers like Raven did, the prince would have combusted instantaneously at that very moment.
“Hexcuse me—?!”
Before Apple could insult the man once more, or maybe even lunge at him at that point, there are hands that slip into hers and hold her back.
“Apple, do you wanna maybe go back to the dorms?” Raven offers like a dove holding out an olive branch, “We can just relax in today.” She then glares at the man. Alongside Darling and Apple’s glares, the prince can feel himself grow smaller and smaller.
“I don’t think there’s anything worth it at this ball, anyways.”
“Spelltacular idea, sweetie,” Darling compliments, rolling her eyes at the prince.
Too angry to even speak, Apple sends one last look at the prince, who finally crumbles under the pressure and runs back into the crowd, before marching out of the ball with Raven and Darling in tow. She grits her teeth as she leads them out of the ballroom, each of them on one of her hands as she rants angrily.
“How can he call you two anything other than the most beautiful girls ever? I swear, if you two didn’t pull me away…” Apple grits her teeth. “It’ll be on like fairy song the next time I see his face!”
She doesn’t notice how Raven and Darling share fond smiles behind her.
“You’re like a cat, Apple.”
Apple hums looking up from her mirrorphone to where Darling is brushing her hair, her fingers carding through her long blonde locks. They had just arrived to her and Raven’s dorm room—which honestly was Darling’s as well at this point considering how often she had stayed over—after that absolute disaster of a party and Apple could still feel her anger simmering in the back of her mind.
The two of them layed in Raven’s bed as they waited for their girlfriend to come out of the bathroom in a comfortable kind of silence. As they think in silence, Apple finds that she didn’t regret anything she did. It almost scares her to know that she wishes she did more.
“Because cats are cute?” Apple meekly offers. At that, Darling lets out a teasing laugh.
“Sure. Maybe.”
At the pout Apple wears, Darling is quick to lean down to kiss it off.
“Do you know anything else about cats, babe?”
Apple tilts her head out of confusion.
“Cats are cute,” She repeats.
“Yes babe, they’re very cute. You are also very cute.” Darling giggles. “But they’re also territorial. They love marking territory, and get quite aggressive when someone takes what’s theirs.”
What Darling was saying began to register in Apple’s mind, and her cheeks turn bright red as she thought of what she’s done in the past few weeks.
“Hexes, did you seriously only realize now?” Darling teases as Apple presses her warm cheek to one of Raven’s many purple pillows.
“Am I really territorial?” Apple questions shyly.
Before Darling can respond, the sound of the bathroom door opening can be heard.
“We find it cute, don’t worry,” Raven remarks as she comes out of the bathroom with her wet hair wrapped in a towel. With a teasing smile, she walks over to Apple’s bed and leans forward to place a chaste kiss on Apple’s nose which crinkles at the touch.
“Our little jealous cat,” Raven coos mockingly earning a loud laugh from Darling.
At that, Apple pouts, quickly standing up.
“This jealous cat is going to sleep in her own bed.” Apple scoffs, but she can’t even take a few steps before two different hands grab her wrists and pull her back down onto Raven’s bed with an overwhelming amount of force. This earns an adorable giggle from Apple.
“Hey!” She protests weakly.
“Our territorial hero is not going anywhere, tonight,” Raven teases as she and Darling hug Apple from both sides, effectively trapping the blonde in the middle. Both place what Apple guesses to be ‘thank you’ kisses on her cheeks earning giggles.
“This is so not fairest,” Apple protests once more, though nobody really believed her as she melted in the little cuddle pile they’ve created.
“For somebody who won’t let us stay away from her for long, you sure are eager to leave.” Darling raises an eyebrow. “How would you feel if we went back out there and—?”
Darling can’t even finish her sentence before Apple suddenly pulls her closer with surprising strength, locking the girl down with one of her legs and pouting as she buries her face in the crook of her neck.
“No.” Apple grumbles, her voice muffled by Darling’s skin.
With a fond sigh, she looks up at Raven who seems to wear a similar fond expression.
“Our little jealous cat?”
Raven nods in agreement.
“Our little jealous cat.”
Apple grumbles something incoherent in the crook of Darling’s neck. It seemed somewhat accepting. Apple didn’t really care anymore so long as she had her destined and her beloved beside her and no one else could ever take that away from her forever after.