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From the moment he was born, Daring Charming has had a destiny of stolen kisses and pale princesses pushed upon him.
He can't really complain- as far as destinies go, he's set. He'll be royalty, first of all, and there'll be no messy complications- 100 years of sleep, or marrying a kitchen slave, or any sort of curse or anything. Nope, all Daring's gotta do is show up and look pretty.
He is really good at looking pretty.
That's besides the point. Well, sort of. The point that Daring's pointing out is that he is perfect, especially with Apple by his side.
She's all he could ever want in a damsel. Apple's kind, and sweet, and birds sing songs to her and her candy-apple red lipstick never smears, not even when she's humming with a forkful of salad in her mouth. They hit it off, because they're supposed to, and all the girls gasp and cry when he reveals they're dating. Blondie beams and calls them "just right." Daring feels nothing.
(He resigns himself to it- relationships, that is. Daring is charming, not faithful. Girls swoon whenever he goes near- is he supposed to just deprive them of what they so desperately want? If Apple notices, she doesn't care.) That's how they are for years, until that day when Raven Queen slams the quill into the podium and boldly announces that she isn't going to follow her destiny. Apple stiffens. Daring quirks a brow. Half the crowd is enthused, the other half horrified. Apple excuses herself, her tears running just so, sparkling like diamonds on her cheeks and not mussing her makeup in the slightest. Daring can't help but wonder, now that their story is in jeopardy, will anyone still want him?
(They do.)
Apple begs him, grey eyes dewy and soft, to keep pretending like everything's perfect- and it is perfect, they really aren't pretending that much. Just... choosing to ignore certain issues. Everything's fine again. Apple kisses him on the cheek at big events and coordinates their corsages and straightens his suits with a lovable pout spread across her rouged lips. Daring's okay with it. This is how it's supposed to go, and- as far as girls go, Apple's not too bad of one to get stuck with forever after.
(Others catch his eye. Lizzie Hearts, unapologetically fierce and dismissive of everyone's destiny but her own, garbed in elaborate costumes of her own design. Cerise Hood, with her air of mystery and athletic prowess and dark brown eyes. Cedar Wood- who has the guts to be honest with him, tell him matter-of-factly she thinks he's the hottest guy in school and not change a word of it- not like she has a choice, of course.)
It's a perfectly normal day, as far as days go in a school full of magic. His sister's made the Dragon Games- a damsel's sport, Daring reassures himself, as he smooths his hair in the shiny new mirror he's just gotten, and as he absentmindedly mutters about his beauty,
there isn't even a flash. there's not any kind of warning. daring just finds himself somewhere dark and lonely. his friends have gone away- or at least, they're all he can see in the mirrors that sit around, taunting him. no reassurance. no knowledge that he's there at all. maybe this is death. daring closes his eyes shut tight and wills himself to wake up so hard he nearly faints.
he can see darling, she's glaring at him and huffing something about irresponsibility, and daring screams, screams at her, slamming his fists into the sides of the glass prison he's found himself trapped in, and she just sighs and tucks him back into her bag.
daring's voice goes out completely after the third day. his nails grow long, his face itches anxiously with stubbly growth. grease settles in his hair and dirt paints a portrait across his face.
he's lost track of time and all when finally they let him out- out of the darkness, and Daring's known hunger and pain and all, but it's usually self inflicted, and being completely helpless is new to him. He's not used to being saved.
He hates it.
Daring hardly has time to adjust to the sunlight shining in his eyes before he's pushed towards Apple- a sleeping Apple, an Apple who looks painfully close to death and weary with the weight of her own body and somehow, still beautiful.
He brings his mouth to hers (it's weird, kissing a sleeping girl who can't really kiss you back or anything, kind of like kissing a corpse- okay, GROSS, stop thinking about that during the BIGGEST MOMENT OF YOUR LIFE, MAYBE?)
He brushes a bit of spun-gold hair away from her porcelain cheek and waits for her to wake up.
Hello? Narrators, you heard that, right? He brushes a bit of spun-gold hair away from her porcelain cheek and waits for her to wake up.
...Isn't true love's kiss supposed to be faster than this?
He knows, deep down, this isn't just a delay of some kind- that the reason it's not working is because he didn't do enough for her. He wasn't good enough for her, and now he's going to be the useless one, and- and he doesn't even want to think about what his dad will say, he's seen how he treats Darling and Dex- Darling, his kid sister, who is approaching his girlfriend with trembling hands and dewy eyes and Daring just watches, horrified, as she presses the gentlest kiss to her perfectly lined lips and-
There's a blinding white light, and Daring's heart sinks.
He should have expected it. Hell, Apple is the one girl who didn't want to go there with him, and she always blushed so furiously as she went on and on about how Raven and her silky-soft skin and velvet eyes and strong jawline were ruining everything, but Daring's breath still catches in his throat as Apple's eyes flutter open and a soft gasp escapes her perfectly pinched mouth.
Dammit. Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit.
In the span of a few seconds, Daring's lost everything.
The rest of the fight happens in a daze. Daring stays back, whimpering something generic about his hair and crumpling into a small, miserable heap as soon as the dragons fade out of earshot. Things go back to normal- well, as normal as things get at Ever After High, with one notable difference. Daring has gone from the king of the school to nothing. Absolutely nothing.
He's not used to this. Apple avoids him in the halls- she can't quite meet his eyes, as her fingers intertwine with Darling's, and he knows she's sorry that she couldn't make them work, just as sorry as he is, but it still stings as she brushes him off.
He feels horrible for being so angry, but how is he supposed to react? He had everything- he was everything, now he's just a nuisance. A nobody. Yesterday's news, Blondie remarks thoughtfully one day.
The only looks he gets from girls are sympathetic ones- with a few exceptions. Lizzie glares at him and hisses, "Off with his head," whenever he's around, Cerise just rolls her eyes, and Cedar matter-of-factly lets him know that he's an embarrassment to the school but- oo, don't worry, that's just her opinon, you know- and- and- don't run away, she's sorry, well, not really, because it's true but- aw, beans.
And then there's Rosabella.
Rosabella Beauty, the shy, bookish cousin of daredevil goddess Briar Beauty. She's actually been bothering daring a while- she just sighs whenever he flexes, and pushes up her glasses and goes on to... well, wherever she goes to do things. Daring's never asked.
She comes up to him one day as he's eating alone at lunch (alone, he's usually got Dex but he's on a date with Cupid right now, anyways), says something, and he doesn't really think about it, until she sighs and slides her tray down onto the table, and Daring blinks, because that's weird. She's weird. Rosabella Beauty is undeniably odd.
She says something, again, and Daring hears it this time- "Daring, I've been worried about you lately." Which is double weird. They've never spoken, never flirted, never really done anything, but Daring suddenly remembers that before Darling sat with Apple and Briar and Ashlynn, she sat with Rosabella, and it clicks, because she doesn't care, it's a favor to Darling- checking up on him, like she really cares about how he's feeling. If she cared, she wouldn't have brought Apple back to life.
He mumbles something about Gegnometry and stomps away, frustrated. (Rosabella doesn't chase him- just sighs and spears a sprout on her fork absentmindedly.)
Time goes by. Rosabella keeps trying to corner him about "living for others, rather than himself, because that's what you've been trying to do and it's ironically just making you more self centered-" but he brushes her off. Bookball practice, or a blind date at the Mad Hatter's teashop, or even just, "Homework, see you later Rosabella, have a good day, Rosabella," and swaggering away while she does that little huffy thing she always does when she's frustrated.
That's just how it is. She's another obstacle to deal with, one more face to appease before he can finally be alone and just cry. miserable and annoyingly un-charming and realer than anything Daring's ever known.
Dexter seems happier than ever. Cupid's sweet to him. He's made some big breakthroughs on the MirrorNet- he and Humphrey have a blog where they post stupid images and incomprehensible text, and somehow, he's gotten more followers than Daring. Darling, is, of course, wonderful. She's popular and pretty and polished and Daring always makes sure to glare at her in the halls and leave her worried texts unread.
Everything just gets worse when Crystal Winter arrives. Daring's never been one for the cold- means sports are indoor and he's got to be inside more, which usually meant being at home more, which usually meant... hm. Daring pushes that thought out of his mind.
He'll worry about all that later.