"No Matter What Happens"

Rated K

Disclaimer: I do not own anything associated with Ever After High, especially its characters. Ever After High and its characters are owned by Mattel and the author of the EAH books, Shannon Hale. Anyway, I figured I try a new fic just to cure this writer's block I've been in for the last few days. Anyway, this features my favorite one true pairing, Daring Charming and Apple White. Anyway, this takes place after the events of the episode "The Tale of Legacy Day". So enjoy!

Apple White couldn't believe it.

This should've been some sick dream.

Heck, maybe more than enough to be a nightmare.

But it had to happen. Her destined 'enemy' Raven Queen had defied the tradition of signing her story at Legacy Day. She didn't want to follow through her destiny, so she decided not to sign. Much to every Rebel's enjoyment and much to the disappointment of many a Royal. She was risking what was nearly fairy-tale suicide. Apple truly believed that if anyone didn't follow their supposed destiny, they would disappear forever.

But when Raven refused to sign the book, she didn't disappear. That was very strange of her not to sign, yet didn't disappear.

"Huh?" Raven said, looking around herself, hoping she didn't disappear.

Then, she breathed a huge sigh of relief, realizing that she was still here. Feeling the delight, she decided to rub it in Headmaster Grimm's face.

"Oh.. I'm still here!" Raven smirked, pointing at the headmaster. "I didn't disappear!"

Unfortunately for Raven, Apple was angry with what Raven did. So she decided to step in by getting in Raven's face.

"How could you be so... so selfish?" Apple gasped.

"I'm sorry Apple, but I..." Raven said, right before she was cut off by a loud sound.

Not to Raven's surprise, it was the sound of loud booing coming from the Royals. It was like a pack of rabid dogs waiting to get their blood on it's prey. And every hot-blooded Royal wanted to their hands on Raven's blood. Even though Raven was gonna be hated by every Royal because of this, she was very brave to do what she did for the Rebels. She tried to explain why she did what she did, but all of this booing was irritating her.

This time, Raven was mad. That's why she froze everything with one yell.

"Hold... EVERYTHING!"

Suddenly, a wave of purplish magic shot out of Raven's hands, freezing everything in sight. It was like time stopping everything in sight. Raven couldn't believe that she pulled a stunt like this off. She actually froze everyone in time off.

"Ohhh," Raven gasped. "I didn't know I could do that!"

Looking right at Apple, Raven decided to unfreeze her, just so she could tell her what the daughter of the Evil Queen could say.

"I'm sorry Apple, but I don't want anyone to tell me who to be," Raven replied to her carefully. "I wanna figure that out on my own. And don't you understand? I'm not the only one who gets to choose their own destiny now. We all do! Even you."

"But, I don't wanna choose a new destiny." Apple fumed, getting close to breaking in tears. "I liked the one I had. And because of you, it might not happen!"

"But it might." Raven smiled a bit, trying to comfort Apple.

"I don't know." Apple shook her head "I... I just don't know."

But before Raven could actually try to shed light on Apple, she left the stage in tears. Possibly heading over to her own dorm room where she could be alone. Luckily, that's all Apple wanted to be since Raven didn't even follow her. There was exactly no way Apple was gonna let Raven sleep in the same room with her, let alone look at her for tonight.

For a good several hours, Apple sat in a chair while looking at the stars in tears. So far, she hadn't budged for a long time. As time kept ticking around, Apple's thoughts definitely kept knocking around on her apple-shaped mind:

What was gonna happen to her friends?

What was gonna happen to her story?

What was gonna happen to her prince?

Apple feared that her friends would all disappear if they didn't follow their destinies. But not having someone's happily ever after come true felt like a total heartache to Apple. She always dreamed of getting that first kiss with that perfect prince and then following her story by ruling a glorious kingdom. But all Raven had to do was defy her destiny. And now thanks to her, her chances of getting her happily ever after was grim at best.

While she was thinking about that clearly, she heard the sound of knocking.

"Go away!" Apple shouted at the door. "I don't wanna see you or talk to you, Raven! You ruined Legacy Day for everyone!"

To Apple's surprise, it was a guy talking right at her.

"Apple, it's Daring. Can I come in?"

Feeling alarmed of her future prince's voice, Apple took in a deep breath and spoke back.

"Sure."

Just like that, Daring Charming opened the door and looked at a tear-shedding Apple with such concern. Daring felt his heart ache seeing Apple in such a mess like this. Those eyes of hers were such a mess, having stained by such mascara-soaked tears. Daring really must admit that the sight of a hurt Apple made him cringe (next to losing his precious mirror).

"I've been trying to find you all night long," Daring replied. "How are you feeling?"

"Hurt." Apple responded. "I feel like my heart's stabbed."

"Look Apple, it's not your fault," He nodded. "No one should have to go through that again."

"But we had to." Apple replied. "But now thanks to Raven, I don't know what's gonna happen next."

Turning her back on Daring, Apple laid face down on her bed.

"Apple, relax." He said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

"How can I even relax when I know that my happily ever after isn't gonna come true?!" Apple sobbed. "I fear that my friends are gonna disappear, I fear that I may never get an enemy to poison me with an apple, and worst of all, I fear that I may never be queen!"

"Please calm down..." Daring sighed.

"I'm not calming down, Daring!" Apple exclaimed, while having more tears fall down from her face. "What's gonna happen to me? What's gonna happen to my friends? What's gonna happen to us...?"

Seeing the pain right around Apple's eyes, Daring held her close and started to hug her. Although it didn't do anything to get rid of her tears away, the hug actually brought sudden calmness to Apple's heart. The prince felt her heart beat softly and slowly, therefore getting rid of any worry and any concern that Apple had from that disheartening moment. Yet, the image of Raven refusing to follow her destiny at Legacy Day rang fresh around Apple's mind.

With her tears still falling his cheeks, Daring took her face and stared at her close.

"Apple, don't be like that." Daring replied. "Just because what Raven did at Legacy Day isn't gonna change who you are. And it isn't gonna change who I am as well. So what if she didn't sign the Storybook of Legends? I've signed it already and I'm gonna stick to my destiny. Apple, no matter what happens between us, I just want you know that I'll always be your prince. And not one little mistake from Raven isn't gonna change that."

"Really, Daring?" Apple said, wiping her tears away.

"I mean it," Daring nodded. "Even if we weren't meant to be together, I'll still make your happily ever after come true. Never forget that."

Daring's words definitely took to heart. From there, Apple was no longer sad. Instead, the only thing that made Daring feel better was a smile from Apple. She didn't say anything back to her prince, and thankfully, she didn't need to.

And all of that was followed by an unsuspecting kiss from Daring. This shocked Apple so much. They were supposed to save their first kiss only for their story, but she never thought Daring would defy their destiny by kissing her right away. But it didn't matter to Daring that much, considering he was caught in the moment.

Shockingly, Apple was caught in the moment as well, falling straight into the kiss. It felt so wrong, but Apple couldn't help but make it feel so right. Maybe it would be their little sneak peek of what it would come next for them. Maybe what Daring said made sense. One little act of defiance from her half-sister wasn't gonna let Apple down for long. As long as Daring was committed to his happily ever after, so was Apple. And she had her prince to thank from all of this.

As the two broke the kiss, the two shared one friendly embrace with each other. Luckily, the rest of the students weren't there to see this.

"Promise me you'll still be my prince?" Apple smirked.

"No matter what." Daring smirked back between the two of them before sharing another hug.

And Apple didn't need to fear with worry anymore. No matter what happened at Legacy Day, Apple wanted to stay focused on making sure that her happily ever after came true. She knew that there would be hope as long as she can wish for it to happen.

Okay, that really felt good to write. Sure the kiss was a bit off of nowhere, but I just couldn't help it. I just adore Daring/Apple to death, and I do believe in destined love (no offense Darise and Dizzie fans, even though it does look cute).

Anyway, I hope you like this fans of Daring and Apple. Feedbacks are welcome! Until then, have a Happy Wrestlemania Weekend!