I can't help it...Everything literally seems to give me ideas about everything. So, here's a fun little ditty, inspired by the quotes that precede it; and as I did in the summary I will pose the question again: What if Dexter never got the courage to tell Raven his feeling while at Ever After High? Well, we'll see here now, won't we? Everyone is aged up to 21 here because of a certain detail but, I won't spoil that. I don't own Ever After High or Sing by Ed Sheeran (that song inspired this somehow). Anyway, enjoy!
"I don't really know what I'm supposed to say...But I can just figure it out and hope and pray. I told her my name and said, 'It's nice to meet ya.' And then she handed me of a bottle of water with tequila. I already know that she's a keeper." ~Ed Sheeran, Sing.
Dexter should have seen this coming. He and Daring were getting older now and what with his brother's playboy ways that their father turned a blind eye to, he knew that it was only a matter of time before others in the court, including their mother, caught on.
Therefore, King Charming did the only thing that seemed right: he threw a ball.
However, at this ball, Dexter and Daring were to dance with all the eligible maidens in the kingdom in hopes to find wives.
Some stories had played out while others had not; Raven Queen did not take on the role of The Evil Queen even though Apple tried so hard to make her do so.
In fact, Apple went so far as dying her hair black because of much she wanted to be the perfect Snow White. However, somewhere after she'd washed out all the hair dye and was back to her natural hair color, she had fallen hard for Humphrey Dumpty and had stayed by his side while he was in the hospital after his great fall. But, he'd fallen purely by accident, not in an attempt to follow destiny.
It was funny, Apple had been so up in arms about those choosing to go against destiny yet, she seemed to be the first one to do so.
Cupid had seemed to have gotten over her crush on Dexter ages ago, she was now almost engaged to the son of Apollo. Of course, it was slightly taboo but, then again, she was adopted therefore, they were not related by blood and that meant the sons of the Gods were fair game.
On the subject of crushes, Dexter had never quite gotten over his crush on Raven Queen. He just hadn't wanted to complicate things. He owned up to that fact what Raven needed in her life, at least during Ever After High, had been a friend. Tossing romance into the mix would have only over-complicated things...
Just like when he'd written her a poem only for her to think that Daring wrote and even though she had learned the truth, it had been caught up in a misunderstanding and she'd thought that Dexter and Cupid had been together and it was just all such a mess.
Despite having cleared that much up, Dexter got that Raven wasn't much for the dating scene.
She, just like Apple, knew that they had forever after to find love, which he couldn't argue with.
But, there was always a part of Dexter wanted nothing more than to give Raven the world and make her smile, so that her big midnight violet eyes would sparkle with joy and look even more beautiful than they already did.
Forcing out a breath, Dexter thought that maybe he could have his chance tonight. But, nothing was set in stone of course.
Initially, Raven had been reluctant to come to this ball. In fact, nothing said it was mandatory. Traditional did not equate to something being mandatory. But, Raven's father convinced her to go to the ball and now here she was.
Sighing, Raven wished she had gone through with her name change. She did not want any traces of her mother to remain with her so, she considered changing her name to Raven King, to honor her father.
While The Good King supported his daughter in everything, he had to remind her that her name did not define her. She did not have to give into her destiny and she did not. She was her own person and even she knew that.
Letting out another sigh, Raven figured that she could stay for a little, dance with the Charmings as all the eligible princesses were expected to and then leave without looking back.
All eyes moved to Raven when she entered the party. Some looked on in awe at her, this was the woman who hadn't pledged her destiny and survived. Others had looked at her in disgust, hating her for having betrayed her destiny. Then, there were certain onlookers who stared and were dumbfounded by her beauty.
None of the smitten on-lookers were more blown away than Dexter Charming.
Raven had on a headdress similar to the one that she'd worn the year of their Legacy Day. Her dress was a light purple, the bodice was adorned with sparkles and under the right light, it would have looked white. However, it was clearly light purple. She wore a shawl to cover her shoulders in this strapless gown and the flowing skirt it had moved with her, as if it was a part of her. She looked stunning.
Looking away if only not to look like he was staring, Dexter thought about MyChapter.
He might have Raven as a friend on his MyChapter page but, he wasn't one for constantly checking social networks. However, that made him start to wonder if he should have been better about keeping in touch, that he should have made a bigger effort but hadn't.
He was just so scared of rejection. He was a little more scared of the fact that since Mirrorphones worked both ways, that Raven actually didn't want to be even remotely near him.
Or, maybe she was just more concerned with other things. Rumor had it that due to her love of Muse-ic, she had spent some time in the recording studio.
But, even when Blondie Lockes had Raven as a guest on her Mirrorcast and tried to get the answers out of her, Raven didn't drop any hints to say or even no. Raven was signed to N-Chant records but had yet to come out with any songs of her own despite being heavily featured on songs by other artists on the label.
All of these thoughts along with the noise of the ball were really getting to Dexter. He needed a breather.
Dexter had retreated to the foyer where there was a couch to sit on and an over-the-top coffee table not to far away from it that had the finest mints inside an over-priced bowl. But, on the bright side, everyone was preoccupied inside the party and no one else was out here.
The prince took off his glasses and held his head in his hands. What was wrong with him?
Why couldn't he even think of other girls? Wait, no he knew the answer to that one.
It was because Raven had stolen his heart long ago. Even looking at another girl didn't feel right. But, alright, so, why couldn't he work up the nerve to speak to her?
Sure, he couldn't do it in high school but, that was then and this was now.
Hex, they could all drink legally now, what in the world was preventing him from just getting on with it?
"Mind if I sit?" Dexter was sure he'd heard this exact words from this voice many years ago.
Looking up, he saw Raven in front of him. Quickly, he replaced his glasses as he nodded yes, "G-Go ahead...H-hey Raven, it's been a while..."
He thought that his heart was ready to straight jump out of his chest. Raven was sitting next to him and remembering her sweet and kind nature, she would probably stay and talk to him.
She giggled and that beautiful laughter of hers filled the atmosphere, "It sure has, how have you been?"
"Gort, er – great, I mean great...how about you?" Dexter wanted to kick himself for that one.
He hadn't said 'gort' since senior year of high school and leave it to a few minutes with Raven Queen to bring out the word he'd created out of nervousness and by accident at that.
"Not bad, writing my own story is pretty great after all and, I noticed that Apple seemed to find that out herself, huh?" Raven smiled at that.
Thinking about it, in a way, Apple's defiance of her destiny might have equated that she had grown up. That she had outgrown an ancient story that she had welcomed and, she had even outgrown Daring.
While Humphrey was a lot of things, he didn't have that same shallowness that Daring put forth and well, Humphrey seemed like guy who would still love Apple once they were both old and gray while Daring probably wouldn't...
What Apple and Humphrey had was what Dexter wanted to have with Raven, if only he could let her know that.
"Uh, yeah..." Dexter felt his breath hitch a little bit, again he was mentally cursing himself for how nervous Raven seemed to make him still but, he was probably still coming off how much the noisy party had made him feel anxious.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"Sort of...I just really need to relax..."
Raven held up the small drawstring pouch that she was wearing around her one hand as if it were a bracelet. Inside, she had a small potion bottle that Maddie had mixed up for her before leaving.
"I mixed Heart Calming Tea which is grown in The Queen of Hearts' very own garden, some Mood Enhancing Elixir and just a little smidgen of Gold Crown vodka. I call it 'Party-time Potion!" The mad girl exclaimed happily.
"Are you sure about this?" Raven looked at the small glss bottle and the deep blue color of the liquid inside it was all but inviting.
"Raven, I know that I'm mad, but I'm not out of my right mind," She explained, "This is the perfect thing to overcome party-time anxieties and because of the tea which is the strongest ingredient, the buzz goes away in no time and leaves the drinker feeling relaxed and more in tune with their heart's desire, trust me!"
Well, Raven did trust her best friend forever after...here went nothing.
"I have this," Raven opened up her bag and revealed the bottle of Party-time Potion, "Maddie made it for me, it's supposed to help ease nerves, did you maybe want a little bit?"
"Sure, thanks," Dexter accepted her offer and once she handed him the bottle, he took a quick swig and instantly felt a heat envelope his body.
When the hot feelings dissipated, he felt pretty normal. He closed the bottle and handed it back to Raven. Somehow, all of the thoughts that had been making his head spin before were quieted.
Here was Raven, right in front of him and so was the chance to dance with her and maybe, if he started feeling a little braver, he could tell her how he really felt about her.
"My father did throw this ball for Daring and I, I can't exactly sit out here all night...Would the best looking princess here be so kind as to accompany me back inside?" Dexter stood up and bowed to Raven, awaiting her answer.
"Who's the best looking..." Raven's eyes widened, he meant her, "I...Okay, sure."
She stood up and linked arms with him. That potion of Maddie's sure did seem to calm him down. They went back over to the double doors of the dance hall and entered anew, all eyes turning in their direction when they did so.
"Would you like to dance?" Dexter whispered.
"Let's," Raven smiled and whispered back.
They danced and to a song at a medium tempo. This was no waltz, it was more of quick step and thinking back to Wooing Class, Dexter had always had two left feet but apparently he'd either gotten better in the years past or the Party-time Potion really had made him let go of his inhibitions.
When the music picked up speed, so did their dancing. Dexter spun Raven and then dipped her. She couldn't help but laugh because of the great time she was having and that seemed to snap Dexter back to reality.
Now that the music had stopped, Dexter helped Raven stand back up and without even flubbing his words, he suggested that they get out for some real air and head up to the balcony.
The pair was on the balcony now, Raven waited for Dexter to speak again, she knew that he had some important that he'd been trying to say since they were on the couch in the foyer together.
"Raven, you remember True Hearts Day during our Legacy Year, right?" He began, "And that I was the one who wrote you the poem that was left at your locker, b-but I just never...I mean we just never, I guess it wasn't the time for that or anything but..."
The prince caught his breath, he needed a second. He considered asking Raven for another sip of the potion she had from Maddie but, he didn't need that. Not anymore.
Maybe it had served as liquid courage in having asked her to dance and getting her to the dance floor but, he had that somewhere inside himself too.
He'd already lost the chance to tell Raven of his feelings during high school and he doubted he would get the chance again if he didn't act now.
"I know it's going to sound crazy but, I still really, really, really like you, Raven. I just want the chance to be able to make you happy, to show you a good time, to take you to dinner to well, I don't care what it is we do, you pick...But, I need to tell you about my feelings because if I never do, I'll never know if you'll even give me the chance. I-I'm not asking you to marry tonight, I mean, we don't know where this thing is gonna go or, even if you'll say yes to a date but, I had to get this off my chest...I...I just poured my heart out to you didn't I?"
"Uh-huh," Raven nodded, offering another smile in his direction, knowing that he probably felt as he'd been stuck through the heart with one of Cupid's arrows.
Dexter was about to speak again when Raven took the chance.
"I'm glad you told me how you felt," She smiled wider at him, "I'm on a pretty tight schedule but, I think I can make some time. How's Friday, two o'clock?"
The prince felt his heart about to stop...Raven was going to give him a chance!
"That sounds good, where did you want to go?" He asked, his breathing was finally returning to normal.
"Would mind coming by the studio? That's the address on the bottom," Raven handed him a business card, "Bye, Dex!"
His eyes widened at her pecking him on the cheek, "B-Bye, Raven!"
Once she was gone, Dexter knew it was clear for him to do his little victory dance.
"I'm going on a daaaate with Raven Queeeen," He almost fell off the balcony, the way he had after dancing because Raven was going with him to one of Briar Beauty's parties in high school.
But, he was going on a date with Raven Queen, it was about time!
A/N: This actually has several more pages but, I feel like it makes a good stand alone because the whole point is that Dexter finally worked up the courage to ask Raven out on a date, even if took him a good chunk of Forever After. The inspiration and all kind of get lose with all the other pages in it and those pages even become excess; this is just right. And the little song Dexter sings is almost exactly the one he sings near the end of the webisode called Catching Raven. Anyway, I made up N-Chant Records, I think Apple and Humphrey Dumpty make a cute couple (blame certain fan arts) and well, I figured that maybe I shouldn't make Apple evil in everything I write, even though she is kind of nutty and certainly has the potential to snap. Well, this was in my head after listening to Sing by Ed Sheeran way too much and I had to write it, hope you enjoyed it! Also, there's a little liquor joke in there, there's this real vodka called Gold Slick Vodka and I changed it to Gold Crown vodka; speaking of that, all the stuff Maddie mixed up is made-up. Hope you enjoyed this, thanks!