A/n: Been sickly with a cold and stressed out by weirdoes in my life who keep telling me things like; all art and creative writing should only be about the futility of life and all that crap, so I wrote this to try to shake off the rut I've found myself in and make me feel a little less bummed out. It worked. Remember kids; if people tell you that everything should be seen in negative lights all the time (for stupid reasons that don't make sense to anybody but them), make faces at them behind their back and do everything you can to ignore them even if it means writing gay fanfiction when you should be resting from being so sickly.
XXX
"It's not that I'm ashamed or anything, it's just that we've only just started being a couple and w-we've just started to… do couple-like things when we are alone and-" Apple White rambles fretfully, entangling her fingers in the black sheet she is holding up to cover the bare upper front of her body.
"It's fine Apple." Raven Queen chuckled warmly, pausing in her task of buttoning up her shirt to lean over and give the princess a kiss on the lips that lingered on longer than necessary, the witch savoring the newly acquired right to be with the other in this fashion.
"Are you sure that you are really all right with keeping us a secret?" Apple still manages to ask after they pull apart, the princess looking at the witch apologetically.
"I'm more than fine with it actually." The witch admitted. "It would be fantastic to finally get some privacy in regards to my personal life! Part of the reason why I didn't try harder to date Dexter for a longer period of time was because it was just too much trouble to deal with trying to have a few exploratory dates with the guy without everyone and their mother watching our every move! Ancestors' almighty, some people were asking me about what color dress I would wear and how we were to deal with a child being both a Queen and a Charming! We had only gone out for three dates for the gods sake! And it probably wouldn't have worked out all on it's own anyway what with certain facts coming to life…"
Raven trailed off, wincing at the memory of the boy dreamily confessing to her on what was supposed to be their fourth date when she brought the topic up (with the intent to address how uncomfortable all of said questions about a future that hadn't happened yet and may or may not happen at all made her feel) that he thought she'd look positively gorgeous in white and that having more than one child would mean that they had the freedom to choose which path that they wanted to go in regards to destiny.
Did she kinda-sort of charge out of that restaurant like the demons of all the underworlds ever conceived were after her heels just after she hastily gave the boy a quick; we've-only-gone-out-like-three-times-and-we-haven't-even-kissed-yet-and-you-know-what-I'm-positive-that-this-isn't-going-to-work-out-and-I'm-much-more-comfortable-with-having-you-as-just-my-friend-I'm-so-sorry, and leaving all the cash she had in her wallet (which should have been enough to pay for like three full meals) on the table?
Hell yes she did.
"You know… I'm pretty certain that was the fastest spoken break-up speech in history." Apple hummed almost merrily, she had just so happened to have been there at the time of said break-up (because she had been spying on the two), and had witnessed the whole thing.
"And once word reach their rounds around school there had been so much ruckus for weeks…" Raven groaned mournfully, it was a lucky, lucky thing that Apple had been there to defend Raven's decision and that Daring seemed to have been all too pleased that the Rebel leader was no longer anywhere near his brother anymore, or else she'd still be dealing with snide remarks about her dumping the boy so quickly.
Even though Raven had tried her best to reconcile with Dexter, it wasn't as if she publically humiliated him, she had kept her voice down and only Apple and Blondie (who had also been spying) knew the full extent of what their conversation depicted, the boy just… didn't seem to want to be around her anymore, even though he was dating Cupid now and she and the winged girl were even closer friends than before, Cupid understood Raven's plight with surprising grace (she at least didn't say that Raven was in the wrong, which was nice considering the fact that the pink-haired girl had been in love with Dexter for quite some time at that point and Raven would have assumed that she'd be in the hot seat if it were anybody else but Cupid), and didn't insist (like a few others had) that the witch try to talk things out and get back together with Dexter. Cupid was just her old Cupid self and said without a hint of judgment in her tone that it was all up to Raven and her own personal feelings in the end and whether or not she felt like this was something worth fighting for.
It was almost heartbreakingly easy how almost instantly Raven had shaken her head and said that no, this simple, still very innocent, crush of hers was pretty much spooked away now, and it wasn't worth trying to forcibly bring back.
"Our situation… and my feelings for you are far more serious and real than anything that I had towards Dexter." Raven swore taking one of the princess's hands into both her own. "I want to take special care with this, with you, I know that our future is scary, but I'll do anything to make you happy so let's just enjoy what we have for a long while yet before we inform the masses… that and I'm pretty sure that the Headmaster won't let us be roommates anymore and would have the cleaning staff watch our every move like hawks if word reached him, and that would make certain things very… difficult to achieve."
Apple giggled a little in embarrassment, blushing bright red. "Well I'm certainly enjoying our current arrangement just fine thank you, and I have no intentions of doing anything to take this away." The blonde smiled a little as she entangled her fingers with the other's. "So… in public, we just hold hands and hug and stuff? Do you think that would be too suspicious? I still want to touch you, you know."
"I don't think that anybody will notice any sizable difference than before to be honest." Raven shrugged. "You remember how baffled those freshmen were when they saw us walking hand in hand that one time just before we got together, they were too busy being confused over us being friends despite our rivalry, I really don't think that they'll have the presence of mind to question things further as long as we keep the kissing thing to our dorm."
"Well I'm glad that we agree on this, hopefully if we play our cards right all of this will work out without there being too many hiccups that come with the craziness that comes from living in a place like this." Apple sighed in relief.
XXX
"Just because I'm not Apple's prince doesn't mean that I'm any less of a Prince Charming." Daring growled in offence, the other boys all around him snickering to themselves because it wasn't just everyday that the supposed golden boy of the school got knocked down several well deserved pegs and in their minds he could stand staying down a bit just because his constant high and mighty attitude was more annoying than charming these days, especially with the Rebels growing in numbers almost weekly.
"Hey man, relax will ya? We're just pointing out that you should probably cool it with your constant need to assert your charming qualifications lately." Sparrow tried to soothe. "Seriously, you look more ridiculous than charming when you blow it way over the top like that, that's the reason why you aren't getting any dates lately, not because of the fact that your not going to be in Apple's story."
The prince flinched as if struck by a sharp object. "I'm still the best Charming prince in the school!" Daring snapped testily. "I can charm the pants off of any girl here! May they be maidens or villains!"
"Duuude…" Hunter hissed looking around the semi public area they were all standing in with a spooked look, the females of the area were casting the group of boys rather scathing glares, one of them chiefly being his own girlfriend Ashlynn Ella. "Watch how you phrase things!"
"What about my phrasing?" Daring demanded completely oblivious. "I can charm any girl in the school!"
"Lizzie Hearts." Dexter reminded his brother pointedly.
"Any girl who doesn't have a reputation to uphold." Daring amended. "It's not her fault for following her destiny to become the next Queen of Hearts. Just give me a name and sooner than later that girl will be swooning all over me!" The prince boasted.
"But what if we choose someone like Cedar?" Dexter asked. "She's not interested in anybody in that way."
"And you won't be choosing Cedar." A protective snarl coming from behind the group causes the boys to all jump and scoot double-time away from a particularly irate Cerise. "She doesn't have the right biology to have a romantic relationship with anybody and because of this she can't understand certain particulars about the subject, she's too innocent for some wannabe prince to be smoozing all over her and I will not take kindly at all to anybody that ends up hurting her just so that they can feel better about their supposed manhood." The girl growled lowly like a wild animal, slowly cracking her knuckles; for some reason her teeth seemed to be longer than usual.
Daring narrowed his eyes challengingly at the girl, his self-preservation warring with his need to prove himself a worthy Prince charming.
"What about Raven?" Sparrow spoke up before Daring said or did something stupid and got ripped a new one by his cousin (who was really fast, really strong, and currently really not in the mood to be merciful). "She's never found Daring attractive."
Daring seemed to brighten even as Dexter bristled and glared as hard as he could at Sparrow.
"Yes! She's perfect!" Daring exclaimed striking a heroic pose. "Who better to help promote my princely qualities than the dreaded Rebel queen herself!"
"You can't do this Daring." Dexter shook his head with a pained look.
"Why not? You aren't dating her anymore." Daring pointed out.
Dexter winced. "Well no but-"
"Then I shall go! My quest to capture the most elusive and the most rebellious of hearts begins now!" Daring declared before running off.
"But I still think that she deserves better than you." Dexter glared at the ground.
"Well I'm off to warn Raven and to cause some serious trouble for golden boy's quest, anybody wanna help?" Cerise looked over to the group of boys behind her. "…Why is Hunter waving his arms around like that?"
"He's trying to assure the Mrs. That he's got nothing to do with us or with Daring at the moment." Sparrow observed, watching the way the other boy was desperately trying to show his girlfriend that they were all crazy and that he was in no way apart of anything that they were doing through interpretive movements.
XXX
Raven stared at the prices of the apple cider and pumpkin spice latte' on the menu above the counter in disbelief, sure she could afford them no problem but she had both the time and the materials to make herself and Apple the drinks on her own at a far cheaper price, she just needed to go buy the pumpkin spice mixture at the grocery store…
The witch motioned the person behind her to move up instead, ducking behind Daring who was too busy adjusting his hair and grinning charmingly into his mirror to notice that the witch had left.
Hearing the barista greet their customer Daring spun on his heel and moved into action.
"Two pumpkin spice latte's for myself and my talent-ly gorgeous companion my good sir. Nothing but the best for the beauty standing beside me." Daring draped himself on the counter appealingly, turning his gaze over to give his prize his best smoldering look.
Only to come eye to eye with one very surprised Edward Spider.
"Thanks… and I'll take the drink and all but… I don't swing that way. I'm really flattered though, like seriously, someone like you finding the six-armed kid attractive means a lot." Edward (who had an unintentional preconceived idea of Daring probably being bi-sexual or homosexual thanks to his rebellious, and very strange, story counterpart Tiffany Muffet) didn't miss a beat as he grabbed his drink and walked away.
"Sir could you please pay for your drinks and let the other people take their orders?" The barista piped up helpfully when Daring appeared to be frozen in place, his eyes were wide like that of a startled owl's for several long moments as he stared at the spot where he could have sworn he had seen Raven about to take her order a few seconds ago.
"Huh." Cerise tilted her head to the side contemplatively, ignoring how Sparrow and Dexter were trying not to laugh out loud behind her. "Well that was easy, we didn't even have to do anything."
XXX
"Thanks again for letting Hunter use your locker to keep his school supplies." Ashlynn praised Raven as she, the witch, and Apple all walked down the hallway together. "We needed someplace to put that family of nocturnal imp-goblins until the mother 's wings have healed enough to hunt and feed her young on her own again."
"It's no problem." Raven assured. "Ever since I've managed to drop or test out of all but one of my villain classes I've got a lot less physical books and projects that I have to carry around."
"It just made sense for her to move her stuff into my locker since we already share a room together." Apple shrugged, snuggling closer to Raven's side with a blissfully happy look on her face.
"Well I've got to go, I'm going to say hi to Hunter before heading off to homeroom." Ashlynn waved as she moved away from the couple, who were too busy giving each other sappy looks to look up at the girl's departure.
"What great friends they've turned out to be." Ashlynn hummed to herself as she approached her boyfriend by his temporary new locker.
"Uh…" Hunter said, giving the folded piece of paper in his hands a jaundiced look, wincing and glancing over to it's three brethren still stuck onto his locker in obvious loathing.
"Is there something the matter baby?" Ashlynn cooed in worry as she walked up to the boy.
"I think that a certain someone got the wrong locker!" Hunter explained, a little louder than usual so that Daring, who was watching Hunter's actions in confusion from further down the hallway, could hear.
"Why do you say that?" Ashlynn asked, plucking the paper from the boy's hands and reading it.
"…What?" Ashlynn exclaimed after a silent moment of reading.
"I guess he got the wrong locker." Hunter shrugged. "Funny huh?"
"No not funny!" Ashlynn shook her head. "She's described you perfectly in this! Smart, rebellious, gorgeous… it's not addressed to anybody and it's no secret that Apple and Raven are sharing a locker these days or the fact that you are using this locker, it has to have been written for you- wait what do you mean by he got the wrong locker?"
"Daring wrote it." Hunter explained. "He's signed the back see?"
Ashlynn turned the paper over to see that said boy's name was indeed scrawled fancily on the back with an abundance of little tiny hearts as well.
"Daring wrote this?" The princess exclaimed in disbelief.
"Remember how yesterday I told you that he wants to prove that he's still the best Prince Charming in the school?" Hunter reminded gently.
"And so he's targeting you now?" Ashlynn growled, her eyes forming to dangerously narrowed slits. "Why? He knows that you are taken!"
"Uh, sweetie, I'm not-" Hunter tried.
"And who does he think he is anyway using somebody like this just to prove that he's better than anybody else?" The princess continued on, ripping away the three remaining love notes with a notable viciousness.
Hunter made to open his locker. "Sweetie relax he isn't-" He tried again, only to be interrupted by the mass of flowers tumbling out of his locker.
"Excuse me baby but I've got a little something to discuss with a certain prince about boundaries and to not mess with the people I care about." Ashlynn decided after a long silence.
Hunter was too preoccupied and too irritated with trying to both extract the books he needed and to put the messy flowers back into the locker's depths so that he would not get detention for littering the halls to really care to warn a flabbergasted Daring (this would make for two blunders for him in a row now) about his impending doom stalking his way.
XXX
"Hey their cutie- uh?" Daring gaped when instead of Raven being pinned to the lockers it was Humphrey Dumpty!
"Er… hello." Humphrey waved at the taller boy meekly.
"Where did you even come from?" Daring demanded looking around him wildly, two seconds ago Raven had been whispering some sort of joke into Apple's ear, judging by the way the princess had been giggling so much, he had made his move, there had been a swirl of purple magic and-… oh.
"Well I was walking to the clubroom, then I got disoriented by a weird purple cloud, and now I'm… here?" Humphrey fidgeted in place. "I'm sorry if you were expecting someone else. Please don't hurt me."
"You know… I'm starting to get the feeling that we don't have to do anything to stop him." Cerise crossed her arms as she spoke to her two laughing compatriots. "He's doing just fine sabotaging himself."
XXX
"I just don't understand it Miss Queen, you've clearly proven during those tests that you are capable of doing incredibly well in villain courses and yet you strived to do poorly in those subjects while you were in the classes anyway. You could be on the advanced villain track with these scores and yet you choose to go into heroics and good magics?" The Headmaster exclaimed in a quiet hiss when he had cornered the girl in the library one day.
"Why are we having this conversation here and not in your office?" Raven hissed back, looking around them in mortification. The rows of shelved books looked empty at the moment but that still didn't mean that there wasn't somebody listening in from somewhere.
"I'm having a new desk brought in and the cut off dates for switching classes are this Friday! This was too important to wait until the last second to talk to you about this!" The Headmaster hissed agitatedly.
"…And the reason why Giles isn't here too?" Raven asked because part of Giles's job dealt with the placement of students in classes. "He's the one who approved of my transfers."
"Yes he was…" The Headmaster muttered darkly. "The point is Miss Queen is that I find it highly disturbing that you obviously refuse to even try on a subject that you clearly show a potential for."
Raven raised a brow. "You didn't have any objections when I joined maiden classes last time why are hero classes so different?"
The Headmaster shook his head. "Because maiden classes teach you how to be a better villain by learning the best techniques from the other side, hero classes would not be at all beneficial to your story seeing as how you are supposed to be foiled by the hero, not acquire the skills to thwart them so easily."
Raven blinked in confusion. "But the villain never goes near Prince Charming in the tale of Snow White."
"There have been recorded cases where one of your ancestors comes toe to toe with a Prince Charming." The Headmaster reveals reproachfully. "And before you mention it; no, just letting the prince win immediately is not considered sporting."
"Daring has proven in class that he can hold his ground against me." Raven said as she crossed her arms.
"It has come to light that he is not Miss White's prince and added to that you have moved to the one of the top spots of those hero classes with startling speed, your instructor has already revealed that you have beaten a good majority of your peers in swordplay alone and have grasped the other subjects with a… suspicious preconceived knowledge…" The man gives her a paranoid look.
Raven attempted to look as innocent as possible since several Rebel maidens had came to her in the past seeking her help (because apparently being named the Rebel leader meant that people actually thought that she was the best person to help others find ways of getting around the school's system in order to achieve their true life dreams) in regards to hero training subjects because they were all too worried about the backlash of simply signing up for the classes themselves, supposed Rebel croquet practice was mostly just a cover for Raven and the other girls to go out into the woods and practiced doing hero things like sword fighting and saving "damsels" all while wearing heels.
When Darling had found out about these secret meetings she couldn't decide between being highly amused or mourn the fact that she hadn't heard about such a thing sooner!
Needless to say it went unspoken that everybody was hoping that Raven would take the first brave step to sign up for actual hero classes in order to pave the way for the rest of them.
"It is not against the national school codes of conduct, the very same rules that even Ever After High must abide by, for a student to attend whatever track or classes that they see fit to sign up for." Raven recited dutifully edging away from the man. "Now if you will excuse me-"
"Hey there pretty lady!" Daring exclaimed jumping out from behind a bookcase holding a bouquet of silk flowers.
"Excuse me young man?" The Headmaster stared at the boy kneeling down at his feet incredulously. "What did you just call me?"
Raven, who was eyeing the scene in flabbergasted shock quietly went to check out the muffled noises coming from behind one of the bookcases.
"He was talking to me sir." Cerise appeared behind the Headmaster in a bur of color and a rush of air, cutting off Daring's stutteringly incomprehensible explanation (because leaving the boy to fend for himself in this instance would be just too cruel). "He's been trying to butter me up so that I'll help him with his thronework. Come on Daring, let's go." The girl stated quickly as she dragged the boy away.
"Why is it always a man?" Daring wailed at the ceiling.
"…Aaaand Miss Queen has gone." The Headmaster glared at the empty bookshelves behind him.
"Quiet in the library!" The shrill voice of one of the librarians sounded out.
XXX
"Is Sparrow going to be all right?" Raven peered down at the prone boy on the floor, who was either helplessly laughing so hard no sound was coming out of his mouth, or he had just ruptured something trying to keep his laughter quiet.
"He's better off than I am." Dexter groaned, scrubbing at his eyes, desperately trying to get the idea of his brother and the Headmaster out of his traitorous, sick-wrong brain!
XXX
"How did it all go so wrong so quickly?" Daring despaired into his burger and fries. "Only a few days at this and I never even got a chance to talk to her!"
"What I'd like to know is how you managed to keep running into practically every boy in school." Cerise muttered in awe. "You even managed to get your own brother once or twice."
"I did not appreciate that by the way." Dexter grumbled darkly, glaring hatefully at the older boy as he took a bite from his sandwich.
"But I didn't even catch her attention even once!" Daring bemoaned throwing an arm dramatically over his eyes. "It was as if there was a higher power harassing me all week for the sake of their cruel enjoyment!"
Cerise blinked in confusion and tilted her head up towards the sky when she heard something that sounded strangely like… somebody snickering quietly to themselves? "Did you guys just hear that laughing sound coming from the sky?"
"Not funny Cerise." Daring grumbled.
"I was being serious actually." The girl insisted. "But regardless of you catching her attention or no, you are definitely not her type Daring."
"I'm everybody's type!" The boy declared in a whine.
"You clearly caught Chase Redford's interest." Sparrow snorted. "Good luck with that date you somehow roped yourself into with him this Saturday by the way."
"What was he even doing here? He doesn't attend this school!" Daring exclaimed, his eyes all wild and hunted.
"Better stay clear from Ashlynn for a while FYI." Hunter warned. "She's convinced that you're trying to seduce me away."
"And whose fault is it that she was never corrected of that misconception?" Daring demanded. "I've got the reputation of a boyfriend stealer now thanks to you! Why did you have to date such a possessive maiden anyway? A normal princess wouldn't have said such unbecoming things to a noble prince such as myself! She used to have some real potential before Legacy Day, ah what a waste!"
"And you're the one who couldn't bother to walk up to Raven like a normal person. Going around jumping blindly in front of people, what did you expect was going to happen?" Hunter jeered with eyes narrowed in offense as he shook his head solemnly.
"Ooh I'll show you about jumping blindly at people if you keep it up!" Daring threatened.
At that Hunter grinned evilly. "I am truly sorry that your proposition to the Headmaster ended in such a flub, it must be very difficult for one so young to go after someone much older than you-"
"That's it!" Daring roared leaping at the other male.
XXX
"-And that is what Hunter said about why Daring has been acting so strangely." Raven finished looking down guiltily. "I know that we promised to hang out around the village today but… I feel really guilty about this so… is it all right if we split up for the time being in order to find Daring and explain to him why he needs to stop trying to ask me out? We keep us a secret of course so we'll just say that I'm really not interested and hope he doesn't push." The witch pled to her girlfriend.
Apple sighed, gripping down on the ugly feeling of jealousy invading her chest and belly so that she didn't show just how much she uncharacteristically didn't really mind the thought of Daring's reputation going down the drain after a few more unsuccessful attempts at him trying to get her girlfriend to go out with him. Those thoughts were mean and unfair and-
Aw hex with it! This was her girlfriend she was talking about! She didn't give a darn what happened to Daring as long as he and his womanizing ways stayed away from her girl! It was bad enough when Dexter was dating her, Daring would be a million times worse!"
"If I find him I'll be sure to explain things in a way that he'll understand." Apple smiled sweetly, batting her eyes in false innocence.
"Thank you Apple." Raven squeezed the other's hand and blew her a kiss before walking away a light skip in her step.
Apple on the other hand stomped away, mean, angry thoughts bubbling up as she recalled Daring's impressively long track record with girls, the broken hearts he left in his wake and all the dates he went on a near daily basis morphing into an image of him stealing Raven away with his charms only to leave her heartbroken by the wayside after a few days, perhaps even hours once Daring was done with her…
The princess was in the middle of these thoughts when she spied mentioned boy in the midst of a wrestling match (as boys seemed prone to do with each other) with Hunter over by one of the picnic tables on the recreational lawns.
So without think about it much, Apple took a picture of Daring taking the upper hand of an obviously struggling Hunter, sent it to Ashlynn (who had been complaining openly about Daring all week) with the accompanying hext; Daring's lost it, come over to the recreational lawn stat and save your boyfriend, and debated whether or not she should feel guilty about this as she sent the message.
The blonde didn't have to wait long, just moments after the hext was sent there was an earsplitting whistle that had Cerise ducking under the table in pain, Ashlynn heroically racing out of the forest with three large phoenixes obediently flying behind her.
"Hunter!" She called for her boyfriend. "Holy ancestors what is he doing to you?" She cried as she spotted Daring pinning the other boy face down to the ground and straddling Hunter's waist.
"Ashlynn my love!" Hunter called out in mock despair. "He has lost his wits! I beg you to look away, I am ashamed of what has become of me!"
"This isn't what it looks like!" Daring exclaimed, blushing bright red. "And you, stop giving her the wrong idea!" He ordered the boy beneath him with a slap to the back of Hunter's head for goo measure.
"I don't care what you do to me you brute I will and shall forever love my beloved Ashlynn!" Hunter continued to declare in mock distress.
"Get away from my boyfriend!" Ashlynn roared leaping into the air, her purse raised above her head like a weapon and the three phoenixes bringing up the rear to assist her.
His ego alone may be great enough to intimidate wild dragons, however Daring was far from stupid so he did not hesitate to leap away from Hunter and run as fast as his legs could carry him away from the scene.
XXX
"Mad woman with a purse… what does Hunter see in her anyway?"
Apple found Daring sometime later muttering to himself while crouching between two chairs in one of the student lounges.
"Daring?" Apple called softly.
"AAAAH! …Oh it's just you Apple." The boy sighed in relief.
"Stop trying to use Raven for your charming practice." The princess expressed almost emotionlessly. "You could hurt her, and I don't want that."
Daring stared at Apple in confusion. "You have never doubted my care for another maiden's emotions before. This has never bothered you before."
"Raven is different." Apple told the prince firmly. "Despite the Rebel leader thing, she likes to keep her life private and she's not a fairytale maiden in any sense. You have seen how scared she looked back when everyone was asking her about hypothetical children they were expecting she and your brother to have. She's special to me and Royal prince or not, I will not let you get near her like that and potentially harm her."
"I… guess I haven't been very charming in my actions as of late…" Daring admitted after a moment of shamed silence. "And it has not been a good week for me…"
"No it has not." Apple agreed. "So you'll stay away?"
"I think that it would be fore the best at this point." Daring nodded.
"Good." Apple breathed a sigh of relief.
XXX
"So… it all worked out?" Raven asked later that night as she and Apple were all snuggled close to each other for bed.
"Yep." Apple nodded as she laid her head under Raven's chin.
"…Then why is Ashlynn after Daring's blood? She looked really mad when I came across her and Hunter earlier." The witch asked.
"Oh that's nothing that Daring can't handle." Apple assured. "Hey Raven?"
"Yeah Apple?"
"You do know that I don't plan on giving you up anytime soon right? That I love you lots and lots?"
Raven couldn't help but smile sleepily. "Yeah I do. I love you lots and lots Apple. Sweet dreams 'kay?"
"Sweet dreams." Apple replied, moving to kiss Raven on the lips before settling down to sleep.