Apple was resting her elbows on the balcony railing, a rose as plush as velvet crushed between her fingers, when Raven joined her side. The raven-haired princess gestured broadly with her hands, obviously still energized from the hectic events of the night and the Queen of Hearts' party going on a mere dozen paces behind them, but Apple could hardly hear the words coming from her mouth. She was much too focused on the thoughts that led her to the balcony in the first place.
"Apple? Is everything okay?" The words tore through the haze of Apple's thoughts like it was cotton, loud enough for her to stop and look, actually look, at Raven's vexed expression. "You haven't said anything the entire time I've been out here. Have you even been listening to me?" she questioned with a teasing pout.
Apple's gaze drifted over her face, features animated. She wanted to lie, say she was sorry and put on a royal smile. Instead, she found herself telling the truth, the real reason she was alone when all of her friends were celebrating.
"I think I'm in love with you," she said. Funny, the words didn't even sound like they came from her own mouth.
"E-Excuse me?" Raven sputtered, dumbstruck.
Apple could see the color drain from Raven's cheeks. What had she expected? For Raven to return her feelings? Of course not. Still, it hurt beyond measure to finally have her fears validated.
"I think I've known for a long time," Apple explained, though at this point she wasn't sure whether she was doing it more for Raven or herself. Her gaze fell back on the rose in her hand and she began to pluck its petals. "Maybe even since I first saw you. I just couldn't admit it to myself until tonight, when I was helplessly standing there as you became the ruthless Evil Queen that I told myself I wanted you to be. I was talking you down from killing Courtly when I realized everything I said, I said because I didn't want to lose you, the real you. Never had it been clearer to me that I love you — and it terrifies me."
Apple pulled the last petal from the rose. She went to retrieve another from the bunches coiled around the balcony's ironwork when Raven's hand grabbed hold of hers and pulled her, right into the young Queen's embrace, where she was met with a kiss laced with so much fervor that it made her head spin.
"I don't understand," Apple marveled breathlessly, leaning back.
"I realized something tonight too," Raven echoed, so close now that Apple could see every, last freckle in her fair eyes. "When I was standing there, teeming with more power than I knew what to do with, feeling like I could do anything and there would be no consequences, there was one girl who risked everything to save me. She was small and powerless and she was doing everything she could not to cry, but I heard the things she was saying to me and it was like everything snapped into perfect clarity. I thought, my god, I love her."