Apple White is known as the princess with the marvelous fairytale of all Ever After. As the next Snow White, she was raised like how her Mother expected her to be when the time comes for her to take over the throne as Queen of the land. Kind, courageous, passionate, smart, Perfect.

As she grew older, Apple was taught that following her parents' footsteps will lead her to the right path, to her Happily ever after. marrying her pre-destined prince who will wake her up in her sleep when the Evil Queen poisoned her, run the kingdom together, build a family, and their family tradition shall continue. everything and anything her mother taught her were the things she carried on her shoulders, reassuring her that only in her fairytale, safety is promised. her safety will be guaranteed. as a girl who was almost killed at a younger age, Apple was terrified. by then she realized that going against the story would be terrible and dangerous.

The future Snow White carries a lot of expectations, but is she that determined to be the next Queen? the next ruler of all land? one bite from the poisoned apple and her fairytale will be perfect. perfect in everyone's eyes, perfect in her mother's eyes.

She knows in herself that she needs to be the fairest one of all, as her mother always says. picture-perfect princess adored by many, envied by the most on the female population, loved by the most male population. But is she really happy? is this the life she wanted? what would happen if her deep secret were revealed?

Will her friends stay? will her family disown her? is she still going to be the next Snow White? or a big disappointment and disgrace in all history of Ever After?

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Moonlight shines through the halls of Ever After High, students are already suited in their dorm rooms after a long day of school. everything seems back to normal after the big battle against the Evil Queen. A week has passed after the dragon games incident where the whole school battled the Evil Queen who escaped from the mirror prison. the reimprisonment was successful with the help of no other than the daughters of the most rivaled individuals on the Snow White fairytale, Raven Queen and Apple White. peace has befallen on the land of Ever After once again.

inside the biggest dorm room among the whole school resides Raven and Apple who happens to be awake at the late hour of the night. the dark-haired princess is on her mirrorpad, tapping lightly on the screen to whatever activity she's doing because the sleep doesn't seem to visit her system yet. on the other side of the room, the blonde princess laying on her bed, eyes on the ceiling as she let out a sigh. it comes out as a frustrated sigh. she rolled on her side where she faces her roommate's side of the room.

Apple and Raven's friendship was tainted during the week of dragon games. the blonde made terrible mistakes which caused chaos in all Ever After. she was the one who brought everyone in danger- the future Snow White no less. the blonde made a sincere public apology to the entire school, admitting her mistakes caused by her selfish desires. selfish enough to drove her dear friend Raven away by pushing her to follow their fairytale religiously which caused a big scar on their friendship. Apple knew from Legacy Day that Raven will be her biggest challenge. the said dark-haired girl who is supposed to be the next Evil Queen rebels against her destiny. their destiny. Apple tried to persuade her into evil, for the sake of her own happily ever after. if she's going to think this through, she was indeed selfish. she proved that she'll do whatever it takes even against her dear friend's will just to fulfill her destiny. and that was horrible. she was horrible. a rotten apple.

it's been a week but the guilt won't just leave Apple's system. her bond with her roommate changed after a week for obvious reasons. she did apologize to her for the way she acted before and how selfish she was, Raven accepted the apology, but it seems like the witch grew more distant away from her. though she should be glad since this is what she's been aiming for. she wanted Raven to hate her, curse her, fight her, poison her. but now? it doesn't feel right. the thought of Raven hating her and avoiding any contact with her pains her like a hundred knives stabbed in her chest. it feels heavy and foreign. she hates it and it makes her cry in her sleep every night.

She let out another shaky sigh, gripping on her pillow lightly, still facing Raven's side of the room. the dark-haired girl's spot is dark, only the light from the girl's mirrorpad is the only light that flickers. she can't read Raven's face right now, her blurry vision isn't helping either.

she wanted to stand up and walk towards her roommate's spot, talk to her, hug her, like the way they used to, but she's afraid Raven would distant herself more.

"It's my fault anyway", she mumbled. closing her lids to prevent her tears to fall. she wanted to talk to Raven so bad that it hurts her chest even more. even though she sees Raven every day, she misses her. she misses her laugh, her silly jokes, her smile, everything. she wished she could turn back time to right her wrongs but no. deep inside her, she knows that everything happens for a reason. and whatever the reason is, it sucks big time. if the outcome of it is her and Raven's relationship will go on like this forever, she's already suffering.

Apple took a deep breath, shaking her head lightly as she makes up her mind, "I don't want this to go on forever". she knew what she needed to do- talk to Raven. She doesn't have any idea right now if Raven will talk to her or completely ignore her, but nothing will happen if she's not going to try.

"Alright, it's now or never", she muttered under her breath. she stood up from her bed, slowly she approached Raven's side of the room, gulping as she reached near the dark-haired girl's bed. the witch seems to notice her presence, slightly startled Raven slowly put her mirrorpad away from her as she eyed the blonde. Apple cleared her throat, putting a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.

"Oh, Uhm, Hey Apple" Raven started awkwardly with a light chuckle.

"Hey" the blonde princess responds, her words seem to melt away, her chest is hammering violently. 'I'm an idiot' she mentally facepalmed herself.

"Uhh, What's up? do you need anything?" the dark-haired princess asked in a light tone. she noticed that Apple is fidgeting, her lips are parting but no words are coming out. she wonders why Apple is approaching her right now in the middle of the night because she knows that it's unlikely for the blonde to stay up late.

"Can I sit with you? and maybe talk to you for a while?" finally Apple managed to say as she eyed the raven-haired girl for any signs of disapproval, but Raven smiled and nodded her head. Apple's insides feel oddly giddy for a moment but it quickly changed to anxiousness. she settled herself on Raven's side of the bed, her posture is still stiff as she fidgets her fingers.

"What's wrong? what do you want to talk about?" Raven started slowly, not wanting to rush the blonde.

The raven-haired princess is slightly concerned because of the way Apple is acting right now. 'is she sick? did something happened again?' she thought silently until the blonde took a deep breath and their eyes met. Raven didn't know how much she misses those pair of baby blue orbs and somehow, the twinkle in the blonde's eyes is dull.

"Raven? I...I know that you have already forgiven me for what I've done" Apple paused, there's a building lump in her throat as she gulped and speak again.

"But I know that something has changed between us. I know how terrible I was. For how I treated you ever since you refused to sign the Storybook of Legends, I pushed you to do something evil for the sake of my own happily ever after. I never listened to you. I was a horrible friend"

Her voice broke, her tears are forming on the corners of her eyes. Raven remained silent, she can't read the expression she's wearing right now. 'Hah, I knew it. she's still mad' she thought.

"Again, I'm so sorry, and-," Apple shook her head, squeezing her lids shut, avoiding her tears to fall. "-I really don't like how we are right now. everything has changed. I know I deserved it, But Raven-"

Apple can't hold it back any longer as she put both hands in her face. her voice is shaking as she spoke, tears are streaming down her pale cheeks. this hurts more than she can ever imagine. she tried to calm herself down as she wiped her tears away. she looked at Raven, locking her gaze in those deep lavender eyes that she adored the most.

"I miss you"

"I see you every day, we had some little talks, but you feel so far away. this newfound distance between us is killing me, Raven. I miss everything about us. I want this wedge between us to disappear. I miss you so much and it hurts"

Apple wiped her tears again, her voice is becoming hoarse as she swallowed the thick lump on her throat. she didn't know what to say anymore but her heart is still hammering violently in her chest. she looks pathetic, not so princess-y with all this ugly crying, but she doesn't care. she wants Raven back. she is also aware that Raven might not trust her again for what she did and that hurts like a brick, but she is more willing to win her dear friend back.

"I just can't hold this any longer, it feels heavy and it sucks. I know that you won't forgive me wholely, and I know you won't trust me anymore, but I want you to know that I'll do anything to win you back, Raven. You're-special to me. you're my friend and I...I can't lose you" Apple feels so small at this point, but she means everything she said.

the blonde princess was about to say something again when she feels something shifted in the bed, before she can even speak, she was already enveloped in a tight hug.

Raven is hugging her. and it seems like the raven-haired girl didn't want to let her go for any moment now.

"R-Raven?"

Raven has scooted closer to wrap Apple in a tight hug, hot tears are swelling on the corners of her eyes as she let out a sigh. she may be ignoring the blonde most of the time but she can't deny forever that she misses her too. seeing her roommate like this broke her heart, she had never seen Apple this vulnerable and small before.

"Apple, I'm sorry"

"Why are you apologizing? Raven, you did nothing wrong" Apple loosens herself from the hug to look straight at Raven's eyes, the gap between them is just inches away. she raised her right hand and placed it lightly on the witch's pale cheek. Raven stared back, blinking her tears away. she took a deep breath as she touched the blonde's hand.

"I'm sorry if I set this distance between us. I was hurt, Apple. I needed time to heal. But you know what? I can't just drive you away from me forever because...you're my friend. I know we had a rough relationship before, but that's all in the past now. Yes, I already forgave you, but I thought I still need a little time for me to refresh that's why I avoided you… most of the time"

Apple feels like crying again. her lips are quivering as she opens her mouth to say something, but no words coming out. she just wanted to cry right now. She can't believe that Raven is apologizing to her for the fact that she did nothing wrong. 'Raven is too good to be like her mother'. she thought silently.

She once stated before when they were trapped in Wonderland for the first time, where Raven fully inherited her mother's dark powers, she saw how powerful Raven can be if she'll follow her mother's evil path. and there she realized that the young witch's heart is too good to be evil.

"You don't deserve to be treated like this, Apple. I know you made mistakes, even though you were so selfish before, I was still hoping that one day you'll change and you'll finally understand me. and I saw that you already did. I'm happy about that"

the witch didn't break their eye contact, her lips curled into a small smile as she put a loose strand of blonde hair behind Apple's ear.

"I miss you too, Apple"

Raven pulled the blonde princess again for another hug, stroking the soft blonde tresses as she inhaled Apple's sweet cinnamon scent. Apple starts to sob in their hug, the witch rubbed her back soothingly, cooing sweet words to the sobbing blonde.

"Thank you, Raven. this means so much to me" Apple said between her sobs as she buried her face to the dark-haired girl's chest. Raven placed her chin on top of the blonde's head, smiling. they both missed each other's company. the warmth of each other's body, the affection they shared in their friendship. somehow Raven wondered before if there will be a day where she can wrap her arms around her favorite blonde again, and here they are now, finally in each other's arms.

"Do you still want me to be your friend, Raven?"

"Of course, silly. we will always be friends forever after"

the future Snow White faced the young witch again, now beaming a wide smile, happy tears are still present on her pale cheeks. She wants to stay like this forever, enveloped in her favorite witch's warm hugs and never let go.

"Thank you, Raven. I promised to change for the better and I won't let you down again"

xxxxx