Summary: Eddy annoys Apple about her lack of experience on the dating scene. This ends up having a strange consequence.
Apple went over everything that led her to this moment, feeling abnormally warm despite the cold weather outside. She tried not to move too much considering where she was sitting, but her nerves did force her hands not to stay still.
"Princess, if you're just going to stare into my eyes, we can get back to studying."
She let out a yelp, remembering that she was on Eddy's lap and actively holding onto his shoulders with her hands. Which was weird. She probably shouldn't be doing this, especially since he technically wasn't Daring. Then again, it wasn't like she'd been doing anything for the past ten seconds anyway.
"I-I can still do this." Apple was pretty sure she was lying to herself more than Eddy at this point. "I just need to psych myself up more, that's all."
"Yeah, but I'm pretty sure neither of us have the time for that to happen." Eddy didn't have that patience at least. He was just trying to mess with her, not actually have something happen here. "I didn't say you had to practice with me. I said you could at least try something before your little happy ending with Charmless."
Oh, right. That's how she got into this situation.
Despite the fact they were supposed to be studying for one of their shared classes when they'd gotten to the topic of dating. She was trying to needle him for some gossip and then he'd shoot back about her lack of experience. Apple had tried to defend herself by using her destiny with Daring as an excuse, which Eddy had pointed out made no sense since Daring himself was out there dating anyone that would give him the time of day.
"I keep telling you that's different." Apple regretted sitting on his lap like this. She never realized it, but this was the closest she'd ever been to him without it being an argument. "We're still in high school."
"There's literally no difference. The only thing that's different is that you're the princess and he's the prince." Eddy shrugged off one of her hands, grabbing his phone and showing off the screen. "See this? Pretty sure this is the third date he's been on today. I'm not saying go as hard as he is, but at least even the playing field there."
He paused, shifting a little to get some distance between them. "Probably not with me. Appreciate the fact I'm your first choice, Princess."
"I did this because you were making fun of me." Apple really didn't understand how she became so spiteful. Hanging out with him and Cleo must've had an effect on her. "You looked really surprised to see me do it, so I'd say it was worth it."
"Look at you, getting all mischievous. I'll make a manipulator out of you yet." Eddy chuckled. It sounded nice coming out of his throat, the comment causing Apple to blush. "But I am being serious, I guess. You should do something about your dating life."
Apple figured he was just setting up another joke. But his insistence was starting to make her curious. "Mind explaining?"
"Sockhead would say it a lot better- probably with words with too many syllables- but high school is supposed to be about exploring yourself, right?" Eddy waved a hand around lazily. "College too, but that's where you're supposed to party too."
"And also move up in higher learning." Apple could see Eddy mocking her by mouthing her words with his hand. She slapped it down lightly. "That makes sense, but I'm pretty sure I know who I am already. I'm Apple White, the next Snow White, and I'm pretty happy with that."
"Yeah, now. Imagine you get to marry Daring and everything. You want to know what's the worst thing to figure out at the honeymoon because you saved yourself for marriage?" Eddy smirked, and Apple suddenly felt like she was in trouble. "Figuring out you're into princesses. Seems like an important thing to know."
The thought caused Apple's mind to screech to a halt. It was a fair point, but the first thing to pop up was extremely relevant. "I don't think my mom would approve."
"If she wants a Charming, you can just go after Darling or whatever. I can see her wanting to be your knight in shining armor." Eddy tilted his head, smile growing wider as he couldn't help but run with it. "Or if you really want to get your mom angry, you can date Raven! It'd be easy for you two to get together since you two already share a room-"
Apple's face was a deep red when she finally started to cover his mouth with her hands. "Stop, stop, stop! I don't need to imagine that when I'm sleeping with- I mean, in the same room as her!"
Eddy let out a loud laugh, so Apple buried her head in his chest out of embarrassment and hitting his chest lightly. His laughter eventually died down and started rubbing at her back to get her to calm down.
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. I stand by it, though." Eddy patted her on the back a few more times before moving her to face him directly. "If you do start to experiment and you get some flak for it, just call me. They'll learn that they can only complain about it once when I'm done."
Apple steadied herself as Eddy let her go, head swimming at the swerve from embarrassment to deep thought. Despite Eddy's jokes, it was something that she could put some thought towards. At least dating a couple of people would help her figure out what she wanted out of her future relationship with Daring. Or Darling. Or nobody, depending on if she even liked anybody.
"Alright, now that we've had the daily heart to heart, it's about time you get off of me." Eddy wiggled and she felt himself try to escape. "A hot girl being on my lap is cool and all, but if we're still not doing anything…"
Apple wasn't sure if it was panic or a sudden bout of mischievousness coming to her mind but found herself moving her body closer. Eddy's shock was delightful, the spiteful part of her mind only goading her more as she leaned in and- ah!
Eddy froze, letting Apple lean into him more and get a feeling for his lips. She was ready to lean back before he responded, clumsily kissing her back and holding onto her deeply. She was surprised, but they didn't separate for a few more moments before they had to breathe.
"That… That wasn't fair, Princess." Eddy licked his lips, pausing. "Apple flavored lip gloss. Always on brand with you."
"Yep. Always have to be." Apple breathed heavily, feeling woozy. She rested her head back onto his chest as head spun, trying to not imagine how that felt. He had notably chapped lips, but they were still kind of soft. "Should've psyched myself up more. Can't call me a coward anymore, though."
"Guess not. Hope you learned something at the very least." Eddy rubbed her back some more. Something told him she wasn't moving anytime soon. "Better than what the Kankers put me through at the very least."
Apple didn't make an attempt to move, so Eddy took it as his cue to turn on Hexflix. He continued holding onto her, putting down any thoughts about what had just happened. Apple was just finally getting back at him when he was being a jerk. That was all. Heck, he certainly respected the guts to do something like that, especially for being such a stickler.
Apple stirred, stopping him from thinking further. She didn't look at him, but she obviously had something on her mind.
"Eddy?" Apple's sounded nervous. Eddy rolled his eyes, already expecting the next words she was about to say. "Can I try that again sometime? You're right about me needing practice."
Eddy choked on his own spit. That wasn't what he expected to hear. He honestly thought she was going to ask him to forget about this.
"Sure, why not." He had enough fake confidence to mask his surprise. "Just give me a little warning next time, okay?"
Apple nodded before continuing to rest against him. She would've been fooled if she hadn't heard his heart beating extremely fast. She felt oddly satisfied to finally get this kind of reaction from him. He'd always been ridiculously hard to fluster.
Sorry for the long pause everyone. Things have been fairly tough lately and it's resulted in a long absence that I kind of needed to take. I'll explain here and on the main thing.
Basically, I had to deal with work until it kind of exhausted me to a severe point, I had to deal with a lot of personal projects/stuff that ended up taking priority and had to deal with a loss recently. At a certain point, it just made doing anything else seem like a lot. So, I shut down on things for a while. It'll get better eventually, but finally mustered up enough effort to publish something on here, even if its simple.
I know it's a broken record, but thanks for tuning in at the very least. Hope to see you in further chapters.