i know it's late, but here's the discord angst fic myself and @calypsothenerd wrote a while back for daring day. enjoy!
"Daring, you need to look presentable" his father would say
"You are the face of this family Daring, straighten your tie" his mother would say
It was always the same. He was the future face of the charming dynasty, and needed to look like it. He was destined to be apple's prince, after all
But he was sick of this, he was sick of being told to ‘walk upright’ to ‘always smile’ to ‘fix his hair’ why couldn’t he be a normal teenager without worrying about how to look and how to act on every waking minute? He just wanted a normal life, but he knew that shouldn’t happen
He wanted a break. He wanted to be free. He wanted to rebel, though he knew if he did his family would disown him. That was scarier than all this, the fact that if he didn't keep up this charade, his family would leave him. Without this charade, he was worthless, to them at least
So he decided, one thing: he would go for the person that cared the most to try and get himself out of this situation, he just couldn’t take this anymore, so he finally got the courage and knocked on her door, Rosabella came out and immediately frowned because of the sad look on his face
"Daring, what's wrong?" she asked
"Everything" he answered, sliding past her into the empty dorm
She sat down on her bed, tapping the space beside her, telling him to sit. He lay down, his head in her lap
"Show me your demons and ill show you mine" she murmured, nodding at him to begin talking
“It’s my family, I’m supposed to be the perfect child, to be the image of the family, and it sucks, I can’t do normal teenager things, I can’t choose how I want to dress or style my hear, I feel like I’m in cage in a hexing zoo, Bella, I don’t know what to do anymore” he looked up at her, tears almost spilling over the surface
"What about you? What's your deal?" he asked, gulping quickly
"My mom's gone and my dad blames me for it. Treated me like shit because of it. still does. That's why I love it here so much. It's freedom for me, the one place he can't control me" now it was the princess blinking back tears, as she shared her story
“That’s terrible Rosa, I have no idea, but I wish I had your bravery to stand up against my parents”
she couldn't help but scoff.
"When I go home, I'm terrified. Of everything, Everyone. Because all it takes is one mistake and im done for. That isn't bravery, I can assure you that"
"What about when we saved Ever After from the Snow King? What about you sticking by my side when no one else would, after dragon games? What about all that?" Daring could handle negativity directed at himself, but Rosabella? Unacceptable
"All of that we did together, Dare"
At her words, the two of them looked at each other having the same idea
what if we stand up to our parents together?
“Yes Daring, I see you’re finally using that big head of yours for something” she jokes as she playfully nudges him
"But when? When are we both gonna see our parents again, at the same time?" he asked
"Winter break is coming up, you could come over to mine for the holidays?" she offered, implying that she wouldn't be able to go to his
“Sure, I guess, but why can’t you come to mine?”
Rosa took a deep breath
"Before coming to this school, I had never left my castle. Ever. Not even to see family. I hadn't met Briar, and I still haven't met her brothers or parents. The furthest I had gone was midway through the woods behind the castle, that was it. I'd hardly be able to spend the holidays at your's, even with him coming too" she sighed
“But do you think he’d let me go to yours?”
"I'm not sure, but it's more likely"
- - -
After two weeks, many a night spent yelling down a phone, and nights plagued with terrors refusing to subside, winter break and it was official: Daring, the twins and their parents would be spending the holidays at the Beauty's
- - -
The final day before the winter break Rosabella and Daring were hanging out “You still sure about this?” The beauty princess asks
"As sure as I'll ever be" was her prince's response,"after all, we've come this far"
“Let’s do this” she kisses his cheek and goes back to her room to pack
Once the four of them had gotten packed, Rosabella drove herself and the three Charmings to her childhood home, Beauty Castle, as the siblings' parents wouldn't be there until the day after. It was really something, walls of ivory, turrets wrapped in ivy, flowers at every turn. To the girl who had spent her entire childhood here, however, just the sight of it was enough to get her heart pounding and blood boiling. Daring, sensing her tension, immediately grabbed her hand, as the four of them walked through the gates
Darling, being oblivious of what was happening inside her friend’s mind commented “Wow Rosie, your house is amazing”
"Thanks. Your's probably is too" the princess responded, trying to breathe at a normal rate
"Yeah, but it's nothing compared to this" Dexter said, just as oblivious to the princess' discomfort as his sister, "I don't think I'd want to leave"
Daring, noticing the distress on the princess’s face, decided to change the subject “So, Darls, where did mom say we were going this time?”
"I think she said the dining hall" Darling responded
"Great. Let's go!" Rosabella said, a little too enthusiastically, as she led them through her childhood home
They then proceeded to follow Rosabella to the dining hall, where everything was ready for them
"Dad likes to sit at the head of the table, and to have me in his sight, so I'll sit at the opposite end, Dare, you and Dar can sit opposite each other nearest to me, and Dex you can sit beside Dare" Rosabella immediately said as they entered, knowing that if Daring was to get in a fight with his parents, having them beside him was not a good idea
“Yeah, Bell, you’re right” he then sits beside her, right next to the head of the table
Rosabella gave him a smile as his siblings sat down, but that went away as an inescapable presence entered the room
"Dad"
“Hello Sir” The oldest prince said, trying to be kind, despite already having seen the wounds he put on his daughter’s body
"Get away from my daughter. You sit there" he pointed to the same place at the other end of the table, beside where Rosa said he would be sitting.
Daring begrudgingly obliged, not wanting to cause any trouble, but still wanting to protect his princess.
“Pardon me sir, but I think this sitting arrangement is for the best” the prince said in the most educated way possible.
"Stop trying to be smart with me. Either you move or I make you" the stare given to the prince by the beast could've frozen over the room, as it did Daring, before he squeezed his girlfriend's hand and moved.
"Good" the Beast said, nodding and moving to his seat.
The princess glared at her boyfriend like ‘what was that’
"Rosabella! Stop staring like that" the beast snapped, making the princess jump and quietly apologise.
it was then that there was a knock on the door, one that could only be the Charming parents.
“It’s open!” The beast yelled aggressively, clearly already regretting allowing visitors.
Mr and Mrs Charming entered the dining room, and sat beside the twins without a word, sensing the tension in the room.
Mrs Charming coughed and spoke up “Thank you for inviting us” Her husband nodded along.
"It was my daughter's idea, actually" the beast replied, staring down Rosabella in the process, "so you can thank her"
“Then thank you, young lady” the queen turned to The Beauty.
"y- you're welcome, Mrs. Charming" Rosabella spluttered, right before the cook arrived with their meal. Desperate to get away from conversing with the guests, the beast automatically tucked in, prompting the rest to do the same.
And for the rest of the meal neither Rosabella nor her father said a word, for different reasons, she was anxious about standing up against him and him hating having guests over.
It was Daring that piped up first.
"Mom, Dad, there's something I've been meaning to talk to you about"
Both his parents barely gave him a glance, his dad giving a weary "Yes, son?"
“I can’t take it anymore, I’m losing myself to please both of you, the fancy clothes, the expensive hair products, everything, I never wanted any of this, I just wanted to be a normal teenager”
"Daring, don't be silly. You're a Charming, no Charming is normal" his mother's tone was cold as ice.
"well, maybe- maybe i don't want to be a Charming"
Then his father stood up and slammed the table “Daring Charming, whoever put those ideas in your head is not your friend, now sit down and stop with this madness”
"NO, DAD!" Daring yelled, exasperated, "If that's all being a Charming is I don't want it! And how can you? It's not a life I want to live, being this plastic, stylised version of myself. I wanna be me, Dad"
“If that’s what you think, don’t bother coming back home after this” his father spat back.
“C’mon Dexter, Darling, let’s go home, enough of this stupidity”
"Don't go!" Rosabella quickly blurted out, for a reason only her and her friends knew.
"Don't be silly, Rosabella. they may leave if they wish" her father mumbled.
“No actually, I think I’m staying” Darling protested.
"Thank Grimm. Someone with a brain" Mrs Charming breathed.
"I'm not siding with you" Darling huffed, "We got invited here. It would be rude to leave"
Dexter nodded in agreement.
“If any of you stay, you’ll be removed from the family together with your savage brother”
"That's not fair! You did this to him, and if you can't take responsibility for that you're just going to kick him out? What would the rest of the family say?!" Dexter stood, breaking his silence, "And don't say that they would agree, because all five of us know they wouldn't"
“We are just trying to maintain the Charming family name, if you little savage children don’t understand that then you will no longer be a part of this family”
"At least you want to be a part of your family!" Rosa yelled before she could stop herself.
“And what is that supposed to mean, young lady?!” the beast yelled out.
"You ruined my childhood, left me battered and bruised, kept me stuck here with no escape, made me think that I didn't have relatives though really I did and you just never told me about them, didn't raise me right and left it up to the staff and your own son, barely let me eat or sleep, punished me for even the smallest things and for what? To make me feel guilty for coming out of the womb? What do you want me to do? Put on a brave face and say that I love you? When all you did for the first sixteen years of my life was make it a living hell?" rant over, the princess took a deep breath and awaited her father's response.
“GET OUT OF HERE, ALL SIX OF YOU, NOW” The beast roared out, then left the dinning room, slamming the door.
as the slam reverberated through the room, a deep silence echoed with it.
Daring sitting restless, his parents giving him the cold shoulder, his siblings getting the same, Rosabella across from him on the verge of tears, barely holding herself together.
The Charming went back to his original seat at the sight of her, wrapping her up in his arms.
