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Out of all things Prince Charming expected on his doorstep one afternoon, it certainly wasn’t this.
He was sick and tired of all the princes thinking they were good enough for his daughter, knocking on his door as if they even deserved to step foot in his castle, hiding their ill-favoured personalities behind mountains of cash and gold. If only they knew how much more important love was to the king of Cinderellasburg.
His mind was on autopilot. He was currently sitting on the couch, having just ripped up a letter from a prince up north. That retched boy — it would be far too generous to call him a man, Charming believes — who thought talking about how many heirs he would give Charming would make him better than the rest. If he had the audacity to come in person, Charming would have smote him on the spot.
“Another bad one?” A tired Ella questions as she passes by, sitting beside him on the couch. The tired, nearly angry huff that escapes Charming’s lips seems to tell enough.
“Do I even want to know what this one said?” Chad asks as he comes down the stairs, home from college for a few weeks just like Chloe. “I can assure you that you would not be happy at the very least.” Charming says shakily, unsure of how much more he could take.
He knew Chloe was popular. Not only was she soon going to be a future queen, but she was perfect. Kind, gorgeous — Charming surely wasn’t surprised. He was very pleased with the woman, the leader his daughter had grown into, but he just wished there were far better suitors than…whoever these princes were.
“If it matters, I did not like you at first, either?” Ella offers weakly, but Charming shakes his head, “I know, honey, but these princes seem downright evil.” He sighs, leaning back on the couch, “The thought of giving away my daughter’s hand to such fools—“
“I prefer to call them dumbass shitheads.”
“Language, Chad, but—“ Charming sighs, “…yes, I suppose I would call them that.”
The doorbell rings and suddenly, Charming feels like his blood pressure is about to explode.
“Another one?” Chad groans, clearly angry already, “Can I please talk to whoever this one is, dad?”
“No, Chad, because if I cannot control myself, I doubt you could.” Ignoring Chad’s insistent whining, Charming makes his way to front door, trying to take deep breaths. All he needs to do is turn whichever prince this is away. Sure, they might insist or beg and Charming will have to try to stop himself from punting them himself and oh gosh, the dread in him is surely building—
He doesn’t even realize he’s reached the door.
He takes a deep breath. He just needs to get the prince out.
Just get the prince out.
With one last deep breath, he throws the door open and—
“For the last time, Prince Elias, I am not allowing you to marry my daughter—!”
Suddenly, he goes silent seeing who was standing in front of his house. “Oh,” is all he can say, extremely confused, “Good afternoon, Red. Sorry about that.” He awkwardly greets his daughter’s best friend. This was certainly a strange occurrence. Not only would Red never show up unannounced, but the usually confident girl seemed so…fidgety.
“Good afternoon, Charming, and it’s fine.” Red greets, tight-lipped unlike her usual free spirit.
Awkward silence ensues between the two of them.
“…Chloe isn’t here, if you’re looking for her. She has dueling practice until dark.”
“Oh, I’m not, but I—“ Red flushes causing Charming to raise an eyebrow. That is also certainly new, “I need to talk to you and Ella.” The words come spilling out her mouth as if she was rushing it out, afraid she would swallow it too soon, “And Chad, if he’s there, I guess.”
“He is.” Charming replies, the confusion still having not disappeared from his voice. He couldn’t help but stare at the girl in front of him.
The Red he knew was always so prideful, so loud, so witty. She often walked with the confidence and power fit for a future queen. She often wore a cocky smile on her lips with her eyebrows raised as if nothing in the world could ever stop her. That she wouldn’t entertain anybody who even tried.
The Red in front of him looked like she was about to piss herself any moment now.
Charming’s eyebrows furrow, “Is my daughter in trouble?”
“Not at all, Charming, I just…” Red stumbles over her words. She was always a girl that let actions lead her somewhere, “It’s somewhat personal? But also related to her?” She frowns, “Huh. That…doesn’t make any sense, doesn’t it?”
Right, Charming was definitely getting no concrete answers as of now.
“Not really.” He answers honestly, “But very well, then. Would you like to come in? We have tea.”
“Yes, please.” Red answers, though her sentences are still clipped. Charming frowns, his concern growing by the second as he allows Red inside their castle. They walk in silence for a few moments, Charming heavily observing the girl in front of him. She seemed much more alert than usual, he noticed, her posture straight rather than her usual casual pose.
“I love the decor of your castle by the way, Charming.”
Charming suddenly straightens, feeling caught.
“I’m sorry?”
“I think it’s cool.” Red replies shortly.
“Really?” Charming raises an eyebrow, “You think so?”
“Yeah, it’s very…” Red trails off, clearly awkward, “Royal-y?”
“Royal-y.” Charming echoes with furrowed eyebrows. Well, he assumed it was a compliment. Red was always like that, anyways. He struggled to understand her in the beginning, yet appreciated her efforts to be kind all the same. He knew she grew up quite sheltered.
Charming smiles gratefully at Red though he can’t deny the confusion in his tone when he thanks the girl. Admittedly, Charming doesn’t quite understand what is going on. He doesn’t understand at all.
Red’s been to the castle many times and never once has she complimented the decor or admired its architecture. As much as he appreciated it, there was definitely something wrong with this girl, but he just couldn’t put his finger on what.
Soon, they reach the living room. Ella notices them first.
“Oh, thank heavens it’s just you, Red.” Ella sighs out of relief, the girl waving at her awkwardly and greeting her with a bow causing Charming’s eyebrow to raise upwards. That was surely new too. It was like Red was trying to be somebody she wasn’t. “What a pleasant surprise!”
“Ayy, Reed’s at the house!” Chad exclaims, being the next to notice the newcomer. He begins to wave like a madman, “What’s up, Reed?”
“It’s Red…” Red mumbles under her breath, sounding tired as if she’s said it many times before. Charming clears his throat once noticing the curious looks of his son and wife. Red, the poor girl, already looked sick enough, so he would at least spare her from having to talk a little bit.
“So, Red came here today and said she wanted to have a conversation with us.”
Chad frowns, watching as Red takes a seat on the couch across from him, “Look, Red, if this is about you wanting to complain again about me cheating at the last family game night, I just want to say that the cards you spelled out of my ass was a complete coincidence—“
“It’s really not.” Red mumbles through gritted teeth, “Also, you’re still gross for that.”
Chad gasps, insulted.
“I call it absolute genius—“
Charming clears his throat to stop the two from bickering. He already had to see them nearly choke each other to death when Chad refused to admit he was cheating last month — he didn’t need to see it again. Especially not when Red looked so unstable. He then hands Red a cup of tea, the girl taking it gratefully. Yet Charming couldn’t help but notice the way she struggled to hold up the cup, her hands trembling as she took it.
He meets his wife’s concerned eyes from across the room. All he can do is shrug.
“So, we’re all here now.” He tries to smile as comfortingly as he possibly can, but Red seems nervous to even glance at him, “You can tell us now.”
Red smiles awkwardly, nodding.
“Well, first, I have a gift.” Red remarks, before doubling down on herself, “You know, I’m not really sure if that’s the appropriate way to announce it—rabbits, Chlo’s books didn’t cover any of what I’m supposed to say!” She groans under her breath. Ella frowns, extremely concerned with Red’s dilemma, only to gasp.
“But I heard that this is a part of what I’m about to do, so, I hope you all like it…” Red trails off, suddenly bringing out a bouquet from behind her back and extending her arms towards Ella. She had picked each flower individually the morning before after asking her mother which plants of Wonderland were the most dedicated to love. She will never live the smug smile her mother had given her down, she fears.
“Say hi to Ella for me, will you, dear?” Her mother had told her that morning before she left for Cinderellasburg, far too chipper for Red who looked like she was about to throw her breakfast up.
Yet, it was all worth it. The bouquet was stunning to say the least, with Wonderlandian influences seen running all over the leaves and through the roots. The mushrooms that decorate the region’s land, the hearts that symbolize royalty, the red flowers that symbolized the gift giver and so many more. It was clear that there was much thought put into the bouquet. She could hear the noises of awe from the Charming family, which was definitely a good sign though it did nothing to soothe her nerves.
“Oh, it’s a wonderful gift, Red!” Ella exclaims, taking the bouquet and very kindly not pointing out the obvious shaking in Red’s hands as she hands it over. Her excited voice only manages to soothe Red a little bit, for Chad and Charming still haven’t said a word, “But what is this about, Red? What do you mean this is a part of what you are about to do?”
Red nods.
“So, er, I heard that royals in Auradon have this thing called asking permission before dating?” Red stammers, feeling small for the first time in her life under their stares. “Where is this going?” Charming is quick to ask. He keeps his voice calm, despite the desperate curiosity in his mind. Dating? Why would Red be asking them about dating?
On the other hand, all Red can do is take a deep breath. Here goes nothing, she guesses. She could feel her throat go dry and suddenly, she seriously wishes she had prepared a speech.
“I’m not entirely sure how to say this exactly, but there is somebody in your family who has become very special to me.”
Red doesn’t notice how Chad’s eyes widen comically.
“And I came here today since I would like to ask for your permission to date them—“
“You’d like to date me?” Screeches Chad suddenly, Red’s jaw ungracefully falling at his words, “What? No!” She is quick to exclaim, the incredulity clear on her face. Chad doesn’t seem to budge, scoffing, “Look, Princess Red, I understand I have quite the face, but dating my younger sister’s best friend is kind of weird, don’t you think?”
“I don’t want to date you!” Red looked like she was about to rip her hairs out, or spell Chad into the next dimension. The Charming parents could only watch amusedly, unsure of whether to step in. Chad surely didn’t seem like Red’s type, that’s certain. They were quite surprised. Chad only frowns, shaking his head.
“It’s alright, Red, I mean,” He hums, striking a small pose earning snorts from his parents who were far too used to this. Red only began to look more devastated by the second.
“I don’t blame you for falling in love with this face—“
“I’m in love with your sister!” As soon as Red basically yells it, she slaps a hand over her mouth, her eyes growing comically wide as the room goes silent.
When the silence continues, Red’s hands drop to her lap. She sighs, “So, uh, yeah, there it is. I would like to date your daughter, Chloe Charming.” She makes a depressing rendition of what the Auradon residents apparently called ‘jazz hands’ — or maybe it was just Chloe, which made the action far more embarrassing — before weakly exclaiming, “Yay?”
Red shifts uncomfortably under the three dropped jaws that face her. Ella looked as she usually did though her eyes were slightly widened while Charming and Chad both looked as if they had gone to whole other dimension. Red then sighs, letting her hands drop to her sides.
“Look, I know that you all love her dearly. I do too. She’s changed my life for the better and I—“ Red’s lips tremble, “I promise you that I will work hard to please her and to keep her safe. I’m not exaggerating when I say I will do anything for her. I promise you that her happiness will always come first to me.”
Red seemed much more relaxed now as if the mere thought of Chloe took her mind whole, removing all worries and distractions.
“I think she feels the same way about me. We’ve been through so much together and she will always be my favorite person.” She looks at the Charming family who wear blank looks. Red would have been scared. Rejection was always one of her worst fears since childhood, but suddenly, Chloe is in front of her, smiling at her.
You got this.
She had to be brave for Chloe. How could she deserve her otherwise? Even if Chloe did return her feelings.
“So now, I’m just wondering if I have permission to take her out on a date? And maybe more than that afterwards, please, Your Majesties.” Red manages to finish, taking a deep breath as she did so. It’s like all the air in her lungs had disappeared.
Only silence ensued. Red began to fidget with her fingers nervously.
Suddenly, Charming inhales sharply.
He stands up, the sound of his chair’s legs skidding against the floor nearly deafening to Red. He walks towards the girl who looked like she was losing years of her life with every step Charming took towards her. The king looked scarily serious and all Red could do was squeeze her eyes shut—
“Thank you!” Charming suddenly cries, dropping to his knees before Red as he shakes her hand aggressively. Red blinks, mouth opening and closing as if a fish out of water, “Um, sorry, what—?”
“Well, at least it isn’t some cocky douchebag trying for my sister’s hand.” Chad grins, aggressively slapping Red on the shoulder earning a choked yelp from the girl, “I don’t know about mom and dad, but you’re already good to me. Welcome to the family, Princess Red!” Red blinks, mind unable to process current events, “I haven’t even started dating Chloe yet—?”
“Well, start already!” Ella squeals, “You are the only good candidate we’ve gotten so far and not only that, but Chloe genuinely likes you! This is a miracle! My daughter is going to marry for love!”
“Marry?” Red questions, and Ella’s eyes grow wide, “You would like to marry our daughter? Already?”
Red’s own grow just as wide, maybe even wider.
“What? No!” Red tries to deny, but Charming is quick to beat her, gasping as he gets up on his feet. He looked giddy with pride, “What is this I hear? Red wants to marry our daughter? Well, of course, you have our permission! We can get the services done by tomorrow—!”
“I just want to confess to Chloe! To date her! That’s way too quick!” Red whines, Charming frowning at her words.
“Well, Chloe does like you a lot, and that girl does not like waiting. When she finds out you like her, hm…” Charming hums, “I’m just letting you know that if you would like a wedding by tomorrow like we did, just let us know. We’re quite close with a local wedding service that does things very quickly.” He sends Red a wink, amused watching the color from the girl’s face disappear bit by bit.
“That-that won’t be necessary…” Red stumbles over her words, clearly flustered. Ella doesn’t notice it, humming, “Oh, me and Bridget shall be in-laws soon!” She gleefully exclaims, clapping her hands together, “How wonderful! I always knew we’d be actual sisters in some sort of way!”
“As long as you don’t hurt her.” Chad glares, making a cutting motion across his neck. Red is about to retort, but Charming is quick to step in, “As if you could beat Red in a fight, Chad.” He teases, “What are you going to do? Throw a Tourney stick at her?”
“I don’t fight people anymore!” Red exclaims defensively, extremely overwhelmed as Chad lunges at his dad, the two of them engaging in some weird play-fight that reminded Red of Tweedledee and Tweedledum back home, “I like to help elderly people across the street, you know? And um, talk to animals? I mean, I can talk to Chester back in Wonderland, and he’s a cat! And well, I can kinda sing—?”
“Oh, no need to try and act all perfect princess in front of us, Red, you already have our approval just as you are.” Ella laughs, winking as Red shudders, the tension in her shoulders quickly disappearing with her words. Her posture turns more casual, just as everyone is used to, “Thank you, that felt horrible.”
Ella merely laughs as Charming smiles softly.
Ah, no wonder she was acting like that earlier. What an adorable girl.
“So, how are you going to propose to her?” Giddily asks Charming. Frankly, he seemed more excited than Red about this whole confessing thing, “A picnic? A dinner? A serenade? A boat ride? A trip in a pumpkin that can turn into a carriage? You must tell me! I am dying to know!”
Red gapes, unsure of what to say. She doesn’t even know if Chloe likes her back for Hatter’s sake! Yet here her family is pushing her to marry her?
With a sigh, Ella pulls him back, “Sorry, he just gets really excited about these sorts of things.”
“My daughter is getting married!” Charming squeals, clapping as if a seal and Red, having already tried many times, doesn’t exactly bother to correct him anymore. Especially not when she likes the idea so much. She can’t help but flush at the idea of beautiful Chloe in a wedding dress, walking down the aisle towards her.
“Can I be the flower boy?” Chad asks, tugging at the ends of Red’s sleeve. Red raises an eyebrow, “Aren’t you going to be the best man?” Frankly, even she doesn’t know why she’s playing along with this strange marriage roleplay, but might as well.
“Flower boy sounds so much cuter.” Chad sighs, running a hand through his blonde hair, “Perfect for a pretty boy like me!”
“…sure?” Red trails off questioningly, before a flash of realization appears in her eyes. “Hold on, everyone!” She suddenly exclaims loudly earning everyone’s attention. Realizing just how loud she’s been, she flushes red out of embarrassment, clearing her throat.
“I hope you all know that I don’t even completely know if Chloe likes me the same way.” Red informs, “I only said I think she feels the same way. I’m not entirely sure!”
They all stared at her in complete silence.
“Well, she’s a bit dumb.” Chad blurts out and Red’s head swivels towards him. She looked incredibly insulted, eyes widened. She only manages to bite her tongue at the very last second lest she says something that loses her the seal of permission she had nearly threw up over to get, “Excuse me—?”
“Oh come on, Red, I literally heard her say your name in her sleep!” Chad groans, “Like,” His voice suddenly goes up about ten pitches, “Oh, Red! Here comes your valiant knight here to save you! But did I ever tell you your red lips look so pretty on you? I wonder how they feel? You know, I really want to caress them—“
“Can’t forget how she doodles C + R in all of her notebooks.” Charming shrugs, Ella nodding frantically as if this was some fun family game of ‘How Many Embarrassing Chloe Moments Can You Name?’ Currently, Chad seemed to be in the lead.
“Can’t forget your name in hearts.” Ella giggles, “Even I wasn’t that bad.”
This time, everybody seemed to have their own stories to chime in.
“How about that time she bought a stuffed animal and named it after Red?”
“She literally hugs it every night. I think she kisses it sometimes too.”
Red’s face flushes at that, though the Charmings don’t seem to notice.
“And I swear I hear all about Red at the dinner table. All the stories are always Red, Red, Red…it’s like none of us can get a singular word in anymore without hearing about how amazing Princess Red of Wonderland is! Like how pretty she is…”
“And how resourceful she is.”
“And how smart—“
“Okay, that’s enough!” Red yells causing everyone to go silent once more. “But um, thank you?” Red looked slightly overwhelmed with all the information presented to her. If her face was flushed before, her face now was on a whole other level, “I’ll just…ask her what she thinks about me, myself. You know.”
“That really isn’t necessary at this point and after everything we’ve said, but ah, whatever.” Chad sighs, Charming nodding in agreement beside him.
“Red, you have no idea how happy we are about this.” Charming remarks, placing a hand on Red’s shoulder, “We all have seen that Chloe has liked you for a long time and we were afraid that if you didn’t say anything, we would have to give her hand away to somebody else she didn’t love and that would have broken both her heart as well as ours.”
“I know,” Red could only smile shyly, clearly relieved, “I’m glad too.” She knew she was going to tease Chloe for days on end, but she had a girlfriend to get first and foremost. Something she was now much more confident about thanks to her family’s…eagerness?
“Well, it was seriously nice talking to you guys and this was very productive, but I should probably get going. It’s getting dark.” Red glances outside, realizing how many hours had passed, “Besides, Chloe isn’t supposed to see me, right? I heard that’s how asking for permission in Auradon goes.”
“Star student.” Charming commends proudly, “You are correct.”
Red beams at the praise.
“Oh, seriously? Why can’t you stay for dinner?” Chad interrupts, a clear frown on the boy’s face. He looked visibly upset, “We can see you confess to Chloe in real time! It’ll be like a real life romcom! I’m so getting the popcorn ready.”
“Chad, Red just asked for permission today. Give the girl some rest.” Sighs Charming, but Chad merely rolls his eyes, groaning, “You literally wanted them to get married, like, tomorrow, dad!”
“Ignore them.” Ella sighs, shaking her head disapprovingly, “I’ll walk you to the door, Red.”
Red quickly nods, eager to escape the bickering father-son duo. She bids them a hasty goodbye — though neither seemed to notice — before running to match pace with Ella.
“I’ll admit the reason behind your visit today was quite surprising.” Ella breaks the silence as her and Red walk alongside each other down the long hallway leading to the entry gate, “Bridget told me once that Wonderlandians don’t exactly ask for permission. She was very confused when my husband went to ask my own stepmother,” Ella hums in thought once being reminded of the event, “Though she didn’t exactly respond very kindly.”
“Oh, they really don’t…” Red smiles awkwardly, “But Chloe once left one of her books lying around and I decided to take a peek. I know how important history and her family are to her, so I thought that reading up on Auradon’s traditions and even carrying out one of them would be a good bare minimum to start with.” Red then laughs, “After all, if I can’t do that, why should I deserve to date her?”
Ella can’t help but feel her heart melt.
Oh, young love.
Red is surprised when two hands suddenly take her own in theirs. When she looks up, her breath hitches at the sight of a fond Ella.
“You are such a considerate person, Red.” Ella smiles softly, staring into the widened eyes of the girl that would one day become her daughter-in-law. “I know you will be amazing for Chloe, and Chloe will be amazing for you. You are so lucky to have a girl like my daughter, never forget that—“
Red’s frantic nodding almost made Ella burst into laughter, yet she continues.
“—but she is so lucky to have somebody like you too.”
Red seemed like she was struggling to speak. Before she could find her words, Ella beats her to it, her eyes widening out of realization.
“Oh yes!” Ella exclaims suddenly, “You can call me ‘mom’ whenever you are comfortable, by the way. You can call my husband ‘dad’ as well. I know he’s always wanted another daughter. I’m sure he’ll be quite joyful.” Ella teases, punching Red in the shoulder lightly. The girl seemed frozen in time, and Ella swears she could see tears in the corners of the redhead’s eyes.
How sweet. So perfect for Chloe.
“Thank you…” Red exhales shakily, trying to subtly wipe at her eyes and adorably failing, “I can…I will make your daughter happy. I promise. You won’t regret this, I swear, Ella.”
“I know I won’t.” Ella smiles softly, “Now, go get home, it will be dark soon. I know Bridget can be quite the worrier. You need to go make a game plan on how you will confess to my daughter when the semester starts again too, hm?”
“Yes, yes, I will.” Red flushes, especially at the latter part, “Thank you, Ella.”
“No,” Ella insists, shaking her head, “Thank you for giving my daughter all the happiness in the world.” Red stares at her for a few moments. It was as if she couldn’t believe her words, “You know, Ella, I think I should be saying that to her instead.”
Ella’s eyes soften, “And that is why the both of you are so perfect for each other.”
Red smiles dumbly to herself, nodding absentmindedly.
‘We are, aren’t we?’
After escorting Red out the door and giving the girl one more big hug, Ella walks back into their castle and sighs seeing her husband already at his study, pen in hand.
“Charming, dear, you heard the girl. They aren’t even dating yet. Stop writing to the wedding services.”
Charming doesn’t stop scribbling away at the parchment in front of him.
“Just making sure!”
———
“Uh, Red?”
Red hums lazily, looking over at her girlfriend who stood at the door holding an envelope.
Her girlfriend, the words echo in her mind.
Chloe Charming, who liked her just as much as she did her. Her family was right, much to her glee. Chloe did share the same feelings and apparently had liked her for a long time. Maybe even longer. Confessing was scary, but suddenly, Red found she had nothing to worry about.
She couldn’t help but smile dorkily at the thought. “You’re so pretty, you know? My pretty princess.” She can’t help but say, reveling in the way Chloe flushes red, “You can’t just say things like that!” She squeaks before sighing, “And beisdes, you’re much prettier, Red.” She mumbles shyly and Red can’t help but grin triumphantly.
“So, what’s up, princess?”
Chloe’s shy expression turns inquisitive, though the blush on her face doesn’t disappear.
“Well, I found something interesting in the mail…”
Chloe opens the envelope she was holding and Red nearly chokes to death on air seeing its text.
You are cordially invited to the union between Princess Chloe Charming and Princess Red of Hearts.
Red looks up, meeting Chloe’s raised eyebrow. She waved the envelope around, clearly expecting Red to give at least some sort of explanation. Frankly, Red didn’t even know what to say herself.
“Mind telling me why there are proposals for wedding invitation designs at our door?”
Red gapes, suddenly blurting out defensively, “Mind telling me about how you want to caress my pretty red lips?” Next thing she knows, she’s hit in the face with said envelope, an ear-shattering scream causing her eardrums to nearly burst into flames.
“How do you know about that?!”