The walk across campus and into town was a long one, but it was filled with laughter and conversation. When there was a pause, it wasn't awkward. But there was barely any pauses. 

It was nice. 

Of course, when they got to the cafe things got a little weary. 

It was like the whole shop stopped at the entrance of the two princess. Although, Sage knew what it really was. 

You don't see the daughters of two opposite sides just hang out.

Sage walked towards the counter with her usual smile, Evie trailing behind her slowly but surely. "Hello, Archie!"

   "H-Hey, Sage," Archie stammered out, staring at Evie with wide eyes. "Same as usual?"

   "Yup! And whatever Evie here wants," Sage turned towards the said girl. "Order anything off the menu!"

   "O-Okay," Evie read over the menu before admitting, "I don't know what have of these things are."

   "Oh yeah. . .Okay! Well, we'll just have two hot chocolates, one lemon cake and one apple pie!" Sage turned back to Archie. 

   "Will that be all?" When Sage hummed her approval he rang it all up. "That's going to be six dollars and forty cents."

Sage easily dug the amount out, giving Archie a little tip before guiding Evie over to a table near the window. Evie glanced around the cafe, seeing people staring still, and ducked her head. "I don't think I'm wanted here. . ."

   "Well, I want you here," Sage stated, lifting her chin up and staring some customers down. "That's all that matters, right?"

   "I-I guess. . ." 

Sensing the uncertain tone in her voice, Sage turned her gentle gaze back to Evie and took a hold of her hand. "Hey, it's fine. People are going to have to get use to this, Ben is really looking forwards to see if we can make this the normal thing."

   "Invite more kids from the Isle here?" Evie chuckled and shook her head. "Seems like a dream."

   "Only because your friends and you are the first VK's here." Sage comforted. "Besides, everyone here knows me. They should trust my judgment is fair."

   "Because you're the fairest of them all?"

   "No," Sage shook her head with a smile. "Because my judgement on people is never wrong."

Archie walked over, placed there order on the table between and walked back to his register without a word. Clearly, still weary. Sage didn't blame him, but it slightly ticked her off how narrow minded people were. 

   "So, this is the lemon cake," Sage pushed the plate with a yellow batter and vanilla frosting towards Evie and gestured to the other one. "And this one is the apple pie."

   "They look so good. . ." Evie trailed off, glancing at each of them before taking a bite out of the lemon cake. Her eyes went wide. "Oh my! This is sooo good!" 

   "Lemon cakes are my favorite, especially from this place," Sage grinned, watching as Evie start to devour the cake. Sage laughed, taking the apple pie for herself. "Slow down! You don't want to choke!"

   "Sorry, it's just-"

   "Never had lemon cake on the Isle?"

   ". . .Yeah." Evie shook her head slightly, looking up at the amused Sage. "You seem to know a lot about me, but I know nothing about you."

   "I wouldn't say I know things about you, I just make good guesses." Sage sipped her hot chocolate. "But, if you wanna learn more, we can always play a game!"

   "What game?" Evie asked, taking a sip of her own hot chocolate before gasping. "This is amazing too!" 

   "How about Twenty Questions," Sage giggled. "You ask me a question, I answer then ask you a question. Like. . .What's your favorite color?"

   "Blue!" Evie shook her head. "This seems kinda boring."

   "Because that was the example! Your turn."

Evie hummed, looking down at her half-eaten cake in thought before asking, "What's your favorite food?"

   "Oo!" Sage exclaimed, leaning back. "Good one! I'm not sure, I love to eat. . .Probably anything to do with desserts. . .or fruit!"

   "What else was I suppose to think?" Evie chuckled, shaking her head. 

   "I'm not that  predictable!"

   "Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart."

The two of them shared a laugh before Sage continued their game. "Okay, what do you like to do in your past time?"

   "Sew! Or cook. I love to make stuff, mostly outfits though."

   "That's almost what I do. I can make accessories. Speaking of accessories! I'm almost finished with your earrings! I should be able to get them to you within the next day or so."

   "Really?" Evie leaned forward eagerly. "Can I see them? Do you have a picture?"

   "No," Sage laughed. "Patience young one, you'll see them soon enough. Okay, your turn."

   "Okay, okay," Evie sighed. "Uh, Family? Any sisters or brothers?"

Sage shook her head. "Nope. Only child. My mom is around though, my dad. . .not so much."  Seeing the confusion on Evie's face, Sage added, "Business stuff. But, I have Ben! Ben is a great brother, and King Adam and Queen Belle have practically adopted me."

    "That's nice," Evie smiled softly. "I'm an only child too, it's just my mom and I. But, if we're going that far - Mal, Carlos, and Jay are practically my family."

   "You guys do seem pretty close," Sage observed. 

   "Being on the Isle is rough. . .You can only trust a certain amount of people, but something not even then. After everything the crew and I have been though, it would be safe to say I trust them with my life."

   "I'm sorry," Sage sighed. "Your parents might have done bad things, but that doesn't mean you all are bad. King Adam should've done something sooner, not his son." 

   "It's fine," Evie assured. "We're here now, that's all that matters, right?"

   "I guess,"  Sage mumbled before grinning. "Stealing my lines, Ev?"

   "Only when needed," Evie responded quickly. Sage laughed. "My turn, right?"

   "Go ahead,"

   "Okay," Evie furrowed her eyebrows in hesitation. "Why are you to marry Chad Charming?"

Sage winced slightly but forced a smile. "I should have known that was coming. . ."

   "You don't have to-"

   "No, no, it's okay! I can answer it," Sage grimaced as she looked out the window. "My mom and Chad's mom - Cinderella - have always been close. So, when they each had their kids, they thought it would be a good idea to have us get hitched when we were older."

   "So. . .You don't love Chad?"

   "God, no," Sage snorted. "He's not my type. But, I want to make my mom and dad proud. They're actually looking forwards to this whole thing. Even if that means I can't do half of the things I want to. . ."

   "Like what?"

   "Well. . .I could've been Ben's royal adviser. But, Chad doesn't want his wife to have a high status than him. . ."

   "Expect my language, but that's bullshit!" Evie snapped. "Is he such a sexist pig that he can't realize that a woman can have a high royal status and it not  hurt his pride?"

   "I guess not."

Sage shook her head and leaned back, going to take a drink of her hot chocolate only realize that it was empty. Her eyes scanned the cafe to see that it was mostly cleared from the earlier crowds and a quick look outside told her that it was almost nightfall. 

   "Well, it seems we have been here longer than I expected," Sage commented, making Evie look around as well. 

   "I didn't even realize we've been here for that long." Evie added softly. Sage smiled and look Evie, making eye contact on accident. 

   "Time flies when you're having fun," She quoted before getting up. "C'mon. Lets get you back to your room."

🍎

By the time Evie and Sage made it back to Evie's dorm was when Carlos and Jay were heading that way too. 

   "Hey!" Sage called out, causing the two boys to whip around. They relaxed when they saw the two royals making their way down the hall. "What are you two doing out here?"

   "We're going to ask Mal how her date went," Carlos supplied easily, barely nudging Jay to shut up. "Evie told us what was up before shoving the two of us out of their room."

   "We needed to get a girl ready for her first date," Evie scoffed with an eye roll. "What's so hard to understand?"

   "Seems like Mal wasn't the only one on a date tonight," Jay suggested with an eyebrow raising. His eyes drifted between Evie and Sage - where there was practically no space - before grinning up at them. Sage's face went red. 

   "Get your minds out of the gutter," Evie huffed, her face looking slightly red as well. Or was that the light? "We just went to the cafe off campus for a drink."

   "Sounds like a date to me," Carlos jabbed, the two boys taking a highfive. 

   "And you know what a date is like?"

   "Well, no-"

   "Point proven."

The group let out a laugh as they arrived at their destination. Carlos and Jay waltzed right in, barely knocking to let Mal know they were coming, while Evie and Sage lingered at the door way. 

   "Um, thanks," Evie stammered out. "For taking me out and letting me try that amazing lemon cake!"

   "It's not a problem,"  Sage laughed. "Maybe we can do this again some time? I had fun."

   "Yeah! I had fun, too. It was great."

There was a small pause as the two girls stared at each other. Both wanting the same thing, but both too scared to enact anything. Just as Sage started to take a step closer, Mal poked her head out into the hallway and the two girls jumped apart. 

   "Sorry," Mal didn't seem really sorry. "Just wondering when Evie was getting in here so we can. . .talk about the date."

   "Yeah, no, you're good," Sage smiled at Mal before looking back at Evie. "Goodnight Evie. See you tomorrow?"

   "Yeah. . .See you tomorrow." 

With one last smile to Evie, and a goodnight to Mal, Sage turned tail and started to walk to her own room. Mentally, she was hitting herself in the head. 

 So close. 

Her head was so lost in her mind that she didn't realize she passed her room until she ran into something. Or, rather, someone.

   "Whoa, there!" Ben exclaimed, grasping Sage's shoulders to steady them. "You good?"

   "What? Oh, yeah! Just lost in thought. . ." Sage hummed. "What's up, Bennyboo?"

   "Please, don't," Ben let out a groan before becoming serious. "We need to talk."

   "Do we need to have a sleep over?" Sage asked. 

   "I don't know. . .It has to do with the fact that I think Mal put me under a love potion."

   ". . .I'll go get the food."