Hase - Before Ever After

Chapter 19 - After (Rose's pov)

After some arguing, Rose, Travis and Ling-Ling convinced the lost boys to let them help rescue Peter. Besides their reluctance, they had to admit that having magical powers against the pirates would come very in handy. The boys had witnessed the heroes' magic in action in their last fight, and there was just no doubt; they needed it.

They gathered in a circle on the floor, using the ground as a slate to draw their plan. Rose kept silent all the time, which coming from her was definitely a red flag. Ling-Ling stared at her beaten down friend with worry, not finding the right way to approach her. Taking a deep breath, she got beside Rose and called her name to get her attention.

"Rose?" She spoke up and waited for the blonde to look at her, but she didn't. Rose kept her gaze on the floor, an empty look made her once sparkling baby blue eyes look like a blur.

To see the always so spirited girl acting like that was kind of scary. Of course she wasn't happy one hundred percent of the time, but she was close enough to that. They had seen her sad, worried or scared before, but they had never seen her in such a state.

Not sure if she should insist, Ling-Ling backed up, but she felt a familiar hand on her shoulder. Travis slightly squeezed her shoulder, reassuringly, and whispered to her "Go on, she needs you".

"Rose?" Ling-Ling called again, placing a hand on the blonde's back to make sure to get her attention this time.

Rose looked up and gave the young warrior a half-hearted smile. "Hey, Ling-Ling. Do you need something?". She asked.

"Actually, I think you do. Come on, let's talk somewhere private". Ling-Ling said as she leaned in and grabbed the blonde's wrist, pulling her up from the ground.

After putting some distance between them and the boys, Ling-Ling started to talk.

"Rose, you know I'm not good at these kinds of interactions, but I'm really worried for you, so if you need to talk, just know I'm here, okay?". She said in hopes it would make Rose feel comfortable enough to unburden her heart.

"I-I... I just don't know what to say, you know? I guess I'm just... disappointed? I would never in my whole life expect that Hawk could be so...". She failed to find the right words to express what she was trying to say.

"Human?" Ling-Ling completed her sentence and earned a very confused look from her friend.

"That's absolutely not what I meant to say". Rose stated.

"Well, but maybe that's what you need to hear. Come on, Rose, you said it yourself. You're disappointed at Hawk because of your own expectations. We do live in a fairy tale world, but that doesn't make us any less human than the people you know from Earth. Don't you think that prince charming's are allowed to have selfish feelings, sometimes?"

"What do you mean?". Rose questioned.

"Rose, Hawk has been trying to get close to you, and ever since we got to Neverland, Peter has been on his way. Isn't it possible that he's just jealous?". Ling-Ling finally spilled the words she had been holding back.

The straight-to-the-point question made Rose stutter, a light blush appeared on her face from the thought of Hawk being jealous of Peter. If this was true, what did it mean?

Did Hawk like her?

Why didn't he say anything?

Was he afraid of telling her?

What if that was what he was trying to tell her before Ambrosia arrived?

Oh! Ambrosia...

Suddenly, the overwhelming questions left her mind. She remembered just how happy he looked while dancing with Ambrosia and was sure he felt something for her.

"I don't think that's the case, Ling-Ling" She said with a fake smile on her face, trying to cover up her buried hopes that it might be true. "But, you're right. I shouldn't expect him to live up to my expectations. I guess I owe him an apology". She finished.

Seeing the slight improvement on the blonde's mood, Ling-Ling felt satisfied with herself, although she wished she could say something else to assure that what caused Hawk's behavior was nothing more than his affection for her.

By the time they got back to the others, they seemed to be looking for someone.

"Hey, Travis. How is it going so far?". Rose asked.

"Oh, they have it pretty much figured out, they just need some extra help". Travis answered.

"What? From whom?" Ling-Ling tilted her head to the side questioningly.

"Tinker Bell..." The boys shouted in unison and waited. A minute later, a sparkling little fairy flew towards them.

The boys explained the situation to her and asked her for some fairy dust to help with the plan. Before she could even answer them, she got sight of Rose. She pointed out to the girl, probably questioning the boys if she was the one who caused all the trouble. The boys just nodded and the fairy gestured like she was rolling up her sleeves, and flew directly at the blonde girl's face.

The unexpected action startled Rose, she didn't know exactly what was happening, there was an uncomfortable spark blinding her eyes and an annoying sound of a bell ringing in her ears. Last thing she knew, she was backing up from the tiny fairy and ended up tripping on a rock, falling down on the ground.

"W-what just happened". She asked, still laying on the ground. She slowly opened her eyes and caught sight of the magical creature floating over her face.

Tinker Bell had her arms crossed, a flushed angry face and a deathglare. Instead of an equal attitude from Rose, Tinker Bell got screams from excitement, much to her confusion.

"Oh my gosh, you're Tinker Bell. You're so tiny and cute, I could just hug you but I think it would smash you...". She chatted non-stop while everything the tiny fairy could hear was "bla, bla, bla...".

"Rose, come on, focus". Travis tried to get her attention back.

"Oh, right, okay". She said shyly, after noticing she had been talking forever.

The fairy was now irritated, besides angry. What did they put on that girl's drink that made her so annoyingly loud? But, despite not liking her even a little bit, she would have to endure the non-stop talking girl as long as it took to save Peter, after all, he was her best friend and needed all the help he could get, right now.

Turning her attention to the lost boys, the fairy nodded, letting them know she was going to help and flew away to get as much fairy dust as she could.

As soon as the fairy left their sight, Rose rubbed the back of her neck and said with a half-hearted smile "I don't think she liked me very much, huh?".