Caged • Robbie Kay/Peter Pan •

Chapter Thirty-Nine

Voices were heard downstairs and a thin strip of light appeared beneath the door. Peter pulled away from me. "We have to go." he whispered, putting a finger to his lips to signal me to stay silent.

"I heard it! There's something in the nursery!" a female voice yelled from beneath us, a clatter of heels coming up the stairs.

"They'll see us, Peter." I whispered panicking but he covered my mouth.

"Stay quiet and hold onto me." he commanded sternly, furrowing his brow, but reaching for my hand and resting his forehead against mine.

"Close your eyes." he said as the noise disappeared and only the sound of our heavy breaths remained..

•••

We were back in Neverland as if we had never left, opening my eyes to see the starlit sky and feeling the damp petals beneath my fingertips.

I stood, meeting Peter face to face and feeling as if I'd fall apart. "But what if I don't." I questioned, my voice louder than before.

"Don't speak of such things." Peter shot back, turning from me to run his shaking hand through his hair. "Yes, it will hurt me but making me believe that you could stay is like pouring salt in my wounds. I'll always have that possibility in the back of my mind, of what could have been."

"Is it any worse than always believing I'd left you because I couldn't be with you? Is it any worse than leaving me with only heartache and a fleeting memory of you?" I asked. "How is this better?"

"Because this is what you wanted!" he yelled, grabbing my shoulders with such force.

The intensity of his voice and actions scared me, causing me to jump. I couldn't swallow the lump rising in my throat. "Meadow, listen. Listen to me." he voice softened upon noticing the effect it had on me.

I nodded, tears filling my eyes once more. "In another world, we could have been, but in this life, we are meant for separate places, Meadow. You don't belong here in Neverland and I don't belong anywhere else."

"What if I'm strong enough to survive here? I can be strong for you, Peter, I'll try."

"I don't want you to survive. Surviving is not the same as living. You need to be strong enough to let go. If a mother who has lost her child can move on, surely you can do the same."

That was what truly broke me. He had grown calloused to those he loved leaving him and he wanted me to do the same, for my own good.

"We are all selfish in one way or another, even if don't show it. It was my own desires that brought you here, and now it's your turn, okay?"

Though he was right, and though I had wanted to go back home, it still pained me to think of leaving my dear boy.

He wiped the tears from eyes with his cloak and tucked my hair behind my ear, running his fingers down a single strand; following it with his eyes and then darting them back up to me. "I adore you." he whispered pitifully.

I pulled him into me, placing my hands on either side of his cheeks, and gently kissing him, slowly and tenderly as though it would be our last, and perhaps it would be.

"We should get back. We need to tell the others." Peter said, pulling away and catching his breath.

"Not yet. Not until morning." I said shaking my head.

We continued back up the trail, Peter stopping me before we entered the clearing. "You go first and I'll wait a few minutes as not to arouse suspicion." he said, grasping my arm and I chuckled.