The Darling Boys (Rose Award Winner) (#Wattys2017)

Soon I Reached Neverland

I stared out my window every night for the next couple weeks, waiting to see the hooded figure hurry into the Darling's house.

No part of me wanted to believe that what I had saw was real. It all seemed like some fantastical dream, a vivid one at that.

But he was really gone. Ale-Peter Pan was gone. The guy that had tried to get rid of me any way he could, the guy that I had believed was some sort of whacked out hipster, was really Peter Pan. He had disappeared without a trace, leaving nothing behind.

They had searched for hours in the lake, looking for a body. Robbie had gotten there just in time to see Alex fall back into the water, and that had been what he told the cops repeatedly. It was what the cops told me that had my mind bouncing millions of thoughts around in it.

They had told me that Alex had been institutionalized multiple times for failed attempts to tell people that he was Peter Pan. That he had been and out of jail for assault.

Robbie had denied that any of it was true hours later, but it had got me to start questioning what I really knew. Maybe the cops were telling the truth. Maybe Alex was nothing but a nut case that believed in a fantasy world, that believed he was the legendary Peter Pan. But how, how could they explained what happened to his body once he had fallen into the water? How could they explain Robbie and his brothers suddenly hitting the last spur of puberty?

"Sienna, is this okay?" Robbie walked into the room, handing over a piece of paper he had typed out. I read it over and smiled once I was done, handing it back to him.

"Perfect, Robbie." I replied, standing up and tangling my arms around him, "I love it." He leaned down and rested his forehead against mine.

"You ready to graduate?" I snorted, shaking my head.

"Of course I'm not, Robbie. Have you seen how much I've been sweating?" I pointed toward my under arms, laughing.

"I'm exhausted." He yawned, shaking his head, "I've been practicing that speech for the last month and a half." I nodded.

"Well, now it's over. No more high school, no more speeches." He threw himself down on my bed, patting the vacant spot beside him.

"The beginning of our new life starts today." He whispered in my ear. I tilted my head back and kissed his nose.

"I can't wait for it."

**

I rested my head on my arms, staring at the reminiscence of the beautiful sunset that had been in front of me seconds ago. It was serene, laying out in my hammock by myself, my diploma resting on my stomach as I looked out over the trees.

"Scoot over." Eliott flicked my nose, snapping me back into reality. I gave him a look before making some room for him. He smiled happily once he was in the hammock beside me.

"Congrats." He said, taking my diploma from me and reading it over.

"Don't let Robbie know, but I thought your speech was ten times better than his." We both laughed for a few minutes. I let my smile fade when I realized the sun had finally hid itself behind the mountains.

Nobody really seemed that effected by Alex's disappearance, no one except me.

Robbie had told me it was a long time coming and he had expected it, Eliott had blown it off with a shrug, acting as if it wasn't a big deal. And Jai, he seemed happy that he was gone in general.

It actually made my stomach churn thinking about it. Thinking about who Alex Presley really was, if he was really Peter Pan, and where the hell he was going to go now. Was he dead? Was he in heaven or hell, or wherever it is we went after we died? Or was he only gone for now, would he reappear later, when he found another group of kids that believed in his deceptive ways?

"You're thinking about him, aren't you?" Eliott whispered beside me.

"Yeah."

"Do you really think he was just a loonie? Or. . . or do you believe he was the real deal?" He questioned, his eyes glistening with curiosity.

"I honestly couldn't tell you that, Eliott. I mean. . . every sane part of me wants to agree with the cops, that he was just a crazy that made up all those birth certificates, that wanted attention. But. . . but I saw things that he did, heard things that only someone like Peter Pan would know." I felt Eliott twitch beside me.

"He wasn't a bad guy, crazy or not. He. . he had all these right ideas, but didn't know how to work them the right way. You know what I mean?" I nodded, looking over at the younger boy beside me.

"I know exactly what you mean." I huffed out a sigh as I sat up, looking back toward my house.

I would be walking into a pestering Mom and brother who would be demanding I go tour the MIT campus with Robbie Monday. I would be going in to lay beside Robbie, who had absolutely no desire to talk about Alex or anything related to him. He wanted to talk about us and our future, and I guess, may just be all right.

**

"Robbie." I shook his shoulder, but he was out cold. I guess that's what alcohol did to him.

"Robert." I hissed, pinching his arm. He stirred, a weird sound leaving his mouth.

"Robert Darling." I snapped in front of his face. He finally pried his eyes open, squinting at me.

"What?" He grumbled.

"I want to talk." I said. He groaned, burying his face in his pillow.

"We can talk tomorrow, Si." He muttered.

"I want to talk right now."

"About what?"

"Us." His eyes fluttered back open again. I could tell by the expecting look on his face that he was waiting for me to go on.

"What about us? Are we okay?" He looked almost. . . scared.

"We're fine, Robbie. I. . . well, I-"

"Yeah?"

"I thought maybe we could get an apartment together if we. . . move into together." I explained, running a hand through my hair, "Only if you want to, though. I get it if you don't want to." He snickered, shaking his head so his hair fell into his eyes.

"Of course, Sienna. I love you." He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me back toward him. I smiled into his chest, nodding.

"I love you too, Dork." He chuckled, nuzzling his face into my neck.

As I laid there, secure in the arms of Robbie Darling, I couldn't help but let my mind drift back to a few months ago, years ago even, when I couldn't stand the three boys that lived next door.

The Darling boys, with their loud mouths. The Darling boys, who had called me Sally just to get a rise out of me.

As weird as it may seem, I wouldn't trade following Alex into the house that night for anything. I had realized that the image I had of the boys in my head wasn't even close to who they actually were. I had found a wonderful and sweet boyfriend in Robbie, a really great friend in Eliott, and I had learned far more than I could have ever imagined from Alex and the boys.

"Sometimes we can't choose where we end up, but it's up to us and our decisions on how we get there." My mom had once said.

Laying in my bedroom beside Robbie, I thought back to her words. My mind started to wrap itself around Alex's last words, the way he had looked at me with pleading eyes. I let my eyes flutter shut, my hand lacing its way through Robbie, before letting the words I had wanted to say since that night finally leave my mouth in a hushed whisper.

"I will," It was even sort of a pact, one I didn't plan on breaking, "I promise, Alex."

***AN***

I really, really hope you guys enjoyed this book as much as I enjoyed writing it. 

Let me know what you thought! 

~ChasingMadness24