Foreverland

Chapter 1

•Peter•

It was a normal day, as long as you ignored the fact that it wasn't. You see it all started at the end, at the moment I screwed up.

There was no reason for me to be sitting outside of this girls window except for the fact that I wanted- needed- to hear her voice. It was a trap, yet I'd walked straight in. There was no turning back now, I was addicted.

The way her voice hummed over the melody she sang had me enchanted. In my head a battle started to rage.

In my grief of losing Wendy I'd found Rose, just as I'd found this girl now. I was lured in similarly to the way I was in this moment. That rash decision lead to Roses death by my hands. The love of my life dying. Again. It would be a mistake to try this a third time. But the hole in my heart longed to wake to the sound of her voice.

"Hello?" She stopped singing and I held my breath. Everything became deathly quite until I heard the sound of her bare feet creeping closer to the window. "I know you're out there."

It was too late to turn back now, nor did I want to turn back.

"Hello." I stepped out from the shadows and into the candle light of her bedroom. With her so close, I now realized just how strikingly beautiful she was.

"Tell me what you're doing here or I start to scream in three... two..."

"No! Wait!" I leaped down from the window ledge, "I mean you no harm. I was just flying by and couldn't help but hear your singing."

"And does that give you permission to stalk me through my bed- wait. Did you say flying?" She eyed me suspiciously, a strange look spreading across her face.

"I did. I'm Peter Pan by the way." I stuck out my hand, heart racing. As soon as her hand touched mine I'd never be able to let it go.

"Arabella." She shook my hand and my fingers began to tighten around hers. "Excuse me..."

"I'm sorry." I managed to whisper, dragging her back towards the window.

"Get your filthy hands way from me you brat!" Her hand hit my face before I had the chance to process what was happening. I stood there in shock as she ripped her hand from my grasp.

"How dare you-"

"How dare you." Her voice was full of venom as she drew her hand back to slap me again. This wasn't at all what I was expecting. "Get. Out."

"No you don't understand, I'm here to save you." I stepped back up onto the windowsill and tentatively reached my hand out again. It was only a slight lie, Arabella wasn't in danger. Unlike the boys that I saved. "I can take you away from here. To where every day is an adventure. No rules, no parents to tell you what to do." There was a shift in her expression and I knew I had her hooked.

"What's the catch?" She turned her back to me and started walking around her room, grabbing objects and throwing them on her bed. I wasn't ready for a question like this, no one ever asked what I wanted in return for saving them.

"All I ask is that you trust me. That when you take my hand you pledge your loyalty to..." I couldn't even tell if she was listening anymore, "What exactly are you doing?"

"Packing." She states like it was the most obvious thing in the world, stuffing the objects and cloths from her bed into a bag. "Where exactly did you say we were going?"

"Neverland. Follow the second star to the right and straight on till-"

"Yeah, yeah. Move it will you." She took my hand and pushed me back out onto her roof. The first thing I needed to do was teach this girl it was unacceptable to cut me off. If the Lost Boys saw her do it, then it wouldn't be long before they started to as well.

"Think happy thoughts." I whispered, sprinkling a good dose of pixy dust over our heads. I heard her scoff slightly, but soon enough I was pulling her across the sky.

I would feel bad for making this mistake again when I knew it would most likely end in a disaster. However there was one thing I was starting to realize. It was impossible to make the same mistake twice. The second- and the third- time you make it, it is no longer a mistake. It's a choice.

↢ ↢ ↢

We landed aways from the hanging tree. Some ground rules had to be laid down before she met the Lost Boys.

"Where is this? The middle of bloody nowhere?" Arabella places her hands on her hips, the look of disgust obviously faked. Who couldn't be amazed by Neverland.

When standing perfectly still, you could hear the branches whispering. The leaves rustled with hidden secrets and the branched creaked with the buried truth. Above us he sky was breaking with early dawn, awaking the birds and soon the boys.

"Come on Arabella, I'll take you to your new home." The smile on my face wavered. For the first time in five years my heart was singing, was that wrong?

"Don't call Arabella." She rolled her eyes, "only my parents call me Arabella."

"Then what should I call you? Bella?" She scrunched her nose and shook her head, "Ara?"

"Yes," she smiled, "I like that."

A grin started to spread across my face as well, but the butterflies in my stomach felt fake. Like I was trying too hard to like her. That maybe if I fell for her I'd stop feeling so guilty and hurt. For the first time in forever I wasn't drowning- I wasn't the one holding my own head beneath the waves in search for the girl I love. Loved. Rose was gone.

"So how did you come to live here? What exactly is here?" She questioned, releasing my hand and throwing her arm over my shoulder. It was a domineering move. I felt less than, felt beneath her. I didn't like it.

"No questions." I snapped and she recoiled quickly, restoring my assurance. "There's some things you need to know about Neverland. One, there are no questions unless you are asking me for permission to do something. Two, your loyalty is to me and the Lost Boys, if it's not you will not have my protection. Three, if I tell you to do something, you do it."

"One," Ara scoffed as soon as I was finished, "You can damn well answer my questions. Two, why exactly do you think I need your protection. And three, I thought you said there were no rules and no parents in Neverland. You sure are acting like a parent." I was taken aback. No one had ever spoken to me in such a manner, not even Rose. A parent. Was I acting like a parent? The one thing I hated almost as much as growing up? It was revolting to think about. I wasn't acting like a parent, I was acting like a leader. I was Peter Pan, soon she would know what that meant.

"Listen here Arabella." I slammed her back into the trunk of a tree. She went ridged as I blocked her in, eyes growing wide at my sudden burst of aggression. "You will do as I say not because I am- as you say- acting like a parent, but because I am king of Neverland and you will treat me as such." My chest was rising and falling quickly, my teeth grinding against each other. Ara stood perfectly still, barely a muscle twitched. I wasn't sure if she was scared or winding up to throw another disrespectful remark at me.

"I see." She said when I started to slowly back off, "Well, I would ask you who are the Lost Boys you spoke of... But apparently I'm not allowed to know anything unless you deem me worthy enough. My apologies, your highness." She took my hand and placed a kiss across my knuckles. I was confused by the gesture and what it meant. Something in her smile told me she wasn't being sincere.

"Yes well," I trailed off, at a loss for words. Which never happened.

I had a feeling this girl wasn't going to be at all like Rose. Nor was she going to be like Wendy Darling. No, this girl was going to be a whole different kind of adventure. Now I loved a good adventure, however I had a feeling this one wasn't going to be what I expected.

In my greed and in my desire to be whole, I may have brought something dangerous home.