Take Me to Neverland || OUAT

9: Counting Stars

~~Peter's POV~~

I woke up in the middle of the night to a rambunctious shuffling noise coming from the opposite side of the room. Everything was concealed by darkness, so cautiously, I lit a lantern and watched as its warm glow spread across its perimeter.

The gloom deviated away as my gaze shifted towards Amber, who sat cross-legged by the window sill.

"Amber?" I whispered. "What are you doing?"

She perked up, and glanced over her shoulder at me. The stars reflected off of the side of her face, illuminating her presence like as if she was a goddess.

"I...," she started, "I can't sleep." Her glimmering eyes wandered back up to the night sky. "My father always told me that counting the stars would help."

Calmly, I stood up and made my way next to her. My footsteps echoed through the wooden floor-boards as I reached the window-sill where she sat.

I seated myself parrallel in front of her, our gazes locked and our knees touched. "Your father..." I said, deliberately picking my words carefully, "he must have been a great man."

She nodded and gave an indistinct sigh. "He was." Glancing up at the stars, she took time to gather her thoughts.

"He died when I was only eight. He left me with an insane mother, two brothers and three sisters."

Through the silence, I almost didn't notice the breaking in her voice. I looked at her pained face. How could someone so angelic have so many hidden scars? I couldn't help but hold her gentle hands in mine.

"It's alright," I coaxed, "you don't have to tell me the rest."

I kissed her forehead and watched as she softened to my touch. "I'll be your family from now on." Pulling her closer to me, her head rested gently on top of my beating heart. From my embrace, she pointed up to the night sky.

"Polaris," she whispered, tracing her finger in the air, "and there's the big dipper."

I chuckled to myself and hugged her even closer. She smiled as the moon shone on her face, her eyes drifted upwards so that they seeped into mine.

"Now come on," I grinned, "I can't sleep either. So why don't we count the stars together?"

She laughed and nodded her head against my chest. "Promise you'll try to count all of them with me?"

"Promise," I smiled down at her.

As the night led on, our laughter echoed through the chilly night air. Often times, we would have to start over because we miscounted. But about an hour later, her breathing deepened and slowed down to a moderate pace.

Even though she was asleep in my arms, I had kept my promise and continued counting.

It took close to another hour, my eyelids grew heavier within each star counted.

That's it. I've counted nearly all the stars that were visible to me. I brought my voice down to a soft whisper.

"There are 10,347 stars out tonight that I can see," I whispered nearly inaudibly. Kissing her forehead once more, I leaned down close to her ear. "And all those 10,347 stars are shining for you."

I knew she couldn't hear me, but I was okay with that. Because someday, I knew she would leave me and never return.

And there's no stopping it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~Amber's POV~~

Sunlight seeped into my eyes. I opened them one by one, and found myself on the edge of the window-sill, overlooking the camp.