Foreverland

Chapter 11

•Peter•

I slipped away from the flower room but stayed in the cover of the branches. Below the commotion of the boys returning from training could be heard. As well as the sound of crying.

I cursed under my breath, I'd forgotten about Spencer. I was surprised his lungs hadn't burst with that voice of his.

"Spencer!" I heard Emris exclaim and my head dropped, I wouldn't hear the end of this. Not for a long while. It wasn't something I could blame on someone else. "What are- where is Peter Pan!"

"Off being irresponsible, like usual." Ara swept past Emris and picked Spencer up. My face twisted in disgust. She always had to make things worse.

"I'm right here." I dropped from the tree, landing easily on my feet.

"Why would you leave him alone? Outside? Where something could've gotten him or he could've hurt himself." Emris demanded, storming up to stand before me. An instinct within me wanted to push him back, show him who was in charge. Yet I had a feeling that wouldn't work this time. Not with Ara here, playing saviour.

"I thought I saw something in the tree. Needed to check it out and I couldn't do that to the best of my capabilities if I was holding a child in my arms."

"I thought you were Peter Pan. I thought you could do anything." Ara taunted and my fingers curled into fists.

"I thought-"

"You can't make excuses this time." Winston cut me off, surprising me, "you left a young child alone in an unsafe situation because you thought you saw something. Emris offered to stay behind and watch him. If you weren't capable of taking care of Spencer you should have taken his offer."

"Winston I-"

"Stop. Stop making excuses. There's been something off with you lately. I can't put my finger on it but we all notice it..." he trailed off, looking scared, "I- I just don't feel like I can trust you anymore."

"Why you-"

"Okay lets just all calm down." Ara stepped forward and handed Spencer to Emris. My face was growing red, I'd been cut off too many times. "We're gonna go for a walk, you boys get some food okay? You must be hungry after all that hard work."

"I'm not arguing with that!" Damon bounded off and the rest of the boys slowly followed, all except Winston.

"I expected better from you." He turned to walk away before stopping to look back, "actually, I know you could be better."

I lunged forward but Ara's arm shot out, pushing back on my chest. Winston shook his head before bounding off after the boys.

Heat was rising in my chest and now Ara was the only one left to direct it to. She was stupid to stick around when I was like this.

"Look what you did." I growled through my teeth.

"Look what you did." Her hand slid down from my chest to grab my hand. "Come on, you know you'll make things worse if you try to talk to them right now."

"I don't want to go anywhere with you." I was tempted to rip my hand from her grasp but to be honest, I missed the feeling of someone's hand in mine. Although I'd never admit it to Ara, there were rare moments I was glad I brought her to Neverland. Her annoyance distracted me from the pain.

"Stop being so stubborn." She rolled her eyes and guided me away from the tree. My back burned from the glares that came from behind. From my boys. Why did I keep screwing things up?

"Where are we going?"

"On an adventure." She spoke the words I'd told to so many others. I couldn't turn away from her now. She sure knew how to get someone to do what she wanted them to do.

She started to lead me towards the mountain. Towards the waterfall. Towards memories. My chest tightened yet I didn't tell her to turn around. I couldn't run forever.

"Ara... I- I don't really..."

"Would you stop fighting for once in your life?"

"There's a storm coming. We shouldn't-"

"Peter Pan, do I sense fear in you?" Her words were taunting but the grin on her face brought one to mine. The smile was genuine, unlike many others I'd seen her wear. I wasn't sure what had changed within her.

"I'm not... scared." Lies- even if I wished they weren't. I was scared. Scared of her smile. Scared of what caused it. Scared that I would fall for it.

"Then stop complaining." Ara picked up the pace until we were running- flying- through the undergrowth. The trees faded into a green blur and my conscience was left in the dust. With a small sprinkle of pixy dust we were moving even faster. I didn't use enough to allow us to fly as I had to ration the pixy dust these days. I hadn't seen Tinker Bell since Rose captured her with the pirates. I wasn't even sure if Tink was still alive. I hoped she was- I sometimes missed her constant nagging in my ear.

"Ara. Wait." I pulled back on her arm, realizing we'd gone too far across the island. I hadn't been this far in decades. It wasn't allowed.

"What? Why are we stopping?"

"Uh-" I couldn't tell her. No one could know about what dwelled over there. After all this time I'd almost forgot about them. "Because..." I looked around. We had stopped half way up the mountain, the trees around us were thin and it felt as if we were on the top of the world. We could even see the pirates ship, drifting near the mermaid cove. However the dark clouds were above us now, sending a dangerous hue over the land. Even from so far away I could tell the sea was angry. "Because it's nice here?" It was more of a question than a statement.

"You're right." Ara let out a long breath. Her face was red with heat and sweat coated her forehead and yet, she was still beautiful.

No.

No I wasn't looking at Ara's face anymore.

It was Rose's. Her face red with rage directed at me. Her eyes defensive and lifeless- exactly how they looked as she fell off the cliff.

"Peter Pan? You alright there?"

"I'm fine." I snapped, shaking my head. "It's just- it's raining." Small drops were falling from the sky, picking up by he second.

"And are you made of sugar?"

"No..."

"Then what's the problem?" She shoved my arm slightly and I smiled. "There are two kinds of people you know, those who dance in the rain and those who just get wet."

"There are also those who find shelter."

"Those are the boring ones. I thought you weren't boring. I thought you wanted adventure." Ara spun with her arms out wide. Her curls were starting to stick to her forehead, heavy with rainwater.

"Do you see me running for cover?" I took her hand and spun her again and she let out a laugh.

"Well you sure are complaining a lot." She pushed me away and reached up to the sky as if she could touch the clouds.

"Look at me now, I'm dancing in the rain!" I grabbed her hand and we spun together. It was as if the world melted away with the downpour. The string that was tied tightly around my heart loosened slightly and I felt as if I was breathing for the first time. It was refreshing to just let myself go. Like finally I wasn't caving in on myself.

"Don't you feel immortal in times like this?" Ara asked, pulling me closer and wrapping her arms around my waist.

"I am immortal." I laughed, feeling her arms travel up my back.

"Are you?" She whispered and I felt something sharp pierce the skin on my back. "Are you really?" She had the dagger from my waistband- I hadn't even noticed her slip it out.

I felt like I'd been in this situation before, only last time I was on the other side.

It was five years ago, just before I'd lost Rose. Simon had gotten to that age, that dreaded age that Alex is now nearing. I'd taken him to the cliffs and hugged him one last time before driving my dagger into his back.

The memory was painful. Almost as painful as the knife that was now digging into my back.

"You're going to regret this." I grunted as she thrusted the full length of the dagger into my flesh.