Take Me to Neverland || OUAT

18: Timely Answers

~~Amber's POV~~

After the "ostrich" incident, I decided to hike up whatever I had left of my dignity and walked to my corner of the room.

"What will Felix tell the boys?" I asked, a hint of uncertainty in my voice.

Peter grinned and chuckled to himself. "Well, you were practically screaming my name."

"To tell you to take the ostrich away!"

He laughed again and nodded his head, "yes, but the the Lost Boys wouldn't know that."

A playful smirk was smothered on his face while my blush became more noticeable in color. Yet, I held my tongue. Peter's eyes lowered down to mine, his expression was practically plastered as he tried to get me to talk. "Not going to say a word, huh?"

I shook my head and settled down underneath my covers and ignored his further talking.

"Amber. Amber. Amber. Speak to me."

Give me time, I thought. I was just extremely exhausted at the world for the moment, so instead, I let myself give away to the tiredness in my eyes.

But I couldn't help it. I peeked over my covers for a brief second and saw him staring back at me with curiosity and a hint of concern.

He'll never sleep if I don't say anything to him...

Sighing, I sat upright. "I'll see you tomorrow, Peter. Good night," I murmured as a my last words before I fell back to my original position, curled up in bed.

And soon, a deep sleep overtook me.

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

"Amber, darling," my father smiled, stroking my hair. "I'll be gone for only two days."

"But... but what about mother?" I asked, my voice quivering as I spoke. "She doesn't like it whenever you leave."

Father kneeled down so that we were face-to-face. He always told us how tall he was and how Mother had to stand on her absolute tip-toes just to kiss him.

Now, here he sat before me, tears stained in his eyes. He held my tiny hands in his big rough ones and told me to promise. 

"Promise you won't tell her I'm leaving," he said softly, quickly giving me a peck on the forehead.

I took all the courage I had to look up into his eyes. "You aren't coming back then... are you?"

He looked hesitantly at my face. With a somber shake of his head, he replied back, "no. But only time will tell. Time tells everything."

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

I woke up with a start, panting heavily and drenched in sweat.

"Amber?" Peter called from the other side of the room. His shuffling footsteps made it clear that he was making his way towards me as quickly as he could. "Relax, it was only a dream."

My breaths were coming in jagged and uneasy as I tried to shake my head from the distant and painful memory. All the while I was trying to forget it, it always came back stronger than ever.

Before I could react, I felt Peter's arms wrap around my body in a protective manner. "It's alright, it's gone now," he murmured into the nape of my neck. "You're okay..."

I pushed myself away from his warm embrace and looked him in the eye. The atmosphere around us froze as I let my gaze drift away to the open windowsill. It looked pitch dark outside and I couldn't help but let out an anguished sigh.