NEVERLAND ✧ Louis Partridge

12 | A Walk Through The Forest

Y/N

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"TAKE THIS," Louis said, tossing a green shirt towards me, "we're going swimming."

After I bested the boy in a duel, it took him a solid few minutes to figure out that he wasn't the best fighter on the Island. I beat him, after all, and I only learned how to win in less than five minutes.

"Okay," I said, clutching the thick fabric in my hands, "why are we going swimming?"

The boy shrugged, "why not?"

"Won't the mermaids try to drown me?"

"No, because they won't be there," Louis said, taking his hat off and tossing it across the treehouse, "I'm taking you to Skull's Rock, not the lagoon."

"And why do I need this shirt?" I questioned, picking at the heavy fabric, "I have my own."

Louis glanced at me, as if he was amused about something, but then turned towards the door. He clearly had something to say, and I wanted him to spit it out.

"Your shirt is white," he said, walking out of the room, "just thought you should know."

Oh...I forgot about that.

Staring down at the thin fabric of my pirate ensemble, I felt all the blood rush to my face in embarrassment. He must have noticed when I first dived into the lagoon, and was too respectful to point it out in the midst of all the Lost Boys (I don't think they noticed, to be honest).

I guess I should change.

Undoing my sash, I slipped my original top off and quickly threw on the one Louis let me borrow. The fabric was thick enough, thankfully, so I picked up my dagger and rushed out the door as soon as possible.

Louis was waiting outside, his feet hanging off the tree branch.

"Hey," I said, exhaling as I came to a stop, "thanks for the shirt."

He turned to look at me as soon as he heard my voice, cracking a soft smile.

"Looks good on you," he said, hopping onto his feet, "keep it."

"Keep your shirt?"

"Forever, if you want," he shrugged, brushing past me towards the forest, "but I think I hear a cold swim calling my name."

Rolling my eyes playfully, I followed behind him, my boots trudging against the dirt path.

The forest was definitely as creepy as any other forest in the middle of the night, but being around Louis took the possibilities of being murdered by a bear away. If something tried to kill me, we'd probably fend it off with our daggers, throw stones, or fly off into the distance.

I didn't have to worry about looking like a fool around him when it came to those things.

"So tell me about yourself," the boy mused, clasping his hands behind his back, "I want to know."

I cocked a brow, stepping over a pile of leaves, "why do you want to know?"

"Because I want to know you."

"I'm not as interesting as you think."

"But I think you're interesting, nevertheless," he shrugged, "so enlighten me about your life on earth."

I didn't have a story to tell him (a completely happy one, that is), so I bit my lip.

I lived a nice life, one I'm grateful for, but I never really got used to the harsh way people would treat me whenever I showed my face at school. I always had to put up this mask and pretend it never bothered me, but the scribbles on the bathroom stalls spoke for me otherwise.

At least I could write my feelings out anonymously there. Some other stranger could judge me for who I really was through my odd bits of poetry, not for what society deemed me as, and that felt better to think about.

"Nope," I said, clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth, "nothing important comes to mind."

Louis furrowed his brow, "nothing?"

"Nothing."

"No hobbies?"

"Not really."

"No friends?"

I exhaled, tilting my head in remembrance. I did have some friends, but one by one they started to drift off to other places.

While others counted down the days till they saw their friends again, I counted down the days till they all left. Now, seriously, I'm not saying I'm not like other girls, because in all honesty, I'm exactly like half of the people out there.

I'm just the only one who knows what I'm feeling deep down.

"I had a best friend once," I sighed, hanging my head, "she's off to better places now."

Louis's eyes softened, "better places?"

"She got into some Shakespearean acting program," I nodded, "I haven't spoken to her in ages, but I'm sure she's having the time of her life in London."

"Well she's not in Neverland," the boy added, "I think you got the better end of the deal, in my opinion at least."

"I wouldn't deny that."

"And I can promise you I won't leave you like the rest of your friends did."

"That's sweet," I laughed quietly, "but you can't promise something like that."

"Then I'll prove it to you."

"How are you going to—" I said, turning my head, "Louis?"

In the span of that one sentence, the boy had disappeared.

Full on apparated away, no sign of his green cap and smirky smile. Spinning around in worry, I squinted my eyes in the darkness to see if I could make out his figure in the shadows.

Nothing. All I could see was the slight movement of the tree branches in the wind, and the sounds of birds chirping away their evening lullabies.

Where the hell was—

"Gotcha'!" Someone yelled into my ear, wrapping thier arms around my waist and hoisting me up into the air.

Thankfully, I recognized the low sweetness of Louis' voice, or I would have accidentally stabbed him in the side with my dagger for jump-scaring me.

Rolling my eyes, I nudged his arms off of me and dropped back towards the ground.

"You idiot!" I gasped, trying to collect myself, "you freaked me out!"

He smirked, "did I?"

"Yes! Why did you have to do that?"

"To prove my point," he shrugged.

"What point?"

Stalking off towards the end of the path, I watched as he tilted his cap at me in amusement. I hated when he did that, but I also loved that. How was that possible?

"That I'd never leave you," he said sweetly, "cause' even when you got lost, I still found you."