Take Me to Neverland || OUAT

21: Following Leaders

"Come on, Pancake," I called behind me, "I'm tired of leading the way."

Peter came up to my side with a frown on his face. "I'm still not used to being called Pancake. I prefer you to call me The Sexy Beast."

Our footsteps crunched across the leafy terrain right outside of camp. To be honest, I'm not sure where the firewood was, I was just following my instincts.

But yet, I shook my head with a smirk and said, "sorry, but that name is already written in stone."

He let out an exaggerated and sarcastic sigh, but footed on in front of me. His voice echoed off of the towering jungle trees with each step we took. "You know what I admire most about you, Amber?" He asked, turning around with a sheepish grin.

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled back. "I don't know, what?"

Peter stooped down to collect a dry piece of firewood, then turned to me with the piece of bark in his hand. "The fact that you hold your willpower back when you're in the presence of a sexy god like me," he emitted a smirk, tilting his head like a clueless puppy.

"Shut up," I laughed.

"That's not a denial," he responded, pointing a stick at me.

I leaned down and grabbed a nearby fallen tree branch. My arm raised as the leaves rustled, falling deliberately like snowflakes back to the forest floor. I then turned to him, weapon in-hand. "That twig against my tree branch?" I taunted jokingly. "Are you sure?"

Peter shrugged his broad shoulders and elevated his stick. "You know me, I never decline a challenge."

I smiled, half-expecting for him to turn down my joking dare, but he held his position upright. "I hope you know I wasn't serious," I laughed, lowering my tree branch.

He chuckled lightly to himself. "Oh I know you weren't, love."

We both stayed silent for a brief second. My eyes flickered up and saw him staring straight back at me.

It was like a special effect, when the sunlight streamed in from above us, it illuminated specks of gold in his beautiful greenish warm gaze. And for a moment, I felt lost in words. The moment practically engulfed me.

Back at home, I never had any sweethearts. Mainly because I was always occupied with helping my family in a time of need.

But here, I was free from that burden. My heart was released from its tugging leash and defiantly, it dragged itself towards a mischievous Lost Boy.

Peter Pan.

No, I thought, deny it. The feelings towards him are just natural hormones. I'll get over it. And besides, what if he doesn't return my affection. I can't lose this game.

Peter took it as another opportunity to speak. His voice came out hesitantly, but surely. "Are you... falling for me, Amber?"

My mind snapped back to reality as my helpless stare fell to the ground. "I uh...," A surge of heat raced to my cheeks as I felt his hand lift up my chin. Carefully, I let my eyes waver back up to his face.

There he stood. His expression was soft, yet serious. His eyes were searching mine for a sign of attraction of some sort, yet, I still said nothing.

"I'll take that as a no," he sighed finally, dropping his gaze and his steady face from before. A nervous laughter escaped his lips as he ran his fingers through his auburn hair. "That's alright," he decided, placing a weak smile on display. "I've still got four days."

I smirked, "in your wildest dreams."

Together, we stalked around the jungles of Neverland, looking for a decent amount of firewood to take back to camp. The sun was high in the sky by the time we had collected several pieces each.