Perdita (A Peter Pan OUAT Fanfic)

CHAPTER TWELVE: Date Night

So I'm back after like eight months.  Dunno how long this is gonna last for but if anyone is reading this, bear with me, I'm just tryna sort my shit out.

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The sun woke me up the next morning, streaming through the window like golden ribbons in a way that it never had before, clueing me in on approximately how long I'd overslept.  For several seconds, I lay blind and dumb, blinking the shock of the unexpected light from my eyes. 

When they had grown sufficiently accustomed, I became aware of another soreness: one that couldn't be blinked away.  Reaching up to the tender patches beneath my lower lashes - swollen from crying, I recalled - the memories of the previous night dropped on my head like a tonne of bricks.  Embarrassment shone through my immediately reddened cheeks as the full force of the memories flooded my mind.

Oh God, talk about an overreaction.  Peter hadn't said anything offensive, not even mildly so.  He'd merely pointed out a harmless idea - one I hoped wasn't true, one that made no sense (why would Felix ask me out if he was gay?), but one that was still completely inoffensive.  Nevertheless, I'd flipped a switch and gone totally, raving, utter lunatic, batshit crazy on him.  Wow.  Just wow.

Still, as much as I realised Pan hadn't deserved even half of what I gave him, the idea still surfaced a bubble of anger in the ocean of chagrin that had descended on my mind.  Why couldn't he just let us be?  And why did he have to be so obnoxiously arrogant about everything?  What was his problem?

I closed my eyes and massaged my temples, trying desperately to both repress and embrace all of my chaotic thoughts.  After failing miserably at both tasks, I heaved a deep sigh and swung my legs over the side of the bed, ignoring the consequent head rush as best I could.

Judging by the angle of the light still bursting into the room in uninterrupted, blinding beams, Felix was either just about to arrive to collect me or had already been and I'd missed him.  For a moment I contemplated returning to the sheets and spending the day wallowing in self-pity and irritation.  But then wouldn't it look great for me to ditch Felix just after he's plucked up the courage to ask me out?  There was no choice in the matter; I was just going to have to grit my teeth and bear it. 

Just as I was yanking on a clean pair of sturdy yet worn jeans from the bottom drawer of my little wardrobe, an encouraging tap sounded at the door.  There was no voice but I knew it was Felix.

"Just a minute!" I called, buttoning the jeans, double-knotting my boots and sauntering over to the tent's entrance.

Sure enough, there stood Felix, though he had a look on his face that I had never seen before.  It was almost... flirtatious? 

"Morning, beautiful."

My mind went into panic mode and deserted me, leaving me gawking wide-eyed at the rapidly blushing boy.  His features melted away from the awkwardly seductive expression he'd worn before to a more familiar one of quiet uncertainty and guarded humour.

"Should we just stick to Perdy?" he asked after the staring contest had become just a little too awkward.

I took a small step towards him.  "Yes, let's," I muttered before the situation could worsen further, and skipped my eyes away from his to avoid that infamous post-failed-flirting eye contact.  To ensure that there would be no opportunity for the conversation to continue, I followed the action up with a hasty slight hop - clearly intended to show that I was anxious to get to the day's work - in the direction of the berry tree orchard where we were supposed to be headed.

Felix chuckled lightly but said nothing else and followed my direction, taking the lead after a few paces.

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