Somewhere In Neverland || FIRST DRAFT

Kiss The Girl (11)

Riley walked back into the castle, she had finished meeting with Grace and she was finally in the plan, she felt involved, she felt happy, she felt at peace and lastly she felt in love. Every moment that she was laying awkwardly on top of Peter she had fallen in love with him even more, it was becoming dangerous, she felt that her heart was so heavy and filled with love that she'd have to drag it on the floor alongside her. Jax was waiting inside the castle for Riley, she could tell exactly by her expression that she was deeply and madly in love, just like Peter, and she owed a lot to the both of them so she had sneakily planned to help bring them together.
"Hi Riley" Riley looked down at Jax, extremely giddy.
"Hi Jax, to what do I owe this pleasure" she asked tucking a lock of hair behind her ear.
"It's a surprise" Riley's giddy swagger dimmed ever so slightly.
"You know I hate surprises Jax" Jax grinned menacingly from ear to ear and grabbed Riley's arm and practically dragged her along behind her as she ran through the long corridors. Jax pulled Riley around many corners, winding their way up and down staircases, around corners and down long corridors, it had to have been at least an hour since they first started off, and Riley's giddy swagger had begun to fade.
"C'mon Peter, that has to have been enough time" Jax whispered quietly.
"Jax have you gotten us lost" Riley piped up for the first time since Jax had led her astray.
"Something like that" Jax said as she tugged Riley down a few more corridors and out a backdoor which led to Peter standing in front of the forest, Riley stared confusedly back and forth between Riley and Peter.
"Thanks Jax, I'll take it from here" Jax saluted Peter and wandered off back towards the castle.

Riley looked at Peter, his clothes looked newer than usual, no holes and no dirt smudges, his golden hair was styled artfully messy and his eyes seemed to shine like sapphires in the slowly dipping sun, he grinned that sly grin of his that spelt trouble. "What is all this?" Riley asked stepping forward, she felt severely underdressed compared to him, she was only wearing the clothes that she had been wearing to training hours ago and her hair still hung loose on her shoulders. Peter took her hand in his, making Riley's heart flutter as if she were a little girl.
"Just wait and see" his cocky arrogance was only slightly getting on her nerves as he gently pulled her through the forest. Peter was a very cocky boy, and ever since his melt down earlier that day he had become even cockier.

"You deserve a shot at love"
"No I don't" Peter spat, still perched in the branch above Jax.
"If anyone deserves a shot at love it's Peter pan"
"And why would I even go on a 'date' and... what... what if she doesn't even like me?" Jax chuckled at this
"Oh, I don't think that will be a problem" Peter went silent, remembering all the bad childhood memories that he had suppressed so deep down inside of him, that he'd forgotten that he'd lived those memories. All of Peter's life he'd been rejected, rejected by his peers, rejected by his parents, rejected by society, that was the very reason he first came upon Neverland. He shook away the nagging feeling of rejection and loss, and he swung himself down so he was hanging upside down, his legs wrapped firmly around the tree branch.
"What would we even do? I've never even been on a 'date' before" The word date still unfamiliar in his mouth. "Can't we just play a game or something?" Jax sighed exasperatedly and looked into those deep blue eyes of Peter, it was like getting lost in the sea, those eyes didn't hold any of their usual mischief, they now held worry, and some other foreign emotion in which Jax had not felt in ages.
"Peter, for someone who hasn't been on a date before you seem to be perfectly fine"
"W-what do you mean" he turned his head to face Jax's, all the curiosity of a young boy was held in the soft features in his face, from the crook of his nose, to the dimples in his cheeks, to those startling sapphire eyes.
"On Riley's birthday, when I found you guys, it seemed perfect, like she was really enjoying it" Peter swung himself back onto the branch and then leaped down so he was sitting right next to Jax.
"Really?"
"Yes Peter"
"Well than Jax, it looks like I have a 'date' to plan" and with that he bounded off.

Riley had been walking with Peter for what felt like hours, it had probably been merely minutes when they finally reached their destination, a river glistened and sparkled like diamonds in the last remnants of the yellow light of the sun, Riley turned to Peter. "What is all this?" She asked looking at the small boat bobbing on the shore of the river.
"Well I'd thought I'd do something nice considering, things here must be pretty rough for you" Riley began to blush.
"Thanks Peter, you truly are kind" she smiled and turned to hop in the boat, Peter was mesmerised by her beauty. Riley was like a red leaf in a sea of green, her beauty radiated around her, like a halo, mesmerising, he was released from his trance as he climbed into the boat, sitting across from Riley, picking up the oars, he began to row.

The boat bobbed steadily on the water, the sun had now fully set, and the moonlight, casting a dim glow over them, illuminating the water with it's silver light. Riley was mesmerised by the beauty around her, it was another one of those moments where she wished she had her camera with her, suddenly the dim light transformed into something brighter, the silver light turned into a golden glow, washing over the water and them. Riley leaned over the edge of the boat and saw golden orbs of light speckled in the water like pinpricks, she felt a hand on her shoulder, Peter's, she turned and he pointed around them. Tiny fairies were hovering around them, casting a golden glow over them, Riley smiled, her brown eyes shinning molten gold, "Wow" she breathed out "this is so beautiful"
"Not as beautiful as you" Riley turned to face Peter, his blonde hair was golden, his blue eyes shining bright, that cheeky smirk of his, that she had grown to love, he was glowing in the golden light that the fairies were omitting.

Butterflies began to flutter excitedly in her stomach, Peter had just said she was beautiful, no one had ever told her that, she smiled bashfully and soon, it was as if he were a piece of metal and she was a magnet, they slowly inched closer to each other, the air around them seemed to sizzle with electricity, the golden glow around them dimmed, and as their lips were just about to press together. The boat tipped and Riley and Peter were sent tumbling into the cold water.

Riley sank lower and lower into the murky water, no more silver moonlight or gold fairies to illuminate the water, she felt something grasping her ankle, pulling her down, she thrashed around with all her might, trying to search for Peter. Was he all right? Had he surfaced already? She felt an arm grasp her other ankle and a mermaid came into focus, she shrieked and instantly regretted it she was losing her breath and her head was becoming lighter and her lungs were filling up with water. Desperate to survive she turned to look down at the mermaid that was slowly crawling up her body, she pushed her hands out in front of her, to try and shove the mermaid back, but instead a blast of blinding white light shot out from her hands, sending the mermaid shooting back into the depths of the water. Riley used all of the strength she had left in her body and she pushed herself up, she slowly floated up towards the surface, the minimal oxygen that she had left in her lungs was slowly escaping, just as she reached the surface she hit her head against the boat, hard. She lost her vision for what felt like hours, but was only mere minutes, her lungs were on fire, screaming at her for more oxygen, but she couldn't get any, she was slowly dying.

An arm looped around hers and pulled her up, she surfaced and gulped in a huge amount of air, she turned to see Peter swimming to shore, drenched from head to toe and shivering, she followed suit, swimming towards shore. She slumped on the green grass, coughing up the contents of her lungs, when she was finally done, she rolled over on her back and looked up at the night sky. "Mermaids" Peter's voice, raspy from his oxygen deprived lungs. Riley greedily gulped down the much needed oxygen, her lungs screaming in protest.
"W-we should head back" Riley sat up and instantly felt dizzy, a searing pain lanced in her head, she stood up slowly, her legs, stiff and sore.
"Here let me help you" Peter offered Riley his arm. Riley hated feeling useless, she didn't need anybody's help, she could walk all by herself.
"I'm fine, I don't need your help" she dismissed Peter, walking ahead of him, Peter hung his head, his heart felt heavy, she didn't want his help, he yet again felt rejected. Riley just wanted to get home and for this to be over, she wanted to fall asleep in her warm bed reading one of the many books in the library, she walked past Peter, shivering, the dizziness crept back again, and so did the pain, Riley's limbs felt heavy, and she felt tired. That's when she dropped, and hit the floor.
"Riley!" Peter yelled and rushed over to her limp body, she was still breathing, shallow raspy breaths, he picked her up, her cold, wet body pressed against his and he carried her back towards home.