VICIOUS (II) : peter pan ouat

There was One

"So, it's down to the four of us." Devin lies down on a hammock, letting his head way down into the fabric.

"Four?" Harry asks. "I don't count as an Old."

Devin laughs. "That's not what I meant. It doesn't really matter who is old and who isn't anymore, does it? That was just a way to measure who had it harder or not, but things have changed now."

Jared pretends not to pay attention, as he stiches his sleeve, but he knows it is true. He can't help but think of Charlie, and how her life carries much more weight to it than his. Sure, bad things have happened to him, but his greatest lost was a century ago. Robert was the hardest one since, and maybe Keaton as well, but the more recent it has become, the more desensitized he has felt to all of it.

"Oh, shut your mouth." Alex spits. "You're such a grooser."

It's then that Harry notices how old the love of his life is. Sometimes he notices, by the way he clips a vowel, but normally he just attributes that to the boy's accent, which is quite similar to Devin's regionally. However, grooser is definitely not modern slang.

It's only around the olds that Alex lets out slips like that, and Alex doesn't even notice, and nor do they. At this moment though, Harry realises he might never quite understand what their lives were like. He definitely draws a distinction between him and the olds.

Alex does too, though he would never admit it to Harry. There is something about being around Hook, and Rufio, and a rotating cast of boys that unites him, Jared and Devin. He knows none of them would probably get on if it weren't for their shared history.

Devin was the last old to arrive, which makes him out of place and he knows it. Form what he understands, Jared arrived in the early 1900s, though he never asked the boy what year, and Keaton during the First World War. Devin came during the second, from Canada although he doubts anyone else knows he is Canadian. Alex never told him his story. The more he thinks about it, the less he knows about the people around him.

"I may be a grooser, but that doesn't make you any less of a dip."

Alex bites his tongue as he tries to remember what the word means. He heard a lot of kids using it around the time Devin came, but the meaning escapes him. He's had too learn too much slang over the years.

Jared doesn't forget, and he cracks a smile and the mixing of their lingo. He contemplates joining in for a second, but when he sees the sad look on Harry's face, he decides not to leave the boy left out.

After all, Jared believes the two groups to be one, much like Devin, and in the coming days they are going to need each other more than ever.

"Would you both quit it?" Jared shakes his head, smiling even if he is exasperated. "Honestly, you two have had it out for each other since the 20s."

"I came in 45'," Devin corrects. "Nice try though."

"I heard the 20s were a riot." Harry said. "Not many boys feeling lost than, were there."

"I only missed them by a decade." Jared shakes his head. "Keaton came in 1916, so he was the closest, I came in 1911."

"And I 1912."

The tent goes still, as everyone realises that is the closest Alex has ever come to revealing exactly how old he is. Except for Harry. Jared has his suspicions, given the boys aversion to water and they way Alex reacted when he found out Rufio was dead. Like it wasn't the first time.

Jared looks to Harry, and can't help but hope it is the last time.

The air sinks in with uncertainty, and Devin is the first to realise doesn't know what is going to come. Jared always knew, but he has been too distracted by saving people to accept it. Harry struggles to come to terms, looking to Alex. Alex is the last to realise, and his eyes linger on Harry's.

None of them are ready to lose what they have.

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

Okay, alright, so this book is over, and now we are on to the next one.