How to Love ➳OUAT

25 ➳Nightmares*

That huge fact completely slipped my mind. It had only been a couple days since we'd gone down to the Underword to rescue Peter. I had already forgotten that the only way to get him out was to give him half my heart.

"But how are both dreams completely the same?"

"That's why I asked if Peter's been experiencing something similar. If what I think is going on, then we don't have much time before worst comes to worst."

...

I slightly slammed the front door as I ran my fingers through my hair. The faint whir of the T.V fills the house. I followed the sound to the living room and found Peter half asleep on the couch. I turned it off and plop down next to him.

"Hey, you're back early," he greeted groggily as he rubbed his eye with the palm of his hand.

"Peter," I breathed in, "No more lies, no more secrets. That's what we promised each other, right?"

"Yes," he slowly sat up, "Where is this coming from?"

I tightly shut my eyes, "You haven't been sleeping well, and you're always tired. Is it because you've been having nightmares?"

He laughed off, "Cass-"

"Peter," I cut him off before he could make up another excuse, "No more lies."

He softly sighed as he rubbed the nape of his neck, "Yes, I've been having nightmares, but that's only half the story. You wouldn't understand."

"Try me," I crossed my arms against my chest. I wasn't going to let Peter get away so easily this time.

"I have trouble sleeping because of the nightmares but..." he suddenly paused to reorganize his thoughts. "But my unusual exhaustion is simply due to the lack of energy."

I scrunched my eyebrows. Lack of energy? It was probable that because of his sleep deficiency, he was more tired during the day. But his internal clock should've fixed itself by now with the amount of naps he takes in one day.

"That's bullshit, Peter, and we both know it," I confronted him. "Now tell me what's really going on."

"I'm losing my strength, ok!" he snapped as he stood up from the couch. "I can hardly stay awake half the time! Every muscle in my body is exhausted! I can't even think straight! I'm... I'm fading, Cassandra."

"Fading? As in your powers..." I questioned even though I had a gut feeling he was talking about something else.

"My life, Cass," Peter finally admitted quietly, "I'm dying again."

I shook my head. I couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it. "I just got you back. I went down to the Underworld. I gave you my heart! You're... you should be fine! How... How could this be happening?"

Peter walked up to me and placed his hand on my tense shoulders, "Don't worry about me, ok? This is my problem, I'll figure out a way to fix it."

"That's the thing, Peter. It isn't just your problem." I wriggled out of his grasp and got up from the couch.

Peter followed me to the stairs and cut in front of me. "Cass, I got myself into this mess and now I have to get myself out of it."

"Funny, you said almost the same, exact thing about Brandon and Sage! When are you going to realize you don't have to face your problems alone anymore?!" I begged him.

"I'm not!" he defended, "I'm opening up now, aren't I?"

"Yeah, once the nightmares got stronger, and I had to ask you about it!" I felt my voice break as tears threatened to spill down my cheeks. "You always made it seem like it wasn't a big deal! Now, here we are, and there's a possibility I might lose you again!"

.
.
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I wrapped my arms around myself as I blankly stared down at the fire. I haven't spoken to Daniel since this afternoon. I haven't talked to anyone. The other boys definitely sense there was some kind of tension between us, but none of them were brave enough to bring it up in front of Pan.

Pan has also been awfully quiet. He skipped breakfast, but he returned for dinner only to excuse himself back to his quarters afterwards. No one dared to check on or 'bother' him in any kind of way. Without Pan, most would believe there would be a sudden relief in the air, but it was the opposite. Pan wanted to control everything on Neverland, he has nearly everything under his control. He wouldn't give anyone the opportunity to take away his authority. So even in his absence, Pan was always around, he's always watching.

But Brandon's death was the one thing he couldn't control, yet he still blames himself for it. If there was one thing that I'd learned during my time on Neverland was that Pan was good at hiding his true emotions, but how long will it be until his emotions takeover the best of him and he lands himself in a watery grave just like Brandon.

Suddenly a cloud of smoke circled around my face, snapping me out of my thoughts. I looked beside to find a bemused smirk on Zach's face as he brushed wooden debris off his hands.

"Can I help you?" I asked while slightly rolling my eyes.

"Yeah, you can. Go apologize to Daniel so he could stop being an ass to everyone," he said objectively leaving me appalled.

"Why should I apologize?" I defended. "Do you even know what happened between us?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Nope. Don't know, don't care. But you apologizing would make all our lives much easier, so can you please just take one for the team?"

I glanced over at Daniel on the other side of the fire pit as he meaninglessly argued with Corbyn. For a split second, I considered doing it. I considered forgiving him and apologizing for my actions and putting this afternoon behind us as if nothing ever happened. But I had nothing to apologize for.

He kept this huge secret and made me believe that his feelings for me were genuine. Every moment of our small time together felt special, but really my grandmother was always in the back of his mind. It made me sick in more ways than one.

I got up and head in the opposite direction toward the forest as Zach desperately called after me. His voice drowned out in the sounds of the branches rustling in the wind. I don't know where my feet are taking me, but I trust them more than Daniel.

Up ahead, I notice an unfamiliar clearing. My mind begun to question my memory; surely Pan's hut was far more deeper in the forest. I soon realized that stumbling upon Pan's place was no coincidence; he controlled everything on Neverland. If he wanted to be left alone, surely he would make it harder to find his treehouse. He wanted me here.

But I wasn't sure if he knew that.