A Second Chance// Book two of Dancing With a Demon

Chap. 7

Then, just like that, he was gone. I wiggled my way out of Peter's arms and faced him. We stared at each other in silent thought, too busy being caught up in our minds to form sentences to have a conversation with. This place had an uneasy feel to it, which made it difficult for me to think. It was all frighteningly the same, yet different. This place I had known for about a year was gone and replaced with this... this knockoff.

"We should probably look for a place to live, huh?" Peter asked. My eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Are we living together?" I asked. He gave me a strange look.

"Are you crazy? Of course, we are. What part of 'True Love' do you not get?" Peter said. I crossed my arms and jokingly frowned at him.

"Well, I didn't know since we are, apparently, now dead," I said.

He held my face in his hands. "True Love lasts forever, sweetheart," he said. "Even in death."

I smiled at him, trying to think of what my feelings are. Do I love him? No. Not yet. Do I like him? Absolutely. Maybe with enough time, however, I could learn to love him.

"Alright, let's look for a house then," I said. "Loverboy."

"Stop calling me that," he muttered.

"What? Loverboy? Loverboyyyyyy," I droned. He rolled his eyes, turned his back to me, and started walking. It was as if his mood suddenly shifted.

"You haven't changed since Neverland," he said. I jogged up to him and caught his hand in mine.

"I haven't but you should've expected that," I said. "Besides, would you rather I call you Pete?"

"We've been over this," he said.

I took a minute to look him over. As much as he tried to hide his emotions, or at least the ones that made him seem weak, like he usually did, I could see that his jaw was clenched just a little bit. His body was also stiffer than normal, unlike how it was always relaxed. Something was bothering him.

"Hey," I said and stopped him from walking. His eyes shifted to mine but his demeanor stayed the same. "Peter, what's wrong?"

"It- it doesn't matter," he said. I grabbed his free hand with mine.

"It's just us, okay?" I said. "Nobody else, just us. You can talk to me about anything."

His eyes swept around the empty vicinity before locking with mine again. I gave him a small, reassuring smile.

"We're fucking dead," he said. "We're fucking dead and my best friend killed me. Jus- he just shot me. Twice. Me. Me, Y/n, and for what? To be the next leader? To rule over a land that no one will allow him to rule over? I can get it if he wanted to kill me over something important. But that?"

I expected him to say more but he said nothing. He let the silence capture his words and I rubbed comforting circles over his knuckles.

"You're hurt." I observed. He gave a soft scoff. "I get that, Peter. I wish I could go back in time and convince him not to kill you. I wish you were still alive. I'm sorry he was such a douche to you."

"There's no fixing it," he stated. I shook my head sadly.

"No... no, but we can focus on the positives. One of them being you get to start over. Another being you aren't trapped with Rumple and Belle anymore. Any more you can think of?" I said.

He took a few moments to respond. "I get to be here with you for the rest of eternity," he said.

"I said positives, not negatives," I laughed. His body slumped a little, slowly making its way into his usual posture.