Hey,
Thanks for reading. Sorry that this chapter took a little longer than I anticipated, but it was quite long and had a lot of detail.
Please vote and comment.
Enjoy,
Annabelle_the_reader
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'I can't believe what you did!' Someone screamed, causing me and Felix to look up from cooking by the fire.
I glanced at Felix to see the concern in his eyes as he starts to run towards the noise. Dropping my knife, I sprinted after him until I cigaret up, then slowed into a gentle jog. 'I can't believe what you said!'
'I didn't mean it like that!' My eyes briefly met Felix's and we hurtled through the forest towards the noise, leaving the half-chopped vegetables on the side.
'What's going on?' I yelled through the commotion at a random Lost Boy in front of me. Felix was by my side, jogging with me and laughing at the excitement of the Lost Boys. He enjoyed danger and didn't seem to have any problem with the potential fight.
The Lost Bpy turned around and grinned at me widely to reveal himself to be Candy, 'It's Baelfire and Jack, I don't know what's happened but Baelfire is really angry with him!'
'I didn't do anything, Baelfire! Whatever I did I'm sorry, you don't understand. It was a joke!' Came another call, who was obviously Jack replying to Baelfire's calls. A lump formed in my throat as I pushed my way through the crowds, trying to find Baelfire.
'Sorry isn't good enough!' Baelfire continued to scream.
'What do you think happened?' Felix asked me, tapping me on my shoulder and glancing at me in concern.
For Jack to get on the wrong side of Baelfire on his second day was not a good move. Baelfire seemed quite patient, in which case Jack must have said something particularly awful to make him so angry.
'I don't know,' I admitted with a sigh, peering through the gaggle of Lost Boy's heads at Baelfire and Jack. 'But I'm gonna find out.'
As I pushed through the crowd, I noticed that Baelfire and Jack had their hands in fists, glaring at each other with more venom than I thought Baelfire could muster, even though I only knew him for a short time.
'I can't believe what you said! Take it back now!' Baelfire screamed.
'Oh will you shut up, you know what I think so just let it go!' Without hesitation, Jack punched Baelfire square in the jaw and I winced, holding my breath in anxiety as the Lost Boys all gasped or cheered. Baelfire stumbled to the side clutching his jaw.
Jack, surged on by anger, revenge and determination, took this as an advantage. Before Baelfire and I could even react to it, Jack charged at Baelfire and knocked him to the ground, following a hard punch in the jaw. Baelfire dropped to the ground and I looked away angirly, hearing everyone gasp, too stunned to move a muscle.
'Knock it off, now!' I screamed, hurtling myself through the dense crowd and standing between Baelfire and Jack, glaring at them angrily. It was one of the unspoken rules among the Lost Boys: don't hurt another Lost Boy. And they both had done just that.
I turned my attention to Baelfire, looking up at me in shock, his nose flooding with blood. I held out my hand and hauled him to his feet, placing an arm on his back and helping him limp to a log, where a couple of Lost Boys handed him some water for his wounds and a drink.
I turned to see if Jack was also in pain, when suddenly Jack's fist connects to my face, causing me to fall back in astonishing pain.
My vision started to blur and I could feel the blood dripping down my face. Anger started to well up inside of me. I confidently stood up to face him, bringing my fists up ready to defend myself. Jack scrunched his nose up, obviously livid with me, and took another step forward.
I winced, preparing myself for anther punch. Shutting my eyes tightly, I waited for the pain I knew was about to come.
But it never came.
I cautiously opened my eyes, one at a time, to see a hand clutching Jack's fist, keeping it from colliding with my face.
'Touch my Tiger one more time and I'll feed you to the mermaids, Lost Boy!' Pan screamed angrily.
'Pan, I'm sorry! It was an accident. I didn't mean to hurt her, it-' Jack began to defend himself, looking more terrified than I had ever seen him before
'Cut it, Jack!' I heard Pan yell angrily before my vision subsided and I blacked out in pain.
~
'Tiger! Tiger Lily! Wake up!' A strong, masculine voice said, shaking me firmly awake. I cautiously opened my eyes, blinking up at Peter in almost confusion. 'I cured you. Are you feeling ok? Are you in pain? Do you want me to try healing you again? '
I shook my head once, blinking into the sunlight of Neverland. I hadn't passed out for long, but it felt like hours since the fight.
'Good. Come with me.' He said and I took his outstretched hand, allowing him to haul myself to my feet ungracefully, and padded across the forest with him. I had to walk a little bit faster than usual next to Peter's long strides, but I ignored the pain in my legs as much as possible and walked behind him quickly away from the camp.
In silence, we walked until we reached Pan's thinking tree. We sat there for a long time, in silence again, allowing us both the time we needed to think.
He sent me a small smile and placed his hand gently on my back, slightly rubbing circles on it to relax me. I didn't realise how tense I was until he relaxed me in this comforting, loving way.
'Are you alright, Tiger Lily?' Pan mumbled softly, gliding into the seat beside me. His hand gently combed through my hair and then dropped to my side. He removed my hand from my side and placed it on his own lap, gently running circles across my palm.
'I'm ok.' I whispered back, returning his small smile kindly. Although Jack had hit me hard enough to knock me out, I refused to show this and confidently held my head high, refusing to show any kind of weakness to the Lost Boys, who often didn't respect me because I was "only a girl".
'Sorry.' Peter mumbled into my hair. In this time, Peter had shifted on his spot next to me on the tree even closer to me, so that I was practically sat on top of him, my left hand in his lap and our legs entangled. I barely noticed that my head was on his shoulder and he was gently stroking my hair.
As we walked through the Lost Boys, I realised that Peter was acting a little more public with his relationship with me than usual, making me suspect that perhaps after I passed out someone made a few snide comments and he wanted to remind them that I was his.
I sat on the log besides Peter, thinking things through, when I whispered softly, so that he didn't have to feel separated from the others if they could hear what we were saying, 'Pan?'
'Yes, Tiger,' Peter mumbled softly into my hair, kissing my cheek at the end.
'Did you find out why Baelfire was angry Jack? I want to understand how justifiable Baelfire's anger was.' I said assertively and Pan raised his eyebrows in confusion as if I had just committed a crime. It seemed as though it didn't occur to him to discover the context to their fight before deciding upon a suitable punishment for their violent behaviour.
'Baelfire!' Pan called and Baelfire turned around, cringing slightly as to whether Pan had decided upon a despicable punishment for him yet. 'Baelfire, enlighten us, I want to know why you were angry with Jack.'
The Lost Boys went silent. Nothing could be heard except the distant crackle of the fire. Baelfire glanced at me, then back to Jack awkwardly. My eyes followed them and noticed that Jack was staring awkwardly at his feet. His eyes briefly met Baelfire's, as if begging him to be merciful.
'I can't pass on the blame.' Baelfire began with a small shrug. 'I shouldn't have harmed Jack and I shouldn't have got angry. Jack just said something that made me a angry.'
'What did he say?' Pan pressed, suddenly more curious than before. He leaned forwards slightly, intrigued by what Baelfire had said, but kept his arm around me tight enough so that I could barely move myself.
Baelfire opened his mouth, then closed it again. His eyes met Jack's in understanding, then he turned back to Pan and said in a strong voice, 'It's not worth repeating.'
I swallowed a lump in my throat as I was stunned by what Baelfire had said. Baelfire didn't seem like the type to usually get angry, and his words confirmed my assumption that it was something terrible. I noticed Jack redden and gnaw at his lip nervously. Pan finally spoke up, his arm tightening around my waist, 'What was it about?'
Baelfire averted his attention from Jack and onto me. By the way he was looking at me, I already knew what Baelfire was going to say before he even said it. 'It was about you, Tiger Lily.'
My jaw dropped.
Whispers erupted from the crowd of listening Lost Boys, turning to one another and discussing what Baelfire had just revealed. But I didn't catch anything that they said, because I wasn't really listening. My attention was completely wiped and I sat still, feeling Pan's grip around my waist and on my hand tighten. He was holding me much more protectively now and, no matter how annoying it may be, I felt myself snuggle up even closer into him and his comforting warmth and smell.
Jack's hands were shaking and his face somehow became a brighter shade of red. My eyes met Baelfire's in shock that he had harmed another Lost Boy because he had said something horrible about me. I sent Andrew a small smile, who was intently watching my reaction to check that I was ok, then expectantly turned to Peter again.
'Shut it!' Came a strong voice beside me. Peter looked even more hurt than I was, turning to face me in shock and pity. He hated anyone insulting his girlfriend/ex-wife/whatever I was, particularly Jack.
'Jack, is this true?' Peter asked firmly, not wanting to jump to conclusions after Baelfire's accusing words. At times, Peter was often a good leader of the Lost Boys and was both controlling and just, despite his often seemingly immature behaviour. He wouldn't condemn someone without checking the facts, except lying. I knew that Peter Pan couldn't stand being lied to.
Jack looked hurt and uneasy, suddenly looking guilty by what her had said about me. 'Well... I... I didn't mean it like that... I just... yes. Yes, it is true.' He admitted eventually.
Every Lost Boy remained silent and stared at Jack, their faces solemn. Peter brought me back to reality by kissing my cheek tenderly. I sent him a small smile, before averting my attention completely onto Jack. 'What did you say?'
There was a deafening silence and nobody seemed to want to break it. Jack looked awkwardly at the forest floor, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, especially me.
Peter seemed to have noticed this silence, but before he could speak, Baelfire said sternly, 'It doesn't matter, Tiger.'
I heard more than he had said. I realised that he didn't want me to know because it could hurt me. I realised just how awful what Jack said must have been. All eyes met mine, watching for my reaction once again. But I didn't give them anything except stare at the same forest floor Jack was intently staring at, feeling self conscious.
'Alright.' Peter said eventually, breaking the silence carefully. 'I'll talk yo you to alone tomorrow. Everyone resume whatever you were doing.'
I let out a sigh of relief that it was over. I didn't realise that I had been crying until Peter gasped softly and caught my tears with his thumb. He sent me an adorable smile, kissing away the last few tears, and standing up to go and respond to Felix's signal about leading-the-Lost-Boys-stuff, leaving me, Jack and Baelfire behind him.
'Are you alright?' Baelfire asked me from my left. Slowly, I lifted my head into a weary, small nod.
'Yeah, just a little surprised I suppose. I'll be ok.' I shrugged. I wasn't particularly girly or pathetic, in fact I wouldn't like to think that I am very strong willed, which confuses some of the Lost Boys because I wasn't a stereotypical girl, but I didn't mind.
'If you're going to lie to me, at least make it less obvious.' Baelfire teased.
After Peter had decided a suitable punishment for Jack and Baelfire, I began weeding my section of the garden again, having tested Patrick's patience to the limit as I had absolutely no idea what a weed looked like in comparison to an average plant.
Andrew ran up to me, looking stern, but also out of breath.
'Baelfire asked if you wouldn't mind talking to him.' Andrew said looking at me straight in the eyes. I looked back down at my weeds, then dropped the trowel and looked up at Andrew. I didn't really want to see anyone involved in fight, even Baelfire. I knew what he was going to say and I honestly didn't want to hear it. 'Look I can tell him you don't want to see him, or to wait until tomorrow if you like...?'
'No.' I said eventually, standing up from where I was knelt down and brushing off the grass stains from my dress. I sighed as they inevitably wouldn't come off. 'I'll have to see him tomorrow, I may as well see him now.'
Andrew nodded to show that he agreed it was the right decision and I followed Andrew across the camp, feeling the weight of the world on my shoulders. Just as we came to the cages, Andrew excused himself discretely and walked off.
Hesitating, I knelt down in front of the cage before Baelfire and sighed heavily. 'Umm... Hey Baelfire.'
Baelfire beamed up at me with unparalleled enthusiasm. 'I didn't think you'd come!'
'Well, here I am.' I smiled, remembering why Baelfire was one of my closest friends again. No matter what happened, I knew that Baelfire would always find a way of cheering me up again.
'I thought I'd say sorry, Tig. If I didn't get so mad then you wouldn't have been hurt and everything would have been better now...' Baelfire sighed, running his hand through his thick hair. I had been listening politely, but every word he said made me feel sick.
'Baelfire, none of it matters anymore.' I said urgently. 'You stood up for me and I just am so grateful you did that for me.' He smiled wearily up at her, but I had a lot more to say. 'You're one of my closest friends, Baelfire, and I really value your friendship, because you would do this for me. And I don't want to loose you as a friend over something someone else said. But please, Bae, don't resort to violence.'
'I know.' Baelfire winced. 'I was just so angry about the situation and about what Jack said. I just wanted to protect you. I'm sorry I resulted to violence, I really wish I hadn't.'
'I know, Bae.' I said calmly, my heart almost breaking that he was in the cages and was hurt by Jack while trying to protect me. 'But if I hadn't have stopped Jack, then you could be in so much more trouble. Haven't I told you enough times to just put the gun down?'
'You have,' Baelfire agreed smoothly. 'But in order for me to put the gun down, I have to pick it up first.'
I laughed at his wit.
And that is how I knew Baelfire was my best friend, and not just my good friend. My good friends tried to persuade Pan not to punish me and that I didn't mean what I was doing; I was just being silly.
But I wasn't being silly. I meant everything I did and said. Baelfire was the only one that understood that: he was the only one who sat beside me, his smile unfaltering, despite the worry, and said excitedly, "That was awesome!"
'Pan doesn't deserve you.' Baelfire said kindly, giving me a warm smile.
'Can you tell him that?' I asked with a light chuckle.
For the rest of the afternoon, I just sat there in front of the cages and we talked for hours, trying to pass his time in the cages and I tried to make it as enjoyable for Baelfire as I possibly could. And, most importantly, I remembered how to feel again.