"You're too good for this world, and because of that the world will eventually crush you."
~ Unknown
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Ray's P.O.V
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I punch the cave wall.
"Why?" I scream. "Why would she do that?"
My reflection doesn't say anything, it just stares back at me. I take in my surroundings. Something about this cave seems familiar. Oh, how could I forget? This is the same cave where Alice and I had our first kiss together.
I'm suddenly glad that I managed to get Christian and Lewis off my tail. I really need some ti,e alone. I don't know why I decided to come here, of all places. This is the last place I'd want to be at the moment. I put my fingers to my lips. I can still remember how Alice's lips felt on mine. How they felt softer than they looked, and how she smelt of roses and tasted of strawberry.
I turn around and slump against the wall, defeated.
Why? Why did Pan have to take Alice from me? He's already taken everything else from me. Time and memories. Time that I could've spent with Christian when he needed me the most. Time that I could've spent with my family. Almost an entire lifetime. Pan practically owns me. Tears stream down my face as I think about it.
I should never have gotten my hopes up. Alice might be way out of my league, but she still doesn't deserve someone as awful as Pan. If only she knew what he was really like. Sadistic, cruel, manipulative. The two of them are practically polar opposites! She deserves someone who'll take care of her. Someone who'll treat her like the princess she is. I don't really mind if Alice doesn't love me like how I love her.
I know she'll never think of me in that way. I don't care who she's in love with as long as she's happy, and as long as the guy she loves isn't Pan. It really hurts when you have someone in your heart but you can't have them in your arms. Have you ever loved someone so much that it made you cry? I never thought I'd ever be in love with someone. That was before Alice walked into my life.
I didn't believe in love, I've seen too many couples who have a divorce halfway into their marriage. I just needed the right person to get me to believe in love again. I guess sometimes it's not the butterflies that tell you you're in love, but the pain. Even if never leave this godforsaken island, I'll never forget this day.
The day I lost someone who wasn't mine.
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Peter's P.O.V
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"How's Alice doing?"
"She hasn't left the tree house since yesterday's incident."
"What was the purpose of the boys to seeing you kiss Alice?" Felix asks.
"There's three reasons, the first one is the fact that Lewis and Ray both love her." I say.
"But Alice doesn't know that Lewis loves her." Felix points out.
"Yes, but even if she did know, it's obvious that Alice won't break either one of their hearts on her own," I say.
"So you had to take matters into your own hands."
I nod. "Exactly."
"So, what's the second reason?"
"Alice needed to be punished," I say. "She deliberately disobeyed my rules; she's not allowed to get close to Ray or be alone with him."
"Okay, then, what about the last reason?"
"It's for The Game." I say.
Felix cocks his head to the side, confused. "I don't follow."
"I need Alice to rely on me and on me only. That's why I planned for the boys to see us in that position, I need them to abandon her, to stop talking to her."
"Who else will Alice will turn to if she doesn't have the boys to help her?" I ask.
"You, she'll turn to you." he says.
"Exactly," I say. "Alice needs to believe that I'm the only one who'll be there for her, that I'm the only one who-"
"Who cares for her," Felix finishes.
"Correct."
"Don't you think that that's a little too much?" Felix asks.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, you might've accidentally broke her spirit in the process of winning your game," Felix elaborates. "Like you said, she won't even come out of the tree house to eat."
"It doesn't matter, she'll still have some fire left when I'm done." I say. "She knew this was coming."
"Knew what was coming?" he asks.
"I told her before, I'm going to break her," I say. "And she'll love me for it."
****
"Alice," I say, gently shaking her. "Alice, come on, it's been two days, you've got to eat something."
She doesn't respond. She just lies on the bed motionless with her back facing the ceiling.
"Alice, don't make me force feed you," I threaten.
She still doesn't respond.
"Alice!" I shout, turning her around to face me.
She's now facing me. Her eyes are closed, showing her long lashes. Nothing looks out of the ordinary at a first glance, but as I stare at her for awhile longer, I realise that three things stand out. She's gotten slightly thinner, probably due to not eating for the past two days. She's also noticeable paler. Like a sickly yellow pale. Her breathing is uneven, it's shallow, faint.
And her left arm is bandaged. The gaze is wrapped from her elbow to her wrist, it runs down her forearm. I gently lift her arm up and carefully begin unravelling the gauze. The sight before me is horrifying.
Cuts. There's a countless amount of cuts running down her forearm, some deep and some shallow. Having taken a closer look I realise that the gauze is soaked with blood. Crimson on white fabric. I lay her arm back down, then wave my hand over her forearm, using my magic to speed up the healing process. Alice exhales in relief and her breathing slowly goes back to normal.
I sit down on the chair next to the bed and stare at her. A million questions swarm in my head. How could she do this to herself? Was the pain of losing her father and childhood friends too much? Did I accidentally push her over the edge in the process of trying to win the game? Was the stress of it too much for her? Did grief overwhelm her?
I sigh, placing my hands in my head. How could I not notice this sooner? Alice might seem like a strong and fearless girl, but in reality, she's a fragile girl looking for someone to love. And I might've just broken her. I look at her unconscious form, watching as a tear falls from her closed eyes.
Hating myself for what I did, I kiss her forehead. "I'm sorry."
I then wave my hand over head, erasing all memory of the trauma I made her go through in the past few days to ease her pain. She stirs, but doesn't wake up. I sigh, glad that she isn't crying anymore. The guilt eats at me when I realize just how close I was to losing her to blood loss. It could've killed her. I could've killed her.
A few minutes later, I'm attempting to feed her a bowl of chicken soup. At first she doesn't swallow but after a few minutes of me coaxing her, she swallows. It took me awhile, but I finally managed to get her to finish the whole bowl. She looks a bit better now that she's eaten something, there's more colour in her cheeks. I caress her hair, whispering comforting things in her ear.
I'm holding her hand the way a man would hold the hand of the woman he loves when he is about to propose. I soon find myself talking to her.
"Please wake up, Alice. The boys miss you. Cassie's wondering when you'll play with him and the twins again. They all need you, Alice. I need you."
I don't know where these words are coming from and I don't know if I mean them or not.
What is this girl doing to me? If it were anyone else, I'd leave them be and let them die of blood loss. Anyone else save Felix, of course. He's the closest thing I have to family. If anyone else called me "Peter" instead of "Pan", I'd kill them on the spot. But not Alice. That girl makes me feel something I've never felt before. I can't identify the feeling, but I'm not sure if it's a good or bad one.
I'm not sure how long I've been staring at her, it feels like seconds but I know it's been hours. Alice starts stirring in her sleep. She calls out a name, but it's too soft for me to hear. Her eyelids flutter open and she stares back at me. "Peter?"
Her voice is raspy, but nevertheless my heart skips a beat when she says my name. What's happening to me?
"Yes, love. I'm here," I say, taking her hand in mine.
She clears her throat. "W-What happened?"
"You passed out," I tell her.
She looks down at her arm and sees that her wounds are gone.
"Did you heal me?" she asks.
"Yes, I did."
"Thank you," she says, her voice soft and smooth like honey.
"You're welcome."
She looks down at her hands, not knowing what to say. I decide that I need to ask her something. I need to know why she did what she did.
"Why do you do this to yourself?" I hear myself ask her. "Why did you hurt yourself?"
"I-I don't know," she replies. "I just felt like I was drowning, and that it would talk away the pain."
She chuckles, shaking her head sadly. "Ironic, isn't it?"
I take her other hand in mine, so that I'm holding both of her hands. "Alice, promise me, promise me that you won't ever hurt yourself again."
"I- I don't think I'll be able to do that."
"Could you try, though? Try for me?"
She gives me a tired nod. "Okay, Peter, I'll try."
Alice falls asleep after she's said those words. I didn't think that she'd say yes. I don't even know why I added that last bit. I'm the last person she'd do anything for willingly. I think about Ray and the others, as mad as they are at her, they're probably wondering where she is and if she's alright. I'm sure they'll ask me about her at the bonfire tonight.
I make a mental note to leave a plate of tray of food for her and letter for Alice telling her that I've gone to the bonfire and that I'll be back late.
"Well," I say to no one in particular. "I guess I'd better get started."
I magic up a piece of parchment and a quill. Then I start writing the letter.
Dear, Alice. . .
****
Just like I predicted, the three boys ask me about Alice's whereabouts. And surprising myself, I tell them. Don't ask why, I just didn't feel like keeping this little detail from them. I'm well aware that my actions will backfire in a terrible way, but I'm prepared to face the consequences as long as I win The Game.
Just before I teleport myself back to the tree house, I feel someone tugging at my pants. I look down and see Cassie's big, colourful eyes staring back at me.
I kneel down so that I'm the same height as the toddler. "What can I do for you, Cassie?"
Cassie, not Cas, that's Alice's nickname for him and I don't plan on taking it away from them.
"Whwear is mummy?" he asks.
"She's not feeling very well," I tell him.
"Oh." he replies, disappointed.
"Would you like me to pass her a message for you?" I ask.
"Yes, pwelase," Cassie says, nodding. "Twell mummy I miss her hugs and stwories."
I nod. "Sure thing, Cassie."
"Twank you," he says, shyly.
I smile, ruffling up his hair. "You're very welcome, Cassie. Now, run along."
The toddler nods, running off. I think that Alice did well with Cassie. He talks more when she's around and he's not as shy as he used to be around the older boys.
Alice is still sleeping when I get back to the tree house. I look at the now-empty tray sitting on the table next to the bed and smile.
Good. At least she ate something this time. I wipe the beads of sweat from my forehead. Today's a rather hot day, I could just use my magic to change the weather, but I'd rather just leave it as it is for today. I walk over to the mirror and strip down to my boxers, I then throw my dirty clothes into the basket next to the mirror.
As I climb into bed I notice that Alice is only dressed in her undergarments, she must've had the same idea as I did before she went to sleep. I snake my arms around her waist and pull her towards me, her back resting comfortably on my chest. Alice sighs, snuggling in my arms.
I kiss her on the temple. "Goodnight, love. Sleep tight."
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This chapter is just a filter. *sighs* *shakes head* What did you guys think of this chapter? Was it good? Bad? Both? Comment what you thought.
Here's an edit I made a few weeks ago, I hope you guys like it.
I don't have anything to say, so I'm just going to leave this crossover edit I made of our beloved second-in-command, Newt, and our devilishly handsome Lost Boy, Peter Pan
~ Alice xx
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Vote, comment, rate, do whatever you want <3
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Edited: 13.12.2017