The next morning, I wake up to feel an unfamiliar warmth beside me. I turn my head to see what the cause is and I find Catherine curled up next to me. The events of the previous day come flooding back to me and I chuckle.
Yes, I'd say she's warmed up to me.
I watch her silently as she sleeps. Her face looks so peaceful as she dreams of who knows what. Her chest softly rises and falls as she breaths and her dark hair is splayed across the pillow. Her left hand is lying delicately on my chest and I smile. She's looks so beautiful when she sleeps that I can't help myself. I slowly lean towards her face with every intention of placing a kiss on her soft red lips.
Just as I'm about an inch from her face, her eyes flutter open. She yawns and when she sees me hovering over her, she smiles.
"Good morning, Peter," she whispers shyly.
My breath catches and I can barely get the words out. "Mornin' love," I rasp and she giggles.
It's such a sweet sound, almost like the soft tinkling of bells. I lean in once more, but her hand on my chest stops me. I look into her eyes and see that they've grown wider. I catch a small flicker of nervousness within.
"No," is all she says to me.
"Why?" I ask quietly. "It's just a kiss."
After a long agonizing wait, she finally replies, "Because I don't want to hurt you." Tears have gathered in her eyes and I quickly pull her to my chest.
"Don't worry, love. You could never hurt me," I whisper to her while stroking her hair soothingly.
"But that's where your wrong, Peter," she says, shaking slightly.
"Cat, listen to me," I say pulling back far enough to be able to look her in the eyes. "You could never hurt me more than you are right now."
"I'm sorry," she says looking at me, the pain prevalent in her eyes.
I can't stand seeing her like this, so with a sigh, I say, "Alright, I'll wait how ever long I need to for you."
Relief fills her features and I pull her back into a tight embrace. "I'm sorry, Catherine. I promise not to push you anymore."
"Thank you," she murmurs quietly into my ear.
"Anything for you, love," I whisper to her.
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That night, Catherine comes into my tent with me again. I'm glad to have her here with me so that I can keep an eye on her. I watch her silently while she slowly brushes her hair. Yes, I could get used to having a girl like her around.
She sees me watching her and flashes me a beautiful smile that lights up her entire face. I grin back and walk over to sit beside her.
"So, how is our very first Lost Girl doing this evening?" I ask wrapping my arms around her.
She stiffens when I finish my question and her smile fades away.
"What's wrong, love? Don't you want to be a Lost Girl?" I ask her worriedly.
"Oh no. It's not that, Peter," she says turning away from me.
"Then what is it?" I ask, gently taking hold of her chin and having her face towards me.
She sighs. "It's nothing, Peter. I'm just worrying over nothing," she says plastering a fake smile on her face that I see right through. Before I ask her to tell me what is actually bothering her, I remember the promise I made that morning about not pushing her and remain silent.
She then wriggles out of my arms and goes to sit on the bed instead. I follow, but don't touch her this time. I just sit next to her and peer into her face. Something about what I said to her made her upset and I wish I knew what it was so that I could fix it and make her smile again.
She refuses to look me in the eye. I can't stand seeing her like this, so without even giving any thought to the action, I cup her check softly and, bringing her face towards mine, I place my lips gently against hers.
At first she stiffens and pushes her hands against my chest in an attempt to distance herself from me. But as the kiss deepens, she slowly begins to relax and wraps her arms around my neck, pulling me close.
Our kiss is so soft and so sweet that I lose myself in the moment. The only thing that matters in this world is her and us and this kiss. Her fingers curl themselves into my hair and I hear her sigh in contentment. I chuckle softly as she tries to pull me even closer.
Then as quickly as my happiness came, it disappears. In its place flood memories of scenes similar to this one, her wrapped in my arms, her sweet lips trying to get a taste of mine, my hand caressing her hip. There are also memories of her and I dashing through the forest, chasing after some small creature, her laughter ringing through the air. And others where she sits among the Lost Boys as she tells them a bed time story. Another memory depicts the time I first asked her to become the very first Lost Girl. The way she smiled and how my heart soared when she accepted my offer and I knew for certain that she would never leave me.
The final and probably the worst of all the memories comes to me like a punch to the stomach.
Lance looms over Catherine's cringing form where she is trapped against a tree. He keep leaning closer and closer to her face, whispering something to her. She squeezes her eyes shut. I lunge forward and jerk Lance's form away from her and I see her body sink to the ground in relief.
"What the heck are you doing, Lance?" I yell at him.
His face pales considerably and he takes a step back.
"Nevermind. I'll deal with you later," I growl and shove him away. He quickly hurries off, presumably back to camp.
I turn back to face Catherine and reach my arms out to her. She quickly dives into my embrace and I ask her worriedly, "Are you alright? Did he touch you?"
"No, Peter. I'm alright," she replies.
"Good. I couldn't bear the thought of anyone hurting you. Now, I need to go teach Lance a lesson about keeping one's hands to one's self," I growl.
"Peter, you never keep your hands to yourself," she teases me.
"That doesn't count, though. You're my girl not his," I say giving her neck a playful bite.
She sighs softly and gently pushes me back far enough to be able to look into my eyes. "Please, Peter, be serious. I want you to promise not to hurt him. He didn't mean any harm," she whispers to me.
I sigh. "Alright, love. I won't hurt him."
"Promise?"
"Yes, I promise," I say and then kiss her lightly on the lips.
"Thank you," she says after we separate.
The memory then fast forwards to when I confronted Lance about what he had done.
"You know Lance, you really shouldn't touch things that aren't yours," I say to him, while casually leaning against a tree nearby.
"I know, Pan, and I'm sorry. It won't happen again. I promise," he says assertively, yet still apologetic.
"You better not, or I swear I will make sure you never see the light of another day," I threaten darkly. I then calmly turn and walk in the direction of camp.
"Whoa, wait. You mean, your not gonna punish me?" he asks and I stop.
"I normally would and trust me, if Catherine didn't ask for me to show you some mercy, you'd probably be in pretty bad shape right now," I say.
"Wow," he says.
"Wow what?" I ask turning back around slightly so I can see his face.
"Wow. The Great Peter Pan has grown soft," he says tauntingly.
That comment brings my anger back full force and without thinking I lunge toward him and rip out his heart. The fear becomes prevalent on his face and I smirk.
"You really have a death wish, don't you? Well, consider your wish granted," I say just before I drain his heart of all the life it held. Lance's body then sinks limply to the ground, never to move again. I smile with satisfaction and lightly kick his lifeless body.
"That's what happens when you cross Peter Pan," I say coldly.
The next thing I see is Catherine and me arguing.
"Why did you kill him? You promised me you wouldn't hurt him!" Catherine cries and the sound of her yell only serves to anger me further.
"What did you expect me to do? He tried to hurt you, Catherine! He got what he deserved," I yell at her.
"No. He wasn't trying to hurt me!" she screams in his defense.
"Why are you trying to defend him now? He's dead so why does it matter?"
"It matters because you might have just killed and innocent!"
"I did it to protect you!"
"That's stupid justification for your actions."
"You were cringing! What was I supposed to do?"
"I don't know but you still shouldn't kill someone just because they cause you lose you temper!"
Her ability to accurately counter every one of my arguments causes my anger to boil over and before I know what I'm doing, I raise my hand and strike her across the cheek.
She gasps in pain and I immediately try to take back what I did. "Catherine, I-"
"Save it!" she cries, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I wish I had never come to Neverland! I wish I had never met you!" she screams and then runs back to camp, leaving me alone completely consumed in guilt.
"I'm sorry," I whisper to no one as I sink to the ground and burry my face in my hands. "What have I done?"
When the memories finally stop bombarding me, I take a deep breath and see that I've shoved Catherine away from me.
"Peter, let me explain," she says reaching out to me.
"No. Just don't say anything," I say and stand.
She does as I order and remains silent, waiting patiently for me to ask my first question.
After a long pause, I finally ask, "How did I forget?"
She sighs. "I placed an Eraser Curse on you and the rest of the boys so that you wouldn't be able to remember Ethan and me when we left. That way you wouldn't come after us because you wouldn't know that we ever existed."
"So Ethan went with you?"
"Yes, he did. He just didn't come with me when I left for the Real World."
"Why didn't he go with you?"
"I'm not sure. You'd have to ask him yourself."
"And what about your magic? Since you are able to perform an Eraser Curse, you are obviously more well-versed in magic than you were first letting on. You know, when I brought you back here over a week ago."
"You'd be correct, Peter."
"So what you said about your mom, that day you thanked me for teaching you magic, was a lie?"
"No, that wasn't a lie. My mother never did take the time to teach me about magic. I lied about my knowledge in magic because I didn't want you to get suspicious of me."
"Well if your mother didn't teach you then that must mean that I did the last time you were here, right?"
"Correct," she answers.
After another long silence, I finally get up the nerve to ask her the question that has been bugging me since the very beginning. "How was the curse broken? I know you probably didn't do it willingly because you would have done that earlier if that was the case."
She looks guiltily to the floor. "You'd be correct again, Peter," she says barely audibly. "The curse was lifted because of true love's kiss."
"True love's kiss can break any spell, no matter how powerful," I recite from memory.
"Yes," she says, voice tight.
I sigh and look away from her.
"I'm so sorry, Peter," she whispers. "I know that I should have told you earlier, but I was afraid."
I turn back to look at her and see tears streaming down her face. I sit down next to her and pull her back into my arms. She grips me tightly for strength and continues. "You have no idea how hard it was for me to leave you last time."
"No, I don't," I confirm. "Because I couldn't remember. Not even if I had wanted to."
She shakes slightly in my arms and grips me even tighter.
"I love you, Catherine," I whisper into her ear.
The shaking stops and her head snaps up to look at me. "You what?"
"I love you, Catherine," I repeat. "Unfortunately, that just makes what I have to tell you so much harder to say."
The light that had shown brightly in her eyes only moments before has disappeared. "You have to leave," I say.
"What?" she asks, confused.
"You have to leave," I repeat slower.
"W-why?" she stammers.
"You really don't expect me to keep you around if there is a possibility of you running off with my memories again, do you?" I ask, harsher than I intend.
"But I-"
"Just go," I interrupt her. I then release her and stand, turning my back to her.
"Fine then. I thought that you would have been more forgiving than that, but I guess I was right to be afraid of telling you the truth," she snaps, but the small trace of hurt in her voice betrays her confidence.
I then hear her walk to the tent's opening, but just before leaving she says sternly, "Now I know that I was right to leave the first time. I just wish that I'd been that smart this time around. I was a fool to think you'd ever change. You'll always be a heartless monster and I'm glad to be rid of you."
And then she's gone.
After I'm sure that she isn't coming back, I walk over to my bed and silently sit down. And for the first time in a very long time, I bury my face in my hands and my shoulders slump in defeat.