Sorry it's a wee bit late! It turns out I write better when I'm sleep-deprived! Happy Halloween and All Saints Day!
Modern Halloween!AU: Wendy plans a Halloween Party, Pan will go to Hell and back to attend.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Pan is the last person anyone would want to invite to a party, but he was always the first to be handed an invitation. Anyone who had ever seen Sleeping Beauty or had a brain stem knew the consequences of not inviting the town psycho to a party.
Someone obviously told Wendy Darling this because he received a handcrafted invitation in his locker for a pre-Halloween get-together. Apparently the little sun-drop's parents felt she was responsible enough to hold a little bash in the basement of their home. Pan played it cool in front of his peers, of course. Nonchalantly stuffed it his pocket like it was nothing. When he got home however, he brought out the card, holding it by the corners and staring at it with such awe like it was his first born.
Wendy Darling, the most beautiful, enchanting girl ever to grace the planet, wanted her in her home! Maybe God liked him after all!
After glancing over his shoulder, Pan lifted the invitation to his nose and inhaled. It smelled like fresh air with a touch of maple. Like Her.
"Oh my Aunt Shirley you are obsessed."
Pan shot around, glaring instantly at his roommate Felix.
"Shut up!"
He simply snorted and held up an invitation exactly like Pan's. "It's on Saturday, we going?"
Pan looked away, composing his excitement into contempt. Though he trusted Felix with his entire being, there was just some things he could not reveal, even to his best friend.
"Well, it'd be rude to turn down a formal invitation."
His voice was calm, very good!
"Fine. When are we going costume shopping?"
Pan shot around. "Costume shopping? Are you bloody kidding me?"
Felix held up his invitation. "It you focused more on reading it instead of sniffing it, you would know that this is a costume party."
Pan threw the invite on the bed. "Like Hell I'm going then! I do a lot of twisted, odd things but dressing up is not one of them!"
Felix shrugged. "Fine." He started to leave the room, smirking over his shoulder. "I'll let Wendy know you weren't interested. Good thing Baelfire Gold will be there to…" Felix faked a cough, "comfort her."
Pan shot around, grabbing Felix by the shirt collar and dragging him out of the room.
"Party Central! Let's go!"
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Wendy grinned as she finished decorating the refreshment table with a beautiful red velvet cake, ghost-shaped cookies, little sandwiches, cheeses, crackers, meats, dips, chips, punch, sodas, anything and everything. She had never thrown a party before and felt that going over-board was a good idea at this point. Her mother, who was attending a business party with her father, had given her free-reign of the kitchen and quite literally told her to go nuts. Her brothers had served as taste testers before taking Nana with them for trick-or-treating.
"Yum." Tink moaned as she ran her finger along the side of the cake. "Not bad Wendy Darling."
"Tink!" Wendy half-heartedly scolded. "I spent an hour icing it alone!"
"Oh whatever, just turn it around, no one will notice."
Wendy rolls her eyes before doing what she suggested. Perhaps her decorating skills would be the last thing on the party-goers minds. If anyone showed up, that is. Wendy had invited only a few friends and associates, as well as some of the people she was sure were hardly ever invited to parties out of kindness. Tink of course had spent the night and had helped her with the decorating and baking. Wendy's basement had never looked more festive with its orange and green lights a jack-o-lanterns set up around the room.
"Okay, how do I look?"
Wendy watched Tink spin in her homemade costume. She had decided to go as some sort of mechanical pixie, being both nerdish and utterly sexy with just the right amount of modesty.
"You mean, will your costume make Felix's head spin?" Wendy shrugged. "Sure why not."
"Cute." Tink snorted. She then grabbed Wendy's shoulders and gave her a hard look. "Now what are you going to wear? It was your idea to include costumes and you're not even dressed!" she leaned in a bit closer. "Not to mention you want to look your best when he shows up."
Wendy rolled her eyes and blushed. Tink was one of the very, very few people who knew of her crush on the infamous Peter Pan. Like most people, she found him annoying, careless, and rough around the edges. Yet at the same time she couldn't help but feel this startling attachment to his softer side. Though he didn't show it to the common population, she knew that he could be sweet, gentle, and all out nice when the mood struck him. That was the version of him she wanted at her party tonight, and honestly if he was the only one to show up, she'd be happy.
Wendy shrugged. "I have this slip I was going to turn into a dress and a crown of flowers. Maybe a hippy?"
"Oh! How about Jenny, from Forest Gump?
Wendy shrieked. "I love that movie that's perfect!"
The two girls swooned and giggled over the idea until the heard one of the steps creak. They looked up to fine Bae Gold staring down at them, eyes a bit wide. Judging by his cape and the fake blood smeared on his neck, he was going for a Count Dracula theme.
"Oh hi Bae!" Wendy greeted with a blush. Their fathers worked together so they were in constant companionship and enjoyed each other's company. However romance was wide jump for either of them.
"Hi." He greeted unsurely. He held up a plastic bag. "The door was unlocked. I brought chips, but it looks like you've got snacks handled."
Wendy took the bag from him. "That was very thoughtful Bae, thanks." She looked back at Tink. "I'm going to get ready. Can you watch the door in case someone tries to break in?"
"Aye-aye Captain!"
Wendy shook her head and went upstairs.
By nine, pretty much everyone Wendy had invited were accounted for. Lily Tigress had come as an Egyptian queen, her cousin Rufio a Roman Emperor (incestrial Cleopatra-Marc Anthony theme?). Many others came in their Halloween glory, but Wendy felt a twinge of hurt when there was no hide or hair of Peter Pan, or Felix for that matter.
Wendy sighed as she returned to the party. He probably ripped the invitation up the second he found it, probably thinking he was "too cool" for a Halloween party. It was her own fault.
Though it painfully bared into her bones, Wendy refused to let her crush damper her mood. She was the hostess of a successful party and intended to enjoy her night with or without the handsome devil!
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"I can't bloody believe this!" Pan screamed to high heaven as he and Felix rushed on foot to Wendy's house. "It's going on eleven and we don't even have costumes!"
"Well excuse the Hell out of me for having to go see Grandma in the hospital!" Felix roared back.
Pan shook it off. "Whatever. We can still make it and kiss up to the girls for being late. By we I mean you. Tink's easier to deal with than Wendy when she's angry."
"Fine. There's the costume shop. We'll just grab a mask and say we're deranged hobos or something."
"Damn he's trying to close up!"
The two rushed to the costume store just as the owner was about to step out and lock the doors.
"Hey!" Pan yelled. "Look man can you give us two seconds to get some masks?"
"One, two." The man said, getting out his keys and a cigarette.
Pan's instincts screamed for him to knock the lights out for this cocky a-hole, but his better since told him to keep his cool if he wanted any luck at all.
"Listen," Felix stepped in, "We'll be just a minute. You can even keep the change."
"Let me think…" the man took a long puff of his cigarette, sarcastically tapping his chin in thought. "No." as he said the word, a cloud of acid smoke hit Peter and Felix, instantly insulting and enraging both the boys.
They had tried to play nice.
They really did.
"Felix." Pan growled.
"Yep?" Felix responded, his glare still fixed on the idiot of man.
"You know what to do."
Felix smirked and cracked his knuckles. Before the owner could even blink, Felix had tackled him into a display of fake glasses.
"Go Pancake go!"
Pan jumped over the struggling duo and ran straight for the costumes.
He stopped and looked at each one long and hard, paying little mind to the sound of Felix's struggles.
"Hey, you want a clown or a bloody werewolf?" Pan called back to him.
"Just fucking grab one!" Felix yelled as he dodged a punch from his opponent.
Pan took one more second and grabbed the masks, stopping briefly for a pack of gum before running back to the front.
The man had Felix against the counter, shouting utter nonsense about calling the cops on them when Pan grabbed the poor bastard by his collar and threw him into a shelf of fake body parts, the guy falling face-first into a pair of plastic breasts. Pan grabbed Felix and the two fled into the night.
"You are so dead when this is over!" Felix screamed as they ran.
"You know you loved it!"
"I want to quit you but I can't!"
After almost getting hit by a car, the two managed to find Wendy's neighborhood and her house. They took a moment to catch their breaths before Felix began to descend to the door.
"What are you doing?" Pan inquired.
"Ringing the damn doorbell?"
"No!" Pan exclaimed. "I don't have a good lie to tell her yet!"
"Okay, so we'll just sit outside on her doorstep like two lost puppies after practically committing a crime to get here! I don't fucking think so!"
"…Has anyone ever told you that you can be rude as Hell when you feel like it?"
"Pan…" Felix seethed.
"Alright, alright!" Pan scoffed. "Party's in the basement right? So we'll find a window, maybe spook them a bit, and get points for being spontaneous."
They crept around for a bit, looking for the basement window. A hoard of laughter led them to it. They crouched down to peak in the glass. The party looked like it was about over, judging by the very few people left in the room. Peter barely recognized Lily and Rufio who were gathering up trash. He did recognize Bae however, and cursed under his breath as the little fluff ball helped Wendy cover the leftover food right in front of the window.
"Great party Wendy." Bae stated.
"Thanks." She smiled. Pan and Felix never showed up. It hurt, but Wendy still had a good time. She and Tink had agreed that they would track down the guys tomorrow and give them an earful.
"Hey chick-a-pees!" Lily exclaimed, holding up an empty soda bottle. "How about a little after-party party?" she inquired with a luscious grin.
"Um how about no." Tink responded rather sourly. "Spin the Bottle is meant to be played in civilized company." She looked at Rufio when she said that.
"Oh come on!" Rufio exclaimed. "You'll have to either kiss me, fluffy over there, or each other. It's a win-win for everyone!"
"What if you get your cousin, Ru-fi-o?" Wendy questioned sultrily.
The two cousins look at each other before turning back to Wendy. "We used to takes baths together. Nothing fazes us."
Wendy sighed in defeat, turning to Tink for consent.
"I know it's innocent, but it still feels like I'm cheating on Felix. Sorry Wendy, even in the dog house he's still my guy. I'm out."
Outside the window, Felix elbowed Pan with a grin. The love-struck teen seemed to swell up with pride and Pan faked gaged to show his discontent.
Lily shrugged. "That makes equal teams, fine."
Rufio rubbed his hands together. "Let's do this!"
Pan cursed under his breath. If that horny no good son of a jackal got paired with Wendy, the idiot would go missing in less than an hour.
Lily spun first, who landed on Bae. He made little fuss about kissing her, ready to give her a gently, innocent peck. However Lily made a show of grabbing both sides of his face and giving him a loud smack on the lips. Rufio hooted loudly and Wendy patted Bae's back when he nearly passed out from shock
Felix and Pan had to bury their faces in the grass to smother their laughter and prevent from giving up their position. It served the little Wendy-flirter right!
Rufio went next. Much to his amusement and to everyone else's amused horror, it landed on Bae again.
"No way!" Bae exclaimed, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I am not kissing a dude!"
"But babe!" Rufio gasped in exaggerated hurt.
"Nope! I rather kiss a fire hydrant…after a dog's peed on it."
"Ew!" Tink called from the couch.
"Okay, okay!" Wendy laughed as an attempt to make peace. "I'll go next and if I get Rufio I'll kiss him enough for me and Bae."
Rufio fist-pumped while Felix had to hold Pan back from jumping through the window.
Wendy spun the bottle, praying that she would get anyone but Rufio. At least Lily was a good kisser!
To her relief and slight determent, it landed on Bae.
"Oh fuck!" Felix cried as he tightened his grip on Pan.
Tink oohed from the couch while Rufio moaned in agony.
"Quite the commodity, are you fluffy?" Lily teased.
Wendy and Bae looked at each other shyly. They had always been too good as friends to attempt anything like this. It was just a game though. Tomorrow it would mean zero to nothing.
Edging closer, Wendy puckered up. Bae took a deep breath and did the same.
Pan was clawing at the grass, screaming through Felix's hand.
"Wendy!"
"Pan no!"
Pan elbowed him in the ribs and shot forwarded, going head-first into the window.
The events that happened next were too fast, too blurry, too strange for a proper description. However…
Pan landed into the refreshment table, his clown mask falling over his face. The group screamed and scurried back, still screaming even when Pan stopped moving.
It was very quiet as the stars cleared from Pan's vision. He managed to turn on his side and look up to the group.
They all started screaming again and Rufio grabbed a platter that had slid across the floor.
"Killer Clown!"
Before Pan could utter a word, Rufio began beating the shit out of him at every possible angle.
There was screaming, pain, and just a bit of blood and just when Pan was sure he was going to die, there was relief. In the haze heard Felix's voice boom over the commotion as two pair of hands wrapped around his arms and drug him away. He moaned as he was turned onto his back, the mask ripped off, and found Bae, Tink, and Wendy staring down at him with wide eyes.
"Oh my gosh Peter can you hear me!" Wendy cried.
If Pan's jaw hadn't been inflamed, he might have been able to smile, but instead he just located the strength to nod. That is, until Pan's eyes fell on Pan, and all he wanted to rip his hair out with his teeth. Using what little strength he had left, he grabbed Bae by the collar and forced him down to eye level.
"Stay…the fuck… away…from Wendy!"
With his part spoken, he allowed himself to fall into darkness.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
So the next hour or so was much more…calmer than it had been in those five horrible minutes. Wendy's brothers had been sent to bed the second they got home, which was just before midnight (Wendy promised not to tell if they didn't tell about the broken table, window, and boy in the basement). Lily and Rufio had driven Bae home after getting an earful from Felix. Now Tink and Wendy were fixing their boys up. Felix had a few scratches from climbing through the window. Pan had gashes, a black eye, and a sprung wrist.
Wendy was still picking glass out of his arm twenty minutes later. She pleaded with him to let her take him to the hospital but he downright refused. She secretly thought it was because he liked getting her attention rather than that of a grouchy nurse.
She finally had him pieced together, placing one last band aid over his eye.
"There! Good as new!"
Peter sighed, leaning back on the kitchen chair exhaustedly, sending a glare at the clown mask that he planned to burn at first chance. "Next time we do this at my place."
Wendy chuckled. "Next time I'm picking you up. You take fashionable late to a new extreme, Peter Pan."
He laughed softly, the feel of her fingers on his forehead leaving a trail of electricity all over his body. He eyed the white dress and flower crown she wore. She looked like a fairy, or a siren, or an angel. His angel.
"I never told you how pretty you looked. I'm sorry."
Wendy blushed. "You're a lot nicer when you're in pain."
"Don't get used to it."
Her hand left his head, moving to rest on his knee. "I can't believe you actually fell through the window."
"Jumped. When the story gets retold, I want to sound utterly badass."
Wendy laughed, nodding. Then, she switched to another matter that was pressing against her mind. "What did you mean, when you told Bae to stay away from me?"
Pan felt his heart skip a beat. "Sorry, no recollection. Must have been some delusion before I passed out."
They shared a laugh, basking in how easy this was now that they didn't have to run circles around their feelings or avoid each other. Here, they could be close, share, be comfortable with each other.
"You know," she admitted after a moment, "When I started writing up invitations, I really wanted to send out just one."
Pan's eyebrow lifted in question.
"I told myself that if I could have only one person with me on this night, I'd choose someone I wouldn't mind spending the rest of my life with."
Pan leaned forward, wanting to hear more from the girl who was tracing patters on his pants leg.
Wendy shook her head, more embarrassed than shy. "Sorry. That's corny as Hell." She began to stand, taking her stunning touch with her. Pan couldn't have that.
"Wait, wait please." He took her hand, fingers feeling like the most delicate flower stem between his calloused ones. He stood, keeping his fingers intertwined with hers.
Wendy was screaming on the inside. Would he kiss her, hold her, take her around the world and back? All she wanted to begin with was to spend time with him, to get to know him more, maybe even pursue a relationship with him. Now that the possibility was staring her in the face, she was scared and excited and hot for him.
He wasn't sure what he was doing. Quite honestly, Pan knew how to play people like a flute, but when it came to matters of the heart, he was as lost as a cucumber in a pumpkin patch. He wanted her, had wanted her since the day they met. He'd jumped through a window for her for pete sake! But if he made it happen tonight, would she still want him tomorrow?
He cupped her face, beautiful, loving Wendy. She smiled back at him, her eyes filled with the same doubts and worries as his. Maybe they could turn those worries into something magical.
He leaned in, ready for the sweet connection of their lips.
Wendy closed her eyes, ready for sparks to fly.
"PETER!"
They shot back from each other, cursing.
"What the actually fuck Felix!?" Pan screamed.
Felix and Tink stumbled into the kitchen, pointing into the streets. "The cops Pan! They know man they know!"
"Cops?" Wendy inquired. "Why…"
"Ah shit!" Pan cursed, grabbing the clown mask. "Come on Felix we need to go burn the evidence."
Felix turned to Tink. "I have to go." He said dramatically.
"I understand." She said back. They shared a quick kiss and he was running into the yard.
"I…"
"It's okay." Wendy reassured. "I'll see you Monday…unless the cops get you…anyway we'll see each other soon."
"Right…"
"Let's go Pancake!"
"Shut up Felix!" Pan yelled back. Hesitating for a moment, he dug his hands into his pocket, feeling the pack of gum he had stolen with the masks. "Here." He said, putting it her hands. "I wanted to get you something…for being late and stuff."
Wendy grinned. "I'll treasure it always."
"Okay." Tink said. "That's it." She grabbed Pan and dragged him to the door. "You have a SWAT team to outrun, get on it!"
Pan spared one last smile to Wendy before taking off after Felix.
Wendy swallowed a sob, clutching the pack of gum tightly before running into the yard. She saw a police car glide past the house, the lack of sirens indicating that Felix and Peter had some distance.
"Hey." Tink reassured. "It's them for goodness sake. They'll be fine."
"I know." Wendy said. "I just…I really don't want my first relationship to be through a plate of glass."
Tink rolled her eyes. "With his luck, he'd just jump through it again."
Wendy gasped but the second she looked at Tink she burst out laughing. She was right though. No matter what their circumstances are, Wendy and Pan would find a way to be together.
Peter Pan never failed and Wendy Darling never gave up.
With this as comfort, Wendy and Tink held onto each other as they went back into the house, laughing and hoping all the way.