For her fourth birthday her aunt Sophie gives her a large, hardback book. At first she's disappointed, she can't even read yet, but as she begins to set the book aside she catches a glimmer out of the corner of her eye. The sunlight streaming through the large picture window hits the cover in a way that it catches the gold glitter, causing the book to sparkle to life. She pulls the book back onto her lap and runs her fingers over the embossed letters that she'll later learn spells out the name Peter Pan.
Her father tucks her into bed that night, and when she hands him the storybook he begins to read her a vivid tale about a child who refuses to grow up. From that very first once upon a time, she's hooked. She dreams of fairies and flying, of alligators and ticking clocks, of lost boys and far away stars, and when she wakes up the next morning everything seems a little bit brighter.
Every chance she gets she forces Noah into the role of Captain Hook by threatening to tell his mother that he was the one who broke Mr. Wyman's window. He grumbles and complains until she hands him a fake sword and then the swing set in her back yard morphs into a pirate's ship. They fight their way across the deck, a little give and a little take, until Noah is on the edge with a ticking alligator at his heels…or, well, a yapping yorkie.
When Santana moves to town at the end of the fourth grade everything changes. Noah…err, Puck suddenly decides he wants to be Peter, wants to kiss Wendy. She doesn't understand because she's Peter, she's always been Peter. He argues that Peter is a lost boy and girls can't be lost boys. Santana tells them both to shut up, that Brittany's Peter. End of story. Puck stops playing after that and for a long time it's just Peter and Wendy and happily ever after.
Middle school puts an end to that. Santana starts dating Puck. They break up, they date, they break up, they date; it's an endless cycle that causes her head to hurt. Behind closed doors they still play Peter and Wendy but it's a secret that they keep just between themselves and it's never quite the same as it was.
Santana drags her to cheerleading tryouts. They both make the team and she's surprised to find that she actually enjoys the routines. When she's free falling from a throw she can close her eyes and pretend she's headed towards the second star and then straight on until morning.
Despite the popularity that being a Cheerio brings she doesn't feel quite like she fits in, at least not until she joins Glee club. It's rocky at first, because of Coach Sylvester, but eventually she's welcomed into the fold and realizes that she's finally found her lost boys.
The stage lights are warm and welcoming; they rain down on her like fairy dust. She loves the thrill of singing and dancing in front of an audience. It's like magic, feels kind of like walking on air. And while Rachel warms up with vocal and breathing exercises, Brittany closes her eyes and whispers, "I do believe in fairies! I do! I do!"
Lima is and will always be her Neverland. It's the place where all of her happy thoughts are tied and if she could have her way there'd be no graduation or moving away. She and her peers would stay there forever and never grow old. But as sure as she is that Santana is her Wendy, she knows that their fairytale is coming to an end. With the turn of a page Santana gets accepted to UCLA and when she kisses Brittany goodbye she whispers softly in her ear, "You won't forget me will you?"
"Me? Never," she replies, and it's the most honest thing she's ever said because there's no way she could ever forget her Wendy or the hidden kisses they've shared.