A/N: Okay, I've totally messed up with the grades that everyone's in, because I based it on my own school. So to make it all clear, the kids are studying in a school where, by the time you're a highschool senior, you'd be 18. Collins, as of now, is 12 and in the seventh grade, Maureen is 11 and in the fifth, Mark and Roger are 9 and 8 respectively and in the third grade. Benny was just visiting in the previous chapter. ;)

MAUREEN

Her parents told her that it was a car crash, that Ian didn't feel any pain and that the angels took him to Heaven before he even realized it. They told her that it was nobody's fault, that it was what was supposed to happen and that nobody could have stopped it even if they'd wanted to. Maureen didn't understand. She didn't understand how Tommy could have three big brothers one day and just two the next. She couldn't understand how it was supposed to happen because Ian was only 17 and he hadn't done anything wrongShe couldn't understand how she could've seen him just the other day, and now she was never going to see him again, like how Mrs. Davis had gone without her being able to say goodbye.

"Such a tragedy…"

"I can't even begin to imagine how Thomas must feel."

"He was such a nice boy…."

It was a Saturday when they went to the cemetery. The sun was out and the birds were singing and flower blossoms rained down on them from the trees. Maureen was in a black dress again, and her Daddy squeezed her shoulder as the priest said the prayers and sprinkled the coffin with holy water. Tommy's family was right up front. Mrs. Collins was crying, and Mr. Collins was holding her. Maureen saw Tommy between James and Michael, and they were all dressed in black. When they all went up front to say goodbye, Tommy looked at her, and Maureen had never seen him look so so sad. It was the first time she also saw him crying and she felt something stir inside of her. She nearly opened her mouth to speak, but Tommy lowered his head and then quickly turned around to go.

"Thomas!"

Tommy didn't stop, and he began running. Maureen forgot everything she knew and ran after him. It was hard, because Tommy was a fast runner and she was in a dress, but she managed to catch up a little. No one went after them, but it wasn't like they wanted anyone to.

"Tom! Tommy!" she called out. "Collins!"

Tommy kept running and, wow, was he fast. Maureen couldn't believe how fast he was going, and how she couldn't keep up that easily (it really wasn't fair because she couldn't run as well in a dress, everyone knew that). Her long curls flew out from behind her as she tried to run faster, and she didn't let Tommy get out of her sight.

"Stop, Tommy, please!" she called out. She watched as Tommy suddenly slipped on the wet grass (leather shoes weren't good for running either) and landed on his knees by a bunch of huge grave markers. She gasped, startled. "Collins!"

Maureen rushed to whom she considered her oldest and best friend in the whole wide world (though she never declared it out loud) as fast as she could, her heart pounding like thunder in her chest. Tommy was still on his knees on the ground, his face in his hands. He wasn't making a sound, which scared Maureen a little. On the outside, he wasn't hurt or anything, just a little dirty, but Maureen knew Tommy was hurting more than she'd ever know.

"Tommy…" Maureen knelt down beside him, not caring about the grass stains her Mom had told her to avoid getting on her stockings. The grass was wet and the dew (or whatever it was that made it wet) soaked right through to her legs, making them itchier than ever (God, she really hated stockings), but for once Maureen didn't reach out to scratch them. Her hands were on Tommy's shoulders, which were trembling. "Are you okay?"

It was a stupid question, she knew, but Maureen had to ask it. She really had no idea what to say. Tommy shook his head silently.

A bird chirped in the distance and flower blossoms kept raining down on their heads like snow. It was such a nice day, and to Maureen it seemed almost cruel that they had to be out there, feeling so sad and terrible because they'd just lost someone. Ian would've enjoyed today. He liked sunny days, because he liked to go out and play baseball. He'd taught them all how to play, even Mark and Roger, who were now little menaces once they were given balls. Maureen remembered his smile. She remembered how he used to pat her on the head and tease her as 'little Miss Maureen' because he claimed she was spoiled. She remembered how he used to play with her and Tommy when they were little and how he'd help them set up tents and things in the Collins' backyard. James and Michael were nice too but they were never as nice as Ian. She remembered a lot of things about him, and it made her really sad that that was how he was going to be from now on: someone she'd just remember. Just like Mrs. Davis, who was a little more faded and fuzzy in her mind each time she tried to think about her.

Maureen was surprised to feel a tear run down her cheek. Quickly, she wiped it away before Tommy could see.

"I don't know what to say…" she admitted softly. "I'm sorry, Tommy, I really am…he was my brother too, somewhat…I'm really sorry."

Tommy had removed his hands from his face and was now sitting on the grass, hugging his legs and staring at something far away. His eyes were glistening, like they were so full of tears that wanted to burst out, only he was holding them all in. Maureen bit her lip.

"I should go…" Maureen started, and she slowly got to her feet. But Tommy reached out, grabbed her wrist and held it tightly. It didn't hurt, but it was enough to startle her. She looked down at her friend and saw Tommy looking up sadly at her.

"Please stay," he said softly. "Please don't leave me, Mo…like he did."

Something tugged at Maureen's heart and she found herself sitting right beside Tommy and hugging him.

"I'll never see him again…" Tommy kept saying over and over as he hid his face. Maureen knew he was crying and just didn't want to show it. "Mo, I'm never going to see him again…he was my best brother…he was my best brother…he was my brother…."

"He was my brother too." She was crying as well, which she really hated doing, because her nose turned really red and her eyes puffed up. But she couldn't stop. She suddenly felt like a fountain with all the tears that were flowing down her face, all plop-plopping down to her dress. Her legs were really itchy now and it drove her crazy but she ignored them.

It was strange crying with Tommy because, for one thing, Tommy never cried and, through some weird way, Maureen saw him as a kid for the first time. All her life she'd always seen Tommy as a 40-year-old guy trapped in a kid's body, because he knew too much and acted like his mother was always there to watch his behavior. Now, as they sat next to each other, there was no 'Tommy Collins the smart kid' or 'Tommy Collins, model of good behavior'; it was just Tommy Collins, her best friend, who was a kid just like her who'd just lost his brother and who needed to cry like everybody else did when they were sad.

"It's okay, Tommy," Maureen assured him. "I'll stay with you. I'll stay with you, like, forever if you want me to."

Tommy nodded.

"Thanks, Mo,"

They sat on the grass quietly with a stone angel grave marker set right beside them, praying with its hands clasped.


The next afternoon found Maureen in the Davis house, where she babysat Roger (and usually also Mark) whenever Mr. Davis was out of town. Usually, Tommy went with her because everyone knew looking after Roger alone required two people, but this time he wasn't, and Maureen sat quietly on Roger's window seat as the little boy did his homework. Mark wasn't around today because the Cohens were out in the city to celebrate Mr. Cohen's birthday, so it was just her and Roger in the strange quiet of the Davis house.

"Mo…?"

Maureen looked up from her gaze at her orange sneakers and stared at the small (Mark was bigger than him, and Roger was the smallest in his class) eight-year-old sitting at the study table, looking worriedly at her, his clean white Nikes perched on a huge toy truck underneath his chair. Roger's green eyes were bright, like they always were whenever he was paying close attention to something, and his wispy blonde hair had fallen into his face. He was also softly tapping his pencil on the table over and over. It was one of his habits that Maureen found annoying. Tap tap tappity-tap all the time. Roger just had to make noise wherever he was. If he wasn't tapping pencils, he was slapping his palms on railings, blackboards, walls or using his feet as instruments. It really drove Maureen crazy, but it was a good thing that the tapping wasn't as loud today.

"What?" She'd been thinking of Ian again.

"Where's Neverland?"

Maureen blinked at her charge. Sometimes, Roger said or asked the weirdest things, and she blamed it on overexposure to Tommy.

"What are you talking about?" Maureen found herself snapping a little, because deep inside of her she felt frustrated at something. Maybe it was because of Ian, or maybe it wasn't. But all in all, she really wasn't in the mood to try to understand what went on in Roger's head. She hugged her knees and stared at the fading sun outside. "Rog, just finish your homework, okay?"

"I can't finish until you tell me," Roger said as-a-matter-of-factly. Maureen turned to him again, frowning. She wished Tommy had come with her. She didn't want to get mad at Roger, but it was getting harder and harder to control her temper. She just wanted to be left alone.

"Why the heck not?"

Roger slid off of his chair and thrust his notebook at her. Maureen squinted her eyes as she read his squiggly kiddie handwriting.

"We have to write 'bout we want to be when we grow up. Mark wants to be an engineer, like his Dad," explained Roger.

"He hates Math," Maureen said. It wasn't a lie. Mark really did hate Math, and in fact he was terrible at it, unlike Roger, who was good in every subject he took up. Everything was just easy for the kid. Mark was only good in English and Science. Maureen already knew him almost as much as she knew Roger. Ever since Cindy had practically disowned him, she'd taken Mark under her wing more than she'd expected to when she first met him. Mark often frowned at her whenever she teased him by calling him 'baby brother' like she did Roger, but he never objected.

Roger just shrugged.

"I don't want to be like my Dad," he frowned. "I don't want to be sad all the time. My Dad's sad all the time, which why he always flies away."

Maureen bit her lip. She never suspected Roger to be so observant. "Then what do you want to be when you grow up?"

Roger played with his fingers as he spoke, his eyes shining, and looking almost hopeful.

"I don't want to grow up. I want to be like Peter Pan and live forever…"

Maureen raised an eyebrow. The kid was nuts. She had to find a way to keep Tommy from teaching him any new stuff for a while.

"That's why you want to know where Neverland is? Rog, you do know that…"

She was about to tell him that Neverland wasn't real, and so was Peter Pan; that fairy tales were only stories made so kids would feel better and forget about their problems for a little while, and that no one lived forever. People die, Roger, she'd been about to say, people die and they don't come back. Ian died. Ian's dead and we're never going to see him again. But she didn't, because Roger beat her to talking.

"…Because I don't want to make you sad." Roger said softly. Maureen stopped.

"Huh?"

Roger looked straight at her. "I don't want to make you or Tommy or Mark sad."

Maureen was confused now, but she was feeling more okay, like, she wasn't as annoyed anymore. Whenever she wasn't thinking about Ian and how he was gone, she felt okay. Roger was doing a good job with helping her. She straightened up in her seat and spoke slowly. "Rog, why would you ever make us sad?"

Roger sighed, like he was frustrated that she couldn't get it. "I don't want to be like my…like my Mom or Ian."

Maureen felt like her heart had been tugged when she heard Ian's name.

"Why wouldn't you? They were great people. Your Mom…she used to take care of me when I was little…and Ian…" Something blocked her throat when she said his name, and she couldn't speak anymore. It was okay though because Roger interrupted her.

"I didn't mean it that way. I mean…they left, Mo. They went away and they're…I'm not gonna see them again. And it made everyone sad. I…I don't want to grow up and die. I don't. I don't want to leave you and Mark and Tommy…I couldn't…"

Maureen found herself crying again, like she'd done with Tommy in the cemetery. The thing blocking her throat melted and big fat tears started falling down her cheeks. She covered her face with her hands, not wanting Roger to see her cry. There was something in what he'd said that touched her, like when she'd watched Bambi(and Dumboand Fox in the Hound)for the first time, and she could hardly understand exactly why she was crying, but she couldn't deny that she felt sad and happy and empty and lonely all at the same time. It was a sucky feeling, but then it felt good too to cry. It was like something inside of her was being released.

"Mo, don't cry…I didn't mean to make you cry…" She felt Roger's hand pat her head. Hearing his small voice and how scared and worried it sounded, she forced herself to look at Roger even though she knew she looked terrible, and wiped her tears furiously with her hands. She got a hold of his shoulders and pulled him closer so that their faces were only about five inches away from each other's.

"Sweetie, we all have to grow up, but I promise you, you, Mark, me and Tommy are going to grow up together, and when we do, we're going to leave this place and have great adventures all over. Just like Peter Pan and the Lost Boys. We're gonna be immortal and no one will be able to touch us. We're gonna do that and we're always gonna be together, okay? No one else is gonna leave."

They were so close that Maureen could smell Roger's little boy scent that always hung about him: his bath time lavender soap, peppermint candy and the leathery smell he got from the cars or their sofas. He looked solemnly at her.

"I'm gonna live forever. I'm gonna be the boy who lives forever, and I'll only go away when all of you are gone. That way I won't be the one to make you sad."

Maureen didn't say anything more. Smart as he was, Roger still had a lot of things to understand. She reached out and hugged him and, for the first time, Roger didn't try to stop her like he usually did.

TBC

A/N: Sorry for the long wait. I'm afraid the next one will have to sit out for a while too because I'm sobusy that it isn't even funny anymore. I barely have enough time or strength or willpower to write because I get too tired from school. Please leave me a nice review though because feedback is always like cake and milk to me. They really truly help me to write faster because I know just how many people are reading and waiting for the next chapter, and I don't like keeping anyone waiting. :) I hope you all are having a nice summer so far!