Abby's POV

"Alright Peter, spill it," said Abby. "I know that you were lying through your teeth back there. I'm sorry for getting angry, but I don't like it when people lie to me, and then insult my intelligence in public." The two of them were sitting on the roof at Abby's request. Peter obliged, Abby guessed, because he wanted to apologize. She knew he didn't want to tell her the truth, but tonight, she was going to force it out of him whether he wanted it or not.

"I wasn't insulting your intelligence in public," Peter said. "But I can't tell you the truth." Abby crossed her arms angrily.

"And why not?" she asked. "Don't you trust me?" Peter waved his arms and shook his head.

"No, no," he said. "It's not like that. It's not that I don't trust you, it's that there is too much at stake if I tell you." Abby's eyes widened.

"He threatened you, didn't he?" she asked. "What exactly does he have over you? What did he do to you to make you hate him so much?" Peter shook his head.

"I can't tell you that," he said.

"So he did threaten you!" Abby said loudly, forgetting where they were. Peter had to silence her with a hand over her mouth.

"Shh!" he whispered loudly. "Not so loud!"

"But I'm right, aren't I," she said softly after Peter removed his hand. Peter turned away.

"It doesn't matter anyways," he said. "I wouldn't be able to tell you either way." Abby shook her head.

"What on earth does he have on you?" she asked. "What is it?" When Peter didn't say anything, she looked down sadly. "Is it really that bad?"

"Bad enough so that I won't tell you!" Peter exclaimed.

"Peter," she said comfortingly, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I just want to help-" Peter looked up at her angrily.

"What can you do to help?" he asked loudly. "Tell me, what exactly could you do?" Now it was Abby's turn to shush Peter.

"Be quiet!" she whispered loudly with her hand over his mouth. "Do you want the neighbors to hear us?" He just turned away from her touch.

"Well?" he asked, not looking at her.

"I don't know, Peter," she said sadly. "But that's because I don't know what the problem is."

"And it needs to stay that way," he said. "Trust me, you wouldn't believe me if I told you." Abby looked at him, annoyed.

"Try me," she said. Peter sighed.

"Look, it's late and I'm tired. Can't we talk about this later?" he asked. Abby glared at him.

"Fine, but if you think I'm letting this drop, you are dead wrong," she said. Peter shrugged and slid down the roof and into his room.

Abby sighed and put her head in her hands. What isn't he telling me? She thought. But Peter was right. It was late, and she was tired. Maybe if she just thought about it in the morning…

Just then, she heard music coming from Peter's room. He was playing the pan flute again. He really liked that instrument and he was really good at it. But now as he played, he sounded so sad. Or maybe it was homesick?

She had never really asked him if he missed where he came from, but that was probably just because he wouldn't tell her where it was. Ugh! Why wouldn't he tell her! Who was she going to tell? Jimmy? What was up with the two of them anyway? Peter really hated their fencing teacher. It was obvious that Jimmy had done something to Peter, or else he wouldn't have reacted that way, but as to what it was, it was either too painful a memory to share with her, or did he just not want her to know?

Abby shook her head. Too many questions for one night. Peter had stopped playing and it was starting to get really cold. She slid down the roof and crawled through her window onto her bed. School started tomorrow, and after a two week break, it was going to take a few days to get back in the swing of things. Plus, she had tons of things to tell her friends. She felt sorry that she hadn't called or texted them at all, but she did have a lot going on and she was sure that they would understand.

She heard music coming from the other room; Peter had started playing again. This time, it was a soft, quiet song. She could feel her eyelids getting heavier and heavier, and she lay her head down on her pillow as Peter's music drifted her off to sleep.

. . .

"Wait, so let me get this straight," Jaime began. "You saved that guys' life, and now he's come to live with you? Where are his parents?"

"And more importantly," Kylee brought up. "Is he cute?"

The whole lunch table busted out laughing while Abby's face and neck turned a bright crimson.

"He won't tell us anything about him, and ya, I guess he's kinda cute…" Abby replied sheepishly. Kylee smiled deviously.

"And why haven't I met this mysterious hottie?" she asked. "What's he like?"

Abby took a deep breath and regained a small amount of composure. "I am choosing not to reply to either of those questions." Kylee gave a false astonished look and put a hand up to her mouth mockingly.

"And why ever not?" then she smirked. "Unless you want him all to yourself…" Abby shook her head quickly.

"Can we just move on from that topic, please?" she begged, which caused the table to fall into peals of laughter once more.

When the laughter finally stopped, (and Abby finished debating with herself on why she had such weird friends) Jaime wiped a tear from her eye and took a deep breath.

"But why is he living with you?" she asked. "Aren't there foster homes that can take care of him?"

"My mom registered us as his emergency contact," Abby explained. "He's just living with us until we can find his parents."

Their other friend, Lucy, shook her head. "This is just so weird," she began. "And so cool at the same time! I mean, you saved someone's life! What could be cooler than that?"

"Three guys and a hot tub," Kylee muttered, causing everyone to start laughing again. It felt good to actually laugh with her friends again, after two weeks filled with nothing but confusion and questions. She looked around at all of them, thinking of everything they'd done together.

There were eight of them total, including Abby. Sitting on either sides of her were Kylee and Lucy, the two boy crazies of the group, but they were also incredibly interesting to talk to and loved to tease her. Lucy had straight, medium length blond hair that she loved to play with and a great sense of fashion. She also had a fascination with peace signs. Kylee was half Asian and incredibly beautiful with her dark brown hair and eyes.

Sitting next to Lucy was Jaime, who had dark brown hair and always had some interesting tidbit to add to the conversation and who, like Abby, was very opinionated, but they all loved her. Next to Jaime was Marie, whose love of anything fun was infectious. She had straight wavy blond hair and was obsessed with all things musical.

Sitting next to Marie was Halley, who was equally as fun, with a tad bit of insanity, and had the voice of an angel. She also had a strange obsession of zombie movies and My Little Pony. She had short, brown hair, and that combined with her thin face made her look a bit like a pixie. Next to Halley was the other singing goddess, Selena. She and Halley were best friends who shared everything. If Halley was the pixie, Selena was the fairy. She had very soft features and a soft voice, but those were all illusions. On the inside she was incredibly crazy.

The final person in their large friend group, Rae, sat next to her best friend Kylee, and was incredibly crazy and fun. She and Kylee fought constantly, but that was mainly because they had such similar personalities. But at the end of the day, they were all best friends, and would be there for every person in their group. Abby felt incredibly grateful to have such devoted and loving friends.

Finally, the laughter stopped. Rae inhaled deeply to steady her breathing and then spoke.

"But seriously Abby, what does he look like?" Abby sighed and began describing his appearance while Rea's eyes slowly started getting wider and wider as her intrigued expression turned into one of astonishment. Abby finally stopped because of the look on her face.

"What is it?" she asked. Rea cleared her throat.

"So, the guy that you just described is standing over there with your mom talking to the principal," she said, pointing over Abby's left shoulder. She whipped her head around and sure enough, there was Peter, standing near the door with her mother, who was talking to the principal. He looked like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world right now. He didn't look like he'd seen her, but it wouldn't be long; not with her blond, curly afro.

"What's he doing here?" she asked no one in particular. Then, without saying anything, she stood up and walked over to them. As soon as Peter saw her, his face lit up.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"Your mom is trying to get me to "think" about going to school. It doesn't matter anyway. I'm not going. I don't care what she or anyone else says."

"Where did you go to school before?" Abby asked. Peter looked at her, puzzled.

"Nowhere," he replied. Her jaw almost dropped.

"You mean you never went to school?" she said. "Ever?" Peter shook his head.

"I learned everything I needed to on my own. Plus, school is for people who care about their futures."

"Don't you care?" Peter shook his head again.

"No. I don't have a future."

Abby was already confused, but this comment made absolutely no sense. She couldn't think of anything to say, so she didn't say anything at all. It was at this time that her mother finally noticed that she was there.

"Abby!" she exclaimed. "When did you get here?"

"Just a couple of minutes ago," she replied. They stood there awkwardly for a few seconds until her mother spoke.

"How's your day been?" she asked.

"Fine," she answered.

"Great," said Bryn. They stood staring at each other for several more seconds, until Bryn finally said, "Well, it's great to see you during the day, honey, but Peter and I have to go run some errands. Peter, why don't you go out to the car? I'll be with you in a second." Peter rolled his eyes, but obeyed.

As soon as mother and daughter were alone, Bryn whispered, "I need your help. He needs to go to school, but he is blatantly refusing. I am running out of options. I need you to talk to him."

"Wasn't it you who was saying that he didn't have to go to school if he didn't want to? Not going back on your word, are you mom?"

Bryn sighed. "It doesn't look like he has any relatives that the system knows about. I thought he would have found someone by now when I said that. It looks like he's going to be staying with us for awhile. He needs an education. He doesn't think he has a future, but he's fooling himself."

"That's exactly what he said to me!" Abby exclaimed.

"It's not like he doesn't have one," Bryn explained. "He just doesn't want one. I think he feels like going to school will force him to grow up." She paused and ran her hands through her hair, like she did when she was frustrated. "Will you help me?" she asked finally.

"I don't know if I can," Abby said. "But I can try."

"That's all I ask," said her mother. "Alright sweetheart, I have to go. Peter is probably wondering what is taking so long." She gave her daughter a quick hug and whispered, "I love you," into her blonde, curly locks

"I love you too, mom," Abby replied.

. . .

Unbeknownst to them, Peter never really did go outside. He hid behind the door and listened to their entire conversation.

What was so important about school? Couldn't they see that he did not want to go? Why were they trying to force him? He wouldn't go, no matter what anyone said. He had to find a way to get home, and soon. His friends might be in trouble.

Just then, he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around to find a hookless Hook leaning against a classroom door, smiling malevolently at him, his blue eyes cold with hatred. Peter tensed, and glared back at him. Hook had chosen his spot well, this was a deserted hallway; no one was coming in or out, keeping any conversation private.

"What do you want, Hook?" he asked heatedly.

"To make sure you are finding your new life here to your liking," Hook replied. "And to see if you have noticed my little secret."

Peter knew that he was taunting him, but he couldn't help himself. "What secret?"

Hook smirked. He knew he had Peter in his trap. "You are honestly telling me that the brilliant Pan hasn't noticed who is sitting in this lunchroom? Trust me, you would be well advised to look."

Again, Peter knew he was being baited, but he leaned around the corner anyway. He scoped the entire room. The only people he knew were Abby and her mom. They were hugging. His breath caught in his throat. Hook peered over to see what he was looking at.

"Oh yes," he said. "A mother. Something you have always longed for, am I correct?"

Peter shook his head furiously. "I don't want a mother!" he snapped.

"Oh, but I think you do. Tell me, what do you feel when you look at her? Is it hurt? Is it pain? Is it longing? That desperate, childish need for affection? Tell me Peter."

At first, Peter thought he was talking about Bryn, but then he realized that Hook was talking about Abby. He blushed furiously and shook his head, trying to shake off that feeling of weakness.

"I have no feelings," he said quietly.

"Your face tells me otherwise. But no matter. You still haven't found them yet." Peter's eyes scanned the room once more. His eyes fell on a table of all boys. His breath caught in his throat and he clutched the door for support. Those boys were his boys. His lost boys.

His hands clenched and his heart raced. He could see them all clearly. They were the boys after the ordinal that left with Wendy all those years ago. Caleb and West came to him first. They remembered their real names, so Peter didn't have to give them real names. Laces came next. He didn't remember his name, so Peter gave him the first name he could think of. Mittens and Socks came years later, at the same time, but not on the same part of the island. Peter and the others assumed that they were twins, but he couldn't be sure. They did look a lot like twins.

Caleb was poking the younger kids, his wild blond hair was sticking out all over the place. West was wolfing down his food, as usual, his red hair flat for once, and his blue eyes were concentrating on his plate. Laces was picking at his food, his light brown hair obscuring his face, his blue eyes watching the other kids argue. Mittens and Socks were stuck in a poking contest with Caleb, their almost identical appearances making it difficult to tell them apart unless you knew them. Mittens had green eyes and Socks had brown, but they both had black hair were both covered in freckles, which was odd, unless you lived in Neverland. But what was even weirder was that none of them seemed to care that they were here. They were oblivious to the fact that they were in the world where adults roamed and kids were restrained. They were behaving as though this was normal.

"So you see them now, Pan?" Hook sneered. He was now just behind Peter. "Yes they are really there, all six of your pitiful lost boys." He leaned down to whisper in Peter's ear. "But you know what the best part of all of this is? The best part is that they don't remember anything about who they are. They think that I'm their father, and they don't remember anything about you."

Peter's face turned white as a sheet. His fists clenched even tighter and his entire body tensed. Hook wanted to get to him, this was how. Hook had brought his worst nightmare to life.

"Liar," he whispered. He could feel the angry hot tears stinging at the backs of his eyes.

"No, Pan, I guarantee you that I am telling the absolute truth. I told you I'd make your life a living hell, and here it is in the flesh. Your friends don't know who you are, they don't care about you. You are a stranger to them. It's amazing what a little fairy dust can do. It has powers far beyond flight, child."

"No," Peter whispered. His face contorted with rage. "You're lying!" he shouted, and turned around and punched Hook in the face.

Hook was a little taken aback, but recovered quickly and grabbed Peter's arm, slowly twisting it, causing Peter to fall to his knees in pain.

"You're out of your element, boy," Hook jeered. But with grunt of determination, Peter punched Hooks arm that was holding him, causing Hook to release him. As soon as he did, Peter swept out with his foot, catching Hooks knee, tripping him. He landed flat on his back.

"But you're still an old man," Peter reminded him. "And a codfish. Now…" Peter put his foot on Hooks chest and leaned down. "Bring them back." Hook laughed.

"You'll have to kill me."

"You know I'd happily do that, but first bring them back!"

"Not on your life, boy." Hooks eyes flashed red at the thought of Peter, dead.

Just then, Peter heard someone walking down the hallway. He thought it was deserted! He quickly stood up.

"You got lucky this time, codfish. But you will bring them back!" And then he shot out of the hallway and into the cafeteria. He didn't see Abby or Bryn, but he didn't think about that. He ran out of the building to the car, but not before casting one last look at his friends, his lost boys, who were still sitting around the table, oblivious to who they are.

He made it to the parking lot with no one stopping him and leapt into the car. As slammed the door and took a breath, Bryn leaned over the side of her seat and asked "Where were you Peter?"

Peter jumped so high he hit his head on the car roof. He didn't see her!

"Um, I got lost," was his excuse. Bryn rolled her eyes, but didn't say anything else on the topic of his tardiness.

"What did you think of the school?" Bryn asked as she started the car. Peter shrugged, but then an idea came to him.

"I'll go," he said. Bryn looked surprised.

"You will? I thought you were dead set against it? What made you change your mind?"

"I guess I just realized that it wasn't so bad."

The rest of the car ride home was silent, with Bryn in the front smiling, and Peter in the back thinking. Maybe he could make them remember, if he just talked to them. Maybe just seeing him would make them remember. And the next time he saw Hook, he would force a solution out of him at all costs. They had to go home.

A/N: I cannot tell you how glad I am to have this chapter done. Sorry for the late update. I guess you should just come to expect that it will take me 1-2 months to get it done.

Anyway, how'd you all like this turn of events? Thanks to all of those who submitted a character! I used them, but there were only two. See if you can recognize which ones.

As soon as I got over my block, this was a really fun chapter to write. For some reason, I just love writing for hook. I don't know why, but he presents an easy way for me to write some enjoyable climactic stuff. I love his attitude. It's just hard to write for peter during those scenes.

Happy Veterans Day! On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, the guns fell silent. That's tomorrow (or I guess its 12 hours from now). Thank you to all of those who have served our country (America for those foreign readers). Your sacrifice means the world to us.

Review! Love you guys. Hope you liked this chapter!

Note; this is the edited version of the chapter I posted last night. I put it up to quickly and now I went back over it and fixed some mistakes. Hope this version is better! Review please! I love them!