Peter was thriving. Magic was weaker here then in Neverland, as was to be expected. Neverland was pure magic. Uncut and unfiltered. Everywhere else was dull but steady - stopping cravings but not hitting that frenzied high.
Still, Storybrooke had its advantages. The clothes, for one, were much more flattering. Felix's broad shoulders filling out a dark green letterman jacket, the scar on his face (his scar), looking no less menacing mixed with jockish aggression and a metal baseball bat.
And the girls! Wendy's short cheerleader skirt flipping up over smooth, flawless legs. Bloomers covering her plump arse as she shouted out cheers of love for Storybrooke High. She blew him a kiss before every game and begged him to ask her to homecoming last Friday. All this from a girl who used to shrink away from his touch.
Best of all, he'd won. He was the single most powerful person in the entire realm. The beloved son of Mayor, Greg Mendel by day and the secret leader of The Lost Boys gang by night.
There wasn't a single person who didn't bend to his will or couldn't be persuaded to - with a little pressure.
Hook was the bumbling sheriff and Peter's very own cucked step-father. The Evil Queen waited tables at Smee's Diner. Snow White and her pathetic prince lived at opposite ends of town, one as a failing business owner on the cusp of bankruptcy and the other an ailing bartender.
The Savior, for all her supposed might, was tucked nicely away in rehab facility getting treatment for a meth addiction she had now remembered picking up on the inside. And the Savior's son, the precious Truest Believer, was his foster brother. Raised with disappointing memories of foster home after foster home, each more neglectful then the last, Henry was grateful to be at Peter's which was in the same town as his mom's rehab center and didn't even blink an eye at the constant lack of parental oversight.
Henry looked over the page in his hands. He wasn't the best at drawing but he thought the picture in his book bore a great likeness of Violet Morgan. And if there was any confusion over who the picture was of he had written her name like a million times around it.
Violet was just so.. she was pretty, with large brown doe eyes but most of all she was the kindest and most sweetest girl he'd ever met. She waved at him and talked to him kindly when everyone else in the school just kind of ignored him. And it wasn't just him, she was kind to everyone. She went out of her way to be kind to the lunch ladies and he even spied her regularly donating to the homeless man outside of the library.
He think he loved her.
He was lost in his thoughts of Violet when he heard a voice calling out to him.
"Henry! Henry come on, let's go!"
Henry jumped up from the tree he was sitting under and stuffed the drawing of Violet into his pocket. Peter noticed but didn't say anything.
"You look lost..in thought. Something plaguing you, Henry?"
"No, just thinking about school and home and stuff."
Henry looked down at his shoes, self-conscious of himself now that he was under the scrutiny of Peter's gaze. Henry loved Peter. Everyone loved Peter. But sometimes Peter, in the way Henry guessed all older brothers did and it's not like Henry would hold it against him, liked to rile him up. Prank him or set him up to look stupid or whatever. It's alright, Peter was clever and funny, but still, Henry wanted to avoid Peter's attention whenever possible.
As Henry was distracted trying to be as nonchalant as possible, Peter reached into his pocket and pulled up the folded piece of paper.
"Ooohh, what have we got here? A diary entry, perhaps?" Peter mocked, a cruel smirk gracing his features.
"Give it back, Peter! It's mine!" Henry said, reaching up to where Peter held the paper high above Henry's head. Peter laughed at his attempt but his smile dropped when he saw the picture.
He looked at it critically, a frown deeply etching its way onto his face. Was this a girl? A real girl living in his town?
Henry was still trying to get the piece of paper back, and Peter shoved him, harder than intended, landing Henry on the ground.
"Who is this? Heh, some imaginary comic book girl?"
"No…It's…It's Violet Morgan. She in my class."
Peter felt his heart skip a beat. No, no. This wasn't supposed to happen. Henry was his! Henry belonged to him. He hadn't spent 300 years looking for this brat, given up his home and cursed an entire fricking town, just for Henry to be deflowered by some common whore.
His fist acted almost out of Peter's control as he scrunched up Henry's drawing and threw it to the ground. He stood up over Henry, grabbed his red shirt in his hand and pulled the boy up so his face was right above Henry's.
He stared his bright blue eyes into Henry's hazel ones and watched as Henry squirmed a little uncomfortably.
"You are mine, Henry." He said, as he lowered his mouth onto Henry's. Henry was shocked and fell immobilized as Peter swirled his tongue around Henry's mouth, nipping at Henry's bottom lip until he drew a tiny stream of blood.
He dropped Henry back to the floor, and as the boy scrambled to regain his senses, Peter walked away confidently.
"And don't you forget it!" He yelled out over his shoulder.
Henry wiped the blood off the bottom of his lip with the back of his hand, and knew this would not be the last time Peter made him bleed.