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Notes from the Authoress: Hey guys! Thanks for being patient with me; I'm back with chapter 11! This chapter had me on the verge of tears the whole time. I don't have a whole lot to say about this one except to read, review, and most of all ENJOY!!
Thanks for always coming back and reading my story, I owe you guys everything.
I LOVE YOU ALL
~Ellie~
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"You're not actually going to wear that tonight, are you?"
Peter turned around to see Michael in the doorway, shaking his head. He wasn't allowed to attend the dinner; he was expected to go to bed early with the rest of the boys. John and Peter were permitted to eat with the rest of the family and their guests.
He was back in the nursery, still reeling from his awkward and confusing conversation with John. It really didn't make much sense to him-especially that little moment at the end when John had said something about him not loving Wendy-something about-oh, what was that word again? Oh yes, it was sexually attracted or something like that.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing? It's what I always wear," Peter said defensively. He had worn leaves and other such natural materials all his life, why should that change now?
"What's considered ok in Neverland isn't really going to be ok here- especially if it's something kind of fancy, like tonight. So unless you wanna get laughed out of that dining room, I think that you should probably find something else to wear." Michael stared at Peter appraisingly.
"Well, that's easy for you to say. You've lived here all your life; you know what's allowed and what's not. Where am I supposed to find clothes that fit me? Yours definitely wouldn't fit me," said Peter, looking doubtfully and Michael's little body.
Michael walked over to the closet, stepping gingerly around the numerous toys strewn about on the floor.
'They really do have a lot of toys,' Peter thought. You could barely see the floor through all the fake swords, horses and other trinkets and fake war-weapons. The boys most certainly would have made great pirates and swordsmen, given the chance.
"You can wear some of John's clothes, I'm sure he wouldn't mind," came Michael's muffled voice from somewhere inside the closet. "He has all of the more grown-up clothes, ones that would fit you." Michael was now completely out of eyesight, buried somewhere within the messy closet.
"Michael-John's about 15 now, right?" Peter asked.
"Why, yes. Why do you ask?" Michael's head appeared around the door of the closet. His hair was all askew, probably from digging around in various piles of clothes; trying and find something decent.
"Well, why does he still live in the nursery? Shouldn't he maybe have his own room by now? It seems strange that he's still living in the same room with seven twelve-year-olds." It was a question that had been on his mind since their conversation. John had seemed so much mature and grown up, it made him wonder why he hadn't gotten a room of his own, like Wendy.
"After Wendy moved out of the nursery, John was kind of considering getting his own room too. He decided that he didn't want one in the end; because even though Wendy had left, he wanted to be the one who made sure no one ever forgot. And believe me; I think we were all starting to forget. At least I was, 'cause, you know-school was getting harder and everything. Aside from Wendy, I think John was most bent on not forgetting everything. Really kind gesture to Wendy on his part, don't you think? Now where in the bloody hell is that shirt--" Michael gave a cry and fell back into the closet, disappearing from sight again.
Peter was surprised, and at the same time was developing a new respect for John. So he really did have good intentions-he had been the one who convinced Wendy not to forget!
'I really do owe him my life now, sexually attracted or not,' Peter thought to himself.
"Aha, here we go!" Michael reappeared, looking quite triumphant. He held a pair of black dress pants and a white button-up shirt in his hands. "It's not all that fancy, but it'll have to do. Anything's better than vines I guess," he said, handing the clothes to Peter. "Go change, dinner starts really soon. You don't want to be late."
Peter turned to leave the room, but when he reached the door he heard Michael's voice.
"Peter?"
He turned to look at the boy. "Yes?"
"Good luck."
Peter smiled and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
It was dinner time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wendy sat in the parlor, the perfect picture of a young woman-silent and smiling. She was dressed in a simple blue dress, once again wearing her constricting corset, making her torso into the desirable S-shape. She sat next to Edward, who was looking handsome as usual. He had arrived earlier than the Darlings had expected, so Wendy was stalling while Mr. and Mrs. Darling were making sure the dining room was at it's best for the meal. An awkward silence filled the room.
Edward turned to Wendy. "How are you, love?" he asked, scooting towards her. His eyes were cold, and she couldn't bear to meet them with her own. His hand rested on her leg, and she tried to inch away from him, and with surprising force his hand stayed her movement.
"I-I-I think I'll go help my parents," Wendy sat quietly. She stood up, but Edward grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down.
"Oh no, darling, I don't think so. Not this time. I must say; you put up a lovely little charade a few days ago; at our party. The food at my house is just fine-no, it's not fine, it's magnificent. You may have fooled everyone else, but you didn't fool me."
Wendy's breaths were coming in short and clipped, Edward had a very painful hold on her wrist. Edward leaned over towards her and put his lips to her ear. "Wendy-do you love me? Say you do, and you can go help your parents. Say it."
Wendy shook her head vehemently, tears in her eyes. "How could I ever love a monster like you?" she spat, and tried once again to stand up, but Edward got up with her, throwing her back down.
Now she was not disgusted, but terrified. She had known he was scum, but she didn't know that he was violent scum. Abusive scum. The coldness had left his eyes; it had been replaced with a fiery mixture of anger and violence.
"Say it," he said, his fingernails beginning to dig into her wrist, "Or you'll pay for it."
A single tear that contained hate, fear and sadness rolled down Wendy's cheek as she opened her mouth. "Yes, I love you," she said mechanically. Edward smiled and let go of her wrist, leaving little red marks where his nails had broken the skin. Fortunately for the sake of secrecy, there was no blood, and the marks were not easily noticeable. She covered them by changing her bracelet from her left hand to her right hand.
"That's what I thought," he said politely, "Now then, you can go help your parents if you'd like."
At that moment, though; Mr. Darling entered the parlor. "Dinner's being served now, you two," he announced, "Mrs. Darling and Peter are in the dining room waiting for us." He turned left.
Once again, Edward turned to Wendy. "Who's Peter?" he hissed.
"J-just a childhood friend-he came back to visit."
Edward still looked suspicious. "We'll see about that," he muttered, and then took Wendy's hand and dragged her out of the room.
Upon entering the dining room, Wendy saw a sight that she thought she'd never see. Peter was dressed in a white shirt and black pants, and looking very handsome.
'Probably John's clothes, they're a bit ill-fitting,' she thought. John was just the tiniest bit short than Peter was. But peter looked clean and innocent as he fiddled around with the collar of his dress shirt, obviously uncomfortable with the restraints.
"Hello Peter, this is Edward. Peter, Edward; Edward, Peter. Peter extended his hand, but Edward didn't take it. He simply nodded politely and sat down at the table.
'Not the friendliest of men,' he thought to himself, and then noticed that there was a tear-path on Wendy's face, and his thoughts became troubled.
"Let's eat, shall we?" Mrs. Darling said, trying to desperately to extinguish the awkward silence that blanketed the room.
"Yes, yes, of course," Edward said politely, and they began eating.
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Once dinner was well underway, Mr. and Mrs. Darling had done a very nice job of upholding polite conversation, until the talk turned to that of marriage.
"Edward, we got Wendy's dress today. She looks just enchanting in it," Mrs. Darling said suddenly, and Edward's cold eyes lit up. "I'm delighted to hear it," he said, and looked at Wendy, taking her hand.
Peter started, remembered what John had said to him earlier that day.
"Compare the way she looks at him to the way she looks at you."
He looked directly at her as she looked into Edward's eyes, and in it he saw something that surprised. Her eyes were not only loveless, but the pupils were slightly dilated as though she was in fear of him. There weren't any signs of love in those big beautiful eyes of hers.
"Yes, it's really nice," Peter spoke up suddenly. He had been unusually quiet the whole meal, and everyone turned to look at him. "Yeah-" he trailed off, and yet another silence fell over the company. They went back to eating, but Wendy was still staring at Peter. When she turned her gaze on him, her eyes changed completely. There was a relaxed, warm look in them that she didn't possess when she looked at Edward. In her eyes were friendship and kindness, and Peter felt his heart beating faster.
Maybe John was right. Maybe she didn't love Edward-maybe he still had a chance!
"So, Peter, Wendy tells me you're an old friend. Where do you come from?" Edward asked, smiling maliciously in Peter's direction.
Peter blanched. "I-uh-"
"He's from Surrey," Wendy blurted, covering for Peter just in time. "We were great friends when we were young, and he's getting ready to attend Oxford."
Edward stared at Peter, a look of shock mingled with suspicion plastered upon his features.
"Really, and what do you plan to study at Oxford? Such a prestigious school, you know. You must be quite the bright young man."
Once again, Wendy intervened before Peter could say anything stupid, which he inevitably would.
"He's going into politics, you know. He wants to be a governor or some very fancy political leader. Fascinating, isn't it?" she said quickly, and Peter nodded as though that was exactly what he was going to say.
"Yeah those politics people are so smart with all their-all their-all their politics and politics and-yes, politics."
Edward looked incredulously at Peter. "Yes, fascinating," he mumbled, and then fell silent, and went back to his meal, throwing the occasional suspicious or dirty look at Peter.
Peter, on the other hand, was busy thinking about what he had seen in Wendy's eyes. He was ecstatic; he had seen exactly what he had hoped for.
'Tonight's the night,' he decided. Whether she loved him or not, whether she wanted to hear it or not, she was going to know that he loved her. Just to try to fix his heart and come clean not only to her, but to himself. Out loud.
"Well, that was a lovely dinner, Mrs. Darling. You are a-excellent cook, ma'am. I'm honored that I was allowed to eat with you."
Mrs. Darling smiled at him warmly. "Oh, you are such a darling young man! On the contrary, it was an honor to eat with you, Edward. Will you be taking your leave now?"'
Edward nodded. "It's getting rather late-I try not to stay up too late these nights-I want to be wide awake for our wedding. Less than a week now, eh Wendy?"
She nodded mechanically, her face blank of emotion.
"And are you looking forward to it as much as I am?" Edward asked, glaring at Wendy pointedly. "Of course," she replied automatically.
"Good then! I'll be leaving now! Wendy, I love you!"
Peter watched Wendy as she tried hard to form the words. He could tell that she didn't want to say them. He smiled. So resistant; his Wendy.
"I love you," she said quietly. Peter's smile faded.
"And let me say, it was a-erm-pleasure to meet you, Peter. Good luck with Oxford and politics, hope you find a nice, politics-loving woman for yourself."
Wendy bit her tongue, restraining herself from yelling, "He doesn't need another girl! He just needs me, you idiot!"
"Goodnight, everyone," Edward said as he closed the door behind him, and disappeared with a final tip of his hat.
"You two should go to bed now," Mrs. Darling said, turning to Peter and Wendy, who were still staring at the closed door. "It's later than I expected. Goodnight Peter, goodnight Wendy."
The two walked up the stairs, and Peter, instead of going to the nursery, followed Wendy into her room.
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"So that was-that was your fiancée," Peter said hesitantly. He wasn't sure whether or not he should breach the subject; she had always seemed rather sensitive around it.
"Yes, Peter, that was Edward. It's nice that you finally got to meet him." She didn't sound happy at all. Her voice had decreased to a quiet monotone, almost like a chant. She removed her bracelets.
And Peter saw the red marks on her wrist.
"Wendy! What are those-did you hurt yourself?" Peter demanded, striding over to where Wendy stood. "It's-it's nothing Peter," she said, trying to hide her wrist, but to no avail. Peter had already grabbed her arm and was inspecting the wounds. "Wendy-these are nail marks!"
Tear began to fall from Wendy's eyes, and she spoke. "Peter, it was Edward! He-he made me say I loved him, but Peter, oh Peter, I don't love him! And it hurt! I was so afraid, so afraid-the way he looks at me is so uncomfortable, and he's constantly threatening! Me! I--"
She broke down into sobs, and Peter hugged her. A fire blazed inside his heart; he was going to kill Edward for doing this to her. For breaking his Wendy's spirit and leaving her like the shell she'd been since he'd arrived. That-that bastard was going to pay.
Wendy broke away from Peter's embrace, and they stood and looked at each other for a moment.
"Wendy-there's something I didn't tell you. I've been wanting to tell you this for so long, I only just realized it."
Wendy looked at him curiously, still sniffing. "What do you want to tell me, Peter?" she asked, taking a step towards him. Peter faltered, but the warmth in her eyes renewed his courage.
He took a deep breath, and began to speak. He began to speak the words that would forever part him from everything he knew-Tink, Neverland and eternal childhood.
"Wendy-I-I-"
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Afterthoughts: YES, YES, I KNOW! That was a really really mean cliffie! But it was really difficult writing this chapter, it was painful to write about Wendy and Edward's interaction in the parlor. I do hope you all come back for chapter 12, I think you all know what you're in for!
I LOVE YOU ALL
~Ellie~
And once again, much thanks to Ali!
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Notes from the Authoress: Hey guys! Thanks for being patient with me; I'm back with chapter 11! This chapter had me on the verge of tears the whole time. I don't have a whole lot to say about this one except to read, review, and most of all ENJOY!!
Thanks for always coming back and reading my story, I owe you guys everything.
I LOVE YOU ALL
~Ellie~
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"You're not actually going to wear that tonight, are you?"
Peter turned around to see Michael in the doorway, shaking his head. He wasn't allowed to attend the dinner; he was expected to go to bed early with the rest of the boys. John and Peter were permitted to eat with the rest of the family and their guests.
He was back in the nursery, still reeling from his awkward and confusing conversation with John. It really didn't make much sense to him-especially that little moment at the end when John had said something about him not loving Wendy-something about-oh, what was that word again? Oh yes, it was sexually attracted or something like that.
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing? It's what I always wear," Peter said defensively. He had worn leaves and other such natural materials all his life, why should that change now?
"What's considered ok in Neverland isn't really going to be ok here- especially if it's something kind of fancy, like tonight. So unless you wanna get laughed out of that dining room, I think that you should probably find something else to wear." Michael stared at Peter appraisingly.
"Well, that's easy for you to say. You've lived here all your life; you know what's allowed and what's not. Where am I supposed to find clothes that fit me? Yours definitely wouldn't fit me," said Peter, looking doubtfully and Michael's little body.
Michael walked over to the closet, stepping gingerly around the numerous toys strewn about on the floor.
'They really do have a lot of toys,' Peter thought. You could barely see the floor through all the fake swords, horses and other trinkets and fake war-weapons. The boys most certainly would have made great pirates and swordsmen, given the chance.
"You can wear some of John's clothes, I'm sure he wouldn't mind," came Michael's muffled voice from somewhere inside the closet. "He has all of the more grown-up clothes, ones that would fit you." Michael was now completely out of eyesight, buried somewhere within the messy closet.
"Michael-John's about 15 now, right?" Peter asked.
"Why, yes. Why do you ask?" Michael's head appeared around the door of the closet. His hair was all askew, probably from digging around in various piles of clothes; trying and find something decent.
"Well, why does he still live in the nursery? Shouldn't he maybe have his own room by now? It seems strange that he's still living in the same room with seven twelve-year-olds." It was a question that had been on his mind since their conversation. John had seemed so much mature and grown up, it made him wonder why he hadn't gotten a room of his own, like Wendy.
"After Wendy moved out of the nursery, John was kind of considering getting his own room too. He decided that he didn't want one in the end; because even though Wendy had left, he wanted to be the one who made sure no one ever forgot. And believe me; I think we were all starting to forget. At least I was, 'cause, you know-school was getting harder and everything. Aside from Wendy, I think John was most bent on not forgetting everything. Really kind gesture to Wendy on his part, don't you think? Now where in the bloody hell is that shirt--" Michael gave a cry and fell back into the closet, disappearing from sight again.
Peter was surprised, and at the same time was developing a new respect for John. So he really did have good intentions-he had been the one who convinced Wendy not to forget!
'I really do owe him my life now, sexually attracted or not,' Peter thought to himself.
"Aha, here we go!" Michael reappeared, looking quite triumphant. He held a pair of black dress pants and a white button-up shirt in his hands. "It's not all that fancy, but it'll have to do. Anything's better than vines I guess," he said, handing the clothes to Peter. "Go change, dinner starts really soon. You don't want to be late."
Peter turned to leave the room, but when he reached the door he heard Michael's voice.
"Peter?"
He turned to look at the boy. "Yes?"
"Good luck."
Peter smiled and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.
It was dinner time.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wendy sat in the parlor, the perfect picture of a young woman-silent and smiling. She was dressed in a simple blue dress, once again wearing her constricting corset, making her torso into the desirable S-shape. She sat next to Edward, who was looking handsome as usual. He had arrived earlier than the Darlings had expected, so Wendy was stalling while Mr. and Mrs. Darling were making sure the dining room was at it's best for the meal. An awkward silence filled the room.
Edward turned to Wendy. "How are you, love?" he asked, scooting towards her. His eyes were cold, and she couldn't bear to meet them with her own. His hand rested on her leg, and she tried to inch away from him, and with surprising force his hand stayed her movement.
"I-I-I think I'll go help my parents," Wendy sat quietly. She stood up, but Edward grabbed her wrist and pulled her back down.
"Oh no, darling, I don't think so. Not this time. I must say; you put up a lovely little charade a few days ago; at our party. The food at my house is just fine-no, it's not fine, it's magnificent. You may have fooled everyone else, but you didn't fool me."
Wendy's breaths were coming in short and clipped, Edward had a very painful hold on her wrist. Edward leaned over towards her and put his lips to her ear. "Wendy-do you love me? Say you do, and you can go help your parents. Say it."
Wendy shook her head vehemently, tears in her eyes. "How could I ever love a monster like you?" she spat, and tried once again to stand up, but Edward got up with her, throwing her back down.
Now she was not disgusted, but terrified. She had known he was scum, but she didn't know that he was violent scum. Abusive scum. The coldness had left his eyes; it had been replaced with a fiery mixture of anger and violence.
"Say it," he said, his fingernails beginning to dig into her wrist, "Or you'll pay for it."
A single tear that contained hate, fear and sadness rolled down Wendy's cheek as she opened her mouth. "Yes, I love you," she said mechanically. Edward smiled and let go of her wrist, leaving little red marks where his nails had broken the skin. Fortunately for the sake of secrecy, there was no blood, and the marks were not easily noticeable. She covered them by changing her bracelet from her left hand to her right hand.
"That's what I thought," he said politely, "Now then, you can go help your parents if you'd like."
At that moment, though; Mr. Darling entered the parlor. "Dinner's being served now, you two," he announced, "Mrs. Darling and Peter are in the dining room waiting for us." He turned left.
Once again, Edward turned to Wendy. "Who's Peter?" he hissed.
"J-just a childhood friend-he came back to visit."
Edward still looked suspicious. "We'll see about that," he muttered, and then took Wendy's hand and dragged her out of the room.
Upon entering the dining room, Wendy saw a sight that she thought she'd never see. Peter was dressed in a white shirt and black pants, and looking very handsome.
'Probably John's clothes, they're a bit ill-fitting,' she thought. John was just the tiniest bit short than Peter was. But peter looked clean and innocent as he fiddled around with the collar of his dress shirt, obviously uncomfortable with the restraints.
"Hello Peter, this is Edward. Peter, Edward; Edward, Peter. Peter extended his hand, but Edward didn't take it. He simply nodded politely and sat down at the table.
'Not the friendliest of men,' he thought to himself, and then noticed that there was a tear-path on Wendy's face, and his thoughts became troubled.
"Let's eat, shall we?" Mrs. Darling said, trying to desperately to extinguish the awkward silence that blanketed the room.
"Yes, yes, of course," Edward said politely, and they began eating.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Once dinner was well underway, Mr. and Mrs. Darling had done a very nice job of upholding polite conversation, until the talk turned to that of marriage.
"Edward, we got Wendy's dress today. She looks just enchanting in it," Mrs. Darling said suddenly, and Edward's cold eyes lit up. "I'm delighted to hear it," he said, and looked at Wendy, taking her hand.
Peter started, remembered what John had said to him earlier that day.
"Compare the way she looks at him to the way she looks at you."
He looked directly at her as she looked into Edward's eyes, and in it he saw something that surprised. Her eyes were not only loveless, but the pupils were slightly dilated as though she was in fear of him. There weren't any signs of love in those big beautiful eyes of hers.
"Yes, it's really nice," Peter spoke up suddenly. He had been unusually quiet the whole meal, and everyone turned to look at him. "Yeah-" he trailed off, and yet another silence fell over the company. They went back to eating, but Wendy was still staring at Peter. When she turned her gaze on him, her eyes changed completely. There was a relaxed, warm look in them that she didn't possess when she looked at Edward. In her eyes were friendship and kindness, and Peter felt his heart beating faster.
Maybe John was right. Maybe she didn't love Edward-maybe he still had a chance!
"So, Peter, Wendy tells me you're an old friend. Where do you come from?" Edward asked, smiling maliciously in Peter's direction.
Peter blanched. "I-uh-"
"He's from Surrey," Wendy blurted, covering for Peter just in time. "We were great friends when we were young, and he's getting ready to attend Oxford."
Edward stared at Peter, a look of shock mingled with suspicion plastered upon his features.
"Really, and what do you plan to study at Oxford? Such a prestigious school, you know. You must be quite the bright young man."
Once again, Wendy intervened before Peter could say anything stupid, which he inevitably would.
"He's going into politics, you know. He wants to be a governor or some very fancy political leader. Fascinating, isn't it?" she said quickly, and Peter nodded as though that was exactly what he was going to say.
"Yeah those politics people are so smart with all their-all their-all their politics and politics and-yes, politics."
Edward looked incredulously at Peter. "Yes, fascinating," he mumbled, and then fell silent, and went back to his meal, throwing the occasional suspicious or dirty look at Peter.
Peter, on the other hand, was busy thinking about what he had seen in Wendy's eyes. He was ecstatic; he had seen exactly what he had hoped for.
'Tonight's the night,' he decided. Whether she loved him or not, whether she wanted to hear it or not, she was going to know that he loved her. Just to try to fix his heart and come clean not only to her, but to himself. Out loud.
"Well, that was a lovely dinner, Mrs. Darling. You are a-excellent cook, ma'am. I'm honored that I was allowed to eat with you."
Mrs. Darling smiled at him warmly. "Oh, you are such a darling young man! On the contrary, it was an honor to eat with you, Edward. Will you be taking your leave now?"'
Edward nodded. "It's getting rather late-I try not to stay up too late these nights-I want to be wide awake for our wedding. Less than a week now, eh Wendy?"
She nodded mechanically, her face blank of emotion.
"And are you looking forward to it as much as I am?" Edward asked, glaring at Wendy pointedly. "Of course," she replied automatically.
"Good then! I'll be leaving now! Wendy, I love you!"
Peter watched Wendy as she tried hard to form the words. He could tell that she didn't want to say them. He smiled. So resistant; his Wendy.
"I love you," she said quietly. Peter's smile faded.
"And let me say, it was a-erm-pleasure to meet you, Peter. Good luck with Oxford and politics, hope you find a nice, politics-loving woman for yourself."
Wendy bit her tongue, restraining herself from yelling, "He doesn't need another girl! He just needs me, you idiot!"
"Goodnight, everyone," Edward said as he closed the door behind him, and disappeared with a final tip of his hat.
"You two should go to bed now," Mrs. Darling said, turning to Peter and Wendy, who were still staring at the closed door. "It's later than I expected. Goodnight Peter, goodnight Wendy."
The two walked up the stairs, and Peter, instead of going to the nursery, followed Wendy into her room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"So that was-that was your fiancée," Peter said hesitantly. He wasn't sure whether or not he should breach the subject; she had always seemed rather sensitive around it.
"Yes, Peter, that was Edward. It's nice that you finally got to meet him." She didn't sound happy at all. Her voice had decreased to a quiet monotone, almost like a chant. She removed her bracelets.
And Peter saw the red marks on her wrist.
"Wendy! What are those-did you hurt yourself?" Peter demanded, striding over to where Wendy stood. "It's-it's nothing Peter," she said, trying to hide her wrist, but to no avail. Peter had already grabbed her arm and was inspecting the wounds. "Wendy-these are nail marks!"
Tear began to fall from Wendy's eyes, and she spoke. "Peter, it was Edward! He-he made me say I loved him, but Peter, oh Peter, I don't love him! And it hurt! I was so afraid, so afraid-the way he looks at me is so uncomfortable, and he's constantly threatening! Me! I--"
She broke down into sobs, and Peter hugged her. A fire blazed inside his heart; he was going to kill Edward for doing this to her. For breaking his Wendy's spirit and leaving her like the shell she'd been since he'd arrived. That-that bastard was going to pay.
Wendy broke away from Peter's embrace, and they stood and looked at each other for a moment.
"Wendy-there's something I didn't tell you. I've been wanting to tell you this for so long, I only just realized it."
Wendy looked at him curiously, still sniffing. "What do you want to tell me, Peter?" she asked, taking a step towards him. Peter faltered, but the warmth in her eyes renewed his courage.
He took a deep breath, and began to speak. He began to speak the words that would forever part him from everything he knew-Tink, Neverland and eternal childhood.
"Wendy-I-I-"
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Afterthoughts: YES, YES, I KNOW! That was a really really mean cliffie! But it was really difficult writing this chapter, it was painful to write about Wendy and Edward's interaction in the parlor. I do hope you all come back for chapter 12, I think you all know what you're in for!
I LOVE YOU ALL
~Ellie~
And once again, much thanks to Ali!
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