Disclaimer: I do not own any of J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan

When dawn broke, Wendy was already wide awake. She hadn't slept well, having woken repeatedly throughout the night. The last time she found herself staring at the ceiling she decided it wasn't worth fighting any longer. She rose out of bed long before first light. She waited until the sun was brightly shining before leaving her house though. She had no desire to meet up with any nasty little nocturnal creatures that might not have called it a night yet. She knew she needed to make the journey to Peter's side of the island to talk with him. She wanted to make that trip as easy as possible, because she knew the conversation itself wouldn't be.

As she had expected, it took several hours to navigate the rough and unfamiliar terrain. Even when she had clear paths to follow, Wendy wasn't always certain she was headed in the right direction. She was silently cursing Peter out for making this so difficult. It could have been the simplest task, finding Peter to talk to. She knew from her own experience that just thinking of him could bring him around.

"So where were you at two this morning, Peter? Or three? Or four?"

Peter was not going to make anything easy for her from now on, that was her prediction.

She was very close to being at Peter's own door when she stopped walking. She was on a clear path cutting through staggeringly tall trees on either side of her. She had that singular feeling that she was being watched.

"Okay Peter. Are you here?"

Because I am not in the mood for this.

She looked up to the treetops, trying to see if she could make out any suspicious movement.

"Peter, I need to talk to you. I came all the way here, I don't want to do it like this."

She was certain he was very near. She listened to see if she could decipher any noise that might give her a clue in which direction she should face when speaking. She thought she heard a rustling to the left and quickly turned in that direction.

"Peter?"

"Boo." He said flatly from her right, startling her slightly.

"Thanks for coming out Peter, I really needed to see you."

"Really." his voice dripped with sarcasm. She decided to ignore it.

"Peter, please. I didn't come back here with plans to hurt you. I really didn't. I didn't know what I was coming here for."

"You called me, Wendy."

"And what did I say to you? What did you hear when I called you from my dreams?"

Peter frowned; he could hear the challenge in Wendy's voice.

"You wanted to be here with me. You wanted freedom."

"I'll agree with you that what I was, no, I am, absoultly aching for is freedom. I wanted to be free of the arguments with my father. Free from the helpful, deceitful, 'chats' with my mother. Errg!" she groaned.

"You and I both know there is plenty of freedom here Peter."

"We can do anything Wendy." Peter took both of her hands in his.

"But Peter, the other part. You said I called out for you so we could be together. I think you know that's not true."

"What are you going to say? That you wanted to come back to be with Hook?" his grip tightened on her hands.

"Why would I have said that? I thought he was dead!"

"Maybe he'd been talking to you, visiting you!" his grip was now vise-like. Wendy pulled back to try and free herself.

"I only spoke to him again after you brought me back." She tried once more to pull herself free.

"That's it Peter! Let go of my arms! You're hurting me now!"

He repeated something he'd said the day before.

"I can't believe you'd do this to me!"

Peter let go of Wendy and she fell backwards. She landed hard on her backside. She tried to regain her composure and speak to him rationally.

"Peter, you're not being fair. I don't think you want to."

"What I want to? What …I…want… to" He charged her. He was enraged. He pushed her into the ground beneath him. His face, twisted with rage, hovered inches from hers.

Wendy was more frightened now than any other moment since returning to Neverland. She willed herself not to cry. She asked the next question earnestly hoping the answer was something she could deal with.

"What do you want Peter?" she said quietly

"I want you to kiss me and say you'll stay with me forever." His voice had become that of a petulant child's.

"I can't do that Peter."

"Yes you can!"

"Peter, please get off of me." She had tried very hard not to sound like she was begging him. She might have to admit to herself how overwhelming her fear was becoming. But then Peter was crushing his lips against hers. Wendy fought him frantically.

"Stop! No Peter, stop!" she struggled to turn her face away from his.

"Please, please stop." She gave way to the tears now. She could hear the desperation in her own voice. Finally, he rolled away from her.

"Why don't you love me Wendy?" it sounded like Peter was crying too, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him.

"You wouldn't listen to me when I tried to tell you what I felt…"

Wendy was still lying on her back. She turned her head to look up at the sky.

It all started with me making wishes on the sky…

She didn't turn her head any further in his direction, but she could see that Peter was sitting a few feet away from her. He was hugging his knees tightly. She spoke very quietly to him, in almost a whisper.

"I…do love you Peter. I'll love you forever. I will always have you to thank for Neverland, and freedom. You gave me so much."

"I want you to smile at me the way I saw you smile at him." He was crying. She turned her face towards him.

"It just can't be that way. I'm so sorry Peter."

Peter shook his head. He frowned as the tears dripped off his chin.

"He's not a nice man."

"I think he's changed. He's only been nice to me. I believe it's genuine."

"But I found you, and I brought you here."

Such a dirty trick I played on you…

"Peter, I think if you want love in your life, you could have it."

"What do you mean?"

"I think you know what I mean."

"You mean growing up!" he looked shocked.

"I don't know why you see so surprised. I think you knew it already. I think you already did allow yourself to, a little bit, or you wouldn't,"

"You're doing it again. I'm gonna stop listening to you in a minute if you keep it up."

Wendy struggled to sit up so she could look him in the eye.

"Peter we can't have every conversation end up like this."

"Then stop saying things I don't want to hear."

Wendy was tired. She wasn't sure why she had thought this would work.

"Peter, I need to go now. I need to be away from you. I need to not see you, not talk to you, and not think about you. I wanted to make you feel better about this and you hurt me. You hurt me Peter. I don't even know why I should have hoped for an apology."

Wendy got herself up from the ground. She brushed herself off a little and started to walk away down the path.

"Wait! Wait, Wendy." He sprang up and was next to her in an instant. She found herself tensing.

"I am sorry. I'm sorry Wendy. Please still be my friend."

"I need to trust you to let you be a friend."

"I'm sorry." He lowered his head in shame.

"And I would need something else."

"What?" he said as he looked back up.

"I would need you to promise me,promise me, that you will not hurt Captain Hook."

"But Wendy!"

"I want to give him a chance Peter. You don't need to do anything but leave him alone and let him be. Can you give me that?"

"You trust him now and not me?" his voice was filled with hurt, not anger.

"I've found it can be difficult to trust anyone here. But for now, yes, I trust him. He wants to be trusted, that I am certain of. I want to trust you too. But pushing me? Hurting me? What do you think I should do?"

Peter was quiet.

" Sometimes I'm still the same old Wendy…" she muttered

"I just want everyone to be happy." She said sadly and shrugged her shoulders as she turned and began her walk home.

A/N: Thanks to all who've been reading. Please be patient, I hope the next few chapters will be to everyone's liking. Tell me what you think.Please review. Thanks again for reading!