"This is my daughter, Cara," she introduced me. I timidly stepped into the light. I felt the eyes of boys of many ages upon me, assessing me. It was all silent in the room, my mother and Peter looking somewhat nervous. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, one of the younger boys piped up, "She doesn't talk much." I responded with a smile, crouching down to meet his eye level, "That's because I don't have much to say."
"Oh, I think you have plenty you'd like to say," a deep voice said behind me. I slowly turned around, already knowing who it would be. I craned my head up to see his face, and I could not mistake the scar, or the deep pools of blue that were his eyes. "Felix," I breathed. A faint look of amusement fluttered over his features. "So you've heard of me. Well, I have heard of you too. Though, Peter's description of your beauty does not do you justice, Cara Darling." He said as he took my hand and kissed it. I blushed and looked away. "Alright Felix, charming as you may be, I'll have to ask that you refrain from hitting on my daughter." Mom said from behind us. Felix laughed and I turned around and glared at her. She simply looked at me sternly. "I think I should show her around, Wendybird." He said, completely ignoring her request, though I couldn't say I was upset about that.
Felix abruptly took my hand and led me out of the common room. I followed him, struggling to keep up with his long strides. He showed me the room where most of the boys slept. It was dirty and messy, just how you would expect any boy's room to be. Then he showed me his room, somewhat shyly. To my surprise, it was very orderly and sparse, save for some handmade trinkets and a notebook on the bed. I walked over to it and picked it up. "Oh! I… uh… meant to put that away… I didn't know anyone was coming…" he trailed off, stuttering. I ignored him, cute as he was, and flipped through the book. It was a book of sketches, marvelous ones at that. He sketched the boys some, but mostly I was intrigued by his drawings of the island. They were so detailed and vivid; I couldn't believe they had come from his hand. I was in awe of his talent. As I flipped to the back of the book I came across a few drawings of a woman; she seemed middle aged and kind faced, with laugh lines around her eyes. Underneath one of the sketches, there was a note. It read,
"Mother- I'm sorry that I left you. I'm so, so sorry. I just couldn't stand to be around them anymore. I wish I could have taken you with me. I regret it with all my heart that you were left behind to deal with that monster. I promise I will come back for you. I love you. Yours Forever, Felix."
I looked up, and he looked away. I put the notebook back down and walked up to him, touching his face. He slowly swung his head back to me and I could see the tears glistening in his eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck and enveloped him in a fierce hug. At first he didn't know what to do, but then he put his arms around my waist and hugged me back.
"I should explain," he said after our long embrace. "You don't have to," I said gently. "I know, but… I want to," he responded. "Okay," he began, "first of all, my father was… he wasn't a nice man. He sometimes did things to me and my mother. Bad things. He would hit us and punch us until we bled. He came at me one night. He was drunk, and he had broken his beer bottle. He blamed me for that and everything else that went wrong in his miserable life. He came at me with the broken glass, and, well, that's how I got this," he said, gesturing to his scar. "After that, I ran away. I couldn't take it anymore, and that's when Peter found me. He took me away to Neverland and I've been happy here, really I have. I just always carry around with me this guilt at leaving her. I don't expect you to understand any of this. After all, you have Wendy as your mom." "Oh, but I do understand," I said softly. I rolled up my sleeve to show him the burn scars where my father put out his cigarettes on my arm. I told him my story and how I got there. "Oh Cara," he breathed, taking my face in one hand. I closed my eyes and relaxed into his touch. When I opened my eyes again, his face was much closer to mine, and I could almost feel the ghosting of his lips on mine. Then someone coughed in the doorway. It was Peter. "So close," I thought I heard Felix whisper before he moved away. "What is it, Peter?" His gruff façade back on. "There's something I need the two of you to see."