Greetings and Salutations,

I took Tate's description verbatim from the original script and added that line to the story ;) Also I like to play with the lyrics as music they hear and dialogue they used…

I will use "to wish impossible things" from the same record, I have written some future parts while I was writing this. :D

I update twice today but I don't think I will be updating again until next week… Tell me if you like it plz… or tell me if it's not the Tate you fancy :P, just review something I need some clapping cause my muse fairies are dying ;)

XXX OOO XXX

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6. Wendy Time – The Cure.

It was a warm and cozy Saturday night, the perfect evening for the Sawyers' party to meet the neighborhood.

Mrs. Sawyer loved Gatsby style so she had the garden decorated with thousands of candles and some white tents. There were also a band of musicians playing jazz songs.

The party was crowded. Veronica's mother was really happy. She didn't know that most of the people attended only to see the Murder house from the insides.

Veronica was in her bedroom writing the last days of her strange new life. She had found her diary under the bed and she had a lot to catch up with. Moira's trip to Lesbos Island was the cherry on top of the weird things she was living in the house.

The desk was in front of the window and she was peering at the party from time to time. People seemed happy, they were dancing and drinking and her parents were really charming hosts, chatting from group to group and smiling everyone. She should have joined them but she didn't feel like talking with all those strangers.

"You are going to die in there!" someone shouted to the window. Veronica had seen her a lot of times. She was a brunette girl and she had Down syndrome. She was wearing a childish bright green dress so the girl was spotted easily.

"I told you, Addie. Don't scare the new family" a blond guy approached to the girl and both of them went to the blue swing set.

Veronica observed the couple for a while. People didn't looked at them and that was odd cause the boy was gorgeous. They passed next to three teen girls and they didn't look at him, not even once. On the other hand, Veronica couldn't take her eyes off of him. He was wearing a dark blue sweater and a pair of old grey jeans. His hair was a golden mess and that girl named Addie was passing her fingers through it, trying to comb it anyhow. They were laughing and swinging. All of a sudden, the boy turned his head and looked Veronica right in the eye. He moved his right hand as if he was holding and invisible gun. Aiming to her head, he pulled the invisible trigger. "Paw!"

Veronica retreated to the dark side of her bedroom but she kept watching him. She was sure he couldn't see her in the shadows from that distance; however, the boy's black eyes followed every move she made.

"Veronica!" her mother startled her. "You said you would join us an hour ago. Come with me downstairs, sweetie. Mrs. Langdon wants to meet you".

…

Veronica was reluctant. Finally she got in the garden and went to his father. Mr. Sawyer was talking to an attractive blonde who grinned at Veronica the minute she appeared.

"You must be my new lovely neighbor, Veronica Sawyer" she greeted clasping her hand effusively. "I'm Constance and I live next door with my children".

"Constance was telling me right now that his son is homeschooling too" her father explained.

"Yes, that's the point. Isn't it a fabulous coincidence? You could study together, wouldn't it be wonderful?" Constance cheered and emptied her drinking with just one long sip.

"I don't know" Veronica felt trapped. She wouldn't get out of that issue easily; the woman was embracing her by the waist as if they were true friends.

Mrs. Langdon made Veronica turned to the right and then she pointed to the swing set. It was only ten steps afar. "Those are my children. That's my boy, Tate. He is also seventeen and a smart one. You two will get along easily… The girl is Adelaide. She's twenty five but you see, she is a special one, she'll always be a teenager".

"Lucky her" Veronica replied and she meant every word. She didn't like the tone Mrs. Langdon was using to speak about the siblings.

"You think so?" Constance asked astonished.

"I mean look at your daughter. I thought she was fourteen or fifteen. Her skin is perfect. Look how she truly smiles her brother, she is pretty inside out. She'll always be like that, you are right" Veronica uttered each word fast and Constance received them as she was slapping her on the face; the punch line was harder. "How old are you, Mrs. Langdon? 58? 59?" Veronica increased fifteen years the age she thought at first sight.

"My daughter is kidding, Constance" Mr. Sawyer intervened with a fake smile. "You are too young to be their mother but I believe you because they are as beautiful as you".

"She is not that beautiful but thank you. Dear god, that child! I will be taking care of her till the day she dies, if it doesn't kill me first" Constance choked on a laugh that Veronica loathed. "My boy, Tate, he is really perfect… I could use some more vine, please".

Addie waved "You are going to die in there". The girl was going to repeat the sentence joyfully and pretty much aloud, when Tate reprehended her with a frown.

"Why don't you go and say hello, Veronica?" Constance proposed.

Veronica didn't reply; she was staring to that handsome blonde. He was charismatic as hell, he could be a cult leader or a movie star and he was checking out Veronica from head to toes with a smirk.

"Veronica?" her mother couldn't break the trance Veronica went into. She was remembering the moment she first saw JD; the way they couldn't help watching each other. The blond one was staring at her in the same odd way and she felt immediately attracted; that could only mean bad news. All the alarms went on inside her chest.

"Veronica, you are being rude" her father told her off but she didn't hear him. She was just holding Tate's gaze.

"Is she a little retard too?" Constance murmured to Veronica's mother.

"She daydreams too much, that's all" her father responded and he took Constance near to a bartender.

"Smile and say Hi. Then you come back to me and we go to another group and you repeat the formula" her mother advised stroking Veronica's clothes. "That's all I'm asking you to do, honey. It's not much".

Greetings and salutations, Veronica thought. "OK. I can handle that" she said. Ten steps and she would have to say anything. Ten steps to think about something besides "Hi, I hate your mother. Can I kill her making it look like a suicide? Cause that's what I do when I hate someone. By the way, my name is Veronica". It could have been intense and funny. She came close to the swing set and Tate stopped the movement putting one foot on the lawn. "I like your dress" Veronica said to Addie.

"I heard what my mother told you about me and I heard you too... I like you" Addie smiled at her. "But you don't like my dress, that's a lie".

"You're wrong. You looked like Tinkerbell and I love it. You didn't hear the whole conversation. That's what your mother meant when she said you will be a teenager forever".

"You are lying again but I still like you" Addie laughed louder. "The only one who's gonna be a teenager forever is my brother and I'm not lying to you".

Veronica turned to face Tate. He has been looking at her all the time, studying the girl with curious eyes and mischievous smiles.

"Lucky you" Veronica needled him with a wink but Tate kept quiet. "I used to fall for the Peter Pan complex type but you are safe now; I moved on".

Tate started swinging again. They were silent for thirty nine seconds, looking each other without a word. "You said Addie reminds you of Tinkerbell; then you called me Peter" he teased Veronica when she was turning her back on him. "Are you a Wendy?"

"No, I'm a Veronica" she murmured facing Tate again. He was grinning satisfied. The coincidence made Veronica shudder. JD had asked her if she was a Heather when they spoke for the first time. She tried to forget it and said the first thing that came to her mind. Nevertheless, she has always been pretty direct. "We could be friends. You could even show me the neighborhood…"

"Tate doesn't like having friends" Addie interceded breaking the awkward moment of a new silence.

"What about you?" Veronica asked her. "Do you want to take a walk tomorrow morning?"

"Sure. Tomorrow morning? We can go to the beach".

"That's a deal!" Veronica shook Addie's hand and waved Tate. "See you later".

…

…

The last of the guests left the house at half past midnight. Veronica's parents went to bed right after and so did she. Veronica locked the door and then she suppressed a scream when she turned around.

"You said you'd see me later but you never came back. By the way, have you seen my shadow?" Tate was sitting on the window, smiling sexily. "I think I lost my shadow here a couple of nights ago". He laughed with his private joke about the black rubber suit. He was going to get into his latex shadow as soon as Veronica fell asleep and then he was going to fuck her until morning but right then he wasn't so sure. Maybe he didn't need that suit anymore. Maybe he could score being himself. The girl was different, he really liked her. Fucking would feel so much better than the previous nights if she were awake.

"How did you get here?"

"Flying" he replied sarcastically pointing the tree. "Did you like my welcoming present?"

"That heart-shaped box; that was yours, you left it here" Veronica nodded. She knew it was strange but it was also beautiful. She didn't feel scared at all. JD had sneaked into her room their first night together. She could get used to living those fantasies with hot boys.

"This used to be my bedroom" Tate said. "That's why I had the key I gave you. Don't freak out, I'm not a stalker".

"I don't freak out easily".

"I bet you don't" Tate laughed and jumped into the room. "Did you enjoy the fairy dust? Did it make you fly high?"

"I was waiting for a special occasion" Veronica walked to the drawer, took out the basket from its hidden place and handed it to Tate. "Here you are. I don't take presents from strangers. Thank you".

"Would you take it from a friend?" Tate picked up the little bottle, drank the half of it and offered Veronica the rest. "It's just some MDMA, ecstasy crystals in water; you'll fancy that".

"I thought you didn't like to have friends" Veronica replied quickly. She took the bottle and looked how that fairy dust was floating in the water, but she hesitated and didn't drink from it.

"Addie told you that, not me. By the way, you said friends are overrated".

"How long have you been spying on me?" Veronica winced.

"You also said you don't freak out easily, V."

"Let's hear some music" Veronica made up her mind and swallowed the liquid to the last drop. Next she was showing off about her collection of vinyl discs. Tate chose the Cure's last album and they sit on the floor to listen to it. Fifty minutes later, they laid on the floor, side by side and they were staring at the ceiling, laughing happily.

"You look like you could do with a friend" she said. "You look like you could use a hand. Someone to make you smile" she said. "Someone who can understand, share your trouble, comfort you, hold you close and I can do all of these, I think you need me here with you". (…)

"You know that you could do with a friend" she said. "You know that you could use a word like feel or follow or fuck" she said and laughing away as she turned "You've everything but no-one like the last man on earth…"

Veronica grabbed Tate's hand. He was shivering under her touch and rubbing her hands so slow. "You stare at me all strange" she said "Are you hungry for more?".
I've had enough (…), please leave me alone, please go. It doesn't touch me at all. It doesn't touch me at all… Tate was falling for her so he kept saying it was the ecstasy playing tricks on him. He was enjoying too much holding hands with her; finally, Tate got up abruptly. "This is not right. I changed my mind" He was still smiling anyway, he couldn't help it.

"Are you OK? What's the matter? I thought…"

Tate could barely look her in the eye. He felt strange, he felt remorse for the first time and he couldn't afford that. Nora needed a baby and that was his priority.

"I feel dizzy in a bad way" he lied. "I wanna go home".

"Are you coming to the beach tomorrow?" Veronica asked but no one answered her, she sat up to find out that she was all alone. "You forgot to kiss me goodbye, Peter" she whispered and laid down again.

Tate didn't allow her to see him but he was still there. He sat close to Veronica's head and leaned down to kiss her in the lips softly. Veronica just felt a light tickle. Tate felt a thunderbolt. She was so pretty. She was a strong one, a survivor. She would be leaving the house alive. The darkness couldn't claim her strength in spite of the killings she chained on her ankle. She didn't belong there but Tate felt she belonged with him. "It's just the MDMA. She doesn't touch me at all" he kept saying that to himself but the truth was that Veronica had touched him deep to his very dark soul with a sharp ray of light.

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That's all folks, I'm off to Neverland.