Chapter Eighteen: Instincts
Merida sat on her couch, looking at the ceiling.
She had gotten home from her date with Jim a few minutes ago, and she was tired.
After talking by the stream, Jim had taken her flying around for a while until it was time to take her home.
She sighed. The date went well enough, but she felt… guilty.
Peter walked through her door whistling.
"Hey, Mer."
Merida stayed staring at the ceiling, and she felt her stomach turn.
"Hey, Peter."
"How'd the date with Jim go?"
Merida started coughing and then sat up.
"Wh-What?"
Peter smirked.
"What, you think I didn't know? I knew before you knew."
Merida felt her stomach turn. Did that mean that he was okay with it?
"Oh."
Peter picked up her ankles, sat down on the couch next to her, and put her ankles on his lap.
"Yeah, Jim told me that he was gonna ask you, and I bet him that you wouldn't say yes. Too bad you did though, 'cause now I owe him some pie."
Merida laughed.
"Well, if it makes you feel better, I didn't realize it was a date when I agreed to go."
She felt a small stab of guilt in her chest. She was confused, what was going on with that?
Peter smiled.
"That means that he didn't really win! I've got to tell him-"
"No!"
Peter looked up at Merida, confused. She cleared her throat.
"I… I don't want him to feel bad."
It was true; She didn't want Jim to think that she didn't want to go on the date with him.
Peter smiled.
"Okay, but you've got to find the pie for me."
She smiled back at him.
"Okay."
Merida tucked her feet under her legs, and Peter put his hands behind his head.
"Well, now it's my turn."
She looked up at him.
"To put your feet up?"
Peter laughed.
"Nope, to take you on a date."
Merida stared at him, and he smiled at her.
"Peter, your bet with Jim is over."
He laughed.
"Yeah, I know. It isn't part of the bet, though. He got to go on one with you, so now it's my turn."
Merida's cheeks turned pink. She thought that Peter knew what a date was before, but now she wasn't quite sure.
"Peter... Do you even know what a date is?"
He nudged her arm.
"Of course I do. It's when a guy asks a pretty girl to go hang out with him for a while because, ya know, he thinks she's pretty."
Merida bit her lip to keep from laughing. That was probably one of best descriptions she'd ever heard of a date.
"So?"
Merida rubbed her arm. She wanted to say yes, but what about Jim?
Peter smiled at her.
"Come on, I promise it'll be fun. You already went somewhere today, so we can do it tomorrow."
She mimicked Peter's thinking face, and he laughed.
"All right."
Peter got up, beaming.
"Great! I'll come get you at," he made a thinking face "five?"
Merida laughed and nodded.
"All right. See ya then."
Peter walked out, and Merida ran to her phone.
"Tiana? I think you need to come back over."
She heard some noises on the other line.
"Five minutes."
"Wait, what?" Tiana asked, laughing.
"I told you. After my date with Jim, Peter came over and asked me on a date, too."
Tiana was still laughing.
"Is every single guy in Wonderland going to ask you out?"
"Tiana!"
Tiana tried to control her laughing.
"I'm sorry. It's just so funny."
"Why?"
Merida didn't think that it was funny, she thought it was confusing. She still felt guilt rolling through her stomach. Why was that happening?
"You were so set on not getting yourself into a relationship in your old world, and now you like two Wonderland boys."
Merida started to protest, but she didn't know what to say. Did she like them?
"I don't know if I like them."
Tiana folded her hands.
"Well, they definitely like you."
"I don't think Peter asked me on a date because he likes me." Merida said "He just thinks it'll be fun, kind of like a game."
There was that one time, when Peter took her to the lake. She was so sure that he liked her then, but he hadn't shown any interest since.
"And I suppose asking him is out of the question?"
Merida shot Tiana a look. She wasn't going to go around asking people if they liked her when she didn't even understand her own feelings.
"Look," Tiana said, looking at Merida. "I think you just need to take your mind off of this."
Merida raised her eyebrows.
"How?"
Tiana drummed her fingers on her thigh.
"Well, I think you would get along with Audrey."
Merida smiled at her.
"Are you sure you're not saying this because you can't stay with her all day tomorrow?"
Tiana raised her hands.
"Hey, I run a busy restaurant!"
Merida laughed.
"Plus, I already told her that you were going to go over tomorrow morning."
Merida swatted her with her hand.
"Just be over there around ten, okay? You'll feel better, and I'll be over at your house later tomorrow, anyway."
"Why?" Merida asked, confused.
"Well, someone needs to get you ready for your date."
They both laughed.
Merida took a deep breath and stared at the house she was walking toward.
It was already almost ten, and she was positive that this was Audrey's house. Tiana had said that she lived by Sweet, and he lived close to the hospital. This was the first house that she came upon.
She knocked on the door and prayed that she was right.
The door swung open, and a short girl looked up at Merida.
She had light brown skin, big brown eyes, and shoulder-length black hair.
"You Merida?"
Merida laughed.
"Yes. Are you Audrey?"
"Yup."
Audrey walked out the door and stood next to Merida with her hands on her hips.
"Looks like we've found the right people. So, what are we doing?"
Merida laughed again.
"We're just going to walk around Wonderland for a while."
"Sounds good, chica."
They began to walk towards town.
"Have you already been to town?"
Audrey rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I've been through all of that 'new-person-tour-stuff'."
"Well, what about the beach?"
Audrey looked up at her.
"No, not there yet."
Merida smiled. It had been easier for her to go back to the beach since Jafar was officially locked up.
"So you came from Sweet's universe, right?"
Audrey laughed.
"Yeah. He and I were on and exploring team together. Best doctor I've ever worked with."
"Well, we've all heard great things about you, too."
Audrey smiled.
"So you know that I'm a mechanic?"
"Yeah, Tiana told me."
Audrey cracked her knuckles.
"Ah, Tiana. I like that girl. She's tough."
She punched the air and Merida laughed.
"That's what I thought when I first met her, too. She's still the same."
By now, the girls were on the path towards Merida's house. Merida pointed down it.
"I live down at the end of that path, if you ever need to find me."
Audrey nodded, and they turned down the path and stopped at the cliff. Now that Merida had been there a few times, she knew that there was a steep path down on the right.
"You okay with climbing a bit?"
Audrey practically threw herself off the cliff's side.
"As long as you are."
The two girls climbed down and landed on the sand. Audrey ran to the water, too k off her shoes, and walked right in. Merida did the same.
"You know, I've never been to a beach before."
Merida picked up rock and threw it across the water.
"I hadn't either before I came here."
Audrey watched the rock skip across the water and then mimicked it.
"You have a pretty good arm." Audrey said, watching her own rock skip down.
"Thanks, you too."
Audrey smiled up at her, and Merida felt the water with her hand.
"So, what year are you from?"
"1914. You?" Audrey answered without missing a beat.
"The tenth century."
Audrey laughed.
"No way! That's so cool. And I thought I was from old times."
Merida laughed.
There was a noise that Merida recognized, and she looked up to see sand flying.
"What the heck is that?" Audrey asked, shielding her eyes.
"Merida?" Jim asked, getting off of his solar-surfer.
"Who are you?" Audrey asked, her hands on her hips.
Merida had to suppress a laugh. She seemed to do that stance a lot.
Jim walked up to her and smirked.
"Well, who are you?"
They stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Audrey." She said, crossing her arms.
"Jim." He said, and he looked at Merida.
"Showing her around?"
"Yeah." Merida said, stepping out of the water.
"This thing is so cool!"
Jim and Merida turned to see Audrey on top of the solar-surfer, inspecting all of its gears and switches.
"Hey, be careful with that, I built that myself!" Jim said, and Audrey looked up at him.
"How?" She asked, her eyes shining.
"I'll tell you if you can get it to start."
Audrey went to work searching for different gears and buttons. Merida put her shoes on.
"Think you can take it from here?" He smirked at her.
"Yeah, I can handle her."
"Hey, Audrey, I've got to go, but Jim's going to be here, okay?"
"Okay." Audrey yelled out, but Merida doubted that she knew what she had said.
Merida walked home, watching Audrey and Jim until she couldn't see them anymore.
Once she was in her house, she looked at the clock. It read one, and she sighed. How did time pass so fast, yet so slow?
Merida quickly decided that a shower was the best thing to do, because she was covered in sand.
She got into her shower, taking extra time to make sure that she was completely clean. She also took an extra twenty minutes to brush out her hair to make it easier for Tiana later.
Once she was out of the shower, she put on stretchy shorts and a white T-shirt, and then sat on her couch until Tiana arrived.
The two girls went into Merida's room and Tiana sat her down on the stool.
"So, do you have a date for tomorrow yet?" Tiana asked, running her fingers through Merida's hair.
Merida stuck her tongue out at the mirror, and Tiana snickered.
"Let me guess, Peter didn't tell you what you guys are doing, right?"
Merida watched her braid the sides of her hair into a crown.
"Yup."
Tiana secured the braids.
"Well, let's go with something practical then."
Tiana walked over to Merida's closet and riffled through her clothing.
"We need to go shopping again…" Tiana mumbled.
Merida rolled her eyes. There was no reason to go shopping; None of her clothing was falling apart.
"Here." Tiana said, pulling out a white blouse that had buttons down the front.
She grabbed a pair of knee-length jean shorts and threw them at Merida with the shirt.
Merida changed into the clothes while Tiana pulled out colorful containers.
"Tiana, I don't think Peter cares if I wear make-up."
Tiana continued to lay out the colors.
"He does. He thinks you look pretty either way, but you look 'different in a pretty way' when you wear it."
Merida colored.
"How would you know that?"
"He told me."
Merida was going to ask when she finds time to talk to Peter, but decided against it. Of course Peter talked to people besides her. She sat down on the stool and closed her eyes.
After about a half an hour, Tiana allowed Merida to look at her reflection.
Her cheeks had light pink dust on them, and her eyelids had light purple colors. Her eyelashes extended farther than normal, and were darker. She looked down at her lips, which were coated in gloss.
"Thanks, Tiana."
"No problem, honey." Tiana said, putting the containers away.
Merida looked up at the clock and gasped. It was already almost five.
"Call me tomorrow." Tiana said, walking out the door.
Merida looked back at her reflection and sighed. She did look nice, and she liked that Tiana had left her hair mostly down. She was thankful for the shorts, too, because they would probably be flying.
She strung on her necklace, and then looked at the clock. Peter would be there to get her any time.
She went to her front room and waited. She was nervous, which she told herself was ridiculous. She hung out with Peter all the time, didn't she?
"But this isn't just hanging out." A little voice in the back of her head said.
She ignored it and tried to quiet the butterflies in her stomach.
After a few minutes of fidgeting, there was a knock at the door. Merida looked at the clock: It was exactly five. She smiled.
She opened the door, and Peter was standing there. He smiled at her.
"I brought you some flowers." He said, handing her the flowers. She looked down at them; They were hand-picked.
"Thank you," She said, smiling at him. "I'll go put these in water. You can come in if you'd like."
Peter stepped into her house. He was wearing black pants and a short sleeved white button down.
Merida smiled. Peter looked nice in dress clothes.
She quickly got the flowers into a vase and put them on her table. Peter smiled at her.
"You look beautiful."
She blushed.
"Thank you." She said.
They walked outside.
"So, where to?"
Peter grabbed her hand.
"Shh, it's a secret."
Peter pulled her off the ground, and they began to fly toward… well, she didn't know. Merida had never been the way that Peter was taking her before.
"Just a bit longer." He said.
When they touched down on the ground, Merida looked around.
They were standing in grass next to a lake.
Peter took her hand and walked her to a dock, where a small rowboat was sitting. He helped her in, and then got in himself and paddled them into the middle of the lake.
Merida looked around. Were they going to be floating around in a boat the whole time?
She tried to think of something to say.
"It's so beautiful out here." She said, and Peter laughed lightly.
"This isn't why I brought you here."
"Then why-"
"Two things," Peter said, smiling at her. "the first is the sunset."
"And the second?"
"You'll know it when you see it."
Merida looked at the sky; There was still a little while until sunset.
"So, where are we?" She asked, looking around.
"Near Ariel's house." Peter said. "There's a lot of Wonderland that you haven't seen before."
Merida nodded. That made sense, didn't it? She mostly stayed in the same places.
"It's a lot easier to see everything when you can fly, you know."
"But I can only fly when I'm with you."
Peter smirked.
"Then I'll just have to take you to see everything."
Merida felt butterflies in her stomach. She knew that it was possible that Peter didn't mean that the way that it sounded, but they were on a date, floating in the middle of a lake, so she couldn't help but wonder.
As the light was fading, Peter pointed to the horizon.
"The sun is setting now."
They watched the sun fall behind the horizon, and then it began.
It started with one, but soon enough, there were hundreds. Paper lanterns floated into the sky and onto the lake.
"How-?"
"Every year on Rapunzel's birthday, paper lanterns fall over the water."
They watched the lights float around them, and Merida looked into the trees. It was pitch black outside, but the lanterns lit up the area for hundreds of feet around.
"Do you like it?" Peter asked, smiling. His eyes looked so hopeful.
"Yes." Merida said.
She turned to look at him, but his face was closer than she thought.
"Hey Merida?"
She felt her stomach turn.
"Yeah?"
"Remember that bet we made?"
She meant to laugh, but a light breath came out.
"Yeah?"
"I want to use my prize now."
Merida tried to smile, but she was too nervous.
"What do you want?"
He smiled slightly.
"Can I have a kiss?"
Merida couldn't even think straight anymore. There were too many feelings bouncing around in her head, and too many things happening in her chest.
She swallowed hard.
She meant to say something, but she couldn't make words come out.
Suddenly, warm lips were pressed against hers.
When they started to go away, her thoughts were still confused, but something was telling her that that wasn't okay.
Her arms pulled the lips back without her telling them to. It's good that they did that, because she couldn't think clearly enough to act on her own. She could feel them smiling, and they slowly pulled away.
"You know, I only asked for one."
Merida felt a blush return to her cheeks.
"Sorry."
"No, Mer, don't apologize."
Merida laughed lightly and smiled. She still felt butterflies knocking around inside of her, but they weren't quite as terrifying now.
Peter sat down where his feet were supposed to go.
"Come 'ere." He said, and he pulled her next to him.
She felt the impulse to lean her head against his shoulder. She was going to ignore it, but decided to trust what her instincts were saying, because they had gotten her this far.
She put her head on his shoulder, and he straightened up.
Her red hair was sprawled out over her face, and he put it behind her back.
"Your hair is crazy, you know that?" He said in a low voice, playing with one of the curls.
"Yeah." She said, and laughed quietly.
They were silent for a while, and Merida began to try and sort through her feelings.
When she had been with Jim, she had felt guilty. She tried to search for some kind of feeling of guilt, but she could only find butterflies.
Peter began to play with her fingers on the hand closest to him.
"I guess you know now, don't you." He said.
She looked down at the hand that he had as he slipped his fingers into it.
"What?" She asked.
Her heart was beating faster than normal, and she was so nervous that she could only get out monosyllables.
"That I like you." He said, looking down at her.
She laughed a shaky laugh and tried to find words.
"I…"
Merida was still staring at their hands. His felt so warm against hers, and it fit perfectly.
"I think I like you, too."