I'm sure everyone has woken up in the middle of the night at some inappropriate time before, but I really doubt anyone has woken up with a 12-year-old boy straddling them. It was probably around 5 AM at this point, and considering it was raining in Neverland, it was a unanimous decision that we needed to pitch tents. As opposed to the very solitary tree I was planning on sleeping under, I was forced to sleep under a cramped little tarp with a couple of tweens. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but everyone else thought it was the most hilarious thing in the world. This boy, of course, found it equally hilarious to piss me off.

"What the fuck?" I shrieked, shoving the boy off of me as hastily as possible and scrambling backwards. He and the other kids in the tent howled with laughter, doubled over their flimsy bedspreads in hysterics. The scowl on my face deepened, and I made my best attempt at leveling them with an even stare. This only made them laugh harder.

The same little punk that had so obviously violated my space managed to get a couple of words out through his obnoxious cackling, spit flying from his mouth as he did so, "Nice face, moron, that's a good look for you!"

A bent spoon was shoved into my hands, and I gazed in horror at the streaks of mud covering my face, intricately drawn to make me look like I'd just attended some wild Cherokee bonfire. Not two seconds after this discovery, the couple lost boys still in the tent had fled, simultaneously crying in laughter.

The walk to the nearest stream was shameful and depressing.

"I see you're having fun now, then?" A voice called to me whilst I was wiping my face off, causing me to let an ingrained sigh leave my lips.

Turning tiredly towards the direction of the speaker, I was unsurprised to find that it was Peter who was standing a little ways behind me. It was too goddamn early for this shit. "Yeah, very funny. Your boys are terribly behaved, Pan," I grumbled, less than excited that he intruded on my face-washing, "I thought you would've trained them better."

The tyrannous teenager chuckled lightly to himself, meandering his way towards me. "If you're to be a lost girl, you need to understand that everyone here is fair game. You don't get immunity for being a female," Peter remarked casually, shuffling the loose-packed dirt around with his shoes as he spoke.

"Well, it's a good thing I don't plan on being a lost girl, then," I quipped airily, continuing my work on wiping caked mud off of my skin.

He clicked his tongue audibly, a tell-tale sign that I was beginning to tick him off. Good – he deserves it. "I think it's hilarious that you had the nerve to trespass on my island, and continue to have trouble following my rules. Do I walk into your house and disrespect you? No." Pan stood barely an arm's length away from me, and I could practically feel the authority pouring off of him. It felt like I was being lectured by one of my past teachers for doing something wrong, resulting in them calling my parents and me crying my eyes out.

Making a point to avoid his venomous glare, I tossed the dirtied rag into the stream, trying to occupy myself. "If we're speaking technically here, then you really have done that to me," I mumbled apprehensively, cracking my knuckles in anxiety.

"How so, Melinda? Please elaborate for me."

Shaking my head minutely, I scrunched up my face as if thinking extra hard about something. "No reason, really. Just a thought."

He continued to stare at me, seemingly trying to undo some sort of complicated puzzle. "You should probably know that I hate liars," the brunette sighed in disappointment, crossing the short boundary between us in one short step, and raising his hand up treacherously. Instinctively, I flinched away, preparing to be socked in the face for even crossing paths with this little demon. His hand never connected, though, only the rough heel of his palm did as he rubbed his thumb along the corner of my right eye. I shrunk slightly, redirecting my gaze towards him in mild surprise. With a gracious smile on his face, he nodded in a mockingly warm fashion. "You missed a spot, darling."

I was absolutely disgusted. He fucking touched me.

Shrugging his hand away, I took a few steps back to distance myself from Mr. Darkness Incarnated. "Don't touch me like that. Don't touch me at all. I'm already stuck here – I don't need you up in my business on top of that," I ground out, my annoyance at an all-time peak.

Pan breathed in like it was the most refreshing thing in the world to see me squirm. Not like I didn't do it every fucking time he was around. "Good to know you've accepted that you're not leaving Neverland, then. Welcome aboard."

I was stunned, to say the least. Here I was, expecting him to spew some bullcrap about how, 'he could touch me however he wanted to' and I would thusly call him a disgusting asshole and try to take off his head, but no. All I could do was stare at him, dumbfounded, like I'd just been handed a military service uniform for no reason. I was sputtering stupidly at this point. Had I just walked right into that one? "We both know that's not what I meant! I fully intend on getting out of here one way or another, and I will be taking my friends with me!"

Peter nodded like it was the most profound, agreeable thing he'd ever heard. "So there's more than one friend on this island? It's not just Jacky? Good to know, also. You're here on a rescue mission." He tapped his hand lightly underneath my chin, an unspoken reminder to close my mouth and stop gaping like a fish. "You say a lot of dumb things when you're tired, Melinda. If you don't want me coming for crack-of-dawn visits, I'd work on that."

I made a move to retort back at him, but he just cut me off, drawing out his flute and wiping the rims off with his fingers. "Go back to bed, lost girl. I look forward to seeing you in the morning."

I'd like to say that I remember storming off back to my tent, frustratingly throwing myself onto my makeshift sleeping bag, and going to sleep, but I don't. After that, I can't seem to recall a thing. Horrifyingly, I will admit, that I fell asleep to the distant, haunting sound of music that night.

"How did I get so far from where I was? When did I decide to lose my way, and what have I become? I've got a new low, all 52 cards in a row. I see now that I won't let go, no I won't let go." – Middle Class Rut: New Low

AN: Hon, hon, hon. That's very saucy, Pan. Go eat a dick. Sorry for being so painfully slow with this update. I had a lot of trouble coming up with a good intro to the chapter… Not sure why… Don't worry, guys. I have plenty of ideas to expend on this story. This ship won't be sunken that easily, even if the captain takes frequent naps and stays up till 2 AM. How did you guys like Ariel? I thought… She and the whole episode was kinda boring. I mean, it was good. It just was disappointing. I'm ecstatic for today's, though! Hell yeah! Thanks to SweetMoonPrincess, claudialouise98, Gee Brittany, Msballetdiva, songbook12, innocent as far as you know, xenocanaan, and Rascal for reviewing! Glad to see everyone is enjoying the story! See you guys soon!