Edit (11/21/2011): Changed the summary.

Edit (12/29/2011): Changed the summary again.

Disclaimer: Peter Pan and the Lost Boys don't belong to me. The iPod doesn't belong to me either. Speaking of which, rest in peace, Steve Jobs. And guess what else I don't own—the song Out of My League by Stephen Speaks.

No weird rant this time. Sorry. ^ _ ^;

The story so far: During her first night in Neverland, Alice got her period. Thankfully, Tinkerbell helped her, but the morning after left her with stains on both her sheets and her clothes. After breakfast, she taught a new game to Peter and the Lost Boys.

Enjoy!

Redrum

Summary: Alice is a teenager with normal teenager problems, except that she's another one of Wendy's descendants who get whisked off by Peter Pan. Will he be able to make her forget about Matt? Peter x OC, present generation. Disney-verse. Expect love triangles.

Chapter 3

Of Songs and Silhouettes

Alice fixed herself up, straightening the wrinkles on her tank top, and lay down on the grass. "Okay, I have to admit, these tights are the weirdest things I've ever worn."

Even Peter could see how odd it looked on her now that she wasn't wearing her sweater. He looked back at the treehouse and thought of Alice's clothes.

"We could go back and check to see if your clothes are dry yet," he offered.

"In a minute," she murmured, closing her eyes.

Peter laughed again. "Don't fall asleep."

"I won't."

In no less than—as Alice said—a minute, she was up and heading back to the treehouse with Peter trailing just behind her. Slightly saw them and asked if they were headed back. He didn't need an answer though, and soon he and the other Lost Boys were also on their way to the treehouse.

Peter gathered the Lost Boys in the living room while Alice changed into her underwear and shorts after plucking another leaf from Tinkerbell's tree. The pixie was fast asleep in her hollow, so Alice had to sneak in to get the leaf.

When she entered the living room, she saw that each Lost Boy was preoccupied with his own little game. The twins were playing jackstones, Cubby was having a snack, Slightly was playing Peter's flute, and Tootles and Nibs were chasing each other around the room. Peter, on the other hand, was resting on a makeshift couch.

"You like music?" Alice asked upon seeing Peter's flute.

"This is Peter's," the fox suit-clad Lost Boy explained, handing it over to Alice. "But I made it."

"It's nice," she said with a sweet smile. She missed her iPod back home and she wished she had brought it with her. Of course, Peter rushed her to go to Neverland, so she wouldn't have remembered it anyway.

Peter (speak… or rather, think of the devil) floated beside her in a sitting position and grabbed the bamboo flute from her. "You wanna hear me play it?" he asked with an enthusiastic grin. He didn't wait for Alice to answer for he had already begun playing a catchy tune on it.

Alice giggled in amusement. "Say, would you boys happen to know what a guitar is?" she asked.

Slightly lit up. "I have one!" He disappeared into one of the hallways and soon came back with a small acoustic guitar in one hand. "I saw a man playing it once when Peter took me to… no, it wasn't London…" He trailed off.

"It was in Essex," Peter corrected.

"Yeah, in Essex!" the younger boy exclaimed. "When he saw me, he gave it to me. But I don't know how to play it."

Alice smiled at him, "I know how to play it. Come, I'll teach you."

Since Peter's original seat on the couch was now empty, she took his place and moved to the side to let Slightly squeeze in beside her. Before anything, she began tuning the guitar, while giving the Lost Boy a short lesson on how to tune a guitar. Then she let him hold the guitar and grabbed his hand and positioned the boy's fingers on the fretboard.

As she taught him the different chords, the other Lost Boys noticed them and began to gather around the couch. Peter floated off to the side and assumed a lying position, rolling his eyes at the two children on the couch. Alice only noticed the other Boys when Tootles nudged her leg.

"Play something for us, Alice!" Slightly beamed. His plead was followed by the other Boys' own pleads for Alice to play them a song.

She was slightly flustered and embarrassed with their pleads. "Well, I'm not very good at…"

Naturally, she trailed away when she saw their large eyes and pouty lips. She let out a defeated sigh and held the guitar. Slightly moved a bit so he was seated on the couch's armrest and held Tootles on his lap.

"I don't know what sorts of songs you listen to, but I'll sing you a few of my favorites from the States. This is—" She cleared her throat. "—a song that was sung to me by… an old friend." Subconsciously, she smiled as she said that.

Alice began plucking the guitar strings and soon her singing voice followed. Her voice was soft, but the room was so quiet that everyone could hear her.

"It's her hair and her eyes today,
that just simply take me away…"

Upon hearing the first few lines, Peter looked up from his sulking position and also began listening to the song. He remembered Wendy singing a lullaby to them, but this was different.

"And the feeling that I'm falling further in love
makes me shiver but in a good way."

The melody carried the Boys into an illusion. There was nothing to see in particular, but each of them felt so peaceful as they listened to Alice's song.

"All the times I have sat and stared
as she thoughtfully thumbs through her hair."

The girl's voice wasn't nearly as angelic as Wendy's voice was all those years ago when she sang them a lullaby, but it was soothing to listen to Alice.

"And she purses her lips, bats her eyes and she plays,
with me sitting there slack-jawed and nothing to say…"

The Boys definitely liked listening to Alice sing. Slightly seemed to be the most eager one for he kept his eyes on Alice's hand to look at the chords as she played.

"'Cause I love her with all that I am,
and my voice shakes along with my hands,
'cause she's all that I see and she's all that I need
and I'm out of my league once again."

The chorus went by smoothly, though Alice's voice began to shake toward the last line. She cleared her throat and stopped the guitar's strings, immediately catching everyone's attention. However, the girl began rubbing her eyes with her fist, as though trying to avoid eye contact.

"What's wrong, Alice?" Slightly asked, looking up at her.

"It's nothing…" Her voice faltered when she answered, but she tried to compose herself with a nonchalant sigh. "Sorry, Slightly, would you mind if I teach you later instead?" She turned to the other boys who all had their pleading faces again. "I'll sing for you again later, okay? For now, I have to rest…"

Alice stood and began to make her leave. The Boys, Slightly in particular, followed her with their eyes until she turned at the hallway. When the brunette disappeared, the fox suit-clad Lost Boy took his guitar and attempted to recall the chords Alice had shown him.

Peter crept away from the room and into the hallway to follow Alice. He guessed that she had gone to her room, and naturally, he was right. He was half-expecting her to be sobbing at her bed, half-expecting her to be preparing to sleep. However, Alice was just sitting on her bed all huddled up. She had put on her sweater again and had her knees against her chest.

"You have a nice voice, Alice," he started as he approached her cautiously, as though approaching a shy animal. "It's perfect for a mother."

But the girl didn't thank him. Instead, she turned to look out the window, to look at the clouds in the bright blue sky. "Do you know that song, Peter? The song I just sang?"

He sat on the edge of the bed. "No, I've never heard it before."

Alice leaned her head on the wall below the window and her fingers circled on the bed sheet. "A special person sang it to me once," she murmured in a dreamlike state. "He said the girl in the song was me."

Peter turned to face her in the corner. He caught a glimpse of her eyes—they were twinkling from the tears that had begun to form. She looked sad. "Alice?" he called. "What's wrong?"

"I miss him dearly," she answered mysteriously with a look of longing in her blue eyes.

The boy was conflicted—he'd never liked it when a friend asked to go home, even though he knew from the start that they would, but he didn't like seeing a friend like that. It was simply no fun.

In the end, he gave in to concern. "Do you want to go home?" he asked, instantly regretting it the moment he said it.

She shook her head and smiled sadly at him. "I can still stay for a while." Then she cleared her throat. "Anyway, I think I need a bit of fresh air. I'll just go out for a while."

"I'll come with you," he offered. "You look like you could use the company."

Peter stood tall in front of the brown-haired girl and bowed courteously. "Fair maiden, would you do me the honor of accompanying you to the balcony?"

Alice decided to play along and giggled at him. "Why, Sir Peter, the honor would be mine." She hadn't quite played pretend in a while. As much as she missed it, she would have been embarrassed if her friends at home found out that she still played these games.

The green-clad Peter Pan took her by the hand and led her outside to the porch. Alice leaned on the wooden railing and gazed out at the sunset. She wanted nothing more than to forget about Matt and his carnal desire for a voluptuous teenage girl.

"I don't know what I see in him," she muttered under her breath.

"See in who?" Peter asked from behind her, nearly making her jump in surprise.

A sigh escaped her, and she turned abruptly and looked Peter in his dark eyes. "It isn't something I'd like to talk about right now, Peter. I went out for air, not for a heart-to-heart with you."

The boy decided to change the subject. He noticed that she was rather on edge, and he knew better than to fuel a girl's rage. After all, he'd learned from Tinkerbell, Tiger Lily and the mermaids at the lagoon, and even from Wendy and Jane. Alice, in fact, seemed even more irritable than all the other girls he knew. And she seemed a bit crazier, too…

"Ah, I should've brought my sweater out…" he heard her say to herself.

"Cold?" he asked.

Her silhouette nodded. "A bit."

The sun was sinking faster than it did on Earth, so naturally the air was growing cooler by the minute. She hugged herself for warmth but suddenly felt warmth on her back.

Alice turned around and was met with Peter's neck. From her grandmother Jane's stories of the boy who never grew up, she had expected him to be no taller than herself, but this boy was a head taller than her. The afternoon sunlight illuminated his Adam's apple and collarbones. Perhaps he had gone through puberty from the days he spent on Earth?

He seemed to be standing behind her—or rather, in front of her now—to provide her with some body warmth. When she looked up to see his face, she found that he was just looking at her with his big brown eyes.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

Peter scratched the back of his neck and chuckled mischievously. "Well, you said you were cold."

Alice didn't say anything in turn. She didn't quite mind the physical contact, having gotten used to her guy friends at home as well as the Lost Boys who always hugged her. To her, Peter was just another guy friend and maybe even another Lost Boy, though he was certainly different from her other guy friends.

Instead, her mind brought her back to thinking about her problem with Matt. Even though she wanted to just forget about him, she knew in her heart that she couldn't do that. At least, not in one day. She needed to check on him.

"I might have to go home tonight, Peter," she blurted out.

The boy stepped away from her and gaped at her in shock. In all honesty, though, Alice didn't know where such a thought came from either.

"What?" he exclaimed. "But you just told me you could stay for a while!"

"Uhh… well—" Now it was Alice's turn to scratch the nape of her neck. "I have to attend to some personal matters, and my mom is probably worried sick about me. And really, I just need to fix something…" She tried to level herself with him so she could look him in the eye. "Look, if you want, you can watch over me while I'm there. I won't take too long."

Peter was reluctant at first, but he did agree to take her back. He turned to call for Tinkerbell, but Alice demanded that he take her back to London immediately. Again, he couldn't seem to do anything but comply with the young girl.

"Slightly!" the red-haired boy called through the window. No sooner than a second did the fox-clad Lost Boy appear and salute before him. "Alice is going to London for a bit, and you're in charge until we get back."

"Will I call Tink, Sir?" the younger boy asked.

"No need," Alice replied just as Peter opened his mouth to answer. "I just really wanna get home as soon as possible. Very important, uhh… matters."

Without another word, Peter carried the girl again on his back and flew her out of Neverland and back to London. They entered through the old nursery window, which had been open since Alice left.

When they arrived, they were greeted by an old lady in a nightgown. She quickly recognized the auburn-haired child who carried her granddaughter and approached the pair.

"Peter!" the old lady called as her granddaughter hugged her in greeting.

The boy looked strangely at the woman, as though trying to remember who she was. She had the same old tomboyish haircut, though her bright blue eyes hid behind a pair of eyeglasses. Her smile was unmistakable—she was…

"Jane?" he murmured in disbelief.

"Yes, it's me, Peter," she said. "It's been a while since you came to visit."

"I visited a few times, but the house was empty," he explained. "And there were these weird… exploding things falling from the sky."

"The last time you visited was during the war?" Alice asked, raising an eyebrow at him. "That was over sixty years ago, Peter!"

The young girl went over to the wooden box beside the window and grabbed the phone. She turned to Jane and asked her something Peter couldn't quite understand. He saw the old lady nod to her granddaughter, and Alice pressed some buttons on the odd device she held.

"I'm afraid I can't stay here in this room with the two of you, Peter," Jane said. "I must go and tell Alice's mother that she is safe. But from the looks of it, she's still going to return to Neverland, isn't she?"

Peter nodded and his eyes followed his old friend as she left the nursery. Then he turned to Alice who kept the small device near her ear. He didn't understand what she was doing, but that must have been what she went back to do.

"April?" she murmured into the device. She seemed to be having a one-sided conversation with the device as she paused after nearly every sentence, as though waiting for a response.

"Sorry, did I wake you up? Oh, okay…"

She paced around the room as she talked to the device. Peter, on the other hand, remained where he stood and watched the young girl on the phone.

"Do you have any news on him?"

"No, I want to forget about him."

"Of course I do, April."

Amidst her pacing, she nearly bumped into Peter. "—Oh dear God!" She glared at the tall boy who could only look at her in bewilderment and grin sheepishly. "Peter, will you just—ugh… no, April, there's this guy—God, no, April! Eww, no, not Peter—what, no! He's… APRIL!"

Alice groaned in exasperation. "Sorry, I have to go." She finally removed the phone from her ear and set it back down on the wooden box. Before turning to Peter, she rummaged through her clothes pile, retrieved a handful of curious looking packets and jammed as many as she could into a small bag.

"Alright, we can go back now. But I'm having a wonderful headache right now, Peter," she grunted. "Could you, uhh…"

"No problem, princess," he answered with a charming smile as he picked her up and carried her as a husband would his wife.

And again, they were in the sky. Alice felt the need to shift awkwardly in Peter's arms, but she couldn't for fear of falling again. The flight back to Neverland was quite short. By then, the sun had completely gone down and had been replaced by the moon.

When they arrived at the treehouse, the Lost Boys were still playing. The youngest ones seemed to be growing tired though, so as their mother, Alice urged them to go to bed. Naturally, they wouldn't budge. In fact, the only Boy she managed to convince was Tootles, but only because he was genuinely and honestly sleepy. She sat on the floor and ran her hand through the little boy's hair as he slept on her lap.

Peter was perched on the couch—his makeshift throne—and played his bamboo flute. Nibs was sitting on the armrest, tinkering with Slightly's guitar. Cubby was playing with the twins and always seemed to confuse them with one another. Slightly entered the room from the porch and silently approached Alice.

"Slightly, is something the matter?" she asked when he sat down beside her.

"Nothing much," he replied with a yawn. "I'm just awfully sleepy."

"Aww, he just wants to sleep on your lap," Peter muttered in a sulky tone.

"And is the great Peter Pan jealous of that?" she teased with a giggle.

"'Course not!" he scoffed.

From beside him, Nibs stood up and approached Alice. "Sing us a lullaby, mother!" he said, handing her Slightly's guitar.

"I can't play the guitar like this, Nibs," she answered, gesturing at the two children sleeping on her lap.

"You don't need to play that thing to sing a lullaby," Peter said, floating to where Alice sat. "Wendy didn't have a guitar when she sang for us. Just sing." He settled just behind Alice and lay down on the floor, covering his eyes with his green cap.

"But I don't really know any lullabies…" the girl murmured.

"Just sing whatever you wanna sing," he yawned.

Alice paused to think of any lullabies she might know, but her thoughts were interrupted by the familiar tingling sound of a certain fairy she knew. "Hey, Tink," she said. "Haven't seen you all day."

The green-clad pixie flailed her arms and rang like a service bell, as though explaining or telling a story to the girl.

"Fireflies, huh?" the young girl repeated. "Well, have fun, then."

As Tinkerbell flew out the window, Alice lay down on the floor and yawned sleepily. She used Peter's tummy as a pillow, and waking up, the boy gently ran a hand through her soft brown hair. She was already half-asleep when she heard Peter's stomach grumbling, and the girl couldn't help but laugh.

"I think you need a midnight snack, Peter," she giggled. "Your stomach's complaining."

Before Peter could respond, the other Lost Boys suddenly surrounded the small group and leaned on them, using the two eldest children as pillows.

"Goodnight, Alice," one of the twins said, hugging Peter's left calf while using his thigh as a pillow.

"Goodnight, Peter," the other twin said, in the same predicament as his brother with Peter's right leg.

"G'night, Mother," Cubby yawned, leaning his head on Peter's arm. "G'night, Peter."

Alice glanced at Slightly and Tootles who were both fast asleep on her lap. "It looks like Slightly and Tootles went ahead," she giggled. "Goodnight, boys." She glanced at Peter above her. "Goodnight, Peter."

The boy brushed her hair with his hand in response. "Goodnight, Alice."

First of all, I apologize for using a song in this chapter, but Alice is supposed to be very musically inclined, so it's rather inevitable. But this isn't a songfic. The song may or may not play a part in the plot, but the entire fic doesn't revolve around songs. They're just part of Alice's personality (and Slightly's as well). Oh, and watch out for other songs, too. I might add more to the Redrum playlist~

Okay, apparently, this is the first time it took more than a day for a chapter. Well, it's my first time writing a longfic (and actually uploading it anywhere), so please excuse the short chapters. They're 6-8 pages each on MS Word (in Cambria size 12), but my chapters are longer in original stories. I guess I'm just afraid my readers would get bored if the chapters are too long. But judging from the longfics I read before, long chapters are wonderful, wonderful things.

What is it with me and rambling every time I finish a chapter? Haha, yeah.

R&R, loves.

~ froggy