Edit (12/29/2011): Changed the summary.
Disclaimer: I don't own Peter Pan and the characters in this story, apart from Alice. I also don't own the song Hey Stephen. That belongs to Taylor Swift (and them other people, if there are other people who own that song). Another thing I don't own: Romeo and Juliet. I assume you'd figure that out on your own, but just in case. Yeah, totally not mine.
Sorry for putting in a Taylor Swift song here. She has so many love songs that fit Alice's situations (as a preteen with preteen problems), so expect more of those. I'll try to avoid adding in songs though. Nothing's better than a good ol' regular chapter with fluff and/or UST, amirite? Of course I'm right.
The story so far: Alice was kidnapped by Hook and his crew in the middle of the night. However, instead of the straight-out usage of the girl to get to Peter, Hook intends to befriend her and make Peter look better in Alice's eyes, in the hopes of getting her to fall in love with the boy who never grew up. Peter rescued her and the two fall asleep together out in the forest. When they get home the next morning, Alice learned about Peter's feelings about her, about growing up, about being left behind.
Expecto - Thanks for reviewing! I tried my best to write quickly (I usually write on my phone when I can't access my laptop) so I can upload quickly too. I'll try to finish this because I know how it feels when you're following something and the author doesn't finish it. D:
the . bat . mobile (for some reason without the spaces, it just comes out as .mobile) - Thank you! I haven't written fluff in such a long time that I don't even know how to write proper hardcore fluff, but thanks so much for seeing the good in my own fluff. ^_^; I'll definitely try to finish, even with school and all.
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 5
Girls
Alice had been in Neverland for three days now. She liked being away from her busy life in America, but that was the very reason that she and her mother went to London in the first place. And now she was spending her vacation away in an entirely different world.
Although she did enjoy the company of Peter and the Lost Boys, she simply wanted to be around people similar to her. Hook and his crew, though adults, carried the risk of harming her, and she knew very well that Peter didn't trust the pirates. Perhaps what Alice was looking for wasn't the company of an adult. Instead, perhaps she was looking for somebody she could relate with—a girl.
"Aren't there any girls in Neverland?" Alice sighed, blowing her bangs away from her forehead. She had just finished her guitar lesson with Slightly for that morning. "Apart from Tinkerbell, that is."
"Well, 'course there are, Alice," the boy answered with a grin. "There's the mermaids an' Tiger Lily. But the mermaids don't like anyone except Peter. They once tried to drown me!"
"That's nothin' but a bunch of ol' fish tales," Nibs butted in. "You've never went near the mermaids!"
"I did too!" Slightly whined. "Splashed water at me, they did. Then one of 'em tried to pull me into the lagoon."
Cubby seemed to overhear the argument as well. "Luckily, I came in an' rescued 'im!"
The fox-clad boy narrowed his eyes at his larger friend. "What are you talkin' about? They pulled you in, too. How's that rescuing?"
"So how did you get out?" Alice asked, engaged by the story.
"Peter saved us," Slightly and Cubby replied in unison, each trying to hide their embarrassment.
"An' he told 'em off, the mermaids," Nibs added.
"Where do the mermaids live?" their mother asked.
The three Lost Boys looked at each other, as though having a telepathic conversation with one another.
"Don't go lookin' for them, Alice!"
"Peter's forbidden any of us to go near 'em since they tried to drown Wendy!"
"He didn't even show 'em to Jane!"
Alice looked at each one of them and thought for a moment. "Well, if he's told them off before, they wouldn't do it again, right?" She didn't wait for them to answer. Instead she walked off to Peter's room.
"Peter," she called. "Peter, I need to talk to you!"
The boy flew to her from the back of the room and landed gently in front of her. "What's wrong, Alice?" he asked.
"You didn't' tell me there were other girls in Neverland!" she stated in an accusatory tone, crossing her arms and turning away.
He thought for a moment. "Well, you never asked."
"I wanna meet them." Her big blue eyes looked at him pleadingly. "It's so boring being the only girl here, Peter."
"Oh," he hesitated, scratching the back of his neck. "Well, I can take you to the Piccaninny Tribe. Their princess, Tiger Lily, is a girl, too."
The girl smiled. "I'd like that, Peter," she murmured. "I'd like that very much."
Peter caught himself smiling back at her with a sheepish grin uncharacteristic of him. "We gotta get you duster first," he said, turning to the doorway. "Tinkerbell!"
"Uhh, actually, I don't really like flying," she stuttered. "On my own, that is. Afraid of falling and all."
"Oh." The boy blinked before hollering again for Tinkerbell. "Sorry, Tink! She says she's not going to fly!"
He walked out to the porch with Alice and told her to latch onto his back. She seemed hesitant to let him carry her again, but he said that she had to choose between a piggyback ride and a bridal carry.
"I have to carry you either way, Alice," he reasoned. "On my back or in my arms—it's your choice."
The young girl groaned in annoyance and grabbed Peter's shoulders from behind. She held tightly onto the boy as he hopped onto the wooden railings and used them as a platform for their liftoff.
Though Alice hated heights—or rather, being in the sky and holding on to nothing but a boy—like any normal person would, she admitted that she enjoyed flying with Peter. At least, in Neverland she did. The view was always breathtaking, even at night, much unlike the ground view in the States. And it wasn't just the view she liked. The mere presence of Peter made her heart warmer than it usually felt.
Her eyes widened. What on earth was she thinking? She cleared her throat and tried to think of other things, her grip on Peter tightening as she did.
The boy glanced at her over his shoulder and nearly coughed. "A—Alice," he stuttered, "that's a bit too tight."
She looked back at him as her brain registered his words. Then she gasped and loosened her grip on him before looking away, her face flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, Peter…"
He touched one of her hands and smiled charmingly in reassurance. Alice hated it when he smiled like that. It made him seem like a normal boy, influenced by hormones and peer pressure.
In an attempt to keep herself from thinking strange thoughts, Alice adjusted her grip on Peter. Her wrist happened to graze on the boy's growing Adam's apple and her fingers on his clavicle.
"Peter, you're going through puberty," she mumbled. Her face was buried into his back so her voice was muffled, but she wasn't sure if he heard her or not.
The rest of the flight was quiet, but almost unbearably uncomfortable for Alice. She barely got the pleasure of enjoying the view considering that she had to hold on for dear life and that Peter's red hair kept blowing into her face. The worst part was the uncomfortable silence between them. By their arrival at the Tribe, she was already sure that he did hear her.
A Native American man approached them as Peter landed on a clear area. The green-clad boy grinned at him and the two spoke in some strange language Alice didn't understand. After about a minute of conversation, the man began to walk away and Peter motioned Alice to follow him.
Soon they reached a large tent where two other Native American men stood on guard. The guide spoke to the two guards and entered the tent. When he exited, he was with a young, Native American girl. She was around Alice and Peter's age, with dark hair in loose pigtail braids and an ornate headdress made with leather and large bird feathers.
Upon sight of the raven-haired girl, Alice screamed. As soon as she ended her high-pitched shriek, she had her arms around Tiger Lily in a tight glomp. She quickly pulled away and turned to Peter while jumping around excitedly.
"Oh my God, Peter, a girl!" she squealed. "A girl! There's a girl here! Like, I'm not the only one in Neverland. Oh my God, do you know how awesome this is? Oh my God, I'm dying!"
The boy panicked after her last words. "What? What's wrong, Alice?" he asked. "Don't die!"
She giggled and turned back to hug the clueless Tiger Lily. Nuzzling her cheek against the Native American girl's, Alice looked back at Peter. "Relax, honey," she grinned. "It's just an expression."
Alice cleared her throat and let go of Tiger Lily. As the Native American spoke to her two guards, the brunette went back to Peter and hugged him tightly. She buried her face into the boy's shoulder and laughed.
"I can't contain my excitement, Peter," she said in a muffled voice.
Soon the three children found themselves in Tiger Lily's tent. The young tribe chief sat between Alice's legs as the American braided her dark hair. Peter, on the other hand, sat beside them and watched the complicated process of Alice's French braid.
"You have no idea how much I missed braiding other girls' hair," Alice said. "And your hair is so nice and soft. It's like I can braid it forever."
The brown-haired girl's satisfied sigh unsettled Peter a bit, though he couldn't figure out why. Nearly everything about the sight of the two girls disturbed him. It felt as though there were floating hearts all around Alice as she cuddled the Native American girl.
"There are not many females in Neverland," Tiger Lily murmured as Alice neared the tips of her hair. "Especially ones of our age," she added. "It is a pleasure to find someone like you, Alice."
"Same to you, Tiger Lily." Alice buried her face into Tiger Lily's hair and sighed again. "Your hair smells so nice." She turned to Peter. "Peter, her hair smells so nice."
The boy blinked. Was she talking to him? "Uhh—yeah, sure."
Alice felt so high as she talked to Tiger Lily. She played with the young chief's hair in all ways she knew—regular braids, fishtail braids, rope braids, French braids, and countless variations of each. She even taught Tiger Lily how to braid in French braids.
Her escort, however, didn't know exactly what to do other than watch the two girls. He admitted it was amusing to watch Alice's smile getting wider and wider with each passing minute. She really did like being with a girl.
"Oh." She suddenly had an idea. "Tiger Lily, do you like music?"
The other girl nodded.
"Do you have a guitar?"
"One of the Lost Boys made one and gave it to me. But he never taught me how to use it, so it's just here…" Tiger Lily stood and fetched the guitar from a corner. She also brought a pair of bongo drums.
Alice grinned and turned to Peter. "Do you know how to play these, Peter?"
The boy lit up. "I can learn."
The brunette gave him a beat and told him to repeat it on the drums. Then she took the guitar and sat beside him. Tiger Lily went to the other children and sat down as well, anticipating whatever the other girl had to show her.
Alice began playing the guitar and humming. Peter noticed it was a different song from what she had played last time—it was more upbeat and happier. Even she seemed happier as she started singing.
"Hey Stephen, I know looks can be deceiving
But I know I saw a light in you.
As we walked we were talking,
I didn't say half the things I wanted to."
The girl smiled at her two companions. If there was something she loved doing, it was singing. The only thing she loved more than that was bringing new music to people—something she had been doing to her newfound friends in Neverland.
"Of all the girls tossin' rocks at your window,
I'll be the one waiting there even when it's cold."
She glanced at Peter who was focusing most of his attention on beating the drums. She smiled inwardly—he was learning something new.
"Hey Stephen, boy, you might have me believing,
I don't always have to be alone."
Now her smile was evident on her face. It was amazing how the song seemed to fit her mood, or perhaps the song uplifted her mood when she started singing.
"'Cause I can't help it if you look like an angel,
Can't help it if I wanna kiss you in the rain so."
The boy, noticing Alice's gaze on him, stole a glimpse of her as well. Just knowing that she was watching him made him want to work harder on the drums. The song just seemed so perfect that time. He didn't even know why.
"Come feel this magic I've been feeling since I met you.
Can't help it if there's no one else."
Tiger Lily noticed the invisible lightning between the two. She remembered a girl who looked very much like Alice—Wendy. Wendy had come to Neverland so long ago, when Tiger Lily's father was still alive, when Tiger Lily was just the princess of the tribe. She remembered how Wendy became jealous of Tiger Lily when she thanked the boy for rescuing her.
"Mmm, I can't help myself."
Peter's eyes widened. He felt an odd tingle in himself when Alice sang that last line. His cheeks grew warm and he had to look down in embarrassment—yes, that was the feeling. Perhaps he had made a mistake and didn't notice it.
Alice edged closer to him and, like him, averted her gaze.
"Hey Stephen, I've been holding back this feeling
So I've got some things to say to you."
It felt as though Alice was trying to say something. Maybe choosing this song was unconscious. Of course, nearly anything by Taylor Swift (whose songs she was in the mood for that time) would give off a similar feeling.
"I've seen it all, so I thought.
But I never seen nobody shine the way you do."
In her mind, the chief recalled when Peter told her what had happened after the celebration of her rescue. Wendy had gotten upset with him, and naturally, the boy had no idea why. Tiger Lily, on the other hand, wasn't as naïve—she knew exactly why the other girl had been upset.
"The way you walk, way you talk, way you say my name,
It's beautiful, wonderful, don't you ever change."
Peter's voice echoed in Alice's mind as she sang. He was calling out her name. It was odd how her mind conjured up thoughts of the boy to fit the song. It was like a music video playing in her head.
"Hey Stephen, why are people always leaving?
I think you and I should stay the same."
The lines reminded Tiger Lily of the aftermath of Wendy and her brothers. Peter seemed upset with the English girl for going back to London, to her family. But at the same time, he had a glimmer of longing in his eyes. Tiger Lily couldn't tell if it was a mere crush, fancy for Wendy, or if he was in love with her.
The song's coincidence with her situation unnerved Alice. She was in a hurry to end the song already, even though she could see her friends were enjoying it. If they wanted more music, she could sing a different song instead. She decided to skip to the bridge.
"They're dimming the streetlights, you're perfect for me.
Why aren't you here tonight?"
Weirdly enough, the image of Matt appeared in her mind. It was somewhat blurry—perhaps she had forgotten how he looked. She brushed it off. There was no time to be sad. Not in Tiger Lily's presence, at least.
"I'm waiting alone now, so come on and come out,
And pull me near.
And shine, shine, shine…"
Alice was somewhat thankful that she remembered Matt. But the pain in her chest told her she was still in love with the older boy. She wanted to see him. As she thought that, a sad smile formed on her face.
"Hey Stephen, I could give you fifty reasons
Why I should be the one you choose.
All those other girls, well, they're beautiful,
But would they right a song for you?"
She placed her palm on the strings to stop the vibrations, deciding to end the song right then. Peter, noticing the lack of guitar and vocal accompaniment, also stopped playing. Both he and Tiger Lily looked at Alice, as though wordlessly asking her, "What next?"
"I wish you were here, Matt…" she murmured under her breath. With the sudden silence in the room, she was all but certain that Peter and Tiger Lily had heard her. She looked at both of them and grinned in reassurance. "Who wants to hear a story?"
"Finally, a story!" the auburn-haired boy exclaimed, scooting closer to the two girls.
"Don't get too excited," Alice replied, a mischievous smile forming on her face. "It's a love story."
This seemed to catch Tiger Lily's attention as she moved closer to Alice and an equally mischievous grin appeared on her face as well.
Alice reached into her bag and pulled out a book with a painting of two lovers on the cover. When she opened it, Peter could see that the book had no pictures inside—only words arranged in a way that they only took up half a page. He and Tiger Lily listened intently as Alice recited the first verse:
"Two households, both alike in dignity,
In fair Verona, where we lay our scene,
From ancient grudge break to new mutiny,
Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.
From forth—"
"Alice…" Peter murmured curiously. "What's mutiny?"
The brown-haired girl looked at both of her confused companions and chuckled at her own carelessness. "Sorry, I guess I should tell the story in plain English." She closed the book and cleared her throat. "This is a story set in Verona, Italy where two families—the Capulets and the Montagues—have been fighting for generations…"
It had already started growing darker outside when Alice finished with her story. She remembered taking it up at school and used her book as reference for every detail she might have missed out on. It didn't seem like a story Peter would appreciate, since he always liked stories about adventure, but he seemed so fascinated when Alice recited lines and verses from the book.
He had fallen asleep toward the end of the story—he lay down on Alice's lap and simply dozed off. Alice couldn't even remember when he fell asleep.
Tiger Lily, on the other hand, was so engrossed with the story, like Alice had been when she first read the story at school. But when the story ended, both girls became silent. The only sound heard in the tent was Peter's soft snoring.
"Tiger Lily," Alice murmured, breaking the silence, "tell me about Wendy."
"She was a girl whom Peter brought to Neverland long ago," Tiger Lily replied.
The brunette began stroking Peter's red hair, as though trying to keep him from waking up. After all, Wendy seemed to be a sensitive subject for the boy, and Alice didn't want him to find her snooping.
"Wendy is the mother of Jane, the first Lost Girl," she continued. "I never met Jane, but I met Wendy. She was not the first girl Peter Pan brought to Neverland, but she was a first something else."
"When she smiled, her big blue eyes twinkled, and Peter's cheeks would flush bright red. He would not make the same face as he did upon receiving his first kiss—the face of a hungry wolf. Instead he would be embarrassed and try to brush it off." She looked at Alice with eyes darker than Peter's own. "He never spoke of her after she left. Wendy was in none of his stories. Peter Pan barely ever said anything about Wendy."
Alice cleared her throat, visibly struggling to find the proper words with which to reply. "Did he like her?" She spoke in a whisper so as not to startle Peter. "I mean, as… you know…"
"Peter Pan is not honest with such matters," the Native American answered. "But as a female, I could see that he did."
"But he couldn't have just forgotten about her. She was his friend!"
"He did not forget about her until recently." She inched closer to the brunette and looked around, as though making sure nobody was listening. "Peter Pan forgets about people who have died."
The other girl nearly fell back in shock. If not for Peter sleeping on her lap, she probably would have fallen back. She uttered a word of thanks to Tiger Lily before poking the sleeping boy on her lap.
"Peter," she murmured into his ear. "Peter, it's time to go home."
"Five more minutes…" he moaned, turning over to his side.
Tiger Lily put a hand on Alice's shoulder. "You may stay here for the night," she said before standing up and leaving the tent.
Alice watched as the young chief exited. Perhaps she had a separate tent to sleep in.
The brunette then looked at Peter. She stroked his hair again and told him she was going to lie down as well. He was half-asleep, probably, as he rolled off her lap to give space for her. She lay down beside him and stared up at the ceiling of the tent. Peter must have been tired. It only made sense that he slept early since they had stayed up so late the night before. Alice was tired as well—it did not take long before she fell asleep beside him.
Short chapter this time. Sorry it took so long to finish. I didn't know how to end the chapter. Originally, it was going to be longer than this but I decided to use the last parts of the chapter to start the next chapter. Change of plans and such.
I made Tiger Lily speak because she's supposed to have "grown" (not physically) since the first movie. Her father, the Chief, died and she had to replace him as the leader of the tribe. She learned to speak English much more fluently than most of her people, mostly because she spends time with Peter.
She also mentions Peter's first kiss. If you remember in the first (Disney) movie, she kissed him after he saved her from Hook. It was in the scene where the tribe was celebrating and she was dancing, and Wendy was extremely jealous. They didn't show it explicitly, but considering how she buried her face into Peter's headdress and Peter's reaction immediately after, it's safe to assume she kissed him on the lips that time. And since Peter didn't know what a kiss was in the beginning of the movie (when he first met Wendy), it's also safe to assume that was his first kiss.
^Long paragraph, haha. R&R, loves~
~ froggy