ONCE UPON A TIME X READERS

PETER PAN DRABBLE

Prompt: A52. "Did you just smile?"

Warnings: a mention of blood and injury, not my best work

Word count: 784

When a shadow had taken you to this mysterious island people called Neverland, and you had come across a camp full of boys who were living like a primal tribe, you thought you were dreaming. The wildest, most absurd dream you had ever had.

The boys had taken you as their prisoner the moment they had seen you, chasing you through the jungle. You had gotten a nasty gash on your ankle from something and that had slowed you down too much, so by the time you'd reached the beach, there was no escape left for you. When all of them had gathered around you, they held their spears up, and you had thought that this was it, this was how you died.

At the same time, you hopelessly tried to tell your brains to wake up, wake up... but then you saw another boy flying to the scene, telling the others to put their spears down.

"We won't treat our guests like that," he had sternly told them, and then turned to you with a smirk. "I'm sorry about that. Welcome to Neverland, Y/N."

"H-how do you know my name?"

"My shadow told me everything about you, Y/N. And if we're being honest, I have been waiting impatiently for someone just like you to show up here."

"W-who are you?!"

"You can call me Peter Pan."

That night, you were led back to the camp, but you were still wary of the boys. Most of them had tried to kill you, and this leader boy, Peter, had saved you, but he still had something on him that felt like he couldn't be trusted. You had sat against a large tree as the boys danced around the fire, and soon Peter joined you in sitting beside you. He glanced down at your bandaged ankle.

"Does it hurt anymore?" he asked. "The gash looked pretty nasty."

You glanced at your ankle and then at him, somehow feeling slightly irritated by his concern. "It's fine."

He studied you, his eyes glinting in the firelight. You frowned at him, and he snorted. "Don't worry, you'll warm up to us eventually."

You huffed out a breath. "I doubt that."

You sat there, watching the bonfire party go on. You would have ran, tried to hide, but you weren't familiar with the island and were positive there were traps all over this place, so instead of trying to escape, you stayed put. You knew if they wanted you dead, you would already be dead. Peter wouldn't treat your wounds or offer you food unless they meant for you to stay alive. And while it was nice not having people try to murder you anymore, it all still felt... off, somehow. Something about Neverland was crooked. Something in Peter was off. You figured it's a gut feeling, and you weren't going to ignore it.

A few days passed, and your hopes to escape narrowed day by day. And somehow, the longer you stayed, you began to feel more comfortable there. You tried to fight against the feeling, reminding yourself over and over again that something was off, but the feeling faded away each time until one day, you couldn't remember what exactly had made you suspicious of him in the first place. It was that place, it was wiping away your memories, you thought. So you tried to stay determined and keep your mouth shut, acting as if you were still angry at them - because there had to be a good reason you had been suspicious of them in the first place.

Right?

Honestly, you weren't sure anymore.

And one day at one meal, one of the boys told a funny story which made everyone laugh. You weren't intending to laugh, but on that moment, you forgot about it and a wide grin plastered on your face.

And of course, Peter caught it immediately.

"Did you just smile?" he teased, making you force your grin down immediately.

"I-I'm not smiling," you lied, hoping that he didn't notice the way you swallowed nervously. "Just yawning."

He rolled his eyes, but chuckled. "See, we're not so bad after all."

You laid a death glare at him - next time, you would be stronger with laughing at stupid stories. You knew there was something wrong with this place.

But Peter was just as determined to make you one of them, an addition to his Lost Boys. And something in him felt something else too, an old feeling he had long buried. But he shook the feeling off, stuff like that couldn't mess with his plans for you.

But he knew, deep inside - that feeling would grow, until it would mess up everything...