Forever Neverland (Peter Pan x James Hook)

Chapter 28

It was almost afternoon by the time Peter finally awoke, feeling amazing. Granted, he also felt a bit sore, but mostly just amazing.

With a soft groan, he turned over to look at James who was lying next to him and gave him a warm smile. "Good morning."

"Morning." Peter grinned widely, unable to help himself.

"It's past lunchtime. You hungry?" James asked as he began getting up. Had he been awake for long? Had he been waiting for Peter to wake up?
The idea of someone lying in bed with him while they waited for him to wake up so they could eat together was frightfully nice.

"Actually, I'm just really thirsty," Peter noted, beginning to get up as well while James dressed.

"Mhm, me too," James agreed with a nod, so once they were both done dressing, they headed down to the ship's kitchen, with Peter flying and bouncing around.

Though he had been quite happy with how things had been developing between them lately, that morning had definitely been a large step forward - a really awesome step - and Peter was ecstatic. There was no way James could still be unhappy now.

"We should fly out today!" It was the best way to test out if that was the key to James' happiness.

James chuckled, taking another long drink of water before answering. "Why, can't walk?"

Peter laughed. "The question is, can you fly?" He gave James a challenging look, but the pirate just smiled softly.

"No, Peter. You know I can't." He didn't seem particularly upset about it, as ever, and rummaged through the kitchen for some food.

Though Peter returned the smile, his earlier happiness had subdued a bit. Why was Hook still unable to fly? It made no sense...

For a few minutes, Peter sat on one of the wooden stools in the small kitchen and watched in silence while Hook prepared them something to eat. He didn't look sad... He didn't look happy either though. He looked indifferent; they same way he had always looked when Peter had been spying on him and he had been alone. Did none of this mean anything to him? Was he still as alone and miserable as before...?

Barely daring to ask, Peter finally voiced the question that ran through his head every single day. "Do you still want to return to Earth?"

~*~

James' breath caught in his chest at the question. Why was Pan asking? Was there a chance he would let him go? Had James won the game that they had long ago stopped playing?

Hesitantly, he turned his head to look at the boy sitting at the table with an unusual grown up, serious expression on his face.

If he said yes, would Pan be angry and refuse to ever let him go? Would they have to start over or had Pan truly matured a bit?
Well, there was only one way to find out.

"Yes."

~*~

James' voice wasn't more than a whisper, and his eyes held a silent plea that broke Peter's heart. Under normal circumstances, he would have been angry, like he had been with Wendy, but in that moment he simply felt devastated. He wanted to force Hook to stay, except... he couldn't.

Despite everything that had happened, James was still unhappy. He still wanted to leave. The only reason he had gone along with everything that had happened was because Peter had forced him. None of that had been what James himself had wanted.

For the first time, Peter realized that he was the villain of his own story. James had been right: he was nothing but a merciless child that had tortured and imprisoned James for his own entertainment. None of this had ever been what James wanted.
Usually, Peter wouldn't care what others wanted; he didn't want to care, but looking into the captain's desperate eyes, he was unable to keep playing a game he knew he had long lost.
Hook had won. He had won Peter's heart and would take it with him to Earth.