You were blissfully suspended in that magical state between wakefulness and sleep. Wrapped in a cocoon of warmth and comfort. It was peaceful where you were at the moment...wherever that was. Once again you kept your eyes closed; afraid that in opening them your new found paradise would come crashing down into an even harsher reality. You really didn't want to wake up in the breakdown that had seemed to become your life as of late. Right now not a single thing hurt and you reveled in being able to breathe deeply without any struggle or injury. Your skin didn't send out any shots of stabbing pain nor did you taste any ocean water on your tongue. You were warm, dry, and most glorious of all free from all pain; physical and otherwise. You wanted to surrender yourself to this marvelous floating tranquility.
And so you were content to lie there perfectly still and placid. But the longer you lied there the more awake your brain became. Unwanted thoughts swirled inside your head in an un-ending stream. How could you be unscathed after being beaten and drowned by a pack of murderous mermaids? Didn't you pass out from the pain? Why were you lying here alone? What if it was all a dream...What if you were actually lying in your own bed right now and everything that happened had just been a product of your over active imagination? What if you had been completely fooled by the illusions in your head... The more you thought about it the more that seemed to be the most likely case. Everything that happened was so outrageously ridiculous and impossible! Shadow men coming to life, flying to another world, jealous pixies, a harem of wild men who lived in a secret hollowed out tree, an evil pirate with a hook for a hand, and killer mermaids. If you had told anyone else about this they would think you were on the edge of sanity! You were going to have to stop reading so much fan fiction. It was actually starting to rot out your brain...
The last dregs of sleep had completely fled you leaving you wide awake and no longer content to just keep lying down. Still you stubbornly kept your eyes shut. Even if it was a dream it was one that you weren't ready to wake up from yet. Though some really scary things happened in it, the way you felt about Peter was more real than anything you had ever felt for anyone in reality before. Frustrated you groaned aloud and buried your head in what you realized could only be a pillow. Your suspicions of it all being a dream was confirmed when you twisted your hands in the heavy blanket covering you. NO! Let me go back! your inner mind screamed at the unfairness of the real world. You wanted to go back and live in that artificial world of make believe. You were happier living as a fool in a beautiful illusion then you'd ever been in real life. You were being irrational and delusional, but you didn't care. You lied perfectly still and tried desperately to will yourself back to sleep...back to Neverland...back to him.
You stayed like that for what felt like eternity. Sleep did not come. Inexplicably heartbroken at having the most beautiful dream you've ever had cruelly ripped from your fingers. Should have known. Peter was too perfect to be real anyways and even if he was he wouldn't have anything to do with someone like me. Finally admitting defeat you opened your eyes to face the harsh light of your average day to day life. What you saw however was not your bedroom ceiling. It was uneven wood. That was...strange... Confused you shot up in bed only to take a sweeping glance around the room that was most definitely not your bedroom. But you did know whose bedroom it belonged to. With a rush of pure unadulterated joy you squealed in delight as your eyes hungrily took in every inch of Peter's bedroom. With each noted landmark your heart soared. The worn and faded wooden dresser, the small fire place on the far right wall that was casting a warm glow across the fur skin rugs on the floor, and the tall throne carved right from the roots of the great tree itself. You had never been happier to see a room in all your life. You had no way of knowing if it was day or night because Peter's round room was deep underground; the only light coming from the crackling fireplace. You were lying on the bed that The Twins had pushed in here what seemed like weeks ago. Confused at your lack of physical pain you looked down to check out your body. Completely baffled you turned your hands over remarking in astonishment to not find a single scratch or bruise. In fact your skin looked freshly cleaned and felt as smooth as a peach. You looked down at your clothes only to find that your night clothes were gone and replaced with an over sized worn shirt that you guessed had to have been a cast off of one of The Lost Boys. But when you brought it up to your nose you breathed in the intoxicating unmistakable scent of Peter. It smelled like soft woods, fresh morning sea air, and sweet wild honey with a background of something purely masculine. You heard a distant murmuring of voices and not really knowing what to do with yourself you quickly shot back down into the bed and pretended to still be asleep. You had no idea why and was about to sit back up when you heard the rustling of the large bear skin curtain that acted as Peter's door.
