The Dark Days

Nine.

A week has gone by. I've been in Storybrooke for two weeks and I'm already wishing I could live here.

"Peter, we should buy a house here," I say. "I love this town."

"I know you do," he replies quietly. "I'm thinking about it." He's quiet for a moment. "But if you let me enact the curse...."

"Peter, for the last time, no," I say finally. I try to stand up and go back inside, but Peter doesn't even let me stand.

"I know you don't want me to," he starts, making me huff in annoyance, "but just think about what we could do. What we could have. We would be treated like royalty."

"Oh don't pull that royalty crap again," I tell him, "you know I've never envied royalty."

"I know," he sighs. "I'm just telling you."

I sigh and cross my arms over my chest, staring at the starry sky. Peter and I are on the roof of the crypt, cuddled up together and looking at the sky. I mentally point out all the constellations I know and try as hard as I can not to fall asleep.

Yeah, remember how Peter was supposed to give me another present? I didn't either. He did, eventually. He got rid of my insomnia. And then, per my request, he removed the charm from my necklace, so now I was no longer invisible to others. I swear, I could never love anyone as much as I love Peter Pan.

Just as I'm about to doze off I feel Peter lightly kissing my neck. It makes me jump. He chuckles and continues up to the corner of my mouth, where he stops. He wraps his arm around my stomach and pulls me onto my left side so I look into his eyes. "Hey," he whispers softly.

"Hey," I whisper back. He kisses me gently, his arm going around my back and hugging me to his chest.

I pull back after a while and shiver. "Peter, I'm cold and I'm sleepy. Can we go inside?"

Peter smirks and shakes his head. "No. If you're cold, you'll just have to snuggle closer."

I give him a skeptic look. "I can't."

His smirk turns dark and he shrugs. "Then you'll have to put your arms in my shirt."

I raise an eyebrow. "Do you really care if I'm cold or do you just want me to touch your torso?"

Peter bites his lip. "Well.... Both, I guess," he says sheepishly, making me chuckle.

"That's what I thought." I slid my arms down to his waist and then inside his shirt, letting him pull the fabric back down, covering them.

"Jeez, you are cold," he muses as he wraps his arms around me again. "This was a good idea. I suspect they would've fallen off at any moment."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever."

I look back up at the sky just as Peter's left hand slides up and his knuckles stroke my cheek. I hate to admit it, but it feels pretty good. It makes me shiver. Again. "Kasey?" Peter asks softly, making my gaze flicker to meet his. He brushes a few pieces of stray hair out of my face and cups my cheek.

"What?" I ask softly.

"Would you like to fly with me?"

I blink a few times rapidly. "Uh... sure."

He smiles and lets me take my arms out of his shirt. He stands, making me shiver at the sudden loss of warmth, and then picks me up, even though he knows I can stand on my own. "Where're we going?" I ask as he begins to levitate. He looks down at me and only smirks before shooting forward, making me gasp and put a choking hold around his neck. He chuckles, but doesn't slow down. "Peter?" I ask loudly so he can hear me. "Seriously, where are we going?"