Broken Memories // PETER PAN OUAT FANFIC

Chapter 6: My First Friend

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Hazel.

The word was spoken in a whispered tone, but I couldn't see who had said it. My name. Someone was saying my name. All that was around me was darkness, smothering me, pulling me down into the depths of unconsciousness. I wanted to fight it, wanted to open my eyes and see the bright sky above me once more, but my eyelids were too heavy. I tried to groan, or say something, make any kind of noise that would hopefully alert someone to me, but the attempt was feeble. I was too weak. I could vaguely feel my empty stomach grumbling, void of any food that would help me replenish my energy and stay conscious.

My mind was aimlessly wandering back to the darkness of sleep when I felt a pair of strong arms suddenly grip my shoulders and harshly shake my body. A small cry found its way up my throat and out of my mouth before I could stop it and I somehow managed to open my eyes half-way, enough to see a blurred figure kneeling in front of me. I opened my eyes a little further and, as if my eyes were a camera lens that had suddenly come into focus, the figure before me was no longer blurry. They had their face inches from mine and as I focused on their eyes, I gave a sudden gasp and tried to wrench myself backwards only to smack my head into the tree I was still tied to. My gaze dropped to the ground out of fear, though what I was afraid of I had no clue. I blinked a few times, took some short breaths, and looked back at the person's face, who I could now see was an unfamiliar boy. His eyes were no longer pure charcoal black, as I had seen when I first focused on them, but a deep warm brown colour, the emotions pity and concern hidden in their depths as he gazed back at my face.

"Woah there, I didn't mean to scare you, I'm sorry."
The boy loosened his grip on my shoulders and I realised that he had probably been shaking me to wake me up.
"There's some food that's been cooked by a couple of the boys and I thought you might like some, seeing as you didn't really get to eat anything yesterday."
As he spoke he removed his hands from my shoulders and grabbed a bowl that was sitting on the ground next to him. I stared at him. His hair was a sandy blonde colour that looked as though he'd ran his hands through it a few times. He had thin pink lips and a pale-coloured face that was covered in a light sheen of sweat.
He sat down fully on the ground in front of me, his legs crossed, took the spoon that was in the bowl of what I hoped was stew or porridge, and moved the spoonful of food towards my mouth. At first, I hesitated. I knew I shouldn't be eating something that was being fed to me by someone I didn't know but on the other hand.. I was completely starving. The boy had a point, I hadn't eaten anything since, well since I remembered waking up on the beach. I decided what the hell, I'm sure I would be dead by now if they wanted me dead, why would they try to poison me? I opened my mouth when the spoon was there, since my arms were tied behind my back, and swallowed the food. I had been right, it did taste like porridge. I felt myself blush a little at the fact that I was being spoon-fed by a boy I didn't know, but I thought he seemed nice enough. He was concentrating on not spilling the food as he took the spoon back, dipped it again into the porridge, and brought it back to my lips. That continued for a few minutes, me eating whilst he fed me in silence until the bowl was practically empty and he rested it back on the ground.

"My name's Theo by the way. You're Hazel, right?" He spoke softly, as though he were afraid he was going to startle me again.
I nodded my head at his question, giving him what I hoped was a half-smile. He returned the gesture, and I decided at that moment that I liked him. He seemed trustworthy. Maybe this was the start of my first friendship on the island.
I took the few seconds that we weren't talking to look behind him at the camp area that was now illuminated by the weak rays of early sunlight that filtered through the treetops. I saw a few other boys milling around the fire who's embers had died down, looking as though they were the ones who had cooked the food Theo had brought me. Despite this, there was mostly silence across the large space, broken only by the calls of birds high in the trees and an occasional clatter of the boys cooking.

My attention was suddenly brought to the fact that my body ached all over, which wasn't surprising considering I'd spent the night sleeping tied up to a tree. I couldn't really feel my limbs, my arms still pinned me and my legs desperately needing to be stretched. I tried to wriggle one arm from behind my back but it was no use - the boys had done a good job of tying the rope around the tree.
Theo must've noticed my pathetic attempt to free my arm because he chuckled slightly, glanced around him as if to make sure nobody was watching and took out a knife from the waistband of his pants. I gulped. The edge of the knife was incredibly sharp, sharper than I thought knives could even be. I glanced at Theo's face to see his expression was one of worry.

"Hey, it's alright, I promise that I'm not going to hurt you okay? I know that you probably don't trust me, but if you'll let me I can free your arms from the rope since they look like they're completely numb."
Theo smiled at me tentatively and I looked at his eyes. There was no hint of amusement or cockiness in them, just concern that made him seem genuine. I let out a breath I hadn't realised I'd been holding and nodded my head slightly. He took the hint and moved to my side, rubbing the knife against one side of the rope holding me in place until it fell away and my arm hung limply to my side. He did the same to the other side of the rope and then moved back, staring down at me with his deep brown eyes.
I rubbed my wrists; they were feeling as though they'd been rubbed against a stone wall all night. I looked up at Theo and said, "Thank you. You definitely seem like one of the nice ones here." I smiled up at him since he was - of course - taller than me even kneeling down.
He grinned at me and stood up, dusting off his pants. "No problem. And don't worry about getting into trouble for not being tied to the tree anymore, Pan just did that as a warning. Wanted to show us boys that he doesn't take breaking the rules lightly, as I'm sure you can see."
I gave a small laugh and nodded my head. "Yes I can definitely see that."
Theo extended an arm down to me, holding out his hand as an offer to pull me up off the ground. I stared at his hand for a second, then said to him, "Uh, this might sound a little weird, but I'm not exactly light."
He gave a genuine laugh and then reached down and slung one arm round my waist and the other around my shoulder, pulling me up with him as he stood. He was much stronger than he seemed; I mean he wasn't exactly bulging with muscles but he didn't look gangly either.
"There. Does it look like that bothers me?" He grinned at me and I noted that he had dimples on the sides of his cheeks.
I blushed at him without meaning to. What was with all the boys round here putting their arms around my waist and such?
"Thanks," I said to Theo, "but you know, I could've got myself off the ground."
His grin widened. "Yeah I know, but I felt it was the least I could do to help." This boy definitely had a cocky side, I could tell that much.
A sudden whistle through the air caught my attention and I froze in place, not knowing where the sound had emitted from. Theo turned his head towards the campfire and then looked back at me. "Pan's about to speak. Come on, I'm sure he's got work or something for you to do with us." He grabbed my wrist in a gentle motion, still trying to show me he wasn't going to hurt me, and pulled me forwards towards the fire where the rest of the lost boys had gathered.

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A/N
Guyssss! Over 30 reads now! I know it doesn't sound like much but I swear it makes me really happy that there are actually people reading this story. I know it probably isn't too interesting yet but I'm trying to think through how I'm gonna lay out my plot(s) hehehe.
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