The unlocked door swung open easily. Wendy crept over to the bay window and crawled onto the bench. The sky was turning a periwinkle blue, creeping toward sunrise. Wendy leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes. She hooked her thumb around the leather cord around her neck and squeezed the acorn in her palm.
A cool breeze rolled in from the woods, carrying with it the smell of honeysuckle. A warm and tentative hand cupped her cheek. Wendy sighed and a smile curled her mouth. When she opened her eyes, Peter sat next to her, his legs dangling out the window. The first ray of sun washed over his skin. His shadow spilled across the bedroom floor next to Wendy’s.
“Are you okay?” he asked. Every bit of his brilliance had returned, but that worried line between his brows was still there.
“Yeah,” Wendy said. She paused and then shook her head. “I mean no, not really, but yes, I will be,” she corrected herself. She sat up and hugged her knees to her chest.
Peter’s thumb brushed the corner of her lips before his hand dropped to his side. “And your parents?”
“About the same, I’d say.” She leaned closer. “Did you see what happened?”
Peter nodded. He watched her, eyes thoughtful and full of stars.
Wendy looked up into his face, trying to drink him in and memorize every inch of him. The upward curve of his nose. The faint point to his ears. The swirl of his auburn hair. The splash of freckles across his cheeks. She knew their time was running out, that he would have to leave and go back to Neverland. She desperately wanted to savor him for every last moment.
Wendy reached out and brushed her thumb against the crease in Peter’s brow. His blue eyes blinked slowly. “When’s all of this going to go back to normal?” she asked, bumping her knee against his arm.
Peter gave her a small grin. “Soon,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll go back to my normal shape and size when I get to Neverland.”
Wendy shifted to lean against him. “I wish I could remember it,” Wendy said. “Neverland, I mean. I still have that whole chunk of my memory missing. I wish I could remember what it was like, being there with my brothers…”
“Maybe you’ll start getting the memories back now,” Peter said with a small lift of his shoulders. “Maybe now that you’ve unlocked them, more will follow. Good ones. Happy ones.”
“Maybe.”
“Or…” Peter’s grin quirked to a mischievous angle. He leaned in conspiratorially. “You could just come back with me to Neverland.”
With that glint in his eye, it was hard for her to tell if he was being serious. Against all logic, hope jumped in her chest. “I could stay with you?”
“You could stay with me,” he repeated.
“And I could see my brothers again?”
“Yes.”
Wendy dragged her teeth over her bottom lip. Of course, it was too good to be true, or that simple. “But then they wouldn’t be able to move on, would they?”
Peter held her gaze, but his smile lessened. “No.”
Wendy nodded. “And neither would I…” It was a wonderful idea. Running away to Neverland with Peter. Being able to see her brothers again. Having no responsibilities. No real world to have to deal with. But it also meant giving up so much. Wendy let out a small laugh. “With my luck, we’d just kick-start this whole nightmare all over again,” she told him.
Peter laughed and bumped his shoulder into hers. “Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t be good.”
“Well, you could just stay here and grow up,” she said, heart fluttering. “With me.”
Peter’s smile was soft and sweet. Just for her.
She knew the answer before he could say it.
“I can’t. I need to go back and take care of the lost kids. I want to,” he corrected himself. “To look after them.”
Wendy nodded.
“Growing up sounds awful anyway,” Peter said casually, with a dismissive wave of his hand. He looked out over the backyard toward the woods. His eyes shone especially bright and the tip of his nose turned pink. “Though…” His head tipped and he looked at Wendy from the corner of his eye. “Maybe not so awful if it were with you.”
Wendy laughed and wiped tears from her eyes with the heel of her hand. “Will you tell John and Michael when you see them?” she asked. “That I love them and think about them all the time?”
“I will.”
With a shaky nod, Wendy threw herself against him and wrapped her arms tightly around him. Peter squeezed her against him. She laid her ear against his chest. His heartbeat thrummed, fast but steady. Wendy tried to ignore the dread weighing on her.