Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a shiny object I can barely make out in the shadows. Lifting it up, he urges me to take it, but I stand before him too stunned to even move.

“For you, Darling,” he insists. “So you know, you’re the only one that I’ll ever give myself to.” When I still haven’t moved, he starts to visibly shake. “Wendy, do you understand what I’m saying?”

“I can’t ask you to do that for me Peter…”

“I’ve never needed anyone before,” he cuts me off aggressively. “I’ve always stood on my own. I’ve run away, flown away, from anything in my life that had ever mattered before. Not because I wanted to hurt them, but because I didn’t want to ever feel hurt in return.”

He stands quickly, pulling me against his chest, crushing me to him and it’s only then that I feel the salt of my tears on my lips. It’s only then, that I feel the desperation, the vulnerability in his touch.

“Wendy, if you tell me you don’t need me, that you don’t want…”

“Oh Peter, I could never know a world where I didn’t want you…”

“But you don’t need me?”

“I’ll always need you,” I whisper, unable to hold back the way I really feel.

“Then, come back with me.” His hands shake as he pulls my palm up between us and slips the object on my finger.

An acorn button, made out of a metal thimble, sits on top of a shiny ring.  But it’s not made with the precious metals I’m used to, it’s made of iron. Iron… To protect me from pixies. Peter brushes his thumb across the top of it as we both stare down at where it rests on my finger.

“To protect you,” he whispers, and I suck in a shaky breath. “Stay with me, Wendy. Please?”

I glance up at his handsome face and feel my heart break inside. I can’t leave Michael. Not now that Jake is expected home. John left first thing when he heard Jake was expected back. But I can’t leave Michael alone to fend for himself. He’s too young. I worry about what Jake would do. What he might turn him into. That’s if he recovers from his injuries. That’s if he isn’t permanently scarred.

“Peter, I…”

“I love you, Darling.”

I blink quickly, my heart coming to a complete stop in my chest. His eyes lift and find mine in the darkness. A sad, vulnerable smile pulls at his beautiful mouth, and I can’t help myself. I start to cry.