What was meant to be a small, innocent kiss sent everything into over drive. I hadn't realized how much I longed for him to kiss me.

My fingers franticly tried to find his shirt, after the initial shock past. I tightened my hand around some loose fabric and pulled him closer, my other hand entangling itself in his hair.

He pulled away, and looked into my eyes. I prayed that he saw how much I wanted him. He smiled and I melted.

"You have no idea how… desperate you look right now… like you're dying to…" He whispered, his words getting softer and softer until there was nothing, but our irregular breathing. He inched closer to me, barely brushing my lips, then pulling away again.

He was driving me insane. That's it!

I pushed him down, and then grimaced as my bed squeaked and scraped across the wooden floorboards. I sat back upright and listened, praying that my parents hadn't woken up.

I felt more than saw Peter sit up. "To be continued?" He asked. I managed a smile, hoping to disguise my disappointment.

"Yes, but maybe somewhere else…"

He nodded, "Another date without parental supervision? I like the sound of it."

He got off my bed, and looked into my eyes for a brief second, "Be good Wendy." He said, kissing my forehead, and vanishing as fast as he came.

Had I told him the last thing John said to me?

I pushed it aside and tried unsuccessfully to fall asleep.

-Peter-

My mind swirled around Wendy: her aroma, her voice, her warmth. She had this amazing ability to make me happier no matter what. She made all my worries shrink, even when I'm not with her.

I climbed through the window to be greeted by an irritated Tinker Bell. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her hair was down, shadowing her face even more.

"What's wrong?" I asked casually, straightening my clothes again. She raised a brow and rolled her eyes, "You and Wendy are disgusting." She said walking over to me then, as if she was hit, immediately withdrew. "You smell like her, too." She coughed.

"Did you just come to nag me about her?" I asked.

"As much fun as that is, no." She said sitting down in an old wooden chair.

Her face showed no sign of teasing, no taunting. She was completely serious. Her eyes followed me as I made my way across the room. "What's wrong?" I asked sitting beside her.

She wrapped her thin shawl tighter around her body as the wind whistled through the old wooden building.

"All the boys are here an-"

"I've seen Slightly, but that's all…"

"Well I saw them; all of them. And you know what that means, right?" Her words wrapped around me in a thick cloud as everything sunk in. My whole body grew cold, but I was able to choke out one word.

"Hook."

-Wendy—

I was woken up right after my eyes closed. "Wendy. You have dinner tonight." I groaned, and sat up.

"Mother, how many more men do I have to turn down before you stop?" The words tumbled out of mouth in a groggy fog. My eyes widened right as my mother's did when I realized what I had just said.

I jumped out of bed, "Mother, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"I am trying to find you someone that can take care of you so you don't have to work, Wendy."

"And what would be so wrong with joining the workforce? Maybe I want to do something other than look and be proper all the time."

Her eyes widened and her chest puffed up a little, "Wendy, your still such a child."

I had to admit, that stung a little, "I am not a child. I can make decisions for myself. And if I don't want to marry a wealthy man to save myself a little labor then that should be my choice."

"You just won't be saving yourself. You'd being saving the family."

"The family? Wait you want me to marry someone well-off man so you can benefit?" I asked. I took her silence as my answer. It all made so much more sense now. I mean, it's not as if Peter wasn't charming – he definitely was – it was because he had no money.

"Wendy." She said reaching over to me, I moved.

"How selfish can you be?" I yelled. This must've struck a nerve.

"We're selfish? Your father and I are broke, Wendy. The least you could do was help out the people who gave a home and food to eat." She said finality and marched out of the room.

I let my anger slowly boil as I paced back and forth. Every squeak of the old, worn wood flooring fueled my anger. Every moan of the house fed my fire. In the back of my conscious mind, I heard a knock on the bedroom door. My mind and body ignored it.

I saw my father enter the room out of the corner of my eye, but I kept pacing, as if it was the only thing keeping me alive. In all reality thought, it was the only thing keeping me sane.

"She's ridiculous. Completely mad!" I shouted, throwing my hands up. My father sat himself on the bed, eyes following my never-ending circuit.

"Just because you have no money doesn't mean that I have to spend the rest of my life loathing a man that I must call my husband!" I groaned and sat down roughly by the window.

"Wendy." I heard my father say from across the room. He sounded hesitant to speak, but more importantly, he sounded hurt. I turned to him met his gaze. In his eyes, I saw the reflection of many years of hard work. I saw the tremendous effort he put in to raise three kids. I saw all the sacrifices that he made just to please his family.

I felt my heart shatter into a million pieces. I couldn't just leave them to starve while I ran off with some man all for the sake of love. "Mother was right; I am being selfish aren't I?" I asked, lowering my eyes, as if it would save me from the truth somehow.

My father laughed. I looked up, startled. Why is he laughing? "Oh, my dear Wendy. You're not being selfish. I couldn't ask you to marry some man you didn't love, just so we can live a little more comfortable. What kind of parents would we be if we asked you to do that?"

I shrugged; well my mother just asked that of me.

"Wendy, come here." I slowly got up from my seat and walked over to sit next to him. He wrapped me up in a hug and stroked my hair.

"I want to see you happy for once and I can handle the wrath of your mother. I want you to know that I will stand by your decision, whatever it may be."

Those words helped fan the slowly burning embers of love making them ignite into the fiery passion of emotions that I felt for the mysterious Peter Pan.