Never Land

As Tiger Lily made her way through the thick brush she couldn’t help but notice the blonde boy, Niall, was right on her heels. He would keep opening his mouth, only to close it and shake his head, which made it obvious that he was trying to think of something to say. He stayed looking a bit like a fish until the group came to a stop by a small pond, Louis suggesting they all stop for some water. The entire group turned and looked at the girl, Evelyn, all of them knowing that Louis was slowing them down to stay with her just a little bit longer.

Tiger Lily simply scoffed, muttering something about scouting ahead for Zayn and his pirates before walking off. She knew even before the bushes started cracking behind her that Niall had followed. She spun around, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt and pinning him against a tree, a dark look in her eyes. “Spying on me again?” She growled.

“N-no.” He promised, his blue eyes wide. “I just um… I don’t want you to get ambushed or something.” Tiger Lily snorted before letting go, stepping away and cocking an eyebrow at him.

“You left Louis all alone with your sister?”

“He won’t do anything with everyone else around… will he?” Tiger Lily smirked, nodding back in the direction of the pond.

“You’d better go check.” With that she turned, trekking back into the forest and hoping Niall would get her hint to go away. But as she heard his voice she groaned, knowing she wasn’t so lucky.

“Why do you keep pushing me away?” He demanded once he’d caught up to her. She spun around, her eyes dark as she looked at the handsome boy.

“Because you’re a pathetic weakling who never should have come here in the first place.” She hissed. “No adults, that was the only rule, and Louis broke it for you and your sister, who can’t even defend yourselves! Peter never would have…” She stopped, pressing her lips together at his name as she remembered Peter, the old Never land, the two of them tormenting Zayn and Gabriella together, and how Peter would always save her whenever Captain Hook would come to his son’s rescue. She let out a long sigh before her eyes shot back to Niall’s. “Things will be better once you two are gone.”

With that she turned away, but Niall’s voice stopped her once again. “Tiger Lily, who’s Peter?” She stopped but finally just shook her head.

“Someone who never should have left.” She whispered. With that she vanished into the bushes again and Niall knew not to follow her again. He remembered the crushed look on her face when she’d looked at the feathered crown, the way she so tenderly whispered his name. He needed answers, and he knew Tiger Lily wasn’t the person to get them from right now.

So he made his way back to the pond, letting out a sigh of relief as Evelyn spoke to Harry and Jodie was keeping Louis occupied. He let his eyes move over to Liam, who was sitting a good ten feet from the others on a log, watching Jodie and Louis with dark eyes and a scowl that looked like it belonged on Tiger Lily’s face. Niall cleared his throat as he approached, and the moment Liam looked away from Jodie and Louis his entire demeanor changed as he smiled sadly.

“Niall.” He greeted simply. “I’m surprised you’re still in one piece, Tiger Lily feeling nice today?”

“That’s actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” Niall admitted. Liam patted the spot next to him and Niall plopped down, letting out a short sigh. “Why is she so awful?” He finally asked after a long pause. He wanted to ask about Peter, but figured he might want to ease his way into that in case he was a lost boy who had died or something.

Liam pressed his lips together, running a hand over his hair as his eyes moved over the grass. “Well, I think she’s mad about Louis breaking the rules and bringing you two more than anything. But she’s been like that for as long as we’ve been here.”

“What do you mean?”

“Louis, Jodie, Harry and I were all sort of… recruited I guess. Peter brought us all to keep things going after he left to be with Wendy.” Liam looked over and chuckled at Niall’s confused expression. “Peter Pan was the one who brought children to Never land before we got here. But then he brought three kids one time, one of them was a girl by the name of Wendy Darling. And well…” He stopped, looking at Louis again. “I guess it was the same thing as with Lou and your sister.” Niall watched as Liam gave a hard glare at Louis for a moment before his attention returned to Niall.

“So was Tiger Lily always like that?” Liam shook his head.

“I asked the same thing when we first came here and she threatened to roast Lou alive. Peter said that it was his fault, but that was all he said. Apparently she used to be a pretty cool girl to hang out with.” Liam took in another deep breath obviously thinking something over as he nibbled his lower lip. “The only thing I can think of is that Tiger Lily was in love with him, so when he left Never land to be with Wendy it broke her heart. She wouldn’t even come meet us until Peter basically forced her too.”

“Wow.” Niall murmured. “He just… he left her?”

“Yeah.” Liam murmured. His eyes were locked on Jodie, who was seething as Evelyn came over to talk to Louis. Niall watched them, looking at Liam before setting a hand on his shoulder. Liam turned back and Niall simply gave him a small smile.

“You’re worried Louis is going to do the same thing, aren’t you? That Jodie will be just like Tiger Lily.” Liam sighed, his gaze on the ground.

“Yeah.” Niall turned back to Jodie, Louis and Evelyn, knowing that no matter what happened, either his sister or Jodie would be heartbroken. He decided he couldn’t bear to think of either scenario, so he quickly changed the subject.

“So what ever happened to Peter?” Liam, smiled softly, turning to Niall.

“He died of old age, and Wendy was right by his side.” Liam could see the question already on Niall’s lips, so he beat him to it. “He was older when he found us, having already left Never land for a while. But yeah, Tiger Lily is old. Like, really old.” Niall simply chuckled, looking over to Liam with a sly smile.

“I have always liked older women.” The two started laughing before Jodie, Louis, and Evelyn walking over broke them up.

“Yes?” Liam asked, trying to keep his attention on Evelyn.

“Did you two see where Harry went?” Louis asked.

“No, why?”

“Because he completely vanished.” Jodie said simply. Niall and Liam both glanced around the clearing, a bit dumbfounded when they realized that the curly haired boy was nowhere to be found.