Chapter Text
Ryan was laying in bed like he would do any other night. The crickets outside chirped as they did every summer. Their sweet melodies lulling the small, frail boy to sleep. Downstairs his father had drunk himself to sleep while watching whatever it was he watched. The house was quiet, too quiet. That is until there was a loud thud a few feet away from Ryan’s bed. He jumps awake as he frantically looks around his room, his eyes very quickly adjusting to the light. Another thud could be heard as well as a small groan that followed. “Who’s there?” The boy calls out. A boy around Ryan’s age slowly walks out of the shadows. He wasn’t like any other boy Ryan had seen. His clothes weren’t made out of fabric, rather made out of various leaves. His hair was a mess, like he had never brushed it. And his ears… They were pointed at the tips. The boy rubs his head as he lets out a small sigh. “That was certainly an entrance…” He mumbles to himself. All Ryan could do was sit there in shock. How did he get in? Why was he here? What is he? The questions circle around in his head as he stares at the boy. “How rude of me!” The boy exclaims after clearing his throat. “The name is Brendon, pleasure to meet you.” The boy floats up into the air and bows. “You can fly?” Brendon laughs. “Of course I can! Everyone in Neverland can if they have some pixie dust!” What the fuck was this kid going on about? Neverland? Pixie dust? Those sounds like things from the stories that Ryan’s mother would read him when he was younger. The stories that his mother would read him… “You’re messing with me. There is no possible way that all of that is real. Those are just stories made for children. That’s all they are, children's stories.” Brendon floats on his back and leans his head on his hands. “Children’s stories? That’s new. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who even knew about Neverland, this is exciting! You must know so much about it!” He flies around in circles before landing cross cross at the edge of Ryan’s bed. “Tell me more.” This kid was certainly something. He had the energy of a little kid seeing the world for the first time. “How about you tell me what the fuck you’re doing here and how the hell you got in.” Brendon looks over at the window. “I was looking for someone, and you left your window open.” The excited demeanor he had dissipated quite quickly. Something changed, even the wind coming from the window seemed colder. “Turns out I found what I was looking for after all.” The smile returned to Brendon’s face as quickly as it disappeared. This kid has some serious problems. A little ball of light zooms out of one of Brendon’s pockets and starts to fly around. The sound of bells fill the room as Brendon’s eyes follow the light. “I know, I know, in and out, blah blah blah. He could be our key! You never know.” Ryan looks about as confused as humanly possible. “How can you understand any of that?” The boy turns to look at Ryan again and shrugs. “I’ve always been able to.” The light lands on top of Brendon's head, revealing that it’s some sort of fairy. “This is Tinker Bell. He’s a pixie, but I think you already knew that. He comes with me when I go to the mainland for adventures.” Tinker Bell crosses his arms and dramatically huffs and sits down. “He certainly has an attitude…” Ryan mumbles. “He's just upset that I strayed from our plan. That happens a lot… Oh! Right! Come with us back to Neverland. We can fight pirates together, and we can swim with mermaids, and we can explore the island! How does that sound?” Brendon stands up and reenacts everything he describes as if it was some sort of game of charades. Ryan thought that this kid was crazy, but something deep inside of him believed him. What he was describing was exactly what he had remembered from those stories. “Second star to the right, straight on till morning…” What was he saying? All of this is crazy. But it wouldn't hurt to go with the kid. After all, he’s been looking for a way to escape for years. Ryan’s home life was less than perfect. His father was a drunk and his mother was nowhere to be found. He didn’t have any friends that would miss him if he ran away. What’s the worst that could happen? “How do we get there?” Brendon jumps up with joy and flies around the room. “We fly there of course! All you need is a bit of pixie dust!” He grabs onto Tinker Bell and shakes him slightly. Dust akin to glitter falls from the fairy onto Ryan. “How is glitter from a fairy going to make me fly?” Brendon smiles excitedly. “All you have to do is think happy thoughts, then you’ll be able to fly like me!” Ryan laughs. “Happy thoughts, seriously? You have to be kidding me.” Those aren’t something that Ryan can think of on a whim. “Oh come on, it isn’t that hard. Go to your happy place, that always works.” Ryan closes his eyes and tries to do just that. He imagines himself on a stage playing guitar for a sold out crowd. It was all he ever wanted to do. When he opens his eyes, he's floating a few inches above his bed. “Told ya it always works. Now let’s go!” Brendon dashes to the window. Ryan tries his best to follow him, but he hasn’t figured out how to fly like Brendon has just yet. “Wait up!” He shouts before running into the wall right next to the window. Brendon laughs as he watches it happen. “You really aren’t good at this whole flying thing, are you? Here, grab my hand and I can lead you until you get the hang of it.” He holds out his hand towards the taller boy. “That would have been a great idea earlier.” Ryan huffs as he takes the boy's hand.
The two of them fly out of Ryan’s window and off into the night sky. Ryan had never seen the city from this angle. It was honestly beautiful, the way that the lights shined brightly enough to see all the way up there. And the way you could see the strip from so far away. “Pretty, isn’t it?” Brendon asks while looking down below them. “I’ve never seen Vegas from up here before. I don’t think anyone has.” Brendon chuckles. “You'd be surprised. Let’s take a quick detour, I have something I want to show you.” Ryan nods as brendon angles downwards so that they're closer to the buildings below them. “Can’t people see us if we fly this low?” The shorter of the two shakes his head. “Nobody looks at the sky this late at night, and it’s too dark to make out that we aren’t a plane or a pair of birds or something.” That’s why he chose to come in the middle of the night. The darkness conceals him. After a few more minutes of flying, Brendon lands on the top of a building alongside Ryan. “The best view of the city at night.” Ryan can’t help but smile, it was beautiful. “You’ve been here a lot, haven’t you?” Brendon sits at the edge of the roof, his legs dangling off of it. “Every few years. Time works differently in Neverland. I don’t really know how much time has passed since I’ve been here until I visit. I think the last time I was here was a couple of years ago. I don’t know. It's hard to tell.” Just how old was he? “It’s 2006, if that helps. How old are you?” Brendon shrugs. “Don’t know. It’s been so long since I’ve kept track. People in Neverland don’t age, so I haven’t had to keep track. If I had to guess, I think that I would be around your age.” His age? That would make him 19. He didn’t seem like any 19 year old that Ryan had met. “I doubt that you’re my age. I would guess that you’re younger than me. Do you at least remember when your birthday is?” “We don’t track days like you do. We don’t have to. I don’t remember anything before Neverland. The only thing I remember is my name and this lady saying my name. She kind of looks like me, it’s funny. Over time her face has gotten fuzzier and fuzzier. All I can remember is her smile.” He had parents that he left behind and doesn’t even remember. It's almost disheartening. “I don’t really remember my mom either. She left when I was six and I haven’t seen her since. I tried to reach out to her a few times, but she never answered. All I know is that I have a half brother. I don't know anything else about her.” Brendon brings his knees to his chest. “I guess we have something in common. Fate works in such odd ways. You’re the first person I’ve met that can relate to something like that.” He looks up at the sky as Tinker Bell flies in front of his face. “We should get going. The sun comes up in a few hours and I want to get you back home before that happens.” Tinker Bell huffs and starts to pull on Brendon’s hair. “I’m going, I’m going.” he stands up and holds onto Ryan’s hand again. They fly off again, this time heading towards the stars. “What’s his deal?” Ryan asks. “He doesn’t like it when I take more time than I should. He doesn’t want us to get caught, even though that’s never happened, no matter what we did.” He’s contradicting himself. He said they wouldn't get spotted, and now he's saying they have a chance to?
They remained silent for a while, Ryan spent the time enjoying the view and wondering what Neverland is like. And before he knows it, they're there. The island is gorgeous. The water around it shimmers a bright blue, while the trees are a bright green. The mountain in the center is covered with snow at the top and it’s nothing like Ryan has ever seen. It’s hard not to fall in love with this place. Ryan turns to Brendon. He looks different in the sunlight compared to the lowlights of the city. His stature is slightly muscular, but skinny. His dark brown hair was still the mess that Ryan could make out back in his bedroom. His eyes are a similar shade of brown as his hair. His arms are littered with various scars and marks and so is his face. Ryan wonders wha must have happened to have that many scars. “Watch out for the mermaids, they don’t like new people. That and they try and flirt with any boy that comes through here. And they try to drown any new girl that shows up. They did that once.” “They sound like every girl I’ve dated.” Ryan jokes. Eventually, they land not too far from the shore. “Tink, go tell the boys that I’m back and that we’ll catch up with you soon.” Tinker Bell does a little nod before flying off ahead of them. “The boys?” There were other people on this island, there had to be, but Brendon made it seem like they all left. “My crew of lost boys! They made their way here like I did. They didn’t have a home, so we made one.” He made it sound like they were some group of misfits in some sort of old movie. “Our hideout isn’t too far from here, follow me, but be careful, there might be pirates roaming about.” Pirates, mermaids, fairies, a crew of “lost boys”. This was starting to sound more and more like some weird children's book the more Ryan learned. What’s next? They have to go save a girl from some sort of evil wizard? Or will a girl appear out of nowhere and start to flirt with Ryan? They both started to make their way through the forest past the shore. There were various trees and plants that aren’t anything like the ones back home that Ryan was used to. Some of them sang, some of them had faces, some of them were colors that were impossible in nature. It really was a fantasy world. Eventually they made their way to an old hollowed out tree. “Hangman’s tree.” Hangman's tree? …is that a fucking noose hanging from the tree? “I can see why you chose this tree, it’ll scare away just about anyone.” Brendon walks up to the tree and knocks on it. It was some sort of secret code. A latch in a nearby stump opens up and Brendon hops in. Ryan hesitates, but follows after him. “Glad to see that you made it in one piece.” One of the lost boys says while walking over to the two of them. “And it seems like you brought someone with you. I don’t even remember the last time you picked someone up on the way back.” This boy was taller than Ryan, but not by much. He was on the chubbier side and his hair was slightly longer than Brendon’s. His eyes were a striking bright blue, which contrasted with his brown hair. “Spencer this is… I never asked him his name now that I think about it.” “Ryan.” he says while standing up. The slide down was not fun, he thought he was going to die. A few more boys walk over behind Spencer. “The one on the right is Dallon and the one on the left is Bill.” Ryan didn’t expect them to have such normal names. He thought they would have some sort of odd nicknames for each other. The two boys are taller than Spencer, especially Dallon who seems to tower over all of them. Bill looks at Ryan up and down, his eyes shining like stars. “You really brought someone with you? I haven’t seen you do that since you brought her here.” So this isn’t the first time that Brendon brought someone back with him. It seems like he did that pretty often. “Is Patrick hiding again?” Brendon asks with a chuckle. “He’s off fixing the dumb waiter again. I swear that thing always breaks when we need it.” Spencer says with a sigh. “It’s because a certain someone, I won’t name names, Spencer, likes to fill the thing to the brim and go over the weight limit.” Brendon crosses his arms dramatically as he huffs slightly. “Pointing the finger now, are we? How many times have you broken it by now? Six? Seven times?” Spencer cocks an eyebrow at Brendon as he takes a step closer. Ryan can’t help but laugh slightly. These guys were idiots. He couldn't even think of a possible way that they’ve survived this long in the middle of the woods all by themselves. Brendon’s face turns a light shade of red as he pouts and continues to cross his arms. “Shut up…” He mumbles. Spencer ruffles the shorter boy's hair as he lets out a laugh. “You’re lucky that Pat knows how to fix it or we would be shit out of luck and have to carry things down like we used to. Now stop pouting and tell us how the trip to the mainland went.” Brendon perks up as the smile returns to his face. “I thought you’d never ask! I was doing the rounds that I normally do while I’m there, and I wasn’t really paying attention to where I was going. That’s how I met Ryan. I flew through his window and crashed into his room. We got to talking and he agreed to come with me. It honestly didn’t take that much convincing now that I think about it… He also said something about hearing about Neverland from some sort of story?” He shrugs. “I didn’t even want to come, he just dragged me along somehow. And I didn’t really believe anything he was saying until I saw it with my own eyes. It was all crazy talk, it still is.” Ryan was far from a perfect person. He could be described as an arrogant liar who will do nothing more than to make himself look good. He was never true to himself, he was always what he thought everyone wanted him to be. He was only here out of pity. Brendon seemed so excited to see someone other than himself. All of this was crazy to him, it didn’t make any sense. And yet it was all standing right in front of him. Maybe this was some sort of strange dream that he’ll wake up from soon. “Well, you're here now, time to put all that disbelief aside.” Spencer places his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “Things will go better if you do that. Trust me. We don’t need Tink almost dying again.” A loud thud from outside causes the ground to rumble. “Pirates.” Brendon grips onto something attached to his belt as he turns to the lost boys. “Sounds like they fired their cannons. They’re probably fighting that stupid kraken again.” Brendon lets out a sigh of relief. His hand drops from his side. “Kraken? Cannons?” Ryan was less than thrilled to hear all of that. This place keeps getting more and more dangerous the more time he spends here. This isn’t going to end well. “I know you said to be careful of pirates, but I didn't expect them to have fucking cannons.” “They only fire them in the water, so as long as you stick to the lagoons you’ll be fine.” Dallon is more soft spoken then the rest of the group. He seems to be the tall, strong and silent type. “Enough introductions! It’s time for our first adventure! Let’s go investigate what they were shooting at!” Brendon marches towards the exit as Spencer and Dallon scatter to follow him. Ryan sighs before joining the three of them. He was going to die on this island and it was going to be Brendon’s fault.