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everyone knows the story of peter pan.  the boy who refused to grow up.  but, though he refused to grow old, he could not stop the aging of his body.  by the time he had turned 16, he was beginning to feel a little out of place.  and he was at least 20, now.  but he still enjoyed playing with the other lost boys.  though he aged in body, he never aged in spirit.
but only her docters know her story.  deidre rockwell.  age:17.  parents died at 15.  alone in the world.  she had been the daughter of a wealthy business owner.  deidre found that the only way she could be happy since her parent's deaths was to retreat to the shadowed corners of her mind.
that was where he found her.  her back was against the cold stone of the cliff wall, the creek running around her, isolating her in her own silent prison.  he was doing no better, the other boys having taunted him, once again, for his size and inability to play thier favorite games.  planning to take his mind off of things, he had wandered through the wood on the way to his favorite swimming hole.  his shirt drapped over his shoulder, pants ridding low where they weren't torn; he was every bit the vision of a reluctent hero.  his long unkempt black hair hung un his down-cast gray eyes.  his lips formed a frown on his chisled face, eyebrows drawn in a silent reverie.
she looked up at the sudden noise from off to her left.  she hadn't expected anyone this time.  she had had this dream before.  always sitting in the same place, her back to the cold wall, at her feel the warm running water of the clearest creek she had ever seen.  the rocks above her filtered out any sun the might reach her in her prison.  she had never ventured beyond that spot.  she had no reason to.  she never expected to see what stood before her.
he didn't often walk through this part of the wood, and he hadn't really expected to today.  but he had followed his feet and they had brought him here.  to her.  something stirred inside him as he looked at her again.  her short red hair flew about her face as the wind rushed by them.  for a breaf moment, their eyes met.  his breath stopped at what he saw in her tear-stained eyes.  the green depths held such mystery, such distance, he was drawn another step closer to the endless abyss held in her gaze.  her lips quivered in silent sobs that she was trying not to let him see.
a small pale light appeared from behind him.  he turned to greet the new arrival, and, remembering her presence by the rocks, turned back.  in his swift movement, she had disappered.

~*~*~*~

"deidre, i want you to tell me everything about your dream.  you're holding something back." her phsyciatrist wrote what deidre had told him twice already and placed the little notebook down and turned off the recorder.  "dee, you know you tell me everything."
"yeah, i know.  but i don't care."  after three hours of endless badgering, she had finally broken down and told the docter everything about her dream.  almost.  she never told the docter how she felt around this strange boy.  "it's not like i wanted to come here in the first place.
the docter nodded and she could see him making a menatl note of how she was acting.  she could never escape their prying words.  they all wanted to know her life.  and she didn't want to tell them anything.they would never understand all of it.
"well, dee.  i think we've talked enough for one day."  the docter gave her the phony smile she had become so accustomed to.  she only glared back and walked out the door.

~*~*~*~

he closed his eyes one more time, thinking about the girl who had appeared here the night before.  she had been so beautiful.  he pushed the thought to the back his mind.  he couldn't believe he had even let himself think that.  she was a girl.  the plague.  he wanted nothing to do with her, he told himself for the thousandth time.  but he also found his way back to the place where they had me, for the thousandth time.  the sun was going down, he could feel the wind blow colder, the chill of the evening air bitting into his skin.  he hadn't even brought a blanket.  her image crossed his mind one last time as he closed his eyes.
she found him at the cliff.  she knew he would be there.  holding her breath, she took a step foorward and brushed his hair from his face.  he looked so innocent in his sleep.  she released her breath and placed a hand on his shoulder.  she sat beside him, between his warm torso and the cold of the rock wall.  her hand still on his shoulder, she curled in closer to him, letting all her worries of the waking world drift away into the night.
he woke up cold.  the wood had grown dark and the wind blew a bitter chill into all that still lay within it's depths.  he started to shift to a more comfortable postion when he heard her groan.  she was asleep beside him, her arms wrapped tight around her knees, her head resting in his lap.  he turned and put his arm around her and noticed how, even in sleep, she frowned slightly.  everything about her was gaunt and ghost like, from her pale skin to the way her black t-shirt hung loosely from her slender frame.
she woke up hours later.  laying still, she felt the stiff warmth of the wool blanket that had been laid over her.  she could hear the wind whistling through the tree tops; which, she saw, were only a few yards away.
"who is she?" a voice drifted over on the breeze.  his voice.  "something about her.  every time i look at her.  i want to make the world perfect.  i want her to leave.  but i never want to be without her.  i feel like i would give my life for only a minute with her, but even that would be too long.  she is a terrible angel, a beautiful daemon.  she is everything i ever wanted, and now i want it gone.  what do i do?"
another voice drifted over the quiet tones of his spoken thought, "maybe you should go talk to her.  tell her how you feel."  it was a female vioce.  it sounded so innocent, so ageless.  deidre risked a glance in the direction of the vioces.  from over the edge of the tree-top platform, she could see the edge of a vast sea, a golden beach that stretched as far as the eye could see.  and there, down at the water's edge, he was sitting.  in front of him, a creature she had never thought of before this.  a mermaid.  the mermaid's hair shone bright in the rising sun, sending waves of cascading silver down the sea woman's bared back.  her surf coloured tail stretched across a length of beach, the end curled carelessly over itself.  as much as deidre wanted to go to the boy, she feared the shining creature as she feared to be alone.  the solitude she had on her platform was noting compared to the lonely feeling from knowing that she could never find anyone to core for her in the real world.  to be truely alone, the thought that she feared the most.
deidre lay back down and drifted into a discontented slumber, the face of the mermaid floating through her mind, his face always present.
he thanked his dear friend for their talk.  she had always known when he needed help, swimming in from the farthest reaches of the ocean just to talk to him, to guide him.  he watched her silver form slid out into the murky depths, her last words on his mind.  how would he be able to tell the mysterious girl eveything? he had only just met her.  he didn't know what he wanted.  his mind said leave her, forget everything about her.  but is body was saying something different.  his body told him that he wanted to touch her, to wrap her in his arms and to hold her all through the night.
she awoke again to the sounds of the rope ladder creaking and his soft landing as he pulled himself onto the platform beside her.  he walked over to her and kneeled before her.  she was sitting upright now, her shaded eyes watching his every movement.  he sat, his body aching to reach out and hold her until the end of time, his mind screaming at him to run far away.  he ignored the warnings in his head, and reached over and took her hand.  she didn't move as he brought her hand forward, resting both of their hands on the hard ground between them.
"could i,...would you tell me your name?"  he leaned close, his voice was barely a whisper.  she closed her eyes and concentrated on their hands on the ground.  his touch was so soft, yet so heavy.  he seemed unsure, but so confident.
he watched her as she opened her eyes.  her hand was so warm beneath his, he could feel her pulse quicken as she returned his gaze.  "deidre."  she barly said it, but she knew he heard it.  "could i know your's?"
he smiled in relief, his face relaxing at the sound of her voice.  his mind was silent, but his body's messages were getting stronger, and he was having trouble deciphering all of them.  he leaned closer, without realizing it.  "peter."  without meaning to, he placed his other hand on her knee, drawing in the warmth of her body.  his face was only inches from hers, the callings of his body had grown strong, now, and he could not ignore them.  before either of them knew what was happening, he pressed his lips to hers, drinking in the sweet flavor of her mouth.  he didn't kno what came over him.  his body screamed for more.  the feeling of her body pressed under his drove his senses to the brink.
this was the best dream she had ever had.  for once she did not feel self-conscience giving out her name.  she could trust him, she felt it.  she nearly jumped when his moved his free hand to her knee, but allowed it to stay.  he was leaning in closer with every breath.  she swollowed hard, hoping he wouln't notice.  he didn't.  she had never been physically this close to anyone before.  he leaned closer, his lips pressed against hers.  she groaned into his mouth, causing him to deepen the kiss.  he kept leaning, bringing his arm under her back, laying her out on the wooden floor of the platform.  the sun was just peaking above the trees, a golden glow cast all around the unlikely pair.  she sighed again and allowed him to lay her down, finding comfort pressed under his strong body.  she could feel energy passing between them, volts of electricity passing through them.  she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.
he could feel energy coming from her body, flowing into his viens.  her every movement send shivers up his spine.he knew what it was his body was telling him.  he knew why he could never be one of the lost boys again.  slowly, he parted her lips with his tounge, pushing his way into her mouth.  she welcomed his intrusion, moaning into his mouth.  his hands move from her back and the ground and found their way to the soft flesh at her ribs.  she arched her back at his touch, his calloused hands finding their way under her shirt, up to the warm skin of her belly.  he stopped, lifting from the kiss.  closing his eyes, he lowered his stubble-line face to her neck.  he kissed the skin of her throat, and slowly moved down, kissed her collar, and back to her throat.
he lifted his head again, tears in his eyes.  "deidre, i can't."  a tear slid down his face and landed on her chest where he had tucked his head.  "i just can't"  he looked back up.  she smiled a sad smile and reached up to wipe away his tears, before wiping her own.
"i know."  she wrapped her arms back around his neck and pulled his closer to her.  "i know."