Pietro and I were fast friends. We liked a lot of the same things and got along great. Sometimes I would catch him watching me and he'd look away with the reddest face. It was adorable.

(Of course, it wasn't like I watched him too or anything. I never noticed how his face lit up when the sunset hit just right through the glass clock face, or how his eyes sparkled when he laughed. Of course not.)

Sometimes when I lay awake at night, he would get up and sit by me and we would just talk about nothing until we were too tired to go on. When I told him my favorite book was Peter Pan and Wendy, he laughed. "I know. You read it all the time."

As things escalated between Emma and Regina, things got better and better I'm our lives. One notable moment was when Pietro let Belle out of the asylum. When I asked him about it later, he shrugged.

"Someone put her into a spot she couldn't get out of. I hated seeing her like that. No one should have to live in a cage, much less someone as good as her."

And that was the end of that. He spoke with more confidence than I'd seen from him in the past few months, and it was nice to see.

Pietro and I did everything together those last few months, even going as far as to sleep within a few feet of each other; if I thought about it, I realized that it was because we were terrified of losing each other. Spending so long alone was definitely not on my list of things to do again, and I doubted that it was on his. The only way I could make sure that he stayed by my side was if he literally stayed by my side. I wasn't opposed to the idea, obviously; what girl would be?

(Not like, romantically... Of course not. I wouldn't dream of it.)

And after all the crap with Katherine, I was beginning to doubt Emma- just the tiniest bit. I mean, she arrested Mary-Margaret. Of all the people to suspect of murder, she would be at the bottom of any list. Of course she got let out, but still. Pietro seemed a little too excited for my taste when I told him that. I got the feeling he didn't like Emma as much as I did, but hey. More for me, right?

But how had we gotten here?

I stood in the hospital room with Pietro, as always, by my side, watching this display of tense, shared misery between Regina and Emma. Henry lay in his hospital bed, dying and unconscious, then simply... dead. Then Emma kissed his forehead and the weirdest thing happened. Everyone started doing double takes, calling out unfamiliar names and hugging.

"Pietro? What's going on?"

"I'm... Not completely sure. But look! Henry's waking up!" He pointed at the hospital bed needlessly.

Henry's eyes fluttered open and he looked at Emma. "See? I told you you could do it."

Much flittering and mushiness ensued, but Pietro and I went as unnoticed as we always had. Then he put an arm around me and said something that shattered my whole world.

"Rosie, I don't think Emma saved us. I think she saved everyone but us."

Imagine that your heart was pulled out of your chest. Now imagine that a million people each smashed it with a hammer. Then they decided to light it on fire.

That's what it was like, knowing that Emma hadn't saved us. I didn't really know how to process the fact that I didn't feel anything. I was in so much pain that I was almost numb to reality. For so long, Emma had been one of the only things that added color to my life, and now she'd failed me in the worst way possible. The only real, solid thing in my life now was Pietro's arm around me and his voice in my ear. I had to believe that he was the only person that would never hurt me.

"I'm sorry Rosalie. I know how much you wanted to believe in her, but Emma just isn't the woman we thought she was." I nodded. "Do you want to go home?"

Home. The clocktower was home now? It didn't feel like it. I shrugged in his arms and Pietro led me out of the room carefully, talking to me the whole way. I would never admit it, but I knew why it felt like he understood me so well.

But right now wasn't the time to think about it. Anymore heartache might have killed me.

Pietro's POV

I couldn't pretend I wasn't disappointed too, but I had nothing on Rose. I hadn't expected much of Emma to begin with, so the fact that she wasn't able to save us didn't come as much of a shock. For Rosalie, who'd idolized her from the beginning, this would be a real hit. For some reason, it angered me. I didn't care that nobody could see me or even that no one cared about me or acknowledged my existence; I cared about how much she hurt my Rose. I'd never felt anything this intense before. I didn't just dislike the woman anymore...

I wanted her dead.

Nobody, I vowed silently, is allowed to hurt her again. No matter who it is or why they did it. Whoever does is going to pay.

I knew I should have been a little terrified that I was capable of thinking like that, but I wasn't. I'd known for a long time that I would do anything for Rosalie Jones. If that meant killing for her, then so be it.

For weeks, she walked through Storybrook like a zombie. She barely spoke to me and didn't do much. She slept through most of the day and almost never ate. A month (actually a month, a week, three days, and four hours) later, I was trying to coax her into eating some of the blueberry muffin I'd gotten from Granny's.

"Come on, Rosie. Just a little bit. How about I eat half and you eat the rest?" She glared at me without any real heat. "A quarter? Rosie, you have to eat something. Okay, what if you eat this and I'll give you a surprise."

Why had I said that? I don't have anything for her, I realized as I fed her small pieces of the muffin. But she was a nearly full-grown girl. She wouldn't make a big deal about-

"What's my surprise?"

-it. Oh crap. "Do I look like I have a surprise for you, Rosie?"

A little of the old spark came back into her eyes. "Fine. I'll make my own. Since I'm the queen, you're going to be my knight."

I raised my eyebrows. "I thought Regina-" The look in her eyes warned me not to go there. "Alright, alright. I'll be your knight then."

"Kneel, peasant, and kiss the ring of your queen."

She wasn't wearing a ring, but she held out her hand expectantly anyway. I rolled my eyes, hiding the fact that my heartbeat had tripled in speed, and knelt down in front of her. I kissed her hand, hardly believing the ridiculousness of the situation or the fact that it was actually happening. When my lips met her fingers, a jolt went through me and I remembered. I remembered everything. And judging by the look on Rose-- on Lily's --face, she did too.

I am Peter Pan, and I'm kneeling at someone else's feet. Worse, at a girl's feet. And I'm not getting up. Okay, I have to save face.

"I take it you remember everything too, my queen? Or was this strictly a one-sided enchantment?" I smirked at her and she rolled her eyes.

"Oh, get up. You look like a moron." Lily held out her hand and pulled me up. Again, I amazed myself by letting her. She wiped her hands on her jeans. "Now, I have a lot of questions, but first and foremost is why now? Why not when everyone else was fixed?"

I shrugged. "We had a compound enchantment on us. A true love's kiss can only handle one big curse at a time." I cringed as soon as the words were out of my mouth.

"At a time? Meaning what, exactly?"

I looked at the floor. "Meaning that when I kissed your hand..."

Lily sat down with a thump. "Oh. God, no. Please, no."

"It's not ideal, I agree," I said, acting as though it didn't make me want to puke. Was I really that repulsive? Did she really hate me that much? "We don't have to do anything about it if you don't want to."

She looked at me with wide eyes. "Me? What about you? There's no way it would work, Pietr-- Pan. With the boys, Felix--"

"What about Felix?" She didn't know. How would she? I'd been so careful about keeping his secret--

"He asked me once if I... If I had a thing for you. I said no, but if he found out it would be..."

"A disaster," I agreed. If Felix found out, it would crush him. "So what do you want to do?"

Lily raised an eyebrow. "You're actually giving me the reins here? Who are you and what have you done with Peter Pan?"

I exhaled in exasperation. Could she really ask that? "I spent twenty eight years as a whiny, lovesick bastard who literally only thought about you. I might be Peter Pan, but Pietro Liberi is still technically up here..." I tapped my skull. "...Rosie. I'm conflicted, much as I wish I wasn't. I'm two different people."

"I'm not," she said darkly. "You asked what I wanted. I think I know now, if you're willing to come with me." When I nodded, I was surrounded by her once-familiar blue fog before reappearing in Regina's office. Lily had Regina pinned against a wall.

"Okay Regina, I'm only going to say this once. Then next person that screws with my memory is going to end up a watered down puddle of blood on the floor because I am so, absolutely done with this. Do you understand?" Regina only glared at her before I got us out of there.

When the smoke cleared, Lily and I stood alone on a platform high above the ground. I felt her grip my arm tightly before realizing what she was doing. She tried to pull back, but I kept her there. "You know, it's okay to be afraid."

Lily looked at me, terrified but obviously angry. "If you know I'm afraid, why would you bring me here?"

"Because we're going home," I said quietly. "But I still want your answer."

She just looked at me blankly. "The answer? It's no. I don't want anything like that with you. Can we go home now?"

I sucked in a painful breath and faked one of my signature smirks. Shadow, come... Come get us. "Of course. Let's go home. I bet the boys miss you."

Aww, Lily, you're such a bitch!!! But Peter's an idiot for letting you be one. And I'm an idiot for writing you like this.

Hey everyone!! Sorry I'm late updating, for whatever reason this chapter just refused to be written. Here's a peek into Peter Pan's brain. He's startlingly cute, huh? I do try. Get used to the split pov, it's essential for later on in the story. Bye!!!