Y/N

_

"LOUIS YOU NEVER told us she was pretty!" A boy screamed from on top of a tree branch, whipping out their finger towards me.

I had barely even made it into the forest clearing, before I felt the presence of five eyes staring at me from behind the forest leaves. If I didn't know who I was supposed to be meeting, I would have assumed I was about to die.

This was some horror movie stuff, honestly.

"Oh, stop complaining," Louis scolded, floating over towards the center of the space, "have a little respect, idiots."

"Who are you calling idiots?" A boy exclaimed, jumping onto the ground.

One by one, Millie and the other four came popping into view, all staring at me with blatant inquisition. I clearly didn't fit in, and I wasn't sure if they expected me to, but I couldn't really read the expressions on their faces.

Help.

"This is [y/n]," Louis said, nodding towards me, "be nice to her, or I'll make you sleep in the mud pool tonight."

The boy to his right, who had curly black hair and freckles, titled his head in acquisition, "are you trying to say we wouldn't be nice to her?"

Louis shook his head, "I never said that."

"But you implied it," the other boy scoffed, before turning towards me. He held out his hand in greetings, and I took it with confused hesitation. He didn't seem to notice, "I'm Finn, by the way."

I smiled nervously, "hello, Finn."

"Noah is the one behind me," he said, pointing at the brown haired boy a few paces away, "Gaten is to his left, and Caleb is the one who called you pretty."

Before I had a chance to fathom up a response, my new acquaintance cut in. He had a bandana tied sharply around his black hair, and was scowling at Finn.

"Mind your own business, Wolfie," Caleb hissed.

"Who's Wolfie?" I mumbled, furrowing a brow.

Gaten spoke up, "that's Finn's nickname."

"Why?"

There was a pause, where the five boys just looked at each other. Millie dusted some sparkles off her dress and flitted away towards a grouping of mushrooms a few paces away. She didn't seem interested in the conversation.

"Honestly, everyone sort of forgot," Noah added, scratching the top of his brown hair, "it's been a long while since someone asked that question."

"Really?" I laughed softly, "I suppose that makes sense."

Louis tilted his head, "how?"

"No one could ask you the question because you're the Lost Boys. It's in the name, isn't it?"

"Well, no one's really lost if they don't want to be found," Caleb nodded, waving his arm at the forest around us, "and we like to be secretive about ourselves here on the island."

It made me sad thinking about that.

While I couldn't assume what they were feeling, I knew enough about the story to know what might have been running through their minds. Maybe they were lost at first, a couple of boys who never had the chance to grow up, but eventually they forgot about it all and found a family on the island.

But just because they didn't say it, doesn't take away from the sad fact that they were lost in the first place.

I wondered if someone was still out there looking for them.

"Well, back to what I was saying," Caleb said, breaking me away from my train of thought, "Louis failed to tell us how pretty you are."

I blinked, resisting the urge to cover my face with my hand in bashfulness.

"I'm sorry?" I questioned, not sure if I heard him right.

Gaten grabbed Louis's collar, hoisting him up into the air, "this idiot has been rattling on about you all day, but never mentioned that you were cute."

Louis crossed his arms, wiggling out of the boy's grip. He glanced at me momentarily, as if to subtly apologize for his friend's blunt behavior, but turned back to scold the boys.

"I didn't need to tell you anything about the way she looks," he said, wagging his finger at them, "because the first thing you say when you describe a girl shouldn't be her looks."

Noah scrunched his nose, "then what are we supposed to say?"

"What I told you."

"What did you tell us?"

"Did you already forget, you buffoon?" Finn hissed, smacking Noah upside the head, "Louis told us he pushed her out of a window!"

"Yeah!" Gaten jeered, "the only way to describe a woman is by how fast she falls to the ground."

"In that case, how fast did she fall?"

"How am I supposed to know? I didn't bring a calculator with me!"

"Or you could just ask for her name," I cut in, clearing my throat, "pushing anyone out of a window isn't polite in the slightest, so I wouldn't recommend it the next time you break into someone's home, Louis."

As soon as I called the boy out on his actions, everyone became quiet, all turning to look at Partridge. He just stood there, blinking, as if he was having trouble realizing I was talking about him.

Goodness Smee.

"Anyways," Caleb said, sliding next to me, "would you like to have dinner with me?"

I almost choked on my spit, "what?"

"Would you like to have dinner with us?" Gaten corrected, kicking Caleb in the shins.

Finn shrugged, "breakfast works too."

"I already ate," I mumbled, clasping my hands behind my back, "sorry."

I wasn't lying, Smee gave me a ton of food.

Speaking of Smee...he probably thought I was searching for stones at this very moment. So did Hook. So did the entirety of the Sea Devil. Shoot. Crashing over me like a wave, remembrance of my past events came flooding in, and I let out a stressed sigh.

"I actually have somewhere to be," I said, spinning on my heels, "but maybe next time."

As I turned to walk back towards the forest, Louis called my name.

"Where are you going?" He asked, his brown hair drooping over his eyes, "you just got here."

I really didn't want to explain, because I couldn't. If Louis found out I was returning to the pirate ship, he'd scorn me out forever. So would the Lost Boys, and I found their company all too amusing and kind to let go of.

I didn't want to lose them just yet.

"Goodbye," I said, nodding at everyone, "Till tomorrow, I suppose."

As I retreated into the forest, I ignored the sounds of confused muttering coming from the boys behind me. I felt bad, but I had every reason to leave. Unless you were in my position, you really couldn't judge the way I handled things.

"Where do you think you're going?" A small voice said, emerging from behind a tree.

It was Millie.

"Back to the ship," I said, continuing to walk, "why?"

As I passed through the branches, I noticed that the girl was still fluttering after me in haste. She had that glaring look on her face again.

"I don't trust you," she muttered, staring me down, "I think you're working with Hook."

I wasn't working with Hook, I was working to stay alive from Hook. There was a very evident difference.

"I didn't ask you to trust me," I said, bending down to pick up a stone, "okay?"

"So you are a pirate," she accused.

"Not entirely."

"I knew it! I'm telling Louis!"

Before she could flutter her way back to the camp, I widened my eyes, and snatched her up into my hand. She clearly didn't like that, because she began to squeak and punch at my palm.

"Don't you dare tell him," I scowled, "if I don't go back to the ship, they'll kill me, then kill you, kill the lost boys, and then kill Louis."

"But you're working for the enemy!"

"I'm not!"

"Traitor!"

"Please listen to me, Millie."

"NO, I'm telling them the truth about you!"

"You won't," I said, letting go of her, "because if you tell Louis, he'll be in danger, and you don't want him to be hurt, do you?"

Before she could respond, I snatched my stone back up and hurried back out of the forest. I didn't see a point in fighting with her. She clearly didn't like me, and if protecting Louis wasn't enough reasoning to protect my secret, that wasn't my problem.

The only problem I really had, was Hook.