(song: "Love Me Now" - John Legend, Madilyn Bailey & Blake Rose KHS Cover)

Spring was finally on it's way; all and any late Christmas decorations had finally vanished.

With spring so close the main topic of conversation on campus became what everyone planned to do for their spring break.

"I hate relationships, we should road-trip down to Florida and just hook up with hot guys on the beach," Virginia suggested as she sat at a cafe table with Natalie.

Natalie rolled her eyes, but tried to do it discreetly. Virginia and Steve had broken up—again. Natalie fully expected them to be back together again by the end of the month. Those two were like magnets that repelled before turning around and running back to one another.

"You know, you've been really different since the whole Gardner and Kaden situation." Virginia observed.

Natalie lowered her tea cup and thought on that. "Yeah, I guess I have been. It's been kind of scary for me. With Gardner there was kind of a safety net, I knew where my life was going and fit everything into little boxes that I could control. Now, I feel like I'm just guessing at life and hoping it goes somewhere good."

"So you don't want to be a doctor anymore?"

"Not really. It's really hard work and I have no drive or passion to do it. I was just going in that direction because of my father and I guess in some weird way, I thought Gardner was reliable and responsible in the same way my dad was." Natalie sighed.

Virginia downed the rest of her tea and waved her hand to ask the waitress for another drink. "Can we have cocoa with marshmallows please?"

"No, none for me, just another tea," Natalie quickly interjected.

Virginia snorted. "Why? You used to love cocoa and winter is almost over. We should enjoy it while we can."

"It's going to sound stupid, but I kind of think it became special with Kaden. We had a Neverland night and we drank and ate way too much hot chocolate and pie." Natalie couldn't even help the way her voice sounded as she reminisced about it.

"The only way you are really—and truly—going to let go of them is to date other guys. No serious dates, just like you know, dinner-and-done kind of dates," Virginia advised. She slipped out her phone and tried to hide her smile behind it.

That smile never meant anything good.

"W-what are you doing?" Natalie asked apprehensively.

"Do you remember Steve's friend Dean? The really, really cute one? You told me last year that if you weren't pursuing Gardner that Dean would be perfect for you. You both are single, so I am asking him if he'd be interested in a date with you."

"I really don't want to date anyone right now, Virginia!"

"It's just a date, not the rest of your life." Virginia turned her phone to show Natalie the screen. "See that? He says he's interested in you. I gave him your number."

Natalie stared at the words on the screen clearly stating Dean's approval of her. Natalie could remember feeling attraction towards Dean the year before. He was smart, handsome, calm and collected, but funny and easy to be around. He really had the perfect balance when it came it looks and personality.

Mentally, Natalie convinced herself this was okay. She was single and had managed to avoid both Gardner and Kaden for quite some time. There was no moral code she'd be breaking by going on one date, besides it could even turn out to be fun.

"Fine." Natalie gave in. "One date."

Virginia smiled. "One date."

Natalie nervously stood outside of an Italian restaurant. She hated the nerve wracking minutes of waiting for a guy to arrive. Virginia had warned her to show up late and make Dean wait, but Natalie was notorious for arriving to things way too early.

Down the stretch of side-walk, Natalie could see the figure of a guy doing his best to rush against the chilly wind that blew into his face.

When he finally got closer, Natalie could clearly see it was Dean. He was practically out of breath and panted loudly when he reached her.

"So sorry, did you wait long?" Dean asked between heaves.

Natalie shook her head, "No, I just got here." That was a lie, but she thought it'd sound pathetic to say she'd been waiting for an hour.

Dean gulped and pressed his hand against his stomach to try and recapture his normal breathing patterns. He was an attractive guy with hazel eyes and dark hair that kind of curled in an adorable sort of way. She could hardly believe that Dean was actually interested in her.

He reached out to lightly touch her arm. "Let's go in."

Dean behaved like a gentlemen from the 40's. He opened the door for her and when they were shown their table he pulled out a seat for her. It was hard to tell if he was really that chivalrous or if it was just an act to impress her.

He waved his hand for the waitresses attention. "Have you eaten here before?"

"No, um—actually, I haven't really been to a lot of places here. I just kind of always focused on studying," Natalie said with immediate regret. She just basically let him know how much of a shut-in she was.

"I like that. It means that things like this are more special for you then." Dean's smile was gentle.

Natalie felt a little embarrassed and tucked her hair behind her ear. "Yeah, I guess they are."

It really wasn't going bad so far. Natalie expressed to him her thoughts about teaching instead of doing med-school and Dean listened with acute interest. He had no bizarre or eccentric behaviors like Kaden and he wasn't strict and intense like Gardner.

Everything felt like a new beginning until Natalie caught sight of two individuals seating themselves at a nearby table.

It was Kaden.

He was accompanied by Aubrey. The two sat directly across from one another and whatever they were talking about seemed deep.

Instantly, Natalie could no longer focus on downing her pasta. She took a few deep breaths and forced out a smile.

"Dean, would it be okay if we paid the bill and left? I'm not really feeling too good right now."

Dean nodded even though he was clearly confused with the sudden dramatic change in behavior. "Yeah, of course we can go. Was it the pasta? Should we tell the waiter?"

"No, no," Natalie rapidly answered. "It wasn't the pasta. The pasta was great. I just really need to get out of here right now."

She could see Kaden in the distance as he reached across the table to offer Aubrey a small ring box.

It made her feel anxiety swell into her chest. She pushed up from her seat and caused her glass of water to turn over and fall to the floor. The sound of the glass hitting the ground caused everyone to glance in her direction, including Kaden.

Panic set in.

"I'm so sorry, Dean. I've got to go," she babbled out her words apologetically and dashed out of the restaurant.

Once outside she tried to head down the sidewalk as fast as her legs would carry her.

Kaden was back with Aubrey and not only was he back with her, he was proposing to her. Of course he'd propose to her! They had lived together in the past and she didn't run off to New York like he thought she would. It was no surprise that the next natural step would be marriage.

So, why did she let it bother her so much?

"Natalie!"

She froze in place.

"Natalie. . ." The voice was closer.

"Don't come any closer to me, Kaden," she warned. "I know you were proposing to Aubrey. There's nothing you need to say to me, okay? Just let me go home."

Warmth surrounded her back. Kaden pressed against her and wrapped his arms around her from behind. His chin pressed into her shoulder and his breath tickled her neck.

She wasn't trying to push him away. It felt too good to have him close again. Natalie could feel the tears roll down her cheeks and her eyes shut tightly.

"I wasn't proposing to Aubrey," he said softly. "I was returning all her things back to her. It wasn't a ring, it was her mothers earrings. It was the last thing I had left to return to her. Her date is on his way there, she wanted me to drop it off before he came."

Natalie felt like crumbling. She turned to face Kaden and balled up her fists to gently press them against the center of his chest. Her lips spread out into a tear-covered smile. "What took you so long?"

Kaden lifted his hands up to carefully wipe the tears from Natalie's face. "You were right. I was holding on to Aubrey, but not because I was still in-love with her. The same way it was hard for you to let go of Gardner until you faced reality, I had to do the same thing with Aubrey. I wanted to make sure that everything that connected me to her was gone. Natalie, since I met you, I haven't even for a second wanted to be back with her."

Natalie was a messy crier. She happily cried against him and clung onto his clothing. He comforted her with his warmth and opened his jacket to let her share the heat with him. Her fingers dug into his sweater and she never wanted to leave that space.

"I am sorry about lying at the party. The real story about our tattoos is better than the lie. It was stupid and immature of me to do that," he apologized.

Natalie shook her face against him. "It's okay. It doesn't matter."

Kaden's fingers tugged at her wool-knit cap. "You missed me and all my weirdness, didn't you?"

"How could I miss someone who dips their popcorn in nutella?" She tried to shoot him a teasing look even though her face was a mess.

He smiled. "I think that sounds like a yes."

She really did miss him. She was so tempted to kiss him, but resisted the  urge.

"I know I'm new and inexperienced with relationships. I'm not the perfect person to be with, but I know that I'm happiest when I'm around you," she whispered into the fabric.

"I want to be with you," Kaden murmured.

He nudged his lips against her forehead to place a soft kiss against her skin. Natalie force herself to look up at him. His fingers slid down from her cap to the side of her face. Her breath shook along with her body.

"I want to be with you, Natalie—only you," Kaden said again with more emphasis. "I want to eat pie and drink cocoa with you on cold nights until we feel sick to our stomach. I want to Netflix and chill with you figuratively and literally. I want you to come to improv classes and pretend to be a potato with me. I want you to come see me perform and I want to encourage your dreams, whatever those dreams may be. I want to go back to the tattoo parlor we first met and get something inked that means more than a sinkable paper ship."

Natalie trembled as every muscle in her fought to maintain strength. Her chest burned with delighted pain and she swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat.

Somewhere along the way, she didn't just like Kaden, she had undeniably started to fall in-love with him. It was both terrifying and exciting at the same time.

"If you'd be willing to be with me again I'll—" Kaden began to say, but wasn't able to finish. Natalie used all her energy to drive her lips against his.

She could feel all the blood and heat rush to her lips and Kaden only sought to deepen the passion in it. His arms held her with the weight of longing for her. He wanted her and desired her in ways that made her feel special and beautiful.

Their mouths parted and the world around them melted into simply a blurred background.

Natalie had tried since high-school to be perfect, but all it took was one misbehaving to reveal to her that imperfections are what make individuals unique. Gardner had to embrace his imperfections, she had to face hers and Kaden had to face his.

They broke the kiss, following it with an awkward smile and then laughter from relief. His fingers laced with hers.

"Ready to go back to Neverland?" Kaden asked her.

"Always," she answered.

Maybe Wendy in the Peter Pan story made the wrong choice. After-all, what was so bad about staying in a place where anything was possible?

She decided that this time, she'd stay in Neverland with her Peter Pan.

THE END

Author's Note: OH my goodness, thank you SO much for reading/finishing this story. I loved writing this story. I just wanted a nice, light little love story that had a little humor wrapped in it. I know Natalie can seem like a naive character, but she was an idealist who had to let go of her ideas about life and the world. THAT'S PART OF GROWING UP. Our opinions keep changing and evolving as we have more experiences.

I hope you liked this story! If you did, please vote and comment on it! THANKS AGAIN!