Page 25 of Protector

Why does he hate me so much?

Why does he treat me like I’m dirt? Invisible? Nobody?

My heart cracks the longer I think about how much of an impact Daddy has had on my life. I’ve never gotten to be the normal teenager, and the one and only time I get my first real experience, my first kiss, it’s ruined by him instantly, whether he knows it or not.

“Bon,” Puck says after minutes of silence have passed, where my sobs turned to quiet sniffles. He pulls back from me, lifting my chin so he can look into my eyes.

“We will find our time. Whether it’s tomorrow or next year. Whether it’s in another lifetime. But know that nothing will take away our time together. Me and you, till our Neverland.”

He leans forward, pecking me on the lips before cradling me in his arms again. And I think at some point I must fall asleep, because I wake up, alone in my room, with a handwritten letter on my pillow.

Bon,

This life you know isn’t always going to be the life you continue to live.

You say I can go out and meet new people, enjoy new experiences, explore the world. But the truth is, Bonnie, without you, I wouldn’t want to do any of that.

You claim to be trapped and that I should go out and be, what you assume, free. But without you there, I’d be trapped too.

If staying here, getting lost in the woods and roaming these four walls was it for the rest of my life, I would be happy, because I’d be with you.

But this isn’t all that’s out there for you, Bonnie.

The world is yours, and I promise, the day you set foot out of these gates will be the day you realise you deserve everything it has to offer.

I’m going to take you places you’ve only seen on a map. I’m going to teach you how to swim in a clear blue ocean. I’m going to help you climb the coldest snowy mountain. And most of all, I’m going to kiss you at every sunrise and every sunset, no matter what part of the world we’re in. Because my world is wherever you are.

And I will protect you, support you, and love you at all costs.

The world is big, Bonnie Rhivers, and it’s ours.

Soon.

Second star on the right…

Till Neverland,

Puck

Closing her door quietly after I left the letter on her pillow, I head toward my own room on the other side of the first floor. I don’t know if it’s done on purpose that mine, King’s, and Dax’s rooms are on the opposite side of the house to Bonnie, but I wouldn’t put it past Carlo to do that out of spite to keep her even more secluded.

Taking a deep sigh, I collapse onto my bed and fold my arm over my eyes, reliving everything that has happened this evening when a quiet knock taps against the door and my mum's head pops around the frame.

“Goodnight, sweetie,” she says softly, and I smile weakly at her, wishing a goodnight in return.

‘What’s the matter?” she asks, pulling the door open wider.

“Nothing,” I reply and roll my eyes at her raised eyebrows.

“Now I know that look, and I know my son. It’s not nothing,” she shuts the door behind her, and I shuffle on the bed so I’m sat up, my elbows resting on my knees. She sits down next to me, her arm reaching out to rub my back.

“Are you going to tell me, or do I need to guess?”

Knowing there’s no way she’s leaving without me talking, I decide to go with the truth.

“Mum, why does Carlo keep Bonnie hidden?”

Her hand pauses on my back, and I look up at her, sitting up straight so I can give her my full attention. Her face looks pained and sad.

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