A/N: This is DEFINITELY movie verse and I don't know much about the books because I was small when I read them and I'm afraid that if I read them now I'll just hate the movies and not be able to write fanfiction, so basically anything that I don't have in my notes from the Prince Caspian movie (Because I'm a nerd and had my notebook out in the theater…) I'm making up or guessing on…but try and enjoy it? Maybe?
This takes place about a week before the beginning of PRINCE CASPIAN.
"Peter, what's happened?" Peter walked in to the room he shared with Edmund at school and Edmund stood right away.
"Nothing, I'm fine." Peter walked over to his bed and lay down on his side facing the wall.
"Like hell you're fine!" Edmund sighed. "Your vest is ripped, your pants are soiled and you're bleeding. I'll go get Susan, she can clean your cut."
"I can clean it up myself, now leave me alone!"
"Peter, this is the fifth time Susan's had to mend that vest, if you'd stop getting in fights…"
"It's none of your business!" Peter snapped, rolling over to face Edmund, a frown on his face. There was a fairly long cut above his left eye and the blood had trickled down almost all the way to his jaw. His blue knit vest had huge diagonal tear down the chest, exposing a rip in his white shirt beneath. The sleeves of his shirt were rolled up, his tie was undone and barely hanging around his neck and his shirt was un-tucked from his dirt covered pants.
"Look, we're all sick of you getting in these fights! Ever since Narnia you've been touchy as hell; we lived a full life in Narnia and now we're back here, you have to learn to act your age again! You're not an adult anymore!"
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" Peter stood, standing in front of Edmund.
"What was it this time Peter? Did someone remind you that you're not a king here? Did someone tell you to do something without bowing? We're not royalty here, Lucy, Susan and I have managed to adjust to that! Why can't you?"
"SHUT UP!" Peter slapped Edmund across the cheek so hard that it burned red. Edmund put his hand to his cheek and looked up at Peter in shock. "Oh god…Ed, I'm sorry…"
"No, fine, you've made your point." Edmund turned and left the room, still holding his cheek, more in shock that Peter had hit him than in pain. Susan came in to the room a couple of minutes later, Edmund nowhere ins sight.
"Again? Peter honestly!" She rolled her eyes and grabbed his arm, dragging him to the bathroom. She wet a towel and put it to his cut, cleaning off the blood. "I don't have time to fix that vest right now, you'll have to wait a day or so."
"I don't care." Peter sighed. "How much did Edmund tell you?"
"Just that you were in a fight over something and were hurt…why?"
"Just wondering." Peter sighed, wondering why Edmund hadn't mentioned that Peter had hit him. "Look, I can take care of myself, alright?" Peter grabbed the towel from Susan. "Just leave, alright?"
"Peter, what's gotten in to you lately? Edmund agrees with me, you've changed completely…" Susan sighed. "Fighting over stupid little things…coming back to your room beat up because you picked fights you haven't a prayer of winning?"
"For your information this wasn't another one of those stupid fights where someone tells me to hold the door and I punch them." Peter fumed at Susan, glaring at her. "If you must know I heard William Coulter tell Sam Wolington that he was going to use Ed as punching bag after school tomorrow…so I made a preemptive strike to protect him, now don't tell him and leave me alone about it!" Peter glared at Susan and stormed back in to the room, still holding the wet towel. Susan sighed and left a few seconds later, turning as she left.
"I'm sorry Peter, I didn't know." A couple of minutes later Edmund returned.
"You didn't have to do that." Edmund looked at Peter, biting his bottom lip.
"Do what?"
"Fight my fight…I can handle William Coulter."
"No you can't…I hardly could."
"You picked a fight with both of them, two against one?" Edmund looked away from his older brother, sighing.
"Look, they had no reason to choose a fight with you and that's that, now drop it, I have to go kill Susan for telling you."
"She didn't tell me Pete."
"Don't call me that…"
"I was listening at the door…you weren't exactly being quiet." Edmund reached out and took the towel from Peter's hands. "Come on, let's finish with this cut." Edmund dabbed gently at the shallow incision. "How did you get this anyways?"
"I fell and hit my head on a tree root…" Peter sighed.
"Nice."
"Shut up Ed." Peter pushed his brother away.
"Look, thank you, alright? Will that put you in a better mood? I hate that you're angry all the time!" Edmund launched into the feelings that he had been suppressing since their return from Narnia. "You never want to have fun, you never want to do anything but mope about, yell at me and get in to fights, I miss the old Peter, the one who would boss me around but still wrestle me and tell me not to wander off…I know he's still in there," Edmund tapped Peter's chest rather roughly. "Because if he weren't you wouldn't have defended me. Just let him out! We all miss him, especially me!"
"You want to know what's wrong with me?" Peter grabbed Edmund by his tie. "It has almost nothing to do with Narnia, it has to do with you, Edmund, I've got a personal problem with you."
"And what have I done to you?" Edmund glared at his brother. "Let me go."
"No." William shook his head. "Not until I explain what you so dearly want to know."
"What's that?"
"Why the old Peter's gone away."
"Oh yeah? Edmund looked at his brother. "Why's that?" Peter didn't respond verbally, instead he pulled Edmund closer by his tie and kissed him hard. Edmund pulled away immediately. "BLOODY HELL! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!?"
"You see? I knew you wouldn't understand." Peter shoved Edmund, pushing him towards the doorway. He watched Edmund leave the room before collapsing in a heap on his bed, hugging his pillow to his chest. He closed his eyes, not allowing himself to cry, this wasn't worth crying over. The feelings that he harbored for his dark haired brother were insignificant. They lived in a world where he would be ridiculed for these feelings and torn to literal shreds if ANYONE knew that he had acted on them. Of course Edmund wouldn't react the way Peter hoped, he didn't feel the same way – how could he? This wasn't natural and it wasn't allowed, that was that. "Lucy, not now, you can't fix this by cuddling with me, not this time." Peter sighed almost an hour later as the mattress sank with the weight of another person.
"I'm not Lucy…"
"Ed?" Peter asked in surprise, rolling over to see the boy lying beside him. "Don't patronize me…please, I don't need you taking the shit out of me for this…"
"I'm not taking the shit out of you…"
"What do you mean?" Peter, turned around, looking at Edmund in confusion. Edmund didn't respond with words, he just put his arms around Peter and pulled him in to a tight embrace. "Ed…"
"You forgave me, Peter, when I betrayed you. You could have died because of what I did and you forgave me, what kind of brother would I be if I didn't see the signs? You really do care for me, don't you."
"Yes," Peter nodded. "Deeply." He held Edmund close, wishing that this embrace wasn't the closest they'd ever be.
"I'm sorry that I ran off, I mean after you protected me and everything…" Edmund sighed. "Thank you." Edmund snuggled in to his brother's embrace. "I feel like an adult trapped in a kids body Pete…"
"I know Ed, I do too…"
"I don't know how to handle this sometimes."
"Handle what?" Peter brushed some of Edmund's hair aside and looked in to his eyes, noticing that the younger boy was crying slightly.
"This…us…" Edmund sighed. "Why I freaked when you did what you did, it was because I didn't know what to do, not because I was honestly angry with you."
"We don't have to talk about this Edmund…"
"You see you're wrong, we do…" Edmund pulled out of Peter's arms, sitting up on the bed. "Look, this may be completely screwed up, but there's nothing we can do about it, you can't go back and undo kissing me and I can't go back and undo running away."
"Edmund, what on earth are you talking about?" Peter sat up, level with his brother, and looked at him, confused.
"Do you think that maybe it was always there and it took us a lifetime to figure it out?"
"Ed, what are you on about?"
"This." Edmund took a deep breath before gently brushing his lips against Peter's. "I'm in love with you Peter…"
"You are?" Peter looked as his younger brother, surprised at the action, but not a bit upset by it.
"Yes." Edmund nodded. "Why else would I have just done that?"
"I don't know." Peter sighed and put one arm around Edmund, drawing him back in to the kiss. Edmund pulled away a couple of seconds later.
"Wait, I have one condition to place on us as a couple, Pete."
"Anything, what is it?"
"I want you to stop picking fights, I don't like to see you beat down."
"I can do that." Peter nodded and Edmund smiled, keeping his promise and met Peter in a soft, romantic kiss.