This story is based off of a request by the livejournal user jessicamee, at least I hope that I got the right idea, the request was a bit vague…
"Edmund…are you alright?" Peter approached his younger brother as he say alone atop a small hill, observing everyone else's celebration of the victory over the Telmarines.
"Just fine, can't you tell?" Edmund shot back sarcastically, looking at Peter, his dark eyes displaying clear discomfort.
"Ed, why aren't you happy? We won! Narnia's free again…it's the land that we always fought for it to be, why aren't you smiling?"
"Because," Edmund stood, turning on his brother. "I can see it in the way he looks at you, in the way you two interact, there's something between you!" Edmund's eyes narrowed as he tried to fight back tears that were stinging them, trying to break free.
"What on earth are you on about Ed?" Peter looked at his brother in genuine confusion.
"You and Caspian, you're always together now, either fighting, planning, or rescuing each other from an attacker – and don't think I haven't noticed the longing glances…" Edmund paused to take a breath, his chest heaving as his pulse quickened ever more by the second. "The tension between you two is sickening and it's completely unbearable to me. I don't understand, Peter, I thought that I knew you, I thought that I could trust you and here you are having some sort of…whatever it is with a prince from a different world!" Edmund tried to walk away, but Peter grabbed his arm.
"Ed, is that why you're upset? You think that I have feelings for Caspian? You think that I'm going behind your back with him?" Peter looked at Edmund in shock.
"Well aren't you?"
"NO!" Peter shook his head wildly. "Edmund, I would never, ever do that to you! He may be good looking, fine, I'll give him that, but honestly, when I look at him and considering him like that my mind always wanders back to you and how much more perfect you are for me then him."
"So you've thought about it then?" Edmund hissed, glaring at his brother scathingly. "You've that about taking up with that…that Telmarine?"
"Never long enough to be serious about it." Peter shook his head. "Edmund, I told you after you almost died last time that I loved you and only you and that rings true now just as it did when I held you in my arms on the battlefield and whispered the words in your ear. I thought I'd lost you and every time I look at you I'm afraid that it's going to happen again…and I want every moment possible with you, not with Caspian. He's a friend, an ally, nothing more, I promise you Edmund, I love you."
"How do I know you're not lying?" Edmund shot back. "How do I know that you're not coaxing me into security and as soon as I'm asleep you're going to sneak off to his chambers and tell him the exact same thing?" A few quiet tears sprang from Edmund's eyes and began to fall quickly down his cheeks, glistening in the sunlight. "I don't want to give you my heart only to have it broken."
"I'm not going to break it Ed!" Peter pulled Edmund close and kissed him softly. "I honestly have no feelings for him…it's you, I promise…" Peter felt a lump rise in his own throat, hurt that his brother didn't trust him enough to know that he could never love anyone else. "How can I prove to you that I feel nothing for anyone but you?"
"You shouldn't have to prove it!" Edmund sniffled. "I should be able to tell!" Peter nodded and pressed his lips against Edmund's again, this time kissing him with far more passion and feeling than before. He hesitated but a second to part Edmund's lips with his tongue and beg gently for entrance to his brother's mouth by pressing his tongue against Edmund's front teeth. Edmund couldn't deny Peter's request and soon Peter's tongue explored Edmund's mouth as it had so many times, gently caressing the inside of the younger boy's cheek. Edmund fell weak in Peter's arms, is knees buckling under him, but Peter's arms remained strong around him, supporting him, preventing him from falling.
"Do you feel it now, Ed?" Peter asked, pulling away slowly from the kiss, one tear rolling slowly down his cheek. "Do you see that I could never, ever care for anyone else the way I care for you? That I could never love anyone anywhere near as much as I love you? I would die for you, Edmund, I wouldn't die for him. I would give anything to be with you, and if I couldn't then I wouldn't be able to go on." Peter gulped, trying to choke back more tears, he didn't need to be crying, he needed to be comforting Edmund. "I really, honestly love you more than anything or anyone in this world or any other that we have or may visit." Edmund nodded tearfully and threw his arms around Peter. Peter rubbed Edmund's back, whispering comforting words into the boy's ear.
"I'm sorry Peter…I – I shouldn't have doubted you, I was just…I didn't want to lose you, not to him…not to anyone." Edmund sniffled and looked up into Peter's clear blue eyes, which held nothing but love for the younger boy.
"The day that I fall for someone as hard as I fell for you is the day I kill myself, Ed." Peter stroked his brother's hair soothingly.
"Don't say that Peter…I don't want to think about a time when you're not there anymore, that terrifies me more than you could possible imagine…" Edmund's arms tightened around Peter, his whole body tensing at the mention of Peter's death.
"You're wrong, Ed…I know exactly what you're talking about because that's how I feel every single time I see you on the battlefield…every time I manage to get in a glance at you fighting someone I'm terrified that it's going to be the last time I see you standing." Peter kissed the top of Edmund's head. "God, now that this is over I just want to hold you in my arms and never, ever let go of you."
"That's all I've ever wanted from you, Pete…all I'll ever want." Edmund tilted his head to the side and Peter placed a soft kiss on his lips.
"Come on, let's go celebrate…I promise I'll hold you tonight and the next night and the next, forever and a day Edmund, I swear to you on my life that I'll never let you go."
