Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Peter Goes To College
Chapter 1. A Talk Between Brothers
Peter's POV
"I need to talk to him." I mumbled to myself. I stood up and walked into the family room and saw one thing I wasn't expecting. Edmund was laying on the couch, with Lucy halfway on top of him, wrapped in a blanket, and she looked like she was fighting sleep. He was reading a book, but then Lucy got into a coughing-fit. He immediately put the book down, and started rubbing her back, trying to calm her down.
"Mum, can you bring Lucy some water?" he asked. Mum quickly came in the room with a small glass of water which Lucy took a few sips of, and then started calming down. She stopped coughing and they went back to the same positions.
"What's wrong with her?" I asked walking up. They both looked up, and Lucy gave a slight smile before laying her head back down, and Edmund looked terribly worried.
"She's sick, the doctor came earlier, I'm surprised that you didn't know by now." he replied.
"Oh. Where's Susan?" I asked.
"She's been gone all day, she doesn't even know Lucy's sick." Edmund replied looking down.
"Well, can I talk to you for a second?" I asked.
He looked down at Lucy who had once again nearly fallen asleep. "Sure" he said "Hey Lu, I've gotta go talk to Peter for a second." he said. He got up, wrapped the blanket tight around Lucy and followed me upstairs.
"So what's wrong with her?" I asked.
"She's got the flu." he replied sadly.
"THE FLU!" I exclaimed.
"Yeah, and a pretty bad case of it too." he said.
"Oh my, where did she get it from?" I asked.
"Herself." he replied sitting down on the bed.
"Herself?" I said confused.
"Yeah." he replied "You know how Susan jumped off the deep end, and now your going off to college. She's afraid I'm going to jump off the deep end after you leave, since we've become so close." he replied.
"We have become close" I admitted "But you wouldn't stop believing in Narnia over it, would you?" I asked.
"No!" he confirmed "I would never. But she thinks I might, and she's LITERALLY worried herself sick!" he said.
"Can you handle her by yourself when I'm gone?" I asked.
He nodded his head. "I've gotten better at comforting her over the years, considering sometimes your not home, and Susan wouldn't dare do it for fear of messing up her 'beautiful' clothes." he said rolling his eyes when he got to Susan.
"You know it's not nice to talk about her like that?" I asked.
"I don't care! She shows me off to her friends, I can talk about her all I want." he replied.
"She does what?" I asked.
"She shows me off to her friends, apparently I'm the cutest guy in the world." he said rolling his eyes yet again.
I chuckled. "Well, you are handsome." I said.
"Yeah, apparently I get that from you." he said.
I chuckled but he looked serious. "Oh you were serious?" I asked.
"Of course, Peter, your alot more handsome then I, your just never home when she has friends over, lucky you." he said.
"I'm gone from home that much?" I asked.
"No, she rarely brings them here, I think she times it so your never here, apparently because Lucy is soooo embarrassing. She makes me sick." he said.
"Lucy embarrasses her? How? Lucy's not embarrassing." I said temper flaring up.
"I know she's not, but, apparently she is to Susan." he replied.
"Susan and I are going to have a serious talk about that" I said. He nodded his head. We sat in silence for a while, giving and taking comfort from each other as we did. "So, are YOU going to be ok?" I asked.
He seemed to think about this for a moment before answering. "I'll be fine, at least I don't have a country to worry about this time" he said smiling.
"This is true, you just have a little sister." I said.
"Yeah, well, she'll probably help most of the time." he said.
I nodded. "What about when you go back to school?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I'll muddle through." he said.
"And promise me, you won't get into any fights." I said.
He chuckled. "I promise." he said "And I won't be alone, remember."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Mum and dad found a school that's for both boys, AND girls, both of us are starting there next term" he replied.
"Oh yes, that's right, is Susan?" I asked.
"Are you kidding? She doesn't want to leave all of her friends." he said rolling his eyes, for the third time this morning.
I nodded. "So you won't be alone. That's great to hear." I said. We sat in silence again.
"I'm gonna miss you Ed." I said.
"I'm gonna miss you too Pete." he said.
I probably would have started crying, had I not heard the front door slam open, then shut. We stood up and looked out my bedroom door. Susan was stomping up the stairs.
"What's wrong Su?" I asked.
"That little brat, that's supposed to be my little sister!" she yelled.
"HEY! Don't talk about Lucy like that!" Edmund yelled.
"Oh shut up." Susan said.
"What did she supposedly do?" I asked.
"She was supposed to wash this shirt for me this morning, she said she would, and she didn't, so I looked like a complete idiot in front of all of my friends." she said.
"Do you even know that she's sick?" Edmund asked.
"Oh well, she'll be better in a few days." Susan said.
"Maybe, or maybe It'll be weeks!" Edmund yelled.
"What do you mean by that?" Susan asked turning a little white.
"She has the FLU Susan, THE FLU!" I yelled backing him up.
"The flu." she said taken aback going completely pale "How did she get the flu?" she asked.
"We're not sure." I said putting my hand over Edmund's mouth before he responded.
"Oh well, she'll be fine, she's tough, to tough for a girl in fact. I blame you guys, she stays around you to much. She's gonna become a boy one of these days" she said. I could see Edmund shaking out of anger, but before either of us could say anything, we heard Lucy start another coughing fit. Edmund and I raced down the stairs. Lucy looked flushed, her eyes were glazed over, and when I felt her forehead her it nearly burnt my hand.
"MUM!" I called completely worried, and not knowing what to do.
Mum came running in with a worried expression. "What's wrong?" she asked.
"We don't know." I replied "She can't stop coughing." She ran back in the kitchen. I rubbed her back. Susan was looking over the railing. I looked up at her, and she starred back at me. I shook my head and turned my attention to Lucy. Mum came back in with a spoonful of something.
"Alright dear, open up" she said walking up to Lucy who took the medicine without a fight. Eventually she calmed down and resumed laying on the couch. And soon after that she fell asleep. I sighed and fell into a chair.
"Still a full day ahead of us too" Edmund said. I snorted. "I can see your excited." he said.
"Yeah. Considering it's my last day with you two, and we can't do anything." I replied. Edmund nodded his head. I looked over at the TV and hatched a plan. "How about when she wakes up, we watch Wizard of Oz?" I asked.
His eyes lit up. "YEAH!" he said. That was Lucy's and his favorite movie.
"Good." I said. And then I remembered I was supposed to go and pick up a bracelet for Susan, and I still hadn't officially decided what to get Edmund or Lucy. It wasn't that they were hard to shop for, but I wanted to gift's to be special. But how was I gonna leave? I couldn't just abandon them for the day. That would be horrible of me. So I walked into the kitchen where mum was. "Hey mum? Can you distract Edmund and Lucy for me please?" I asked.
"Why dear?" she asked.
"I want to get each of them something before I leave tomorrow." I replied.
"Oh that's wonderful. Of course I'll distract them" she said.
I got Susan a charm bracelet. And I just could not find anything for Edmund or Lucy. I had thought a diary for Edmund, but he didn't even use one of those in Narnia! And I thought a necklace for Lucy, but nothing just seemed to fit what she would like. So what could I get them. Then I passed an interesting looking knife in the jewelry store. It looked familiar.
"Sir, how much is this knife?" I asked.
"I'm not sure. I've never seen it before." he replied confused. And then it seemed to remind me of Edmund's sword. THAT WAS IT! EDMUND'S SWORD!
"Well, I would like to buy it please." I said. He took it out and looked it over. It took him a while but he eventually came to a price, and luckily it wasn't expensive. Then I noticed a necklace off to the side. It was a small purple heart. And I identified it automatically. I had given it to Lucy for her 13 birthday in Narnia, and she missed it terribly when we came back.
"And this?" I asked.
"I haven't seen that before either." he replied.
"I'd like to buy that too please." I said. So he figured a price and it was the same price as Edmund's knife, so I was able to buy it. They were going to love them.
"So buying it for someone special?" he asked.
"My little sister. And the knife's for my little brother." I replied.
"Ahhh. What about the charm bracelet?" he asked raising an eyebrow.
"My other little sister." I replied.
"How many siblings do you have?" he asked.
I chuckled. "Just three." I replied.
"Wait, aren't you Peter Pevensie?" he asked. I nodded my head. "I knew your father, how is he?" he asked.
"He's doing well, home safe and sound from the war, thankfully." I replied.
"Oh good. I'm glad he's safe. So how have you been, I haven't seen you since you were about 10." he said.
"I'm doing well, I'm starting college tomorrow, that's why I'm buying these for my siblings." I replied.
"Ahh." he said.
"But, I better get back home, Lucy's sick with the flu, and Susan doesn't seem to want to help, Mum's busy with the church bake sale, and dad's at work. So the only one able to watch her is Edmund at the moment. She was asleep when I left so I better get back, before Edmund kills me."I said.
"Yeah, you certainly don't want that, if your heading off to college. So good luck, tell your mum and dad I said hi, and tell your sister I hope she gets better." he said.
"Thank you, and I will" I said walking out of the store.
When I got back Susan came up to me. "I'll see you when you get back." she said.
"What?" I asked.
"Well, I'm going out with my friends tonight, I won't be back until extremely late, and then I'll sleep in of course." she replied.
"So your not going to go with us to the train station?" I asked. She shook her head. I promised myself I wouldn't let my disappointment show. "Well, since your leaving I guess I better give you this." I said pulling out the box with the charm bracelet. She looked confused but opened it anyway. When she saw it her eyes went wide. "I'll see you when I get back." I said kissing her cheek and walking away "my gentle queen" I finished sadly, and to where she couldn't hear.
"Peter, wait!" she said. I turned around. She ran and wrapped her arms around my waist. "I love you Peter. Be safe, Come back home when you can." she said quickly. I nodded my head. I hadn't hugged her in the longest time. But she let go and walked out of the house. I walked into the living room and I was attacked by Edmund. And when I say attacked I mean TACKLED TO THE GROUND!
"WHOW! Whatever I did, I didn't do it!" I said. I heard Lucy chuckling from the couch.
"You... didn't... oomph... do... anything." Edmund replied grunting as I drove my elbow into his stomach. That gave me the lead I needed to get him onto the ground.
"Round one goes to Peter" Lucy said weakly. I was still holding Edmund to the ground.
"Feeling better?" I asked.
"Not really, but this is definitely cheering my up." she replied.
"See, told you it would work." Edmund said "Peter would you please get off of me." he asked.
"Sure." I said getting up and then helping him up. Soon we watched The Wizard Of Oz and the three of us huddled together on the couch. Lucy had fallen asleep on me so I carried her up to bed.
"Are you going to bed?" Edmund asked.
"No. I'm going to stay here a bit, make sure she doesn't have another coughing spell." I replied.
"Ok see you in the morning." he said walking out of the room.
"Good night." I said.
"Good night" he replied. But what I said would be a bit turned into hours, until I had fallen asleep in the chair.
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"Please Peter, mummy said if you said I could go, I could. PLEASE! I feel fine." she begged.
"Lu, you can barely walk your so weak." I replied.
"I'm fine. Please Peter" she said pulling out her pout.
"Oh no." I said rolling my eyes.
"Please Peter, remember when I used this a couple years ago, I found a magical land that led us to our destiny." she said pulling my in.
I sighed. "Alright. I suppose, but promise me you'll sit on the couch for the rest of the day." I said.
"I promise! Thank you Peter!" she said hugging me around the neck.
"Your welcome." I said hugging her back. I had a decision, I could choose now to give her the necklace, or wait until we got to the train station. I chose now would be the perfect time. No one was around, and then I could find a quiet time with Edmund to give him his unique, very unique, knife.
"Lucy, I got you something." I said.
She pulled away from me. "Really? You know you didn't have to get me anything." she said.
"Yes I did." I replied. I picked her up and carried her to my room. I sat her down on the bed and she pulled a pillow into her lap while I walked over to the drawer I put the necklace in. I picked up the little box, and brought it over to her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"You have to open it" I replied holding it out. She took it and waited a moment before opening it. When she saw what was inside she gasped.
"Oh Peter. It's... it's..."she stuttered "Where'd you find it?" she asked looking up at me with tears in her eyes.
"It was at the Jewelry store." I replied.
"Oh Peter. It looks exactly like the necklace you gave me for my 13th birthday in Narnia." she said a tear making it's way down her cheek. I sat down beside her, and took it out of the box.
"I know" I said putting it on her "that's why I got it." She fell into me and started crying. She still felt really warm. A few minutes later I heard a knock at the door. I let Lucy wipe her tears away before telling whoever it was to come in.
Edmund walked in. "Hmmm. I thought I heard crying." he said walking over "What's wro... where'd you get that?" he asked face lightening up, when he saw her necklace.
"Peter just gave it to me." she replied.
"It looks just like... the one... he gave you for your 13th birthday." he stuttered. She nodded her head.
"Lu can I talk to Ed alone?" I asked. She nodded her head and stood up very wobbly, and then fell back on the bed. She looked dizzy. She sat there for a second and all of a sudden stood up and ran out of the room.
"Well, that was a quick recovery." Edmund said. But then we heard her throwing up in the bathroom.
"Or not." I said getting up and walking past Edmund to the bathroom, him right behind me. I walked in and she was leaning over the toilet and I walked the rest of the way to her and rubbed her back holding back her hair. Edmund got on her other side. When she was done, she stood up very slowly.
"What happened?" Edmund asked.
"I got up to fast." she replied "I hate the flu" she mumbled.
"Everybody does Lu, everybody does." Edmund said rubbing her back.
"What happened?" mum asked running up the steps.
"She threw up." I replied.
"Oh, my poor dear." she said coming closer over. Then her eyes caught a glimpse of Lucy's necklace. "Oh Lucy, where did you get that?" she asked.
"Peter gave it to me." Lucy replied.
"Oh it's beautiful." mum said.
"Thanks." Lucy said.
"Are you alright dear?" she asked.
Lucy nodded her head. "I'm in very safe hands." she said taking a glance at both Edmund and I.
Mum started walking back downstairs. "I remember when Edmund and Lucy couldn't stand each other." she mumbled shaking her head. We shared a laugh before we walked downstairs. It was then we found just how weak Lucy truely was. Edmund was right, she was worrying herself sick! And if she didn't stop, who knows what would happen. We sat her on the couch, and I practically had to drag Edmund back upstairs. I think he thought he was in trouble for something. When I sat him on the bed and started fumbling through the drawer for his new knife his eyes went wide.
"Peter, what did I do?" he asked. I couldn't help but laugh. "Please don't tell me that's a meniacle laugh. I really don't want to die today." he said.
"Oh yeah Ed, I plan on killing you right before I leave for college leaving Lucy with no one and to deal with the flu alone." I said.
He smiled knowing he hadn't done anything if I was joking. "Please I beg of you, just make it quick." he said.
I pulled out the knife. "If you say so." I said.
He saw the knife and looked confused. "Whow! Peter, I thought you said you were joking." he said getting up and backing up against the wall.
I laughed again. "Ed, sit back down, it's a present." I said.
"O...k" he said sitting back down. I handed it to him and his eyes went wide.
"Where'd you get this? How'd you get this? "When'd you get this?" he asked.
"Jewelry story, bought it, and yesterday." I replied.
He looked up at me. "Wow your good." he said referring to answering the questions "Peter, it's wonderful, thank you." he said in awe starring the knife over.
"What do you think it looks like?" I asked.
"I'm not sure, but I know it looks familiar." he replied. I was going to let him figure it out. He continued to look it over. "My sword." he said quietly. I smiled at his discovery. "Thank you Peter, I love it." he said.
"It's small but..."
"Peter, I don't care if it is small, even if it didn't look like my sword, I would still love it, just because you gave it to me." he said "But I do like the fact that it looks like my sword. It may be small, really small, but I can still use it at times, and even when I can't it will be great to look at." I pulled him into a hug before he could squirm away, but surprisingly he hugged me back. "I'm gonna miss you Peter." he said.
"I'm goning to miss you too Ed." I said.
Then there was a knock at the door. I wasn't ready to let Edmund go. And from his reaction, his wasn't eager to let me go. So we ignored the knock. It came again so I knew whatever it was was important. "Come in." I said after Edmund let go.
"Are you boys ready to go? You've been up here for about an hour." dad said walking in.
"AN HOUR!?" both of us exclaimed.
"Yes. Somewhere around there. Now come on, or we'll miss the train." he said. I nodded my head. When we got downstairs I heard an "Ahem" off to the side. Lucy was starring at me.
"Alright." I said. I walked over and picked her up. "You know you'll have to do this when you get home, right Ed?" I asked.
Edmund nodded his head. And when we got to the train station, surprisingly there was only one other girl about my age, who was going to the same school, and one or two, people just going out of town. Then soon we heard the train coming in. I hugged mum and dad, giving mum a kiss on the cheek, and then lingered on Edmund and Lucy. They had both grown up so much, it seemed, as I know starred at them side by side. And in their eyes, was pain, and pride, and there was also worry in Lucy's eyes. I pulled each of them to me just as the train pulled in.
"I love you both, take care of each other, keep each other safe, I couldn't bare it if something happened to either of you, write me everytime you get the chance... and above all, remember, no matter how far away we are, I will always love and be there for you." I said. I felt both of them crying by now. I let them go. I pushed the hair out of both of their faces and wiped their eyes. "My little Just King, and my little Valient Queen, not so little anymore." I said. They smiled.
"We will, and we love you too, our Magnificent King." they said at the same time. How they did that I didn't know. And then I boarded the train, and left my little, or not so little, siblings behind.