At Night
[Edmund PevensiexF!Reader] [Modern!AU One-Shot]
(y/n) locked her phone and buried her head in a pillow with a sigh. It was the middle of the night and she just couldn't sleep. Although it was unlikely, it might've been the fact that she wasn't staying in her own room. Her parents had left over the weekend and seeing as she still was an 'innocent little baby girl that needed constant protection', they'd insisted she stayed at a friend's house. Jeez, if they only knew that their baby girl had fought wars and led armies. With a shake of her head, she rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She liked this house, she'd spent a lot of her childhood here, playing with her friends, but nonetheless, she'd rather be home right now. She was thankful that she could stay with them, but she'd prefer to be alone in her own bed at the moment. She'd had a crappy day and she didn't want to worry them. Although... Matter of factly, she'd already failed at that...
(y/n) slammed her locker shut and tiredly rested her head against it. This day truly couldn't get any worse.
"Hey, (l/n)!"
Never mind. It could.
She turned around with a scowl and glared at the redhead.
"What's it this time, Trent? You're gonna make fun of my looks again? My way of speech? What? What's it gonna be, huh? It's getting rather boring, though. Not quite the challenge it used to be, you know."
"Well, I was going to, but... You know Karen, right? The girl who works in the school office? She owed me a favor and I got some pretty interesting information about you and your family."
She tensed up completely. Oh no. Nonetheless, she didn't show any emotions.
"I don't know what you're talking about." she said calmly and turned on her heel, walking away from him.
"So tell me: How's it feel to have your own parents try to kill you, 'demon child'?"
She stopped abruptly and clenched her fists, her knuckles turning white and her nails digging crescent shapes into her palms.
"Honestly, what kind of witchcraft did you use to get your new parents to adopt you?"
She tried to keep her tears in check, biting her lip until she tasted iron.
"None. Her parents chose her because they love her." a new voice said.
(y/n) didn't have to turn around to know who it was.
"Unlike your parents, who I'm really sorry for, after all they're stuck with the likes of you. And it truly is a miracle that they haven't drowned you yet like the dirty rat you are."
(y/n) felt a small smile tug at the corner of her mouth and continued her walk; only hearing "Butt out, Pevensie, this doesn't concern you." before the door fell shut behind her.
Just a few moments later, she heard the door open again and quick footsteps followed her.
"Hey! Since when do you leave a comrade behind on the battlefield?" he asked when he reached her side.
"I figured you had it covered."
"I did. But normally, you would've, too. What happened?"
"I dunno... Sensitive topic, I guess..."
"Oh come on, don't listen to a prick like him! He doesn't - hey what's that?"
He grabbed her wrist and turned her around to face him. He lifted her chin and looked at her with worried eyes. Then he sighed, fished a handkerchief out of his pocket and gently dabbed her lip with it.
"Honestly, you've gotta stop chewing on your lip when you're nervous. You're going to bite it off one day."
He put the now bloodied piece of cloth back into his jeans pocket while she gave him a fake smile.
"Old habits die hard."
"Oh cut the crap, would you? I've known you for years, I know that smile's fake. Don't tell me this bothers you, coming from a guy like him?"
She avoided his gaze and kept her eyes locked to the ground.
"I'll uh... I'll go home and grab some things I'll need for the weekend. I'll see you later."
She quickly made her way off the school grounds, completely ignoring his calls of her name.
(y/n) groaned in disdain. Man, she'd screwed that up. By walking out on him like that, she'd only made it worse. Of course, the whole ordeal with her biological parents was still weighing her down. It probably always would be. But she didn't want to burden someone else with it.
That thought was quite ridiculous, though. If anyone understood what it was like to be haunted by one's past, it was Edmund. Not to mention that she'd known him for years. So why did she have such a hard time opening up to him? Maybe it was because sometimes... sometimes she believed the whole 'demon child' thing... and she didn't want the boy she liked to believe it too...
Her thoughts were interrupted by a thump coming from the room next door. Well, think of the handsome devil...
She got up off the bed and quietly opened her door, tiptoeing down the dark hall. She stopped in front of the next room and knocked gently.
"Ed? You okay in there?"
No answer.
She carefully opened the door and peeked inside. Edmund was slumped over his desk, seemingly fast asleep. A few books were scattered on the ground around him, probably the cause for the noise. She snuck over to him and quietly picked up the books, putting them back on the table. Then she placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly. If he slept like this again, he'd be complaining about a back ache the entirety of the next day.
"Ed? Hey, Ed?"
The only answer she got were some incoherent noise and a mumbled:
"Hmmm... Studying..."
She snorted.
"Yeah, sure..." she whispered, glancing at his laptop, that obviously had tumblr opened up.
She grabbed his wrist and and draped his arm over her shoulder, pulling him to his feet - more or less, anyways. She huffed.
"Jeez Ed, you've gotta stop with the sweets already."
"...not... fat..." he murmured.
She chuckled silently. So some part of his sleepy, fogged up brain could hear her after all, huh?
She dragged him over to the bed and placed him down carefully. She didn't even have to do anything else, as soon as his head hit the pillows, he curled up into a ball. God, he was adorable. Not that she'd ever tell him that, he'd kill her. She picked up the blankets, discarded at the foot of the bed, and covered him with them. She turned on her heel and wanted to leave, but then an idea struck her, bringing color to her cheeks. Before she could rationalize her thoughts, she quickly went back to his side and pressed a kiss to his forehead. His nose twitched slightly, making her laugh.
"Good night, idiot." she whispered and walked back towards the door.
"Night love..."
She stopped dead in her tracks. Did she hear that correctly? No, no she must've misunderstood him. But what if she hadn't... He must've been thinking it was his mom or one of his sisters tucking him in, then. But if she didn't figure this out now, it would keep her up all night.
"What...?"
"Love you... (y/n)..."
She felt her face grow hot and immediately ran out of the room.
(y/n) tiredly rested her head on the kitchen table with a sigh. It was still early, the sun's first rays barely peeking over the horizon. She pulled the warm mug closer to her, halfheartedly sipping at her coffee. Even though she'd indeed figured it out, she'd been up all night, contemplating Edmund's words. Had he really meant that? She'd had a crush on him for a while, but she'd never imagined that he could like her back. She'd always been under the impression that he thought of her as a sister. Then again, maybe that had been what he meant...
She buried her face in her hands and groaned in annoyance. She'd never be able to figure this out! Unless of course, she asked him directly. But she couldn't do that! Could she...? She slammed her head back onto the table. When did she become so much of a stereotyped girl that she'd get this upset over some guy?
Right at that moment, she heard footsteps coming down the stairs. She lifted her head, but when she saw who it was, she looked away again, letting her (h/c) hair hide her red cheeks.
"Morning." he greeted with a yawn.
"Morning..." she mumbled quietly.
"What are you doing up? You're not exactly a morning person?" he asked while grabbing a mug for himself.
"I've pretty much been up all night..." she admitted.
"Don't tell me what that jerk said is what kept you up?"
"Well, at first, but... ultimately, no, that's not why I'm sitting here at this ungodly hour."
"Then why are you?" he asked while taking a seat across from her and dumping a teabag into the boiling water in his cup.
A smile tugged at her lips. It was border lining ridiculous how much this guy despised coffee.
"You don't remember me being in your room last night, do you?"
He furrowed his brows in confusion.
"No. What were you doing in my room...?"
She chuckled.
"Don't look so horrified, I wasn't sneaking. Why, you got anything to hide?"
"Don't change the subject."
"You fell asleep at your desk again and I dragged your lazy ass to bed."
"That's it? Then why were you up all night?"
"It wasn't what you did, more... what you said..." she said slowly.
He laughed and got up to grab some sugar.
"Jeez (y/n), you look like I confessed a murder. What on earth could I've said?"
She hesitated for just a moment.
"That you love me."
He almost dropped the pot of sugar. After that, he completely froze. The only sounds that were heard being the birds outside and shower being switched on upstairs. They stayed like that for a couple of minutes until she couldn't take it anymore.
"Ed...?" she asked carefully.
His shoulders dropped, he sighed and rested his head against the cupboard in front of him.
"Damnit..." he growled.
"You know..." she began. "It's... It's alright if you want to take it back or if you didn't really mean it or something. One says stupid things when they're tired. I just... kinda got my hopes up, I guess. Never mind."
She quickly got up, wanting to leave, but knocked over her half-empty mug of coffee in the process.
"Shit!" she cursed under her breath and went to grab a rag, but it was already held out to her. She took it and started to clean up her mess until an unsure voice interrupted her:
"What do you mean you got your hopes up...?"
She stopped wiping and sighed. No use hiding it now, was there?
"I mean, that when the guy you have a crush on tells you he loves you, you get kind of hopeful."
She walked towards the sink to clean the dirty fabric; not looking at him, but also not noticing the puddle of coffee that had pooled on the floor and of course she managed to slip on it. Edmund tried to grab her hand and keep her from falling, but he just ended up being pulled down with her. With a thud, they both hit the ground - hard.
(y/n) groaned in pain and rubbed the back of her head.
"Are you okay?" the boy above her asked.
"Yeah, I guess."
"Good."
Before she knew what was happening, there was a soft pressure on her lips. Her eyes widened, but as soon as it had started, he'd already pulled away again and looked straight at her.
"I don't want to take it back. And I meant what I said. I'm in love with you and I'm sick of hiding it."
She stared at him for a solid minute, the ability to speak completely evading her. In that time, he'd straightened himself up into a sitting position, pulling her along with him, so she was basically sitting in his lap. Then she smirked.
"You sure you want to have a thing going on with the demon child...?"
He blinked at her before his expression turned sour and he gave her a mock glare and a very real huff of annoyance, coupled with an affectionate flick to her forehead.
"You little, obnoxious..."
"What? I'm just making sure you're ready to get murdered in some horrible way and get your soul dragged into the pits of hell - or whatever."
"Is there any way to shut you up?"
"A pretty obvious one."
He rolled his eyes at her, but smiled nonetheless. He placed his hand on her cheek and sealed his lips over hers again. This time she didn't hesitate, she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and deepened the kiss. She could've stayed like that all morning - could've.
"It's about time!" a young, female voice said, making the two teenagers still sitting on the floor jump and pull away from one another.
"Get a room!" a male voice added.
"Get a life!" Edmund barked back at his siblings, while (y/n) simply laughed and buried her face in his shoulder.