Part 2Love like Cake

"D-don't! Don't look at me, whoever you are!"

Lucy was startled by the way her voice sounded so quivery. Why was she so scared? She herself could tell she was scared though, what with the crouched position and the shaking- God, why was she shaking? 'Well, this is just bloody great, isn't it?' Lucy sat there, refusing to say anymore until the invader backed out and closed the door. But strangely enough, nothing happened. Very cautiously, she looked up, peeking through the curls of her still-wet hair. She looked and she did not like what she saw. Lucy hastily stood up and snatched the nearest thing, which fortunately turned out to be a towel, but it wasn't as big as she would have liked it to be. Still, regardless of its size, she tried to cover herself up to spare herself any more embarrassment.

"What! W- What on earth are you looking at, Ed?"

"I- I…I was just- needed the bathroom- um…"

He was standing in the doorway and staring at her, mouth open. Just standing and staring. Lucy did not like the way he was looking at her. She did not like it at all. It made her feel very uncomfortable, almost as if she was not just standing naked, sodding wet and shivering in front of her brother but in front of a million people. She wanted to scream, but all she could do was cringe with a towel in her hands.

"Edmund, get out before I scream bloody murder, and for goodness' sake, do stop looking at me like that," Lucy spat as she tried to edge her way around the door to snatch her robe off the hook, but all of a sudden, the door gave way and Edmund caught her by the shoulders just as she was about to fall over. Lucy gasped loudly and shook him off, at the same time kicking the door shut and finally being able to use an arm to get her robe. She had to strategically place the towel over herself while reaching up and closing the door, but she felt a bit weird even now that she was alone. When he was looking at her in That Way, not only was it uncomfortable but for some reason ('Dear God, no!') she found it very sexy.

Lucy shuddered, not quite sure if it was just from the cold. ('Thanks for opening the door, you idiot!')As she placed her robe on and picked up the change of clothes, she began to wonder why he was up so early. She didn't know why, but something told her it was dodgy. Even with her robe on, Lucy still felt quite cold and she exited the bathroom slowly, her teeth chattering. But a surprise lay at her feet; Edmund was lying there, cuddling her giraffe. His eyes were closed; was he asleep? Or was he feigning? Either way, it was very odd.

"Ed? Why are you on the floor? Get up," Lucy whispered, bending down and clutching her clothes. She shook his shoulder lightly, but he stirred a little and moaned sleepily. At this, Lucy felt her ears grow hot. What was wrong with her? Tutting, she stepped around him and headed towards her room, trying to ignore him, but she couldn't help looking back. He was definitely asleep. Hmm. And holding her giraffe! Something was wrong with him as well. Lucy sighed and went into her room.


Later that day, Lucy was left to prepare lunch while Peter and Susan went out to buy some new curtains. That meant she was alone with only Edmund, who was in his room upstairs and their mother, who was in the garden. But that didn't matter at all; for now, what was important was making the lunch. As a surprise, she decided to bake some cupcakes for dessert, using a recipe she got from a friend. She knew it would be excellent because the recipe was simple yet it had the best ingredients around.

Lucy smiled. Spaghetti and cupcakes meant the best lunch and dessert ever! Her mother always told her off for eating too many sweets, but Lucy made up for it by brushing her teeth twice before and after dinner as well as before bedtime. She knew Aslan would be happy with her as well, and she felt like dancing around the kitchen while getting everything ready. After the spaghetti was prepared and boiling in a pot of water on the stove, Lucy set about making the cupcakes. She whipped out 2 bottles of icing, some flour and the rest of the ingredients and sighed happily. Ah, she was too excited! Standing still and admiring her neatness, her eyes suddenly passed over the bottles of icing. One of the bottles was labelled "Blueberry Beauty". Something clicked inside her head and Lucy had the urge to eat the icing. "Just a tiny bit," she whispered, "not too much. No one will mind, girl, no one…"

Reaching over with one hand, she couldn't help but think of how bad she was being, giving in to temptation and all. Her mother was a devout Christian; she would punish her for doing such things. "But no one will mind! It's just a tiny bit!" she told herself, feeling the excitement rising. After all, it was good to have something a little sweet once in a while…

She grabbed the bottle, twisting the lid off with eager hands. She growled at the sight of the tin foil wrapped up inside the tip of the bottle and tried to pop it with a needle. At once, it did and Lucy nearly clapped with joy. Being very careful and not wanting to squeeze out too much of the icing, she used the tips of her fingers to gently press the end of the bottle. A drop of it appeared and at the sight of icing, (o dear sweet icing come to me now) Lucy went mad. She squished the bottle till the entire contents of it were splattered out all over her hands and her fingers. Lucy nearly screamed with joy. Inside her mind, the word "SWEET!" was flashing on and off, on and off, on and off…

Meanwhile, Edmund was in his room trying to read a book, but his mind had wandered off somewhere and he couldn't concentrate. The only times he had ever exited his room since waking up on the floor outside the bathroom (which he had no idea how he even got there) were to bid goodbye to Peter and Susan before they left and to go to the toilet. He was feeling very hungry indeed, and he wondered when Mum would be ready with the lunch. Edmund sighed. His stomach wouldn't stop growling and he had shrugged it off at first but now it was almost unbearable. He needed something to eat otherwise he would almost collapse with hunger. Getting up from his bed, Edmund cringed as it creaked loudly and stared stonily back at it as he exited his room. The hall was empty and he saw that the weather was good outside. 'Perfect for a picnic,' he thought and smiled happily but then the smile turned to a look of horror as he said aloud, "Bloody hell, I'm turning into Lucy!" At her name he felt a sort of warm feeling spread throughout his entire body and for a second time stood still. He didn't understand; what had that been? Why had he reacted like that? Was it something he even wanted to feel? Ignoring the voices in his head, which were muttering unintelligible things, Edmund started to make his way down the stairs. From the stairs you could get a plain view of the kitchen and as he descended each step he could sense that somebody was in the kitchen. "Mum?" he called out, holding onto the banister with one hand. No reply. 'Must be in the garden or something…' he thought, shrugging his shoulders, but at the same time he felt something was nagging him. Descending the last step, he peered into the kitchen and what he saw made him falter.

Lucy was in the kitchen, licking something off her fingers. Each finger was covered in a blue paste and Edmund stared, trying to tell himself it wasn't what he thought it was. He felt like an idiot standing just beside the entrance, peering in like a lonely cat, but some unknown force kept holding him back. The voices in his head became louder all of a sudden, saying, "If you go in there, Lucy will stop licking her hands. You don't want that, do you?" Edmund's breath hitched in his throat suddenly. What was he saying to himself? Why was he acting like some kind of Peeping Tom? Well, he wasn't, but he definitely felt like one. He was denying it all though. He was denying the fact that he…liked what Lucy was doing. Every time her tongue ran up one finger, then down again and then swallowed it whole, tasting the blue cream, it made him stop breathing. He couldn't really describe the feeling, but looking at her doing that just made him feel hungrier than he already was. And not to mention very, very hot.

"L-Lucy," Edmund spoke, his voice barely above a whisper. 'What am I doing?' He cleared his throat loudly, feeling tense, the way a lion does just seconds before it leaps out to catch its prey. "Lucy!"

She turned around just as he came running into the kitchen and she shrieked in shock as he picked her up suddenly and spun her around the table, boundlessly, blissfully, bizarrely… "Edmund!" Lucy yelled loudly and he dropped her just as she hit the side of the table, bruising a hip. "Ow!"

"Christ, Edmund, what's wrong with you?" she spoke, a hint of hurt in her voice. "My fingers are all sticky with the icing now…oh no!"

Edmund looked at her and frowned. "What? Are you okay? -Damn, I knew I shouldn't have picked you up like that…"

"No, no, it's not you. I was going to make some cakes as a surprise for dessert but I guess it's sort of ruined now…" Lucy sighed, feeling hopeless. "Never mind. I'll make them another time, when no one knows about it and also when no one charges in and picks me up like… a beastly monster!" She began to laugh half-heartedly and Edmund smiled in spite of his guilt. He sighed and wrapped both of his arms around her, kissing the top of her head. "It's okay, Lucy. It's me, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have scared you like that. I shouldn't have been standing outside the doorway staring at you like an idiot while you –"

"What's that?" Lucy muttered suddenly, her voice muffled as they were still in a tight hug. Her head still against his chest, she noticed the sudden heart rate increase. Her cheeks flushed. "Are you okay, Ed? You seem… tense. Ed?"

She looked up at him and saw how his hair had fallen over his eyes. She couldn't see his eyes, his goddamn beautiful eyes. Why was he doing this to her?

"Edmund, why don't you talk to me?" Lucy was scared. She heard the fear in her own voice. "Ed, I'm scared. Say something. Say something or I'll go and get Mum and get her to talk to you!"

"Don't," snapped Edmund abruptly. "Don't, please. Lucy, I…I can't-"

"Muuuum!" Lucy screamed, pushing him away with strong arms. She turned to run, but Edmund's instinct kicked in and he grabbed her again unexpectedly, clapping a hand over her mouth. She whimpered and he tugged on her arm tightly, wheeling her around so she slammed her back into him and in turn, Lucy pushed against him with all her might. They scuffled a bit but it only ended when Lucy gave one last forceful shove and the both of them went staggering backwards into a wall. Edmund yelled as the pain shot through him and Lucy cried out, her face red from shrieking. They didn't know it but the whole time they kept thinking, "Mum can hear us, Mum can hear us, Mum can hear us!"

Edmund, now used to the pain, gave his own last forceful shove and spun around as Lucy attempted to escape. He managed to pin both of Lucy's arms above her head as she glared at him, her lips pursed so tight that Edmund feared they would draw apart and utter another cry for Mummy (dear sweet Mummy no one can help us no they can't)…

"Edmund, it hurts," whispered Lucy. "Let go of me, please…"

"Not until you learn to shut up," he hissed back. "Not until you help us to understand. Not until you tell me something."

Lucy's eyes snapped open. "Help us understand what? Tell you what? I'll tell you everything, just let me go!"

Edmund chuckled oddly. "That's it, Lucy. Keep talking…"

"Edmund, stop it! Tell me everything you want to know! Tell me everything, please, just stop acting like this! What's wrong with you?" Lucy was on the verge of tears, and the pain in her wrists was too much. Edmund looked at the way the tears swam in her eyes. He looked at the way they raced in circles around her pupils, which were dangerously small and still growing small and then big all of a sudden. He looked at the way her eyes stared daggers into him, stabbing his insides. He looked at the way her lip quivered as she shook with fear. He looked and he liked.

Raising a finger, he smiled and stroked her eyelashes. Lucy dropped her arm, holding her breath, wondering what on earth he was doing. She couldn't stop staring at his smile. It was mysterious, dark, and (she realised with a certain dawning horror) not very brotherly. She stared at the way his lips slowly drew back over his teeth into a grin, the way those pearly whites shone so…beautifully. Lucy wanted to die; it was so overwhelming, yet she knew she couldn't- no, she wouldn't ever forgive him, or herself, for that matter. Edmund tilted his head to the side a little, almost as if he was observing the way his finger found its way so smoothly over her eyelashes. They were curled quite nicely, quite cutely. He liked that. Lucy blinked quickly, and his grin faltered. Then he began to speak.

"Lucy…the girl who became Queen." He began to trail his finger down her cheek, wounding his finger around her freckles. "Lucy. The girl a faun fell in love with." He stroked her chin delicately. She froze and shut her eyes. "Lucy. The girl who felt guilty." He released his grip on her other wrist and placed his free hand on her shoulder, pressing her deeper into the wall. "Lucy. The girl…" he stopped, hesitating. Lucy opened her eyes. She whispered, "The girl who?"

Edmund's grin became a stony stare. His eyes pierced her. She gasped at his sudden coldness and that was enough.

"The girl who her brother fell in love with."