Peter woke to find another body in his bed. Blinking, he slowly lifted the covers to peer beneath them. "Sophie?"
She moved ever so slightly and lifted her head. She looked at him through her hair as it fell forward on her face. "Good morning," she said sweetly.
"Sophie, what in Aslan's name are you doing here?" he asked, propping himself up on the pillows.
"Well I was sleeping." He shook his head in amusement. "I couldn't sleep last night because I had this awful dream." She shuddered. "I came in here, but I didn't want to wake you. So I just slipped in next to you. I'm sorry."
"Nonsense. What did you dream about?" he asked softly. She shook her head and buried herself in the feathery down comforters. He pulled her into a hug and held her there, resting his chin on the top of her head. After a few minutes he chuckled and remarked, "Hopefully Susan doesn't find us or she'll get all the wrong ideas."
She giggled and snuggled closer to Peter, falling back asleep. The light filtering through the curtains told him it was time to get up, but he didn't move a muscle. Instead, he let the happiness Sophie emanated wash over him. He could worry about his kingly duties later.
What was it about Sophie that made Peter so happy? He wasn't sure that he would ever be able to answer that question. Even after having grown up once he wasn't any closer to figuring it out. Nor was he any closer to being able to tell her that he loved her. Yes, he loved her. There was no denying that any more. Up until she actually arrived at the Professor's house he had been set on telling her so.
"Ah! Peter, look—" Lucy cried.
Peter turned his head in the direction of her voice. Before he could register what was flying towards his head, he was hit by a balled-up pair of stockings. "Oof!" he groaned.
His youngest sister rushed over to him, a guilty look on her face. "Why were you standing there like that, anyway?" Lucy asked, an almost scolding tone in her voice. She retrieved the article of clothing before walking back into the room that she shared with Susan.
"Why were you throwing your stockings around?" he asked back childishly.
"It serves him right." Sophie's voice came from around the corner, and a moment later she appeared carrying a pile of neatly folded laundry. "What was he thinking sneaking into my bed the other night?" Her cheeks turned pink, embarrassed by how forward she was being. But after the progress she was making in repairing her friendship with Peter, she couldn't help her chipper mood.
Susan laughed and came out of the room to stand next to her brother. She placed her hand on his shoulder. "We all know that you like Sophie, Peter, but you could at least be a gentleman about it," she chided, a scheming glint in her eye. Peter needed more than time to figure out his problems.
"Wait, I never said I…I mean…" he trailed off, avoiding Sophie's eyes. "What do any of you silly girls know about anything, anyway!" he cried before stalking down the hall. The sound of his feet against the wooden floors echoed loudly in the quiet house.
Three pairs of eyes watched him go. "Well now, isn't he behaving like Ed?" Lucy asked. She looked up at Sophie. "But there's an answer for you."
"Lu!" Sophie's cheeks reddened. "Here's your laundry. Have you finished cleaning your room yet?" she inquired, changing the subject.
"It's my job to be the nagging big sister, Soph. You go after Peter."
"You know him the best. Go see what's bothering him, please," Susan pleaded. The High King had just made an abrupt exit from the breakfast table. The night before he had met with some traders, but everyone assumed that the talks had gone well.
Sophie twisted her napkin in her lap. "I really think we should let him work this one out on his own. He's a grown adult after all," she countered. He didn't need her to tend to him anymore. He hadn't needed her for anything lately.
"That's not true!" Lucy cried. She rose from her seat and slammed her palms down on the table. "I'm so tired of how oblivious the two of you are!"
"Lucy…" Susan whispered, her eyes wide. But it didn't matter. Sophie was already running out the door.
Did it really seem that Peter loved her back? Had she truly been so ignorant to his feelings as she tried to hide her own?
Sometimes people never changed. Peter always sought a place to clear his mind near water. Sophie had to admit that there was something soothing about the sound of running water. It was fortunate that Professor Kirke had a small brook running along the southernmost part of his property. She had meant to approach him quietly, but the dry grass and leaves made that nearly impossible.
Peter spun around at the noise. It was evident that he had been doing some serious thinking from the way the dirt was embedded with footprints, a tell-tale sign of pacing. He must have been annoyed too, because there were water marks on his pants, as if he had thrown something into the water and gotten splashed.
"I know this is a silly question, Peter, but are you alright?" Sophie asked. She walked closer to him, her heart hammering inside her chest.
As quickly as he had turned to face her, Peter turned away. For all the bravery and courage that he possessed, he could not confront her. There were plenty of reasons that he ought to tell her the truth. She made him inexplicably happy, but even he knew that lately he had only caused her heartache. She was always there to comfort him, but he could never reach out to her.
"I'll take that as a no, then," she sighed, stopping in her tracks. "Peter, we really need to talk, just you and me. You can't keep avoiding me like this," she said, trying to keep her tone even. Her emotions were threatening to spill out after being kept in for such a long time. They had grown into adults together in Narnia, which seemed like almost an entire lifetime. Here and now, she didn't want to make the same mistake twice.
"I'm tired, Peter," she continued. "I'm sick of not knowing what I did to deserve this treatment. We were best friends. Then suddenly you started pushing me away. How do you think I felt? Just fine? I felt worthless and useless, Peter. I don't know why I kept trying though, when it was obvious you didn't care a whit. I-"
"That's not true," Peter said at last, cutting her off. He struggled as he tried to form a coherent sentence. Everything in his mind was just so jumbled up. "I did care. I still do. But I was only a boy, Sophie, and I was growing into a man without any kind of guidance. Did you really expect me to able to express my feelings?"
"Not at first, but eventually, yes!" Sophie cried, throwing up her hands. She shook her head. "I can't believe you're making excuses like this."
"I'm not trying to make excuses," he replied angrily. "I'm sorry I didn't act on my feelings back then. But I'm trying to fix that now."
"No you aren't! You haven't done a single thing differently than the last five years that we spent in Narnia. You're keeping your distance from me, even now. Maybe you'll have everything figured out in the next five years, but until then, I'm done trying." With her bitter words hanging in the air, Sophie hurried back to the house, blocking Peter's yells of protest out of her mind.
"That couldn't have gone well," Edmund remarked as he saw Sophie approaching.
"Oh no…" Susan sighed, joining him by the window. "Lucy, I think…Lucy?" She and Edmund looked around the room, but the youngest Pevensie was nowhere in sight.