Peter, Gregory and Edmund were in the room that Peter and Edmund shared when Peter was home. Gregory was extremely uncomfortable being alone with the two of them. He knew that brothers in general were less than friendly to their sister's boyfriends. He expected them to be the same. But both of the brothers were polite as pie.
"Here's a shirt Greg, Peter is a little bigger than you, use mine."
"And here are some pants Greg," Peter added, handing him a pair.
"Thank you" Gregory nodded, "and it's Gregory, if you please."
Peter and Edmund froze. When Gregory left to change in the bathroom, Edmund turned to Peter.
"So, are we going to make him regret being a pompous jerk?" Edmund asked casually.
"Yup. Let's pull that stick out of his a--" Peter was interrupted by Lucy's voice.
"C'mon guys hurry up! You're taking longer than us girls!" Peter pulled his shirt over his head, threw it on the bed and quickly changed. He and Edmund left the room.
"You ready Gregory?" he called down the hall. Gregory emerged from the bathroom, looking out of place in the Pevensie's athletic wear. Edmund grinned.
"Let's do this," he said.
The siblings and their respective significant others stormed out of the house.
"There's a park down the road," Peter explained to Rachel. He had the wicket ( flat bat) laid over his shoulder. Edmund was casually tossing the ball into the air and snatching it up again.
When they arrived at the park, it was decided that Gregory and Rachel would be team captains. Rachel picked Peter and Lucy while Gregory chose Susan and Edmund. A moment later they were situated on the makeshift field.
Peter was up to bat first. Gregory was bowler (pitcher).
"Get ready Greg!" Edmund called from the outfield. Susan shot him a warning look at the use of a name her boyfriend hated. Edmund pointedly ignored her.
"Yeah Greg," Peter added. "You better be ready for this." He and Edmund's eyes were shining with laughter.
Gregory bristled at the pointed use of that nickname. He hurled the ball at Peter with unnecessary force, hitting him in the shoulder.
"Oops," he said simply, shrugging his shoulder.
Peter shook it off, but the tone of the game was now changed. He stepped up to the plate with fire in his eyes. On the next pitch, he smashed the ball out into the field. Susan easily caught it and threw it to Ed, getting Peter out.
'She is good,' though Rachel. She was impressed.
"Good catch Su!" Edmund called to his sister, who was visibly pleased with herself.
Rachel was next to bat. She stepped up. All of her softball training came back in a rush as she connected with the ball, sending it soaring. She dropped the wicket and sprinted. Susan had obtained that ball and thrown it to Edmund. She barely made it to base.
"Yay Rachel!" Lucy cheered. Rachel smiled at her.
Several innings passed. The group was playing hardball, and the score was tied. Susan lived up to her reputation, but Rachel also proved to be good. Peter and Edmund dominated the game, good naturedly trash talking each other. Gregory was also surprisingly good. His height and the length of his legs made him a fast runner. Rachel felt her heart warm as Peter and Edmund took turns giving Lucy pointers, and ever correcting their little sister's form. After about an hour of play, the score was tied.
Peter was up to bat again, and Susan was bowler. She threw the ball and Peter sent it soaring into the field. Edmund raced after it, snatched it up and hurled it to Gregory. He caught it and turned to tag Peter.
What happened next could only be described as painful. Peter did not slow down as he ran and collided fully with Gregory. The hit was so hard the smack could be heard by all on the field. Both boys went down. Rachel and Susan ran to their boyfriends. Edmund got there first.
"They're fine!" he called to the girls.
Peter sat up quickly. Before the girls reached him, he looked over at Gregory. He was lying on his back spread eagle. He moaned.
Edmund spoke softly, "You see how much that hurts, Greg? If you ever hurt Susan,"
"I mean if we even suspect that she is unhappy," Peter added.
"You are going to hurt a 100 times more than you hurt right now."
Peter stood up, and pulled Gregory to his feet. "Do we make ourselves clear, Greg?" he said.
Rachel, Susan and Lucy reached the boys.
"Gregory, are you ok?" She asked.
"Yeah Greg, are you ok?" Edmund asked pointedly.
Gregory looked at the two brothers than slowly nodded.
"I'm fine," he told Susan.
To Susan's surprise, he held her hand the whole way home.
After an hour, all four Pevensie siblings were situated in the boys' room. Gregory had returned home and the rest had cleaned themselves up. Rachel was still in the bathroom. Lucy took the opportunity to bring up a topic she had been bursting to talk about.
"Playing Cricket today reminded me of the first time we went to Narnia. Do you remember? We all needed to hide -"
"because Ed broke the window," Peter laughed.
"Hey! You bowled the ball!" Ed protested.
Lucy continued, "We were all crammed into that tiny wardrobe and then Susan and Peter tripped backward into the snow."
"I remember," Peter said.
"And then the second time, how we swam in the ocean and then saved the dwarf?"
"And met Caspian," Lucy added.
"I miss it," Peter admitted.
"It was so beautiful," Susan whispered. A tear slid down her cheek. Lucy hugged her sister.
"It's ok Su," she whispered, "You and Peter will get back one day."
Susan shook her head, "I don't think I will."
Peter looked at his sister, "Don't lose hope Su. Don't ever lose hope."
Edmund added, "We'll all be in Narnia someday."
At that moment Rachel opened the door. She noticed Susan's tears. "Are you alright?" she asked concerned.
"She's upset because she thinks she can't go back to Narnia," Lucy said automatically. The whole room froze. Lucy's eyes widened as she realized her mistake.
"What's Narnia?" Rachel asked.
A/N: Cliff hanger, I know, but I want some time to really think about the next chapter. Reviews are always appreciated! Also, I tried to use Cricket terms, but I might have mixed some baseball terms in with it.