A/N I hope you guys are glad to see this because i'm supposed to be studying for a couple finals right now, but no, I care more for my readers than my grades, so here I am!
I was going to have a little bit with the handkerchief (even though I know it's been done) but then I realized...if she's wearing his scarf, where on earth would he be pulling it out from? of course, I don't think I actually needed to explain that, did I? Well, now you know.
I'm sorry if I didn't reply to reviews for the last chapter, I don't remember if I did or not. Either way, though, I'm glad to get them and I hope there'll be a few more. I always want to know what people think of my writing!
So enjoy, everybody! And be sure to click that pretty blue button at the bottom and say hello to me!
x x x
Lucy fled to her bedroom much too quickly for him to catch up with her (he sometimes had the problem of his hooves sliding on the marble). Not long after, Peter had gone in to her, leaving Tumnus standing alone in the hall. The faun shifted his weight nervously from hoof to hoof, wringing his hands as he listened to the hushed voices on the other side of the door.
"You didn't let him finish, did you?" he heard Peter say. Lucy's reply was inaudible. He leaned forward a little, noticing that the door had been left open a crack. He felt a little intrusive as he glanced through it. Seeing that nothing was visible he drew back, chiding himself. Aftermaking Lucy so upset he didn't need to be peeking into her bedroom. Listening once more, he noticed that Peter's voice had begun to sound a little confused.
"That's nonsense, Lu, why on earth would he be angry with you?"
"He wouldn't tell me! He looked so upset, and when he said I was the problem..." her voice rose tearfully and Tumnus felt a painful twinge of guilt. "Surely I must have done something!"
"Lucy, we both know he would never keep something like that from you. You're his dearest friend! He loves you too much to keep secrets." Peter's voice was gentle, but Lucy remained quiet. Knowing he didn't need to hear the rest of the conversation, Tumnus backed away to lean against the wall across from her door. Peter was right, he realized, twisting his fingers through his beard thoughtfully. He couldn't keep secrets from Lucy. He felt horrible, knowing that he had hurt her somehow. Granted, she was upset because he wasn't as adept at confessions as he would like and it had been taken amiss, but he couldn't help feeling that it was still he that had hurt her, not the misunderstanding.
'Maybe I shouldn't go in.' his already present frown only deepened as the thought crossed his mind. 'I've tried to tell her and it's only ended up hurting her...perhaps I shouldn't be doing this after all.' the doubt within that thought only made him feel worse. He wasn't at all sure how to go about fixing this. At any rate he would have to explain to Lucy what he had been trying to say.
He looked up as Peter opened the door across the hall and motioned him closer. Leaving the door open he pulled the faun close and spoke into his ear. "She's calmer now. I'm sorry she's done this, it isn't like her." Tumnus nodded. Lucy had always been a very sensible girl and not one to jump to conclusions (though I suppose everyone does it from time to time). Peter smiled, placing a hand on the faun's shoulder fondly. "You will cheer her up, won't you? No one can do it as well as you." not entirely sure whether the king meant it as a plea or a compliment, he nodded again.
"I'll do what I can, sire...Peter." he corrected himself as Peter gave an irritated, but slightly amused sort of look. With a reassuring squeeze of his shoulder, he pushed Tumnus through the open door and swung it closed behind him.
x x x
Lucy was sitting at the window. The scarf (his favorite red one) was wrapped tightly around her neck. She had pulled her hair from under it, allowing the soft wool to settle against her skin. Her hands moved restlessly beneath the folds of fabric. The beach was easily seen through her window and she had focused all of her attention on it, to avoid looking at him.
Tumnus stared at her, not wanting to move and not entirely sure that he could. He had long ago realized how beautiful she was, but still it surprised him. He often came upon her when she was unaware that he was even nearby. It was these times, when he could just watch her, every movement, every expression, that he seemed to find himself speechless. It was the same now. Her lithe form framed against the sky beyond the window, seemed to him so lovely that for a moment it seemed a great wave of something had welled up inside of him and he could only look at her. Though he would have been happy to stand there forever, it was not a time to be speechless.
Hesitantly, Tumnus approached the window, sitting across from her. Her eyes were red, and tears lay upon her cheeks, glistening faintly in the light of the window. Seeing Lucy cry had always been hard for Tumnus, and he felt a sort of pain inside him at the sight of her stricken face. Having nothing else to use, he took hold of one end of his scarf and gently wiped the tears from her face. He saw her glance at him and smiled.
"I'm so sorry, Lucy."
"Look at us," she said, her voicetearful. "A bit of a mess, aren't we?"
"And why shouldn't we be?"
"Because we're not supposed to be like this." Tumnus was a little startled by this statement. He didn't quite know what she meant to say by it or what sort of reaction she wanted, so he waited for her to go on. After staring out the window for a moment more she turned to look at him properly. "We're hurting each other, Mr. Tumnus."
"Lucy..."
"I know I must have hurt your feelings somehow, otherwise-"
"It's nothing you've done." he interrupted her quietly and she furrowed her brow, a little confused.
"It isn't?" she asked.
"Of course not."
"Oh, but I really should have let you have your privacy. It was rude of me to pry."
"And I suppose I should have told you long ago, it's just..." he stopped, suddenly unwilling to go on. Things seemed alright now, neither of them were crying and it looked as if they had forgiven each other. It seemed to him that it could wait, that perhaps he could find another way of saying it. Plucking up his courage, Tumnus took her face into his hands, stroking his thumb along the smooth skin of her cheekbone. She looked up into his face, her green eyes wide with surprise at the gesture.
"Did you know that...you're beautiful, Lucy Pevensie?" he felt the heat rise against his hands as she blushed and he had a sudden urge to throw his arms around her. He was afraid to do so would only scar her away, so he contented himself with what he had already done. Lucy must have been feeling something very similar, for she suddenly shifted to lean against him, one arm wound around his waist as she rested her head against his chest. The faun felt his own face grow warm and his breath caught unexpectedly in his throat when he felt her fingers curled into the fine fur of his chest.
"Am I as beautiful as Susan?" she whispered, sounding almost worried whether he would say yes. Tumnus smiled into her hair, too happy for a moment even to speak.
"Much more beautiful."
