A/N : This is mostly Edaline fluff and a kind reminder that only half* of this chapter is on here. Since the rating of the story is still K I can't add mature content and vividly sexual scenes, so please head over to my profile to find Midnights : A Collection to read the rest.

lilymarty: I am absolutely honoured by your review. Actually, English isn't my mother tongue too and reading a lot truly helped me improve! I'm sorry if my grammar and spellings may be off at times since I barely have time to recheck the chapters before posting but if you do get a ffn account you should drop me a message if you need help with anything. Thank you very much for taking time out of your day to type that out, it means a lot to me :)

Chapter XL : of houses and birthdays

"Edmund wake up!"

The moon was shining bright through the crack in her curtains as she shook him awake. Aline felt her heart clutch- she could see him struggle against whatever demons he was battling in his head as sweat beaded down his forehead and his clothes drenched.

He woke up with a start, breath heaving as he seemed to make sense of where he was, "Hey, it's alright. It was just a nightmare."

"Aline," he breathed frustrated, "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to see any of this."

"Don't say that," Aline brushed his hair off his face her fingers resting on the scar at the side of his forehead.

"I'm sorry for waking you up,"

"You didn't," she replied, "I had a hard time sleeping anyways,"

"That's one thing we have in common," Edmund joked as she laughed half heartedly.

"Do you have these every night?"

"Some nights are harder than the rest," he confessed after a moment of silence and a sigh. "You should sleep Al, you don't have to worry about me."

"Edmund I want to. You don't have to carry the weight of the world all by yourself. Please let me in, let me help you."

"I fear there is nothing good that would come out of that, my lady."

"I want to know everything about you. But whenever you're ready to let me in."

"And you will." he whispered back, "one day, and I can only hope you don't hate me when that day comes."

Aline gazed back at their fingers that had intertwined themselves sometime during the conversation. They could barely keep their hands off each other conscious or subconsciously, she noticed their gazes meeting once again as their foreheads touched.

"You're drenched," Aline noted as her fingers absentmindedly went to the buttons on his night shirt.

"My love, if you want me naked all you have to do is ask," Edmund smirked as she glared daggers at him.

"Alright then," she fumed, "stay in that and don't blame me when you catch a cold,"

But he only laughed in response as his hands caught hers on his chest before she could take them away as he pulled her closer. "I am lucky to have you Aline."

"And I you, Edmund."

She laid her head on his chest, her left hand tracing a scar on his shoulder. Aline closed her eyes sighing as she took in his deep scent. The muscles on his chest shifted as he adjusted to her weight.

"Do you think we are making the right decision?" she asked the question that had been plaguing her since it arose, "I mean I do want this Ed but, we barely know each other. Hell, I don't even know how old you are or if you're older than me or even younger! What if love alone isn't enough?"

"I turn nineteen in four months," he told her.

Aline gasped, "No way!"

"What?" he laughed at her shock.

"I thought you were least twenty two!"

"You flatter me, my love. Anyways I'm still older than you and that's what matters the most," he replied pompously.

"Ah, you see my King, that is where you are dead wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"I-" she stopped abruptly, "First promise me you wouldn't tell your sisters this?"

"I am curious now. Yes, I promise."

"I'd turn nineteen today, if we were back on Earth that is- well yesterday I mean."

"It was your birthday yesterday?" Edmund looked like he'd swallowed a frog. "Why did you not tell anyone? Why not tell me?"

"Because it does not matter," she shrugged matter-of-factly.

"It does to me, you turned nineteen!"

She laughed at that, "And I had my entire life turned upside down so much so I don't even know who I am anymore. None of it matters anymore, least of all birthdays."

"You are Princess Aline Grace Cassandra Frank, of the House of Narnia, the last true heir to the Narnia Throne. And you, are the only thing that matters to me right now."

Aline swallowed as she broke the gaze he held. Warmth spread through her body at the words he'd uttered, turning her cheeks red and setting her nerves in a flutter. Was this how love is supposed to feel? She couldn't help but wonder.

"Please don't break my heart, Ed." she whispered finally.

"Aline look at me," his fingers under her chin coaxed them up, "Never. If by the end of it all you still want to get married to me, I promise you I will do everything in my power until the end of our days to keep that smile on your face intact."

"Thank you, Edmund. You have no idea how much this means to me," she closed her eyes, and then in a much more tender, softer voice that made the Just King feel.. things. Things so tender, deep and true that he'd always thought never for a man as rough and shrewd as him, "-how much you mean to me."

Edmund smiled as he stared at her ceiling. "Name anything you want and as long as it is in my power to give it to you, you shall have it,"

Aline laughed, "No, no, none of that is necessary please,"

"I insist."

"Anything?" she questioned her voice raspy and almost breathless. He had to admit the way she spoke awakened some deep hunger in him. Her brown eyes dilated as she looked up into him and her fingers drawing circles on her chest nor the way her body was half sprawled over his helped.

"Anything."

She rose up, the covers wrapped around her body dropping as she did to reveal her feminine form.

"I want you. All of you."

"You already have all of me."

(Contd. on Midnight : A Collection)

A/N: Reminder to check out Midnight : A Collection on my page. That will be where all of my M rated scenes will be going. However, heavy disclaimer, please read at your own discretion, the content isn't