Chapter 6-Please Stay
"You wanted to see me?" Peter asked as he found Susan in front of the radio, listening to the news.
Susan shut the radio off as she regarded him sternly, "where were you?"
"What do you mean?" Peter asked, scratching his back, almost out of nervousness.
"You didn't come home with Edmund." She elaborated.
"Oh, sorry, I had something to do after school." Peter told her. He tried keeping as straight a face as possible for fear that she would be able to see through his pathetic lie.
Susan narrowed her eyes at him and stood, facing him as she said, "well, since you weren't here, I took the responsibility of contacting a physician to see Lucy."
Peter's mouth fell open and was about to say something when Susan continued, "Peter…she can hardly stand, let alone walk. I had to escort her to the loo twice already."
"Did you let Mrs. Simmons know?" Peter asked her.
"Yes. She'll be here in a half hour." Susan then looked down at her feet and Peter felt that now was one of those brother-sister moments between them that was rare. He came toward her hesitantly and before he could embrace her, she wrapped her arms around him, softly crying.
"Susan, it'll be okay. Lucy will be fine. Aslan would never let any harm come to her, remember?"
"Aslan…" She said, almost doubtfully. "We're not in Narnia anymore, Peter. This is the real world. Aslan can't protect us from what happens here."
But Peter thought otherwise. He had asked Aslan himself if he could see Caspian again and Caspian was here. Besides, Lucy was to return to Narnia. There was no question that Aslan would be watching over her…even in England.
Wiping away her tears, Susan went off to the kitchen and Peter looked after her, almost crying himself. Susan didn't believe. He had a hard time believing sometimes, but in the end, he did. He believed in Lucy and he believed that she would be okay. He then turned upstairs and decided to check on her, assuring himself that Caspian was still all right in his closet.
"Lu?" Peter asked, knocking on her door. "Can I come in?"
"Of course." She answered from inside. Peter opened the door and found her lying in bed, pillows comforting her, with an empty tray at her feet Peter guessed had some sort of food on it.
Peter smiled as he came to kneel next to the bed. "How are you feeling?"
Lucy shrugged as she said, "a little better, I guess. Susan said—she said a doctor's going to come see what's wrong with me."
Peter nodded. "Yes, I suspect the doctor'll be here first thing tomorrow."
"I don't like staying home from school. Especially when I don't feel well." Lucy said bitterly.
Peter touched her hand and said, "I know." He thought about telling her that Caspian was here, but thought it was too soon to mention it. Plus, it meant he had more time with him before people knew he was hiding in his closet.
She looked at him in a puzzled way as she asked, "Peter? Is something wrong?"
"Hmm? No," Peter said, "I was just thinking about something."
Lucy then bit her lip as she said anxiously, "I can't wait to go back. You know, to Narnia. Though, I wish you could go too."
Peter smiled as he said, "yes, I wish I could accompany you too, but like Aslan said, I'm getting too old. You wouldn't want me coming along and ruining your fun now, would you?"
Lucy laughed a little as she said, "oh, Peter, you wouldn't ruin it. You'd have a great time, just like before when we met Caspian."
Peter flinched a little at the name and suddenly had the urge to see Caspian again. He knew where to find him too. Hastily, he said, "yes, well, I'll check on you later. I have some stuff to do now."
"Okay." She said as he closed her door. Striding over to his own door, he opened it to find Edmund in the midst of a checkers game with none other than the prince.
When Edmund caught sight of his brother, he called to him, "Oy, Pete, look who's here!"
But Peter was already fuming. He wanted to attack Caspian right now for revealing himself to Edmund. Caspian looked at Peter and noticed the maddening look in his eyes. Edmund glanced at both of them and said, "Uh…Pete? You okay?"
"Edmund," Peter said crisply, "please leave the room."
"What? Why? We're in a middle of—"
"Now!" Peter shouted from the doorway. Edmund looked at him strangely, but ran out the door anyhow, not wanting to face Peter's wrath. As soon as he was gone, Peter closed the door behind him, turning on Caspian.
"Well?" He asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
Caspian looked around and then said, "what?"
"I thought I told you to stay hidden. That does not mean come out to play games with my brother!" Peter cried.
"Peter, you shoved me into a wardrobe! You said nothing about staying hidden."
"Why do you think I had you go in there?" Peter asked. "To make sure no one else found you. Obviously that plan failed."
"I did stay hidden. Edmund opened the door! He was looking for a game and he found me. It shocked him to see me to begin with, but in the end, he thought it was silly to keep me in there, so we sat down to play—"
"I don't care what you did. The thing is…now he knows you're here." Peter ran a hand through his hair in a stressful manner as he turned away from Caspian. He tried to keep himself composed, but it was hard especially with Caspian in the room.
He heard the prince get up from the bed he was sitting on and say, "I thought it would be okay to see the others. It's not like they are not my friends as well."
Peter bit his lip hard as he thought about what Caspian was saying.
"Or maybe coming here was just a mistake…maybe I should return back. But I should at least see Lucy because she is the reason why I've come here."
At these words, Peter turned to face Caspian and he noticed the serious expression on the prince's tanned face. He was seriously considering leaving. When Peter didn't speak, Caspian started toward the door, but before he could reach it, Peter grabbed his hand.
"No!" He said, pulling Caspian away from the door. The dark-haired man turned to look at Peter, narrowing his eyes, but the blond kept his expression warm and imploring. Biting his lip, Peter gazed at Caspian, taking in all of him, his muscular body, his soft, long hair, his dark abyss eyes. He wanted him to stay…he needed him to stay.
"Caspian…please." Peter said, in his sincerest voice, "Please stay."
Caspian regarded Peter, almost with a sympathetic expression and noticed the hold that Peter had on his own hand. Peter noticed it too and quickly let go, blushing slightly.
"Okay." Caspian finally said, "I'll stay." Peter beamed at him. "But, I want to see the others as well."
Peter hesitated a little, thinking about how much time he would be able to spend with Caspian if he started going after Susan even though Peter had told him that she was taken. He nodded though, reluctantly.
Caspian smiled and for the second time that day Peter was embraced by the prince. He enjoyed it more this time though because they were in the privacy of his own room. This time, he rubbed the prince's back and Caspian didn't complain once during their hug. Caspian…I'm not sure how to say this to you aloud, but ever since we've been apart, I haven't stopped thinking about you. You've always been on my mind and I can't help thinking that there may be something between us…almost like a bond, a single thread of wire that cannot be cut. It is for this reason why you should never leave…because I love you.