An Unexpected Romance

Chapter 9

Edmund's POV

I believe that Y/n doesn't see me as a traitor, but for whatever reason, it bothers me that she knows that that side of me exists. Of course, she's known me both before and after my first trip to Narnia, so she should know that I've changed...right?

Of course she does. I think to myself. She said she does, and Y/n has always been blunt with her thoughts and feelings. If she didn't trust me, she wouldn't say she did.

I approach Peter, who's sharpening his sword and collecting armor for the planned attack tonight.

"Hello, Ed," Peter glances up at me as I walk towards him, still focused on the task at hand.

"Hello," I respond, awkwardly standing there for a moment.

Peter pauses what he's doing and looks up at me.

"Something on your mind?" He asks.

"Yes, actually," I say, clearing my throat and scratching the back of my neck, "Y/n knows."

"Knows...what?" Peter asks with a look of confusion.

"About the White Witch, and the Stone Table, and me" I finish.

"Oh," Peter says. "Is she upset?"

"No..."

"Is she scared of you?"

"Not exactly..."

"So, what's the issue then?" Peter asks in an impatient tone.

"She's...she says I don't owe her an explanation and that she trusts that I've changed," I say, suddenly not sure of why I began telling Peter about this in the first place. After all, it does seem like she took it quite well.

"It seems like she's got it handled," Peter says, "I've never known Y/n to not have things handled. She's quite practical, Ed. She's not the type to let one thing ruin how she thinks of you."

"Yes, you're right," I say, "she's never held my actions against me before."

"No, she hasn't, and she put up with you back when you were always fighting everyone. She even defended you then."

I cross my arms, feeling a bit defensive at Peter bringing up how I used to act. I'm not proud of my old actions, and it's still something I don't like to talk about.

"She certainly enjoys being around you now, though, it seems," Peter says with a chuckle.

"Hm?" I say. "What do you mean?"

"Oh come on, Ed, she was practically drooling over you when you sparred with Trumpkin," Peter laughs. "And the way she got all flustered when you kept her from falling off the boat?"

"She was not..." I say smiling and looking up, "she's not like that. Y/n doesn't do...no. Y/n is not the kind of girl who wastes time with boys."

Y/n and I had gotten to be friends of sorts recently, but we weren't very close. From what I could tell, she's a lot like my sister Susan: practical, independent, bold, and certainly not the type to get distracted by boys. Plenty of boys at school talked about her and liked her, but she wasn't ever interested. I myself had developed a bit of a crush on her in the last few months, what with her being at our house with Susan all the time, and I think she enjoys being around me too-just not the same way.

"Come on, Ed," Peter elbows me. "Just admit you've got feelings for her."

"I do not," I shake my head.

"I can tell my little brother has a crush," Peter laughs. "It's ok, I won't say anything I promise."

"Mhm," I mumble. "You think you're so smart, Pete."

"I am," Peter says with a mischievous smile, "and so are you, Ed. That's why you know I'm right."

He is right, but I'll never tell him that. Y/n is right about Peter's ego, and I certainly don't need to fuel it by admitting he's correct about my feelings of all things.

"Y/n isn't interested, Pete," I say. "Which is fine you know, I don't care if she's interested or not. It's not a big deal either way."

"Good grief, Ed! Don't you hear yourself?" Peter laughs.

"Fine. Whatever, Y/n is nice. Happy?" I grumble at my older brother.

"She'd compliment you nicely, Ed," Peter says in a sing-song manner.

"Shut up!" I say laughing while I look at the ground. "This is why I don't come to you about things!"

So what if I fancied Y/n? She's very smart, and we have the same sense of humor. Lucy adores her, and she's always treated her like her own little sister. She also puts Peter in his place, which I certainly appreciate. She speaks her mind, and, I have to admit, she's usually right. Y/n just always knows what to say, and she never held my mistakes against me.

I think that's why I started to like her. When we returned from Narnia and I wanted to start anew, she let me-no questions asked. Y/n never brought up my old behavior, and she even stuck up for me a few times when Peter was harsh on me. There was even this one time pretty soon after our first journey to Narnia that I had gotten hit in the face pretty hard at school, fighting Peter's fight for him, obviously.

I got knocked down, and the guy who hit me didn't stop once I was on the ground. Y/n marched right over and shoved this guy off of me, ready to fight him. He didn't touch her-lucky for him, I'd have killed him-but Y/n didn't know if he would or not. She's just as protective over the people she cares about as I am, and I think that's why I like her.

Regardless, she took care of me and helped me up, taking me to the nurse and checking on me the next few days to make sure I was alright. There aren't many people who would do that for someone who had been such an ass, but she did it anyways. I liked that about her.

"Look, Ed, Y/n is like a sister to the girls, and I like her a lot too," Peter said a bit more seriously, "don't tell her I said that though."

"Hmph," I laugh, "I won't."

"She cares about you, I know that at least. Don't let your distrust in yourself keep you from letting her trust you too, ok?"

"If you say so," I say to Peter, getting a bit uncomfortable with his sappy speech.

"Here, help me get this ready for tonight," Peter hands me some armor, and we spend the rest of the day preparing for the attack.