A year as a Narnian || 365 Narnia one shots (Part two)

273: I'm his brother - Part One

September 30th - Prompt: I thought I'd lost you

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Edmund sighed a little as he wondered through the park, his hands buried in his coat pockets as the little snow crunched beneath his feet, a scarf wrapped around his neck to keep him as warm as possible.

He stared at the snow as he walked with a distant look on his face, and even though there wasn't a lot of it, there was enough.

He'd recently returned from his cousins, and he'd never been more grateful to be back with his family, back with Peter, with Susan, with his parents, but he'd been feeling a bit down in the dumps today, so had forced himself out for a walk, despite the cold and the snow... At least he could look forward to the nice warm hot chocolate Lucy was bound to of made him when he got back.

He smiled gently to himself at the thought, before frowning when he heard footsteps close behind him.

The last time he checked, he'd been alone in the park...

Turning around, he swallowed hard when he spotted three guys only a year older than him, stood only a few steps away, and he knew exactly who they all were.

"James?" He muttered.

James had been the bully at school, had been the one who had picked on Edmund since his first day, that had made fun of him, beat him up, ripped up his school books and made him do his homework. He hadn't seen him since a while before he'd gone to stay with Eustace, and it came as quite a shock to him to bump into him in the middle of the park, a week before Christmas.

"I thought it was you." James chuckled. "Alright, Pevensie?"

Edmund bit his lip. "I was." He muttered. "Before you showed up."

James laughed, as did the other two, and it was only then that Edmund spotted a bottle of what seemed to be alcohol held in James' hand. "No need to be like that." He said.

"Really?" Edmund asked, realising his old school bully had grown up to be not a very nice person. "All those years in school tell me there is reason to be like that."

"Still the same old sarcastic brat." James spat. "What've you been up to lately then? It's been a while since we last saw each other."

"It hasn't been long enough." Edmund grumbled. "Why don't you just go away?"

James laughed, dropping the bottle and putting his hands into his jacket pockets. "That's not very nice, is it?" He said. "I was hoping we could catch up, you know, make it like old times."

Edmund snorted. "Making it like old times would mean you beating me up." He said. "And if I'm honest, I'm really not in the mood."

"I wasn't asking." James smiled, nodding at his two friends.

Edmund didn't hesitate, and he quickly turned and ran.

He ran as fast as he could for as long as he could, determined to get out of the park and back home, after all, he wasn't going to fight them, but within perhaps ten seconds, he slipped on a nasty patch of ice, sending him flying a little way forward before landing in a heap on the floor, splitting his chin open so badly it began dripping blood into the snow below.