You're not alone

Protection

Peter sighed slightly as he walked across the beach, soon sitting down in the sand, staring out across the sea.
He only managed fifteen minutes alone before he heard someone walking up behind him.
He didn't need to turn to see that it was Edmund, and sighed when his younger brother sat beside him, still in his pyjamas with a cloak wrapped around his shoulders. "I wondered where you went." He mumbled, starting up some sort of conversation.
Peter didn't look at him as he said: "I fancied a walk."
Edmund nodded slowly. "Peter." He said slowly. "I-"
"You're not getting a different answer." Peter cut him off. "I'm fine."
Edmund sighed, an annoyed tone that Peter could only just make out. "I'm just worried about you." He mumbled.
"You know." Peter said, trying to change the subject. "This conversation would usually be the other way around - with me worried about you."
"Well not this time." Edmund said, knowing all too well what Peter was doing. "This time I'm worried about you."
"You dont need to be worried." Peter whispered, distracting himself by playing with the sand.
"Too late." Edmund said simply, staring at his older brother.
Peter swallowed hard. "Let's not talk about this right now." He sighed. "I'm going to bed."
Edmund watched him as he stood, brushing the sand off his trousers as he did.
"Alright." Edmund sighed, standing with him.
The two headed back across the beach, Peter wrapping his arm around Edmund's shoulders gently and pulling him close.
"You okay?" Edmund asked when he heard him take a shaky breath.
Peter nodded. "Yeah." He breathed, placing a kiss to the top of his brothers head as they reached the stairs.
They reached the castle and very soon their room, Edmund lying down on his bed as Peter got changed.
He sat up when he felt the bed dip beside him, seeing Peter sat at his left, smiling slightly.
"You good Pete?" Edmund asked, smirking as he sat up.
Peter nodded. "Hmm." He mumbled, grabbing Edmund's arm and leading him over to his bed instead.
"What are you doing?" Edmund asked, even as he climbed under the covers.
"Protecting you from nightmares." Peter said quietly, climbing in beside his brother.
"Protecting me or protecting yourself?" Edmund said, smirking playfully.
Peter chuckled, wrapping an arm around Edmund's shoulders and pulling him close. "Both?" He said with a shrug.
Edmund laughed a little before falling silent and resting his head on Peter's chest. "Night Peter." He whispered as Peter blew out the candle on the bedside table.
Peter smiled, placing a kiss to Edmund's forehead. "Night Ed."

☆☆☆

Edmund was woken late that night (or early that morning) to someone calling his name, shaking his shoulders hard, but still gently.
His eyes snapped open as he let out a loud gasp, the visions of his nightmare slowly fading.
He caught sight of Peter's face above him, his eyes showing nothing but worry for his younger brother. "Ed you okay?" Peter asked quickly, untangling the blankets from around Edmund so that he actually had room to move.
Edmund swallowed hard, slowly sitting up as he nodded his head. "I think so." He breathed.
Peter sighed. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked, his hands still on Edmund's shoulders.
Edmund hesitated but in the end shook his head. "Not really." He mumbled.
Peter nodded. "That's alright." He said quietly.
"You woke up this time." Edmund whispered, something of a smile on his face.
"You were screaming this time." Peter muttered. "No one could've slept through that."
Edmund swallowed hard. "Sorry I woke you." He said quickly.
But Peter shook his head. "It's fine Ed." He said. "Really."
Edmund nodded before laying back down, Peter laying beside him and pulling him close.
"Get back to sleep." Peter mumbled, burying his face in Edmund's hair.
Edmund nodded, resting his head on Peter's shoulder and allowing his eyes to close. "Promise you won't go anywhere?" He whispered.
Peter smiled sadly and shook his head. "I'm staying right here." He mumbled. "I promise."

☆☆☆

When Edmund woke up the next morning Peter wasn't laying beside him, and sitting up found that he wasn't even in the room.
Edmund frowned and glanced at the clock, his mouth falling open when he saw that it was nearly 10am.
Groaning slightly he climbed out of bed, quickly getting changed before heading down to the dining room, even though he doubted his siblings would still be there.
To his surprise he saw Susan, sat at the table with a book in her hand. She looked up when she heard Edmund enter and gave him a small smirk. "Good morning." She said.
Edmund glared playfully at her as he sat down, grabbing a piece of toast that was still on the table. "Morning." He muttered. "Sorry I woke up so late."
Susan chuckled. "That's fine." She said, before growing serious. "Ed, I wanted to talk to you about something, that's why I waited here for you."
"What did you want to talk about?" Edmund asked, staring at her with a slight frown on his face.
"It's about Peter." Susan said slowly, getting a sigh from Edmund. "He hardly ate any of his breakfast, and when he eventually did eat something he dashed out the room, as fast as he could."
Edmund frowned. "Why?" He asked.
Susan sighed. "He went extremely pale and put his hand over his mouth." She said slowly. "Ed, I think he threw up."
Edmund swallowed hard. "He's really not well, is he?" He mumbled.
"I don't think so." Susan replied, shaking her head slightly.
Edmund thought for a moment. "Okay." He said, lowering his toast for the moment. "At lunch, we'll get him to eat something, and if he leaves like that again I'll follow him."
Susan nodded. "I think that's the only way we're gonna get him to admit that he's ill." She muttered. "Okay then."
Edmund nodded as Susan stood. "I'll see you at lunch then?" She said.
Edmund smiled a little at her. "See you at lunch."

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