"Mathinson! Wake up man. You can't sleep on the job!"

Edmund's voice was clipped and harsh. His fellow student woke suddenly and looked through the wooden framed window in the lobby and sneered.

"I can if I want Pervertsie, er...excuse me Pevensie."

Peter walked up in time to see Edmund's eyes narrowed, face red and fists clenching. He had heard what the miscreant Robert Mathinson had said and had also taken offense. That he and Edmund were different from the other boys was obvious, but Mathinson and his gang had taken the teasing to a new level. When Peter put it into perspective, though he knew they would never resort to physical bullying, there would be no contest and all of them knew it. Besides, a confrontation would result in the Pevensies having to find a new school for trying not to kill the offensive boys.

"What's going on here?" he commanded.

He saw Mathinson cringe but still the boy sneered, "Oh look, here comes big brother to the rescue. Eddy here is upset because he doesn't have any mail."

"I am upset because Peter does not have any mail. I know for a fact that he should have many letters and there has not been one since spring holiday. You are charged to sort the mail. If I find that you have indeed been keeping mail from us, I will go to Dean Sanders. You know that is an offense punishable by law-"

Mathinson's raucous laughter cut Edmund off. "You are such the pretty boy. You should be a Barrister. There are no letters here. Get over it and move along, others are waiting."

Edmund opened his mouth to speak again, but Peter steered him away from the window. "You'll only make it worse, Ed."

They walked back to their room in frustrated silence.

"That miserable excuse for a human," Edmund sputtered. "If only I could challenge him to a duel that would teach him!"

Peter actually laughed at Edmund's vehement hatred of their fellow student. Back in their room now they felt comfortable to speak in those terms.

"I know, or, put him to work with the dwarves in the darkest foundry, right? That worked quite a few times back then."

Peter sighed. Thinking about Narnia was both good and bad. While it drew the brothers together, it depressed him further because now April was a part of his Narnian memories.

"I will try again tomorrow Pete, when that idiot is not there. I know she has written you."

"Stop Edmund. Why would she? She is blameless in all of this. It is I who am at fault. I should be the one writing her."

~~0~~

The next evening Peter got back to the room late and found Edmund pacing like a caged tiger.

"There you are! Finally! Where have you been?" Edmund demanded.

"I stopped at the gym and put in a few rounds in with Master Kai."

Ed scoffed at him, "Oh? Getting up at blasted five o'clock in the morning isn't enough torture training for you? Or is it that you actually enjoy hearing the rumors that circulate about all the time we spend with him?"

"Come off it, Ed. I don't care what these infants think and neither do you. Now, why are you looking like a tiger who has lost its meal?"

"I got a letter from Cassidy today."

Peter frowned.

Edmund sighed, "You know, April's roommate?"

That got Peter's attention. "Cassidy! Why would she write to you? Is there something wrong with April?"

"Here. Read it for yourself. She is worried, obviously."

Peter quickly scanned the short letter. Cassidy was indeed worried about April. She was sleeping little and training hard. There was a sadness about her that Cassidy didn't understand. He looked up. She hadn't confided in her, not even a little? How was April dealing with the stress alone? He shook his head as guilt overcame him.

Edmund was staring at him and he snapped. "Stop, Ed. Just stop! She needs time. I need time. When she writes to me, I will know how to respond to her. She doesn't want to see me, since she hasn't written yet. And I am tired of talking about it!"

Peter slammed out of the room and went for a run. He couldn't stay in the room any longer. He knew that Ed was only trying to help, but he didn't want his help. Not this time.

~~0~~

Edmund did not speak of April again. Peter was grateful for the silence and found it simpler to just not talk about it anymore. He threw himself into his studies knowing his time at University was coming soon. He was ready to be done with this school and move on with life. However miserable it was going to be.

Two weeks later he received a letter from home. His father said there were papers that needed to be signed for the University and asked that he come home over the weekend. Peter sighed and penned a note saying that he would.

That night he lay in bed trying to not think about her. It was impossible. In the quiet and in the dark his memory betrayed him and all he could think about was their time in Narnia. It was a torture he was used to. Every time he came back from Narnia the memories of his time there would grow stronger, or perhaps because memories were all he had, he would go over and over them, so they wouldn't disappear. These memories were sweet torture. Her lovely face, her wonderful body and the physical passion they had shared were thoughts that his mind and body could not forget, nor did he want to. Deny as he might to Edmund, he missed her. Missed her so desperately that he couldn't sleep.

~~0~~

Peter woke suddenly and groaned, he was sweaty, and...sticky? Ugh! Curse this young body! Unfortunately his groan had been audible and Edmund, a notoriously light sleeper, heard him.

"Dreaming again?"

"Yeah, sorry Ed."

"You were moaning."

"Again, sorry."

"So what was it about? If you are going to wake me up like this multiple times a week, I should at least get to know some details."

"Are you crazy? Go back to sleep!"

"Come on Pete, let me live vicariously here. Do you know how hard it is to be a grown man stuck in an almost 14 year old body?"

"Yes! As a matter of fact, I do! But, I am not going to have you lusting after...my wife."

Peter almost choked on the last words. It was what she was, but it was hard to think about after almost 6 six weeks of not having seen her.

"No problem, I have plenty of faces that I can substitute, besides April is too tall and blonde for me. I like shorter, curvy brunettes."

"Fine, if you will shut up and let me sleep! She was dancing for me. Are you happy?"

"No...clothed or unclothed? And dancing how?"

Peter sighed, "She was clothed at first. She danced the way she knows how best, ballet. But it was slow and entrancing, more sensual. It was always just for me, she would never dance that way in front of anyone else. These are memories Ed, not fantasies. Don't you dare tell anyone or make fun of me. Or I will wake you up every night, with ice water down your neck!"

"Ha! Understood. See, it was good for you to share. You never talk about her. Why don't you just call her, go see her?"

"I can't! It's...complicated."

"No, you are just being stubborn. Didn't you say you are going home this weekend to sign some papers for University? You will just a short bus ride away, you could-"

"Yes. No! I can't Edmund, I can't stand to see her sad, knowing that I caused her pain. I can't take it. I don't know how we are going to get through this."

"Well, you won't until you try!"

"Shut it, Ed!" Peter got up and went over to his desk, turning on a small lamp. "If you are not going to let me sleep, I might as well get some work done."

"You mean, write to her, again?"

"Fine. Yes. Where is my journal?"

"You mean the one with all the letters you pretended not to write and would never mail over the last six weeks? I...sent it to her."

"You what?" Peter roared.

Edmund sat up. "Shh! You are going to get us reprimanded. Yes, sometime love needs a little help and in your case, you both need a lot. I wrote Cassidy back and we developed a plan."

Peter gurgled a noise but Edmund cut him off. "She is your gift Peter and you are squandering it! She needs to know how you feel. If you are not brave enough to show her, then I thought I would. Don't worry, I put in a note telling her that I did it without your knowledge."

"You are in so much trouble. I could throttle you...If we were in Narnia I would throw you in gaol, or send you in the Western Wilds to fend for yourself."

"If we were in Narnia, High King Peter, then we wouldn't be in this predicament, now would we?"

As usual Edmund was right and he could never outsmart him in a game of wits. It wasn't worth the energy to fight with him. Peter turned off the light and sank back on the bed dejected and settled for honesty.

"It's hard to breathe without her Edmund." He sighed. "Sometimes when I think about her...I just can't move. I've lost my child and now my...wife. She doesn't want me, or else she would have written to me, come to see me. We are only a 45 minute train ride apart. I know the war department discourages frivolous trips, but the rail line goes both ways!"

"Now you are being prideful and stubborn. You are letting your anger at yourself take control. You are better than this Peter."

Peter snapped off the light and said harshly, "Go back to sleep Edmund, and don't think or dream about my wife!"

"Yes, Your Majesty!"

Peter grunted. He could hear Edmund's smirk even in the pitch black darkness of their room. What was he going to do now?

(A/N: Anyone else getting frustrated with Peter? He is a bit stubborn, yes? I must say Edmund is great. So much fun to write. The snarky sarcasm is a perfect opposite to Peter's serious nature. Thanks for reading! Have a wonderful week!)