gryff_of_grace

01:38 pm: Coming Home
Title: Coming Home
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia
Pairing: Peter/Susan, Edmund/Lucy; barely there incest
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Susan is never home anymore and it breaks Lucy's heart. Written for the Clocks prompt at petersusan. :)
A/N: Haven't written a Narnia fic in awhile. :) Don't worry, I'm still working on my P/S claim @ 30_kisses as well as my Edmund/Lucy claim @ 7_deadly_sins_. <333

I struggled with this one a bit, but I think it turned out really well. Thanks so much to whatever_we_are, xsay_goodnight & veritaserum2009 for the betaing - I ♥ you! :)



It is 7:00 when Susan leaves the house in a hurry, promising to be back soon.

Edmund and Lucy, who are lying next to each other on the living room floor, watch as she closes the door behind her.

"She's such a liar," Edmund mutters when she is gone.

Lucy sets down her doll and looks at her brother, who is absentmindedly playing with their father's golden pocket-watch. "Susan's not a liar," she says, confused as to why Edmund would say such a horrible thing.

"She didn't get back until 2:00 this morning," Edmund points out.

Lucy's mouth opens in shock. "Again?"

"Peter told me," says Edmund, spinning the pocket-watch around on the floor by its golden chain. "He waited up for her all night."

"Do mum and dad know?" Lucy asks, lowering her voice to a whisper. Edmund looks at her and shakes his head.

"I wonder what she does at those parties," he wonders and Lucy is old enough now to recognize exactly what he is implying. She gasps.

"Ed!" a sharp voice interrupts and Lucy glances up at Peter, who is staring down at both of them.

"What?" snaps Edmund irritably, as the chain of the pocket-watch slips out of his fingers. Lucy crawls across the floor and picks it up, feeling the heaviness of it in her hands.

Peter sits down in the armchair by the fire and runs a hand through his hair. "She'll be back early tonight," he says firmly, as if trying to convince himself.

Lucy exchanges a look with Edmund; they both know she won't be.

*

It is 8:00 when Lucy announces that she is bored.

"Pocket-watch not fun anymore?" teases Edmund as he takes it away from her.

"Why don't you read a book to us, Lu?" suggests Peter.

Lucy jumps up and runs over the bookshelf, needing no further encouragement. Running her fingers along the titles of the books, she searches for the one that sounds the most interesting. After selecting a story, she sits down in the armchair by the fire (for Peter has moved to the sofa now) and begins to read.

*

It is 9:00 when Lucy decides this book is rather boring.

She continues to read anyway, because Edmund seems to be enjoying it. (Of course he would, it's about trains, she thinks to herself.)

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Peter staring at the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, not paying attention to her at all.

*

It is 10:00 when Lucy feels the book being gently removed from her hands.

"Come on, Lu," says a soft voice and she places it as Edmund's. He tucks her hair behind her ear and touches her cheek, telling her it is time for her to go to bed.

Lucy tries to say that she isn't sleepy and she squirms away from him, but luckily he is there to catch her before she slides out of the chair.

Not a single protest escapes her as he carries her upstairs.

*

It is 1:00 in the morning when Lucy wakes, her throat scratchy and hoarse.

I can't believe she's not home yet! she thinks, shaking her head in bewilderment at the empty bed beside hers.

As quietly as possible, she makes her way downstairs and helps herself to a glass of water.

Just as she is about to return to her room, the silhouette of her eldest brother catches her eye. He is sitting in the armchair by the fire once more, with only the dark for company (the fire had gone out awhile ago.)

"Peter?" Lucy whispers, stepping closer. When he does not respond, Lucy realizes that he is sleeping.

She smiles at how peaceful he looks when he sleeps; oh, how she has missed that look! Her brother has not looked peaceful for a long time, because peacefulness is a trait associated with happiness, and Peter is never happy anymore. So Lucy is content to let him sleep, and doesn't even entertain the thought of waking him up.

She covers him with a blanket, sighing as she sees the golden pocket-watch clutched in his fingers, and can't help but wonder if Susan is the reason he is so unhappy these days.

*

It is 2:00 when the bedroom door opens. Lucy lets out a sigh of relief.

After her older sister has climbed into bed, Lucy wonders if she knows that Peter has waited up for her, like he always does.


*

It is 4:00 that same morning when Lucy creeps out of bed and hurries downstairs to check on her brother. He is still sleeping in the armchair, but Lucy is confused when she spots a second blanket covering him and a red lipstick stain on his cheek.

*

It is 4:00 that evening when Susan sits down next to Lucy for supper.

"Has anyone seen Peter?" she inquires. "I've been meaning to speak to him all day."

"Who cares?" Edmund says sourly, not looking at anyone. Lucy frowns.

*

It is 5:00 when the yelling begins and Lucy looks on in horror.

Peter and Susan stand on either side of the living room, red-faced and sweating and ignoring the fact that Lucy is in the room.

"What the hell happened to you in America, Susan?" Peter yells, the straps of his suspenders slipping off his shoulders. "You've become a completely different person! The only thing you do is go to parties! And the only things that seem to matter to you are lipstick and nylons!" His voice is positively vicious and his hands are balled into fists and Lucy is scared of her brother for the first time.

"What else is there to care about, Peter?" she screams, her voice shaking. "What do you expect me to do? You're the one who's changed! All you do is mope around the house as if someone has died! And when I try to talk to you, all I can get out of you are stupid stories about talking animals and magical wardrobes!"

Lucy's jaw drops and she feels her bottom lip quiver. Stop, stop, stop! she begs in her mind, but they don't.

"You're still a child, Peter! I am a woman! And I don't need this!"

Peter gives a rough laugh. "I'm the child?" he says, and he walks so close to Susan that they are only inches apart. "Tell me, Susan, what exactly makes you a woman?"

Susan lowers her head as Peter's eyes widen. He steps back, breathing as if someone had just punched him in the stomach.

Lucy looks from him to Susan, who is now crying, and tries to figure out what is going on.

"I suppose you won't wait up for me any longer, will you?" Susan says scathingly. Peter does not respond; Susan smoothes her dress.

"Susan - "

"Stop waiting, Peter. I'm tired of it."

And she dashes from the room.

*

It is 6:00 when Lucy finds Edmund outside catching fireflies.

"Can I catch one?" she asks.

"Fine," he says, shoving the jar toward her. She doesn't take it.

"Why are you so cross?" she says, folding her arms across her chest.

"Peter won't give me father's pocket-watch back," he tells her, offering her the firefly jar again. "He says he doesn't have it, but he was the last one with it."

Lucy opens the jar and says, "Peter is not one to lie, you know." She pauses as Edmund nods his head in reluctant agreement. "But I also never thought Susan would stop believing in Narnia, so maybe I'm wrong."

Edmund lets out a strangled sort of noise and is able to manage, "Susan doesn't believe in Narnia?"

"She said it was a bunch of stupid stories," Lucy says sadly.

"How is that even possible?" cries Edmund. "She's been to Narnia, she's seen it! How can she not believe?"

"I don't know." Lucy bites her lip, because it has started to quiver again and she can't think of anything worse than crying in front of her brother.

"I suppose my missing pocket-watch - well, dad's missing pocket-watch, pales in comparison," says Edmund.

Lucy, no longer in the mood to catch fireflies, walks over to him. "Everything's all wrong. Peter is sad all the time and Susan isn't herself. They act like they hate each other."

"Lu," he says placatingly, patting her on the shoulder, "they don't hate each other. They're just hurting because everything has changed. It's different here than it was in Narnia."

Lucy reaches for her brother's hand, suddenly understanding everything. "Ed," she says quietly, twining their fingers together as he stares down at her, "We won't turn out like Peter and Susan, will we?"

He grins and kisses her forehead. "No, we won't, Lu. We won't."

*

It is 6:30 when Lucy finds Susan in their bedroom, brushing her hair.

"Peter?" says Susan, standing up quickly.

Her face falls when she sees that it is Lucy. Lucy is not quite sure how she feels about this, but supposes it doesn't really matter. She turns to leave, but Susan's voice stops her.

"Lu, can I talk to you?"

Lucy gives her sister a tentative smile and goes to stand beside her. "What is it, Susan?"

"He'll never stop waiting, will he?" Susan says quietly.

Lucy shakes her head. "He'll wait for you forever, I imagine."

"But why?" Susan's tone is incredulous. "I disappoint him, Lucy. I see it whenever he looks at me. He wishes me to be someone I'm not...wishes me to believe in things that aren't real. Why does he wait for things that won't come true?"

Lucy wipes away the tears from Susan's eyes as they spill down her face. "He loves you, Susan and he has faith in you. You may disappoint him, but he'll never give up on you. He knows who you really are, even if you've forgotten."

She hugs her, hoping her words have meant something, and leaves the room.

*

It is 7:00 when Susan comes downstairs, dressed up and ready to go out, and Lucy sighs.

"I promise I'll be back soon," she says, eyes focused on Peter, who is sitting stiffly in the armchair by the fire.

Peter nods, though it is obvious that he doesn't really believe her. Susan continues looking at him, and the expression on her face seeks his approval. "I mean it," she adds. "You don't have to wait."

Lucy watches Susan as she leaves, and swears she sees a golden pocket-watch sticking out of her pocket.

What on earth would she need with that? she wonders to herself.

*

It is 8:00 when Lucy, arguing with Edmund over which book to read tonight, is silenced.

Susan has come home.

She stands awkwardly in the living room, her eyes landing on Peter.

Lucy watches as Susan walks over to him and kisses his cheek. Peter is taken aback, but anyone can see from the very slight smile on his face, that he is happy.

Edmund is smirking when he taps Lucy on the shoulder. "Guess that pocket-watch helped her know when to come home, eh?" he mutters.

*

It is 10:00 when Lucy is carried upstairs to bed, once again, by Edmund.

He watches her sleep for a few seconds, then stands to leave the room.

"I'll wait for you, too," he whispers.

And Lucy, not hearing him, already knows that she won't need a pocket-watch to find him.

Tags: edmund/lucy, fandom: chronicles of narnia, peter/susan, rating: pg-13, universe: canon