eyes for you - peter pevensie ₊˚⊹♡
I had to write something for 2nd pookie too. (also too delay finishing edmund one-shots) This is inspired by one of my fave songs at the moment, and the one-shot itself is heavily, heavily inspired by A Bronx Tale! Lowkey not edited at the end mb mb
Peter Pevensie couldn’t remember a time when he wasn’t angry. But when he saw you on the train home he realized how quickly that anger could dissipate so long as he kept his eyes on you.
🐇 . *. ⋆·˚ ༘ *༄
"Peter, please don't get into any more fights today. Let's just get home." Susan ushered her brother away from the groups of boys that were also getting out of school and were loitering around the train station.
Since coming back to the city, Peter seemed to be going through some anger issues. His siblings were well aware of him picking many fights with any boys that either accidentally bumped into him or found amusement in how easily he got agitated.
Peter was always the one with a good head on his shoulders, but nothing felt right anymore. Not since leaving Narnia and losing their entire adult identities and then Aslan seeming to be truly gone. Right when they needed him most.
While his sibling understood, they also couldn't handle seeing the usual voice of reason fall easily into a dark hole of his own anger. It hurt them, too.
Peter scoffed, wanting to argue back.
But they were right, they should try to just get home without any more bruises on Peter’s face (or Ed’s, who had to get him out of those situations often and suffered the consequences). He let his siblings sit at the train station's bench in peace, leaving any possible school boys from facing his wrath to go by unscathed.
The train approached with its loud sound, blowing their scarves and people's newspapers away. As they stood up and entered the carriage, Peter took a second to glance around.
That's when he saw you.
It was like ocean waves had poured over him and refreshed him. Where his heart did not clench with anger or loss. He felt something different, something new.
Edmund was saying something about his new torch, but he didn't know what because his eyes were locked on you.
Like a beam had stricken him, you turned to him in slow motion and locked your eyes onto his. You smiled softly, before turning back out the small window.
Susan was now mentioning something about a boy that had been trying to talk to her since last week. But again, Peter didn't register anything she was saying. Because you turned to look at him yet again. Smiling with that smile of yours that seemed to beam a light only a setting Narnian sun could.
You didn't seem like anyone he's ever met, but you were wearing the all girls uniform that Susan and Lucy wore. You seemed to be around Susan's age, too.
Your hair was beautiful, your eyes were too, your lips the perfect shape and-
"Peter....Peter!" Edmund's voice rang out, his finger snapping in front of his face. That finally got him out of his daze and he turned to look at the concerned faces of his brother and sisters.
"Are you okay? You completely blanked out there."
Edmund knew his brother was going through some things, but this is the first time he'd ever seen Peter this unfocused.
"It's nothing, Ed. Just leave it. What were you guys on about?" He attempted to listen to what they were saying again. He realized Susan was asking him and Edmund to get more information about the guy who kept trying to flirt with her.
While he was listening, his eyes found themselves caught in yours again.
It was like a dance of eyes, a gentle waltz Peter might have found himself dancing during a gala at Cair Paravel. Yours looked to his and his to yours, before looking away again. Then the dance began again.
A few train stops passed before you began getting up from your seat. His heart almost sank at the idea of never seeing you again but was distracted when you walked towards him, smiling.
You barely brushed past him as you stepped off the train. His eyes followed you as much as they could before you got lost in the crowd of people entering the train. He finally seemed to hear the voices of his siblings fully.
"She’s in one of my classes you know?" Susan's voice rang out.
Susan was always observant.
No matter what, she'd notice a change in things. And when she noticed all she was seeing of her brother was the side of his face, she knew he was looking at something else. Well, someone.
While you had only ever spoken as acquaintances, she knew you to be a kind and quiet girl.
Totally not what she expected to catch her brother's attention, but she wasn't against it.
Peter didn't say anything in response, and Susan decided not to pry. The last thing she wanted was for Peter to back out from liking this girl, it was the first time in a while the wrinkle between his eyebrows had softened.
The next day, Peter decided he'd wait for Susan and Lucy outside their school. Totally not as a means to catch a glance at you...their school was just across the street from Edmund and his.
Very conveniently.
"Why do we have to wait here? We could just wait outside the train station. Isn't it a bit weird to wait outside an all girls school?" Edmund sighed, whining softly.
"Because..." Peter began, trying to think of a good excuse. Somehow, he managed to make a believable one, "Maybe Susan won't get flirted with by the boy she doesn't like."
‘Good lie’, he had to admit to himself.
And Edmund seemed to take it without question as he scoffed, fiddling with his school bag, for once he didn't choose to object.
Girls were leaving the school, but all he was looking for was a glimpse of your hair, your eyes, anything.
Finally, from atop the school's steps you descended. Like yesterday your eyes seemed to magnetize together, even from the distance you kept watch of one another.
You couldn't help but smile again as the handsome blonde stood in front of your school. You didn't want to flatter yourself by believing he was waiting for you, but it seemed that way.
As you slowly approached, he found himself frozen. And as you reached him, you remained frozen in front of him too.
"Hi." You mustered, continuing to smile at him.
"Hi...." Peter felt like he wasn't breathing at all when he heard your voice. It was as lovely as he imagined. "I saw you on the train yesterday…"
His tense sounding voice made you chuckle, you nodded in affirmation, "I saw you too...you were standing with Susan, she's in my class."
Your voice seemed to make an implication about Susan. You had to admit that Susan was very beautiful, and wouldn't be surprised if she'd had a handsome boyfriend from the all boys school across the street.
"And my other brother and sister." Peter quickly corrected you, making sure you understood that Susan was his sister, and nothing more. The idea of the appearance of something more made him want to yack.
"So they are all your siblings?" You said, peeking over his shoulder to the dark headed boy you had also seen with him. Edmund was also curiously peeking between you and Peter as you spoke. He made a small gesture in acknowledgement, but didn't want to come between his brother's flirting.
"They are." He confirmed, chuckling. Tucking his hands in his pants, he wanted to seem collected, totally not nervous at the way you looked up at him.
"Maybe…do you want to walk with us to the train station?" He suggested, licking his lips out of nerves.
You seemed to beam, surprised he was brave enough to ask you to walk together after seeming so nervous to even stand in front of you.
"I would love that- um..." You seemed to pause, realizing you hadn't even introduced each other.
"-Peter." He finished, smiling.
"I would love that, Peter. Thank you." Introducing yourself, you waited for Susan and Lucy, who quickly joined you not long after.
After each sibling had introduced themselves (minus Susan, who you already knew), you began the short walk to the train station.
You could see them all exchanging glances before speeding up, seeming to purposefully give you and Peter some space to talk. And Peter, who stood beside you, seemed to slow down as to have the time to talk with you.
“Where are you from?” Peter couldn't help but be curious about you. Since when were you around, and why did it take him so long to have you in his sight.
“I'm from here, I moved back from the countryside at the start of the school year. The war and all.”
Peter definitely understood that, and he found himself nodding along.
“What about you?”
“From here too…Finchley.”
You nodded too, it seemed you had something in common already. Two teens affected by war.
You glanced at him, and he somehow appeared more mature than anyone you'd seen before. Something seemed to lie beneath the surface of him, you got the feeling he had a heart of gold.
“Your scarf is all messed up, are you not cold?”
Peter had to feel a little taken aback, but at the same time, he found it adorable that it was the first thing you pointed out about him.
“No, I'm not cold…are you cold?”
You giggled at his response, shaking your head. To which he smiled.
“But maybe your scarf would look better when it's fixed up.” You abruptly stopped in front of the train station, and instead turned to fix his scarf. You straightened it out before gently tucking one end over his shoulder.
As you finished, your hands laid at his shoulders, looking him right in the eyes, as if you were truly trying to see his soul. Your eyes reflected the light like waves that crashed slowly into the shores around Cair Paravel’s. The setting sun seemed to be in them, even if you were actually just in front of an average London train station.
Again, Peter felt that wave over him, calm. His heart skipped a beat at the mere presence of you being near him.
“You have beautiful eyes.”
Your compliment struck him, and he could've damn well gone to Aslan's Country right then and there.
“Yeah well, so are yours.”
His compliment also seemed to strike you, as you smiled and shook your head.
“We're going to miss the train, Peter!” Edmund's voice rang from within the train station. This snapped both of you out of your puppy love induced haze, before trying to catch up. Your hands seemed to naturally find themselves tangled together.
At the train station you passed many boys and girls with the same school uniform as you and the Pevensies. For once, Peter actually, genuinely, hoped no one would try and start something with him.
For once, he didn’t feel angry or sad enough to think recklessly.
As you stood by him and the other Pevensie siblings, he felt the tug of your hand…you were getting pulled back.
“Why are you hanging out with him?”
A male voice, strangely familiar, rang out as the train pulled up and as he turned to look at you, he saw a boy in the same uniform as him holding onto your arm. He didn’t look too happy to see Peter at all.
“He’s a friend…he offered me a walk to the train with his siblings. I didn’t think you’d show.” You looked at the boy with a curious look, then glanced at Peter. “Do you know him?”
Peter was utterly confused, and so were the other Pevensies, who were hoping they wouldn’t miss their train for another possible fight Peter could get into. But Peter couldn’t help but feel his heart clenching, his chest felt strange seeing the other boy holding you.
“Who are you?” Peter’s tone was laced with annoyance, mostly because the boy had grabbed you abruptly. He wasn’t even sure if you were familiar with him either.
“This is my sister, Pevensie…and you.” He looked at you, and then right into Peter’s eyes. “He’s the boy that gave me the black eye a few weeks ago, you shouldn’t hang out with the likes of him.”
The words clicked in Peter’s head.
The boy, your brother. He’d had a rage a few weeks prior, and ended up accidentally punching the poor bloke in the eye when he was getting held back from punching another bloke who he’d gotten in an argument with. He hadn’t gotten the chance to apologize.
“Peter…wouldn’t.” You looked at Peter, but the look in your eyes wasn’t the same as before. You had to remind yourself that you didn’t actually know him, not really.
“Would you?”
Peter’s heart fell to the bottom of his stomach.
“No, you don’t understand it was a-”
“-Peter. The train.” Susan was now grabbing his arm. She already knew the situation would not end well at all. And their mother had already told them not to come home late like the other times Peter had gotten into fights. The conductor was already calling for the doors.
“No! It was a misunderstanding!” Peter pushed himself towards you, but your brother held you back.
He didn’t have the time. It seemed he never had time anymore, it always slipped away.
With a sigh, he let himself get pulled into the train by Susan. Lucy and Edmund seemed quite wordless. Susan, like she normally did when Peter got into any altercations, had a concerned face.
“I told you those fights wouldn’t get you anywhere good.” Susan began, sighing as she looked out the window. She saw and your brother speaking as the train began to move.
Peter couldn’t object. It was quite a silent ride back home.
. *. ⋆·˚ ༘ *༄
The next day, Peter was determined to make it right with you, and your brother.
He found himself waiting outside your school with Edmund again. Ed had thankfully agreed to play mediator, seeing as he was known for being the just one. He also wanted his brother to look as happy as he had holding your hand the day before.
You again, appeared before Susan and Lucy did. You seemed more reluctant to spot him than you had previously.
Still, you had the urge to approached him and you followed those instincts.
“Hello Peter.” Your greeting was still polite, and still, his heart softened at the sound of your voice.
“I wanted to apologize. Truly.” He sighed, looking down at his feet. Your eyes seemed too sincere to look into at this moment. “I’ve been very angry lately. I lost a lot of things. I took it out on people and your brother was accidentally someone who was unfairly affected by that. I swear I didn’t mean to hurt him. I’ll try and gain his trust if that’s what it takes, but I’d really like to be your friend.” Peter had to take a deep inhale before finishing. “When I first saw you…it was the first time I didn’t feel angry anymore.”
As he finally looked up at you, your lips were turning up the slightest bit. It was clear that you weren’t one to hold a grudge too easily. Especially when it was such an honest apology.
“I knew you had a heart of gold, Peter Pevensie.”
You smiled up at him for a moment before looking around for a moment- maybe seeing if your brother would come in and stop you from speaking to him again anytime like he had the day before.
“Honestly, I was worried you wouldn’t show up today. But I think you’ve proved to have a lot of courage to show up and apologize. I want to really be your friend too.”
With that, you lightly tugged at his sleeve, forcing his hand out of his pocket and into yours.
“You can further apologize by walking me to the train…we can talk to my brother tomorrow. How’s that?”
Peter found himself smiling a smile unlike any other before.
“I don’t mind waiting a bit to get into your brother’s good graces.” He joked, clutching your hand out of pure joy.
Like perfect timing, Susan and Lucy joined you all- exchanging smiles of relief with Edmund, who had beared witness to the entire exchange and quickly caught them up as they once again walked a good few feet ahead from you and Peter.
You had an animated conversation the entire time, even during the train ride, where you also got a chance to speak to the other Pevensies. It was almost heartbreaking when you had to get off the train, but there was the unspoken promise in Peter’s smile that made you sure you’d get to walk with them again the next day.
