(2) TELL ME TO STAY // Edmund Pevensie

EPILOGUE

CATHERINE CASPIAN WAS KNOWN for being particularly sharp-tongued.

It was something that had gotten her into trouble quite often; among the Pevensies, among her boyfriend, Edmund, and among several members of the Cambridge Authority, who had gotten to know her quite well during her stay with Edmund and Lucy Pevensie and their cousin, Eustace Scrubb.

She had a witty comeback for when the teacher at her school noticed she was sitting at the back of the classroom - a new student she didn't recognize - and used the same one when Eustace's parents, Edmund and Lucy's Aunt and Uncle, asked why she was staying in their house.

When the doorbell rung, Susan and Peter came to stay, only to find that someone they very much did not expect to see was sitting in their living room, Catherine was finally asked the same question once more. She responded with the same answer.

'What? Am I not supposed to be here?'

When Edmund grinned rakishly, proud with his hands on his hips and presenting Catherine to his brother and sister with a triumphant look, that was when they burst out laughing and the hugs were exchanged as easily as coins.

On her first week, Catherine was forced to choose a surname, something to dissociate her life back in Narnia and confirm her newest relationship with England. After a few days deliberation, she walked into the kitchen of the Scrubb's small home and announced that she wanted her name to be Caspian, a subtle reminder that although she was no longer in Narnia, it did not mean that Narnia was no longer in her. The Pevensies thought it was brilliant and another round of hugs were spilled.

On her third week, Catherine was introduced to the English life of schools, which she was more than excited about. She aced through mathematics and physics and quickly became a teachers wet-dream when she recited all of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet with a perfect pronounciation. She was adored throughout Cambridge, ironically labelled as a Princess, which she took with a sly wink to Lucy and a graceful nod of the head. Edmund was proud, to say the least, and gained some attention from the older kids for being Catherine Caspian's best friend.

But best friend's didn't exchange stolen kisses or look at each other like Edmund and Catherine did, everybody knew that already.

So, because of this aforementioned fact and the well-known logic that Edmund finally sufficed to, on the 16th of March, the same day Catherine turned eighteen, Edmund presented her a small promise ring and proposed a label to their relationship. Of course, Catherine immediately obliged and sealed their relationship with a kiss filled with longing because of course she would be his girlfriend. She was honoured to be Edmund Pevensie's girlfriend.

When she wasn't with the Pevensie siblings or sharing affectionate kisses with Edmund, Catherine was mostly found by the small river reading a book she had taken from the library, a signature silver torch always by her side. Edmund had kept his promise to buy her one as soon as she got to England, and lived through his promise when he presented her with her very own – something she got very, very excited about and lunged into his arms with a pleased and surprising squeal. She had taken to working in a care home, spending hours upon hours listening to stories and laughing at jokes that nobody else found funny. When she got home, she would attempt to make dinner and help Eustace with his homework, although the blonde boy never got very far when he became more and more aware of their close proximity, her scent distracting him as she talked about mathematic equations he didn't understand.

She had even managed to win over the Scrubbs, the Pevensie's unlikely Aunt and Uncle, after Catherine created a beautiful food banquet suit to fit fifty Kings for Alberta's birthday. Edmund was certain that the woman had almost felt her lips fall into a smile. It was a rare occurrence, but Edmund presumed that Catherine's charm was far too irresistible. He had experienced it first hand, of course.