When Peter came around, he was blinded by bright light. "Peter!" a comfortingly farmiliar voice exclaimed.

He opened his eyes to find himself in what looked like a hospital room. He reached up to the back of his head and felt a thick bandaged was wrapped around his head. Jane was standing near the foot of his bed looking at him with concern, making her brown eyes seem very doeish. "What happened?" he asked groggily.

"You were attacked. Some man hit you on the back of your head and stole your wallet," Jane said as she moved to the seat next to his bed. "You're actually very lucky. A little boy saw it happen and ran and told the police."

He rubbed his head. "I don't feel very lucky. Wait, how did you know?"

"The little boy lives in my building. He's seen you with me, so after he called the police, he ran and got me," she said.

"I'm glad you're here," he said.

She gave him a small smile. "Peter, you're the only person I have. Of course, I'm going to be here."

He reached out and gave her hand a squeeze. "I'm glad that it's me."

She wrinkled her eyebrows. "What?" she asked.

"I'm glad that if you can only have only person that it's me," he answered.

Before she could reply, the door swung open, and much to his dismay, his mother burst into the room. "Oh Peter, the university called me and said that you were in the hospital!" she said. She froze when she saw the scene before her.

Peter turned to Jane. "I called the university and told them what happened," she admitted. "Well, I'll let you two be alone."

Jane stood and moved to get her coat, but Peter gripped her hand tightly. "No, stay, your presence is soothing."

"What? We fight all the time," she pointed out.

He smirked and since he felt like having a concussion and being robbed gave him a get out of jail free card, he said, "I do it on purpose."

"What?" she demanded.

"I like to see you get flustered," he admitted.

She put her hands on her hips. "Peter!"

"See, you're flustered now," he said, obviously pleased with himself.

She frowned. "I'm going to go get a cup of tea," she said. "I'll be back unflustered."

"Unflustered? Is that a word?"

"I don't care!" she yelled back before disappearing out the door.

He smirked. "Um-huh." He turned to his mother who looked rather confused. "Who's she?"

"Jane White. She's in my history class," Peter said.

His mother raised an eyebrow. "She looks like a bit more than just someone from class."

Peter didn't know how to respond mostly because he didn't know what Jane and him where. He had had both friends that were girls and girlfriends before and Jane didn't seem to fall in either category. "We do our homework together," he finally said.

His mother still didn't look convinced. "You're not courting her?"

"I don't know if she would let me," he said honestly. "She's a mathematician, and almost all she ever thinks about is school. I don't know if she would even consider courting anyone."

His mother sat down. "Do you want to be with someone who would put her career ahead of you?"

"She doesn't know any better. Her parents died when she was young. She has no family. She grew up in an orphanage, so all she's had for years was her academics. If she hadn't had focused on that, she would have had nothing. So you see her as ambitious, but I see her as passionate," Peter said defensively.

His mother smiled. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."

"I know, mum." Jane reappeared in the doorway holding a mug of steaming hot tea. "Mum, this is Jane White, Jane, this is my mother."

Jane hesitantly stepped closer and held out her hand. However, his mother completely ignored the hand and threw her arms around the young woman. Peter had to stifle a laugh at Jane's terrified face as his mother embraced her. "It's nice to meet you Jane," his mother said before releasing Jane who was still visibly stiff.

"Um- it's nice to meet you too," Jane said slowly.

"So, tell me about yourself," his mother said as she said back down.

Jane sat down on the other side of Peter's bed. "Not much to tell, really. I'm a math major. I think that I want to go into actuarial work," she said matter of factly.

His mother glanced at Peter. "Jane's also a history buff. In class, she always seems to know more than the professor."

"Yeah," Jane said. "I love medieval history. Your crusades were fascinating and the 100 year war and-"

"Your?" his mother asked questioningly.

"Uh- I mean, western Europeans were mostly the ones involved. My family didn't immigrate until much much later, so they're not my crusades because my ancestors didn't partake in them," she said slowly.

"Oh," Mrs. Pevensie said with a look that showed that she was still trying to decipher exactly what Jane had said. "Where did your ancestors come from?"

Jane didn't look thrilled with that question either. "Oh, here and there. So, Peter tells me that you have three other children. That must have been quite the adventure."

Mrs. Pevensie smiled. Like most mothers, one of her favorite activities was talked about her children. "Oh, it was. It's hard to believe that Lucy is the only one still at home, and I wouldn't be surprised if Susan got married soon." She added a pointed glance towards Peter who turned pink.

"She has a boyfriend?" Jane asked.

"Nothing serious yet, but I can tell that she's ready to settle down," Mrs. Pevensie said. "What about you?"

"Am I ready to settle down?" Jane asked in shock. His mother nodded, and he wanted to hid in embarrassment. She thought for a long hard moment. "I don't know. I would be nice to have a home- to have a family."

"Then why don't you know?" his mother inquired.

"I guess that I'm afraid of being held back. I've spent the last seven years on my own without having to think of anyone else's hopes and dreams. Besides, I'm the weird mathematician girl. People see me as cold and calculating. I'm ambitious, and for a woman, that's a major flaw, so I'm not the girl that men take home to their mothers. I'm not the girl that men want to have children with. I'm the girl that they try to mooch off of to get higher in their careers. I'm not saying that they succeed."

Mrs. Pevensie looked taken back. "That's very pessimistic."

"It's honest, and being honest with myself is the only way to survive. There's no point spending my life hoping for something that with probably never happen." Jane didn't look sad or upset when she said this statement. No, she had a hard look on her face. A look that said that she had seen things and experienced things that no one her age should have, and worse of all, she had been through it all completely alone. Peter understood that this hardness was the only way she survived. "I better get back. I have to open up the coffee shop bright and early tomorrow." She turned to Peter. "I'll see you. If you're not back by the time school starts back up, I'll bring your books to you so you don't fall behind."

"I'm fine. I'll be back," Peter promised. She gave him a small smile before she left.

Once she was gone, his mother turned to him. "She doesn't know how you feel about her?" she demanded.

"I don't know how I feel about her!" Peter exclaimed.

"You're in love with her! I've never seen you like this. I've never seen you look at a woman that way. You're my son. I know you, and you're in love," his mother said. "And you need to tell her because she thinks that she's going to spend the rest of her life alone. A girl shouldn't feel like that when a man's in love with her."

"What if she doesn't feel the same way about me?" Peter asked his mother. "I'll loose my best friend."

"What's the alternative? Being close but never being with the woman that you're in love with?" his mother asked.

Peter sighed. "I suppose, you're right." He knew what he had to do, but the idea of doing it was more terrifying than facing the white which alone.