Sansa woke up early the morning of June 14th 2016. She scuttled down the stairs, poured herself a cup of coffee and sat down between Bran and Rickon at the kitchen table.

"How is everyone doing this bright morning?" she inquired while giving Rickon's hair a quick tousle.

"Someone's cheery," Arya noted from across the table, "Especially considering it's about… 3 hours before you usually wake up?". Sansa rolled her eyes, 'so what if it was 9 in the morning? So what if she was in a good mood?' She had a reason to be excited, and that reason's name was Robb Stark.

Today Robb was finally coming home from his first year at Winterfell University. Although he'd been home for Thanksgiving and Christmas Sansa never saw him since she was attending Kings Landing Boarding School and their breaks never lined up. For awhile they entertained the idea of her going up to visit him over Spring break, but he'd been too busy with midterms. So long story short, it was the longest the two had ever been apart from one another.

Sansa and Robb had always been close. They were the two eldest Stark siblings, with matching blue eyes and matching profile pictures from their trip to six flags. They especially got close the summer before Robb left for college. Whether they were bowling, playing mini golf, hiking or simply watching Arrested Development in his bedroom, the brother and sister spent nearly every waking moment together. Their summer ended as expected, with tearful goodbyes and promises to stay in touch. At first they kept their word by writing each other long daily emails like their own intimate diaries just for each other. But as time progressed factors like school and friends got in the way causing their correspondence to fade away into nonexistence. It was difficult. Of course they still yearned for each other's company, but it wasn't the same. There was only so much one could convey in an email. They missed each other's smiles, mannerisms and quirky laughs.

But that was all going to change, Robb would be back in a few hours, and everything would return to how it once was, Sansa had convinced herself of this. It would be like the last nine months had never happened. Poof! Gone. Sansa didn't know when the last time was that she felt so light and giddy. Robb was her person, the only one who understood her and always knew how to make her smile. She knew it was weird to have a crush on your older brother but she also knew she couldn't change the way she felt. How could she not adore him? When he'd left she was an awkward sophomore, five foot seven inches tall, flat as a board with knobby knees and a braces covered smile way too big for her face. Sure she had friends at school, but not the nice kind. They were the kind that made fun of her colorful clothes and glanced over her like she was nothing. And then there was Robb. He was tall, dashing and confident. So for an awkward teenage girl to have the love and attention of someone like that was like walking on water. He was her knight in shining armor, always there to wipe a tear from her eye, make her laugh and, if necessary, beat up Ramsey Bolton when he called her metal mouth.

So the day had finally arrived for Sansa to be reunited with her Prince Charming. She wasn't the same girl she was when he'd left. She'd grown another inch, bought an entirely new wardrobe, gotten her braces off (Thank God!), and developed to the point she was certainly not as flat as a board anymore.

At 1:45 when Sansa heard the front door open her heart lurched like nothing she had ever felt before. She took a deep breath to collect herself, checked her bedroom mirror to make sure every hair was in place and ran down the steps to the front door. Just the sight of him standing alone in the foyer with his hands in his pockets made her shudder. Again she felt it, a jump in heart like she was going into cardiac arrest.

"Robb," his name breathily escaped her lips causing him to turn to her with a wide grin. Before he was able to respond she leaped on him. She captured him fully with her hug, intertwining her arms around his neck and her legs around his back. He gripped her waist instinctively and chuckled,

"Whoa there!"

"I'm so glad you're back," she sighed whilst nuzzling her head into the crook of his neck.

"I am too," he whispered as he stroked the back of her head with a free hand. At the sound of falling footsteps Robb placed her down. She quickly jumped out of his arms as Arya, Bran and Rickon barreled down the stairs. Sansa didn't quite know why her immediate reaction was to stop hugging him before her family could see. There was nothing wrong with hugging your brother after not seeing him for nine months, right? she thought. But still, something about the palpitations she felt in her chest and the electricity that shot through her spine when he ran his fingers through her auburn hair felt so intimate that she didn't think her other siblings wouldn't understand.

Arya, Bran and Rickon were swarming Robb. They grabbed his legs urgently and asked a million questions about college. In their frenzy they didn't realize they were talking so much that Robb couldn't have possibly answered any of their questions if he tried. He looked up at Sansa and gave her a knowing smirk. Jesus, the butterflies that smirk gave her. Sansa observed Robb as he tried to calm down their siblings. He'd only been gone nine months and yet he looked years older. He'd definitely been working out because his once narrow build had filled out tremendously. His once lanky arms were now toned and he'd even grown a small beard. When he'd left he was a cute teenage boy, now he was a man, and God was he gorgeous.

Soon Catelyn rushed in and ushered everyone into the dining room for a lunch of hot dogs and turkey sandwiches. Sansa sat down next to Robb, but between Catelyn interrogating him on the dining halls and Bran pestering him about the astrology course he'd taken, they barely said anything more than "pass the mustard" to each other. Sansa found herself on edge the entire meal. Although they weren't speaking she was still hyper aware of Robb's presence beside her. It was like every nerve in her body was on edge. She could feel herself sweating even though the air conditioning was on. Her cheeks flushed just from Robb reaching across her to grab a napkin. She didn't understand, she'd never responded to anyone like this before in her entire life. She'd always loved Robb the best, but had never felt any physical reaction from his close proximity. Sansa thought back to the times they would vacation in Connecticut and she'd fall asleep in his bed because they'd been up late talking. That hadn't felt weird at all. And now the thought of being in the same room with him, let alone the same bed, made her feel like she was engulfed in flames. She thought maybe if they started talking and joking around like old times that things would go back to normal.

But unfortunately for Sansa the rest of the day followed suit. Catelyn arranged for the family to drive into the city and meet Ned after work for dinner. The car ride was long and boring, Robb sat in the front with Catelyn while Sansa was stuck in the back, and Arya spent the whole ride telling Robb about her new fencing lessons. Sansa noted how patient he was, he listened to Arya's entire monologue and asked questions that he knew she'd have a long winded answer for. When they finally arrived in their city they discovered that Catelyn had made a reservation for them at Robb's favorite Indian restaurant. Sansa was seated across the table from Robb which didn't make a big difference because Ned spent the entire evening talking politics with him anyway. There were a few odd times during the meal when Sansa caught Robb staring in her direction. Each time she met his glance he'd smile nervously and turn back to their parents. She told herself it was nothing. But after dinner the family returned home and Sansa couldn't help but feel cheated that her family had stolen her first day back with Robb from her.

XXXXXXXXXXX

After everyone had gone to bed Sansa tip toed down from her room for a glass of water. As she walked down the hall leading to the kitchen she saw the light was already on. A part of her hoped that just maybe it was Robb, she didn't know why but another part of her hoped to God it wasn't. And just by her luck, there he was, sitting at the kitchen table with his brow furrowed as he tapped his pen against the crossword puzzle he was working on.

She stood in the doorway and admired his concentration for a minute before asking, "Need any help?"

He looked up from his puzzle and smiled nervously just as he had when she caught him at dinner. "Yeah, actually. I'm stuck on this one clue that goes 'Never was there a tale of more woe'" he sighed.

"Hmmmm, sounds familiar. I'll have to think about it," she said. Robb nodded and placed the paper aside.

"So, we kept missing each other today, didn't we?"

"That would seem to be a pattern recently," she said.

He scoffed, "Yeah, definitely. But let's forget that now. How have you been?"

Actually, now that you mention it I've really been freaking out today because every time you look at me, or touch me, or exist near me I feel like I'm on fire. How are you? Sansa thought, but instead she just answered, "Fine. School was good this year, I made some nice friends for once. But of course things were different, I missed having you around." They're eyes met and she felt she should lighten the moment, "You know, it was nice having you beat up people for me."

Robb laughed with surprise, "I didn't know you knew about that!"

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes, "Ramsey came into homeroom with a back eye the day after I told you he'd been picking on me."

Robb chuckled, "Well I guess I wasn't quite as stealthy as I thought I was."

Their conversation continued like that for a long time, reminiscing over old memories and catching up on recent events. After an hour and half the conversation came back to Ramsey.

"What ever did happen to him? Did he give you any more trouble after I left?" Robb asked.

"Nope, he wouldn't even look at me after what you did. But it didn't matter because he got expelled half way through the year and I got my braces off in the Spring."

"I noticed. I kind of miss them". Sansa felt her heart sink. Does he not like the way I looked now? Did the gap in my front teeth reopen?

As if reading her mind Robb quickly added, "Actually your teeth look great. They were just cute is all. I just mean you look… different. It's just, you're not a kid anymore." There was a short pause, "You look more beautiful than ever San," he said.

Then there was a long silence between them. Sansa looked into his eyes, her eyes. There was a thickness in the air that she'd never felt before. She could have sworn she saw his pupils dilate.

Her mouth dropped open and she could hear her heart beating in her ears. She didn't know after how long but she broke eye contact.

"Aha! Romeo and Juliet," she said with a forced smile.

"What?" he asked, like he'd just snapped out of a long thought.

"The clue for the crossword. 'Never was there a tale of more woe than that of Juliet and her Romeo."

He laughed with what sounded like relief returned to the crossword. "Well I guess that finished that," he said and smiled at her. She returned the smile half-heartedly and stood up.

"Jeez it's late. I should get to bed. Goodnight!" She didn't give him the opportunity to respond and ran up to her room. She shut the door urgently and leaned against the frame. She let out a shaky exhale and tried to understand what had just happened. After a few minutes she climbed into bed. She could still see Robb's piercing gaze even when she closed her eyes. She tried to push the image from her mind but couldn't rid herself of the strange flutter resting in her stomach.

Eventually she fell asleep, feeling hot and frustrated and dreaming of blue eyes.