A/N: I wrote this for the lulz in between working on updates for my other stories.
Robb's face was surly as he sat in his new apartment in New York. His blue eyes gazed at his laptop screen as he went through the motions of deleting pictures of his ex girlfriend, Jeyne off all his social media. He had finally broken up with her once and for all after she had been dishonest to him for past six months. Robb clenched his fingers and took a deep sigh. I don't want to think about it anymore. In an half an hour, he was going to head out to the bookstore to buy his textbooks that he couldn't find cheaper off Amazon and maybe grab some lunch with Patrek and Owen. It was a couple of days before the fall term started. He still hadn't unpacked everything. It felt strange to be living alone and not having Theon as his roommate. Theon had gone back to his hometown in Newfoundland after his dad was found dead after a fall from his balconey.
Are you sure you would like to delete?
Yes.
Once Robb was done, he grabbed his Iphone, his keys, and wallet. Grabbed his grey Roots hoodie off one of the coat hooks by the door as he slipped on his black Vans before heading out the door. Robb was about to start his third year at university studying history and business. It was his first year since he was sixteen that he was not in a relationship. Robb was not a Don Juan (how Mom termed it); he had only ever had two girlfriends.
First, with Roslin Frey, a shy girl he had met whilst visiting his mom's family in Chicago during the summer back in high school. His mom's family all lived in the Great Lakes Region, on the American side. His dad's family was Canadian. The first Tully from Ireland originally arrived in New York then eventually the Tullys made their home in Chicago, Illinois. Their relationship had been pretty good for about a year and seven months and 2 days. He had considered it a success for a long distance relationship and their age. He used to take the Greyhound bus from Canada to her place, which was the Twins (the same name as the Frey family owned bridge) on the few weekends he didn't have a game or tests to study for.
Like how some relationships end, Robb and Roslin had grown apart. Robb was set on getting into the top universities in North America and was busy with schoolwork and leading his teams. Roslin just wanted to get out of her dad's house and become a housewife, which was fine. Some men and women aren't interested in post-secondary education. They never had sex though they had discussed it before the mutual decision to split happened over MSN. Mom had worried by how Robb upset she thought he would be over the breakup and if it would complicate things for the Tully family business and Grandpa Tully's position as the Senator of Illinois. Mr. Walder Frey had not been pleased because he had mistakenly got the impression that Robb and Roslin were going to get married after they graduated from high school. Robb wasn't ready for marriage or kids right away. He was also okay being the only virgin amongst his friends.
Mom and Dad had drilled it into him and his siblings (minus Bran and Rickon) that it was important to wait for the right person and to use protection. Mom never said it aloud or even implied it especially in front of Dad who was extremely protective and defensive over Aunt Lya. But what happened to Aunt Lya, when she was sixteen hung around the air during those awkward talks. Robb sometimes wondered if Mom wanted Arya to be more like Sansa and her because she feared Arya would run off after some guy like Aunt Lya did. Robb thought it was Sansa that Mom and Dad needed to worry more about, when it came to guys. She's a bit naïve, particularly with her crush on Dad's childhood best friend's son, Joffrey.
If it hadn't been so public, Robb and his siblings would have never had known something bad had happened to Aunt Lya. Mom did not even know the full details. After recovering in therapy, Aunt Lyanna had graduated from Queen's University with distinction. She had gotten married, when she was twenty-three and now had three kids. It was known not to ask or speak about Aunt Lyanna's captivity in the mysterious secret cult led by Rhaegar Targaryen, a popular folk-rock musician in the late 80's. All they knew was that Dad and his friends had found her trapped in isolation in middle of the desert in Mexico. A lot of weird shit happened in the year Robb was born. Some teenaged tourist had assassinated Rhaegar's dad who was the then current President also that same year. President Targaryen had been set to be impeached and the conspiracy theorists still suspected he wanted to burn down the White House and all of Washington D.C. in retaliation. The First Lady had left the country with their young son to live in Morocco, once the news of the abduction of the Prime Minister of Canada's only daughter hit every radio and television news station.
Following her graduating from Queen's, Aunt Lya had been a photographer for National Geographic, which was how she met her husband, Jorah Mormont. He had been her guide and bodyguard, whilst she was traveling through Africa and Asia. When they had met, Jorah had been recently divorced from his wife Lynesse Hightower, a former Miss South Carolina. His ex-wife had left him for a wealthy guy she had met in Dubai less than a year after they relocated. There were also wild rumours that Jorah Mormont had been an assassin for years like the ones in the Bourne films Theon, Arya, and Robb liked to watch and had been deported from Canada for illegal activity.
"He has definitely killed people and has been in some badass fights." Theon had whispered, when he first met Robb's aunt and uncle during a Stark family reunion. Jorah looked like an average manly lumberjack in his dark green and black plaid shirt. He looked like a grumpy grizzly bear with his gruff voice and his beard. Robb remembered Mormont's odd protective stance in response to Aunt Lyanna's strange stiff demeanour, when she looked at Mom's pregnant stomach (who had been pregnant with Bran at the time).
Everything had gone great in Robb's high school senior year, his teams making provincials, his grad photos turned out good unlike Mikken from shop class. This all was overshadowed, when he found out Roslin had hooked up with his Uncle Edmure three weeks before prom. Thankfully, he hadn't asked her to be his prom date even just as friends. He went with a grade eleven girl named Alys Karstark in his business class. Robb vividly remembered Sansa telling their neighbor Mr. Poole's daughter Jeyne over the phone that they got caught in her bedroom during Uncle Edmure's business trip to go over the toll fees and "discuss" selling the land Roslin's dad's bridge was built on.
"It's legal, Jeyne. Her birthday is in February. So, she's eighteen, but still super gross."
Mom had previously approved of Roslin despite disliking her family. Mom had been more disappointed by their breakup than he was. His mom had been disgusted and furious, when she found about her brother and Roslin. It got more awkward, when they married less than two months later with the sole reasons that the Tullys were Catholics and Roslin was pregnant. Mom had attended their riverboat wedding along with his younger siblings out of duty and family. Dad got to stay back home because of work. Robb was at some random gas station in Wisconsin. Fuelling up and buying food, his parents would never allow inside the house, whilst his ex girlfriend became his aunt.
Robb's best friend Theon decided that he and Robb along with all their buddies on their OHL hockey team, competitive water polo, and lacrosse team should go on an epic road trip across the northern and western states of the United States. The Stark family and Theon travelled a lot to the northeastern and Midwestern states for vacation and to visit family friends. Robb had enjoyed their road trip until he got homesick and started missing his family. He missed helping his mom make home-cooked meals and pottering about in the wood shop with his dad. Climbing trees with Bran and Rickon. Their camping trips at Algonquin Park and going up to the cottage.
Their summer family trips to Toronto to go shopping and to do the usual touristy stuff. They would stay at the harbor-front hotel owned by the Manderlys who were family friends of Starks. An ancestor of the Starks had helped the Manderlys settle in Canada after they fled their original home on the Mississippi River. They hosted the best Canada Day parties and had the best float in the Canada Day Parade. To show gratitude, the Manderlys were loyal supporters of the Starks in politics and were easily one of the Starks' most intense campaigners and sponsors.
However, the road trip was how he met Jeyne Westerling. His second girlfriend. They had met in her small town in northern California. Him and the guys driving their bus got into a car accident outside Jeyne's seaside home. Robb had been the only one got an injury worse than some bruises and small minor cuts. Jeyne came out of her house freaking out with her cellphone in her ear crying to the 9-1-1 dispatcher. She let them stay in her home despite the sour looks on her parents' faces. His first impression of Jeyne was that she was kind and liked to dress in flowy white Boho tops and skirts. He would later learn that Jeyne's dad worked for Mr. Lannister who owned gold mines all over the world everyone said and lived in a mega mansion called Casterly Rock on the Golden Coast. Thinking back, if Robb hadn't insisted that they drive in that route. The accident wouldn't have happened and they wouldn't have crashed the Westerlings' home for so long.
The guys along with Jeyne's older brother Raynald were drinking beers and doing shots of tequila in the backyard. Robb cracked open a can of Bud.
"Not a good idea, bro," warned Theon who just took swig of his beer. He made a face. "This stuff is weak over here." Robb's shoulder still twinge with pain, but he smiled at his friend. Theon's Newfie accent got thicker, when he had a couple of drinks. It was going to suck if Theon couldn't get a job in New York before Robb left for New York in the fall.
"I'll be fine, man," Robb said before taking a sip of the cold beer. He joined the others watching Smalljon get challenged by Edd Karstark to beer pong.
"Hey, how's the arm?" Robb turned his head in the direction of Jeyne's voice. She strode over from where she and her friends were sitting. Robb was taken by how pretty she was. She was wearing one of the trendy skirts that were form fitting and a loose white tank. 'Bodycon', Sansa with her nose in this month's issue of Teen Vogue or Seventeen Magazine would inform him. But Sansa was likely still shopping the Magnificent Mile with Mom or back at home in Canada sipping lemony mocktails with her BFF Jeyne Poole in the hot tub.
"It's-fine. Much better, thanks," he answered flushing. He lacked Theon's finesse of talking to girls, but Robb could talk to girls.
"You are always saying thanks every five seconds," she laughed. Jeyne had really curly chestnut brown hair and brown eyes. Her skin was slightly tan from the California sun.
"A Canadian thing, I guess," he shrugged. Inwardly, he cringed. Robb found some of the Canadian stereotypes to be annoying. "This is your parents' home and your brother's party."
"You guys still leaving tomorrow afternoon?" she asked looking at the ground.
"Yeah, Theon is really keen on going to Venice Beach."
"Isn't he a bit old to be hanging out with you guys?" Jeyne glanced at Theon laughing with Flint.
"Four years is no big deal. Theon has lived with my family for years. He's a brother to me. Plus he's the one who buys the booze for us."
"I didn't mean to offend you or your friend. Just you both seem to be quite different from each other." Robb frowned. Theon and he had pretty much the same interests in everything. Hockey team, sweets, movies and tv shows. They both wanted to have families and their kids to be best friends like them. The important friend stuff. Robb liked wearing plaid or anything blue or grey. Theon wore button ups with dinosaurs or cats that he would find in thrift stores or online and pair them with a pair of chinos. Or dress like he was a modern day Captain Hook from Once Upon A Time, which Robb had a feeling Theon did so because he knew he would catch Sansa's attention who was obsessed with the show.
"Yeah, I guess," he shrugged. Robb looked over at the sunset overlooking the ocean."Must be pretty cool growing up by the ocean." Jeyne nodded as she daintily sipped from her red party cup.
"My room has as a sick view of the ocean." She looked at him shyly.
Robb lost his virginity that night. He thought he would never be a guy who had a one-night stand. Robb felt ashamed and that he somehow let down his parents. He didn't have a condom on him that night; therefore the possibility of him getting a girl who had been nothing but kind and hospitable, pregnant racked him with guilt. Robb wasn't one of those dicks. He freaked out and asked Jeyne to be his girlfriend in the morning despite not really knowing her that well.
Theon had shook his head and told Robb that he was dumb. Jeyne had tagged along on the rest of their road trip. Theon stopped at Walgreens and came back to throw a box of condoms at them, laughing at their reddened faces. Robb learnt that she was a nice girl who was interested in surfing, yoga, and mediation. Jeyne said she was Wiccan like her grandmother. Robb found her religious beliefs interesting and asked questions about it as they drove from Venice Beach to Las Vegas, Nevada. On his dad's side of the family held similar naturalist native/pagan beliefs and prayed outside amongst large white trees with red leaves. Mom was a staunch parishioner at the local Catholic Church and was often accompanied by Sansa and sometimes Bran.
"When are we going to ditch your seashell beach bum friend?" complained Karstark loudly, as they stopped at some diner for brunch. "She's pretty, don't get me wrong. But I thought this was guys only road trip. I would have invited Dacey and my sister Alys, if I knew our captain was going to break the no ladies rule."
"We got enough money to buy her a one way bus ticket back to her home." This suggestion caused muttering.
"No, no, no. We can save our money and just call her brother to pick her up and bring her home," Theon argued as he added some cream to his coffee. Theon looked tired from driving. He and Smalljon had done the bulk of the driving, since the accident and the arrival of Jeyne. "You are fucking driving the rest of the way back home, Stark." They had learned the hard way that not all the guys were good drivers.
"I can't just ditch her on the curb. It will feel like I used her."
"Jeyne will get over it. She's been using my toothpaste. You know how I feel about my dental hygiene products."
"I'm no Sheldon Cooper but I like my seat. I need more legroom, Stark. I'm not the size of Flint," grumbled Smalljon.
"Nor I am as wide as you, Umber," scoffed Flint giving a pointed look at tall stack of pancakes topped with blueberry compote and the sides of bacon and eggs in front of Umber. "Are you sure you aren't the love child of Hagrid? Cause, you sure are going to look like him." Robb cracked a smile. Umber was the biggest Harry Potter fan out of all of them and he was the tallest of them at 6'5''.
"Says Gimli, son of Gloin," snapped Smalljon.
"Just because my family in Alberta runs walking tours of the mountains and happen to not have giantism."
"They call themselves the clan of Flints, that live under the mountain on their blog. I can pull it up on my Iphone, here-" Theon interjected Umber,
"You can't bring her home with you. She's not a shot glass or a postcard. Well to be honest, Jeynie here is more like one those tacky cheap magnets. She's magnetized to you. I'll get you some good liquor and chocolates at the duty free shop at the border. Not as good as sex to some but you are starting university soon. You'll have a bevy of ladies to tumble with after one Budweiser in New York." Theon laughed. Robb blushed bright red.
"Greyjoy has a point." The guys all made noises of agreement.
"She needs some surfer with dreads not our undefeated captain, the Young Wolf." Some of the guys made howling noises, causing other diners to stare at them.
"Want me to break up with her for you, captain?" asked Karstark. Robb shook his head. He wasn't a chicken. "Okay, if you are sure. Oh, here comes the sea witch." Robb gave Edd a dirty look for calling Jeyne less than complimentary names. "What? Manderly is the pretty little mermaid here."
"That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me, Edd. I fucking love you, man."
"I didn't hear you guys stop and leave the bus. Sorry if I didn't wake up, sweetie. Oh you guys already got your orders, maybe I can get something to go." She bent down to kiss him. Theon smirked.
"You can have the rest of mine," offered Robb gallantly. He moved his plate over to her.
"Thanks, babe." The waitress came by and Jeyne ordered a cup of green tea. "I'm so excited to go to Vegas. I've never been before. My dad sometimes goes for work because his boss's youngest son likes to have the board meetings there. And Daddy said he's a perpetual bachelor who's got a thing for one of the showgirls." Robb smiled weakly. Across from him, Theon gave him a pointed look to move things along.
Robb cleared his throat before he spoke, "It's more for Theon, since he's of age to go into the casinos."
"But there's shopping, the Hoover Dam, Cathedral Gorge State Park, umm there's something else I saw on the map but it's back in the bus."
"We are just dropping off Theon in Vegas actually. Theon is taking a flight back to Toronto," corrected Karstark.
"Tut, tut, here I thought we were going to go all out like The Hangover. Minus the fact that no one is engaged," Theon smiled with a dramatic sigh, but his eyes glared at Jeyne.
"Oh," Jeyne was taken aback but the news and she touched Robb's arm. "I thought you weren't heading back to Canada until the end of the month?"
"Family. I need to spend some time with my parents and my siblings before school starts. We can still facebook chat and stuff." Someone made a disparaging cough.
"Oh, yeah I suppose we could," Jeyne mumbled as she looked down at the plate. Robb felt bad, when she tried to hide a tear. "I thought I had more time before we had to say goodbye." Jeyne called her brother to pick her up. As they waited for Ray, they made out in the bus, whilst the guys chilled and smoked in a park.
"Maybe I can come visit you in Canada soon? Would your folks be cool with that?" Robb unthinkingly said yes and Jeyne beamed in response.
Robb returned to his happy place, home at Winterfell. The Stark family home was made of gray stone and a dark slate roof. Huge property for the five Canadian Eskimo dogs that the kids were responsible for. It was bigger than the house they used to live in Michigan. The house in Northern Michigan used to be their main residence, before Dad got entangled in a scandal. Which eventually led to Dad losing his visa to work and reside in the United States permanently. This all happened when Robb was fourteen. Mom had decided to have the whole family live permanently in Ontario to lessen the strain on the family. All the kids preferred to live at the Winterfell estate anyway. Little Rickon didn't remember the other house like the others did.
"You cut your hair," lamented Mom, after she greeted him with a hug and a kiss on the cheek.
"My hockey hair was starting to get ridiculous, Mom."
"It was ridiculous the whole time you had it. How was the road trip?" Sansa was dressed in summer dress with sparrow print over it.
"It was good. Says the one who's obsessed with guys with man buns."
"But Jon Arryn Jr. is so attractive. He was in the news on the other day because of his activist girlfriend. Poor Jon, he hates being in the press. He's very reclusive, except when he's promoting his family's charities," rambled Sansa breathlessly.
Jeyne came down the hallway, "She's a redhead like you. But your hair is totally prettier. I am not just saying that because you are my BFF. You have a major chance."
"But it's all over the tabloids that he's going to a university in Berlin. How is he going to know I exist if he's in Berlin?!" Was Sansa serious?
"Shut up, Sansa," shouted Arya as she came down the stairs. "Hey Robb." They hugged.
"I thought you were obsessing over Joffery Baratheon."
"That was so three years ago. He's a prick," Jeyne Poole explained as Sansa nodded vigorously. Arya rolled her eyes though she exchanged a look of relief with Robb.
"I've met Jon Arryn Jr. and you haven't," teased Arya. Sansa made a sour look of envy.
"Where's Theon?" asked Mom warily and worriedly. Robb noticed Sansa fix her hair and take a "casual" glance at the mirror at the mention of Theon.
"He's flying back tomorrow." Sansa and Jeyne seemed a bit disappointed. Sansa gave him a hug before heading back to the kitchen with Jeyne.
"We made green smoothies, want one?" offered Sansa.
"Sure, thanks."
"Okay, good. I'm glad Theon was with you, when you got in the accident. Are you better now? Your dad and I were very worried, when Theon called us. I don't think I want to ask how much junk food you have eaten. Oh, I've missed you."
"I'm fine. I've missed you too, Mom." Robb gave Mom another big hug. They walked to the kitchen leaving Robb's luggage at the door. "How's horse camp going?" He ruffled Arya's unruly brown hair.
"Good. Barbrey is having me help her with the pony rides for the little kids that like Rickon's age." Robb sat on the stool at the breakfast bar.
"Where are Bran and Rickon?"
"At Wonderland with your dad. You remember Howland Reed? His kids drove up from Louisiana to visit. I stayed back to make sure the girls didn't kill each other." Robb nodded remembering Dad exchanged emails over the years with his old friend Howland who lived a swamp.
"We took them to Niagara Falls last week," Sansa said as she poured the smoothie into three tall glasses.
"Oh cool."
"Did you put chia seeds?" asked Mom.
"She did, Mrs. Stark," answered Jeyne.
"Mom, I ate fairly healthy," Robb moaned defensively as Sansa handed him his glass.
"I follow Manderly and Umber's foodie Instagram and it doesn't look like it." The three girls giggled.
"Since when do you have Instagram and why are you following my friends on instagram?! What Manderly or Umber ate during the road trip is not representative of what I ate."
"It wouldn't hurt to detox a little, Robb," suggested Mom.
"Who cares what Robb ate? I wanna know who the girl was in the picture you posted a week ago." Robb blushed and stared at the gray granite countertops. Shit. Why did his kid sister have to have social media?
"Oooo," gushed Jeyne Poole. He saw Sansa pick up her phone from the counter.
"I don't remember seeing this on my feed," gasped Sansa. "She's pretty. Look, Mom." Mom put on her blue glasses and peered at Sansa's phone screen.
"You were too busy staring at Theon's shirtless pictures and creeping Jon Arryn Jr.'s twitter." Robb frowned at his sister. Sansa turned pink as Robb. Mom smiled amusedly.
"I did not. Don't be such a liar, Arya."
"If only he posted shirtless photos on his twitter," sighed Jeyne dreamily.
Arya snorted, "You guys only like Snow because he is rich and has a man bun."
"Snow is a weird nickname though," said Jeyne thoughtfully.
"He told me he got it from his friends at his first year in high school," explained Arya. "He was only kid from a northern state and was used to snow."
"Oh my gosh, he's transferred from McGill to the same university Robb is going to. You have to let me visit you, Robb!"
"Says who?" questioned Arya with disbelief at their sister. "Didn't you just say he was in Berlin?"
"Says Varys," retorted Sansa. "He finds out everything."
"He's a bit invasive," Mom said with disapproval. To Robb, Varys was no more invasive than any other gossip driven media. But gossip blogger and former Presidential aide Varys definitely had it out for the current First Lady, Cersei Lannister-Baratheon. Robb had seen a meme Varys reposted from one of his followers, that likening the First Lady as a dumber and more evil Clare Underwood from House of Cards.
"Oh my god, she says you are her boyfriend with a shit ton of emojis!" screamed Sansa in shock.
"Language, Sansa," reprimanded Mom but she looked over Sansa's shoulder to see Jeyne's comment on the picture.
"You're kidding right?" Arya looked at him like he had grown two heads. "This girl has to mean Theon is her boyfriend cause you wouldn't—Please tell me you didn't married in Vegas." Mom's blue eyes bulged.
"I'm not married!" protested Robb. "Jeyne's super nice and she's fun to be around. I like her. I repeat I am not married."
"Poor Mom, your OTP isn't going to happen," remarked Sansa. Robb looked at Mom who was trying to look nonchalant. "Mom had a diplomatic meeting in D.C. with the President's younger brothers. Secretaries of Defence and State. Well anyway, Renly's boyfriend was there with his sister who is your age and happens to be going to the same university. She ships you and Margaery Tyrell, Governor Mace Tyrell's little Rose of Georgia. She's super popular and very pretty. I follow her instagram, twitter, and tumblr. We have become tumblr & twitter friends. We have our own friendship hashtag now."
"She seems to be a bit of a tried hard southern sorority sister type," shrugged Arya. "But I could be completely wrong."
"Margaery is very clever and sweet. I think Grey Wind would like her too," said Mom with hopeful eyes.
"Oh snap. You know Mrs. Stark is serious, when she brings up the dogs," laughed Jeyne Poole. Sansa shoved her phone in his face. He finally took the phone from her and flicked through the photos after Sansa glared at him. A Throwback Thursday photo of Margaery dressed up as Scarlett O' Hara for Halloween last year, a couple of pictures with her Olympian gold medalist swimmer-turned-model brother Loras. Selfies of her in floral dresses in what looked like her rose garden with her Nonna Olenna. He clicked on the snaps from a black tie charity event for the Atlanta Children's Hospital with her older brother who Robb remembered was a former jockey. He looked at the photo for a bit. She had wore a plunging deep v blue evening dress, and her long hair was loose and curly.
She's kinda hot.
Margaery seemed like a smart and genuinely caring person given how many charities for children, animal rights, and women's rights she supported. Robb scrolled down for more pictures. Pictures of her in hard, uncomfortable looking yoga poses, group shots with her friends and cousins, the fresh fruit and vegetables she bought at local stands with her mom, and her standing as the maid of honor at her brother's wedding. Robb thought maybe his mother was perhaps right in thinking Margaery was his type. She was stunning in her pictures wearing her eyeglasses, whilst beaming up at the monuments in the Piazza del Duomo in Florence. Robb was about to admit he wouldn't mind if Mom set them up on a date, until he saw photos of her in Los Angeles with Joffery Baratheon looking every inch a spoiled and conceited prick that he was. Robb's opinion of Margaery changed. Never mind.
"She dated Joffery?" said Robb with disgust.
"It was totally forced by her dad, I think. You can tell she's more interested in his older brother Gendry. You know, the one who got drafted in the NFL." Robb had heard of Gendry. Sure, Gendry was better but the Baratheons and Lannisters were the reason why Dad had been barred from residing in the United States and almost lost his political standing on either side of the border. So much for Robert being Dad's friend. Anyone who sucked up to the Baratheon/Lannisters had to be a shitty person, in Robb's opinion. Is she going to date the middle school aged Tommen next?
"Jeyne's more real than her," decided Robb handing back his sister's phone back. Robb was avoiding anyone mixed up with the Lannisters. He had forgotten that Jeyne's dad was an employee of the Lannisters. "She sounds like she just uses guys to get more popular." He didn't really mean his words but they came out anyway.
"At least she gets to know them for more than a month long road trip before calling them her boyfriend." Arya was suddenly fascinated with the ceiling. Jeyne's eyes flickered between the two auburn haired siblings. Robb met Sansa's glare with one of his own.
"You won't be so quick to defend her if she seen kissing Jon Arryn Jr," shot back Robb. "You haven't even met her in real life."
Mom's voice cut their argument short, "Enough, you two! Robb, go outside and see Grey Wind."
He saw Margaery around campus a lot in their first two years of university. Her smiling face was plastered on campaign posters for the position of president of the university student union or whatever student election was going on. Robb saw her at the libraries and the main student center. They politely waved and greeted each other if they passed one another. They had been in a lift to the quiet floor of the library, where they exchanged names and majors. Margaery was majoring in political science and history with a minor in communications. They would share a lot of the same history classes.
Margaery sat with a fat kid named Sam who was also from Georgia. Back in first year, Robb overheard him say-more like stammer to some other students in their class that his dad was in the military. It was unsurprising that Sam got the highest marks in the Western military history course with Dr. Bronn. After sitting by himself for a month and a half in Dr. Mordane's Women in Renaissance Europe, the broody, silent Jon Arryn Jr. became a part of Margaery and Sam's little group. Most of Robb's friends were in his business classes or had met them at social gatherings. Robb sat with two guys both named Edric in his history classes. One had ears that reminded him of Dobby the House Elf only after Edric told him that he worked during the summer at Harry Potter World. Bran would be envious. The other Edric had white blonde hair and dressed like he came out of a Kinfolk or Mr. Porter magazine.
"I'm surprised you aren't sitting with Hermione and Harry," quipped dark haired Edric. Robb looked at Edric, confused.
"What?" Edric pointed at Margaery and Jon, two rows in front of them. Robb glanced over at Margaery animatedly talking about today's reading to Jon and an older student named Edd who always looked dolorous.
"You have red hair. You would be their Ron Weasely. I guess Tarly is Ron for them."
"More like Neville Longbottom." Sam was painfully shy and visibly withered, when they had to do presentations in class. But he was incredibly knowledgeable on various topics, sometimes more than some of their professors and pretty much all the grad students. Robb stared at Margaery again. Robb wondered for Sansa's benefit of course, if she and Jon Arryn Jr. were an item or if she was still with Gendry Baratheon.
"I wonder who our Hermione is going to end up with Harry Potter or Viktor Krum?" wondered Edric Dayne. He pointed at his screen to a picture of Margaery with Gendry at one of his games. Robb's stomach twisted and he looked away, his mood growing a bit vexed.
"Who cares?" he snapped as he pulled up his highlighted and annotated document in an attempt to not look over at Margaery Tyrell anymore. A Facebook chat popped up from Jeyne. Robb felt guilty all of the sudden. He took a sip of his Starbucks. Not quite the same as a Double Double from Tim Hortons.
"Hi, Margaery," greeted Edric Storm.
"Hey guys," she called as she walked over to their table. Today, he noted that she wore medium wash skinny jeans, a kelly green deep v cashmere sweater and her usual brown riding boots. It was getting weird that he knew what Margaery wore more than what his own girlfriend did. Robb returned back to the document. Margaery had a nice soft but clear speaking voice with an endearing Southern accent. "Did you guys understand what the author was arguing on page 221?"
"Lemme' check my notes, hun," scanned Edric.
"Ok thanks. Nervous for the finals tonight? I think you guys are going to win," conversed Margaery with a smile. It took a kick in the shin from one of the Edrics for Robb to realize Margaery was talking to him.
"Not really. I have played them before. Thanks. Is this your first time watching hockey?"
"Yeah, I have only seen you guys play. I haven't seen a NHL game on tv or live. My brothers are into every sport out there except hockey."
"Have you ever ice-skated before?" he asked.
"Once, when I was eight, when my family went to Colorado for the winter holidays." Robb wanted to ask her if she would want him to teach her to skate. It was on the tip of his tongue, when another Facebook chat 'plop' noise came. His offer died as soon as he read,
Jeyne Westerling: Are you in class?
"Ok, he keeps going on in incoherent tangents but essentially is trying to argue..."
Robb made it to the bookstore and looked at his phone for his course book list on the university app. He walked over to the aisle for history and bumped into Margaery Tyrell.
"Hi, Stark," she chirped in her usual friendly manner.
"Hey," he said politely as he picked up a course pack for Dr. Martell's class on Mesoamerica.
"How was your summer?" Margaery asked conversationally.
"It was okay. Yours?" He glanced over at her.
"Super busy. I'm glad to be back in school." She did seem a bit worn out. "Um, Stark, do you mind also grabbing me a copy? Short people problems."
"Yeah, sure." Robb reached for the tome with ease due to his height and handed her the book before grabbing another for himself.
"Thanks, Stark."
"No problem. You can call me by my first name you know."
"Oh sorry, I just thought you preferred to be called by your surname," apologized Margaery with a contrite smile. "Well I'll see you in Dr. Luwin's class, Robb. It was nice seeing you!"
He waved, "Same to you." Robb scanned the shelves for the book for Dr. Martell's other course on the history of gender and sexuality. It had been mislabeled by the bookstore employees. After Robb found it, he started walking over to pick up the missing business textbook that he couldn't find anywhere online, when a small hand stopped him. It was Margaery Tyrell carrying her stack of books and a new university sweater.
"Hi, again. I forgot to ask if you got the invite from Sam for the History Club's Welcome Back Pub Night at the Night's Watch. It's next Friday."
"Oh yeah I did. I saw it this morning."
"Ok, great. Hope you can make it and feel free to invite friends from other departments. The more the merrier. Ok, I will leave you alone now, promise." They both laughed.
"I will for sure. It's no big deal. Do you need help carrying all that?" Robb offered.
"Oh no, thanks though. This is just little pre-workout before my hot yoga class." They said good bye again. Robb scoured for the nicest looking non highlighted secondhand textbook. Robb didn't mind dogeared pages but people who highlighted every word annoyed him.
"Hey, Stark," waved Jon Arryn Jr. as they got into the long queue for the cashier. It looked like every first year and their entire extended family had come into the store.
"Hey, Snow," greeted Robb.
"I haven't seen you since last June. How have you been?" Jon's face showed that he knew about Robb's breakup over the summer.
"I'm a lot better. Yourself?"
"Good. I saw my little brother. My former stepmom got remarried to some guy over the summer."
"That's nice." Robb didn't even know Vice President Jon Arryn had more than one child, but then again the Arryns were quite seclusive. "My mom went to the Hamptons for a wedding this summer." Jon gave a slight nod.
"How's your sisters?" Robb remembered Jon had met Arya several times, when she tagged along Dad's visits to Washington, D.C. Jon had met Sansa on her visits to New York to see Robb and Theon.
"Sansa is excited for prom and applying to universities and colleges. Arya doesn't want to go back to school. She would rather it be at a music festival or camping." Jon smiled.
"Same, I'm doing this for Dad really. I'm not a book person like Sam or Margie. I rely on them to proofread my essays. I'm a lot better at studying than I was in first year though." Robb noted that Jon had a nickname for Margaery that he didn't remember anyone else call her by.
"I just bumped into Margie." Jon looked around.
"Really? I haven't seen her since we all went to see Hozier for her birthday back in May. Every time, Sam, and I called her up to make plans to hang out, she was busy helping out her dad. I'm relieved my dad is retiring and is not running for the presidency after Baratheon's second term is over. I hate the capital."
"Her dad is running to be Republican presidential nominee?" Robb must have been living under forty tonne boulder to not have known that. Grandpa Tully officially pulled out of politics due to illness, when Robb was almost fifteen. Uncle Edmure was aspiring to become Senator of Illinois and was calling Mom for advice. Mom must have mentioned it.
"Yeah, against the First Lady." Where was I?
"Damn. Cersei Baratheon isn't the most popular choice for the Republicans after she ruined almost relations with every country in the Middle East."
"Yeah, the Russians don't like her either, according to Dad. Tyrell is a bit too liberal for some and Cersei is exploiting their uncertainty for her benefit."
"I can help who's next in line," called the cashier. Jon walked up to pay for his stuff. After they both had bought their books, they continued to walk and talk across campus.
"You still off and on with Ygritte?"
"No, I think we are broken up for good," said Jon slowly. "I can't work at the Night's Watch if I am dating." Robb frowned he had thought that rule was a joke. "Yeah, it's a weird rule, but there's been a lot of fights at the bar over girlfriends and such. It was the last bar back in the day to allow women inside. There was a massacre and weird disappearance of the patrons and bartenders over the manager marrying a woman."
Robb nodded and said, "My uncle told me about that. He worked there part time before he became a park ranger. He said it was just an urban legend to keep their misogynist rules longer."
"Yeah, the story is definitely bullshit," agreed Jon. "Well, I got head back home to get some rest before my shift. Text me." He called over his shoulder. "Say hi to your sisters for me!"
"Yeah, I will." Robb walked in the opposite direction. He finally got a group text from Patrek saying he was down for lunch. A bunch of the guys on the team chimed in their responses. He looked up and took in his surroundings. New York had never felt lonely to him before. Theon was here. I had a girlfriend who used to visit me all the time. He let out a sigh and felt things were eventually going to get better here on out.