Chapter One

Jon Snow was slightly annoyed. He didn't like being made to wait, and social butterfly Sansa Stark had made him wait for close to an hour in the university library before he'd given up and marched to her dorm room to give her hell.

However, when he arrived on her floor and stepped out of the elevator, he noted that the second floor of Casterly Rock Hall was…well, it was wet. Jon cursed when he nearly slipped and fell on his arse just trying to make it across the lobby.

"You're dead, Sansa Stark!" a feminine voice shrieked, and Jon recognized it as having come from Margaery Tyrell, Sansa's best friend.

She came barreling past him in the dorm's lobby and started when she saw him. She nearly fell over as she slid across the floor and then knocked into the wall. Jon winced and started to go for her to see if she was okay, but then she was hurling two water balloons down the hall that she had in her arms and then tore off again.

He heard various shouts and screams coming from all areas of the floor and sighed heavily. He should just come back later when the floor wasn't like a Slip n' Slide and he wasn't in danger of being pelted by a water balloon.

Of course no sooner had he thought that then he was pelted in the back by a water balloon. He turned and found Sansa standing there, giggling.

He scowled at her. "Was that really necessary?"

She nodded. "Definitely."

"Did you forget we were—"

She slid over to him and slapped a hand over his mouth and leaned to the side as though listening for something. It was then that he noticed the super soaker in her other hand. Her hand that covered his mouth was cold and wet. Margaery jumped out into the hall with a battle cry and Sansa practically shoved Jon out of the way to start super soaking her best friend.

Jon had the good sense to get out of the way. The fight between the two didn't last long though, because both girls ending up falling on their behinds. Jon didn't like at all the way Sansa fell on her back and so he rushed over and knelt down beside her worriedly. "Sansa, are you okay?"

She winced. "That might have hurt a little."

"Tell me about it," Margaery groaned as she pulled herself up against the wall and slumped there. Her light brown hair was stuck to her face at odd angles, but she didn't seem inclined to move them away.

Jon helped Sansa to her feet. "How's that?" he asked gently.

"I'm fine, Jon," Sansa assured him, but then limped as she started to walk away. Jon shook his head and scooped her up into his arms. "You are not fine," he said sternly. "You hurt yourself."

"Hello? Does anyone care that I fell too?" Margaery said, still propped up on the floor.

When a few girls down the hall came rushing to Margaery's side, Jon didn't feel so bad leaving her there to fend for herself. Sansa was his priority. He had promised the Stark family when she'd started school at Lannis Port University to take care of her. He hadn't realized what a full-time job that could sometimes be.

He got it, he really did. He had been the same way as a freshman. The thrill of being free and away from parental control was enticing. For someone like Sansa, the eldest girl, he knew that she faced a lot of pressures from her parents to excel as Robb, her older brother, was.

He had practically grown up in the Stark household since he and Robb were best friends. Best friends that hadn't gone off to school together though. Robb wanted to stay close to home in Winterfell, while Jon and Sansa had been of like mind to get the hell out of dodge.

"Jon, I can walk," Sansa said in exasperation.

"I saw you limp."

"You're a worrywart."

"Sansa, you give me a lot to worry about."

She rolled her eyes.

She could roll her eyes all she wanted, but it was true. Sansa was hell bent on having every experience college could give her, and it was a wonder Jon hadn't sprouted gray hairs yet. Just last week she had gone bungee jumping with Margaery – who was, as far as Jon was concerned – a bad influence.

When he got to her room she simply pushed the door open and Jon decided to save the lecture on how her room she always be locked for later. He carried her over to her side of the room and plopped her down on the bright blue bedspread. Despite what a mess she currently was – her long auburn hair soaking wet and in need of a brushing, her jeans soaked and her t-shirt both soaked and wrinkled, Sansa was quite orderly. Her side of the room was as neat as a pin while Margaery's side looked like a bomb had gone off.

Not to mention that Margaery's choice of décor was a bit…contradictory. There were the girly bits – the fake red roses on her desk, the pastel pens on her desk, the billion throw pillows in every color on her bed and the silky rose-colored comforter – and then there were her posters. A movie poster of Night of the Living Dead (the original) and Halloween, plus pictures of zombies, vampires, a scythe, and a creepy framed picture of Edgar Allen Poe. Margaery was twisted. Her décor matched her personality and quite frankly, Jon wasn't a huge fan.

He supposed Margaery did help with tempering the serious parts of Sansa – and there were the more serious parts. Sansa was an excellent student and she worked hard. She just liked to play hard, too.

Sansa leaned up on her elbows and attempted moving her ankle. She winced and reached over for the ibuprofen on her nightstand while Jon went to the small fridge across the room and got out a bottle of water. He sat down on the bed facing her and handed it to her.

She downed a few ibuprofen and then lay back upon her pillows and smiled at Jon. He smiled back at her. One couldn't look at Sansa and not smile. Then her smile fell abruptly. "Oh, crap. I stood you up."

He nodded.

"I'm sorry. I completely forgot once the water fight started."

"I figured. Do you have any idea how much trouble you're all going to be in if you don't get it cleaned up?"

She frowned and bit her lip. "In that case…Jon, can we go to the library now?"

Jon couldn't help but laugh. Of course she would suggest that. "Yes, sweetling. We can go to the library now, but I think you'd better change first."

She nodded, her bright blue eyes lit up and practically sparkling at him. "Jon?"

"Hmm?"

"Have I ever told you that you're my hero?"

He groaned. "Not this again. Do I have to?"

She laughed and pushed at his leg. "Yes!"

"Sansa, no. Let me retain some dignity, please?"

She stuck out her lower lip, pink and full. "Please? I mean, I did hurt myself and all…"

He arched a brow at her. "And who fault was that?"

"Margaery's."

"Sansa."

"Yours."

"Sansa."

She sighed. "I know, I know."

He shook his head at her and tapped her nose. "Come on, get changed and we'll get out of here."

xxxxxxxx

By the time they got outside, Jon's shirt and jeans were just slightly damp. When he started to steer them to the library, Sansa took hold of his arm and guided him in the other direction. "Let's go somewhere," she said.

"Going to the library is technically still going somewhere," he said.

"I don't want to study though. I was up pretty late studying."

"How is that even possible? I walked you back to your dorm at midnight after a party in my dorm. And you decided to study then?"

She shrugged. "There is a method to my madness."

"You're a wonder, Sansa Stark."

She grinned. "I like that. Thanks."

"Where are we going, madam?"

She arched a brow at him. "Madam?"

"Well, I am your chauffer now aren't I?"

"No, but, what about a movie? My treat."

Jon stopped in the middle of the path to the parking lot and faced her. "Are you thinking that the longer we're gone, the less you'll be connected to the crime of turning your dorm into a water park?"

"Of course," she said. "But I'll still treat since I know how Pavlov's dogs you are about the library."

He narrowed dark brown eyes at her. "I'm not that bad."

She snorted and reached up to ruffle his mane of soft black curls. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Snow."

"I ever tell you what a brat you are?"

She grinned. "All the time."