very very quick ficlet i wrote for valentines day - please try and ignore the terrible grammer, it's the story i was focusing on. obviously they're ages are off as well, it was just a prompt someone sent me and i wanted to get it done today so voila!

Grief. Five letters that said so much. Two years it had been since Jon received word that his father was dead. His father was dead. He lay on his back. The bed beside him was empty, the sheets smooth and untouched. It was waiting for someone, someone Jon had waited so long to let in. the Walls had always been there, but his father's death had added another six feet. It was remarkable how much Ygritte had managed to chisel down.

He sat up, running his hands through his hair and over his face. The digital clock on his bedside table showed six minutes past four in the afternoon…shit was his first thought, he had best get dinner going.

Flowers sat primped and colourful behind his door, ready to fill the vacant vase he had ready for the table. He smiled to himself and exited his bedroom. The flat was cold, it was February after all and his landlord wasn't the best when it came to keeping his tenants happy or you know, /warm/. He flicked the switch on the small space heater he had ended up going and buying and sighed at the whirring and heat it began to project over his bare feet. Okay. Dinner.

Now Jon was a typical student; couldn't cook much more that anything pasta based, anything he could get for a decent price in Iceland (so pretty much everything really) and market fruit and veg he insisted on keeping in his fridge. To be fair, none of this would have been within his rice range if he had been a year younger. His placement was going well and with the occasional job he could get on the racecourse during the season gave him enough to live a better student life than many. Ygritte would say he had too much and that he should be living it up in ever club Chester presented him with, but he had never been the partying type. Except after his father had died, but that was a dark thought quite unfitting for the mood he was hoping to set. He took a breath and jumped up and down a couple of times in an effort to warm his body and then made for the kitchen.

Spaghetti bolognaise was the main item on the menu, along with a cheesecake (a frozen one from Iceland…he wasn't much of a baker) and a couple of bottles of bubbly. He'd stocked up on a beer as well. Ygritte may be a St Andrew's girl but he knew how much she detested having to keep up appearances of poshness and refinement at those formal evenings she had to attend in accordance with the contract of her scholarship. Jon didn't have a clue what she had agreed to when she accepted her place, but it seemed bizarre. He reached up and pulled down two plates, two glasses and a red tablecloth from the cupboard above his head and made his way back to his tiny living area. He wasn't going conventional dinner for two, covering the middle of the room instead with throw pillows and blankets and cute little tea candles. He lifted the coffee table to the centre of it all and shook the tablecloth down onto it. Then he finished off with some cheesy heart shaped confetti and a single candle. He looked down at his work and grinned. /perfect? Couldn't get any closer/

With the meat sizzling away in a large pan and spaghetti just coming to the boil Jon took a moment to bring his thoughts together. This was the night, the night everything was going to change. He tapped a finger on the solid object in his pocket just as the doorbell buzzed. He jogged over to the receiver

"Ygritte?" he asked into the phone

"Yes, who else? let me up you idiot" he put the phone down and laughed to himself. Two minutes later he was opening the door, flowers in hand to the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. She arched an eyebrow at him until he whipped his arm around to reveal the flowers and watched her face dissolve into that crooked smile. She stepped forward and took them leaning up to warp her arms around his neck. He hugged her back, heart beating fast in his chest. She pulled back and made to step past but he held her there, prompting confusion to flash across her face. He caught her gaze and then leant forward slowly and pressed his lips into hers. She seemed surprised at first but responded well, wrapping her arms tighter around his neck. When they pulled away she was flushed, and the edges of his lips twitched.

"Wow" she breathed and then looked at the floor

"Come on, foods almost ready" he smiled and took her hand, leading her over to her seat on the floor. "I've slaved over this dinner, so you had better enjoy it"

"Oh" she replied, quieter than usual "I think I will"

A full stomach and two beers later they sat opposite each other, laughing so hard it was a marvel neither had thrown up the food they had just consumed.

"STOP JON! I SWEAR I WILL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS!" he pulled back, giving her feet back. "I am never asking you for a foot massage ever again!"

"Oh but you know I give the best massages" he laughed, taking another swig of the wine he had poured himself. The nerves were beginning to set in as he realised everything he had planned was coming to an end. Just the night lay ahead of them. She coughed and shifted slightly into a more comfortable position, picking up her own beer and sipping delicately from the half empty bottle. Silence fell like a blanket of snow, but Jon was transfixed. He was watching the way Ygritte ran her finger through her hair, pushing it this way and that, and then shaking it free. She would take a sip, swallow and the nibble on her bottom lip. Her eyes roved from item in the room to the next; first the television, then the heater and finally out of the window. She gasped, and Jon smiled at the excitement that began to show on her face.

"Jon, look! It's snowing, it's actually snowing!" she jumped up and ran to the window, staring out in awe as the tiny snowflakes fell slowly toward the ground. She struggled for a moment with the window before managing to crack it open. Then she stuck out her hand and let the snow melt onto her skin. She was so enraptured she didn't realise he was approaching until Jon's hands were on her waist. She gasped and half turned but Jon held her there, resting his chin on her shoulder and raising a hand to join her own, out in the cold air. Ygritte turned her head to look at his face, but he didn't move, he stared out into the night, smiling slightly.

After a few moments, Jon felt Ygritte begin to shiver in the loose cotton jumper she wore. He caught her arm in his hand and pulled it into her body, moving his head to nuzzle into her neck. She gasped at that again, stiffening and relaxing all within a second. He trailed his lips across the skin at the side of her throat and then along her jaw until he met her lips. He opened his eyes then, looking into Ygritte's own with longing. They sparkled with the reflection of the moon and widened in assent as he kissed her. He watched her lids flutter and soon enough she had turned in his arms and gripped the front of his shirt in her small hands. The urgency in which they kissed brought them back over and down onto the pillows. She was pulling at the bottom of his shirt, but he stopped her, disengaging from her lips for a moment. She looked at him in surprise, which soon turned to hopelessness. She leaned forward again "Jon…" she said into his lips. He pulled away again, sitting up and pulling her with him. She sighed and made to move off him

"No, stay, hold on" she settled back into her place, straddling his legs and looking confused, Jon reached down and slid his fingers into the pocket of his jeans which was difficult considering the position in which he was sat. "close your eyes" he told her" she did so, grudgingly. He pulled the little blue velvet box from his pocket and clicked it open before shifting them both into a more comfortable position; knee to knee opposite each other. He took a breath and held it up in front of her eyes. "okay" he breathed.

She opened one eye first, and then spotting the ring in his hand opened both in shock. She looked at him, mouth slightly open and reached up to push her hair behind her ear. She shuffled slightly and chocked out a nervous laugh, but Jon didn't smile yet. She swallowed and then made to take it, but pulled her hand back at the last moment.

"Jon, is-"

"no, listen" he interrupted "four years I've known you, for three of them I've shared more things with you than anyone. I was difficult; I've been the most difficult boyfriend in the history boyfriends. And I know you have wanted more than I have been able to give to you because of, my…my father." He swallowed and looked up at her, all joking aside "but you waited for me Ygritte" he reached up with his free hand and took the side of her face lightly "and you helped me. You brought down the walls and you, you changed me and showed me so much I had never seen and I have you in awe Ygritte, you amaze me and I don't…I don't know what I would do without you." He was smiling breathlessly but he still needed to explain what the hell he was doing with the ring in his hand. He looked down and removed the emerald and silver from the plush red cushion. He held it up in front of her "this is me. This is all of me, or a promise if you want to look at it that way" he shrugged noncommittally and watched as she began to smile "this can be what you want it to be, an engagement ring, or just a piece of jewellery. But whatever you decide it will be my promise." He lifted her left hand "my promise to be yours from now" he placed her ring finger at the edge of the ring and looked up at her "until forever. Do you accept?" there was a moment's hesitation where for a fleeting second Jon thought she would refuse, but then she was moving toward him and her lips were on his and their fingers were fumbling and he was feeling the cold metal against his own fingers and they entangled with her own

"Jon" she whispered in between kisses "thank you, I just-

"I know" he finished, falling back onto the pillows and allowing her to stretch out on top of him. He was shirtless and her in her underwear before he noticed she was sobbing. He pulled back and took her face in his hands. "Ygritte, wait, what is it?"

She didn't meet his eyes until a few seconds later

"I love you, Jon Snow. I am so in love with you." She tried to repress a sob "you- you stole my heart Jon, and I don't think I can every let you go."

"Then don't" he replied, running a hand along her back and settling it just above her hip "just don't. I'll never let you go Ygritte. I love you, and I will never let you go."