A game of thrones modern AU Sansa/Petyr fanfic. I have aged Sansa up a bit (early 20s) and made Petyr younger (late 30s), just to reduce the creep factor a notch. Petyr's character is based on a character played by Aidan Gillen in the movie Treacle jr. If you haven't seen it, go see it. It's wonderful.

1.
Sansa Stark boarded the train in Oxford station at exactly 9:30 in the morning on April the 12th. Shortly before she boarded she had been on the phone for a while, calling her parents up in the north. It was her mum who had picked up her call.

Sansa told her that she had already left the university campus and was on her way home.

"Do you have a lot of washing with you?" Her mum asked.

"Only a bit." She lied. Actually she wasn't carrying any luggage with her. She had her mobile, her wallet with her bank and student ID card and a couple of folded banknotes in her back pocket, and that was it.

"It's just your brothers are going to be home for spring break too. You know how they tend to hoard up. They never give me anything to wash unless it's completely caked with dirt, just when the washing machine is acting up. I told your father that we should get rid of the old thing and go to the shop to buy a new one, but, you know how he is, he wants to take a long look at it first…"

"It's going to be fine, mum." She smiled, hoping that her mother would somehow hear that smile right through to the other side of the line so she wouldn't worry about her too much. "I've still got plenty of clean clothes to wear."

"Are you sure you're wrapped up warm enough? It's still very cold up here. It's been mad all week. Last Tuesday, it even started to snow in the late afternoon."

She was very relieved to see the train finally pulling into the station. "I have to go now, mum. My train is here."

"At least promise me that you'll wear something warm. I know you don't like cardigans or sweaters because they are not fashionable, but it this is not the kind of weather to indulge in such silly vanities."

"I will. I promise." She felt a rope tightening around her heart. "I really have to go now. Love you mum, speak to you when I am there."

"Love you too my darling, be careful! See you in a couple of hours."

Sansa let the mobile slip in the pocket of her long coat. The train on platform 5 that had just arrived was the 9:20 to Edinburgh, but instead of getting on, she waited till all of the other passengers have boarded. She still was waiting when the conductor jumped onto one of the carriages and after checking, blew on his whistle to signal for the doors to close. When the train finally pulled out of the station, she looked up at the board to find out which train was coming in next. By chance, it just happened to the 9:30 to London.

It didn't really matter to her which train she was going to take. She just wanted to disappear. London was as good as any other town. As long as it wasn't home, it would do.

2.
There was a cold numbness that came with sleeping rough. It was like an anesthetic that seeped into her brains till she felt so paralyzed that she could hardly do anything, or want anything. She had not spoken with another human being for 2 days now, and she was dead tired. The trouble was that she couldn't really sleep at night. The streets of London were never quiet, not even in the many public parks that looked so serene and safe during the day, little kids with their mothers, people jogging or walking their dogs, old ladies feeding the ducks in the pond.
But at night, after all the decent folk had gone, the place turned into something much more frightening. With gangs of hooded teenagers stalking around in the dark, drinking and shouting and whistling and catcalling her every time she passed, she felt like a hunted animal, lost in the deep dark woods.

On the first night in London, she slept in a small park on a graffiti covered park bench under a big oak tree. She was roughly woken up by a loud homeless drunk who was yelling at her that this was his sleeping spot, and he threatened to rape and kill her if she didn't fuck off. Terrified, she ran away. After that she didn't dare to go any place quiet anymore, not after dark. She spent last night sitting outside on the steps of some grand building, a former bank turned hipster apartments, with her face buried in her woolen coat for comfort. It was a busy spot, and it was long after midnight when she finally managed to fall asleep despite the noisy traffic and the constant flow of people around her. She was roughly woken again in the early hours of morning by the cleaners who asked her to move because they needed to sweep the street.

I can't do this any longer, I really can't. She thought to herself, as she walked away from where she had so uncomfortably spent the night, huddling in her coat. I can't stay awake for another day and spend somewhere out in the streets for the night again. I can't live like this. I really need to find somewhere safe to sleep.

Eight in the morning and the city was bustling again with commuters. So many people were passing her by on their way to work or whatever place they needed to be, but she didn't dare to ask any of them for help. It wasn't so much that she didn't want to. She just couldn't, just like she couldn't make herself to go home.

She sat down on the edge of a fountain and rummaged through her pockets. She found her mobile phone. It had been switched off ever since she had arrived in the capital. She didn't dare to switch it back on. Her parents must have called her a thousand time by now, leaving a string of worried messages.

Succumbing to a pang of guilt, she put it away again and took out the small change in her wallet. Counting the small amount of coins in her hand, she figured she would probably have enough to buy a bus ticket. She walked to the closest bus stop and got on the first bus that turned up. Climbing up the narrow winding staircase on wobbly legs when they started to pull away from the bus stop, she just managed not to keel over and dropped herself into one of the empty seats. There, she pulled her hood down over her face and put her head against the windowpane. As soon as she closed her eyes, she drifted away.

She was so fast asleep that she didn't even notice that someone came and sat down next to her. Not until she was poked repeatedly her in her arm that was.

"Hello, miss? Miss? Do you hear me miss?"

Still dead tired, she struggled to peel open her eyelids. A man with a messy mob of black curly hair and a thin scruffy beard wearing a baseball cap was staring right back at her with a friendly smile plastered on his face.

"Are you awake miss? Miss? You are awake, aren't you?"

God, the world must hate her. Why can she never have a bit of peace and quiet?

"Yes I am." She replied, rubbing her eyes. "I am awake. Is there something wrong?"

"Oh no, no, nothing wrong." The man replied, shaking his head fervently. He had finally stopped poking in her arm. "I just thought, I saw you being so fast asleep, and I was worried that you might have missed your stop or something. It happens to me quite often and it's never good you know."

He was speaking very fast and very loud. Sansa noticed that the other passengers were looking at him.

"I once fell asleep in one of those night line busses. You know the ones that ride after midnight and only come once an hour? I ended up in a bus depot in Ipswich. I couldn't get home. I just couldn't. They wouldn't drive me back and I had to spend the entire night sleeping outside with my head against a dustbin. They wouldn't let me sleep on the bus inside the depot you see, because there were safety issues or something. I couldn't get a bus back a till the next morning, and they told me I had to buy another expensive ticket as well."

"Ipswich?" Sansa muttered, not sure how to react to him. Not only was he speaking very rapidly, he had some sort of speech impediment that made every word sound slurred. With her head still dazed, she only could pick up Ipswich from the incoherent string of ramblings.

"Yes, yes Ipswich. That's pretty far away isn't?" He furrowed his brows. "Come to think of it, I might have taken the wrong bus. Anyway, you didn't miss your stop now miss? You're sure about that?"

"Yes I am sure, thank you." Sansa replied timidly, noticing that the other people on the bus were now staring at them both.

"Because you've been sitting here quite a while now. We've been around a few times already. You know?" He twirled circles with his finger. "Normally people get out somewhere along the line between here and the city center. Not that I am saying that you're weird or anything. I don't mind sitting up here and riding around all the time. I have nothing important to do like other people do. Work and school and stuff. Do you have anywhere important to be miss?"

She blinked the last of her sleep out of her eyes. The man sitting next to her was still wearing a big friendly smile on his face. Now she got a better look at him, she saw that he was dressed in a white T-shirt with over it some sort of faded brown tweed jacket that had seen better days. It was covered with all sorts of colorful badges, the sort of stuff kids pinned on their clothes to look cool. Great Sansa thought, yet another weirdo. Welcome to the great city of London. She really was regretting that she had not thought it through before she decided to board the train to the capital. Maybe she should have gone to Ipswich, like this creepy idiot had.

"Yes, I do have to be somewhere." She lied. "Actually, I think this is my stop. She turned her head to pretend that she was looking at a passing sign. "Oh yes, this definitely is my stop." She told him as the bus started to pull over. "Could you please let me get out?"

"Oh of course." He said with a wide grin, and stood up let her pass. "I am very glad you didn't miss your stop."

"Thanks" Sansa muttered, trying to avoid eye contact. She was halfway down the stairs when he yelled after her.

"You're very tall."

"What?" She half-turned around and got a real fright when she nearly bumped into him.

"You're very tall." He told her, holding on to the railing with all the grace of a wobbly newborn giraffe. "You must be what? 1,75-76? I think you're a bit taller then me." He added, making a serious attempt to compare heights using his free hand. "You have to watch out. You're very tall."

"Em yes." Feeling really creeped out now, she turned back around, keeping her eyes firmly on the ground. She was just taking the last step down when she bumped her head painfully against the metal ridge that stuck out from the upper floor.

"Oh miss? Are you all right? You have to watch out, or you'll bump your head. I do that all the time when I get off. I tried to warn you though."

She really had enough. Nursing the bump on her forehead, she hastened her steps to get off the bloody bus, half-aware that people were now looking at her like she was with this shouty idiot.

Much to her annoyance and despair, the strange man followed her.

Are you all right?" He asked when she was left standing alone with him at the bus stop in God knows where. "Are you hurt? Let me see." Sansa immediately stepped back when he tried to come closer to her.

"What are you doing?" She snapped.

"Sorry! Sorry about that." He raised his hands up and backed away a few steps, visibly taken by her response. "I just wanted to help. Seriously, I am not a GP or anything, but I have plenty of experience. I had masses of bumps before. Masses. So if it is really serious or anything, I would know."

"No just…don't, I am fine, really." She struggled to respond to him. How can someone possibly be so nice and creepy and confusing at the same time?

"You're sure? Because you don't want it to swell." He pointed at the bump on her forehead that was now starting to pulse like an angry vein. "It can turn massive you know."

"Thank you for your concern-"

"Petyr." He rubbed his hand clean over the side of his trousers and stretched it out to her with a wide grin. "Call me Petyr. Petyr Bealish."

"Thank you." She said, deliberately ignoring his hand. "You really don't need to worry about me."

He took her hand anyway and pumped it up and down most enthusiastically. "Good to meet you! What's your name?"

"My name?"

"Yes, I told you what my name is, so what is yours?"

She should just lie, make up something and be done with it really, but her tiredness had turned her brains into mush.

"Sansa." She told, him, figuring that he couldn't really do much with only her first name anyway.

"Sansa? Oh but that's a beautiful name. Really beautiful. Did your parents give you that? Did they name you Sansa?"

Who else, you moron, she thought, but instead just replied with a polite yes and quickly pulled her hand away to bury it deep inside her coat pocket.

"It's wonderful to meet you Sansa." That moronic grin again. "You seem like a very nice person. I haven't met anyone nice with such a beautiful name for quite a while now. Today must be my lucky day."

"Look I really need to-"

"It's a lovely day, isn't it?" He interrupted her.

"I guess it is."

"It's really lovely. The sun is shining. The trees are green. The flowers are blooming. It's almost even too warm to wear my coat. Can you imagine? I love my coat. I wear it all the time. When it rains, or when it's snowing. Even in mid-summer, and I am sweating in it like an icecream sitting in the microwave."

"Pete?"

"Petyr." He corrected her.

"Peter, It's been very nice meeting you, but I really need to go."

"Yeah me too. Where are you going?"

"That way." She just pointed at a random direction really. "And you?" Hoping very much that he would go the exact opposite direction.

"Oh I am totally flexible." He shrugged. "I can go anywhere. On a beautiful day like this, with all the birds singing and flying around, busy building their little nests, you know what would really make it special? You know what really would make me happy?"

"No I don't." And I really don't care, she thought to herself.

"I would love to see a hock bird."

She blinked her eyes fervently while her heart leaped in the throat as her internal creep alarm just went up another notch.

"I beg you pardon?"

"A hock bird. I would like to see a hock bird."

"A hot bird?" Why of why was she even still talking to him. This guy was obviously mentally ill.

"Yes, I mean no, a hmmock bird. A mock bird."

"A mock bird?"

"Yes, yes that! I am sorry! I sometimes I get the H and the M confused when I am very nervous. I am almost never nervous but, you know, it's not every day you meet a new friend."

"What's a mockbird?" She asked, her heart settling down a bit. Oh why do I even ask?

"You really don't know what they are?" A radiant smile spread over his lips. "Oh let me tell you, they are absolutely wonderful, they are so cool. They don't look like much, they don't have very fancy plumage or anything. They are just small and a little bit grey, with streaks of black and white, but they are amazing. They can do the most amazing things. Here let me show you. Make a sound."

"What sound?"

"Any sound, pick a sound, any sound really. Make any sound you want."

The only sound she could think of making right now is a long exhausted sigh. So she did.

"Okayyy. Ehm, make another sound. Pick any other sound, any sound."

"Please go away." She said softly, hoping that he really would.

"Please go away!" He snapped his fingers enthusiastically. "Yes! Yes! That's exactly the kind of sound that a mockbird would be able to make! Only it would be more repetitive, like a song you know. These birds are amazing in imitating sound, any sound. So if you said, please go away, it would respond with a sound like, Ple gooo a-wey, Ple gooo a-wey, gooo a-wey, gooo-wey!"

"Oh please do." She mumbled, catching the strange gazes people passing by were giving them. Unfortunately for her, her sarcasm remained, much like anything else around him really, completely registered.

"I love watching birds." He said, finally shutting the heck up. With a wide grin, he pulled on a string that hung around his neck and produced a set of mini binoculars from under his jacket. "Watch them every morning at six from my balcony. I would love to see one, you know, a mock bird, for real, but I can't, they don't breed in the UK. Much too cold. And they don't even have one at the Zoo. Believe me, I checked. I check every time I go there. I asked them to get one, because, you know they are amazing, everyone would love them, they will bring masses of people in if they had one. So I told them that they should get one, I keep telling them that every time I go. They say they are busy with it, but they are really slow. I think they have trouble getting the right papers or something to get it imported. They can be very strict with importing exotic animals here, you know, but not so much as like in Australia, I suppose. Over there they are really, really strict with these sort of things."

Sansa thought that if she would just stop looking at him and stop replying to his odd rambles, that maybe he will just give up and go away. But he didn't.

They walked several blocks, crossed over the road to the small park where she had spent her first dreadful night in the capital. They walked around the duck pond and the kids play yard several times, then left the park again and crossed over another road to a small local shopping mall. He kept following here, walking beside her like an overexcited schoolboy, talking incessantly about all kinds of nonsense and trivialities, while she kept her mouth shut and her headache grew worse and worse, till it was resonating inside her skull like thunder.
"Pete!" She suddenly yelled at him, stopping dead in her track. She really, really had enough. She had to get rid of this guy now, or she would go screaming mad.

"It's Petyr." He corrected her. "With an Y. I know it's weird. I don't think my parents put much thought into it when they named me. It's very inconvenient, people often write it wrong."

"Pete, Peter what ever. Don't you have somewhere to go?"

"No not really." He shrugged, returning a friendly smile to her.

"Well, I need to go. I need to go home, right now."

"Yes I know."

"You do?"

"Yes! That's why I am walking along with you. It's getting pretty dark, and we're not in the best of neighborhoods. Not that we're going to get killed or anything. It's not that bad." He added with a reassuring grin. "It's safe enough. I live here, but you're not from here, and you're a girl, and on your own, so I figured I should walk you home. You know, just to be safe."

"How do you know that?"

"Know what?"

"That I am not from around here."

"Your accent. It's not from here. It sounds very northern. You sound like you're from Edinburgh or something." He narrowed his eyes. "Are you from Edinburgh? You're not trying to get back up there tonight are you? Because if you are, I think I need to go home to get more money." He rummaged through his pockets and took out a handful of coins and a crumbled up 5 pound banknote. "I don't think I have enough to get to Edinborough and back." He told her, while clumsily straightening the note. "And I need to tell my landlady that I probably won't return before 9:00. Otherwise she won't know where I am and she going to go completely loopy on me."

"I am not…" Sansa shook her head, getting too lost for words. "You don't need to bring me back all the way to Scotland. I don't live there. Not anymore."

"Oh phew!" He laughed, visibly relieved. "But I wouldn't have minded though, to bring you back to Edinburgh. It's just it would have been very difficult for me to get back to London tonight. And my landlady really doesn't like it when I stay away too long without telling her. She is a sweet lady, very caring, but she can get a bit shouty something."

"You really don't need to bring me to Edinburgh. I haven't even lived there." She lied, getting irritated. "There are more cities in the north you know."

"Oh but I should! I really should. It's the decent thing to do. It's what a true gentleman would do. So where do you live? Are we going the right way? Because back in the park, I thought you were lost of something, because we kept going around the duck pond several times."

"Where do you live?" She asked. Of course she didn't really give a damn where he lived. It was a way to distract him. After having spent almost the entire afternoon with this strange man, she had found out that he was very easily distracted.

A wide happy smile crept over his face that had all the strange charm of an overfriendly Labrador who was about to slobber all over your face.

"You really want to know? You want to see where I live? I can definitely show you that! Definitely! It's really close by. It's just around the corner."

It was indeed. After they had turned and had passed by a stone-walled garden, they reached an ugly estate building that sat in the middle of what must be the saddest looking concrete car park that she had seen since arriving in the city.

"Here it is, King's Landing estate, home sweet home!" he spread his arms wide in a ridiculously grand gesture, as if he was presenting her a royal castle instead of four floors of red brick estate flats. Everything around her looked incredible grimy and dilapidated. Perhaps Pete or whatever his name is, was right. This neighborhood didn't look really that safe to walk around by herself after dark.

"Oh do you want to come up and see my place?" He fumbled up his sleeves to reveal what must be the last existing plastic digital wristwatch in the UK. "Quarter past seven. It's still early. My landlady would not mind that much."

"Oh that's very kind of you. But I really must be going." Sansa managed to say. Her head felt like a balloon that was about to burst. Suddenly, the world started to turn in front of her eyes, and she felt like her head was drifting away, as if it was separating itself from the rest of her body.

"Are you all right?" His blue-grey eyes large with concern.

"Yes." She muttered, wishing he would shut up.

"Are you sure?"

"I said I was all right."

"Because you know, you look very pale. I mean really, really pale. Like a ghost. In fact, you're paler than a ghost. Like if you were a ghost, you would be almost transparent by now and be very frightening to the other ghosts."

"I…" She couldn't finish her sentence. The world was now violently spinning around her. She sank through her knees. He caught her in his arms, just before she hit the pavement.

"Sansa, what are you doing? Do you hear me? Sansa? Sansa?"

Her eyes rolled up to the back of her skull and she fainted.

TBC