There were a lot of things not going well for Sansa Stark her first week back at University - there was a dreadful steady drizzle for most of it, despite it still being the tail end of what had otherwise been a very hot and bright summer; Joff had spent the past two months seemingly going out his way to terrorize her after suddenly and cruelly breaking up with her; and her parents had been too busy moving Arya and Bran into dorms at their state school, leaving Sansa to drive herself and her possessions to the university she attended out of state on her own. She at least had had the thrill of managing to have a single in Hohegarten, inarguably the best girls' dorm on campus, for her senior year, but upon arriving on campus, she discovered that her initial dorm assignment had somehow been double booked. As the other girl had managed to get there first, Sansa had no choice but to move into a vacant medical single in Nordwand, the spartan freshman dorms on the furthest edge of campus, and also, wonderfully (or, rather, absolutely the opposite of that) located directly across the street from the apartment building Sansa knew Joff to be living in.
So it was not exactly Sansa's best mood when she walked into Coppa del Re, covered in a light layer of damp from the rain, and really all she wanted was something warm to hopefully perk her up a bit. This hope was very quickly dashed, however, upon Sansa's entrance to the local coffee shop - standing behind the register, with her long fingers and ever present playful smirk, was none other than Margaery Tyrell. As if immediately becoming Joffrey's Perfect Trophy Girlfriend after Sansa had so swiftly and publicly been knocked from the position wasn't enough to rip apart what was left of Sansa's esteem, the older girl's perfect chestnut curls, pulled high into a ponytail above her face, were free of frizz, and the swell of her breasts framed by a black v-neck only accentuated their porcelain quality. Sansa unconsciously brought a hand up to her own humidity wrecked mass of orange, hair coming loose from the braid no matter what product she used, before tugging her sleeves farther over her heavily freckled and sunburned arms. A cold shiver of panic ran through Sansa, coming to a rest in a stomach. 'Oh, gods, what can I do? I'll have to speak to her, I can't exactly turn around and leave now, that'll be obvious. Shit, what do I do?' Before Sansa had the chance to make a decision, however, fate decided for her.
"I can help whoever's next- Oh, Sansa!" There was a flicker of something across Margaery's face as her eyes met Sansa's, but of what, the redhead couldn't be sure. "Hello!"
"Er- morning," Sansa managed to mutter, reluctantly stepping up to the register. "How're you?" She regretted the question almost immediately, having no interest in hearing how her replacement's life was going wonderfully with the absolute horror that was Joff.
"Oh, I'm just fine," the brunette responded, the smirk returning to play on her red lipstick covered pout. "Can I get you something? Coffee, a muffin?"
"Just a coffee, thanks. Black, two sugars. Please." Sansa kept her eyes trained on the counter just to the right of Margaery, feeling heat on her face that surely indicated an involuntary flush across her cheeks. She could feel the barista's brown eyes watching her as she poured the coffee. Sansa wanted nothing more than to get her coffee and leave; curling up in bed and locking the door of her wretched freshman sized dorm now sounded more appealing than anything else. She threw a five out of her pockets and threw it on the counter when Margaery returned, setting the cardboard cup down. "Thanks. I don't need the change," Sansa muttered briskly, grabbing her coffee before turning around and practically running out the door. It took all of her willpower not to look back to see if Margaery was still watching her as she left.
The drizzle had increased to a more substantial rain at that point. Sansa gave a little groan, and threw the hood of her pullover over her hair, shoving her free hand in her pocket. She held the coffee close to her mouth as she half-walk, half-jogged back to her dorm, trying to keep the heat and beverage inside the cup, and didn't let herself think about Margaery again the rest of the way.
"Who was that?"
Margaery was shaken out of the reverie Sansa Stark's presence had put her in.
"That… was Sansa Stark," Margaery said, still smiling and watching the door the redhead had only just escaped out of into the rainy street. Her face had been so flushed from the rain, and she clearly had felt awkward in front of Margaery - reasonably so, given the apparent situation - which really only made her all the more adorable to the older girl. Her lips, unadorned by lipstick of any kind, looked so full and soft…
"Sansa? Isn't that Joff's old girl?" Renly asked, coming over to the register from the kitchen counter.
"Don't remind me," Margaery sighed, leaning against the bakery case. Renly studied Margaery carefully - he was all too familiar with the look in her eye, so often cast on pretty young women who certainly appeared to be more weak-willed than Marge. Not wanting to get involved in that mess of complicated awkward, however, he simply shook his head, and returned to rinsing out the milk steaming cups, Margaery still staring blissfully out the door of the shop.