A/N: Sorry, it took so long, but I just started college and... well.

Thanks to RedSmileyFace for Beta-Reading this chapter :D

The Boys

Jon

It was dark already and most guests had already left. The few people that stayed were the people that were close to their family.

And that Gendry guy, what's his deal?

Jon had silently watched Arya arrive with that boy, and then had silently taken both of them to the cemetery, and had silently accepted his presence the whole day. They had spent practically all day together, and Jon had seen them holding hands!

Ok, the rational voice in Jon's head started, maybe Arya was just showing off how flexible her hands were, but still! It was extremely inappropriate!

Maybe not as inappropriate as Ygritte and me sharing a bed last night, but still, it was inappropriate.

And while his big brother instinct told him that the main issue was Arya, he knew that he needed to take care of Sansa too. Sansa was clutching at her phone like her life depended on it; she had been since he saw her in the afternoon. But he knew he couldn't tell her anything. He and Robb had a deal; Arya was Jon's little sister and Sansa was Robb' of that, Jon knew he couldn't tell Sansa to leave her phone, or ask her to talk to him about what happened with Joffrey Baratheon, or about what Renly had told him earlier in the afternoon. They simply didn't have that kind of relationship.

…It had nothing to do with the fact that Sasna had called him 'half brother' for virtually 17 years.

So, instead of taking Sansa to the kitchen and questioning her about Sandor Cleagene, he, his sibilings, Ygritte, Jeyne, and Gendry were sitting in the living room, talking about his father., an arm around Jeyne, his eyes sad, but smiling softly. Jon smiled at him while remembering the first and only 'Monthly Fishing Trip' their father had taken them before deciding he hated fishing.

"Rickon turned the boat over," continued Jon, smiling at his youngest brother who sat besides Robb and Jeyne, "and Theon decided that only the strongest could be on the boat."

"Dad obviously got him down!" Bran laughingly told Jeyne, who had never heard of that story before. He was petting Summer, who sat in front of him with his head on his legs, "But he didn't let us up."

"Only the strongest could be the King." Laughed Robb.

"King in the Boat!" Cheered the four brothers with sad smiles. Jon could almost see his father, standing over the upside down boat, smiling and wet, "Come on boys," he teased, "how is it possible that an old man beat you all?"

"…That day I lost my favorite watch." Whined Robb.

"That watch was hideous." Remembered Sansa, before returning her eyes to her cell phone. Jon wondered if she had always been so addicted to that thing.

"But it was my favorite!" Reiterated Robb.

Jon saw Arya shift in her seat, laying her head on Gendry, who had his arm resting on the back of the couch. She mumbled something, and Gendry smiled and patted her hair… and Jon was not happy about it.

"Remember that time Arya ran away from home?" asked Bran, causing Gendry to raise an eyebrow. Arya turned her head, facing away from Gendry.

"Of course! We thought she was gone forever! Sansa even cried hugging her favorite hoddie." laughed Robb and both Sansa and Arya glared at him.

"I did not cry."

"She is gone," Bran said with a high-pitched voice, "she is gone forever!"

"That's not true!"

"You promised you were never going to eat lemon cakes again if she came back" said Robb, smiling.

"I would never, ever say that." Scoffed Sansa.

"What happened?" Asked Gentry of Arya, who took her time before answering.

"I was trying to catch a cat…"

"A cat! No one EVER saw that cat" cried Sansa.

"Because I didn't catch it!" Arya replied, clearly annoyed, "I ended up getting a little bit far from home and luckily found dad in the street, when he was returning from work."

"How long were you lost?" Asked Gendry, who looked slightly amused.

"I wasn't lost!" Almost screamed Arya, before answering quietly, with red tinted cheeks. "And, I don't know, four hours?"

They all laughed, quietly, but laughed. Jon was incredibly thankful of that.

"You know what I will never forget? When he taught me how to drive." Said Sansa, smiling.

"Do you mean when he tried to teach you?" asked Robb.

"I think he aged a decade the first week!" Laughed Jon.

"It wasn't that bad!"

"By the time you got your driving permit," Robb recalled, looking directly into Sansa's eyes, "he had gotten half a head of grey hair and started taking all this crazy herbal teas for the nerves."

"Oh, now you are exaggerating!" Exclaimed Sansa.

"You crashed the car easily ten times." Mentioned Bran, almost sounding casual.

"But in a six months period!"

"How did you manage to get the permit?" Arya asked.

"I cried a little bit in the exam, but that is not the point!"

"Wait," said Gendry, "were you driving this really girly, light blue car? With a bird sticker on the back?"

"Yes… why?"

"That car paid for the mortgage of the garage!" Laughed Gendry, and everybody joined him.

"I am seriously not such a bad driver!" Cried now, it had been the longest Jon had seen her without checking her phone the whole afternoon.

"Not now," yawned Arya, "but you were. Gods, not even Theon wanted to take a ride with you, and he seriously has the lowest self preservation instinct in the world."

Ygritte turned to Jon and softly asked; "Where is Theon?" Jon knew she had asked good naturedly, but still took his time to answer.

Looking around, getting sure that no one was paying attention to them, Jon answered quietly, "He used to live with us, a foster brother kind of thing," Ygritte nodded, since she already knew that part of the story, but let Jon talk, who then added darkly, "we have not spoken to him in months, there was a problem here while I was at the Wall and no one has told me exactly what happened."

"You haven't asked?"

"I don't know who to ask, I am not sure who knows what happened, not even Robb knows exactly, and well…" his father probable knew exactly what had happened, but he hadn't asked before, and it was too late to ask now.

Jon saw Arya yawn, looking utterly haggard. "You should go to sleep," he glared at him; she hated when anyone told her what to do, even if it was he favorite brother.

"I don't—" started Arya, when Sansa cut in. "Yes, we should, it has been a terribly long day, right Rickon? Bran?"

The two younger brothers nodded; Rickon because he was actually tired, and Bran because he knew that would stop Arya from bickering.

Gendry stood up besides Arya, mumbling; "Maybe I should leave."

"Yes," answered Jon, "maybe you should." He could have said that in a nicer tone.

"Come," said Arya, "I'll walk you to the door."

"No, you go to sleep, I'll walk him." Said Jon; and judging by Gendry's face, he was quite uncomfortable with the idea.

Good.

"It's not necessary," stated Arya, noticing the uneasiness in Gendry

"Yes, it is" Jon stated, with his big brother voice, and Arya knew she was defeated.

"Oh, follow me." Sansa said to Gendry, standing up. How she managed to walk without bumping into anything was a mystery, since she was writing a text at the same time.

Gendry looked at Arya, who urged him to follow Sansa.

Jon threw a look to Robb, almost asking him for support. Robb only shrugged.

I knew that deal was eventually going to get back at me.

Ygritte threw Jon a mocking smile, and Jon huffed before following Sansa and Gendry. When he reached the front door, he only found Sansa closing the door.

"What was that?" Jon asked, and Sansa looked up from her phone.

"What was what?"

"That! Why didn't you let me walk him out?"

Sansa smiled sweetly, "It was the proper thing to do, brother." She said before walking towards the stairs, leaving him confused.

Bother? No, I'm probably wrong.

Jon kept replaying the scene in his head, just to be sure if Sansa had called him either 'brother', or 'half-brother'. He ended up more confused, and once he reached his room he was considering that maybe she simply called him 'Jon'.

"What's wrong?" Asked Ygritte, who was already in his room since everybody had already left.

"I don't know what my sister just called me"

"Oh, you know nothing, Jon Snow." Ygritte said with a big smile, but Jon frowned; he was starting to get annoyed by that little joke.

"Stop saying that."

"I would, if you stopped giving me so many good set ups!"

Jon huffed and sat on his bed, taking off his shoes.

"Oh, don't be mad." Said Ygritte, sitting beside him, arms and legs crossed.

Jon moved away, really slightly, but Ygritte still noticed.

"Oh, I am the great Jon Snow, and I am scared of girls," said Ygritte in a mocking voice.

"I am not scared of girls," grumbled Jon, "and my name is not Jon Snow!"

"My name is not Jon Snow!"

Jon turned his head, ready to tell Ygritte to stop it, but the moment he saw how close he was to her, he fell silent. Ygritte smiled at him, and leaned forward, pecking him on the lips. Jon looked at her in shock. She simply laughed and stood up, muttering something about a shower.

And Jon knew that this was the first of a series of inhumanly long days.

Bran

Bran waited until Jon was silent before climbing outside his window. He had already sent a text to Jojen and it was getting late. Slowly, Bran walked over the roof, slowly checking the windows of his sisters to get sure they were sleeping.

Arya, obviously was; she had been half sleep for the whole day, and virtually sleeping when they were talking downstairs. She had her whole body under the covers, even her head, and the only visible skin being her fingers clutching the blanket, and Nymeria besides her, sleeping.

Bran tiptoed to the next window. Sansa, in contrast with Arya, slept in a way that looked almost faked. No one can look that good when sleeping.

Bran tiptoed and climbed down the wall, carefully, he didn't want to fall and break a leg again.

The last summer he had being climbing to his room when he fall and ended up crawling to a tree so no one knew exactly what he was doing, or what he was going to do.

Just innocently trying to check if I didn't left anything in the roof while sneaking around, nothing else. He told to himself, but still he knew that answer wouldn't have kept him out of trouble.

He jumped when he was close enough to the ground and Summer ran from wherever it was hidden in the garden.

"Quiet, Summer." Bran whispered before running towards the street.

He didn't have to run very far, the small forest was close to his home.

Jojen and Meera were already there, Summer ran to greet them before Bran.

"Hey," Bran greeted, breathless.

"You are late," said Jojen, and while normally he would have said it as a scolding, today he said it in an almost softer way.

Meera smiled at him before placing a blanket on the floor, and getting all her equipment out of her bag. She had being taking an astronomy class and had asked Jojen to join her, who eventually asked Bran to join them, since he knew Bran would be up anyways. Jojen and Bran had being sneaking out of their houses in the night for months, but now at least they had something to do.

"How was it?" asked Jojen, once everything was settled.

"Long," Bran answered. When he first met Jojen he hadn't liked him much, he was sometimes too direct, but as time passed by he noticed he found quite refreshing to met someone which who he could talk, really talk without tiptoeing around everything.

Meera took a notepad out of her backpack and read it with the help of her cell phone's light.

"Okay" she said, checking the hour, "It is almost time, the red comet should appear any minute now."

"Such a big thing had to happen today." murmured Bran as he prepared himself for the comet.

"Here, it is" said Meera, who didn't hear Bran, or acted as if she hadn't. "Come, take a look." she said as she pulled Bran to his feet. Bran looked to the comet through the telescope and for a second he let himself think that this comet was just for his father.

"It's amazing." said Bran, moving so Jojen could see.

"People used to believe it meant Dragons were coming." said Meera, but neither of the boys answered.

Usually Bran would have answered but today he didn't think he could, he wasn't sure why he was with the Reeds. He knew he had to sleep but he also knew that he didn't want to be alone, and to dream. He had dreamt of his father the night before and in the morning, and when he had realized it was all a dream, he had felt empty. He didn't want to dream now.

He sat there for a while, watching the comet and let the Reeds comment about it with him, but he barely spoke. After a while, Bran stood up and said good night, saying how tired he was.

He walked slowly back to his house, Summer close to him. When he was few meters away from the gate he stopped; there was someone there.

Bran couldn't tell the person's face in the dark, but he knew it was a man, probably young. The man was resting his back on his car, looking at the gate and smoking.

Bran recognized that car. "Theon?" he asked and Theon turned to him, alarmed.

"Bran! It is really late! What are you doing here?"

"I could ask the same." Bran said, so quietly he thought Theon hadn't heard, but he did.

Theon dropped his cigarette to the ground and step on it. "I thought I should come, but then I thought it would better if I didn't enter. I guess I can't decide"

They both stood there in silent for a minute or so, until Bran broke the silence. "I didn't think I would see you again."

"Well, I thought I wouldn't see you again too, you know?" he said with a humorless laugh, "But then I heard of what happened yesterday and took the first flight I could." Theon looked to the ground, to the place where his stomped cigarette was and quietly said, "I am sorry."

Bran didn't answer, he wasn't sure if Theon talked about his father, or about leaving.

Or maybe he was talking about both.

"Theon-"

"I shouldn't have yelled to you like that, the day I left." Theon said, burying his hands in his jacket's pockets, "I was angry, and I wasn't thinking."

"I know."

Bran had tried not to think about that night very much, but he couldn't forget it.

Theon had been living with them for most his life, in a foster brother kind of way. When he had arrived Bran hadn't been born yet, so he always saw Theon as someone that had to be there. It wasn't until Bran was older that he discovered the truth; he had always known Theon wasn't his brother but he hadn't understood exactly why he lived with them. It seemed that Theon's father had five kids and three of them died in an accident with their mother, and Theon's father couldn't take care of them anymore. His older sister had moved with one of their uncles and for some strange reason, Eddard Stark had decided to take care of Theon.

But last year Theon had gone home to visit his father for the first time since he had moved to Winterfell; Theon and his father had shared letters and some present or another, but was the first time they would meet.

No one knew what had happened there, but when Theon came back he had yelled and took all of his stuff, the few thing he hadn't taken to college with him. The only one present that night was Bran, who had tried to stop Theon from leaving. He barely remembers what Theon had said:

If I tell myself I don't remember, I won't.

He had later learned, by hearing his parent's conversations, that Theon's mother wasn't dead, but in a mental hospital. He had also heard some stuff about Theon's father and uncles, who didn't seem nice, but still no one knew what had happened in Pyke.

"How is your father?" Bran asked, he knew he couldn't ask for his mother, since he supposedly didn't know she was alive.

"He... he is not my father, not really," said Theon, bitterly, "my real father is gone now."

Bran looked at the floor, he felt like he would cry at any moment.

"I better go," said Theon, shaking his head, " I probably didn't think this through."

"...So, you really aren't coming in?"

"No, not now, not today." He said. "Tonight I'll go to my hotel, tomorrow... tomorrow I'll see what happens." he gave a half smile to Bran as he entered to his car. Bran crossed the gate before he stopped seeing the car and quickly ran to the house.

Bran expected everyone to be sleep, but he saw the kitchen lights on, which ruined his plan of entering through the front door. Bran quickly climbed the first tree he saw, one near the kitchen that would easily let him see what was happening inside this late.

His mother was sitting in the kitchen table, where they all ate breakfast, with a cup of tea in front of her; it was most probably cold already. Sitting in front of her was Robb.

For the first time in the whole day Bran saw his mother really grieve her husband. Her hair was a mess, her eyes red and puffy and he could see the shaky breaths she took. He couldn't see Robb's face, but he could see his shaking shoulders and was sure that he was crying too: he and her had been the strong ones for the family.

Robb reached for his mother hands and she took it, and after a long day, Catelyn Stark cried for the loss of her husband.

It wasn't until Bran was back on his bed that he realized he hadn't cried his father.