Robb didn't bring up sleeping arrangements that night. With Sansa telling him about this Harry character, and him asking Roslin out, it just didn't feel like the right time. He felt the need to have her close a bit more acutely than usual. Sure they might be a bit too dependent on one another, but with all they'd went through didn't that make sense? Weren't they allowed?

They would have to take baby steps from here on out. It was a pretty huge step asking Roslin out to begin with, and a big step for Sansa to consider accepting Harry's possible request that she be his date for Homecoming. For the past month and a half, it had been just them. They'd struggled just to keep their head above water and quite frankly, they still were. Now they were throwing themselves back into life and in many ways, Robb didn't feel ready for it. What would Roslin do when something hit him the wrong way and thoughts of his family overwhelmed him to the point that he lost it? What would this fucker Harry do if the same happened to Sansa?

He couldn't stand the thought of someone not being there to support Sansa. He also couldn't stand the thought that he might not be there in the event she needed him most.

Maybe this dating thing was a bad idea. Maybe they just weren't ready yet. Maybe they just needed more time to heal. In a lot of ways it didn't feel as though the healing had even begun.

When Robb crawled into bed that night, Sansa was fiddling with her phone. "Are you texting?" he asked.

"Yeah, it's Jeyne. She said she's sure Harry is going to ask me to Homecoming tomorrow." She finished texting and put the phone on the nightstand and then turned back to him. "I guess he was nervous about asking or some shit like that."

Robb's hands itched to pull her in close to his body, to wrap himself around her and never let her go. He settled for taking her hand and entwining their fingers. He wanted to tell her that she was the most important thing to him in the world and that no matter what happened with Roslin, Sansa would come first. Always. He wanted to tell her that she was brave and stronger than she knew, and that he loved her fiercely.

He almost wished he could share with her this attraction he'd started feeling. They shared everything since their family died – for fuck's sake, they even shared a bed! They'd spent nights in this very bed holding each other through tears and nightmares and the weight of carrying on pressing in upon them like a two ton weight. Maybe if he told her it would disappear…

No. She trusted him as her big brother to take care of her. She would be disgusted with him and might even think going to live with Gram and Gramps to be a good idea. Robb couldn't let that happen; he could not and would not let Sansa leave him. He needed her too much.

His heart hammered hard in his chest. He felt an ache there for Sansa that he'd never felt before and it scared him. What was this feeling he was having? What was wrong with him?

"Robb? You okay?"

He wasn't. He looked at her and wanted to kiss her. Wanted to cover her body with his and claim her. She was his. His.

Robb scrubbed a hand down his face. "I'm just tired. Long day."

She looked at him with worry in her eyes. He squeezed her hand once and then detangled their fingers and rolled over to shut the light out. He settled back into the bed and part of him wished Sansa would curl up into his side while the other part wanted her to stay exactly where she was – away from him.

Sansa sensed the right path to take and stayed away. Robb rolled onto his side, his back to her, and fought back the tears that wanted to fall.

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An ache had settled in Sansa's chest since last night. It was a different sort of ache than the one she carried with her since the loss of her family. This was the ache that she was losing Robb, that he was pulling away from her, and that she would soon be left completely alone in the world.

It hurt that he hadn't told her before about Roslin. Now Sansa was left feeling that somehow she wasn't enough for Robb. That was silly, of course. She was his sister. Of course there were things she couldn't give him. But that didn't stop her need to come first and foremost to Robb just as he came first and foremost to her.

What if Robb forgot all about her when he started dating Roslin? What if he found having her around was a nuisance? What if he completely shut her out and wasn't there when she needed him anymore? Then where would she be?

The thought terrified her. She had Aunt Lysa and Uncle Edmure, even Gram and Gramp to an extent, but they weren't Robb. What would she do without him?

Sansa shut her locker and leaned back against it, trying to reign in her rioting emotions. Robb had been quiet this morning. Had losing him already begun?

"Hey, Sansa."

Sansa looked up and found Harry standing before her, his blue eyes averted, his blond hair all mussed as though he'd been running his hands through it. Harry Hardyng was quite handsome – he was one of the most sought after boys in high school after all.

And he looked positively nervous. Sansa found this quite funny actually, considering how confident he often seemed. Confident bordering on downright arrogant and irritating. Yet she'd had a crush on him freshman year. She felt as though she was a whole other Sansa then.

"Hi, Harry," she said, deciding to cut him a break. "How are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. I, uh, was wondering if you had a date to Homecoming."

"I don't," she said.

"Will you…go with me?"

It would be evil to make him sweat it out, wouldn't it? Sansa thought idly as she watched him shift from one foot to the other. It might be evil, but it might also be fun. However, she didn't really want to drag this out

"Yes, I will," she said.

His eyes went wide, his nervousness dissipated, and he beamed at her. "Really?"

"Really."

"Awesome. Could I walk you to homeroom?"

Why the hell not? "Sure."

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It was the end of the week, and if the both of them planning on going on dates hadn't been enough of a step, then Sansa had told him that she and Jeyne were going shopping together that Friday night for dresses to wear for Homecoming.

This was the first time Sansa had gone out without him since the fire. She had seemed nervous when it came time for her to pick Jeyne up, and though Robb had wanted her to stay home with him, he knew the best thing for her – and him – was for her to go.

His attraction to Sansa was only growing, much to Robb's dismay.

He'd checked his watch a dozen times in the past couple hours wondering when she'd be coming home. He heard Sansa finally arrive home, and a few seconds later she breezed past the living room doorway and went down to her bedroom, which was really just a spare room at this point. She'd had a garment bag in her hand. Robb got up and made his way down the hall and into her room where she was hanging the bag in the closet.

She turned and jumped when she saw him. "Sonofabitch, Robb, you scared the crap out of me."

He nodded to the dress inside the closet already. "Can I see what you got for a dress?"

She blinked. "You want to see my dress?"

"I want to make sure you're covered."

She rolled her eyes. "Robb, seriously, what do you take me for?"

He raked a hand through his curls. "I trust you; I just don't really trust Jeyne's influence."

"You don't need to worry about Jeyne and her influence. She has none over me."

Robb sat down on her bed. The bed that hadn't been used in quite some time. "How was tonight? Being out with Jeyne?"

Sansa shrugged. "It was ok."

"Just ok?"

She sat down on the bed, facing him. "I just find some things just silly now, ya know? Like gossip and who was there with who…I just don't care. Does it mean I'm growing up or does it mean that after everything that's happened, all that crap just seems so trivial?"

Robb reached out and took her hand in his. "I think a little from column a and a little from column b."

"It was fun to try on dresses and shoes, but then Jeyne wanted to walk around and shop some more and I just wanted to come home." She smiled sheepishly at him. "Did you miss me?"

"Of course I did," he said. "But we survived, right?"

She nodded. "Tomorrow night is your date, right?"

"It is."

He wasn't even all that nervous about it, and quite frankly he didn't really want to go anymore. He knew he had to go though.

"Are you nervous?" she asked.

"No. Are you nervous about Homecoming?"

She shrugged. "Not really. I'm just kind of…"

"Going through the motions?"

"Yeah. I can't close myself off forever, right? And the longer I stay here in this apartment with you…"

"The less either of us will feel compelled to do anything," he finished. Silence fell and they both got lost in their thoughts for a few seconds. "So, when will I meet Harry?" Robb asked finally.

"The night of Homecoming when he picks me up."

"So, I have a week to get a gun that I will need to clean in front of him?"

Sansa laughed and Robb smiled. He loved her laugh; it was good to see it making a return.

"I can't even imagine you with a gun," she said.

"Maybe I could wear overalls and a straw hat and just embarrass you."

"Don't you dare," she said with a laugh. "Will I meet Roslin tomorrow night?"

"No, I'm going to pick her up. If things go well and I see more of her, you will meet her."

Sadness passed over Sansa's face, but before Robb could ask what was wrong she smiled at him and said, "I'm going to get my pj's on. Want to make some popcorn and watch a movie?"

"Sure. I'll get the big bowl from over the sink."

A half hour later, Robb and Sansa were on the couch together, their sides pressed together and the big bowl of popcorn half on her lap and half on his. Ten minutes into the horror movie that Sansa had chosen to watch on Netflix and she was already hiding her face in his shoulder and yet peeking long enough to gauge when it was safe to watch again.

Robb didn't mind. It rather made him feel like a God when she looked to him for protection, even if it was just some dumb horror movie. He liked feeling as though he was her knight in shining armor.