How to be a brother to Sansa? That was the million dollar question. Robb knew how before their family died, and even knew how after for a while. Before the lines blurred. Before how he loved her as a brother crossed over into very different territory.

Robb didn't understand how he could have sex with Sansa and yet still not allow himself to define what it was he actually felt for her. If he admitted to himself that it was just not lust somehow that was crossing the line that having sex with her had not.

Perhaps if he admitted what he felt for her he could not stay in that place where he could still change things between them. It was as though he was at a crossroads and before him were two signs. One said "Brother" and had an arrow pointing one way, and the other said "Lover" and had an arrow pointing the other way.

So, which way did he choose?

If his libido was anything to go by then it was the path of "Lover". He desired Sansa. He dreamed of her. He fantasized about her – and got pretty far into the fantasies before he told himself to cut it out. Then there was his heart and the perpetual ache he'd had in his chest since she'd left to live with their grandparents. Not having Sansa with him had been like losing a limb. He felt incomplete without her.

Then he thought about how he couldn't possibly actually be with Sansa because she was his sister and how would that ever work? God, if Uncle Edmure, Aunt Lyssa, or their grandparents ever found out…what would happen to them? How much trouble would they be in? And since he first had sex with Sansa when she a minor he could go to jail for statutory rape on top of having sex with his sister.

So, it was back to being a brother. He had to be a brother.

When Aegon called him three days after the museum debacle and asked him if he would like to come over for dinner, Robb (reluctantly) agreed. This was part of being a brother. Being supportive of Sansa and her boyfriend. He could not allow his feelings for her as her (former) lover to encroach upon his duty as her older brother. His job was to ensure that Aegon treated Sansa well and that she was happy with him.

Yet it didn't stop him from feeling that burst of jealousy when Sansa answered the door and Aegon was right behind her, his hand on her shoulder. Sansa didn't look overly thrilled to have Robb there, but she smiled at him like she was supposed to and stepped aside to let him enter.

Aegon reached out to shake Robb's hand, and then asked him if he'd like a beer. Robb figured liquor might be a good idea in order to get through this evening. Aegon led him to the kitchen and Sansa followed. She was quiet though, and merely checked on dinner (pot roast).

Clearly, this dinner was geared toward Aegon getting Robb to like him. He steered Robb into the living room and started asking him about American politics, which of course Robb had extensive knowledge in and so they spent their time before dinner and during talking politics.

He learned that Aegon wasn't just a spoiled little rich boy as he'd originally pegged him to be. He was actually quite smart and thoughtful, plus he was a liberal. The "Lover" part of Robb didn't want to like Aegon, but the "Brother" part did. He seemed like a good man, and it was clear he loved Sansa. He made her smile and they shared a witty repartee in which they teased each other and made each other laugh.

It depressed the fuck out of him. What had he ever brought Sansa? What joy? Their relationship had been based on grief and sex. Had he ever made Sansa laugh? Had he ever made her smile? He'd brought her nothing but misery and even when she had clearly wanted to stay with him, he had sent her away.

With all these thoughts crashing down around him, Robb knew he had to get out of there. He made up some excuse before dessert was served that he had an article to finish that he'd forgotten about. Sansa had looked skeptical, but she didn't say anything. Robb almost wanted her to. He wanted to know that his presence was wanted by her. The reality though was, it wasn't.

She hadn't even wanted to come home.

The girl that clung to him in their bed and told him she was his; the girl who begged him to let her stay with him and cried that she couldn't be without him was gone.

Sex in the museum had been closure. It had to be. They'd dredged up the past and since neither of them had gotten any real closure, and both had felt so raw about it all for so long, the sex had been the exclamation point at the end of that chapter.

Robb had thought talking about their past in order to then heal it was what they needed. Maybe it wasn't. Maybe what they needed was to put a pin in it and move on.

Now if his heart would just get the message that this was well and truly over, that it had to be…

xxxxxxx

"How do you think it went?" Aegon asked as he crawled into bed beside Sansa and stared up at the ceiling with her.

"I think it went well," she said. And it had been, she thought, until Robb had abruptly left. She had thought he and Aegon were getting along quite well, and that was troubling for Sansa in a way she didn't quite understand. Shouldn't she want her brother and her boyfriend to get along?

She wondered if that meant many more dinners together, perhaps a double date next time with Talisa? Hm. Best not mention that to Aegon or he would jump on it in his quest to win Robb over.

"Can you give me more?" Aegon asked. "Do you think he likes me now?"

Sansa didn't want to talk about Robb. She found it hard to talk about him; she also found it hard to think about him. When she thought about him she was filled with a yearning she thought might swallow her whole. The only person in the world that could bring her the comfort she needed was the one person in the world that shouldn't. Wanting to be in Robb's arms meant something very different for her than it did for most sisters who might simply want a hug from their big brother.

There was a storm inside Sansa. It had been there since their family died, and the only time it ceased was when she was in Robb's arms. It didn't even have to be sex. She was well aware of the fact that since she'd returned to Winterfell she hadn't been sleeping well and in the back of her mind she knew what would help. It was as though ever cell in her body was primed to need Robb, to want Robb.

It frustrated her to no end that she couldn't let him go.

"Babe? You ok?"

"God, Aegon, I hate it when you call me that," she hissed and whipped the covers off of her.

"Sansa!" Aegon exclaimed as she stormed out of the room. "What the hell?!"

She didn't answer him. She should have known he would come after her. She sat on the sofa – his sofa – curled up in the corner and just looked at him.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked.

"Nothing. I just don't like being called 'babe'." Not only did she despise the nickname, but it reminded her of Harry and all the shit that came with knowing that idiot.

"So you leave the bed?"

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I'm not as tired as I thought. I think I'll just watch some TV for a while."

He frowned, but then nodded, came over and kissed the top of her head, and then went back to bed.

Sansa turned on the TV, but she didn't even look at it. She stared at the floor and thought about how she didn't feel she had a place here with Aegon. The only place she'd felt she'd belonged after the fire was with Robb. When in London it was easy to forget that fact and pretend her life was stretched before her, long and full of fun and excitement there with Aegon's friends and his small family. Here in Winterfell it's not so easy. She finds it hard to pretend.

She picks up her phone sitting on the end table beside her and holds her thumb over his name in her call list. What would she even say if she called him? What could she say that was appropriate?

Absolutely nothing.

xxxxxx

Three days passed with no word between Robb and Sansa until the night he showed up unexpectedly. Aegon wasn't home; he was staying late at work with a few colleagues working on some major case, and Sansa was attempting to make stir-fry. She hadn't made it in quite a while, not since she and Robb lived together.

She carried the knife with her to the door when she answered it and when Robb saw it (and she's still processing that he's there), he laughed. "Do you normally answer the door with a knife in your hand?"

She looked at the knife and chortled a bit. "No, I was just about to cut up some zucchini for stir-fry when you knocked. Aegon isn't home."

She wasn't sure why she told him that. No, that's not true. She knew why. She wanted to warn him that they were alone. Yes, warn him. Because when they were alone together things happened.

Robb hesitated for a second but then he nodded and said, "Well, that's fine. I came to see you. Can I come in?"

She nodded and stepped away from the door to let him in. He closed the door behind him, she went back to the zucchini. If she kept busy she wouldn't have to look at him much, wouldn't have to dwell on the fact that he looked quite handsome in dress pants and a black v-neck sweater.

"What did you want to see me about?" she asked, keeping her eyes on the zucchini.

"I wanted to give you a key to my apartment."

Shock made her look up abruptly at him.

In hindsight, not the best move.

Her hand slipped and the knife sliced deep into her finger. "Sonofabitch!" she cried out. "Fucking hell!"

Robb's eyes went wide and he rushed over, grabbed her wrist. Sansa yanked her hand from his. "You'll get blood all over your clothes," she told him.

"I don't give a fuck about my clothes," he said in frustration and grabbed her wrist again. His eyen went even wider when he saw the cut. "Jesus Christ, Sansa."

She peered at it. "It's pretty bad, huh? It hurts like a motherfucker."

"You need stitches," he said and grabbed a dishtowel. He wrapped a bit of it around her finger and she cursed at him. He grunted an apology and wrapped the rest of the dishtowel around her hand.

"It can't be that bad," she whined.

He looked at her sternly. "Yes, it is. Let's go. Keep your hand upright."

"I don't want stitches," she continued to whine as Robb grabbed her purse for her and then pushed her out the door.

"A band-aid isn't going to cut it, Sansa, I'm sorry."

"You just had to be a political science major; you couldn't be a doctor."

He chuckled, but Sansa was not laughing. The girl that had once gone racing and bungee jumping was terrified of needles.

xxxxxx

It was probably wrong for Robb to take delight in Sansa being unwilling to let him out of her sight considering she was about to get a shot to first numb the area and then would receive the stitches. He knew his sister didn't do well with needles and so he was happy to have her hold his hand with her good one and lean into him on the hospital bed while they prepped the needle for the local anesthesia. He was even happier when she buried her face in his shoulder. He wrapped an arm about her and held her close.

"You have a nice brother," the nurse attending the doctor said. "My brother would just tell me to suck it up and would have left me here."

Sansa pulled back and looked up at him and Robb had to resist the urge to draw her back into him. It had been a very long time since she'd sought his comfort. It was nice to be needed by her. Robb wondered if that was partially his problem: he wanted Sansa to need him. It made him feel useful in her life when really, lately, all he felt was that he was an imposition in it.

She didn't lean into him again, but she did grip his hand so hard that Robb thought she might just break it.

The ride home was met with silence and when they returned to the apartment she shared with another man, Robb walked her up. She began to clean her mess and Robb helped. Neither spoke. When the kitchen was cleaned of raw vegetables and blood, they shared a sigh and just stared at one another.

Everything in Robb wanted to reach for her and pull her to him. He shoved his hands in his pockets and shuffled his feet "Did I ever make you laugh?" he asked finally.

She blinked. "What?"

"Did I ever make you laugh? Or smile? Did I ever make you happy?"

"Are those questions a brother would ask a sister?"

"I don't know anymore," he whispered.

They are saved by Aegon arriving home. Robb is forced to watch Aegon take Sansa into his arms when she told him about her stiches and held up her hand to show him the evidence of it. This was her life now. This was her boyfriend.

When Aegon mentioned all of them going on a double date it took Robb a second to remember Talisa. It was hard to remember a woman that faded into the background like the chorus when the main event was forefront in his mind. Sansa looked at him hard, sending the message that she wanted him to say no.

"Sure," Robb said instead. "When?"

How do you think that's gonna go? LOL

So, in case anyone is interested, I started a new "story". It's called "The 'I Think We're Alone Now' Universe" and it's really just a collection of one-shots set pre ITWAN or post ITWAN. I am taking prompts for any scenes someone might like to see from that 'verse.