-Just a heads up this is a total Stark family chapter, but the others show up in it, they just don't have POV's. Enjoy and don't forget to review!
Sansa
Her parents had decided to keep her home from school on Monday after the call that Catelyn had with Cersie. Sansa had told her parents that she was self-conscious about the bruises on her face anyway. She was so pleased that she was going to be home today with Mrs. Clark. She had woken up on Sunday at around one in the afternoon to see a mop of white hair looking around her door frame.
The cook and housekeepers eyes lit up when she saw Sansa awake. Sansa sat up when Mrs. Clark pushed her way in with a tray of food. There was a large bowl of homemade potato soup that always cheered her up and homemade bread that Sansa knew had dill and Swiss cheese baked inside it slathered with cream cheese on top.
"How did you know I was thinking of that?" Sansa had asked as the food was sat down beside her on the bed.
Mrs. Clark sat beside her and smiled. "I know what you like when you don't feel good. Chicken soup and sour dough bread when you are sick and potato soup with dill and Swiss bread when you are hurt."
"Am I that predictable?"
"No dear. I just happen to have been taking care of you your whole life. I remember patterns is all. Now you eat up the soup. I will let your parents know that you are awake." Mrs. Clark patted Sansas leg as she walked out of the room and walked out the door.
She attacked the food as if she had not eaten in days. Then she had just sat there waiting in her room until either her mom or dad came to talk to her. She did not have to long to wait. Her mom came in and just looked at her.
"I am so sorry my darling. I truly am." Catelyn sat down beside her and took her good hand into hers.
"It was not your fault mom. It was only Jofferys fault that this happened."
"When did you become so smart? Every day you amaze me. I have some news. The detective called and talked to your father. He said that the DA would be pressing charges for you. That means that Joffery will be arrested. But this means that you might have to go in front of a judge and tell what happened to you again." Catelyn looked at her daughter to make sure she was set on doing this.
"I understand mom. He needs to be stopped, or else he will continue to do this to others. I have to stand up and say that Joffery Baratheon attacked me and hurt me. I have to do it for me and for all the others that he has done this to that have been to afraid to speak out." A steely determination entered Sansas eyes as she talked.
"I am proud of you sweet heart. Maybe Arya is not the only one that takes after your aunt Lyanna." Catelyn stroked the unburied side of Sansa's face and gave her a kiss on the forehead. She stood up and walked to the door. "Oh and tomorrow you don't have to go to school. You do not need to go into that lions den."
So Monday found Sansa in bed getting fake angry looks from Bran and Arya when they came in to see if she was doing alright. She shooed them out before she had to tell them that she was, which was a lie, but one that she had been telling her family all day yesterday.
She just relaxed all day. She was in her jammies and watched Doctor Who and Greys Anatomy. She did not open a textbook, write a single line of homework or look at her phone, Facebook or e-mail. For the first time in her life she had not brushed her hair or put makeup on, or even put a bra for that matter. She just vegged on the couch and hung out with Mrs. Clark all day.
But as she noticed that the school day was drawing to an end she could not help herself and looked at her phone. Most of her cheer squad had called and texted and FB messaged her. She ignored most of them until she got to ones from Margaery.
Sans where are you? Joffery said that you two had a misunderstanding this weekend and I wanted to make sure you were okay. Let me know what's going on. –Margaery
Okay Sansa WTF is going on? Joffery just got escorted out of school by two detectives. What the hell? ARE YOU OKAY? Call me ASAP! –Margaery
Sandor said that you were okay now. What the fuck is going on? Why are you not talking? All I can think of is that you are in the hospital dying right now. Can you please please call me? I just want to make sure that you are alright. I am getting worried. –Margaery
Sansa could not believe that the police had taken him into custody at school. She was nervous about what this all meant for her. She sat on the couch and looked at her phone again. Arya had left her a message around lunch time.
You are not going to believe this. Detective Bronn and another one, Detective Yoren, came into the school and hauled Jofferys ass out. He was in fucking hand cuffs and it was in front of the whole school at lunch! It was so amazing! I got pictures of it for you and when I get home I will show them to you. Just wanted to share the good news. Love you sis. –Arya
Sansa smiled at how enthusiastic Arya was about Joffery getting arrested. Trust her sister to be over the moon on this whole thing. The name that she wanted to see finally was there. Sandor had texted her.
Hey I have your homework. If you want I can bring it to you after school today. Let me know. Oh and Joffery was arrested. That should make your day. No one knows what happened, so you are safe. –Sandor
She smiled and tapped the reply for Sandors message.
If you want to come to my house with my work I am here. I will let Mrs. Clark know that you are coming by. Think you for getting my school work for me. –Sansa
Okay. I will be there in half an hour. –Sandor
Sansa rushed into the kitchen to alert Mrs. Clark that Sandor was on his way over and going to drop off her school work. Then she ran upstairs to put on a bra, brush her hair and pull on a pair of jeans. She was red in the face and breathing slightly hard. She didn't want to just be sitting there when Sandor showed up, so put Gone With The Wind on the TV and flung herself on the bed with a copy of one of her favorite fantasy books.
There was a knock on the door and she called out for whoever was knocking to enter. Sandor walked in and looked around the room. He had never been there before and he was talking it all in.
"Your walls are very red." He said looking around. "It looks like someone slaughtered an animal all over the place."
"They are not blood red, its fire cherry red." She said defensively sitting up on her bed. "Come on and find a place to sit."
Sandor walked into her room taking note of the movie and her book.
"What are you reading now?" He nodded to the book opened on her bed.
"It's called Rhapsody. I love this book. It's another of my comfort things." She smiled as she looked at the cover of the tattered paper back.
"And I am guessing that the movie is as well?"
"Yes. I love Scarlet and Rhett."
"You need to be kissed and often and by someone who knows how."
Sansa sat there and just looked at Sandor with her mouth opened.
"My mom used to watch this movie. I remember that line from when I was a kid. The only other one that remember is the one about not giving a damn." He looked at the TV as Scarlet saw Rhett for the first time.
"Well I can see that this movie left an impact on you. You and Rhett seem to have a lot in common come to think about it." Sansa cocked her head looking at him.
Then she turned her bruised face to him. She heard him suck in her breath. They had not looked that bad to her in the mirror today. They were not all black and blue and purple, they were green and yellow as well showing that they were healing.
"You said that you had my homework." She sat up all the way and swung her feet to the floor.
"Yeah I have it here in my bag." He held it up and showed it to her.
"Are you going to give it to me?" She smiled and walked over to him to take the bag away from him when he shook his head no.
Once she stood there in front of him she looked into his eyes. He lifted his hand tentatively to touched the hurt side of her face. She closed her eyes at the feel of his finger tips on her skin. They were soft and soothing. They started on her cheek bone and trailed down her cheek to her lip where there was a small cut, then over to her jaw bone. He then let his fingers slide down her neck. Sansa shivered and she didn't want him to stop.
"You are still so beautiful," he whispered.
She opened her eyes then and put her hand on his scared cheek.
"So are you." Then she brought her lips to his in a soft kiss that she hoped showed him that she meant what she had said.
It was soft and slow and tender. It was everything that she needed, to know that she could heal and come back from what had happened. There was a knock at her door and she sprang away before Arya came springing into the room. She looked at her sister, saw Sandor and her eyes grew large.
"I can come back." Arya stammered as she shut the door behind her.
Sansa and Sandor just looked at each other and smiled.
"See I told you. You do need to be kissed often by someone who knows how to do it." He said in a deep husky voice.
"I thought that you were just quoting a movie." She smiled at him.
"I was, but I was also telling the truth." He opened his book bag and took her work out. "Here is your work and the notes I took. You can keep them, I have a copy of them for myself." Sandor stood up and walked to the door.
"Thank you so much Sandor." She called after him.
"You are welcome. Are you going to be at school tomorrow?"
"I think so. I just hope that I can find something that will cover up my bruises." She said as she walked him to the door to her room.
"You don't need to. If people look then they look. You get used to it." He smiled at her and left her room.
Arya
Today had been a great day. She had finished her painting of the sunset from her date with Gendry that she had started Friday. Jaqen had been friendly and they had chatted like they were buddies. She had a great time in her poetry writing class helping Beric by collaborating on a song so he would stop stealing from her. Then math had been fun. There had been a sub in her math class so they did a work sheet that was a color by number thing which she had enjoyed. The shop was perfect as well. She and Gendry had torn apart Jon's car and had started to put it back together.
But the best part, the very best part of the day had happened at lunch. She was sitting in the cafeteria with the rest of her group plus Sandor talking about the pineapple. The guys were thinking of changing the time. They wanted to do it at night so they could wear all black and act like ninjas. She and Myrcella and Hot Pie thought that was a stupid idea. The plan that they had was great. She lobbied for that plan to happen, but in the end she was out voted. So now they had to wait till he went out at night in the next few weeks in order to steal the car, drive it away from other cars and then blow it to hell.
They were so involved with their talks that she had not noticed the principle enter the room with two tall hulking figures behind him. They walked over to the table that the jocks occupied. The room fell silent and all eyes were fixed on what was going on there.
"Joffery, these men here want to talk to you. Can you come with them please?" The short, balding principle said, wiping the sweat off his face.
"What is this?" Jofferys voice was high pitched and angry.
"You know what this is about." Arya recognized Detective Bronn's voice.
"We just have some questions to ask you." The other detective said.
"I want to know your names so my parents know who to contact and report for this." Jofferys spat out at the two cops.
"I am Detective Bronn and this is my partner Detective Yoren. Now that we have that out of the way will you please follow us? If you continue to refuse I will use the cuffs and we will take you out of this school in them." Bronn threatened.
"You wouldn't dare." Joffery sneered.
Arya watched in bliss as Detective Yoren got fed up with Jofferys antics, grabbed him by the collar of his shirt hauling him up to his feet and slapped the cuffs on his wrists. Arya whipped out her phone and shot off some pictures for Sansa.
"I dared you little spoiled shit. Now are you going to walk out on your own, or am I going to have to drag your sorry ass out to my car?" Yoren asked in a loud enough whisper for everyone to hear.
"I can walk." And with that Joffery started walking to the exit and kept his eyes locked ahead so he would not have to meet anyone's eyes looking at him.
As soon as the cops and Joffery were out of the room the cafeteria erupted into chaos. Arya and her table just sat there and looked at one another. Then she broke out and started clapping. The people around her looked as if she had gone crazy but the guys looked just as pleased as she was. Myrcella on the other hand was pale and shaking. Arya stopped clapping and reached for her best friends hand and gave it a squeeze.
"It is alright Myrcella it truly is." Arya tried to sound reassuring, and not happy, but there was no use to it.
"About this it is better. But at home this just made things worse. My dad finally came home last night. He had my uncle Tyrion with him and they were talking about having the papers drawn up to divorce my mother." Myrcella whispered to Arya.
"Your mother's brother?" Arya was confused. "He is your father's lawyer? That sounds like a conflict of interests there."
"He has no love for my mother. He and my father have always gotten on good. Uncle Tyrion would love to stick my mom into the poor house and make sure that she walks away with nothing. I know that dad is not going to lift a finger to help Joffery. He knows what happened with Sansa. But mother is not going to let this go without a fight. I am worried Arya, I really am." Myrcella was still pale and shaking as she talked about what her life at home had become for her.
"I wish that there was a way that you could come live with us. You and Tommen. My parents take in kids all the time!" Arya tried to joke. "I have been telling them for years that they need to stop adopting boys and get some more girls to even things out."
Arya watched Myrcella smile and they laughed softly together. The rest of the day passed uneventfully. The only thing that people wanted to talk about was Joffery. They also wanted to know where Sansa was. Arya wanted to yell that Joffery had raped her sister and that all the people that were saying they were outraged that he was taken by the cops were fucking idiots.
Arya had hung around with Gendry for a little while after school before having him drop her off when he went to work with the band. He was nervous because they were going to decide on the name of the band, finally.
"Well I am glad that you will have a name and we can stop calling yourself "the band". That is not a good name for you guys." Arya had laughed when he had told her about their dilemma.
"There was a group called The Band. My mom has some of the records. They were not too bad. But our music is a little different."
"You are a smart ass, do you know that?" She attacked him with kisses as they sat in the parking lot of the school.
"Okay, we have to stop this or I won't be going to the meeting. I really want to stay with you and do this and much more, but I can't. I am so sorry. I will make it up to you." Gendry kissed her quickly then turned over the ignition of his car, put it in gear and drove to the Stark house.
"I love you." She said as they pulled up to her house.
"I love you to. Now you have to get out before I steal you." He kissed her one more time before she slid out of the car and skipped into the house.
Arya ran up the stairs to Sansas room to show her the pictures that she had taken and stopped long enough to knock on the door. When she opened it she had found Sandor sitting at Sansas desk with Sansa standing between his knees. Arya stood there looking from one to the other then smiled.
"I'll come back." Then she shut the door and ran to her room.
She couldn't stop the giggles from bubbling up and then they turned into full blown laughter. She texted Gendry about what she had interrupted.
About damn time. They are made for one another. I would say that they are almost as perfect for each other as you are for me. –Gendry.
When did you become a romantic? –Arya
When I was bitten by the bug. The Love Bug! –Gendry
You are stupid. Go back to the guys. I don't want Beric to hurt me for distracting you. Text me when you are done. I love you. –Arya
Okay boss lady. I love you too. –Gendry
Arya sat on her bed waiting for her sister to come to her room and tell her that what she saw was nothing. And sure enough fifteen minutes later Sansa was barging into her room doing just that.
"We weren't doing anything!"
"Sure you weren't. Just like I don't do anything with Gendry." Arya smiled at Sansa who flung herself onto her bed.
"I like him Arya. I really do. We have so much in common. And he is one of the most attractive guys that I have ever met. I mean I have seen him without a shirt on and he doesn't just have a six pack he has an eight pack." Sansas eyes were popping out of her head and glazed over at the same time.
"Well why don't you tell him that you like him? I know that now probably is not the best time to be in a relationship, and I think Sandor would be the first person to tell you that. But you should tell him how you feel." Arya shrugged.
"So changing the subject, how close have you and Gendry come to you know, it?"
Arya blushed and started to trace the pattern on her purple bed spread.
"We sort of did it already. Last Thursday. It was perfect and romantic and magical. But really cold. We were outside." Arya smiled at the memory.
"I cannot believe that my little sister has had sex before me!" Sansa gave her a mock angry face.
"I didn't mean to. I just fell in love. And after mom pretty much said to go and do it I figured that there was no reason not to."
"Mom gave you the "Make Sure He Pleasures YOU" talk? Was it not the worst thing in your life?"
"Oh god yes. I wanted to die." The sisters laughed at their mom and her tips for their sex lives.
Bran knocked on the door and stuck his head in and smiled to see them getting along. Arya had to admit that it was really nice to have her sister back. She was just sad that it took Sansa getting attacked to come together again.
"Hey Sansa, could I borrow you? I think I have something that might be able to cover the bruises. It is my stage makeup kit. And I have someone here that thinks she might be able to help you with it."
"As in a person? You want me to see a person looking like this?" Sansa looked at her sister and her brother with naked fear in her eyes.
"Who is it Bran?" Arya asked.
"Meera. She will be able to help you. I know that you are the queen of makeup but she does stage makeup. They have to cover things up all the time and I figured that she could help you." Bran looked at Sansa trying to will her to do the makeup thing.
"Fine. I will go with you and let your friend show me some new things." Sansa jumped off the bed and went to Aryas door. "We are so not done with our talk. I want to know everything."
Arya rolled her eyes and flipped onto her back and looked at the ceiling. Maybe she should redecorate her room. She still loved purple but she was making a new love of the color blue. And it was probably time to get the tips of her hair back to her normal color. She would do that tomorrow and go shopping for a new bedspread.
Bran
When Bran had gotten to school that morning he headed straight to Meeras class instead of his own. He found her talking with a group of her classmates. He motioned for her to come over to him and she excused herself from her friends.
"What is it? You look like death." Meera could not hide the concern in her voice.
"It came true. The vision of Arya rescuing Sansa. It happened on Saturday night. Joffery attacked Sansa. I am freaking out now. The one that I have been having with the stranger holding a gun and feeling the rage has me so scared that I don't know what to do." Bran was shaking as he talked.
"We can figure out what this next one means and when it is Bran. We can do something this time. Nothing will happen to Arya." The look in Meeras eye was enough to calm Bran down and go on with his day.
Things ran smoothly after his chat with Meera. They told Jojen about what happened to Sansa and how Arya saved her at lunch and they were part of the crowd watching Joffery get taken in by the cops. After school Bran decided to not go for his usual run. His mind was on the phone call from the doctor. He knew that there was something going on in his head. He knew that the run wouldn't calm the anxiety that he felt over the results so he headed to the theater to watch the rehearsal with Jojen as he waited for his sister.
"Hey do you think that the stage makeup will cover up bruises?" Bran asked some of the actors who were testing out different looks.
"Sure. I mean that it should. Why?" One of the girls asked him.
"On no reason. I just wanted to know." Bran left the back stage area so he wouldn't have to answer questions.
He found Meera in the costume room looking for something for her character to wear. Bran decided to play a joke on her and snuck into the rack and waited for her to come to the area that he was hiding in. When she opened the rack Bran burst out making her scream at the top of her lungs. Bran doubled over with laughter.
"You stupid little shit you! What the hell were you thinking! I could have had a heart attack!" She shrieked at him, whapping him on the shoulder with a parasol that she had just picked up.
"Watch where you are swinging that thing! It was only a joke. Meera could you come back to my house and bring your stage makeup? I think that it would work to cover Sansas bruises better then what she has at home."
"I will, but not for you, for her. After that stunt that you just pulled be glad that I did have not speared you with this parasol." Meera poked him in the rib with the pointy end. "We can go now. We are not going out on stage today. So let's get Jojen and head out."
The three friends piled into the old car and rattled over to the Stark house. Bran told his friends to go on up to his room while he went and found them some food in the kitchen to snack on. Bran popped some popcorn and went up to his room.
Jojen was on his computer and Meera was looking in her kit to make sure that all the things she wanted to work on Sansa was with her.
"I have snacks." He placed the bowl next to Jojen and then went back out the door to get Sansa.
She took some convincing but she came. He left her in the bathroom and Meera went in after her with her makeup. Bran left the girls to do their thing. Jojen had music playing when he came into the room.
"Your bother Robb is instant messaging you. What do you want to say?" Jojen was shoving handfuls of popped corn into his mouth.
"Move over. Let me talk to him." Bran pushed him out of the way.
Hey have you gotten that phone call yet? And how is Sansa?
She is okay and no I haven't heard anything yet. How did you know about Sansa?
Are you serious? Dad told me. He wanted me to know what was going on. I told the others. And mom told me about you.
Well Joffery was arrested. So there is that. It makes us all happy here. I still don't know about the results yet.
That dickface got what he deserves. I hope that he becomes someone's bitch while he is in the slammer. I should have beaten the snot out of that little shit when we were there at Christmas.
That wouldn't have made a difference. Hey I have to go do my homework. I will let you know when I hear something.
Okay. Bye Bran.
Talk to you later Robb.
Bran exited off the chat box. Then looked at Jojen and he was looking at him. He had not told his friends about the brain scan or the possibility that he could have a brain tumor. Bran looked away and pretended to be looking at the different computer disks on the shelf.
"What is going on Bran?" Jojen asked in a small voice.
"It is nothing. I just had a brain scan and some abnormal blood work. I get the results back today. It is nothing." Bran hoped that he was sounding convincing enough for Jojen to drop the subject.
"You sure that there is nothing going on?" There was true concern in his friends' voice and he felt bad that he was not being honest with him. But Bran did not see the point of worrying his friends when it could be nothing.
"Yeah I am sure. Have you seen this game before?" Bran threw Jojen a disk to distract him.
They soon got to talking about computer and video games they liked and played. It was half an hour later when Meera walked into the room to announce that Sansa was all done. Bran walked out to see his sister standing in the hall talking to their mother. All the bruises were gone. Her face was as perfect as always.
"Wow Sans. They are gone." Bran said when he saw her.
"Meera is a magician. She truly is." Sansa smiled at Meera standing beside Bran.
"Thank you for helping Sansa Meera. I know that she was uncomfortable having her face looking like it does." Catelyn looked at her and smiled at the girl as well.
"You are welcome." Meera said looking down at her feet.
"Bran I have to talk to you. Could you come with me to my room please?" Catelyn asked.
Bran knew what this was about. The call had come in and he was getting the news. He nodded his head and followed his mother and his friends watched as he walked away. The two Reeds were looking at one another communicating in the wordless way that they do.
"Bran I have the news. Dr. Baelish said that there was something on the scan. Two growths in your brain. I did not understand what he was talking about completely, but he did say that one of them was near your eyes causing the pressure that you feel and the other is in the area of the middle of your brain." Catelyn's eyes were watery and welling as she spoke.
"Is it cancer or just growths?" Bran asked.
"I do not know dear. We have to go in and have another appointment." Catelyn walked to him and wrapped her arms around her son. "I am sorry dear. I feel like it is my fault. If I had done things differently you might not have had this happening to you."
"It is not your fault mom. You did nothing to cause this. It just happened." Bran found himself comforting his mother when he was the one that just found out that there were two growths in his brain.
Eddard
Ned had been in the office with Robert when they both got calls from the police telling them that Joffery had been arrested. Ned had felt relief but was worried for his friend. He had been with his sponsor all weekend taking care of his sobriety. He was proud of Robert for not going back to the bottle. But he was still concerned that a relapse might be on the horizon. After the call from the cops he walked into Roberts's office to see him looking at the L.A. skyline.
"Robert? Have you heard the news? They took Joffery down to the station." Ned walked into the office and sat down in a chair across from the desk.
"Yeah they told me. They said that I could come down to sit in on the questioning and send him legal representation. I told them that I was not able to at the time and to call his mother. I am done with that boy Ned. Him and that mother of his. If Cersie had not had Tommen and Myrcella I would have divorced her long ago. I know that children need a mother, but she is a witch of a woman."
"I tried to tell you long ago. If I remember I warned you when you started dating her." Ned said.
"I know. But what choice did I have? She got knocked up and her father all but forced us to get married. Then she went and had a mischarge three weeks into the wedding and I was stuck with her. If I had not had to rely on her father's money to keep this place afloat all these years I would have been with someone who makes me happy." Roberts's voice was flat with anger boiling below the surface.
"You can change it now Robert."
"Oh I will. I have already hired a divorce lawyer. Tyrion agreed to help me screw Cersie over. He was more then eager to help me make sure that she got nothing from this farce of a marriage. She can have Joffery, he is her creation, but the other two I will fight for. I do not want her to mess them up the way that she did Joffery." Robert said.
"Good for you Robert. So you are not going to help Joffery out of this?" Ned asked.
"No. After what he did to Sansa and I have a feeling that he has done this to others I am not going to lift a finger to help him. I hope that they throw the book at him."
"I feel the same way. So does this mean that he is not going to be the one taking over for you when you retire?" Ned was joking.
"Hell no. I would rather give this company over to a baboon. It would really piss Joffery off if Myrcella was the one that I handed this over to. She is the smart one in the family." Ned noted the fatherly pride in Roberts's eye when he spoke about Myrcella.
"She is a good girl. You could not ask for a better daughter Robert."
Their conversation was interrupted by the phone. Robert picked it up and Ned could hear Cersie yelling on the other end of the phone. Roberts face was getting redder and redder. He looked like he wanted to strangle his wife.
"No. You lessen here woman. That boy is going to stay put in the lock up. He did do it you stupid bitch! Yes I would take the word of Sansa over Joffery. Why? Because she is more trustworthy. No, I will not be going down there or sending a lawyer. You organize it. I have no desire to help him, I told you that already. Fine!" Robert slammed the phone down on the cradle and sat there looking out into space. "Stupid fucking woman!" He roared.
"I take it Cersie knows?" Ned already knew the answer but felt the need to ask anyway.
"Yes she fucking knows! She is demanding that I go down there and pull him out of there. She is so thick and stupid. I will do nothing to help him out." Robert sat back in his chair and looked at Ned. "I wish that things would have worked out different when we were young Ned. My life would have been so much better."
Ned knew that Robert was talking about. Robert had dated Lyanna for one summer and Robert had fallen in love with her, but she had felt that she was to young to settle down when Robert asked her to marry him. His friend had been devastated by her refusal. Then Lyanna had gone off to college and had a one night stand and ended up pregnant. Robert had still wanted to marry her, but she still said no. Her death had sunk Robert into a depression that lead him right into Cersie's arms and into the situation that he found himself in at the moment.
"If there was a way that we could turn back the hands of time I would do it for you my friend. I would." Ned patted Roberts shoulder and walked over to his office.
There was a message light blinking on his cell when he walked into the office. He picked it up and lessened to the message. It was from Dr. Baelish calling because he had been unable to get ahold of Catelyn and wanted to let him know that there were some abnormalities on Brans brain scan. There were two growths in his brain. They were most likely tumors. Ned's heart sank to a whole new level.
Ned's life was falling out of his control. His daughter was attacked, his best friends son was the culprit of the attack. And now his son had two tumors in his head. He sat there at his desk looking at his phone thinking that maybe Catelyn was right, maybe they would be better off back home. The South was toxic. But he could not do that to the family again. He would sit out this arrangement with Robert. He would wait until the end of the school year before moving his family back to their home. They needed the North, all of the Starks. It was home and he knew that they all needed home more then ever.