Chapter Twenty-Nine: Tearing' Up My Heart

Meera does not sit with us the next day. And the days after that Sansa and Margaery have moved to a different table with her. This goes on all week. Robb looks sad. He pokes at his cheeseburger and looks over at Meera at the other table.

"I didn't do anything. Is she mad because I told that story? I don't understand," Robb says. This is the third time he has said this. He's not eating. He has not eaten lunch all week, and from the puffiness under his eyes, I figure he has not had much sleep either.

"You are better off without her, Robb," says Jeyne, trying to feed him bits of her carrots. He refuses to take them from her. Robb does not like other people to feed him. She gives up trying to feed him. I wish she would shut up and go away. I look at Arya who is rolling her eyes.

"You're a cow," Arya tells her. Gendry laughs.

"Robb, are you going to let Arya talk to me like that?"

He's not listening. Robb is not used to having people not talk to him. He is trying to figure out why Meera is distancing herself from him. He stands up. People on the platform watch his next moves eagerly thinking he may be coming to talk to them. They are disappointed.

I follow him loyally. That is my position as best friend. It does not take a scientist to figure out where Robb is going.

He taps Meera on the shoulder. She looks at him for just a moment, with hurt in her eyes. He is taken aback by this, but still just as determined as ever.

"Why are you mad at me? Is it because I told that story?" I can tell this is hurting her as much as it him, Meera turns away refusing to answer. "I'm sorry for whatever I did."

Meera does not turn back around or look at Robb. I lead him back to our table. Meera at her table starts sobbing. Robb sits down and lays his head on the table. I rub his back. He starts questioning everything he has said to her last week.

"See you don't need her. She's only going to hurt you, Babe," Jeyne says.

"You're wrong, I do need her. She is one of my best friends. Now she hates me and I don't know why," Robb says. He puts both hands in his hair and pulls hard. He calls himself stupid for opening his mouth about that story. I bite my lip.

"Maybe it's biology. No, that doesn't seem right. Why else would she be mad?" Robb yanks a hand full of lose hairs out. He slams his palm against his forehead repeatedly calling himself "stupid".

Can Jeyne really enjoy watching the boy she claims to love suffer like this?

"Loras is your best friend. You can only have one best friend," Jeyne says. I wish she would stop talking.

"If you weren't pregnant with my brother's baby, I'd kick your ass myself. You are not deserving of someone as sweet as Robb, you dumb cow," Arya says.

"Robb, are you hearing your sister?" Jeyne says, touching his arm.

He's still not listening. He has surrendered to his own thoughts. I pat his back. He starts talking to himself about what he could have done to her. I reach for his hand. He pulls away. He has no idea I am here anymore.

I watch him stare at Meera, who for a second was staring at him. When she abruptly turns away he lays his head back down. He misses her. He springs back up as if to say "Eureka."

"I'll ask Sansa. She can tell me why Meera's mad then I can fix the problem."

Robb texts Sansa and she comes over to our table. She leans against it. Robb looks at her.

"Why is Meera mad at me?"

"I don't know, she won't tell me," Sansa lies.

This does not make Robb feel any better. He spies Jojen sitting with some friends on the lower platform. Robb jumps up and goes over there. I stay at the table.

"Why are you doing this? Just let them be friends. It won't hurt you. He is having a baby with you not Meera," I say.

"I don't care! He is too attached to her already. At any second he could leave me for her."

I am about to say something, but Arya flicks her potatoes at Jeyne. That somehow gets her point across, but not mine.

"You don't really believe Robb would pick Meera over you, do you? He's had a crush on you forever, and now you're having a baby together. You cannot honestly think he'd throw you away for someone else."

"He might."

"Then you don't know who Robb Stark is. I don't like you, but I try for his sake."

Robb comes back with no answers. He slumps in his seat and stares off into space, defeated. He got nothing from Jojen apparently. This is killing me. After lunch, Robb walks Jeyne to class. She plays the part of the sweet, innocent girlfriend.

"This is killing Robb," I tell Sansa during drama class.

"I know. I have to live with him. Believe me I know. He even went to her house yesterday but she shut the door in his face. I want to tell him the truth. Lying to Robb is like lying to Dad."

Robb plays his worst at hockey practice. Meera is on game. She is so focused she makes all her shots. Robb skates out to talk with her, she skates away.

"Please, I can't take it anymore," Robb says, desperation in his voice.

Meera wants to tell him, I know she does. But Jeyne is watching from the stands. She is always watching.

"Can you give me a ride home after practice? Gendry has plans," I lie. I hate lying to Robb.

"Yeah, Jeyne's brother is picking her up anyways. Does Margaery need a ride?"

"No, Renly picked her up after school on his way home."

I feel guilty. I need to tell Robb. When it's just he and I alone I debate telling him, but when we are about to pull out, he notices Meera walking toward her car. He drives up beside her and rolls down his window. Meera stares at him.

"Meera, I am truly sorry for whatever I said to offend you."

"Just leave me alone!" She shouts and gets in her car.

Robb looks hurt. On the way home, he stops at a gas station. He fills up his tank and goes in to pay. He comes out with a box of chocolate and a teddy bear.

"Before school tomorrow I will pick up a bouquet of white roses, twelve for the number of years Meera has been in my life. White roses say 'I am worthy of you' hopefully they will work."

I hate lying to Robb. He deserves better from me. I try to sneak a chocolate but he smacks my hand, "Those are not for you."

"I hope you and Meera work things out."

"Me too, this is killing me."

This shows how far Robb is willing to go to hold onto the people he loves. I tell Renly about it at home. He is still mad about what Jeyne said to me. I no longer call her 'Miss Westerling' because I no longer respect her.

"I hate her," says Margaery. Gendry nods. I join them to do homework.

Meera calls me after supper, clearly quite drunk. She is speaking nonsense. Meera has never been drunk before. This has to do with the situation with Robb otherwise I know she would never touch alcohol.

Renly offers to drive me to pick her up if I can get her to tell me where she is. She is at a teammate's house. Renly gets his coat on. He grabs my coat. I slide into it while still holding on the phone. She hangs up.

Renly and I make our way. That house is really far from our apartment, but not too far from Winterfell. We find Meera throwing up in a left over patch of snow. Renly and I run to her, I slip on some ice, but regain my balance.

"What are you doing here?" Meera asks. She drinks the rest of her bottle. I throw it away. Renly picks her up and carries her to his car, effortlessly. He grabs her cell, looks for her home number and calls it from his phone.

"Hello, Mr. Reed, this is Renly Baratheon. Meera is spending the night with Margaery. Yes, that's right, she is the princess. I am taking care of them as a favor for their parents. Anyways, I will make sure Meera gets to school tomorrow and her homework is completed. I would let you talk with her, but I have a rule that no one is allowed to be on the phone until they finish their homework. Thank you for understanding. It's no trouble, I love having her around. I will be sure to tell her. Bye."

"You are really good at that."

"Thanks. It comes from years of practice, my flower."

Renly kisses me. I kiss him back. We stop and realize Meera needs to get out of the cold. I let Margaery take care of Meera when Renly carries her in. She gives her a bath, and helps her get ready for bed. I do Meera's homework, and Renly goes to the laundry room to wash the beer smell out of her uniform.

"Anything I can do? Meera is my friend too," Gendry says.

"Yeah, could you get some extra blankets off the top shelf for her bed," I say. I know I would not be able to reach them myself and Gendry is kind of a giant. He's a quarter of an inch shorter than Robb, but he is still very muscular and massive.

Renly comes back upstairs and puts his hands on my hips.

"I hate this."

"I know."

"Thank you for not acting like Jeyne and making all my friends abandon me."

"I am not the clingy jealous type."

Meera sleeps in my bed with Margaery. I stay with Renly. We make out heavily, and get each other off; we clean up, and cuddle. Renly kisses me softly while we cuddle, then pulls me down into his arms and blows on my neck.

I close my eyes to feel his breath on me. I hum. He kisses my fingers in turn and says how much he loves each one of them. Renly nibbles playfully on my ear and whispers how crazy my ears make him. He kisses my nose, and tells me it's the cutest nose he has ever seen. He kisses my lips and says he never wants to kiss any other lips but these.

Renly pulls off my shirt, and kisses my collar bone. I whimper with my eyes closed still. He bites down, I purr in pleasure. He says those collar bones make him weak in the knees. He sucks on my neck, I whimper again. He says my neck causes his hormones to betray him.

"I love every part of you, my flower."

"Kiss me."

He does not need to be told twice. They are romantic kisses, but they still get me fired up. I wrap my legs around Renly as he puts his mouth on me. I bite my hand to keep from screaming out in pleasure when the moment comes.

Finally, Renly holds me close and we go to sleep in each other's arms. In the morning, I am dazed but happy, a little too much looking down at my lower region. Renly kisses me down there and helps gets me started.

"I should take a shower," I say.

"You're not that dirty," Renly says, kissing my shoulder. I hiccup when I try to suppress the moan that wants to escape my lips. Renly laughs and it forces him to bite me. It's going to leave a mark, but who cares.

I take a cold shower, even though it's winter. I blame Renly for that. I know he is just sitting in his room laughing about it. He does these things to me on purpose, but he knows I like them.

Meera is sitting at the table drinking coffee when I am dressed and ready for school. I kiss Meera on the cheek and sit down in front of my plate of pancakes and sausage links. Renly puts toast and maple syrup in the middle of the table. He sits down next to Gendry.

"I'm sorry for the trouble I caused," Meera says.

"You are no trouble at all, honey-bear," Renly says kissing her on the cheek.

"Thanks for breakfast."

"You're welcome. How did you sleep?" Renly asks.

"Not so good, Margaery likes to cuddle," Meera says.

"So does Loras," Renly says, winking at me.

Meera giggles. Renly is happy to see her laughing. Meera stops laughing and holds her head. Renly gives her some Tylenol to help with her hangover.

At school, I wait for Robb by his locker. He comes in with the chocolate and teddy bear in one hand, and a dozen white roses in the other. The humorous part is that Jeyne thinks it's for her. It's even funnier when he walks by her straight to Meera's locker.

I follow him, but not too close. Meera looks at Robb.

"These are for you. Whatever I did I am sincerely sorry, and I hope you will forgive me and be my bright star again," Robb says.

"You never give up do you?" Meera asks.

"If I gave up, I would lose you, and that's not an option. I had a taste of what it would be like to not have you in my life. It damn near killed me."

Meera is beaming despite her hangover. It takes every ounce of my will power to keep from shouting out that she should kiss him.

"You make it so difficult sometimes, you know that."

"Its more fun that way," Robb says.

Meera smiles at Robb. He smiles back at her.

"You are such a pain in the ass. I was trying so hard to be mad at you, but you make it impossible. I guess I'm going to have to accept these."

Robb is beaming. Meera smells the roses, then the chocolates, and puts them in her locker. She hugs Robb. He wraps her tightly in his arms as if she's going to be taken from him. He puts her back on the floor. I notice his face is red.

"So I'll see you at lunch then," Robb says.

"No. I don't think I'm going to sit with you guys."

"Please. I miss you so much," Robb says, "This is worse than when I was invited to Loras's home for Christmas and you weren't. I missed you so badly it gave me stomach aches. You being mad at me was even worse. I lost sleep over it."

Her hair falls in her face. Robb tucks it behind her ears. Meera looks like she's going to cry. She hugs Robb again and accepts his request. It looks like he is going to kiss her, but nothing happens. His face is redder than hers.

"Robb," Jeyne shouts.

"I have to go, but I will see you at lunch."

"Okay."

Robb walks away, looking back over his shoulder at her. He goes to his girlfriend and kisses her, then touches her belly. I walk up to Meera who looks like she is going to faint.

"Why is he so amazing?" Meera asks hugging the teddy bear close to her.

"You have it worse than I did," I tease her. She slugs me in the arm. For such a small person, she packs quite a punch.

"What do you think Jeyne's going to say about this?" Meera asks, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ears.

"She's going to hate it, and I'm going to love watching her hate it. I wish you were the one Robb chose."

"Do you really mean that?"

"More than you'll ever know. You're the only person I don't mind sharing him with."

"Funny, I always thought the same way about you."

We hug. I look over at Robb who is watching us with a smile on his face. Jeyne forces his attention to her. He hugs her and says something to her. But his smile is not for her. It's for Meera, and that is okay with me.