Joanna didn't want to believe that she had been caught in such a compromising position with Jon Snow. She didn't want to believe that her father was dragging him off of her, his lips leaving hers. She had no other option but to open her eyes then, watching as her father pushed Jon to the other side of the wall and then looked back to his daughter, a glare in his eyes as he did so.

"Father!" Joanna complained when she saw Jon bounce off of the wall and almost loose his footing. "What do you think you are doing?"

Jaime looked perplexed for a few moments, shaking his head back and forth as he took in Joanna's question.

"What am I doing? What are you doing, Joanna? Acting like some common whore in the middle of a corridor," Jaime scoffed to his daughter and her cheeks turned red as she heard him. "What would have happened if I had not come?"

"Nothing," Joanna snapped. "We were hardly...not in the corridor...not at all...I am well aware that I am not to lie with a man until my wedding night."

Jon remained silent, his eyes wide as he watched Jaime take Joanna by the elbow and steer her away. He didn't bother trying to defend himself as Joanna was doing a good job of that by herself. Apparently Jaime couldn't even bring himself to look at Jon. Joanna remained angry with her father as he dragged her to her chamber, flinging the door open as it hit the wall behind it.

Joanna snatched her arm from his hold, running her fingers up and down her bare skin Jaime had gripped tightly.

"I did nothing wrong."

"You did everything wrong, Joanna," Jaime responded. "What would have happened if someone had seen you? Did you think about that?"

"It was just a kiss-"

"-Jon Snow is not an option for you," Jaime replied in a hiss. "You are here to pick between Robb Stark and Ramsay Snow. Ned Stark's bastard is not one of them."

"But I don't want them," Joanna complained as Jaime sat down on the edge of her bed, running his hands down his cheeks. She was stood tall, her hands balled into fists as she did so. "I like Jon. Grandfather is prepared to legitimise Ramsay Snow. Why would he not do the same for Jon?"

"Because Jon is not destined to inherit anything," Jaime said. "You know that. He is not an heir like Robb Stark. And how can you determine whether or not you want Jon? You have only just met him, Joanna!"

Joanna bit down on her lip then, realising that her father spoke some sense. Yes, she had only just met Jon, but she already knew that she liked him. She liked him more than she liked Robb and definitely more than she liked Ramsay.

"Are you really determined to throw away your life and stay here? What happens if he is not who you think he is?"

Joanna sat down next to her father then and Jaime continued to stare at her. He could see the moisture in her eyes and the scrunched up look on her face told him that she was thinking about what he had just said. Jaime sighed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as she looked up to him.

"I could come to love him...perhaps..." Joanna admitted. "Is it too soon to know? How do you know?"

"I don't know, sweetling," Jaime admitted to her.

"But how do you know that you love mother?" she asked of him and Jaime shrugged his shoulders. "You do love her. You have to love her...I've seen how you look at her."

Jaime gulped and moved to kiss Joanna on the top of her head softly. He closed his eyes as he kept his chin on top of her curls, his gaze set on nothing as he considered what she had just said to him.

"I care very much for your mother," Jaime decided to say, "but I do not think anyone can define what love is. Love is being willing to do anything for another person...where you cannot be without them...I don't know, Joanna. Your mother is better at this than I am."

Joanna let out a small smile at that and Jaime looked down to her, his hands moving to her cheeks and pushing her hair behind her ears. She remained silent as she stared to her father and then sighed softly, nodding her head slowly.

"But love takes time."

"Love takes time," Jaime repeated to her in a soft voice.

"And we don't have time in Winterfell," Joanna spoke in a small voice. "As soon as the King arrives then there will be not a lot of time."

Jaime continued to stare at her, knowing what he should do. He should tell her that she could stay in Winterfell for as long as she wanted. He should give her time to get to know Jon Snow better and decide whether or not she could spend the rest of her days with him. He said nothing though. He couldn't bear the thought of leaving her in the North whilst they travelled back to King's Landing.

"You may see him again," Jaime merely mumbled. "I do not know how you feel, Joanna. Only you know that...but...I am not pleased with you falling for a bastard. I do not like the thought of you becoming Lady Snow should he never be legitimised."

"It is only a name."

"A name you would have to live with for the rest of your days," Jaime continued. "There is a lot to consider, Joanna, but you do not need to make any brash decisions. You will never have to do that."

Joanna nodded and Jaime kissed her cheek before wrapping his arms around her again, wondering what would happen.

...

"You and Joanna Lannister seem to be close," Eddard Stark spoke to his bastard son the following morning.

He was seated in the Grand Hall, chewing on his breakfast when Jon made a move to sit opposite him. He was silent for a few moments, thinking back to how Joanna's lips had fitted perfectly against his lips. He picked up a slice of bacon and chewed on it slowly, nodding as he did so. He could not deny that.

"She is a kind girl," Jon said.

"Aye, she is," Ned agreed. "But...I worry about you growing close to her, Jon. I worry that it will cause you nothing but pain. You are aware that she was sent here to choose between either Robb or Ramsay."

"Ramsay is a bastard too," Jon muttered.

"Who has been given a promise of legitimisation," Ned agreed. "If you were to ask for Joanna's hand in marriage then I cannot promise that for you. Only the King can declare who is legitimised. The King may be my best friend, but he does everything his small council want him to do...and Tywin Lannister is another powerful man. His granddaughter is nothing but a pawn to him. He is a firm believer in securing the Lannister name-"

"-I know where I stand," Jon suddenly interrupted his father's speech. "I know that she is meant for a lord and not a bastard. I know that. I also know that I cannot be with her...I cannot subject her to a life...they would call her Lady Snow...and if she had my bastard? Why subject another child to that?"

Eddard looked sadly to his son as Jon threw the bacon down on his plate and stood up, his hands clenched to his sides as he stormed from the Hall. Anger coursed through his veins as he thought about everything that had happened. He had always been told who he was. All of his life had been spent with him knowing that he was a bastard. Why should it change now? He could be legitimised, but he would never be Lord of Winterfell. He would never be good enough for Joanna Lannister.

...

There had been a few times in Harrold's lifetime when he had seen his sister upset. There was the time Joffrey had threatened to have her beat by the Hound. There had been the time Queen Cersei had told her that she was not fair enough to marry a gallant prince. But he had never seen her as upset as she was when she stormed into her chamber that evening.

He had been waiting for her as he lounged on her bed with a book his Uncle Tyrion had lent him. He peeled his eyes to the doorway to see her entering her chamber, sobbing as she did so.

"What is the matter?" Harrold asked; confusion evident in his eyes as Joanna slammed the door shut.

"Jon Snow," she snarled his name. "He...he told me that he would never want me...that we could never be together...I tried to explain to him...I told him that I would beg my grandfather...the King...I didn't care if he was a Snow."

"Ah," Harrold said, finally seeing what was upsetting her.

Jon Snow must have told her what most people already knew. She could never be with a bastard of Winterfell who could give her nothing but himself. He had no titles or lands to hold. He had nothing to give Joanna. Harrold knew that his sister would not care about that, but everyone else would.

Joanna sat down with Harrold and he looked to her softly.

"Everything happens for a reason," Jon whispered to Joanna and she sniffed loudly. "Everything always happens for a reason."

...

"She fell for a bastard and I fell for a whore," Tyrion informed Jaime and Elena as they stood in the courtyard and waited for the arrival of the royal party. "The Lannister family seems to be fated."

"I cannot get her to leave her chamber," Elena complained with a shake of her head. "I tried to talk to Lord Stark, but he said that Jon has made his decision."

"It is the Starks and their bloody honour," Jaime muttered. "The boy may be a bastard, but he is more Stark than he thinks."

"Just not in name," Tyrion shrugged. "The boy could have been a Stark, but father would never have let the King legitimise him because he could never be Lord of Winterfell. We all know how the Crown bows down to House Lannister."

"Who does not bow down to House Lannister?" Elena scoffed to them. "Joanna tried to tell him that she did not care if he was a Snow. Apparently he would not listen to her."

"At least one good thing comes from this," Jaime mumbled. "Ramsay Snow seems to have lost interest in her. Lord Bolton is not happy with the way she has behaved. He does not think it prudent of her to lock herself in her chamber and cry for a man she could never have loved."

"Lord Bolton is a cold hearted bastard," Elena muttered.

"Speaking of cold hearted bastards," Tyrion drawled, "I wonder how our dear sister has changed in our absence?"

Jaime kept silent. He didn't like to speak ill of Cersei. He preferred not to speak of her at all. Elena looked across to her husband and Jaime peered up to her with a knowing stare. It was the unspoken promise that they did not talk of Cersei when they had no need to. Jaime knew it brought her pain and he did not wish to do that to her. Regardless of what people thought, Jaime did have a heart when it came to his family.

"Probably still as cold hearted," Elena said, shifting her stare from Jaime and over to Tyrion.

"Probably," Tyrion agreed. "And with that in mind, I think I shall go and find a nice warm hearted whore to share a bed with until the feast tonight. Do welcome the royal party for me."

"Tyrion," Elena complained. "It is bad enough the twins are not going to be here to greet them, and now you decide to leave us to suffer."

Tyrion smirked to his sister in law and nodded before wandering off. "Only some of us should suffer."

Jaime chuckled as he waddled away and Elena stood by her husband's side as more people seemed to enter the courtyard. Jaime ran his hand up and down the small of her back which was covered in her long blue cloak. She looked up to him and sighed.

"I wish that we could have stayed at Casterly Rock," she complained to him.

"You are not the only one," Jaime grumbled. "I did warn you that the North brought nothing but misery."

...

Jaime had spent the rest of the evening avoiding his sister and the King. He did not wish to speak with them. He spent his time sat at a bench with Tyrion and Elena. Jon Snow was nowhere to be seen and Joanna had declared that she was too ill to come out of her chamber. Harrold laughed and joked with Robb Stark and Theon Greyjoy. The night had ended too late and Jaime had collapsed into bed.

It was only the following morning over breakfast when Cersei demanded to see him in the Broken Tower. He had scowled, but he had done as she had asked.

"What do you want to speak about?" Jaime demanded once they were in the Tower and he was certain that they were alone. "Elena is helping Joanna to pack her belongings. She thinks that we should leave as soon as possible. It is not healthy for Joanna to stay here."

"I did hear that she had fallen for the bastard," Cersei spoke lowly. "At least it was not Lord Bolton's bastard. He would have raped her before our arrival had she had shown him any affection."

Jaime glowered at hearing that, but he said nothing. He refused to let Cersei upset him anymore. She looked to him, a cold stare in her eyes as she did so. It took Jaime a few moments to rake his eyes over her body, recalling the pain he felt in his chest as he did so. He could not be with her again. He had too much to risk.

"Jon Arryn could be a problem," Cersei drawled, lacing her fingers together and wandering around the Tower.

"And why is that?" Jaime asked her, remaining stood where he was.

"He knows about us," Cersei said.

"There is no us."

"There is always an us," Cersei quickly replied. "I still wait for the day, Jaime. I wait for you to come crawling back to me. Your wife does not love you like I do, and you do not love her like you love me."

Jaime gulped, refusing to deny her. "You know it is too dangerous for us."

"I know that you feel that way," Cersei assured him. "I know you worry that your wife shall find out. I know that you worry she will do something drastic and take your children from you. You have done well to keep her at bay."

Jaime remained silent as Cersei leant against the wall and cocked a brow to him.

"And do you think that Jon Arryn told anyone? How does he know anyway?"

"He looked into our past," Cersei said. "It doesn't take a clever man to see that our children look nothing like Robert."

"Your children," Jaime corrected her. "You have your children and I have my children."

Cersei scoffed at hearing that before she noted the small figure over Jaime's shoulder. Jaime turned his head over his shoulder and saw the young boy too. The dark haired child tried to move away, but Jaime was quicker. He grabbed him by his shirt and Cersei felt fear rise inside of her. How much had he heard? How much did he know?

"Are you completely mad?" Jaime asked the boy, recognising him as Bran.

"He heard us!" Cersei roared.

"I know," Jaime agreed.

"He heard us," Cersei repeated.

"I heard you the first time," Jaime promised her before looking to Bran. "You're quite the little climber, aren't you?"

Bran nodded and looked between the Queen and Jaime. Jaime followed his stare and he wondered how much he had heard. The look on the boy's face told Jaime that he had heard enough. He had heard enough to ruin Jaime if he spoke to his father. No doubt he would. And what of Elena then? What would happen to his wife if everyone knew Jaime had fathered bastards? She would never let him in her bed again. Robert would most likely have his head. Jaime would have to spend the rest of his days knowing that he had disappointed Joanna and Harrold. The twins would never look at him in the same way.

Jaime couldn't lose them. He couldn't lose Elena.

"The things I do for love," Jaime spoke in a small whisper before he pushed the boy from the Broken Tower.

...

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading and do let me know what you think!