NOTES: I LIVE! And so does this fanfiction.

I am so absolutely sorry for all the delay with this new chapter. It was so sad to write that I started dragging my feet... u.u
Thank you so much for all the love and support, and for not giving up on me.

Chapter 14

Sansa could feel a headache coming. She had papers to hand in, tests to study for, and she was exhausted. She felt as if everybody was going mad and she was following along.

Jeyne had procrastinated as much as she managed and now was freaking out, so Sansa decided to give her some space. She hadn't seen Robb around for a while, but she was actively avoiding him at this point, and she imagined he was doing the same to her.

She wanted to see Jon; she was stressed, and he had a calming effect on her. And it was not about the sex! Seriously. Jon listened to her when she talked, and he was amazingly insightful. She felt that if she talked to him, he'd tell her something that would help her relax.

But Sansa was scared.

She was getting attached, she was letting Jon charm her. She might not be that silly girl from before, and she wasn't about to fall in love with the first man who was somewhat nice to her… But it wasn't just that with Jon, was it?

Things between them had started in a crazy way, and they carried on like that for a while. Even what happened now wasn't exactly normal for her; she liked relationships.

But… She also liked Jon.

That was the truth, wasn't it? She liked him, a lot. She wouldn't say she loved him, but… Would she get there? Would she eventually fall in love with him, while he still thought this was all a casual thing?

She liked dating for real and she caught herself wanting to date him. She wanted them to be together in the "real world", where everyone would see them. She wanted to tell Robb they were together, and introduce Jon to her parents and her siblings; she had a feeling Arya would love him.

Was she going insane?

What would Jon say if he knew what she was thinking about?

She didn't want to think he'd just say 'no, thanks', but there was this voice inside her saying it was exactly what would happen. Jon didn't want to date her, or he'd have said something.

Wouldn't he?

Should she take the first step?

XxX

"Well, I always knew you were stupid, but this takes the cake, Snow. Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

Jon sighed and gave Robb a look. "I'm not."

"Why would you take two fights like this?" Robb insisted. "I know you're a though guy, Jon, but even you need a break."

Jon waved his hand in a gesture of dismissiveness.

"What's got your knickers on a twist?" Robb pushed.

Jon wanted to tell Robb; he wanted to say he had doubts and that he was… What? Fucking Robb's sister? They weren't dating, this was quite clear. But he wanted to tell Robb he liked Sansa, he wanted to ask him for advice, because Robb knew Sansa better than anyone.

There were a lot of things going through Jon's head, and he didn't feel like he was processing them very well. He knew it'd been stupid to go for another fight so soon, but at the time it seemed like a great idea. However, now his head was spinning and Robb was on his case.

He'd cleaned the floor with his opponent the night before, but he still didn't feel satisfied.

"When are the Wildlings coming in?" Jon asked, trying to change the subject.

"End of the week." Robb replied, a curious look on his face. "You're not expecting Ygritte to come, are you?"

Jon groaned. "I'm not hung up on her." He growled at Robb.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Robb put his hands up in surrender. "Mate, you're really weird today."

"It's just not my day." Jon grumbled, picking up his bag and leaving the class.

He didn't need to learn whatever the subject was.

XxX

"Hello, Sansa!"

Sansa smiled at Sam. She had seen him at the fights a few times, and he was a sweet boy. It made her wonder how he got involved in all that mess.

"Hello, Sam." She gave him a warm smile. "I think this one is yours." She passed him the cup with his name on it.

"Yes." He blushed. "I'm sorry if I…" He stopped talking, then looked like he'd regretted even starting this conversation.

"Is everything okay, Sam?" Sansa asked, mostly because she was pretty sure Sam had no reason to apologize to her.

"I don't want to put my nose in your business, but…" He started again, but once more failed to finish the sentence. Then he seemed to take a fortifying breath and try again. "I know it's none of my business, but… Did you and Jon have a fight?"

Sansa wasn't expecting that. The only people that knew for a fact she was seeing Jon were Jeyne and -she guessed -Theon. Margaery Tyrell might have her suspicions, but Sansa wasn't about to admit anything to that one.

Now Sam… Jon had assured Sansa he hadn't told anyone they were… Doing stuff.

"Why do you ask?" She inquired, putting a bit of that cold formality in her voice, the one that always made people think twice before saying something else.

Sam got so red, Sansa worried he might explode. She didn't mean to be bitchy to him, but he was asking after her personal life, and she needed to know how much he was aware of.

"I… Jon didn't say anything!" He was quick to say, but he wasn't actually helping his cause. "I… Saw you leaving his apartment one day." He admitted. "And he's been happier than I've seen in a while, but yesterday…"

"What happened?" Sansa wanted to know, concern and curiosity winning over her embarrassment that Sam had caught her.

"Jon took another fight just because." He shrugged, helplessly. "And he's crankier than normal, so… I thought…" He shook his head. "I'm sorry I asked. It's none of my business."

Sansa was about to agree it was none of his business, but also to indicate that now she was concerned, when a man appeared behind Sam. "Sammy?"

"Oh, hey Dickon." Sam seemed relieved to see another person there. "Sansa, this is my brother, Dickon. He's visiting today." He said it so fast, it was obvious he was just happy for a new subject.

Sansa gave him a look, but then turned to Dickon. "Hello. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Dickon gave her a million-dollar smile. "The pleasure is all mine."

XxX

Jon needed coffee and peace, but he wasn't sure he would get the last one. Robb was really on his case, and so was Sam. His friend was extremely worried about his behavior. The thing was… Jon was starting to believe that Sam knew about Sansa, or at least, he knew something was going on.

Fortunately, Sam wasn't nosy, he'd never ask, unless Jon offered the information; and everyone knew the chances of that happening.

Even Ghost was looking unhappy today, with his ears lowered and his tail unmoving.

He'd been in his house, trying to study, but failing miserably. Jon decided to go out for caffeine and take ghost with him, to see if the dog would feel better, at least.

Jon pushed his glasses up when he got closer to the café, but paused before entering. He could see Sansa inside, talking to Sam and…

He pressed his lips together, trying hard not to feel like an idiot. He wasn't dating Sansa -not for real -and even if they were… She was just talking to Dickon Tarly.

Dickon, who was tall, blonde and had a smile that endeared him to every fucking one.

Jon knew he was just in a bad mood, he was tired and over thinking things, but still… It just seemed too much right then. He just turned and left without getting coffee.

XxX

Sansa had said her goodbyes to Sam and his brother as soon as it was polite to. She was a bit worried about Jon, and he wasn't answering the messages she sent, or the calls.

Sam had been worried about him taking a fight too soon. What if Jon was more hurt than Sam let on?

She knew she shouldn't do this, because she wasn't her girlfriend or anything, but she was worried. Sansa just went straight to his house; she was almost sure he'd be there now studying.

As soon as she arrived, she knocked on the door and heard Ghost's excited barking. She couldn't hear Jon's voice, so Sansa still wasn't sure if he was home.

Suddenly the door was pulled open and she was face to face with Jon.

"Jon". She gasped. "Are you okay?" He had quite the bruise forming. Someone had forgotten to put on makeup this morning.

"I'm fine." He grumbled, barely looking at her, instead focusing on holding Ghost by his collar, so the dog wouldn't leave the apartment.

It didn't escape her notice that he hadn't made a move to let her in. "Sam told me about the fight last night." She bit her lower lip.

Jon sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "He shouldn't have."

"Are you sure you're okay?" Sansa asked carefully, because he was acting really strange.

Jon scoffed. "Now you care?"

Sansa wasn't expecting that. "What? Of course I care! I don't want to see you hurt."

He sighed and let her in. Sansa entered the apartment, but she felt that something was really different.

"I thought you didn't mind." He commented, like it was an afterthought.

"What?" She asked, shocked.

"You never told me to stop." He pointed out.

"Why would I?" Sansa was extremely confused with this conversation. "I'm not your mother."

"You told Robb to."

"He's my brother."

"And you care about him." Jon indicated like it was a winning argument.

"I do. Jon, what is wrong with you?"

He sighed and pressed the heel of this hands against his eyes. "Nothing. I'm just tired."

"I'll leave so you can rest then." She decided.

"This isn't working." He grumbled.

"What?" Sansa demanded, now also tired of this conversation.

"This." He indicated the space between them. "We have to stop."

Sansa was dumbfounded. "Are you… Braking up with me?"

"How can I break with you if we aren't dating?" Jon threw at her. "We're just seeing each other. But I think it's time we stop doing that."

Now that… That hurt. It really did. The way he said it… It wasn't a lie, but…

"Oh…" She said, quite stupidly. "I… If you think…"

"I do."

Sansa took a deep breath. She was an adult. "Ok. I'll go then."

"Aye."

He didn't even look at her as she left the apartment.

Sansa stepped out of the building and started walking without knowing where she was going. She felt numb; the shock, the confusion, the insecurities…

Why had this happened? What had she done?

Had he noticed she was getting too attached and decided to get rid of her?

She didn't even notice she was crying until she felt tears sliding down her face. Sansa felt weak for a minute and took a seat on the first place she found. It turned out she was sitting on the steps of a sorority. More specifically, Margaery's sorority.

And that was how Margaery Tyrell found her crying her eyes out.

"What happened?" Margaery, who was just arriving at her own place, asked, completely taken aback by the scene.

"Leave me alone." Sansa cried, not looking at her.

Margaery looked around, clearly unsure. "Stark… Sansa. Come on."

"We aren't friends, Tyrell. No need to start pretending now." Sansa threw at her.

Margaery carefully sat beside her, but with a good distance between them. "Look… I know we aren't friends, but you're crying on my doorstep. Can I at least call someone for you? Your friend, maybe?"

"Jeyne will want to know what happened." Sansa sniffed, trying to get herself under control.

"Okay…" Margaery remained silent for a while, letting Sansa breathe.

"I'm sorry for crying here." Sansa finally said after a few minutes.

"It's fine." Margaery shrugged.

"Jon broke up with me." Sansa spoke up suddenly.

Margaery seemed surprised by the information. "So you were dating?"

"Not really." Sansa let out a humorless chuckle. "Which is exactly what he told me."

"What a fucking prick!" Margaery cried, startling Sansa. "I mean, if it's something you both agreed and all, it's cool, but that's rude thing to say to someone."

Margaery made a noise of disgust, then looked at Sansa, just to see the redhead looking at her with an amused grin. "Thanks."

"Oh, be quiet." Margaery rolled her eyes. "I just… I thought you guys were really together."

"I guess I thought the same. That was my mistake." Sansa sighed.

"We've all been there, Stark. I know it sounds like a line, but it's truly his loss. He might have the body of a god, but he's a mopey weirdo. You can do much better."

That made Sansa snort a laughter. She dried her tears, as Margaery waited in silence beside her. "You know…" Sansa sniffed. "You're not as terrible as I thought you were."

Margaery snorted. "Oh gee, thanks." She said dramatically, then she smiled softly. "Same goes to you, Stark."

They traded smiles.

"Are you dating my brother?" Sansa asked out of nowhere.

Margaery groaned. "Not exactly."

Sansa arched a brow. "But he wants to, doesn't he?"

Margaery made a point of looking at the ground instead of Sansa. "I'm going to write a formal letter to your parents complaining about your brother."

"You should do that." Sansa supported, though she had a grin on her lips. "Robb is a nice guy."

"He is." Margaery agreed easily enough. "That's the problem."

Sansa seemed legitimately curious now. "How come?"

"I'm used to managing guys. I can't manage your brother."

"Perhaps you should stop trying then."

Margaery had a carefully blank expression as she turned to look better at Sansa. "Is this your away of telling me to get lost?"

"No. It's my way of saying you should just date him."

Marge arched a brow. "Are you serious? I thought you wanted me to stay away from him."

Sansa shrugged. "Robb is a big boy; he can choose who he's dating. And, as I just said, you aren't as bad as I thought."

"Are you giving me your blessing?" Margaery teased.

"Just remember: you break his heart, I know how to throw a punch."

XxX

"Snow, please. Chill the fuck out! Robb's going to ask you what's going on and you'll have to lie to his face again."

"Shut the fuck up, Theon." Jon hissed at Theon, while they walked the hallways of the university.

Jon had fucked up, big time. He didn't need anyone to tell him that and he hardly needed Theon yapping at his ear.

What the fuck was wrong with him? How could he have been that much of a fucker to Sansa? She didn't deserve it. It wasn't her fault he was stupid and insecure.

But what he'd done? He'd acted like an arsehole, just because he'd seen her talking to Sam's brother; he spiraled because he always saw himself as less, and it had bubbled up. It wasn't an excuse, it actually made it worse. Sansa shouldn't be made responsible for the things he did out of stupidity.

He'd messed up badly, and he didn't know how to fix it. Something inside of him was saying to let it go, to not bother Sansa anymore, since he'd already fucked up. But… There was this desire inside of him to not let it go, to fucking fight for it.

However, apparently, his face was reflecting his inner turmoil a little bit too much, since Theon was commenting on it like this.

Jon pushed him inside the first restroom they came across. He checked to see if there was anyone there, then glared at Theon. "Look, I know I'm in a bad mood. But you repeating Robb's name isn't going to make it better, ok?"

"Fine." Theon snorted. "But you really need to chill the fuck out. He's already on my case, because he thinks I know something."

"He thinks it's about Ygritte." Jon guessed.

"It's not like he knows about Sansa." Theon pointed out.

"It isn't about her anymore." Jon confessed. "I…"

Theon arched a brow. "You broke up with her?"

"I'm an idiot."

"You won't hear me saying you aren't." Theon coughed, looking beyond uncomfortable by the turn in the conversation. "Are you fine?"

"I just told Sansa we shouldn't see each other anymore. What do you think?"

Jon was so stressed he hadn't heard the door opening or saw Theon's eyes opening in panic. But he sure as fuck heard the words.

"What did you just say about my sister?"

NOTES: DON'T KILL ME!

Jon is being stupid, but then again... He does know nothing, so...

There'll be two more chapters and then it's done.

Let me know your feelings!