Chapter 21

Jon Snow Stark POV

Something happened today when I got to school that was different. I was at my locker, and Ygritte walked past me down the hallway. She waved at me, and I waved back, but I noticed my heart started to flutter. And last night I had a dream about her. God, no. This isn't good. I think I have feelings for her. It's been a couple of weeks since the night of the Homecoming dance when we smoked together, and we've been texting and talking more. She, Tormund and Gilly eat lunch with me and Sam outside now. Sam's been growing even closer to Gilly. It's not like I'm going to do anything about my feelings, we're definitely staying friends. It's just going to be harder to do that now that we spend even more time together.

…

During rock climbing practice, Ygritte wants to be my partner again. It's okay with Sam because he can just pair up with Tormund. Sam's still my best friend, but I think it's good that we've been branching out socially. I don't like to be paired up with Tormund because all he does is stare at the coach creepily, he wouldn't notice if I was going to fall or even if I broke my neck for that matter.

Ygritte and I barely get anything done during practice. She's been making me laugh the whole time. I'm starting to miss her when we're not together. She's really funny, and even though she makes fun of me, I kind of like it. She calls me on my bullshit and helps me not take things so seriously.

My parents are going out of town Friday night for a weekend work trip, meaning that all us kids will be alone until Sunday evening. Mom and dad put me in charge because I'm the oldest, but I've never done that before without Robb here and I know they'll get mad at me if anything goes awry at all (especially mom).

…

I'm driving Sam home from school on Tuesday, it's just us since Sansa went to Margaery's house. Mom gave in finally, she hadn't let her go over there since the miscommunication incident.

"We should have a party on Saturday," Sam says to me after a prolonged period of silence.

"What?" That suggestion has me taken aback.

"Your parents will be out of town right?" He asks me.

"I mean, yeah," I'm still confused. "But I do have to watch Bran, Rickon and Arya."

"I don't mean anything crazy, just us, Gendry, Tormund, Ygritte and Gilly."

"I don't know…" I say. I really don't want to get in trouble with mom, and I know she'll blame me if something happens. "I'll think about it. I'll let you know tomorrow."

"Please consider it," Sam pleads. "I really want to keep this social life up."

"You just want a girlfriend," I say, teasingly.

"Maybe, but I also am having a lot of fun with Tormund and Gendry."

"Okay. I hear you. I'll think about it."

…

When I get home, it's almost as if dad heard my conversation with Sam. He's making dinner when he says to me, "Jon, you know how mom and I are going out of town this weekend?"

"Yeah?" I say.

"Well, Bran and Rickon will be staying with the neighbors. We thought that would be easier on you since Robb isn't here." Bran and Rickon are friends with two siblings that live a couple houses down. Their names are Jojen and Lyanna. That makes things so much easier since I won't have to worry about the kids being disturbed if we have people over.

"Oh, okay," I say. I try to hide my excitement. "That will be easier on me."

"You know the rules though? No one can come over without us here except Sam."

"I know, dad," I say, a little agitated. He always beat this rule into our heads when Robb was here. Mom is the one who's more strict about it, dad honestly wouldn't care much. It's not like Robb never had people over when they went out of town. I think dad secretly knew about it. Mom is definitely the stricter parent.

Sansa Stark POV

I still desperately want Cersei and Daenerys to think I'm cool. I know they supposedly don't blame me for what happened with Loras, but I still feel like I haven't proved myself to them.

One day at lunch it's just me, Cersei, Daenerys and Margaery. I hear Daenerys ask Cersei if they can have a party at the Lannister's this weekend.

"Sorry, father is back now," Cersei says. "You can come but we can't have a rager." This gives me an idea.

"Do you guys want to come over on Saturday?" I blurt out while they're mid-conversation. They pause and turn to look at me.

"Will your mommy be okay with that?" Cersei asks me. I hate that she talks to me like that.

"My parents won't be home, they'll be out of town," I say, confidently. "My brothers will be with the neighbors, so it'll just be us, Jon and my sister Arya. It'll have to just be you three, but we can still drink."

I see Cersei pause. Daenerys looks at her and says quietly, "It might be fun."

Cersei sighs. "Okay, I guess so," she says. I can tell she's very hesitant, but the fact that they agreed at all makes me feel good.

Jon Snow Stark POV

It's Saturday, and I invited Ygritte, Gilly, Gendry and Tormund over at the constant urging of Sam. Sam and I are getting home from the grocery store when Sansa walks downstairs.

"What are you doing?" She asks me.

"Getting ready for my friends to come over," I tell her. "It's just a few people."

"But I invited people over too!" She blurts out. "Daenerys, Cersei and Margaery are coming over."

"Daenerys Targaryen is coming over to my house?!" Arya says, shooting up from where she was laying down on the couch, reading her book.

"Why didn't you tell me that?" I ask Sansa. She knows I'm in charge for the weekend. Sam is being awkwardly silent even though he's seen my siblings and I fight dozens of times.

"I didn't realize you had more than one friend," she says. There's a long pause of silence, because she actually has a point. She then looks at Sam and says, "Sorry."

"Okay, well you still should have told me," I say, sternly. "I apologize for not telling you, but you can't just have people over without letting me know."

Sansa is very agitated. "So what are we going to do?" Sansa asks me, arms crossed. "It's not like we can have both crowds here at the same time, the social statuses are way too different." Since when has she cared about that?

"I can't cancel," I say. "Sam has been looking forward to this all week."

"Well I can't cancel," Sansa says. "I'm finally being sort of welcomed into their group."

There's a long pause. "Well then," I know Sansa won't like what I'm about to say. "You can either cancel, or we can find a way to coexist in the same house."

Sansa looks so mad. "Fine," she says, and walks upstairs. I guess the popular girls are going to be at a party with the outsiders, which is unheard of. How hard could coexisting be?