ONE CLICK AWAY

* Previously *

Golden_Phoenix: You're worth getting to know, I can already tell. Don't ask me how I know, I just do. So ... would you want that? Me getting to know you?

Knightsblue: I would.

Golden_Phoenix: :) :) :) :)

Knightsblue: :) :D :)

Golden_Phoenix: I'll let you get back to your sheets ( ;-) ) - talk tonight?

Knightsblue: I would love that.

Golden_Phoenix: It's a date!

Jaime closed the dating website, closed his laptop and looked up. His eyes widened in confusion and shock.

"Cersei? What are you doing here?

Cersei was as cold as ice. When they were children, Tyrion used to think of her as the ice queen which would upset little Cersei more often than not but the innocent little girl with the golden ringlets framing her head would eventually turn into someone resembling Tyrion's childhood image quite well. When Tywin and his wife Joanna adopted her at age two, they were not hesitant about adding an additional member to the Lannister family and the fact that Cersei and Jaime looked strikingly similar did help their cause. The two siblings almost passed off as twins, almost the same age, the same golden skin, the same blonde shiny hair, and the same dimples when they laughed and inseparable like really good friends that happened to be brother and sister.

It all started to shift when Joanna died giving birth to their little brother Tyrion.

No one noticed at first, it all became much clearer the longer time went on, but especially Tywin and Cersei blamed baby Tyrion for his mother's death. No one would dare to outright say any of the sorts but the underlying meaning behind their actions was apparent.

Slowly but steadily, Cersei turned into her closed-off self, transforming into Tyrion's childhood image of an icy queen, changing the room temperature as she went, creating silence and shocked glances at her coldness and determination to never be stopped, never be questioned, never bee underestimated. She was a force of nature and she made sure people knew.

During their time together Cersei profited off Jaime's love for her, devoured every last bit of his emotion in order to sustain herself and would never allow giving anything in return. Tyrion had always wondered why Jaime hadn't seen it earlier, didn't realized how she had leeched onto his love and devotion for her, sucking him dry to the bone all the while pretending to love him in order to remain in this doomed relationship.

To think that she passed off three children as Jaime's ...

Tyrion had been on his way to pick Jaime up for a drive into the city in order to grab a late lunch - see and be seen, still his mantra in order to remedy the bad press following the breakup - and was just turning around a corner nearby Jaime's study, when he heard his strained voice coming from inside. Since they had the rule to not invite clients to Casterly Manor, Tyrion knew it had to be a private meeting or a very strenuous phone call. Tyrion stopped in his tracks and listened intently, trying to figure out whether he was barging into a meeting or 'just' a call when...

"I have asked you a question, dear sister. What are you doing here? I do seem to recall that I told you to never come close to Casterly Manor again, after you insisted on breaking up, taking all your belongings and the children and move out. I don't recall asking you to come back and I do not recall allowing you onto the premises without my permission. I am asking again, and I am not repeating myself: What are you doing here?" Jaime's voice was dangerously low, predatory and intimidating. Other people might have backed away and have left the premises; Cersei was not other people.

"I missed you," Cersei's response was low but carried emotion. Could she be meaning what she was saying? Tyrion sighed. It would be a first, granted, but she could genuinely be missing her former lover, it was known that things like that tended to happen eventually.

Tyrion was merely afraid his older brother would allow their adopted sister back into their lives. Tyrion vowed right then and there to find a different accommodation should that be the case. 'If you're listening, and I don't care which of the Seven does, honestly, but if you're listening please help my brother Jaime to be able to resist. He's so much better than he was and he could be so happy without being suffocated by our dear sister. Seven! Help him!'

Looking around him to make sure no one had seen his little prayer, Tyrion smiled in satisfaction as he could not make out any witnesses and continued to listen.

"Well, isn't that just dandy," Jaime commented, his voice laden with sarcasm.

"Jaime..."

"No Cersei, no. You cannot expect to waltz into Casterly Manor after almost a year and demand attention. You cannot simply show up and declare you miss me and turn back the clock, that is simply not possible."

"You say that now, but you don't mean that. It's us, Jaime, it's always been us. We can be 'us' again, I know it!"

"You don't understand it, do you? When you told me that the children were not mine when you told me you were seeing someone else, when you told me you were not able to be faithful to me despite your endless claims to love me, you destroyed whatever feeling I had left. There is nothing, there can't be no 'us' because you made sure of it. I used to want you but that is now long gone. You made sure of it by cheating on me, by pretending to love me, by lying to me who the fathers of your children were..."

"I never pretended to love you..." Cersei protested, but Jaime dismissed her claim quickly.

"You know, at first I thought that I was the one that had done something wrong. I mean, I might have been too much, too overwhelming, thinking that you and I belonged together ever since we grew up together. Women like you are so used to getting everything, it's ridiculous. You've never been 'in' this relationship, not really. You had at least one step out of the door at all times while I was all in, thinking nothing's wrong in the world. You made promises you could not keep and you knew you did not intend to keep. Don't you dare say something now, I know it would just be another lie!"

"But Jaime..."

"For months after you had left, it would feel as if you were still sleeping next to me. I would wake up to find that you were gone, gone for longer than I wanted but I knew you had made your choice. You made your choice by cheating on me and still expecting me to be faithful, you made your choice by pretending that the children we had were actually mine when in reality each of them has a different father, you made your choice by not actually loving me, but merely the concept of love and the concept of being loved by someone. This won't go on Cersei, you cannot show up and expect me to tell you that I would be welcoming you back into my life. I've told you and your attorney that I would be more than willing to see your children as their Uncle Jaime but this is all I am offering."

"Do you really think I would allow the children to come here unattended when I am not with them?"

"Well, if you insist on coming with them, those visits are no longer wanted."

"You can't be serious!" Cersei almost shouted.

"Oh I think he is very serious," Tyrion turned around the corner and added, "I would normally say it is good to see you, dear sister, but as I recall you're not actually allowed to be on the premises by an actual court order. Unless you want those charges against you processed and this happy little occasion leaked to the press, I suggest you follow Jaime's advice and leave. Oh, and rather never come back here again, unannounced and uninvited. I trust you still know the way back out? If not, I am sure I can ask Bronn to escort you out, if it pleases you more ..."

Jaime shot Tyrion an amused and relieved look.

Cersei wasn't having it. Her posture was tense, a lioness ready to pounce.

"How dare you?" she spat out, her entire being radiating aggression and frustration.

"Excuse me dear sister, how dare I what?" Tyrion asked in an innocent tone in his voice Jaime knew was all pretend.

"How dare are you telling me to leave? Like I would ever listen to anything you say!" Cersei shouted, now clearly losing it. Inconspicuously, Jaime pressed a small button underneath his desk and within a minute that was filled with Cersei's shouts of anger and pent-up frustration, Bronn appeared in Jaime's study and escorted Cersei out, his touch gentle at first but rougher the more Cersei tried to wiggle out.

"This is just gonna hurt more if ye keep wigglin'", Bronn laughed as Cersei added some kicks with her high heels to the repertoire.

"HOW DARE YOU KICKING ME OUT JAIME, YOU WILL REGRET THIS," Cersei's shouts could be heard all the way back to the entrance of Casterly Manor where Bronn made sure she actually got into the town care that brought her there. Eventually, he returned to Jaime's study to find him and Tyrion sitting on the corner sofa, each a Whiskey in hand.

"We'd ask if you wanted one, but we actually were planning on having lunch and you're the driver," Tyrion laughed. Bronn gritted his teeth and laughed a second after, "well, fookin' Lannister bitch is out of the premises an' I got to kick her out. I gotta say, it's a fookin' good day for me. I don't need a whiskey now, still high on dragging that bitch out!"

"Bronn! Language," Tyrion teased, a grin on his face.

Jaime laughed. Relief washed over him like a wave and the dam broke, his laugh bursting out uncontrollably. Tyrion looked at his brother, whom he hadn't seen laughing this happily in what felt like years (and maybe it had actually been years, Tyrion wasn't sure) and slowly shook his head in disbelief. When he finally calmed down enough for coherent thoughts, one immediate idea came to his mind.

"Hey Bronn, is the video system operative?"

Tyrion's eyes widened and realizing what his brother meant with the question, his grin intensified and he took a long sip from his whiskey. This was going to be so good!

"Can confirm, boss, why?"

"Excellent," Jaime smiled, "pull those tapes and make sure they're sent to the right person. I trust you know who I mean?"

"Aye," Bronn pretended to salute and ventured off to do as Jaime asked. Tyrion turned around to face his older brother, his admiration clearly radiating off him.

"You sent her away," he commented.

"I did."

"Whoa?"

"I know."

"What happened?"

Jaime hesitated for a second but found no harm in telling the truth.

"I've known I was done with Cersei for longer than I thought, even before I figured out she was cheating before I knew about Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen. I just had no idea I wanted something else, someone else maybe, even though I had no idea what exactly I was looking for, I started looking. As we both know, our family name has advantages but also disadvantages, especially when we wanna date."

At this remark, Tyrion flinched and grinned. Yeah, so much was true.

"And frankly, how does one date? I mean, I would not know, I've never had to do it..."

"First world problems," Tyrion grinned and Jamie playfully swatted his arm, but then Tyrion realized something.

"Wait a minute, you said you started looking ... online? Jaime Lannister? Have you met someone?"

Jaime's blush was the answer the dwarf needed.

"Oh by the Seven, you actually met someone? Really? What is she like? Is she pretty? Is she funny? Have you guys met?"

Giddy with excitement, Tyrion had to put down the whiskey on the small glass table in front of them in order to wiggle around and clap his hands ecstatically.

"Yes, I did. Yes, really. So far, she's pretty awesome. She has a great sense of humor and likes swords. I don't know. Yes. No."

Tyrion tried to remember his questions to match the answers to them and when he got to the one about how Jaime's new acquaintances looked, he stopped dead in his tracks.

"You met her on the site that has no pictures?"

"Yeah?" Jaime replied, unsure.

"Now, isn't that perfect," Tyrion grinned but would refuse to elaborate further. Instead, he hopped off the couch, extended his hand and added, "come on dear brother, I think it's time to have an exquisite lunch in a very expensive restaurant to celebrate this very interesting day. Shall we?"