ONE CLICK AWAY

"Have you heard from Brienne?" was the first question an audibly excited and understandably curious Margaery merely screamed into Sansa's ear as she picked up her phone at work. She picked up a couple of folders and shoved them into her drawer while the receiver of the phone was pressed in between her shoulder and her head. She slowly cleaned her desk for the day as she prepared her answer.

"I have not. Besides, how many times have I told you not to call me at work for non-emergencies? This is clearly not an emergency and you know it as well as I do," Sansa laughed back at her friend, "lucky for you I was about to sign off for the day."

"Early Dinner?"

"You bet!"

"Perfect, I'll pick you up. I was planning ahead to just sweep you off your feet, drag you to dinner and I am just a block away, come down and I'll be in the lobby when you come down," Margaery quipped, ended the call and Sansa shook her head. Margaery was truly unbelievable. She loved her, though. Sansa texted Tyrion to let him know that the Tyrell heiress was about to pick her up for an early dinner.

Sansa: You ok with that?

Tyrion: As if you needed my permission. Go and have fun, I am stuck at work. Jaime may be back somewhat soon but I will need to transition some of the cases to him. I am prepping this right now. It's a lot. Glad the fucker is back, tho.

Sansa: Tyrion! Language.

Tyrion: Yes, Ma'am!

Sansa: -.-

Tyrion: :D

Sansa: :*

Sansa made her way to the elevator and one short ride later she was greeted by a visibly excited Margaery Tyrell who was bouncing from one foot to the other in anticipation.

"Tell me everything!" she demanded the second the redhead stepped out of the opening elevator doors.

"Marg...," Sansa sighed and surrendered, lifting both arms up in the air.

"You cannot send me a text telling me that Jaime showed up during your guy's brunch and left with Brienne and then expect me not to be curious. I want to know everything! And I will have you know, this is an emergency and I won't allow you to classify this as anything else but!"

Sansa shook her head, indicating 'not here' and the opted for the small Italian restaurant around the corner that they knew had killer seafood dishes. When they sat down in the corner of the small family-owned restaurant and quickly scanned the menu just to land on their usual favorites, the honey-brunette intently stared at her friend until Sansa let out a small sigh and started to tell her.

"I don't know too much. This morning I had someone call me, I didn't recognize the number so naturally, I didn't answer the call at first. The number was very persistent and I was about to give them an earful about harassment when I realized that I was talking to Jaime...," Margaery's eyes widened and she gripped the edge of the small wooden table with her right hand, inching closer.

"He asked me to take Brienne to lunch to 'Seven Golden Flowers' and when I asked him why I should do that, he just said 'for Brienne' and ended the call. Typical Lannister, so stubborn and so demanding," Sansa rolled her eyes but her tone remained playfully, after all, she was dating Jaime's little brother.

"Aaaaaaaaand?"

"I decided to trust my gut. Something was going on between the two, you could tell. Remember that one time we bumped into them in that restaurant? I caught Jaime staring at her several times. He tried to hide it and had I asked him he would probably have denied it but I know what I saw. I saw him staring at her as if he was about to devour her, it was downright indecent," Sansa scrunched her nose but laughed.

"Aaaaaaaaand?"

"I took her to lunch. I already suspected it and then a waitress brought another envelope to our table. Brienne read the note and you should have seen her reaction. Her hands were shaking, she got really pale and then she had that smile ..."

"Oh, the one she gets when she soundly beats us at Jenga?"

"Better!"

"Oh, snap," Margaery laughed and sipped from her glass of water.

"Indeed. I was about to tell her that I was pretty sure that Jaime was at 'Seven Golden Flowers' that very moment, convinced he'd appear at any given second when her phone lit up with a push notification. I can only guess at this point but it sure looks like Jaime re-activated his account on that dating site ..."

"Who would have known that Jaime Lannister, of all people, is a hopeless romantic?" Margaery laughed and happily received her shrimp pasta dish while Sansa had her salad placed in front of her, "at least not me. I've known Jaime for a long time now and he never appeared to be the type of man that would go all out for a woman. I must say, I am impressed. Maybe I should have gone for Jaime sooner ..."

"Marg!"

"Kidding, no worries. I have seen his glances at her, too. Did you see how she blushed when he caught her after she tripped? That girl was a goner," Margaery grinned and took the first bite from her dish and moaned in appreciation, "this is good! So, what happened next? I need to know everything!"

"Well, they texted for a bit and then I guess she must have told him to come over and suddenly he stood there, beaming at her like she was his north star and I could tell she was about to cry. It was a joy to watch. Super romantic. I had already grabbed a tissue, just in case."

"Awwwwwwwwww," Margaery cooed.

"I made sure she took the rest of the day off. Naturally, she would fight me ..."

"Of course she would," Margaery rolled her eyes in between bites.

"... but she gave in eventually. By the Seven, I hope by now they've started at least round three of fucking their brains out," Sansa grinned and Margaery choked on a piece of shrimp, cleared her throat and began to laugh uncontrollably.

"Oh I sure hope you're right, but Brienne?" she cautioned, knowing their friend.

"Trust me on this: The way he was looking at her and she beamed back at him, there's literally no way these two aren't being very naughty as we speak..."

"At some point, we will have to leave my apartment," Brienne gasped in between kisses.

"Mhhhhhh, and why is that, Miss Tarth?" Jaime asked, nibbling on her earlobe which proved to be a very effective distraction.

"I literally do not have any groceries left. What will we eat?"

"Hm ... I suppose I should not say what went through my mind just now?" Jaime laughed and Brienne joined in.

"You better not!" Brienne pretended to be shocked but a mischievous grin tugged the corners of her mouth up and her eyes sparkled in the gleams of the setting sun.

"We could go out to dinner," Jaime suggested and Brienne flinched ever so slightly, which the lion noticed, "I know. There's bound to be people that will see us. I know this can potentially be rough. They're probably all staked out at Casterly Manor waiting for that perfect shot as we speak."

Brienne placed a soft kiss on his forehead.

"We could call the group if you want? Make it a group outing?" Jaime suggested and her face lit up, "that is if you're willing to share me just yet?"

"Mhhh, not right about now, but let me text Sansa and Margaery, see what they say," Brienne grinned and after one very resounding kiss she crawled out of the bed, went into the living room to retrieve her phone. As she re-entered her bedroom, Jaime sat up, the upper part of his body leaned against the wooden headboard of the bed. He took her in, watching her in all of her naked glory. Her mile-long legs he just learned could wrap beautifully around his body, her wide hips, her flat and trained stomach, her small and taut breasts, the broad shoulders and her face. Those eyes, those glorious eyes that looked into his very being with ease, discovering his deepest and darkest secrets and allowing him to heal.

"Jaime," she said, condescendingly but he knew she was teasing him. Jaime tried to remind himself that she had probably never shown anyone the full her. It was easy to forget, especially with what they had just shared.

Twice.

He grinned.

Brienne: Hey Marg, hey Sansa. Are you guys up for dinner?

Margaery: Brienne! What did Jaime do?

Sansa: Yeah, Brienne, what did he do? What do you need? Do we have to hire an ax murderer? What up? You ok?

Margaery: What did the fucker do this time? I swear to the Seven...

Brienne: Guys! Guys! Calm down!

Jaime watched as the replies flew in and grinned widely. Brienne was embarrassed by how quickly her friends jumped to conclusions but he soothed her with slow strokes of his hand up and down her arms and back.

Brienne: He's here. Everything is ok! We just thought we could go out for dinner? Or if you're not hungry for drinks? We thought it would be better if we were in a group instead of just the two of us. The paparazzi might already be gathered to find him. It's ... easier.

Sansa: Oh. Good call. I'll call Tyrion. He said he has to work but no. This is more important!

Margaery: Be sure to tell Jaime I'll end him if he hurts you. I will do it. I am Olenna's granddaughter.

Brienne: Trust me, he knows.

Margaery: Good.

"We should probably get dressed," Brienne mumbled into Jaime's shoulder after she had put the phone aside.

"Probably but under one condition?"

"That would be ...?"

"Can we be naked again, later?"

With an eye-roll, Brienne detached herself from Jaime, growled and went into the bathroom in order to shower. After a few seconds, she peeked back into the bedroom.

"You're coming?"

After a shower that had taken longer than anticipated, Brienne pondered what to wear for their outing whilst Jaime was left with an easy choice of simply wearing what he had worn before. He did, however, make a quick phone call to Bronn and requested a fresh set of clothes and some toiletries.

"Am I your fucking assistant now?" Bronn had growled which made Jaime laugh, "with a mouth like that you can be glad we're keeping you around," he responded. When he ended the call, Brienne was still standing in front of her dresser, just dressed in a matching pair of black underwear, unsure what to put on.

"You know, I really liked the work pants," he said, kissing her shoulder and watching goosebumps appear on her arms, "I mean I preferred them when they were off but they'll do."

Brienne smiled and marveled at the fact that everything about them felt seamless and natural despite the very brief duration of their relationship. Being wanted felt weird to her, unexpected to say the least ... yet unbelievably exciting. She could see him sneaking glances at her when he thought she wasn't looking, had caught him checking her out, could tell by his tender caress and his tentativeness around her. To be able to believe that someone would want her enough to ... the train of thought had her blushing furiously and it wasn't very helpful that Jaime continued to kiss her back, shoulders and neck.

"You're distracting me," she half-complained and the goosebumps intensified and gave away just how much he did indeed just that.

"I am sorry," he murmured.

"No you're not, but I'll let it slide," Brienne huffed in frustration.

"Don't tell me you're one of those women that have a full wardrobe but nothing to wear," Jaime joked.

"You must be mistaking me for Margaery," Brienne laughed, "that woman shops more than she works. I swear, she'd pester me about going out shopping every weekend and sometimes twice during the week."

"Well, that's the price you pay when you're a critically acclaimed it-girl," Jaime laughed and with one final kiss on her left shoulder, he retracted to give her some space to evaluate her choices. He quickly put his dark jeans, shirt and dark blue sweater back on and watched as she carefully selected a green silk camisole, one of her black work pants and a matching blazer. Jaime was watching her intently as she placed the items on the bed, brows furrowed.

"That doesn't work," Jaime quipped and her gaze met his, looking at him questioningly.

"That camisole requires no bra," he stated, matter-of-factly and Brienne blushed furiously.

"Any excuse to stare at my boobs," she sighed and turned around to put the garment back into her dresser.

"Actually, yes, but that's not the point. The bra doesn't work with the camisole and I bet if Margary were to be here, she'd tell you the exact same thing," Jaime grinned and Brienne snorted.

"She probably would," Brienne accepted his point after brief consideration.

"Trust me. Besides, too many straps, too much work..." he grinned at her, displaying his teeth, a challenge dancing in his eyes.

"Hm," was all Brienne answered and retrieved a strapless bra from her bottom dresser.

"See? Now get dressed, Bronn should be here any moment, I'll change quickly and then we're good to go?"

"Can this man fly?" Brienne asked incredulously.

"He was around my city apartment, I rarely ever use it, but I got some stuff there and it was more convenient than to have him drive all the way out to Casterly Manor. I think I might revive the apartment for the next couple of months, though. Casterly Manor can be ... intimidating," Jaime glanced at her pointedly.

"Oh, yeah, that's a good idea," Brienne responded appreciatively of his suggestion and as predicted, the doorbell rang a couple of moments later. Jaime unlocked the deadbolt and looked at Bronn who could not decide whether to snicker at the fact that they had the deadbolt locked or to scold his boss for the detour to Jaime's city apartment.

"Her friends have keys," Jaime said, matter-of-factly.

"And you didn't want them to interrupt you because ...?" Bronn laughed dirtily.

"Piss off," Jaime replied, grabbed the garment bag and a small pile of additional clothes and ventured into Brienne's bathroom to change.

"Since when are you being shy?" Bronn called out after him which alerted Brienne to his presence in her apartment. She shyly emerged from her bedroom to greet the unexpected guest.

"Hi," she managed to say before Bronn's rather intent stare distracted her entirely.

"I get it now," Bronn said after several moments of looking at her.

"I am sorry you get ... what?" Brienne asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I get why he likes you," Bronn simply stated, his tone ending this part of the conversation. This was all she was going to get.

"Do you want anything to drink?" Brienne asked and Bronn huffed, "Yeah, I would but I gotta drive you lot later, so that's not happening."

"Bronn," Jaime warned from the bathroom, "I can hear you."

"Just making fun of your girlfriend here," Bronn laughed, mischief sparkling in his eyes. As Brienne continued to watch Bronn with a mixture of curiosity and genuine concern for their safety in traffic, Bronn elaborated on his statement a little bit more.

"When I drive these two fools around," he showed her a toothy grin, "I listen in on most of what they discuss. They pay me a very generous salary just so that I keep my mouth shut..."

"What a joy it is when you're quiet," Jaime chimed in from the bathroom.

"Anyway," Bronn continued, "they not only talk about they law stuff, which I mostly ignore because I don't understand half of it and I am just too bored to try. It is also none of my business, so to speak. Sometimes, though, when these two get back from events, I do listen in. It's pretty interesting, all that behind-the-scenes knowledge you gather. It can come in handy, eventually..."

"I know you place bets on the duration of celebrity marriages, Bronn, do not even lie to me," Jaime yelled exasperated.

"I might," the driver replied with a smirk, "but that's not even the point I was trying to make. When I drove them back home that one night, Tyrion pestered your boyfriend there ... about the fact that he had just opened a tab for three women he didn't know. Do you know what I knew right then? That Cersei, that evil bitch, had lost his grasp on him. That miserable fucker, I was done with him being all moody and annoying and there we were. I watched him in the rearview mirror more closely from then on. I caught him thinking long thoughts and then just smiling in-between. Do you know when the last time was this fucker smiled? Most have been months. He's been insufferable. When he kicked Cersei out - solid gold, Gods be dammed I didn't bet any money on THAT!"

"You didn't?" Jaime entered the living room, tugging down one of his favorite woolen sweaters that he had put on over a crisp white dress shirt, the dark blue and the white a visible contrast to the grey he was sporting in his beard. Combined with dark blue dress pants and brown leather shoes, he looked like a mixture of serious attorney and men's health winter collection model which made Brienne insecure on the spot. Sensing her sudden hesitation, he closed the small distance to her, pulled her into his arms and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Oh for Seven's sake you're disgusting," Bronn rolled his eyes playfully and Jaime huffed.

"Can we go now?"

"Whatever you say, boss..."

"If only that were the case..."

They snuck into a side entrance of the hotel after Bronn had slowly reversed into the hidden side street that connected the hotel complex to a parks and recreation area and were greeted by Tyrion who had called ahead.

"You owe me one," the younger Lannister laughed and Jaime just rolled his eyes.

"Hey Brienne," the dwarf added, a roguish grin on his face.

"Hey Tyrion, good to see you," Brienne replied, fidgeting with her small purse. She would have lied if she had said she wasn't nervous. This wasn't about her friends, their circle had become her safety net after Jaime had left and even with him as their newest and most welcome addition ... it was about what this all would mean to their circle of friends. Before Jaime's return, they would have the occasional paparazzo appear (Margaery was pretty friendly with most of them, she knew she had to appear frequently in order to stay relevant - at least this was what she had told Brienne and Sansa when pressed) but with all the constant hype around Jaime's sudden disappearance and his also very sudden reappearance mere hours ago, it was bound to be chaotic and hectic.

This was neither what Brienne wanted nor what she needed.

It was part of the Lannister lifestyle, though, she supposed. Yet, Jaime hadn't seemed like he particularly enjoyed his spot in the limelight and canceling his public appearances for the foreseeable future surely meant something.

"Is this place still considered hot and trendy for those under forty?" Jaime asked, teasingly, well aware of how ... flexible ... trends had gotten in King's Landing as of late.

"Well, you won't belong to their target audience for too long, brother, I'd suggest you get familiar with retirement homes..."

"Haha," Jaime laughed.

"Tyrion," Brienne warned her boyfriend's brother, "you've just gotten him back. After complaining about your caseload for the past few months, I'd suggest you to try to be on your brother's good side for now."

"She does have a point," Jaime grinned at Brienne, a 50-megawatt smile threatening to blind her. Awaiting them at a table that was tucked in a corner were Sansa, Margaery, Jon, Ygritte, Gilly and Robb, glasses in hand and smiles on their faces.

"Welcome back Jaime," Margaery shouted and Sansa hurriedly fetched champagne-filled flutes for Jaime, Brienne, and Tyrion.

"Good to be back," Jaime said calmly after taking a small sip and an incredulous glance at Brienne who finished her champagne in one gulp. He sat down next to his girlfriend and his brother and when he felt all eyes staring back at him intently he added:

"I am glad to be back. Brienne already knows but I feel like it is important to let you in on why I was gone these past few months. I have taken time off to fully heal," he raised his injured hand, "and I can now say that I am almost at a full 100% recovery. This would not have been possible had I not committed to being concentrating on my physical therapy and my recovery. For me, it was important to do this someplace else, away from King's Landing. This also gave me a long-needed break from the media ... as you can imagine, it hasn't been quiet for a while around anyone with the name Lannister ..."

"Hear, hear," Tyrion chimed in and Ygritte and Jon laughed, knowing full well that their now-public relationship had caused similar reactions. Without realizing, Brienne drifted toward Jaime as he spoke and was startled when her arm made contact with his. As she was about to withdraw, Jaime mumbled "don't" in a low, raspy voice that only she could hear and she looked at him briefly with her sapphire blue eyes and realized that he needed the contact as much as she did.

"The company has informed the media that I will cut back all public engagement which will probably not quelch their thirst for news so we are pretty certain that they'll still show up but eventually lose some interest. My private life hasn't been very private in the past and this was one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made and I don't intend to repeat. It might be hectic, the media might try to approach you for any intel you might have but I am sure you all know how to handle it when it comes to it. My priorities are reaching that 100 % for a full recovery and not spending my time at fancy dinners that don't mean anything and are just to pretend that being a Lannister is to be somewhat more important than others. I've had enough of those, I am ready to become a more private person..."

Margaery snickered and it broke the somber mood Jaime had everyone wrapped in and everyone couldn't help but join in as Margaery started to laugh a hearty and sympathetic laugh.

"Your mind is seriously in the gutter, Marg," Brienne grinned and her friend stuck her tongue out at her.

"Well, I guess we should toast again?" Tyrion suggested and the circle of friends nodded, "To new adventures!"

"To new adventures!"

They had stayed for a few hours, enjoying their friend's company but got impatient quite early on. They had just found each other - again, if you wanted to call it that - and not spending their time alone with each other felt like a waste of said precious time. It was Brienne, however, who had pointed out that she didn't want to end up like one of those couples that were all couped up and never saw their friends that had Jaime think for a while.

He did not object when Brienne nudged his arm playfully and whispered, "wanna get out of here?"

"Gods, yes," came his breathless reply and Sansa shot them a knowing look.

"Leaving us already?" the redhead grinned, having read and understood the loaded atmosphere between her friend and her boyfriend's brother, "I mean, you just got here, but I guess you have places to be ... things to do..."

"Sansa!" Brienne exclaimed, blushing furiously.

"What's wrong?" her friend grinned innocently, "you deserve it."

They slipped into the town car a few moments later, Bronn grinning at them from ear to ear. "Oh shut up," Jaime said, exasperated.

"I have not said a single word," Bronn complained.

"But you were about to," Jaime teased him.

"True," their driver admitted, "where to?"

"Hers," Jaime said after a wordless exchange with Brienne, "we might want to get groceries on the way."

That earned him a chuckle from Bronn that didn't subside until after three big grocery bags were loaded into the trunk of the town car.

MEET MELARA - Newsletter, your source for all things gossip

Hello my lovelies and welcome back to our newsletter - sadly, there still isn't much we can tell you about the reasons behind Jaime Lannister's absence. We can, however, report that he was spotted tonight with a group of people, among them his brother Tyrion Lannister, Jon Snow and Ygritte Firekissed. They were also accompanied by Sansa Stark and Margaery Tyrell among others. We will keep you posted about the blonde woman that left the hotel with Jaime. We have a feeling we might see more of her despite the Lannister announcement that no public appearances will be scheduled in the foreseeable future. Are you disappointed by the latest developments my lovelies? Were you hoping to tame the lion yourself?

"That's enough," Melara's voice echoed off the walls of her office in one King's Landing's highest skyscrapers. She slightly turned toward the stylist that had been busy preparing her for her pre-filmed segments of the upcoming show she usually shot right there behind her desk. Several members of her B team were already in the room, lights and sound set up and ready to go. The recent news of Jaime Lannister's return had prompted them to push up the segment and release it on 'WesterTube' before the other gossip magazines or drama channels caught on to the news or had material of their own.

"Do we have the footage?" Melara called out, her blonde hair once again bouncing in perfect curls, framing her face and giving her an angelic touch.

"Here we are," one of her assistants, Onna, quickly placed five pictures on her desk for Melara to study, "this is them arriving, we were a little too late catching the woman but you can clearly see it's Jaimie ... and there is Tyrion welcoming them ... here we have two of them in the bar, one is a close-up and one is a group shot and then we were lucky to catch them right when they left."

Melara studied the pictures carefully, especially those in the hotel bar. The group looked comfortable and obviously delighted to have Jaime with them. The sheen from the candles painted everyone's features in warm, golden light and the fact that Jaime Lannister was fully and irrevocably smitten with the blonde giantess next to him was obvious.

"Get Berric for me," Melara said curtly and Onna darted off, leaving her boss with the pictures. The blonde show host sat back in her black leather chair, the pictures that showed Jaimie and the group in the bar in hand, deep in thought. Her processes were interrupted as Berric stood in front of her desk and cleared his throat.

"Ah, Berric. I want you to blur her features or put a layer over her head ... a question mark or something."

Berric raised his eyebrows, questioningly, at her and awaited her explanation.

"Work with me here, Berric. We should not reveal too much and these are the only pictures that exist from tonight. We can drag this out a little longer, make a little more profit off it, keep people interested. Besides, Tywin had promised me that Jaime would appear on the show We can play this big, Berric, really big," Melara explained and judging by the affirmative nod of her producer, she had convinced Berric that her plan was worth pursuing.

She turned toward her camera crew and waited for Berric to ok her on the altered images, heard the cue and her 'WesterTube' segment started.

"Hello my lovelies, my name is Melara Hetherspoon and tonight we are coming to you on this special 'WesterTube' transmission. We couldn't wait until our next show to air and we will update this story until we come back into your living rooms ... we are excited to say: The Lion really is back! And he's not alone."

Margaery: This might be a shock but we were on Melara's online 'WesterTube' segment last night. She rarely does one of these, she had said no one watches those but it appears our get together wasn't so discreet as we thought ...

Sansa: I am not actually surprised. We sat there with Ygritte Firekissed! I must say, I was fangirling a little bit.

Margaery: Of course you were.

Sansa: Have you seen the woman? She is ... whoa!

Margaery: I have seen her, I just never thought you'd swing both ways...

Sansa: I am very hetero, thank you very much but I do have to say she is a beautiful woman.

Margaery: I can whole-heartedly agree here.

Sansa: Brienne?

Sansa: ?

Sansa: ...

Margaery: They're probably busy.

Sansa: I do not need any emojis to go with this. You're on 'no emoji time', the last few weeks were rough enough. I should deactivate the emoji keyboard in your phone!

Margaery: Ha! You can't!

Sansa: I'll appeal to the manufacturer of your phone, tell them about your barbaric misuse of emojis, especially the eggplant. No one needs constant references to male genitalia.

Margaery: I do.

Sansa: Well, I don't!

Margaery: I don't actually care.

Sansa: I know you don't.

Brienne read the conversation, one eyebrow arched up and her mouth forming a small grin. Her group chat with Sansa and Margaery had gotten increasingly centered around her and Jaime which Brienne actually started to mind a little bit. She was grateful for the heads up in terms of Melara's web show on 'WesterTube', though, and she clicked on the link Margaery had just sent.

"It looks like Melara Heatherspoon did an online segment on us," Brienne said, quietly. Jaime stopped in his tracks toward the couch in Brienne's living room, carrying a glass of water. He was wearing sweat pants and a loose shirt, his hair was still damp from showering earlier.

"Oh she did now, didn't she?" Jaime said and handed her the glass of water, "that was quick, I gotta give her that. They must really be interested in me and we might not have done enough to stop this from happening. I'll talk to my father to see if he can get her on a tight leash for the foreseeable future. I am so sorry."

"Sorry for what exactly," Brienne commented pointedly, "We knew it was likely. It's unfortunate it's this early but I am sure their interest will die down eventually."

"I'll make sure it does," Jaime gritted his teeth as Brienne started the video and the Meet Melara anchor came into focus after the brief intro. It was only a short video, maybe about two minutes long but its intent was clear: create buzz and insinuate that Melara Hetherspoon would be the most reliable source for all things Lannister - now and in the future. Once the video was finished, Jaime got up and retrieved his phone from the table next to the door and called a number on speed dial.

"Father ... yes, I've seen it. We best take care of this, I haven't come back sooner to be needlessly harassed by the press upon doing so and I am not inclined to expose Brienne to it if I can't prevent it ... yes, I would appreciate that very much ... good, let Tyrion know and he'll get back to me after the weekend ... no, I will switch my phone off ... absolutely ... ok ... goodbye," Jaime ended the call and powered down his phone. He placed it on the coffee table in front of Brienne.

"My father is going to take care of it," he said and looked uncomfortable, "I hate to get him involved. He's most likely asking for something in return very soon but I am inclined to live with that."

Brienne just looked into his eyes, wordlessly. Something he had just said resonated with her. Jaime could tell something was going on but he knew better than to push her. Instead he offered a hand and Brienne took it. He guided her into the kitchen where a full breakfast was waiting for them.

"You did all of this?" Brienne marvelled as she took in the kitchen table.

"I did. I love cooking, it's very ... cathartic ... creating things is such a stark contrast to my dry legal work. Cersei ..." he stopped and looked at Brienne, a shocked expression on his face. It had become easier to talk about the time he had been with Cersei Baratheon and he was certain that he owed this to Brienne.

"Go on," Brienne said slowly as she sat down.

"Cersei ... never appreciated anything that I did for her. I know now that this is who she is and that she's never going to be anything than this but as a fool that was in love with her, I still hoped that would change," Jaime explained.

"We've all been there," Brienne said, warmly, "it's only natural to want to see the best in people even though we might know better. There is nothing to be ashamed about, especially should you never be ashamed for hoping."

"I really do not deserve you," Jaime half-joked but his expression betrayed him. He looked at Brienne in wonder, contemplating how he deserved her.

"Each to their own," Brienne joked.

Later that evening, after two very disruptive phone calls from Margaery that had Brienne inform her friends that she, too, would now power down her phone, Jaime and Brienne were on the bed, kissing slowly and languidly when Jaime remembered.

"What were you ... thinking ... about ... earlier?" Jaime asked in between sloppy kisses.

"Earlier?"

"When I was on the phone with father," Jaime clarified and Brienne created a small distance between them that had Jaime's forehead in a frown. Sensing that she scared him a little, Brienne placed her right hand on his shoulder to create a physical connection to him.

"You said you would not have come back sooner and that caught me off guard. Were you planning to be gone for a longer time?"

"That was the initial idea - I was going to spend my time in physical therapy and depending on the pace of my progress spend a sabbatical in Dorne or Lys. I hadn't decided on what I was going to do, the success of my therapy surprised everyone involved and I was actually not looking forward to spending any more time away from King's Landing ... especially not alone," Jaime paused. Brienne continued to look at him expectantly.

"But someone had decided to answer my stupid message on a stupid dating app so there's that."