Disclaimer: I recently got obsessed with Game of Thrones, but doesn't mean I own it!
Story: Shireen has a hard time with people, but Sansa has always been there and parents her more than her actual parents. She doesn't even know where her mother is and her father tries but ends up awkward or distant. But she has Sansa and band, so it's alright, she supposed. Sansa had been taking care of Shireen for a long time. She's been to each of the girl's band concerts. She also makes sure Stannis gets the invites and pictures. He just hadn't realized how much a part of their lives she was until she was practically gone. These two awkward Baratheons have had their lives entwined with Sansa's so much that they couldn't picture life without her.
Set as a modern day AU.
Spoilers: No.
Warnings: No, I don't think so. Cursing and maybe sexual situations?
Pairings: Stansa (Stannis/Sansa)

March to My Heartbeat
Chapter Four: The Confrontation

Stannis had just finished a meeting with the Martell Group, satisfied with the closing he'd had with the head of it, Doran Martell. Certainly a man much easier to deal with than his brother of course, as Oberyn Martell was (in Stannis' opinion) very trying on the nerves.

His phone rang, and recognizing the number as Sansa's, he immediately answered it without thought.

"Hello?" he asked breathless, shaking his head at himself.

"Mr. Baratheon! It's Sansa."

"Sansa, thank you for calling. Is something the matter?" he managed to say normally, probably due to not facing her right then. Her voice was still very lovely to hear, and if he closed his eyes he could imagine talking to her face to face, picturing her clearly in his mind.

"No, not at all. I just thought I'd call you to let you know Shireen's winter concert is in a few days, instead of texting and emailing you like I normally do. I hope that's okay?"

"More than fine," he assured and preferred this way anyway. "I can leave work early and meet you at her high school."

"Great! I'll save you a seat. It'll be in the school's gym, so look for it and I'll probably already be seated."

"Thank you, Sansa," he said, containing his excitement to inside of him, not wanting to let her know just how much he was looking forward to seeing her again.

"I'll see you there!"

She hung up after and he took his phone away, staring at it. He took a deep breath.

"Hey, what's with that dreamy face, Stannis?" Renly snarked as he passed by.

"Shut up, Renly," he said, scowl returning.

"Oi! What's this I hear about Stanny getting a dreamy face? Is it because of a girl?"

Fuck his brothers.

As he entered the gym, he looked around to find Sansa. It wasn't hard to find her, what with her bright red hair acting like a him. She sat at the front, where a few line of extra chairs had been placed in front of the bleachers. As promised, a seat on her left was empty and he knew was saved for him.

Approaching her, she noticed him when he was but a few feet away.

"Mr. Baratheon, you're here," she smiled widely. She gestured to her left at the empty seat. "Saved you a seat, like I said I would," she winked at him.

One would think he'd be able to be normal around her by now. It was the third meeting, for Seven's sakes! But no —instead, he stayed silent and stared dumbly, walking over and sitting like a robot. When she resettled by his side, he was stiff as a board and wondering if this was his fate every time they'd meet.

"I'm glad you're here," Sansa filled in the silence comfortably, not even noticing the tension in him. "Shireen was so surprised by last time, but she told me she was really happy you'd come to the showcase."

"Thank you for letting me know of these things every time, even though I hadn't come before. For continuing to let me know of them, even when it seemed like I would never come," he expressed sincerely . It was something he was sure he'd be forever grateful for.

He licked his lips and looked to her seriously. "The truth is…before the invitation to Shireen's showcase, I hadn't even paid attention to the other invites. I hadn't even known they'd existed. I barely pay much attention to my personal email and I confess I probably skip over your texts because I hadn't recognized the number and had been too busy or uncaring to delete the texts as they were sent. I was so ignorant of Shireen's life that I hadn't even known she was in band, much less what instrument she played."

He waited for judgment, to see it all over her face and in her eyes, but found none. Instead, he saw her smile sadly at him.

"I figured that was how it was," she told him honestly. "It's not any of my business, but I know you two can have a wonderful relationship together. You two already do, if in your own quiet, sweetly awkward ways. Shireen's so much like you, I can see that now. I understand how you two will have trouble expressing yourself to each other, but I have all the faith that you two can find your way back to each other. I'm really glad I was able to reach you that day and you came to see her."

"And I'm glad I came," he found himself unable to stop his lips briefly lifting up. "Thanks for not giving up on me."

"I'm happy to have kept trying," she said teasingly. "You're a hard man to get a hold of, Mr. Baratheon."

"My time is limited," he played along, finding it easy to actually smile in her presence, this smile outright, even if it was a small one.

"I do wish I'd tried your business email sooner," Sansa said. "It's just that I was taught not to mix business with personal, and I thought at first you were getting my texts and emails from your personal and really was too busy to come."

"I will be taking much more of an active role for Shireen," he promised. "I hope it's not too late, but I love her and never wanted her to think I didn't or that I don't care."

"Oh, then I suppose Shireen won't need me to come to her parent-teacher conference this Friday," Sansa beamed at him.

Opposite to her positive reaction, Stannis' stomach dropped. Parent-teacher conference?

"This Friday?" he asked stiffly.

She looked uncertainly at him, probably sensing the change of emotion. "Yes, Shireen told me last week that this Thursday and Friday are early days and the parent-teacher conferences will be held either day. She told me I could come with her for Friday."

Stannis tried to not flinch, but it was hard not to. His daughter hadn't even said a single word about it to him. They'd even been having dinners more frequently together, since he'd taken to leaving his office earlier than usual so he could have dinner with her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know she didn't say anything," Sansa bit her lip.

"No, no. It's not your fault," he said as he swallowed thickly. "Shireen is just not used to me taking an active interest. I'll let her know about it when we come home tonight."

She smiled faintly at him and reached out to touch his shoulder gently, making his heart jump into excited staccato beats he was having trouble keeping up with.

The car ride home was quiet. Shireen was tired and Stannis was still reflecting on what was said between he and Sansa. Every few minutes, he'd glance at her and continue to stew in his thoughts.

"Why didn't you tell me about the parent-teacher conference this week?" he found himself asking.

That had Shireen blinking several times as she woke herself up more into awareness. Then she sat up in her seat and stared at her father, though Stannis kept his eyes on the road, even as his finger tapped on the wheel in agitation.

"Why would you care?" He was shocked at her speaking to him tersely. "It's not like you ever came to them before!"

Shit, Shireen was angry with him. He should've expected this. He should have known it wouldn't have been so easy to slide back into her life and be there for her, like he should've.

"I do care!" he tried to tell her. "I've never not cared about you, Shireen. I know I've been absent and haven't been there for you like I should've, but that never meant I didn't care or love you."

She scoffed, glaring at him through teary eyes, the same shade of blue as his. It made his heart ache and guilt to surface.

"Just not enough to come to my concerts or to anything important to me! You and Mother were never there! Sansa was! She's always there for me and coming to my concerts, to my conferences, to anything I needed her for! That I was supposed to need you and Mother for! Just leave me alone like you always do!"

She turned away from him and Stannis made himself focus on driving, leaving her be to calm down as he blinked his own tears from his eyes.

They were near to home already, but it was a long, tense silence in the car as he drove.

He should have waited until they were home.

As soon as they got home, Shireen stormed from the car and slammed the door, probably just as angrily entering their home. Upset and regretful, Stannis took his time, deciding that he should give her her space and let her cool down. Instead, he grabbed her instrument case and music book, and then headed inside their silent home, placing her things by the entrance door.

He knew it was going to be an uphill battle from here, and that he really had missed out and messed up when it came to his daughter. Selyse, Gods damned that woman, was nowhere to be found and last he'd heard was that she was back home with her family and more than happy to have divorced him.

For a while now, it had been just him and Shireen. Only, they'd lived separate lives and had never been able to intersect the way they should've always been able to, and his reticence with emotion and showing affection had caused him a real relationship with his daughter.

He should correct that though. It hadn't just been him and Shireen. Sansa had also been a part of them, always stepping in for Stannis without him knowing, and being there for Shireen always.

And after Shireen's blow up, he was more than grateful for her interference and easy acceptance of his daughter into her own life.

If Shireen had had no one to turn to…

Breathing in deeply, Stannis walked up the stairs and towards his daughter's room. He knocked before announcing he was coming in and then entered.

After immediately noticing his daughter in bed and facing away from the door, though she was much too stiff to have been sleeping already, he looked around her room and held still.

There was a touch of Sansa everywhere. Photos of her and Shireen in various outfits, from Halloween to band concerts to Shireen's junior high graduation. Each important little memory captured in a picture, and always featuring the two girls together. Then he remembered the shirt Sansa wore the day he met her, at Shireen's showcase. Band Mom it read; a misprint she'd told him.

No, no —it was entirely correct.

Sansa was, more or less, Shireen's mother in all but blood. She was the only mother, parent Shireen considered as hers. Stannis would just be fighting to earn that right again.

Neither Selyse or himself were worthy enough to be called Shireen's parents, and Shireen probably didn't think of them as that. But Stannis wouldn't stop until she did again, until she was assured of his love.

Walking over to Shireen, he sat on the bed behind her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. She tensed up even more.

"Shireen, I know I've not been the father you needed and wanted," he started quietly. "That is my fault. I assumed too much and thought you needed space, and gave you too much space. I've never been prone to showing affections or accepting them, nor been able to express myself normally to others. The way I grew up with your uncles and my natural disposition has made me and kept me that way. But you are my daughter and for you, I should've tried harder. I can only hope you'll eventually forgive me and let me be a father to you, to really be there for you now and earn your love back."

He began to retract his hand when his daughter turned around and shuffled towards him, lifting her head. Her eyes were red and still a bit teary, but she had a tiny smile that made relief rush through him. She reached out and grabbed his still held out hand.

"I'm angry at you, but I never said I didn't love you," she whispered. "It's just…it was worse with you than with Mother because she never cared and I think even disliked me. But you…you were Daddy and I loved you and you loved me, so when you were absent so much, it hurt more than it ever did with her."

"And I'll be here for you now," he promised.

Shireen bit her lip. "Can I still keep Sansa?"

"She's not a possession," he teased, though he squeezed her hand and nodded.

Besides, part of him almost said something else.

As long as you share and let me keep her too.

Started 2/13/20 – Completed 2/14/20

A/n: These Baratheons. Such a dysfunctional lot~ Also, Stannis remains an Eternal Dork. And Shireen is Angry!Bby right now, but she's Cute Angry Bby :D Our Dork and Angry Bbys, people XD Lol, please send some feedback and let me know what you like and what you'd like to see!

Quick Points:

1. Current GoT Fics: Her Song of Fire and Ice (SansaxRoose/Stannis/Tywin), A Red King Bowed (Roose/Sansa), and March to My Heartbeat (Stannis/Sansa). Also The (Im)Perfect VERSE, including Deck the Halls and now Count Me Down to Midnight, and soon Be Still, Heart.