The halls of Winterfell were roaring with life. The dining hall was loud with laughter, conversating, feasting, dancing and music and Lacy was enjoying none of it. She sat quiet at the end of the table next to Amelia who was busy stuffing her face full of bread and wine. She watched as the lords and lady's danced on the dance floor, laughing and smiling at each other. The soldiers all huddled in the corner of the room, drinking and laughing loud and obnoxiously. She felt Amelia nudge her arm, bringing her attention back to the table.

"Lacy, are you with us?" Amelia asked, taking another sip of wine.

"Physically yes." Lacy answered back. "Mentally no. I'm in bed with a large cup of wine."

"Lace, I know you're dreading tomorrow, but this is our last night here. This is going to be the last time for a long time that we are going to be a Stark. At least try to enjoy, tonight will you?"

Lacy sighed, rolled her eyes and nodded at her sister. The music ended and everyone cheered. There was a loud bang on the table to her right and everyone started. King Robert stood and demanded everyone's attention.

"Winterfell! A toast!" He raised his glass and everyone followed suit. "Firstly, I want to make a toast to my dear friend Ned! Not only is he so graciously giving me his beautiful adopted daughter, Lacy, to my son Joffrey, but just today he agreed to be the new Hand of the King!"

The room roared to life with cheer as the announcement was made. Lacy could see Cat looking shocked, almost terrified at the news. This news was new to Lacy too. Did that mean Ned would be coming with them tomorrow to Kingslanding? Lacy turned back to Amelia to ask her, but she saw Amelia was gone. She looked up to try to see where she could have gone and she quickly saw her run out of the dining hall.

"To celebrate the future union of our two houses, a dance for the two-future betrothed." Robert concluded.

The music started up again and when Lacy looked up, she saw the prince standing in front of her, hand out, asking her to dance. She hesitated, not wanting to dance with him, but knowing she had to for the sake of show and their houses. She stood, and took his hand. Joffrey lead her around the table and to the dance floor. Lacy had saw the look on Sansa's face as she walked past as a look of envy. Everyone parted to let the two have the floor. They bowed at one another and Lacy unwillingly, came to Joffrey. He placed his hand onto the middle of her back, between her shoulder blades and she placed hers on his shoulder, their other hands in the others. They began to dance to the music, and Lacy knew that she had to put on a good face for the people and royal family. She smiled and looked like she was having a good time, while she thought about where her sister had run off to.

Jon had entered the dining hall late. He was dressed in his finest clothes and he had slicked his hair back. He wasn't allowed to sit at the Stark table, given that he wasn't truly a Stark, but a bastard that his 'mother' clearly didn't want. He found a table in the far corner of the room that had a perfect view of the family table, just enough that he could see Amelia perfectly, and sat there, grabbing himself a cup of wine, and some food. As he ate, he watched Amelia. He smiled as he saw the way she was eating. He knew Amelia was a picky eater, so when she went in for her fourth chunk of bread and sixth glass of wine, he smiled to himself. He had screwed things up with her earlier, and if she was to leave him for Kingslanding tomorrow, he didn't want her to leave on the way they left things. He had to talk to her and fix things, to tell her that he loved her too, and that he didn't want them to be apart. He took one last gulp of wine, and built up enough courage to go talk to her. He stood from his place at his table, and started to walk over to her. He didn't get very far, when the king stood up and started talking.

"Winterfell! A toast! Firstly, I want to make a toast to my dear friend Ned! Not only is he so graciously giving me his beautiful adopted daughter, Lacy, to my son Joffrey, but just today he agreed to be the new Hand of the King!"

Jon froze. His father was leaving Winterfell? That can't be. Who would run the castle? He knew for a fact Robb didn't want it yet. He wanted to work things out with Lacy first. Then the thought hit him, he would be alone at Winterfell, with Cat! There was no way that he would stay here without Amelia and now his father, and the gods know who else of the children would go with him. The room was slowly starting to close in around him. He felt like he was suffocating and he needed to get air. He turned and walked out of the hall. He was almost running when he reached the front doors of the castle. He pushed them open and the cold air washed over him. He was breathing heavy as he tried to take in deep breaths. His head was spinning, and everything around him was too. What would he do? He was losing Amelia tomorrow morning and now the only person that was allowing him to remain in Winterfell was leaving as well. He fell to his knees, his legs seeming to no longer being able to keep him up. Everything was crashing down around him and he hung his head and closed his eyes, trying to make the world stop.

"Jon?" A female voice rang behind him.

Jon looked up, the world suddenly stood still. He knew that voice, that soft, sweet voice that had called his name so many times. That voice that could make his world stop. He stood up, not turning around.

"Jon, are you okay?" She asked again.

Jon just stood there and shook his head. "No, Amelia, no I'm not okay."

He heard her footsteps get closer, until he felt her hand on his shoulder. "Jon, look at me. Please."

He couldn't. He knew that if he looked at her, he would lose all composure that he had. He would break down, and take her into his arms, kiss her until both of their lips were red and swollen. He couldn't let that happen here. Not with the royal family around.

"I can't."

"Why not?" She asked, surprise and what sounded a bit like anger in her voice.

"Because I can't! What do you want anyway Amelia? Shouldn't you be inside with the others anyway?" Jon bit back, hardly meaning a word he said.

"I don't want to be inside. I saw you leave the hall and I wanted to see if you were okay."

"Well I'm not, so now you know. You can go now."

There was a long pause of silence. Jon was starting to get cold then and he felt a shiver go through him. Then he heard Amelia speak.

"Is this it then? Is this how we are going to leave things? Do I really mean that little to you that after all these years this is who you end things?" Amelia asked, shivering. Jon could hear it in her voice that she was cold. He didn't say anything to her.

Amelia scoffed. "I told you I loved you Jon…and you didn't say anything back to me. I maybe thought after all these years, you would have felt something for me. Anything."

"Don't be foolish." He said with a tone. He didn't have to see her to know that she flinched at that.

"Do you love me Jon? I need you to tell me because if you don't, please, I beg you say something so that I can start to move on."

He didn't know what to say. He couldn't lie to her about this. He couldn't form the words 'I don't love you'. Every inch of his body was burning to take her into his arms and tell her that he has never loved anyone else in his life but her. But he just stood there, frozen in place.

"Good buy Jon." Amelia said, as she walked back inside the castle.

Jon could hear her footprints get fainter and fainter as she walked farther and farther away. He felt his heart shatter into pieces.

"You should have told her that you loved her kid." A voice rang out, catching Jon off guard.

"Who said that?" Jon asked, looking around.

A small man, no more then four feet, steeps out of the dark underpass and into the light. Jon recognized him as Tyrion Lannister, the Queens youngest brother. Jon started to panic as he realized that he had been caught.

"I…uh…I wasn't…." Jon stuttered, trying to find the right excuse for what he might have just saw.

"Relax, I'm not going to tell anyone that the adoptive daughter of Lord Stark is in love with a bastard. Trust me, I know about family outcasts, and I try to protect them if I see one. We have to have each other's back you know."

"I…appreciate it…I think." Jon was confused, and his head started spinning again.

Tyrion walked over to him and handed him a cup filled with something. "Take a drink, it looks like you need it."

"What is it?" Jon asked, taking the cup.

"Something much stronger than wine. It looks like you need it."

Jon took a sip of the liquid and swallowed hard. The taste was foul, and it burned going down. "So, what is the Lannister outcast doing at Winterfell anyway?" Jon asked.

"I am on my way to the wall. I figured I would accompany the King and my sister here, as it is on the way to my destination." Tyrion confessed.

"The wall? Are you looking to join the Nights Watch or something?" Jon asked, taking another sip of the liquid.

Tyrion laughed. "As much as my father would love if I do that, I'm actually just going because I would love to see it. Also, I would much love to piss at the edge of the world. Wouldn't that be wonderful?"

Jon couldn't tell if he was joking or telling him the truth. "Sure."

"You should come! It seems like you are having lady trouble anyway, so why not get away for a while. Let her cool down, and when you get back she'll see all over you again. Like flies on shit!"

Jon was silent a moment. "She won't be here when I get back. She's leaving with her sister and my father tomorrow along with the royal family back to Kingslanding."

"Oh…" Jon hands the cup back to Tyrion, but he refuses it. "It seems like you need it a lot more than I do. Anyway, you should think about it. The invitation is open to you if you would like it. Now if you would excuse me, I'm going to find a brothel." And with that Tyrion walked away.

The party was pretty much over, with the exceptions of a few drunks that still were laughing and talking loudly in the dining hall, but everyone important had returned to their rooms. Lacy was sitting in the library, with the lights dim, only the small fireplace was lit. She had retreated here after her third dance with the prince. He clearly didn't know how to dance, because he kept steeping on her feet all the time, and he would get mad at her and whisper that I was overtaking him and trying to lead herself and that she should get better dance lessons. The library brought her peace so she had run at the first chance she got. She was tiered, and drained from the day and she just wanted to crawl into bed. She loved her bed and it made her sad that this would be the last night she would be sleeping in it. She left the room and walked towards hers. The halls were quiet, and she hopped that everyone was asleep. She arrived to her room and closed the door behind her. She looked around her small room and tried to take in all of the detail. Her small bed that was centered in the middle of the far wall, covered in pelts and a small blanket that she used to have as a child. Her book shelves lined the other wall, filled with her favorite stories and adventures. The fireplace was lit, casting a warmth and glow into the room. She will miss this room, so much. She walked into the room more and to her bed, where her night clothes were placed out for her. She changed into them quickly and climbed into her bed, one last time.

There was a knock on Jon's door. It was late, and Jon wondered who it could be. He opens the door and in comes Rob.

"Brother, I need to speak with you." Rob said, walking right in.

"Sure, Rob, what's wrong?"

"What are we going to do?" Rob said, getting straight to the point.

"About what?" Jon asked.

"The girls leaving tomorrow. I can't have Lacy go. I can't have Lacy get married to the prince! She can't leave Jon! I need your help. What do I do?" Rob almost begged.

"Rob, I don't know how to help you. Amelia is leaving tomorrow too and I don't know what I'm going to do about it either." Jon confessed.

"We have to do something Jon."

"We can't Rob! I wish we could but we can't. This is the royal family we're talking about. We can't just cross them."

"We're really going to lose them tomorrow aren't we." Rob said, defeated.

"Yeah, we are."

They were both quiet for a moment until Jon broke it. "I'm joining the Nights Watch."

Rob looked at Jon stunned. "You're what?"

"Tomorrow, before everyone leaves, I'm leaving to join the Nights Watch at the Wall. Tyrion Lannister is coming with me. He's the one who offered it actually." Jon informed.

"By the gods…did you tell Amelia?"

"No. She doesn't have to know. She's going to have a new life in Kingslanding and forget about me here. I can make myself useful if I'm up there. I'm a bastared Rob, I have no family name to live up too, no duties and responsibilities that I have to follow through on, and you know that once father leaves, Cat isn't going to let me stay here."

"That's not true Jon. Cat wouldn't do that to you." Rob said, trying to talk Jon out of his decision.

"Yes, it is and you know it. She's always hated me. It doesn't matter because my mind is made up. I'm going."

"If that's what you want brother, I wish you only the best of luck." Rob hugged his brother, tightly, not wanting to let go of him.

Jon hugged Rob back too and then pushed him away. "Go see Lacy. I'm sure she's going to want to see you."

Rob nodded, and left. Jon stood by the front door, just starting at where his brother had just left. He stood there thinking, about Amelia and telling her of where he was going. He decided to write her a letter and leave it for her. He wouldn't be here when she woke, when she would leave this part of her life behind her and go into a better one. He wouldn't tell her goodbye, he refused to let her go on his own. Leaving was his best option…it was the easiest option…. the cowards option. He sat at his diner table, that was placed in the center of the room and started to write his final goodbye.