Chapter 10

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things

This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things by Taylor Swift

It was so nice throwing big parties / Jump into the pool from the balcony / Everyone swimming in a champagne sea / And there are no rules when you show up here / Bass beat rattling the chandelier / Feeling so Gatsby for that whole year

So why'd you have to rain on my parade? / I'm shaking my head and locking the gates

This is why we can't have nice things, darling / Because you break them / I had to take them away / This is why we can't have nice things, honey / Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me? / This is why we can't have nice things

It was so nice being friends again / There I was giving you a second chance / But you stabbed my back while shaking my hand / And therein lies the issue / Friends don't try to trick you / Get you on the phone and mind-twist you / And so I took an axe to a mended fence

But I'm not the only friend you've lost lately / If only you weren't so shady

This is why we can't have nice things, darling / Because you break them / I had to take them away / This is why we can't have nice things, honey / Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me? / This is why we can't have

Here's a toast to my real friends / They don't care about the he-said, she-said / And here's to my baby / He ain't reading what they call me lately / And here's to my mama / Had to listen to all this drama / And here's to you / 'Cause forgiveness is a nice thing to do / I can't even say it with a straight face

This is why we can't have nice things, darling / Because you break them / I had to take them away / This is why we can't have nice things, honey / Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me? / This is why we can't have nice things, darling / Because you break them, I want to take them / Nice things, honey / Did you think I wouldn't hear all the things you said about me? / This is why we can't have nice things

Sansa - August 2017

After a few weeks, it was time for Sansa to decide whether she would stay on in London, pick up where she left off in San Diego, or start a new job in Seattle. By the time she had to make the decision, it was easy for her. Home was calling to her and she was more than happy to take that route.

She landed in Seattle and was surprised to see Theon waiting for her outside of baggage claim.

"Where's Arya?" she asked.

"Gee, it's good to see you too, Stark!" Theon laughed and loaded his car with her bags. "She couldn't get out of work so she asked me to pick you up."

"Oh my God, I'm so rude, I'm sorry! I just thought Arya was supposed to pick me up. Hi, Theon, it's so good to see you!" she said and gave him a hug. He wrapped his arms around her tighter and let the hug last a little longer than she liked.

"So how are things?" he asked as he drove her home.

"Pretty good actually; I'm happy to be back."

"I'm happy you are too. Still a single gal?"

"Um, yeah." She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and he was wearing an overly confident grin.

"That's good. Well hopefully you're not holding out for Jon."

"I'm not, but what do you mean?"

"He had been hooking back up with Ygritte. Once she left town, he took it badly and has been making his rounds at the bars with college girls."

"Oh, good for him."

Was Arya just trying to hide it from me? Sansa thought as she looked out the window, trying to mask her sadness for the rest of their drive.

"Call me if you're feeling lonely, Stark!" Theon yelled from his truck as he left her in front of her parents' house.

Sansa went inside and tried to keep busy, unpacking her belongings to keep her mind off of Jon. She took a break when she randomly received a call from her friend Beth Cassel. They were friends in high school and even though they weren't as close these years, they were still friendly. She now worked at the same company as Theon. Sansa picked up, hoping a conversation with Beth would keep her mind occupied.

"Welcome home, Sansa!" Beth exclaimed. Beth had called Sansa only once while she was in London and she seemed oddly over-interested in Sansa's dating life there.

They caught up, Beth once again asking if she was seeing someone. "Nope, still single." Sansa answered.

"Oh my gosh, okay, you need to be with Theon!"

"Um, what?"

"He's had a crush on you for a long time and he's always talking about you in the sweetest way at work! You should give him a shot, you two would go great together! Especially since Jon Snow has been whoring it up at the bar we all go to."

There it is again. "Jon can do whatever makes him happy."

"I'm just saying that you should move on from him, Sans!"

Well that was weird, Sansa thought after their conversation ended.

Arya arrived at the house and Sansa tried to broach the subject carefully, trying not to seem too interested in what Theon and Beth had told her.

"Huh. That doesn't seem like Jon. But he is pretty private so I don't think he would tell us those kinds of details. I'm sure Robb would know though."

"We don't need to bother Robb about it."

Sansa went about her day, affectionately greeting each family member as they came home. Robb and Margaery came over to have a big family dinner to welcome Sansa back home. It felt weird not having Jon there, as he was so much a part of the family. Sansa wondered if he had been invited but turned it down because he didn't want to see her.

She sat with Margaery on the porch after dinner, her hand on Marg's stomach to feel the baby kick.

"Did he get back with Ygritte?" Sansa didn't want to mention it, but the words fell out of her mouth.

"What?! No! She was in town and asked him to dinner one night and that was it. Why would you think that?"

"Theon had mentioned that and some other things."

"Robb!" Margaery shouted.

"No, no, let's not get everyone involved!" Sansa said.

"Yes, lovey?" Robb asked, sticking his head out the door.

"Theon told Sansa Jon got back with Ygritte."

"Um, no, he definitely didn't. She wanted to catch up with him while she was in town. All they had was one dinner together, he told me it was good catching up with her, and that was it. What the hell is Theon going on about?"

"He - He also said Jon's been hooking up with college girls at bars after Ygritte went back home," Sansa quietly said, again trying not to seem like she cared too much.

"What?" both Robb and Margaery exclaimed.

"Sansa. Do not listen to Theon. He has always been trying to get into your pants. He probably wants you to forget about Jon and fall into him instead. God, I'm going to kill that guy," Robb said, shaking his head.

Sansa went to sleep that night, wishfully thinking about Jon.

She hadn't contacted or seen Jon the rest of that week, she had been busy settling in and starting at her new job in the city. But Saturday came and it was Robb and Margaery's baby shower. Catelyn was throwing them a co-ed shower in the backyard so that meant today was the day she'd see Jon.

She was nervous as she dressed in a floral, fluttery dress. She began to regret not contacting him and waiting for this party, it now felt weird to have waited this long. She shook it off and went down to help her mom decorate and set up.

People began to arrive; every time a person walked through the door, Sansa would feel her stomach do a little flip as she expected to see him walk through. Theon walked in and she saw Robb grab his arm, lead him to a quiet place, and quietly but angrily tell him to stay away from his sister or else he could leave. Theon looked like a scolded puppy as Robb walked away.

"Hey you."

Sansa had been looking at that spectacle and didn't realize Jon had arrived and come up behind her. She spun around and looked at his gorgeous face and a smile spread on hers.

"Hi, Jon." She wasn't sure if she should hug him or not.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm doing really well. How about you?"

Before Jon could answer, they could hear a frazzled Catelyn calling for Sansa.

"Go ahead, we'll catch up later," he said with a small smile.

The shower breezed by. In between helping her mom make sure the guests were eating and drinking, she caught up with everyone she hadn't seen in some time. She didn't get a chance to even get near Jon until people started to leave.

Jon

Sansa found him standing on the pier, looking out over Lake Washington. He heard footsteps on the wood, turned to look, and it seemed like she was walking to him in slow motion, the breeze blowing her dress around.

"So how are you doing?" she asked as she came to a stop next to him.

"Pretty good. Happy to be home?"

"I am. I liked London. I loved San Diego. But it just felt like it was time to be home."

"I can't lie to myself, I kinda miss San Diego."

"Really?" she asked with a smile, not believing him.

"Really. It was nice down there." With you, he thought. "You liked London?" He had heard of the things that she was up to while out there, it definitely seemed like she enjoyed London.

"It was good for me. It did it's job and now I'm back home and happy."

"I'm really glad to hear that, Sansa." Jon felt like he sounded too formal. He didn't know how to be with her anymore now that they weren't together. But he was too scared of asking how she felt about him, too scared of rushing her into anything. "I heard about Baelish. I'm proud of you, protecting your family and the company like that." In truth, Jon wanted to kill Baelish after he heard the stories.

"Thanks, Jon. I think it was actually therapeutic for me, in a weird way. After he was taken care of, it felt like everything had been lifted off of me and I could move forward."

"Good. I really am happy for you, Sans." She reached over and gave his hand a momentary light squeeze as she kept looking out at the water. "I - I heard you were able to move on," he blurted out, unable to stop himself.

"What do you mean?"

"With dating, back in London." Jon shook his head. "I'm so sorry. This is none of my business."

"It's okay. I went on a couple of first dates with some of my coworkers' friends but that was it. I think I was trying to prove to myself that I was okay. And I really was okay, I didn't feel that old familiar fear anymore."

"It's okay, Sans, you don't have to hide things for my benefit," he said gently. Jon had been told there was a lot more than some first dates.

"What? That was literally it, just a few first dates that never went anywhere. What have you heard, Jon?" She was looking at him now with concern written on her face.

"I just had been told that you had multiple boyfriends and hook ups throughout your time in London. It didn't really sound like you. But I hadn't spoken to you so I didn't know."

"Who the hell told you that? That couldn't be farther from the truth."

"Beth Cassel. She works with Theon and he started to bring her around to the bar we hang out at. One night she was telling me she had talked to you on the phone and you told her everything."

"That bitch. She lied to you, Jon. And it turns out she and Theon lied to me about you."

"What did they tell you?" Jon asked. Theon was an old friend but he never failed to annoy Jon with his antics.

"That you had gotten back with Ygritte. And you've been hooking up with college bar girls since she left."

"Absolutely not. Ygritte was back in town and she called to see if I'd meet her for dinner to catch up. I went and it was good to see her. She's married now, has a kid, and she's happy up there in Alaska. I was happy for her. But that was it. And I don't even know where he's getting this college girl shit from." Jon thought back to his catch-up dinner with Ygritte. He told her about the Sansa situation and was brooding that he wasn't good enough for her and failed at helping her. 'Ugh, you know nothing, Jon Snow!' she had exclaimed. 'She is trying to do what's right, trying to fix herself, not only for herself but probably also for you. She wants to be strong so she has to do it herself, you can't be her knight in shining armor.' After Ygritte had talked some sense into him, he began to feel a little better.

"Yeah, I asked Robb about it, he straightened it out for me." Sansa sounded shy. Jon wishfully thought that she might have asked Robb about it because she still cared. "So Theon and Beth have been lying to us."

"Well, Theon's always wanted you."

"So I've been told."

"And Beth has been a little overly flirty with me at times," Jon said, looking over at Sansa and seeing a slightly glowering expression on her pretty face.

"So they were trying to make sure to keep us apart so they could have chances with us?"

"Looks that way."

"Wow. That's pathetic." She let out a little laugh and he smiled at her. He put his arm around her shoulders and lightly pulled the side of her body against his.

"Missed you, Sans."

"Missed you too, Jon." She laid her head on his shoulder as they watched the sun set over the water.

Sansa

After everyone left, Sansa helped her mom clean up as she vented to her about Beth and Theon. Catelyn listened patiently and told her daughter that they aren't true friends. Sansa went up to her room and grabbed her phone. When Beth picked up, she sounded cheery and innocent, until Sansa laid into her.

"This was mainly Theon's idea!" Beth pleaded.

"I thought you were a friend. But no, you're a backstabbing bitch. Don't ever talk about me again. Goodbye."

It was a short call but Beth didn't deserve any more of Sansa's breath. Next up was Theon. This was trickier. Theon was relatively close to the family, having been around since he and Robb became friends in grade school. He was one of Robb's groomsmen. Not that Theon hasn't ever pissed off everyone in some way or another.

His voice sounded cautious when he answered his phone.

"Why, Theon? Why lie? You've been friends with Robb for so long that you were like family. Why did you have to mess that up by lying?"

"I just couldn't see you with Jon anymore, Sansa. He doesn't deserve you."

"You're wrong, Jon deserves more."

"Sansa -"

"No. You could have just been honest with me and not lied to me about Jon. Did you not think we would find out about what you and Beth were saying about us? It's because of you why we can't be friends. Good luck with Jon and Robb, I'm not so sure your friendships could last there either."

She hung up on him. She felt better having gotten that drama all cleared up. As she laid in bed trying to fall asleep, she couldn't help but think of Jon and wonder if she should text him. Before she nodded off, she typed "I talked with Beth and Theon. That's done with…I'm glad you and I know the truth now. Good night, Jon." She had already drifted off by the time he replied back with "Me too. Good night, Sans. I'm glad you're home."