Chapter 4: Today is the Greatest Day I've Ever Known
Beginning of September, 1993
"Loras, quite honestly I'm shocked you'd think I had anything other than chaste intentions with Sansa," Margaery chided, sitting on the stairs and tying the shoelaces on her black ankle length boots. Loras was sitting a few steps above her, still clad in his pajamas and looking like he was headed back to bed as soon as she left. It was just before seven on Saturday morning, the sun not even completely up in the sky, and she had told Sansa Stark that she'd give her the grand tour of the Reach that day, even going so far as to promise her that she'd love it. Maybe that was a bit of an overstep… but what's not to like about it here? Especially after living in the land of always winter for eighteen years.
"Really, Maggy? Come on, now. You spent all of this past week on the phone with grandmother talking about where to visit, you've even got a picnic basket packed and ready to go in the trunk of your car. I saw you put it in there not ten minutes ago from my window upstairs. Plus, I know you've been up for two hours making yourself pretty for that girl. Seems like the perfect date, if you ask me."
"Well, no one asked you." She sighed. "Fine, I'll admit that I guess I like her… okay, I definitely like her, but, I mean, come on. Have you seen her? Have you seen her legs?"
"Not exactly the type of legs I'm into, but yes, they are rather… long?" Loras answered awkwardly.
She looked over and her brother with an annoyed sigh, turning around slightly to poke him in the arm. "That was rhetorical and you knew it. Seriously though, I've got no clue about if she's into me, or if she's even into girls for that matter. It's not something she'd just announce, ya know?"
"Exactly. You've got no idea. I've seen you do this before and I don't want you to get all head over heels only to sit up in your room crying for days once she rebuffs your advances and you find out she doesn't play for your team."
"I won't," she stated confidently. She stood up and gave her brother a quick kiss on top of his curly brown mop of hair. "I promise. I'm going into this as friends. Now, I've got to run next door to get her."
"Alright. Have fun. I'm heading back to bed. Too damn early for a Saturday."
Closing the door behind her, Margaery walked across the lawn to Sansa's house, knocking on the door instead of ringing the bell, remembering how Loras had said it was 'too damn early for a Saturday.' She stood on the porch, fidgeting with the slouchy fabric shoulder bag that she had slung over the left shoulder, waiting for the door to open and listening to the sounds her stomach was making.
There's no way I'm hungry, she thought. It's gotta be nerves... ugh, for real, Mags? This is not a date, this is not a date, this is not a -
"Hey! Margaery, you ready?" She was startled out of her inner pep talk when Sansa came up from behind her. "You okay? Sorry if I snuck up on you. The guys had a bunch of people over last night and some of their friends are asleep on the couches so I came out the door on the side."
Margaery turned around from the porch to face Sansa and felt her stomach clench in the realization that she would probably need to have her 'this is not a date' mantra on repeat in her mind for the rest of the day. For someone just dressed in casual clothes, Sansa looked amazing. Her long auburn hair was brushed out and worn straight down, she wore a slightly oversized forest green Highgarden University t-shirt, tied up on the side with a t-shirt clip, which was doing its best to show off a small sliver of tummy, but also contrast amazingly with her red hair, light washed denim jeans showed off the long legs that Margaery found herself jealous of, simple grey canvas Keds, and her seemingly signature pink backpack over her shoulder.
"Umm, no, I'm fine. Just startled me a bit," she said, finding herself struggling for words, which was not normal for her. No matter how pretty the girl was, Margaery normally never had any problem with nervousness, but somehow this was different. She wasn't sure if this was because it was honestly just starting out as friends or that she had no clue where this relationship would go and was pretty scared of blowing her chances before she even really had them. Just be normal, Mags, she told herself. You're taking her around Highgarden and the Reach. You know this place like the back of your hand.
"Ready, then?" Margaery finally asked as she walked down the Stark's porch. Sansa nodded. "Awesome. Sorry about such an early hour, the Reach is bigger than most people think so I thought we could get an early start and I could spend all day all playing tour guide."
"It's really no problem," Sansa answered, following beside Margaery and then stopping in her tracks when she saw the car they were walking towards, a cherry red Mercedes coupe convertible. "Holy cow, Mags, is that yours?"
Margaery could feel her eyes on her as she walked over to the passenger side door and unlocking it for Sansa before walking around to the driver side. "Yep, all mine," she answered, patting the side of the car and placing her shoulder bag on the floor beside Sansa's backpack. "Bit of hand-me-down from my oldest brother Garlan. I think I told you about him, yea? When he found out his wife was pregnant he decided this car was too impractical. He said he loved this car almost as much as he knew he'd love the baby so he couldn't bear to sell it away to some stranger replying to a newspaper ad, so now it's mine."
"It's amazing," Sansa replied, running her hands along the light tan leather seats. "With all the rain and snow up north you could never get away with this."
"See? Just one more reason why I know you'll love Highgarden," Margaery answered, looking over and wondering what she could've possibly done correctly so far in life to have this beautiful girl next to her for the whole day. You're flirting with her, she thought. You should probably stop that. She took the parking brake off and smoothly moved away from the curb, heading down their street.
"Alright, so what should I be prepared for on my grand tour of the Reach?" Sansa had grabbed a hair tie out of her backpack and was busying herself by braiding her long hair back so it wouldn't get tangled in the wind.
"Everything you could want," Margaery answered. "Rolling hills and pristine farmland on the Roseroad from here until Oldtown, a history lesson at the Citadel, vineyards at the Arbor, the Sunset Sea. All you've got to do is sit back and enjoy. I've heard I'm quite the bitchin' tour guide," she said, looking over to catch Sansa laugh.
"Bitchin'?"
"Yea. We do have surfers here, ya know? Besides, it's not nice to make fun of your tour guide." Sansa laughed again and watched Margaery lean across her and pop open the glove box. "Here, we've got about two hours until Oldtown and your official tour guide job is to be our DJ. Think you can handle it?"
Sansa made a little salute with her right hand and grabbed out a handful of cassettes as Margaery merged onto the highway, shifting from third to fourth to fifth and speeding off southwest towards Oldtown.
The drive towards Oldtown led through what Margaery easily considered the heart of the Reach. Leaving the outskirts of Highgarden, where the university was located, it followed the Mander River for a bit before heading further south towards rolling fields and rich farmland as far as the eye could see. It might have been the beginning of September, but harvest in the Reach was still a good two months' out. Once they passed the exit for Honeyholt, a little over the halfway point, the fields started to thin out and were gradually taken over by fruit orchards, some apples and pears but mostly peaches, apricots, and different varieties of citrus fruits bred to fare better in that area, as opposed to Dorne.
They made their way through the orchard areas faster than she'd expected, arriving at the place where the Honeywine River met up with the Roseroad and led down towards the valley where Oldtown sat on the banks of the Whispering Sound, Margaery watched as Sansa's eyes grew wide and the smile crept on her face when she first saw Oldtown in the distance. She couldn't help but smile to herself, remembering back to the first time she'd come up over that crest and seen the city as a child. It is a pretty spectacular sight, especially if the type of city you're used to is a concrete jungle like Kings Landing. From there you could see the how the Honeywine lazily wound its way down and into the waters of Honeywine Sound, the gradual build up of residential areas that led up to downtown, and the Hightower in the distance was easy to spot as well. The large centuries old lighthouse that rose up from the bay was still functioning and it was on Margaery's list of spots to visit. On a clear day, which they were lucky to have, you could easily see further out in the sound, to the bedroom community of Blackcrown, the more trendy Three Towers marina district, and usually all the way to The Arbor.
The idea that Margaery had in her head, the idea that she could successfully keep Sansa in the "just friends" compartment in her mind, was quickly getting thrown out the window the way she talked about her life back north, the way she relaxed and stopped worrying so much, the way she laid back against the seat of the Mercedes, allowing her hastily plaited braid to get even more messy, holding her right hand out to sway in the wind and absentmindedly drawing circles on the leather seats with her left hand as she pointed out everything new to her. It was taking all of Margaery's willpower not to grab her hand and never let go.
"If all of the Reach is as stunning as the view coming into the city, I think you're definitely right, Mags. I will love it here," Sansa said, grabbing her backpack and handing Margaery her bag. They had parked the car in an underground garage downtown, not far from most of the places that were on Margaery's list. "Where to from here?"
She listed off the places they'd go, watching Sansa smile and nod in approval at each one. The Citadel was first. Formerly a center of study and headquarters for the order of Maesters, it was now used similarly as center for medical and scientific research as well as serving as the archive for the ancient texts used by the Maesters, being home to the largest library in Westeros, and housing an impressive collection of suits of armor and sculpture from Westeros and across the Narrow Sea. She watched Sansa as they made their way into the large building, taking her time walking around the Seneschal's Court, thoughtfully snapping pictures and stopping to read each information sign she walked by, not moving past until she had seemed to absorb all that she could learn. It wasn't just following Sansa around, she enjoyed telling stories of her field trips here as a child, watching Sansa cover her face to muffle her laughs when she talked about getting yelled at by security for hopping the ropes and hiding in the writing stalls in the Scribe's Hearth when she was eight. They rounded the corner and entered into the armor and sculpture hall, where Sansa convinced Margaery that they should pose next to the interesting statues, imitating the poses they were in and proceeded to ask the other visitors to take their pictures for them.
After working their way through the areas of the Citadel that were open to tourists, they took the street car from the Citadel stop down to the waterfront district to a small outdoor cafe that was owned by one of Margaery's relatives on her mother's Hightower side. Sitting along the waterside, they joked about the looks they got from the other tourists in the sculpture hall, half disapproving and half wishing they were young enough to get away with the same idea.
After lunch they walked the short distance down to the ferry docks, bought tickets for the next departure and only had to wait about ten minutes before the next ferry to the Arbor left. If you could ask Margaery when she finally decided that Sansa was someone she needed in her life, she'd tell you it was this day, after lunch, on the ferry between Oldtown and the Arbor, particularly when she finally started to open up about herself. The conversations at the party the week prior were one thing, mostly just venting about her current headaches and small talk, but it was when she finally started to open up about her interests and what she thought she wanted out of life, all while sitting on the outside edge of the ferry and trying to keep the spray from the wake out of her hair, was when Margaery decided she'd really need to hang on to this.
She had been raised to be a lady, to be dressed appropriately, arrive on time, and have enough knowledge to carry on a polite conversation about whatever topic her partner wished. She could set a table perfectly for a seven course dinner, recite old Valyrian poetry, perform a Myrish tea ceremony, and name all of the kings of Westeros from the time of Aegon the Conqueror and she could do it in order.
There was more though, Margaery quickly learned. Contradictions to the personality she normally showed. She'd roll her eyes, blushing and laughing when Margaery would say something inappropriate or make an off-color joke, but she was just as quick-witted and clever, often letting her own jokes slip out or making a sarcastic comment without noticing it. She'd mentioned her younger sister Arya when Margaery asked where that habit came from, saying that she'd learned from the master of snark.
Margaery expected her to love Baywatch, Saved by the Bell, and wear out the tape on her Mariah Carey cassettes from listening to 'Dreamlover' on repeat, but instead she was more than happy to be spending her day with the Sansa Stark whose poker face would win each hand of five-card draw, who would gladly spend all day listening grungy garage rock with her half-brother Jon, and seemed to know everything there was to know, interesting or otherwise, about the intricacies and intrigue of Westerosi politics. She was the type of girl you looked at and made quick decisions about, pegging her for cheer captain and aspiring to be a veterinarian for horses, instead she was telling Margaery she was thinking of putting her years of ice-skating on frozen ponds to good use by joining the intramural ice hockey team and had finally decided to go into journalism.
Sansa Stark was an exercise in judging a book by its cover and then proceeding to get surprised by every page you turned.
After about forty-five minutes, the ferry docked at the marina in the Arbor, banging unceremoniously against the dock. They walked from their spot on the port side to the back of the ferry, showing their tickets once again to the employee, and trying to walk straight on the ramp as it swayed.
"When'd you grab that basket?" Sansa asked, looking down at the picnic basket in Margaery's hand as they walked away from the docks. "Please tell me that I'm not going crazy and that you weren't carrying that around all day."
"No, no," Margaery answered. "You're not crazy. I grabbed it from the car when you were in the bathroom at the cafe. What kind of host would I be if I subjected you to the overpriced food they serve at every restaurant in the Arbor? I packed us a picnic for dinner... I hope that's okay with you."
"You really didn't need do to that. I'm sure the winery restaurants are all super expensive but I bet we could find something. You already planned this whole trip so it's a lot of trouble to go to."
"It's nothing, Sansa, really. I wanted to bring this for us, so I did," she said, watching as Sansa continued her walk on the sidewalk, not noticing that she'd stopped walking at a small cobblestone pathway leading up and away from the main road.
"Hey!" She yelled, quickly closing the couple of paces that Sansa was ahead of her, thinking something in her head about her long legs giving her that advantage. "This way, Stark." She grabbed her by the crook of her elbow and guided her back towards the cobblestone path that led away from the street. The area surrounding the small marina was touristy, but not to the point of being cheesy or inauthentic. The small street Margaery led them up was quieter than the street that followed the curve of the shore and lined with various shops. She watched as Sansa's neck turned to look in the windows of almost every shop they passed, particularly the pastry shop and a brightly colored used book store, then stopped to watch two young men in a glass blowing shop, both who noticed the two girls that became their audience, blushing a bit and waving at them. They watched for a few minutes until the large molten blob transformed from nothing into a large serving plate, clapping when they completed their work.
It wasn't until they finished their walk up the path that Sansa turned to Margaery to ask about the lack of cars.
"I was wondering when you'd ask that," Margaery replied. "I don't know how long it's been since they banned cars in the Arbor, maybe they've never had them. Something about preserving the history, I think. Only the wineries have them for delivering to the larger marina on the south end of the island. It's a little gimmicky I guess, but I kinda dig it. We can rent a moped though, if you like, those are allowed."
Sansa nodded, listening to the explanation. "It's fine. I like walking. I don't think I trust myself to ride a scooter down these hills anyways."
Margaery laughed. "Funny you should mention that..." she started, going into a grand story of fifteen year old Margaery and seventeen year old Loras' Arbor moped adventures, leaving Sansa clutching her sides and wiping tears from her eyes by the time the story was done.
The story distracted them both from the walk, and Margaery soon announced they'd arrived at the winery, an ancient looking wood and stone building with thick leaded windows and green vines crawling on the front walls, and two oil lanterns flanking the open front door. After being greeted by a cheerful middle-aged man, dressed in khakis, a black polo with the logo embroidered on the chest, along with a white apron stained with dark red smears, Margaery confirmed their tour reservation and they were led through the shop to the back and outside again. An open top carriage with a large horse in front and a new man, wearing denim overalls and a baseball cap, sitting in the front seat holding the reins greeted them. It wasn't anything particularly fancy, not like a fairy tale carriage, this one was clearly used for farming.
"Really, Mags? A horse and carriage?"
"No cars, remember? I got us set up for the full tour, and that starts with the vineyard, and apparently this is how we get there."
The tour guide stepped down from his seat to help both girls up and into the carriage before he set the horse off trotting towards the fields. As they went, he gave the history of the winery, from its start hundreds of years prior, to how little the processes have changed and everything in between, the way the grapes are grown and tended to, how the soil pH affects the plants, and they boasted of what they thought was the prime location for their fields in all of the Arbor. After walking the fields with the guide, Sansa still carefully snapping pictures away, she pulled her backpack off and began searching.
"I know it's in here somewhere..." she muttered, rifling to the bottom of the bag. "Hah, gotcha!" She pulled out a Polaroid camera from its case and called out to the guide, asking him to take their picture.
Margaery felt Sansa nestle up to her side, using the rows of grapes as the backdrop and almost on instinct she wrapped her left hand around Sansa's waist, taking any chance to feel her that close. It's just for the picture. We need to both fit in the frame. Yes, that's right.
She looked up at Sansa, who smiled, putting her arm over the shorter girl's shoulder then looking forward, as Margaery did the same, big smiles as the camera snapped and spit the picture out of the slot in the front.
Just like that, the moment was over, Sansa thanked their guide, and they all climbed back into the carriage to begin the ride back to the main building and onto the next part of the tour.
"Here," Sansa said, holding out the now developed picture, "You can have this one."
"You sure? You're in it too."
"I've got more film, at least three or four more. You take this one, it came out really good."
Margaery thanked her, taking the picture and looking down at it, glad to have a tangible reminder of the moment, as if she could forget it. Her eyes quickly scanned the picture, stopping on the part of her hand on Sansa's waist and her bright eyes, the genuine smile showing how excited she was.
We do look ridiculously happy, she thought. I'm glad she's enjoying this. I can't believe I was able to set up this tour in less than a week. Then again, they practically bent over backwards when they heard my last name. That'll never get old, but gods if it's not weird.
She looked over at Sansa, turned in the seat looking out over the side to watch all the scenery as it passed by slowly, like she was committing it all to memory. She probably is. I hope I'm part of that, she found herself thinking, but chided herself almost instantly because of it. She's given you no real clues that she's into you, Mags, you're just letting your mind play tricks on you. Yea, she's friendly and a bit touchy, but some people are just like that, so chill out.
Once they arrived back at the main building, an older lady met them and started the second part of the tour, taking them through the wine-making process, explaining how it's been changed by technology, how it's stayed the same, and taking them down into the wine cellars, uncorking some of the barrels to let them tell the difference the aging process made. Normally, the personal tour included the standard wine tasting and dinner, which Margaery declined, choosing instead to purchase a couple regular-sized bottles and a special sampler pack to do their own tasting with the picnic she had brought.
After leaving the winery and starting back down another narrow path towards the town area again, it was already starting to a bit dark. They agreed to set up their picnic on the stone tables and benches that were out in the town square, especially after the loud noises from Sansa's stomach decided to interrupt the comfortable silence of their walk. The square was busy for a Saturday evening, but Margaery spotted an older couple leaving a table in the back under one of the street lamps, pointing it out to Sansa, who took it upon herself to run ahead through the square to claim the table, leaving Margaery to catch up, shaking her head and smiling at her energy, or maybe just her eagerness to break into the basket Margaery held.
"Excited much?" Margaery asked when she joined Sansa at the table, starting to pull out their dinner.
"Starving," she replied quickly. "Learning about grapes really makes me hungry apparently."
"Well, good thing I packed plenty of food. I'd hate to have to answer to Robb about starving out his little sister." She grinned widely at her, winking quickly as she began to unpack crackers and cookies, then cheeses and a large salad full of greens still in season in the Reach, strawberries, and orange sections from a special cold case.
They took their time with dinner, splitting the miniature sampler wine bottles, and watching the various performing artists that Margaery remembered always gathered in the square to entertain the tourists. At one point in the evening, an old man in a bright red shirt with black, white striped pants, and a thick Pentoshi accent, who had been previously blowing intricate balloon animals for a large group of children, made his way over to where the two of them were sitting, asking if them what they would like.
"Oh, no, no, sir. We'd don't need any," Sansa refused politely.
"Come on, Sansa! Where's the fun in that?" Margaery said, taking a sip from one of the sampler bottles and nudging her with her elbow.
"Exactly!" The man said happily. "Tell you what, I'll make both of you something for free, how's that?"
Margaery nodded excitedly, smiling at Sansa as the man got to work, standing in front of both of them preparing what turned out to be a yellow balloon crown for Margaery and a navy blue ring with large light blue flowers on it for Sansa.
"See? Look how pretty the two of you look!" He said when he handed over the finished work and they both put them on. "You don't have a camera, do you? It'd be a shame not to have lasting proof of these."
"We do!" Margaery exclaimed. "Sansa, get the Polaroid out! The regular one, too, just in case it's too dark here." Sansa grabbed her backpack off the bench next to her and took out both cameras, handing them to the balloon man's waiting hands. He snapped the pictures using both cameras, accepted the girls' thanks and moved over to the next group of people.
Margaery shook the Polaroid as Sansa put back the cameras, then they both started to pack up the picnic basket. Margaery got out the pamphlet for the ferry to check the times, then walked around window shopping for another half hour or so before they needed to make their way back to the marina. Despite the coolness from the night air and the wind from being out on the water, they pulled sweaters out from their bags and sat on the top deck, watching the lights from the Arbor fade as the much brighter lights from the tall skyscrapers in Three Towers first came into view and then the lights from Oldtown and the Hightower shortly thereafter, lighting up the water on the bay and casting upside down versions of all of the buildings.
Once the ferry docked, Margaery announced that there was one more stop for them to make before they should probably head back. Fossoway's - a specialty late-night pie bakery, specializing in pies made from whatever fruits, and sometimes vegetables, that were in-season in the Reach at the time. The owners were long time family friends of the Tyrells and were originally known throughout the area for their large apple orchards before opening up the pie shop in Oldtown. They ordered a slice of apple and one of peach, both hot, as well as two extra large coffees in to-go cups, hoping they would help keep them awake on the long ride home.
Leaving once they were finished, they walked the short distance back to the car and Sansa watched as Margaery closed the roof on the convertible. Once just outside the city limits, they ran into a large amount of construction traffic, the only wrench that the Reach put into their plans. Margaery tried to stay on the Roseroad for a few miles, quickly becoming frustrated and decided reluctantly to leave the highway.
"I've got good news and bad news," she started. "Good news is that it looks like they're not repaving the old highway."
"... and the bad news?"
"Bad news is it doesn't go straight, stops at every little farm town from here to Highgarden, and it'll add a ton of time to our drive. Probably won't get home until closer to four in the morning."
Sansa shrugged her shoulders as if to say that there wasn't much they could do about it, since there wasn't, and picked up Margaery's coffee out of the holder, offering it out to her. She laughed and turned off the highway, starting the even longer ride home.
They were somewhere past Brightwater Keep, finally able to get back on the main highway when she heard the whir from the stereo rewinding the latest cassette they finished listening to. Pushing the eject button, Margaery passed the tape over to Sansa who quickly put it back in its case and returned it to the glove box.
"So what's up next, Miss DJ?"
"Not sure. You're in luck though, it just so happens that 3am starts my all request hour. What'll it be, Tyrell?" Sansa asked, turning on her best radio host impersonation and pulling a bunch of cassettes out of the glove box. "Essos' new pop sensation Ace of Base? That Storms' End grunge sound with Nirvana's In Utero? Or maybe we'll start off old school with the Beastie Boys?" She looked over at Margaery, holding up the License to Ill tape in her hand.
"I'm not really feeling any of those to end out a day like this..." she answered, her voice trailing off as she quickly moved into the next lane, passing a slower moving van.
"Something else in mind?"
She sat silent for a moment before answering. "Yea, I do. My bag still on the floor?" Sansa nodded, picking it up. "There's a cassette in there somewhere."
Sansa fished around and finally pulled out the single tape, still with the plastic wrap around it, then flipped it over to read it as the street lights lining the highway illuminated the car every few seconds.
"Smashing Pumpkins?" Sansa asked, unsure of herself. "Are they new?"
"Yea, that's just released. I have their last album too but it wasn't that popular. Go ahead, put it on. I haven't even listened to it yet."
She heard the crinkling of the plastic wrap and then Sansa put in the tape and pressed play. Sansa recognized the first song from the radio, singing along with too much enthusiasm for the late hour.
It's during the third song, Today, when Margaery is pulled out of her thoughts. The chorus starts for the second time and she nearly jumps out of her seat when she feels Sansa's hand on top of her, resting on the gear shift, partially out of surprise, but mostly out of some awkward sort of hope.
"Sorry," Sansa says a few seconds later, probably after feeling Margaery jump a bit. "It's just, I think we found our road trip theme music."
"Yea," Margaery replied, listening to the lyrics. "...the greatest day of them all..." she said afterwards. Sansa took her hand away as Margaery went to down shift and pass a slow station wagon in front of them, knowing it was only about forty minutes left before they'd arrive in Highgarden.
After saying their goodnights on the sidewalk and Sansa thanking her profusely, Margaery waited on the easement until she heard the front door of the Stark house click locked and started to gather up the stuff from the trunk, walking inside with the picnic basket. She was no more than a foot inside the door when she heard Genna, another co-op resident call her from down the front hall. Genna always kept her schedule the opposite of what most would prefer, the majority of the week she spent pulling the night shift in the library archives.
"Mags! Come on, phone for you!"
Margaery set the picnic basket down on the floor and walked towards where Genna was standing at the end of the long hallway, right before the kitchen.
"Who is it?"
"Hell if I know. Do know it's almost four in the morning though." She watched the short girl narrow her eyes at Margaery, holding the phone out to her, as if she had something really important to do at four in the morning that was currently put on hold because of the phone call.
"Oh, shut up, princess. Not like you were sleeping anyways," Margaery replied and grabbed the phone receiver out of Genna's hand, watching her roll her eyes and walk past her, pulling her black hair up into a high ponytail. "This is Margaery..." she continued, sighing into the phone and sitting down on the wooden bench in the hallway.
"Mags, it's just me, Sansa."
Well now, this is unexpected.
"Long time, no talk, stranger." She heard her stifled giggle on the other end. "What's up? Forget something in the car?"
"No, it's just... I thought this day couldn't get any better, but I got up the stairs to my room and Robb had left a note on my door saying that the coffee shop called and... they want me in for training tomorrow. I guess that's today, actually, but whatever... I got it! I can't believe it, really I can't, Mags," she said, finally pausing to catch her breath before continuing on, calmer and a bit softer. "I was so pumped to see that note and I guess I really wanted you to know. I couldn't wait until later."
Margaery shifted on the bench, pulling her feet up, and felt herself smiling, despite having no one around to notice. "Sansa, that's frickin' awesome! You'll have to come over after work tomorrow and tell me how it went... now you need to get to sleep so you don't pass out behind the counter."
"You get to sleep too," Sansa countered. "You did drive the whole way today."
"Well, that's only because someone, I'm not gonna say who, but someone can't drive stick."
"Yea, yea, I know. You'll just have to teach me, now won't you?"
"It'd be my pleasure," Margaery replied, happy for any excuse to hang out with her. "Now get to bed. No more stalling. I'll talk to you later today."
They said their goodnights for a second time and Margaery headed back outside to finished unpacking the car. Pressing ejects, she grabbed the cassette from radio, and brought the last of the stuff back into the house. After dropping the picnic basket in the kitchen, she made her way up the flight of stairs leading to her second floor room. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she cracked open a bottle of wine she'd bought from the winery, and pushed the cassette into the stereo beside her bed, putting on a large pair of headphones and fast forwarding the tape to get to the song she wanted. She looked up at the board beside her bed, full of push pins holding back her class schedule, some postcards, and a few reminders, she opened her bag and took out the Polaroid from the vineyard, looking at it a second before sticking it on the board, laying back against her pillows, eyes closes, listening to Sansa's self-proclaimed theme music of the day.
A few months later, they'd watch an interview with Billy Corgan about his depression and the meaning behind the song, but they both still agreed to let it remind them of their road trip across the Reach.