Chapter 7: Because the Night Belongs to Us (New Year's Eve, 1993)
Margaery knew even then that when she would look back on the Winter Solstice break of 1993 that it would rank up amongst some of the best she'd ever had. The weather had been unseasonably cold once December finally made its way to Highgarden, which was normally something that Margaery would balk at and complain daily about to whoever was unfortunate enough to be within earshot, but after seeing how excited Sansa would get when the weather reporter on the evening news delivered the news about chances of snow there was no way that she could be annoyed. It was like watching a child given the birthday present they'd been waiting for all year long. She'd ventured to the camping store, bought some long underwear, snow pants, and the silliest knitted cap complete with a yarn poof on top, and joined Sansa and her housemates in a snowball fight on the campus green.
It was one of the hardest things that Margaery had ever done, charging herself with the task of remaining just friends with Sansa. A month earlier, the two of them had been making dinner for the co-op house in its large kitchen, when she casually asked if Sansa if she would like to spend the break in Highgarden with her instead of returning to Winterfell. She had heard Sansa mention a few days prior that her parents were going on vacation for New Years, sending her two youngest brothers to spend time with their uncle and great-uncle in Riverrun, and knew that Robb and the guys were already planning "the biggest party Winterfell has ever seen," or so they said. She was completely caught off guard when Sansa immediately agreed, excitedly nodding her head, looking over at Margaery from the other side of the kitchen, covered in flour from the biscuits she was working on. All of her willpower was used in that moment to hold her back from wiping the flour off Sansa's face, from reaching over to push her against the fridge and kiss her senseless, from begging her to be with her and never leave, or all three, in that order, if she truly got her way.
They'd spent a good amount of time during Winter Break simply enjoying the slower side of Highgarden, with the majority of the student body back home they were able to get into their favorite brunch spot without the Sunday morning line, as well as get drinks at the local piano bar with the townies but without drunk students yelling the words, and were actually able to sing along.
The first Saturday of break was Sansa's last hockey game of the semester and while Margaery feigned being under the weather and unable to attend, she gathered together her brothers, the rest of the remaining house mates and her friends, as well as her most spirited Highgarden sweatshirt, surprising Sansa with her own cheering section, a rowdy crowd of almost thirty people sitting at center ice against the glass. She could see the red embarrassment on Sansa's face and knew it would almost match her hair if it wasn't braided up and tucked inside her helmet. Highgarden won the game 3 to 1, with team rookie Sansa scoring one of the goals, but even more surprisingly landing herself in the penalty box for unnecessary roughness. Margaery had never attended any sporting event at Highgarden in her two and a half years there, but she felt ridiculously proud watching Sansa help her team win, as well as ridiculously turned on watching her shrug her gloves off in one fell swoop and lunge at the enemy forward, like she'd been in hockey brawls a hundred times over. They celebrated the win afterwards alongside the rest of the team, managing to pack Kneeling Man Inn to the brim and eating them out of pizza and bread sticks.
Sansa spent a good amount of the first week of break working full eight-hour shifts at the coffee shop. Normally her shifts were six hours at the most, but since so many of her co-workers, as well as the full-time salaried workers had put in for vacation time around the holidays, she'd volunteered to pick up their shifts and make some extra money over the break, especially with the promise from her manager that there was a good chance she could be promoted to shift supervisor after the start of the new year. They were used to spending most of the day apart because of their classes, Sansa's work schedule, and her research schedule in the horticulture lab, but with the lab closed during the vacation, Margaery spent her time doing some much needed deep cleaning at the co-op house and finally catching up on some reading, but after she'd spent all the time she could stand on that, she bundled up in her coat, knowing she'd get mocked by Sansa for her large coat in what the cold-blooded girl still deemed warm weather, picked up that day's copy of the Highgarden Tribune and the Kings Landing Times, and sat at the coffee shop during Sansa's shift, working on the crosswords, reading the arts section, and simply enjoying being in the same five hundred or so square feet as Sansa, even if they weren't interacting.
"I'm so not ready for full-time work," Sansa said, lazily walking through the back door, dropping her backpack on the ground and falling into the couch next to Margaery after they walked back to the co-op after her shift. It was just after five pm on Friday and she knew that Sansa had went to work at six that morning, staying after eight hours when one of her coworkers called in to say her car wouldn't start and that she'd be late for her shift.
"Oh, it's not that bad. At least you come back from work smelling like espresso. After an all-nighter at the hort lab I've got to be pretty rank," Margaery replied. It was true, Sansa did indeed smell like espresso when she returned, along with the less pleasant, slightly damp smell that came from steamed milk spilling on her uniform polo. "Besides, once you get your journalism internship next year, you won't have to worry about this. And it's paid," she added in a sing-song voice, adding some extra syllables to the last word.
Sansa nodded, not looking like Margaery's attempts at encouragement had helped any.
"Alright, Miss Highgarden Barista of the Year, time to stop sulking. You're gonna take a shower, and then I've got reservations for dinner and tickets to the movies."
She felt amazing as she watched Sansa's eyes light up at the thought of a night out. "Mags, you don't have to do all that. I'd be satisfied just sitting here watching TGIF and getting something delivered."
"Nonsense," Margaery replied. "While I fully understand your love of Full House and Boy Meets World, all the shows are on hiatus. So," she paused, standing up to place herself in front of Sansa and grabbing both her hands, "Off your ass and in the shower. I'll be waiting."
She pulled her up from the couch and pushed her upstairs. She'd learned over the past few months that the restaurant scene in Winterfell was seriously lacking and since Sansa had never had Meereenese before, she'd made reservations for them both this evening and bought tickets for some new drama movie that was opening that evening. She wasn't entirely sure what it was about, but almost every movie that Sansa wanted to watch was a drama, so Margaery figured there was no way this could go badly.
She was wrong, well, halfway wrong. Dinner was amazing, Sansa loved the food and the restaurant even had a small troupe from Meereen performing traditional dances on a small stage off to the side. The movie started off fine, although admittedly Margaery was more interested in the girl next to her than the story, thinking of ways she could brush her shoulder against Sansa's or touch her hand making it seem by accident, instead of watching the movie which looked to be just another lawyer drama story. She couldn't say how far into the movie they were, but at some point she had gotten up to use the bathroom and give herself a pep talk in the mirror, only to return to the back row of the theater to sit down next to Sansa, popcorn tub clutched in her hands and crying her eyes out.
Margaery froze for a second, unsure of what to do, before taking the popcorn tub out of Margaery's hands and setting it on the theater floor. She quickly wrapped her arms around Sansa, pulling her into her shoulder and running her hands through her long hair in an attempt to calm her down. She noticed a few other people in the theater had broken out their tissues during the movie, but many others were huffing and sending her annoyed looks because of the noise Sansa was making. Time to get the hell outta here, Margaery thought. As much as I'd love to sit and cuddle with Sansa I think she's had enough for the night.
"Come on, Sans," she whispered, grabbing Sansa's purse off the back of the seat and putting it around her shoulder next to her own. "We can finish it when it comes out on video if you want, 'kay?" Sansa sniffled and nodded against her shoulder, letting Margaery guide her down the steps and outside. Once they were out, the cold air seemed to sober Sansa up considerably and she started to apologize.
"Sorry for ruining the night you planned. I really thought I could keep it together in there, but gods, Mags, I can't believe that people would get treated the way Beckett did... even his boss at the trial trying to say he wasn't a victim. You were in the bathroom when the trial parts started and I just lost it," Sansa explained, taking another step closer to Margaery as she leaned up against the side of the car, reaching out to place her hand on Margaery's arm. "I would like to watch it again and see the ending, if you'll watch it with me. I can't guarantee I won't end up like this again though."
Margaery stood up straight from her position leaning against the car, locking eyes with Sansa and reaching out for her again, the same way she had done minutes earlier in the theater. "Of course we can watch the ending together when the VHS comes out. I'll get it from that rental place on Third as soon as it comes out. Now," she said, backing up out of the hug and rubbing her hands up and down Sansa's over her sweater, "Let's get home. I think we can still catch Step by Step if we hurry, yea?"
By the time they got back, Sansa was nodding off in the passenger seat already and they'd missed any TV they wanted to watch, so Sansa was tucked into the wall side of Margaery's double bed, quickly falling asleep, while Margaery lay on her left side on her half of the bed, playing the night over in her head, sleep evading her as she replayed all the ways that the night could've gone better, even though she was selfishly glad she got to be the one to comfort Sansa.
A few days later, with the issue at the movie theater behind them, they both packed their bags and drove as a group with Margaery's brothers to the old Tyrell Estate, nestled in the hills just outside of the city. She was excited to see her grandmother, as well as all of her extended family, but still somewhat nervous to see how Sansa acted in this situation. They'd talked for hours about the wealth the Stark family used to have, the life that Sansa had been used to living, how hard it was to adjust to what was normal for everyone else, and then how she felt that after moving out on her own, that she was finally not missing her old lifestyle, one which was very close to how the festivities would be at the Tyrell New Years Ball.
When they arrived at Margaery's childhood home, her grandmother was waiting under the overhang above the large circular drive, dressed in a dark green, very conservative two-piece skirt suit, a matching old-fashioned pillbox style hat placed just so on her head. She watched as the matriarch Olenna Tyrell reached out to welcome Sansa Stark to their house, politely kissing her cheek and setting her hand in the crook of the much taller girl's elbow to guide her into the house, waving with her free hand for the footman to grab the suitcases from the car and Margaery knew there would be nothing at all to worry about.
There was a bit of a schedule for them to follow once they arrived at Highgarden, first being whisked off to fittings for the evening gowns they purchased for the party a few weeks prior. After having not much of a set schedule at all since classes ended, Margaery was glad to have a bit of structure, and they luckily ended up with enough downtime the first evening for Margaery and Loras to give Sansa the grand tour of the sprawling house.
When the guests started to arrive the next evening for the ball, Margaery realized how silly she had been worrying about how Sansa would fit in. It was perfect. She made small talk with all the Tyrells and Redwynes who approached her, bent down in her cocktail length dark green dress to pick up the young children that ran around underfoot, dancing around to the band with a toddler on her hip. Later in the party, Margaery found herself watching from the sidelines, nursing a drink and getting her fill of what her cousins Elinor and Megga thought was the hottest gossip out of Hightower Prep, trying her best to seem interested.
"Margaery, dear, do you know where that lovely new friend of yours has run off too?" Her grandmother Olenna had saddled up to her side abruptly, strangely silent on her feet still for her age. Margaery knew she was always her grandmother's favorite and saw no problem with that, the feeling was very mutual, and she looked at her thankfully as both her cousins walked off, probably looking for their next victim.
"Last I saw she was busy talking to Renly and Loras," she answered, picking up a clean plate off the buffet table and filling it with strawberries and about a half-dozen lemon macaroons. She made a quick scan of the ballroom, filled almost to capacity with all the Tyrells, Redwynes, both sides of the Fossoway clan, and other cousins, friends, and business partners of the Tyrells, but she saw no sign of Sansa. She spotted Renly and Loras dancing off to the side where the band was set up, but no Sansa. "But it looks like she's not with them anymore. Don't worry, Grandma, I'll go find her. She probably just got lost trying to make her way to the bathroom. Gods know this house has enough of them."
"Could you? Your Aunt Mina has just been blabbing non-stop about wanting to meet her," she said, rolling her eyes and looking positively appalled. "Apparently she knew Catelyn Stark from when she did that semester at Riverrun, something like that. I'm pretty sure I stopped listening halfway through."
"Well, Aunt Mina's never been one for brevity, Grandma, you know that." She kissed her quickly on the cheek before starting her search for Sansa.
It was about fifteen minutes before midnight when Margaery finally wandered outside to one of the balconies overlooking the grounds of the estate, effectively giving up on her search for Sansa. She'd been through all three floors of the Tyrell house, numerous sitting rooms, libraries, guest rooms, bathrooms, even searched the kitchens, pantries, and family bedrooms. I guess if she wants to hide from me then she's certainly come to the right house. I think we left poor Garlan hiding for three hours once during hide-and-seek.
She made her way a few more steps out from the house before she noticed Sansa sitting on one of the benches off to the side. If she'd stay a few feet shorter Margaery probably would never have found her there.
XXXX
Sansa looked up, just enough to see Margaery walking over from the double doors that led out to the balcony. They were over the top of the large ballroom below and she could still hear the music from the band playing. I should've known she'd find me here. It is the house she grew up in after all.
"Hey, there you are. What're ya doing out here? It's almost midnight," she said, smoothing out her dress and sitting down next to Sansa on the bench, but she barely looked up to acknowledge her. "Grandma Olenna sent me on a grand mission to find you. I thought you were still with Loras and Renly but Aunt Mina was wondering where you were. That's when I realized you weren't in the ballroom anymore. I think I've been in almost every room in the house looking for you."
"Sorry. I didn't mean to make anyone worry. I just haven't been around this many people, new people that is, in such a long time. I think I've told the same introduction a half million times by now, and if one more person looks at me and says 'Stark... as in...?' I swear to gods I might literally explode. Guess it's good I came outside for some air, huh? I just hate knowing that on the inside they're all judging me for something that happened when I was like fifteen and that I had nothing to do with." She heard Margaery's sigh and knew what was coming next. She instantly reached over and pulled both of Sansa's hands out of her lap, holding them in between her own and lightly rubbing the top one. She had been in the habit of doing that lately and it always left Sansa with the feeling of Margaery's hands on hers for too long afterwards, not to mention she didn't realize how cold it was outside until Margaery's gloved hands found their way onto hers.
"I know it's gotta be tough for you, this being your first time away from your family... Listen, I'm not really sure how to say this, but I want you to know that I'm really, truly happy that we're friends, and I'm glad you've let me into your life."
"Mags, I—"
"No, I mean it, Sansa. We would be like sisters, you and I."
Really? Now? Is this the conversation I think we're going to have? Sansa thought, groaning audibly.
"…but what if I don't want to be like sisters?"
The instant the words came out of her mouth Sansa knew that she hadn't worded it correctly. She saw the flush of embarrassment and surprise on Margaery's face and watched her eyes widen.
"Oh, gods, Sans, I shouldn't have said that. I know you've got a sister already, but I thought you weren't super close, so I just thought that… I mean, metaphorically—"
"Margaery!" Sansa shouted, perhaps a bit too loud, but there was no one else outside to here them, thank the Seven. "Would you just chill out for a sec? There's a reason why I don't want to be like sisters." Dear gods, she's freaking out, Sansa thought, taking her hands and placing them on either side of Margaery's face, she turned her towards herself, hoping the touch might calm her or at least snap her out of her rambling.
"What? But I just want to make sure you know that—"
Ugh, that didn't do anything, she thought, letting out a large breath, exasperated with the direction this conversation was going in.
"Seven hells," Sansa sighed. "Do I have to everything around here?"
The look she got back was still one filled with confusion. I guess so, she thought, and made the decision to pull Margaery's face towards hers quickly, having every intention to kiss her chastely, hoping that it would give her some sort of idea of what she was trying to say without being interrupted again. She had intended this to be chaste, to pull away before Margaery did, but the instant she finally felt her lips touch Margaery's all her intentions of being chaste were gone. She made herself push out all her emotions into Margaery, praying to the Maiden for her feelings to be recognized, praying to the Warrior to give her the strength to walk away with her head held high if this ended up being a huge mistake.
She felt Margaery still for a second, maybe out of surprise, before she responded, tilting her head to soundly return the kiss. A second later, Sansa felt hands firmly placed on her lower back, anchoring her in place, warm through the fabric of her dress, and she finally moved her own hands to where she really wanted them, one light around Margaery's waist and the other solidly clutching the curled brown hair behind her neck as she found herself smiling into the kiss.
Sansa pulled back first, only an inch or so to allow her to rest her forehead against Margaery's, eager to see what her reaction to this was. They were still too close to really see each other, but she could hear her taking deep breaths and see the clouds forming from her warm breath hitting the cold air.
"You know," Margaery said softly, lightly running her fingers from the shoulder of Sansa's dress down her hand and back up again, then moving her head farther away to finally look at her. "I don't think I want to be like sisters either," she continued, that mischievous grin that all the Tyrells she met seemed to have down pat playing across her face, infectious enough that Sansa couldn't help but return it.
"I've wanted to do that for months," Sansa confessed quietly.
She watched Margaery cock her head sideways. "Why didn't you?"
"Why didn't you?"
"Wasn't sure how you felt," Margaery replied right away. "I didn't want to assume and misinterpret what I thought you felt and end up messing up our friendship." She stood up, offering her hand out to Sansa, who quickly took it. "Let's get back inside. It's almost midnight."
Sansa still wasn't sure what this meant for their relationship, if they were still just friends, or maybe more, or maybe much, much more, but for the first time since she realized what she wanted her friendship with Margaery to become she felt calm. She wasn't nervous about where it was going or afraid of what anyone might say. There was a lavish party going on downstairs, with a fabulous band playing amazing music, dinner and finger foods prepared by professional chefs, and the group of people she'd met in the past four months that she was bold enough to call her new best friends. Best of all, she was lucky enough to be getting pulled down there back to the party by the most astonishing person she'd ever met, who for some damned reason that Sansa thought she'd never quite understand, seemed to feel the same way about her.
They walked, hand-in-hand still, down the large staircase that led from the third floor back down the second floor where the ballroom was. The doors to the ballroom where held open, lush green fabric curtains pulled back, fastened with golden velvet ties, and Sansa stopped short of the door a few feet when she saw the huge crowd again. Margaery turned her head, smiling as she gave Sansa's hand a comforting squeeze, and led her into the ballroom, the crowd seeming to part slightly as she led them out to the middle of the dance floor. This was her house after all, they all know who she is, Sansa remembered.
The band finished the upbeat jazzy song they had been playing and settled into a more comforting song, Sansa noticed the servers in their black and white suits holding trays of champagne, circling about and passing out tall crystal glasses out to everyone. Before she knew it, Renly and Loras had found their way over to them, Loras clearly well on his way to being wasted, red-faced and smiling, curly hair everywhere and leaning on Renly, playing the responsible party of the two. Seconds later, Willas, Garlan, his wife Leonette, along with a few of their friends and cousins joined, and she and Margaery were both handed glasses of champagne by Willas, full to the brim so they must not have come from the waiters.
The brass instruments and guitars slowly faded as the drummer began a drumroll, and Sansa heard someone, most likely someone too drunk to remember the evening, yell "Countdown!" loud enough to be heard in Dorne, directing everyone's attention toward the over-sized clock above the fireplace. She raised her glass, looking at Margaery, glass raised as if saluting the clock, noticing the sincere and excited look on her face as she counted down to the arrival of the New Year surrounded by her family and friends, a tradition which Sansa figured was celebrated similarly in this room by the Tyrells for hundreds of years. For a second, she thought of her own family, Robb, Jon, and Theon hosting a raging party while their parents were gone, Arya trying to prove she could hold her own amongst the boys, and she began to feel a bit left out, until she found Margaery and Loras wrapping their arms around her from opposite sides. No, this is where I belong tonight.
She stretched her right hand out, holding her glass out as far as she could, finishing the countdown in time with everyone else, clinking glasses and cheering, she was pulled over to her right as Renly and Loras both kissed her cheeks at the same time. She grinned and scrunched her shoulders up towards her ears, Loras' hair tickling the side of her face, when she suddenly felt a small hand firmly on her waist pulling her away.
Her hair fanned out as she spun her head around to see Margaery. "I think I'll take this from here, boys," she said, fingers splayed halfway between Sansa's waist and hips, pulling her away from Renly and Loras to press her close against herself.
"Happy New Year, Sansa," she whispered, pushing herself up on her tiptoes, making Sansa shiver when she felt her warm breath close to ear and a kiss placed just at the start of her jaw. She still felt Margaery's hand on her hip as she moved away from the side of her head, flashed that damned Tyrell smile again at Sansa, and kissed her. Sansa hoped that what Margaery was putting into this kiss was what she was able to communicate with her first. It was surprisingly gentle, yet possessive since there was no hiding it from this crowd, and though she didn't think she would, Sansa loved that the crowd was around them, surrounding them with everyone else's excitement.
Yes, Sansa thought, this night belongs to us.
Note: The song in my head for this Because the Night, originally by Patti Smith, but in 1993 10,000 Maniacs did an awesome live cover on MTV Unplugged. I suggest you find that video on Youtube if you're not familiar with the song.