Chapter 3

Sansa Stark POV

Today is the first football game, Myrcella is so excited to finally officially cheer at a game. We're getting ready in the locker room and she's doing her hair and trying to look extra pretty. I can tell how nervous she is.

"Are you excited?" I ask her.

"Yeah," she says. "I'm just scared too, I don't want to look like a fool out there."

"You won't," I say. "I promise. If you got picked for the team, no one thinks you look like a fool."

"My brother is supposed to come tonight, and that makes me nervous because I know he'll make fun of me."

"I'm sorry," I say. It must be rough having such a toxic relationship with your sibling. I guess I'm lucky my siblings and I get along, for the most part. "If I hear him say anything, you know I'll defend you."

"Thank you," she says. "You're the best."

…

Shortly after halftime, we're sitting on the bench in between routines. Sometimes there is down time during the games, but we still have to stay on the bench unless we're using the bathroom or getting water.

I get up to get a sip of water, and I see Joffrey sitting in the front row of the stands. He's looking at me, and I smile at him. He waves for me to walk over.

"Hey," he says. "How's the game going for you?"

"Pretty good," I say. "Just taking a little break. How are you liking it?"

"It's fun," he says. "I'm glad Myrcella and I are making friends, she's doing a great job cheering out there." For someone who's apparently so awful, he's saying a lot of nice things about his sister.

"Yeah, she was really nervous," I say. "She was worried she would look stupid."

"That sounds like her," he says. "You look great too, by the way."

"Thank you," I say. "I should probably sit back down in case they need me, I don't want to get in trouble."

"Good luck out there," he says. I walk back over to the bench and sit down next to Myrcella.

"What was that about?" She asks me.

"Joffrey was just telling me how he thinks we're doing great," I say. "He said we look great out there. I asked him if he was having fun, and he said yes."

"Try not to talk to him too much," she says. "I say this for your sake, trust me."

"He was actually being nice about you," I say. "He said you were doing great. For all the stuff you say about him, he really isn't that bad."

"That's what you think," she says. "You just met him, and you're pretty. Of course he's going to be nice to you." There's a pause.

"Just be careful," she continues. "I'm just looking out for you." I smile and lean my head on her shoulder. She hugs me, which shows me she isn't mad at me.

I do appreciate her looking out for me, but I'm more inclined to believe that this is mostly a toxic sibling relationship and not a case of Joffrey being a terrible person. If he was so terrible, I know I would've picked up some sort of vibe from him.

I'm sure Jon and Arya could have plenty of bad things to say about the ways I've acted, especially when my eating disorder was at it's worst. Maybe Myrcella shouldn't condemn Joffrey for life because of a couple of mean things he said to her.

I didn't think she was the type of person to do this, but it seems like she's holding a little bit too much of a grudge. I know she means well and just wants to help me out, but I do think she's exaggerating about him a little bit.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

I think Cersei is doing a little better, but I still worry about her. I can't believe she started taking Xanax, that's not good to combine with alcohol from what I understand.

It's been a couple days since I've talked to Jon, so I decide to give him a call. "Hey babe," he says when he picks up. "I was getting worried about you."

"I know, I'm sorry," I say. "I had to babysit Cersei the other night because she was drunk and on Xanax, and I got busy the next day. I meant to call you back."

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that," he says. "Is she doing any better?"

"I think so," I say. "She's just been draining me. I love her and I'm always here for her, but that doesn't make it any less tiring."

"How's college otherwise?"

"It's good," I say. "I just really want to make good grades. I'm probably majoring in economics, and I really want to do well."

"I know you will," he says. "You're way too smart not to."

"I'm not that smart, but thank you babe."

"You really don't give yourself enough credit," he says. "You're going to do great."

"Thank you," I say. "I have to get going, but I'll call you later."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Bye," he says. "I love you."

"Love you too."

I hang up and walk out of mine and Cersei's room. Jaime is sitting on the couch in the living room, and I think Cersei is taking a nap in his room.

"Hey," I say to Jaime. "How's Cersei?"

"She's doing better, just taking a nap," he says. "Thanks for taking care of her the other night, I feel bad that I wasn't home earlier."

"It's okay, you shouldn't have to deal with that," I say. "I am really worried about her, though. Did you know she was on Xanax?"

Jaime sighs. "No," he says. "I didn't know that. I'll find where she keeps them and hide it from her. Where did she even get Xanax?"

"She said Bronn gave them to her, and he got them from a guy he knows."

"Damn," he says. "I don't know what to do."

"Should we tell your father?"

"Definitely not," Jaime says. "He'll just threaten to cut us both off. I'll knock some sense into Cersei, I'll explain how worried you and I are. I know if she doesn't listen to you, she'll listen to me."

"Thank you Jaime," I say. "I have to go to class, but I'm glad we had this talk."

"Me too," he says. "Bye."

I really do mean that, I am glad we had this talk. I am worried about Cersei, but Jaime is right. If she won't take me seriously, she'll definitely take him seriously. She has to. If she doesn't, that'll mean she's really far gone. That can't happen.

Cersei Lannister POV

I heard Dany talk about me to Jon and say that I'm draining her. She's one to talk, as if it wasn't draining to my whole family when she was staying at our house and crying about her dad all the time. I'm just having a little fun, which everyone does in college.

I come out of my room and see Jaime reading on the couch. I heard parts of he and Dany's conversation, so I changed the hiding spots of my Xanax. I should probably ease his mind to get ahead of whatever he's planning on saying to me or doing.

"Hey," he says, smiling when he sees me. "How was your nap?"

"It was good," I say, sitting next to him. "I heard part of what you and Dany were talking about. Not all of it, but some of it."

"Did you hear her say how worried she is about you?"

"Yeah," I say. "And I want you too know that it isn't that bad and I'm okay."

"I don't know," he says. "Dany really is worried about you, and so am I."

"Did you not hear what I just said?" I ask, getting irritated. "I just had a bad day, is that allowed?"

"Of course, Cersei. Forgive us for caring about you."

I pause. I know he cares about me, but he needs to get off my back. We're adults now, and I don't need him or Dany to babysit me. I especially don't need Dany to babysit me if she's going to talk shit about me to her boyfriend.

"I just wish you trusted me more, is all," I say. "You know I can take care of myself."

"I know," he says. "It's just, you never really got any kind of help to deal with the baby situation. Maybe it would help to talk to someone about that."

"Jaime, that was over a year ago," I say. "I can assure you I'm over that now."

"Okay, but—" I start kissing Jaime's cheek and neck, cutting him off, and he starts moaning a little.

This is always the best way to shut him up if I want him to stop talking about something or stop annoying me. It always works. Before I know it, we're going at it in the bedroom and our clothes are off. I knew he wouldn't be able to resist me, he never has been able to.