Day 13: Making the Cut

Arya

Arya was picking straw of her pants while Sandor was gathering their stuff.

She hadn't slept at all last night because the adrenaline and the screeching of the pigs in the barn next to theirs had kept her awake.

Sandor and she had fled the Hollow Hill as soon as the cops had arrived.

They had ended up at the barn by accident.

Arya had done nothing else than following Sandor while they climbed over fences, ran through people's gardens and accidently, or not so accidently, knocked over stupid little garden gnomes until they left the city.

They ran through a few open fields while sticking close to the river and eventually they had ended up at a farm.

They had picked the lock on the barn filled with haystacks and thanked the Gods that no one had followed them.

"So where are we going now?" she asked Sandor softly.

He shrugged and tossed her a sandwich.

Arya was suddenly grateful for the fact that Sandor had been planning to leave anyway which meant they at least had some food and water.

"I want to go home" she said softly while her splitting headache didn't want to go away.

She drank some of the water but she was afraid to waste it.

Arya had never been afraid of something like that before.

She really did miss her family though and she wondered if they missed her too.

She tried to check her phone but the battery had died yesterday and her charger was still at Winterfell.

The only thing she could hope for was that Gendry had decided to cover for her until she was able to make her way back.

"You can't go home" Sandor said "the cops were at the Hollow Hill because you and Jaqen stole from that supermarket and you stole a lot"

"You guys steal all the time" she said.

Sandor laughed bitterly at that while he put his jacket back on.

"There's a reason why we stole from those little shops" he said "because they don't have a fucking security system"

Arya turned as white as a sheet.

Arya hadn't heard an alarm go off when they opened the door so she had figured that there wasn't any security at all.

She hadn't even thought of the possibility that there could have been security cameras hanging from the ceiling in the supermarket.

"Shit, do you think they have my face on camera?" she asked him while her heart pounded in her chest.

Sandor shrugged again while he put his backpack on.

"They've must have had some idea of what you look like" Sandor said "there are cameras on every corner of every street in that neighbourhood so they probably found some images that matched that description which is how they were able to follow you and Jaqen back to the Hollow Hill"

Arya rested her head in her hands and she didn't know what to do.

"So I can't go home or they'll find me" she said.

"We're just going to have to lay low for a while until the whole thing blows over" Sandor said "I'd might take a few weeks though"

Arya looked up again and into the disfigured face of her new friend.

"We?" she asked carefully.

"Yeah, well you followed me there so I'm responsible" he said shuffling his feet "not that I really care though..."

She couldn't help but smile at how hard Sandor was trying to hide the fact that he did care about some people.

"Thanks" she said and he actually blushed.

"If only we had a place to go" Sandor said sighing.

Arya thought for awhile while she bit her lip.

"My unlce Brynden lives somewhere around here" she said carefully "maybe we could stay there for just a little while"

"Would he take us in?" Sandor asked.

Arya nodded.

Her uncle would never turn down a family member and he was also the one person she could think of that would relate to her the most.

He was the "Black Sheep" of House Tully or the "Black Fish" as he had jokingly started to call himself and she felt like she wasn't what her family had wanted her to be either.

She just hoped that he wouldn't ask too many questions about why she ran away from home but she didn't think she had another choice.

Sansa

Sansa was a bit nervous when she walked to her student councillor's office.

She had known Little Finger for almost her entire life but somehow she had always felt a little bit uneasy in his presence.

Maybe it had something to do with the way he would sometimes look at her or with the fact that she knew he never stopped loving her mother even though she married someone else.

She hesitantly knocked on the green door with the silver name plate on it saying: "Petyr Baelish".

Someone opened the door for her but it wasn't Little Finger.

It was a tall girl with short black hair and beautiful blue eyes.

She was wearing jeans and a vintage t-shirt with the title of an old movie on it.

"Can I help you?" she asked in a slightly rude voice.

Sansa thought she looked like the kind of person who didn't have time for idle chitchat and for a second she didn't know what to say.

"Uhm... I'm here to see Professor Baelish" she said.

The girl's facial expression softened.

"He'll be back any minute now" she said "come in"

Sansa followed the girl into the small office.

The office was filled with cardboard boxes and she could see that they were packing Little Finger's stuff.

"I'm Mya, by the way" the girl said while she continued alphabetically sorting books into different boxes.

"I'm Sansa" she said and she went up to Mya to help her.

The girl gave her a confused look when Sansa picked up a few books but gave her a shy smile when she noticed that she was just helping her sort them.

"Thanks" Mya said "I've been packing stuff for hours now and I don't even want to think about the fact that I'm going to be the one who has the unpack everything again when we get to the Eyrie"

Sansa had never been at the Eyrie before herself but she knew what it looked like.

It was a large glass office building and it was considered one of the most beautiful and modern constructions of their time.

"Why is Professor Baelish going to the Eyrie?" Sansa asked but she thought she already knew the answer.

"He's going to work for Lysa of course now they're getting married" Mya said sighing "I've been her assistant for two years now so I wasn't expecting to be passed off to her husband when she called me into her office this morning"

A blush immediately spread across Mya's face when she realized that she had probably said too much.

She didn't want to say bad things about her boss even though she was mad at her and Sansa could appreciate that.

Suddenly the door opened and Petyr entered the office.

"Sansa, dear, what a surprise!" he said smiling and he put his Starbucks coffee on top of a pile of books which Mya had just sorted.

Sansa believed she saw Mya shoot Petyr a dirty look before she walked out of the office with two boxes to put them in Little Finger's car.

"I just came to congratulate you on the fact that you're getting married to my aunt" Sansa said smiling.

"Oh how considered of you, Sansa" Petyr said "I guess that means you're coming then?"

Sansa nodded.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to miss it" she said "especially since my aunt wanted me to be a bridesmaid"

Petyr drank some of his coffee without taking his eyes of her.

"Actually it was me how proposed that idea to Lysa" Little Finger said "I had hoped it would persuade your mother to come too, I'm afraid that she has gotten the wrong idea about Lysa and me"

Sansa shook her head and forced herself to smile.

"Not at all" Sansa said "it just came so unexpectedly and there's a lot going on in our family recently"

"Yes, I've heard about your party, it's truly horrible" Petyr said and his voice was full compassion even though she didn't know if he meant it "If you ever need someone to talk to you know where to find me"

"Thank you" Sansa said smiling but she didn't know if she could trust him yet.

Renly

Renly walked through the empty hallway while carrying a large pile of papers he had graded during the weekend and he tried to open the door to his classroom without dropping them.

"Let me help you, Professor" he heard someone say and Brienne opened the door for him.

"Thank you, Brienne" he said smiling and he entered the classroom.

Renly put the stack of papers on his desk and sat down in his office chair.

He turned on his computer so he could prepare for his next lesson when he noticed that Brienne had followed him into the classroom.

She was still standing near the door though and she was pretending to be looking at a drawing on the wall.

"Is there something I can help you with?" he asked the girl.

A blush immediately spread across Brienne's freckled face.

"Well it's just...I was wondering if..." Brienne said awkwardly "I was just wondering if you were going to come to the second tryout day"

He wasn't expecting her to say something like that but he was flattered that she wanted him there.

Renly had cheered her on during the tryout because he wanted to give her the courage to give it her all and apparently she had appreciated that.

"I could if you want me to" he said shrugging.

"Really?" she asked him and her face lit up "that would mean a lot to me"

She reminded him a bit of his niece Shireen.

They had both not been blessed with the best looks except for their blue eyes and they were both kind and sweet.

"Of course" Renly said smiling "I'll be there, don't worry"

Brienne finally had the courage to walk to his desk while she smiled shyly.

"Thank you" she said looking at his desk instead of him "and I also wanted to thank you again for helping me out when Hyle stole my backpack"

"It's nothing" Renly said "someone needs to stop does bullies and put them in their place"

Brienne bit her lip and he could see that she was playing with a corner of one of the papers on his desk.

"It's just that..." she said frowning "It's just that I'm not really pretty and, I mean that's okay, but that's why they pick on me so much"

She said the last thing shrugging as if it wasn't important and as if she didn't really care about it but he could see that it was really bothering her.

"Who says you're not pretty?" Renly said "you can't let them get to you, they're just saying that because they know it will hurt you"

Brienne started blushing again while she smiled shyly.

He knew that Brienne wasn't the prettiest girl at their school but that didn't mean that she had to feel like that too.

Renly had always been popular in high school but he still knew what it was like to feel like you had to be ashamed of yourself just for being yourself.

He had kissed a boy once during a high school party and they had started dating in secret but one time when a jock called Renly a fag his "boyfriend" laughed the loudest of all of them.

Renly broke up with him that same day.

He thought he had seen on facebook that the boy was now engaged to some girl but he wondered how long that would really last.

Suddenly the classroom door opened again and Loras walked in who shot Renly an accusing look after seeing Brienne.

"I have to go" Brienne said after seeing the look on Loras' face "I'll see you at the tryouts, Professor Renly"

Brienne closed the door behind her and Loras crossed his arms in front of his chest while he raised his eyebrows at Renly.

"What was she doing here?" Loras asked annoyed.

"You're cute when you're jealous" Renly said and he couldn't help but smile.

"I'm not jealous, okay?" Loras said and his face reddened a little bit.

Renly got up from his chair and wrapped his arms around Loras.

"I love you" he whispered against Loras' soft curls "you don't have to question that ever"

"I won't" Loras said and his expression softened "I love you too"

Cersei

Cersei was sitting at the popular table surrounded by her court as she liked to call her other popular friends.

Margaery was sitting to her left next to her friends Elinor, Alla and Megara and Osney Kettleblack was sitting to Cersei's right.

His brothers were sitting at the other side of the table next to Jaime even though he hadn't spoken a word yet.

Aurane Waters was sitting at their table too after Cersei had invited him just that morning.

She knew he had wanted to sit with them for a while now and since it was the day they would announce the nominees for Prom Queen she had felt especially generous.

Cersei couldn't wait until Stannis would call her and Jaime's name.

They always said their names last to give them more emphasis and every year she had been showered in congratulations afterwards

It would be a great way to put everyone in their places again especially Sansa Stark and her stupid little party.

Cersei couldn't help but smile at Sansa's misfortune.

Sansa had tried to use Margaery and her to become more popular but no one uses Cersei Lannister.

She was the queen of their school and she was in control and she didn't care if she had to screw some people over to maintain that position.

It was the natural hierarchy of high school and just like the lion, a Lannister was always on top.

They heard the three usual mechanical tones coming from the speakers in the corners of the cafeteria which meant there was going to be an announcement.

Without realizing it she took hold op Osney's hand while Stannis started talking.

"As you know Prom isn't too far away and after counting your votes we have officially selected the nominees for Prom King and Queen"

Stannis' voices sounded even more strained than usual due to the speakers but Cersei didn't care.

She was too excited to care about anything that did not have to do with Prom.

She had voted for herself and Jaime as soon as the voting section of their school's website was uploaded.

Too be honest Cersei didn't even know which other couples were nominated because she hadn't bothered to check.

She didn't think anyone would be able to beat them after she had eliminated Sansa.

"The first couple is: Robb and Sansa Stark"

The students in the cafeteria applauded modestly.

Cersei had expected that Sansa was still going to be nominated but she wasn't worried about her being any competition.

She almost laughed when she thought about the next unfortunate couple on Stannis' list which had to compete against her and Jaime.

"The second couple is: Jaime and Cersei Lannister"

Cersei's face fell and she didn't even notice the people congratulating her.

Why in the name of the Seven were they the second couple?!

Everyone knew that the third couple was the most likely to win.

She shot an angry look at the nearest speaker as if it was his fault.

"The third couple is: Joffrey Lannister and Margaery Tyrell"

"What the hells!" Cersei shouted but no one heard her since everyone was busy congratulating Margaery.

They were talking so loudly that they didn't even hear Stannis add that there was a fourth contestant for Prom Queen.

"Oh thank you so much guys!" Margaery said smiling "I never expected to be nominated"

Cersei bit hard on the inside of her cheek until she tasted blood to keep herself from yelling at Margaery.

She could barely believe that her friend had betrayed her like this.

Cersei promised to destroy Margaery and everything she had ever loved for this betrayal especially since she was trying to use her Joffrey against her.

The school bell rang and everyone left the cafeteria.

Cersei didn't go with them even though they asked her too.

She kept sitting in her seat while she dug her nails into the wooden table.

Jaime was the only one who had stayed in the cafeteria too and he was quietly watching her.

Suddenly she couldn't take it longer and she could feel tears burn in her eyes.

She always made sure that no one ever saw her cry.

Cersei was a lion of Casterly Rock and lions didn't cry but she couldn't help it this time.

She grabbed Jaime's arm and dragged him to the hallway and into a supply closet.

"What are you doing?" he asked before Cersei wrapped her arms around him and cried into his shoulder.

"Oh Jaime" she whispered.

Jaime

Jaime had only seen his sister cry once which was when their mother died so at first he didn't know what to do.

He held her tight and stroked her soft, golden hair with his left hand.

"Jaime" she sobbed again "I'm scared"

"I'm here" he whispered "no one can hurt you"

Jaime knew why his sister was scared.

Being Prom Queen was her personality.

She had made it her biggest talent to hide her true self behind a mask of popularity and bitchiness but he knew that deep down she had the ability to truly love someone.

"I missed you" she said softly when she had calmed down a bit again.

"I missed you too" he just said and he had really missed her.

He had missed her sweet perfume and the touch of her soft, unblemished skin.

Jaime had missed looking into her emerald eyes which were so much like his own eyes and he had missed touching her golden hair which was so much like his own hair.

Jaime still thought of them as an unity and he hoped she still did the same too.

We came into this world together they used to say.

"What if we lose this, Jaime" she said softly "we can't lose to Margaery Tyrell!"

"Would that be so bad?" he asked her.

Jaime wished his sister would give up on her sick obsession with things like being Prom Queen and he wished she would go to the beach with him again or to the forest near Casterly Rock.

"Yes, it would be!" she said and her green eyes flickered "we're Lannisters, we can't let Tyrells beat us!"

"Joffrey is a Lannister too" Jaime said.

"She will manipulate him and turn him against us, Jaime" Cersei said desperately.

Jaime had never liked Joffrey.

He was a twisted little boy and he had always been that way but Cersei failed to see this which was why he wasn't going to bring it up now.

"Oh Jaime" she said again and she wrapped her arms around him "I wish it could be just you and me forever"

"I would do anything to make that happen" he said softly and he meant it.

He wished he could keep Cersei away from her obsession and close to him for the rest of their lives but that simply wasn't possible.

"Really?" she asked and she traced his lips with her finger.

"Yes" he answered immediately.

"Then there's something I want to try" she said before pressing her lips on his.

They hadn't done anything like that since their mother had moved them to different bedrooms when they were just kids but it felt right somehow, how wrong it might actually be.

Her tongue touched his for a second and a shiver ran down his spine.

They were one and they were always meant to do be.

"I love you, Jaime" she moaned "never leave me"

"I won't" he said in-between kisses.

Her hands moved to his jeans and she unzipped them for him.

"Would you do anything for me?" she asked him looking at him with big, green eyes and he realized that even in the dim light of the supply closet she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"Anything" he answered.

"Even kick Loras off the football team?" she asked while slipping her hand into his underwear.

"Seven hells!" Jaime said and he quickly took a step back.

Cersei gave him a hurt look and she even looked a bit confused.

"So that's why you're doing this?" he asked her angrily.

"No, I do love you Jaime!" she said and he saw tears in her eyes again.

"You love no one but yourself" he said while zipping up his fly.

"Jaime!" she said again while she tried to grab his arm but he quickly left the supply closet with a broken heart.