Day 17: In Denial

Tyrion

Tyrion was walking through the hallway and he was on his way to High Valyrian.

His mood was surprisingly good which had to do with the fact that his sister was staying with their uncle Kevan for a while because Tywin didn't trust her enough anymore to leave her alone without supervision.

He noticed Sansa Stark walking in his direction with her eyes fixed on the books in front of her.

Apparently she was doing some last minute studying for a test and he could see the panic in her blue eyes.

She was walking quickly and her mouth formed the words she was reading while her eyes raced across the pages.

She was quickly getting closer to him and he was afraid that she was going to bump into him if he didn't stop her on time.

"Hey, Sansa!" he said and he startled the stressed girl so much, she dropped her books and pages scattered across the hallway.

"No!" Sansa gasped and she quickly got on her knees so she could gather her stuff again.

"Let me help you" Tyrion said and he wanted to pick up some pages for her.

Sansa quickly took the pages before he could pick them up and she shot him an accusing look.

"No, thank you" she said and she got back on her feet again.

He noticed how much taller she was than him but it was the hateful look in her eyes which really intimidated him,

"Sorry, if I startled you" he said.

"That's okay" Sansa said but she didn't sound sincere.

"Can I do something to make it up to you?" Tyrion asked the Stark girl.

Sansa let out a bitter laugh.

"You Lannisters are really keen on helping other people, aren't you?" she asked sarcastically.

Tyrion laughed when he finally noticed what was going on.

"You think I'm like my sister, don't you?" he asked her.

A blush spread across Sansa's face and she refused to answer his question.

"Believe me, I'm nothing like Cersei or my brother for that matter" Tyrion said.

"I have class" Sansa just said and she walked past him.

"What can I do to make you believe me?" Tyrion asked her while he struggled to keep up with her but Sansa still didn't reply.

He grabbed her wrist so she had to stop and he looked into her blue eyes.

"Come on, Sansa, don't I deserve a chance?" he asked her.

She let out a sigh before she spoke.

"The what do you propose?" Sansa asked him.

"Let me take you out to dinner" he said smiling.

Sansa let out another sigh and she started walking again.

"Not like that!" Tyrion said quickly "I won't do anything you're not comfortable with"

Sansa crossed her arms in front of her chest and gave him a nasty look.

"Then what are you going to do if I'm not comfortable with being around a Lannister?"

Tyrion didn't know what to say to that but the girl was already walking away from him and she went into a classroom at the end of the hallway.

Once again his name, in combination with his ugly face, had cost him a girl.

He had never been romantically interested in Sansa, even though he couldn't deny that she was a very beautiful girl, but it was just the fact that his sister had managed to ruin another thing for him that pissed him off so much.

Was he going to have to spend the rest of his life in shame?

If his father wasn't trying to make him feel guilty for being born and for killing the only woman, and possibly the only person, Tywin ever loved, they were trying to make him feel guilty for something his sister or even Joffrey had done.

He couldn't remember how many times his sister had played a cruel prank on him when they were both just children and somehow he had always ended up getting blamed for everything and even now his sister was at his uncle's house people still judged and blamed him for things she had done.

The Lannisers always said that the only people you could trust and you should care about were your family but he felt like he was going to be the first Lannister who was going to break the chain because he just couldn't spend another day living like this.

Jon

Jon entered the coffee shop and the bell on the door greeted him by ringing cheerfully.

The coffee house was small and cosy and there were groups of people sitting at tables scattered across the room.

Soft music played in the background and it wasn't long before he spotted Sam and Gilly.

Sam waved at him and he went to their table.

He couldn't deny that he was nervous.

Sam had asked Jon and Ygritte to go on a double date with him and Gilly and even though Jon knew that it was going to be very tough to convince Ygritte, he didn't have the heart to say no to his friend.

Gilly was a pretty girl with a slender figure, brown hair and doe eyes.

She looked sweet and maybe a bit shy but Sam was like that too.

There was a red stroller next to Gilly and a baby was sleeping peacefully in it.

"What's this little guy's name?" Jon asked looking at the baby and smiling.

"Aemon" Gilly answered smiling "you must be Jon, right? Sam has told me much about you, he says that you're very brave and that you always stood up for him"

Sam and Jon both turned red.

Standing up for Sam was something Jon had done without thinking about it but he knew that Sam would always be grateful for it and he also knew that Sam still felt like he owed Jon something even though in Jon's opinion he didn't.

"Well Sam has helped me out too" Jon said "if it wasn't for him I would have never been appointed head of the AV club"

Gilly smiled at Sam and she looked at him with big brown eyes.

"You've never told me about that" Gilly said.

Sam started blushing even more when he noticed that everyone was looking and smiling at him.

"Sam is too modest" Jon said and Gilly agreed with him while she nodded her head.

"Definitely" she said and she took hold of Sam's hand which looked huge in hers "he has helped me so much"

"Stop it, you guys" Sam said softly and his face had turned bright red.

Sam wasn't used to being praised because of how his father had raised him but that didn't mean that he didn't deserve to be praised from time to time.

Jon checked his watch and wondered where Ygritte could be.

He was used to her arriving whenever she felt like it but he had made her promise to be on time even if it was just this once.

The bell rang again and Ygritte entered the coffee house.

It was strange to see her in a dress for a change but it looked good on her.

He waved at her and she joined them at their table.

"Hey, Gilly, good to see you again" Ygritte said and she sounded a little bit sarcastic.

"Hello, Ygritte" Gilly said looking at the clock on the wall behind Ygritte instead of at the redheaded girl.

"You two know each other?" Jon asked his girlfriend.

"She lives at the orphanage" Ygritte answered shrugging "my friends say that her little monster keeps them up at night because it won't stop crying"

"It's a baby, crying is what they do" Gilly said and she put a protective hand on the stroller's handle.

"It's an abomination" Ygritte said with a disgusted look on her face.

"It's my son!" Gilly said almost shouting and she got up from her chair.

Her sudden movement woke the baby and Aemon immediately started to cry.

"Dammit" Gilly said softly and she picked her baby up so she could rock it back to sleep in her arms.

"Your son or your br-" Ygritte started before Jon cut her off.

"What are you doing?!" he shouted at his girlfriend.

He couldn't understand why Ygritte was being so mean to Gilly and her baby.

It couldn't really be about the crying, could it?

"This is why I didn't want to come" Ygritte said and she got up from her chair too.

"You should have given him up for adoption" the redheaded girl said "at least then you would have given him a fair chance"

That said Ygritte quickly left the coffee house and slammed the door behind her.

"I'm so sorry" Jon told Sam and Gilly who was still holding the crying baby and he followed his girlfriend out of the shop.

Arya

Arya left the locker room and walked into the large gym which smelled of leather and sweat.

The gym was relatively quiet, there was a woman who was running on a treadmill, a man who was lifting weights and a man who was hitting a punching bag.

No one seemed to notice her while she passed them and walked to the boxing ring at the end of the gym.

Syrio was already there and he didn't look too happy.

"You're late" he said.

Arya felt a blush spread across her face and she couldn't help but feel a little bit guilty.

She hadn't gone to her lesson at all last week and this time she was late.

Arya was afraid that Syrio was going to be even harder on her than usual but she was used to coming home with more than one bruise.

"Sorry, I was.." she started but Syrio interrupted her.

"I don't care, you're wasting time" Syrio said and he gestured that she needed to stand sideways.

Syrio was a short man with dark curls and a braavosi accent.

He had taught her something about every martial art she could think off but she didn't think she would ever be able to beat him.

"Try to hit me" Syrio said and he already looked less angry than he had done a few seconds ago.

He was a kind man as long as you stayed on his good side.

Arya did as he had told her but he easily caught her fist in his hand and he sighed.

"You need to concentrate" he said.

She sighed and tried again but Syrio blocked her effortlessly.

Arya had been making a lot of progress before she missed her lesson and she didn't get why she was doing so poorly right now.

"You'll be a dead girl if you keep this up!" Syrio said pointing at her but she knew that he didn't mean it unkindly.

"I'm just distracted" she said and she pushed her fringe behind her ear.

"What's bothering you?" Syrio asked her.

They usually didn't talk about her personal life so this was something new but she guessed that Syrio had noticed that this was something serious.

His observation skills had always been impeccable which was why he was such a skilled fighter.

She touched the coin Jaqen had given to her which she had put in her pocket and her hand tightened around it.

"I'm thinking about joining the army" she said and she bit her lip while she thought about it again.

Syrio was looking at her pocket and she handed him the coin without thinking about it.

"Valar Morghulis" she said shrugging.

Syrio looked at the coin and turned it around so he could see the other side too.

"Valar Dohaeris" Syrio said softly "do you even know what it means?"

Arya shook her head.

"It means, all men must die" Syrio said.

Arya didn't understand why Jaqen had given her the coin but Syrio seemed both shocked and impressed by it.

"There is an academy in Braavos" he said softly while he was still looking at the coin "maybe you could go there, if you're ready"

Arya wondered what he could be talking about and also what the coin Jaqen had given her could have to do with that.

"What kind of academy?" she asked him "and when will I be ready?"

"Practice first, questions later" Syrio said and he flipped the coin before handing it back to her with his usual smile on his face.

Renly

Renly was sitting behind his desk in his dorm room while the music of the guy in the room next to his boomed through the whole building.

He didn't mind too much though because he couldn't concentrate on the book in front of him anyway.

He was too distracted because he still felt bad about the fact that he had been fired by Stannis.

Robert had offered him another job of course but he still felt like he had failed somehow.

He closed his book and flopped down on his bed.

His room was a mess but that had nothing to do with the fact that he was feeling depressed.

He had had a maid when he still lived at home so he wasn't really used to cleaning up after himself.

Renly heard someone knock on his door and he got up from the bed.

He opened the door and saw the blonde girl who lived in a dorm near his.

She was pretty and Renly had noticed that she was always trying to flirt with him.

"Hey Renly" she said with that bright smile of hers "there's someone at the door for you"

"Thanks, Violet" he said smiling back at her even though his smile didn't reach his eyes.

He followed her to the front door and he noticed that it was Loras who had come to visit him and he had been expecting that more or less too.

"Hey, love" he said when he saw Loras and this time his smile was genuine and he kissed his boyfriend.

He had to admit that he thought it was kind of funny to see Violet's surprised face when she realized for the first that he was gay, maybe she was even a bit relieved that that was the reason why he hadn't been responding to her flirting.

Loras followed him to his dorm room and he closed the door behind him so they would have some privacy.

Loras sat down on the desk and he kept his eyes fixed on Renly.

"Why are you so calm?" Loras asked him eventually.

Renly shrugged.

"It has absolutely no use to get all worked up about it" Renly said "There is nothing we can do about it"

"Seriously?" Loras asked him annoyed "because of that Brienne you're fired and you don't even want to fight for your job!"

Renly laid down on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
"It's not Brienne's fault, it's not like I'm accused of something I haven't done" he said "I have been dating a student after all"

"But you can still fight!" Loras said jumping off the desk.

Renly had always known that Loras was a lot stronger than he looked and he had admired him for that trait.

"Then what do you propose?" Renly asked his boyfriend.

Loras sat down on the bed next to him.

"What if we raise the money Stannis needs to save the school?" Loras asked him with a twinkle in his eyes.

"Stannis won't just accept money if we give it to him"

Loras shook his head and smiled at him.

"I said raise the money, not give him the money" he said "what if we organize a big event that helps us raise the money and gets the school a lot of positive attention in the media? That way Stannis won't be able to refuse the money!"

Renly bit his lip and he wondered if something like that would work but he couldn't come up with a reason why it wouldn't work.

"Maybe" Renly said shrugging and Loras let out a sigh.

"Don't you trust me?" he asked him.

"Of course, I do!" Renly answered and he didn't even have to think about that question.

He trusted Loras like no one else.

Loras was the first boy Renly had ever told that he loved him and it had all come natural.

"Great" Loras said smiling "it will be awesome"

Renly let out a sigh and he smiled at his boyfriend.

"You already organized something, didn't you?" he asked him.

Loras blushed a little bit and he nodded.

"I knew it" Renly said shaking his head and he kissed Loras again.

Renly had to admit that he was really glad that his neighbour's music was so loud because it would drown out the noises he and Loras were about to make.

Cersei

Cersei was sitting at her uncle Kevan's desk and she watched him type away on his computer.

She let out another dramatic sigh but she knew that she wasn't going to succeed in getting his attention.

Her father had dropped her off at her uncle's house last Wednesday because apparently he didn't trust her enough to leave her alone anymore.

Cersei had told him that she wouldn't be home alone if he bothered to come home from work every once in a while but her father had ignored her outburst just like he had ignored Cersei's other protests.

She had locked herself in her room for the first two days she had spent at her uncle's house and the only time she left her room was in the middle of the night when she snuck out to steal some food from the kitchen but today she had finally given in.

Her uncle's house was a bit smaller than hers but it wasn't bad.

She had stayed there before with Jaime and Tyrion when they were still too young to be left at home alone.

Cersei remembered that one time Jaime and her cousin Lancel had had a huge fight, which resulted into Lancel losing some of his baby teeth, because Lancel kept following Cersei around.

She hadn't seen him around yet but she didn't think he would be too much fun.

He had always tried to be just like Jaime but just like Jaime was just not good enough.

Only Jaime was good enough but she was starting to doubt that too.

She couldn't believe that he had rejected her and it still made her feel heartbroken.

Cersei had always thought that opening up to people was terribly difficult and after his rejection she didn't think she was going to try to do it again anytime soon.

Cersei let out another sigh and this time her uncle did look up from his work.

"Is there something I can do for you?" her uncle asked her annoyed.

"Yes, you could tell me when I'm allowed to leave" Cersei answered smiling but her uncle didn't seem too amused.

"You can leave when you're father trusts you again" Kevan said concentrating on his computer soon "I don't think that will be anytime soon though"

"You're such a good, obedient, little brother, aren't you?" Cersei muttered under her breath.

"As a matter of fact I am and I would advise you to be a good, obedient, little daughter" Kevan answered but Cersei hadn't intended on him hearing her remark.

She bit her lip and looked out of the window.

It was raining outside which just reflected the way she felt.

Cersei could feel tears burn in her eyes and she hoped that pretending to be remorseful would help her uncle convince that she wasn't as guilty as everyone said she was.

"I'm sorry" she said and a perfect tear rolled down her cheek.

Kevan looked up from his computer again and his facial expression softened even if it was just a little bit.

"I'm pretty sure that Tywin will pick you up again after the weekend, if that makes you feel any better" Kevan said.

Cersei nodded and she managed to put a sad smile on her face.

She had always known that a woman had two weapons: her sexuality and her tears and she had never been afraid to use them even though she preferred the first one.

She knew that sometimes you had to manipulate people to stay on top and a Lannister always needs to stay on top.

Kevan wasn't that kind of Lannister though.

He was perfectly happy with playing second fiddle to his older brother Tywin.

Cersei didn't think she would ever be able to do something like that.

She thought about playing second filled to Margaery Tyrell and she shuddered.

She still needed to think of something to take Margaery down before Prom.

Cersei knew that the only way to do this was to show everyone in her school that Margaery wasn't the innocent, little girl she pretended to be, but how?
Suddenly a plan started to form in Cersei's mind and a smile appeared on her face.

A few days ago one of her friends had told her that Margaery had been flirting with Osney Kettleblack.

If Cersei managed to get pictures of Margaery cheating on Joffrey with Osney than her whole act would blow up in her face.

No one would vote for Margaery anymore and they would realize that Cersei had been the one who had been treated unfairly.

"Why are you smiling?" Kevan asked her confused.

"Well" Cersei said shrugging "there are worse places to stay for a while, right uncle?"

Kevan smiled at her but he looked like he knew she was lying.

It didn't matter in the end because he didn't press the subject,

"I'm going to see if I can find Lancel" Cersei said "if that's okay with you?"

"Sure" Kevan said smiling genuinely this time.

Cersei left the room and her smile wouldn't disappear from her face again.

Margaery might be thinking that she had won the game, but it had only begun.

Lions fight to kill.