Day 22: Winning Souls

Jon

Jon entered the AV room and he sat down behind his usual desk.

"Hey, Sam" he told his friend smiling while he put down a cup of tea in front of him which he had just gotten from the cafeteria.

Usually there was no tea there but Three-Finger Hobb, who ran their school's cafeteria, liked the AV club and he was always willing to make them some tea if they asked him nicely.

Three-Finger Hobb had been a member of the AV club too when he was their age but somewhere along the line he had strayed from the path which was why he now worked in their cafeteria as his community service.

Jon noticed that Sam didn't greet him or thank him and he wondered what was going on.

"What's up?" he asked his friend but the boy didn't answer.

He hunched over some more while he was rapidly typing something on his computer.

"What's wrong?" Jon asked confused.

"I am not talking to you" Sam said.

Jon knew that he could make a smart remark like "well you just did" but he also knew that this would only start a conflict.

"Why not?" Jon asked Sam.

Samwell tried one more time to give Jon the silent treatment but he quickly gave in.

The fat boy let out a sigh and turned his swivel chair so he could look Jon in the eyes.

"How could you do something like that?" Sam asked him.

Jon was starting to understand what this was all about and he couldn't help but blush.

"Is this about Gilly?" Jon asked his friend carefully.

"Yes, this is about Gilly!" Sam answered and Jon could see tears in his friend's eyes.

Confronting someone had never been Sam's biggest talent so Jon figured that he had really done it this time.

"What did she tell you?" Jon asked him.

Sam's turned his chair again so Jon couldn't see that he was crying but Sam was too late.

"Nothing" Sam answered "she won't let me visit her anymore"

Jon swallowed thickly while he looked at his desperate friend.

"I'm sorry" Jon said "I just wanted the best for the baby and I didn't think she would blame you for anything"

"That's right you didn't think" Sam said "well I hope you're happy because she is going to give the baby away and she won't see me anymore"

"The baby will have a much better life this way" Jon said "now he has a chance of being accepted"

Sam shook his head while tears still rolled down his red face.

"We were going to raise him together" Samwell said softly "she doesn't need me anymore now and even if she does she'll always associate me with her lost baby"

Jon tried to put a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder but Sam shied away from him.

"She probably hates me" Sam said.

"She doesn't hate you, Sam" Jon said "if there's anyone she hates then it should be me and besides you guys can still have a future together and have children when you're both ready"

"We were ready!" Sam said and he got up from his seat "I was finally going to proof to my father that I could do something right"

Jon didn't know what to say so he bit his lip instead.

Trying to make his father proud was something Jon had been struggling with his whole life too so he knew where Sam was coming from.

"I'm sorry, Sam" he just said "but this is Aemon's best chance"

"Fuck that!" Samwell said and Jon could see that he was as surprised by his own use of bad words as Jon was.

Jon could see Sam hesitate for a few seconds until he grabbed his backpack from the floor.

"Well, I'm leaving" Sam said "bye"

That said his friend left the AV room and Jon wondered if he would ever return.

Jaime

It would be the first football practice with his new team and he felt a sense of pride when he watched them on the field.

He was especially proud of his friend Brienne.

Jaime couldn't say that he had never doubted the fact that she would make it but he could say that he never doubted the fact that she had the skills to do so.

There was a small group of people sitting on the bleachers while they watched the team train.

If the weather was nice than a large group of people would always show up to watch them but the autumn chill had driven most students away.

Jaime wished that there was a bigger crowd because he had noticed that they boys always tried harder when girls were watching and it would help them get used to the noise spectators make.

He remembered that it had been a lot louder than he had expected when he played his first game.

Jaime was one of the youngest students to ever join the football team so it had been even more overwhelming.

He had been cocky though and he was sure that his natural talent would help him get through the game and eventually he had been right.

Jaime wondered how Brienne would perform at her first game.

He didn't think she could handle being under pressure as much as he could but she was going to have to learn it rather sooner than later.

Jaime had always found a way to retreat into himself which helped him focus on the game and ignore the cheering and shouting crowd.

He had to admit that his sister and her cheerleading squad had never helped him win before because he barely noticed them.

Jaime used to think though that her presence made him play better but now he just wanted to be as far away from her as possible.

Deep down he would always love her sister but that didn't mean that he didn't hate her guts.

"Oh man, is She-Man playing for the team now?!" Jaime heard someone shout from the bleachers.

Brienne was standing with her back to the bleachers and even though she didn't turn around her face turned red.

Jaime thought he recognized the guy that had shouted as Hyle Hunt, an annoying boy that had never been taught to keep his mouth shut.

"This should be fun" Hyle Hunt shouted again "Let's make a bet about how long she will stay on the team, shall we? Any takers?"

Jaime heard a few students laugh before Hyle continued.

"Personally I don't think it will be longer than a week" the boy said "Come on, look at her! I know she's big and all but I can take her out with one hand and I don't think the rest will go easy on her"

"Why don't you give it a try?"

Jaime had to blink a few times before he trusted that his eyes were telling the truth.

Brienne had turned around and she was looking at Hyle with her hands clenched into fists.

"Excuse me?" Hyle Hunt asked confused.

"If you think you can take me out with one hand, why don't you give it a try?" Brienne asked him with that stubborn look of hers plastered onto her face "Does anyone want to bet how long he will able to stand on his feet? Personally, I don't think it will be longer than five minutes"

Hyle Hunt's confused expression was starting to look slightly panicked now.

Apparently he wasn't used to his victims standing up for themselves and Jaime had to admit that Brienne's new attitude surprised even himself.

"I don't fight girls" Hyle said nervously chuckling but no one laughed with him.

Everyone knew that it was a stupid excuse.

"Girls?" Brienne asked him while pretending to be confused "Didn't you just call me She-Man?"

Everyone was looking at Hyle now and even Jaime wondered what he was going to do next.

"Fuck off" he muttered eventually and he climbed down the bleachers and left the football field.

Brienne smiled at Jaime which lit up her sapphire eyes and he smiled back at her.

He was glad that she had finally grown a backbone.

Robb

Robb looked around the living room and he had to admit that his friend had really outdone himself.

Theon had installed some disco lights, there was a fog machine and a table filled with all kinds of liquor.

They could play beer pong in the kitchen if they wanted to and Robb already knew that someone was going to dislocate his shoulder while trying to do a keg stand.

Robb didn't think that Theon was going to throw the party he had promised to, to be honest, but his friend had pleasantly surprised him.

He knew that it must not have been easy for Theon to convince his father but he had pulled through nevertheless.

Theon had plainly told him that if his father was going away for a business trip then there was no reason why he couldn't throw a party.

Robb suspected that he didn't tell that the party was for him though since his father had always hated the Starks but it was a start.

Robb looked at his friend who was talking to Jeyne about the lighting and he couldn't help but smile a little.

His friend had come a long way but no one couldn't deny the fact that it had made him stronger somehow.

The insecure, overcompensating layer Theon had plastered on top of his personality had peeled off and left a more confident person who wasn't afraid of letting other people in.

"It looks great, Theon" Robb told his friend while he approached him with a smile on his face.

"Thanks" Theon said smiling "but someone has to remind me to take the Stark posters down before my dad comes home or else I have a feeling I while have a suspicious fishing accident"

Robb and Theon both laughed at that but deep down he feared that Theon might be right about it.

Talisa returned from the bathroom and walked into the living room.

She hadn't come to Arya's performance because she wasn't feeling well but he had convinced her to come to the party with him.

She looked as beautiful as always in her light blue dress and he smiled as soon as he saw her.

Tomorrow they would go see the doctor and they would have their first ultra sound and he had to admit that he was both nervous and excited.

He knew that it wouldn't be easy for them to raise a child so young but the longer he thought about it, the more he liked it.

"That's a really pretty dress, Talisa" Jeyne said smiling.

Jeyne herself wasn't as exotic as Talisa or as beautiful as Cersei or Sansa but she was pretty nevertheless and every time she was with Theon she seemed to shine.

"Thank you, Jeyne" Talisa said.

"You're studying medicine, right?" Jeyne asked her impressed and Talisa nodded.

"I couldn't even cut in a frog during biology class" Jeyne said "I can't imagine what it would be like to cut in a human body!"

Jeyne shuddered and Theon put his arm around her shoulder.

"Well it's what I'm planning on doing for a living" Talisa said "I want to really help people, and I've never been afraid of getting my hands dirty"

"That's so cool" Jeyne said and Robb's worries that his friends wouldn't like Talisa faded.

Talisa was far more independent than he sometimes gave her credit for and he needed to trust the fact that she could stand her own ground.

She wasn't a damsel in distress and maybe that was exactly why he had fallen for her in the first place.

Jeyne

The music was blasting through the house and everyone seemed to have a great time.

Jeyne was sitting on Theon's lap on the couch and she snuggled up to him while he stroked her hair.

She watched the other teenagers dance in the living room which had soon become cramped while the lights flickered in every colour she could imagine.

She noticed that most students were already drunk and the party hadn't even started that long ago.

Jeyne guessed that a fair amount of people would vote for Robb this Friday, if they could still remember this night tomorrow morning though.

The door to the living room opened and some more students entered.

This wasn't anything strange because students had been walking in and out of the living room for a while now.

Jeyne stared at a beautiful girl with dark hair and blue eyes while she tried to figure out why she looked so familiar.

The girl turned around and for the first time Jeyne could see her complete face.

Her jaw dropped a little while she looked at the girl.

The girl's eyes met hers and it wasn't long before her blue eyes welt up with tears.

Jeyne's eyes did the same of course while she got off Theon's lap and approached the girl.

"Your hair..." Jeyne said and the girl started to cry.

"I kind of hate it" Sansa said and Jeyne immediately hugged her friend.

They held each other for awhile while tears streamed down both their faces while they still made sure that it didn't ruin the fabric of their dresses.

"I'm sorry for being a bitch" Sansa said.

"You weren't a bitch, I was!"Jeyne said and she couldn't feel more relieved that they were finally talking again.

Ramsay had ruined nearly every aspect of Jeyne's life and Cersei had not been much kinder to Sansa.

It had almost seemed too much to wish for their friendship to be restored but somehow it had been.

"I love you, Jeyne, and you're my best friend and if I'm ever, and I mean ever, as self-absorbed as I was then you have to tell me!" Sansa said while tears still glistened in her eyes "because I don't ever want to risk losing you again"

"No, you did nothing wrong!" Jeyne said who couldn't stand to see Sansa crying "I should have been at your side when you needed me most, I shouldn't have let Cersei hurt you!"

"Oh, Jeyne" Sansa sighed and they hugged again.

"Man, did we sound as cheesy as they do?" Theon asked Robb who both had walked up to them to see what was going on.

"Gods, please, tell me we didn't" Robb answered shaking his head while he looked at them with big eyes.

Jeyne knew that they were only teasing Sansa and her but she couldn't care less.

She had her friend back and that was all that mattered.

"So you two are finally dating, right?" Sansa asked Theon and Jeyne while she looked from one face to the other.

Theon nodded and he smiled at Jeyne who could immediately feel a blush spread across her face while the butterflies fluttered around in her stomach.

"It was about time" Sansa said with a warm smile while she wrapped her arm around Jeyne's shoulder.

"Weren't you the one who always told me that I shouldn't date him?!" Jeyne asked her friend laughing.

Sansa shrugged and she tossed her now dark hair.

"I liked Joffrey so I don't think I should be giving anyone advice on who they should and shouldn't date" she said.

Jeyne couldn't help but chuckle a little at that.

"I'd say I told you so" Jeyne said "but I've had my share of bad boys"

Theon put a protective hand on her arm as soon as he heard her talk about Ramsay.

She couldn't thank the Old Gods or the New enough for Theon who had turned out to be her true knight in shining armour, how dented that armour might have been at some point.

Sansa gave her a confused look and she guessed that Sansa didn't know anything about her failed relationship with Ramsay.

"What do you mean?" Sansa asked her.

"Never mind" Jeyne said shrugging and she somehow managed to put a smile on her face "I don't want to spoil the party and we'll have enough time to talk about it later"

Sansa nodded reluctantly but she just had to accept the fact that Jeyne wasn't ready to tell anyone about what had happened yet.

The scars still seemed too fresh to her.

Suddenly a song Sansa and she always used to sing in front of the mirror in Sansa's bedroom started playing.

"Do you want to dance?" Jeyne asked her friend.

"Do you even have to ask?" Sansa asked in return.

They both laughed, waved at the boys and somehow managed to reach the dance floor through the crowded room.

Sansa and she started dancing and for the first time neither one cared who was looking at them because they were both just happy to be together again.

Renly

Renly had to admit that there were only two reasons why he had come to Robb Stark's party: because Loras had begged him to, and because he wanted to see what Balon Greyjoy's house looked like.

It was actually a lot different from what he had expected.

The old mansion where he and his brothers had grown up was of course a lot larger than Balon's house but this one was somehow more modern with its large windows and a view of the sea.

Currently however the complete house seemed to be packed with teenager until the extent that Renly constantly held Loras close so he wouldn't lose him in the crowd or at least that was the reason he told himself.

The music was loud and the people louder and Renly had to admit that it was a good party and Renly knew everything there was to know about parties.

Stannis had always hated to come home to Storm's end and finding it filled with empty bottles and teenagers who had apparently fallen asleep during the party.

Renly still remember the huge fight they had when Stannis discovered a couple sleeping in his bed who obviously had had sex the night before.

The fact that it had been their older brother Robert who loved Renly's parties at least as much as Renly loved them had not really improved Stannis's attitude towards the situation either.

A boy walked up to them and Renly had to admit that he didn't know his name apart from the fact that he knew he went to Stannis' high school.

"I'm so gonna vote for you guys" the boy said sounding more than slightly drunk.

Renly shot Loras a confused look who just shrugged as a response.

"Thank you" Loras said smiling " every vote counts"

The boy disappeared into the crowd again leaving Renly more than a little confused.

"What was that all about?" Renly asked his boyfriend.

Loras shrugged again.

"He was drunk of his ass and thought you were Robb or something" he said "no harm done, right?"

Renly couldn't shake the feeling that something more was going on but Loras already dragged him into the kitchen.

"Robb, I love you, man!" Renly heard Theon Greyjoy say who was struggling to stand up straight "and I'm gonna show you too!"

"Theon, you're not going to do a keg stand, right?" Theon's adorable, little girlfriend asked him sounding concerned.

"Yes, I am and it's going to be awesome!" Theon said with a huge smile.

Renly could hear some people start chanting the word "keg stand" over and over again and Renly had thrown enough parties to know what was going to happen.

Theon was definitely fit so normally it wouldn't have been a problem but he was already too drunk to stand let alone do a keg stand.

Renly walked up to Theon and took hold of his arm.

"Hey, buddy, maybe you shouldn't do that" he said.

Theon gave him a very confused look as if he had never seen him before.

"You're Robert Baratheon's gay brother, right?" Theon asked him while wobbling on his feet.

"Yes, that's me" Renly said repressing the urge to let out an annoyed sigh.

"Cool" Theon said nodding "Can you let go off me now?"

Theon tried to get away from Renly while the teens still shouted for a keg stand but Renly stopped him before he could get far.

"Look at your girlfriend" Renly said looking into Theon's dark eyes with his blue ones.

Theon gave him another confused look.

"Jeyne?" he asked him slowly and he turned around.

Jeyne was basically begging Theon not to do it with her eyes because Renly and she both knew that he was going to break an arm or something.

"She doesn't want you to do it" Renly said.

Theon seemed to finally realize what was going on.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Theon asked her and this time it was Jeyne who had to repress the urge to sigh.

"Come here, you handsome crazy person" Jeyne said chuckling and she wrapped her arms around Theon's neck.

Jeyne quickly mouthed "thank you" in Renly's direction before she and Theon engaged in what seemed like an hour long make out session.