It was a quiet breakfast that morning in the Stark house. No one had the energy to make conversation and all that could be heard was cutlery hitting china and the sound of everyone chewing. The front door opened and closed.
"Hello?" Lauryn called out as she made her way down the hall into the kitchen. "Morning guys."
"Morning Lauryn." Ned said, giving the brunette a smile as she sat in the empty seat next to Jon.
"I can't believe what happened last night." Lauryn groaned into Jon's shoulder. He chuckled.
"Only you. Only you could do something that ridiculous."
She looked up at the curious faces of the Stark family. "Do they know?" She whispered.
"That it was something sexual, that's all I told them."
"Thank God for that." Lauryn said. "I had to explain it to my Dad in full detail and he couldn't make eye contact with me this morning. It was awful."
Jon laughed out loud. "I wish I'd been there for that. I bet Jory's face was epic."
"Don't. I feel sorry for him really. It's not been easy on him, losing his wife just as his only daughter hit puberty." Lauryn said. "He's seen and heard more in his life than a man would like to."
"He's a good man, your father." Ned said, "He's been a good friend to us." Lauryn nodded as she took a mouthful of cereal.
"What do you want to do today?" Jon asked, looking at her and Lauryn considered it.
"Hike." She said, as Ghost came and laid his head on her lap. "You can come too." She smiled, scratching the beast behind the ears.
"I think it's really funny how much he likes you." Jon said as they walked up their favourite hill, Ghost bounding ahead of them.
"Who your Dad?"
"Ghost." Jon said. "He doesn't really take well to other people."
"But I'm not other people." Lauryn said as Ghost stopped and turned to look at them. She threw the tennis ball in her hand up the hill for him and laughed as the white dog went bezerk. "So how are we going to do it?"
"Run away to Highgarden?" Jon asked, twelve years of best friendship giving him the intuitive knowledge of what she's on about. "We could go there for university."
"Would they accept our applications this late?"
Jon shrugged. "There's a possibility that we might be accepted through clearing. We'd have to do them as soon as we got home."
"Agreed. We'll apply for Highgarden as soon as we get home." Lauryn said before grinning at him. "Race ya." She said, grinning. Jon grinned back before they both set off, running up the hill. When they reached the top they flopped down on the grass, both panting as they laughed and tried to catch their breath. Ghost danced around them before flopping down on Jon's legs. "When did that get easy?"
"When our legs got longer and we stopped eating hot dogs or burgers every day for lunch at school." Jon answered and Lauryn laughed, flopping back on the grass. "What are you going to study at Highgarden?"
"Literature. You?"
"Politics, I think. That's what Dad wants me to study." Jon said and Lauryn rolled over so she was laying half on his stomach, looking up at him.
"What do you want to study? Highgarden is our dream, Jon. You can do whatever you want there."
"Art." Jon said shyly and Lauryn smiled widely. Jon had been obsessed with art since the day he had discovered that he could draw and Lauryn had a whole wall covered with his work – from scribbles he had done in primary school to his most recent work which had ventured slightly into photography.
"That sounds perfect." She said and Jon grinned before kissing her forehead and they both went quiet, listening to the sound of the wind, the birds and Ghost's breathing.
"Were the doctor's eyes really blue?" Jon asked out of nowhere.
"Yes!" Lauryn said, sitting up. "Oh my God, he was the most handsome doctor I've ever seen. Why did I have to get the good looking one?" She groaned, falling back on the grass. Ghost stood up and walked over to her so he was standing with his head over her face and licked from temple to chin. "Cheers Ghost. That's the most action I've gotten in twenty four hours."
"I never asked, who did you have sex with?"
Lauryn blushed deeply. "Um, Jaime Lannister." She confessed and Jon looked at her. "Don't!"
"Wow. Jaime Lannister deigned himself to you?"
"Hey! I'm not so terrible am I?" She asked, reaching over and shoving his shoulder.
"How was it?"
"Terrible. He barely lasted twenty seconds." She said and they laughed and Lauryn covered her face with her hands. "Oh God!" She groaned and Jon chuckled.
"Come on. Let's go fill in our applications for Highgarden." Jon said, standing up and helping her to her feet and they started walking. Ghost followed behind them as they made their way down the hill, hand-in-hand, laughing and joking.
Jon: Can you come over early?
Lauryn: The film doesn't start until two.
Jon: Sansa wants you to come over.
Lauryn: Why?
Lauryn: Oh.
Lauryn: I'm on my way.
"She's really embarrassed about the whole thing." Jon said as Lauryn stepped through the door.
"Go tell the whole of Kings Landing why don't you Jon?" The redhead said from where she stood, wrapped in her duvet, at the top of the stairs. "Hi Lauryn."
"Hey Sansa." Lauryn said, throwing Jon a smile before walking up the stairs and following Sansa to her room.
"I behaved so badly, I'm so embarrassed." Sansa said, flopping on the bed, as Lauryn closed the door behind them. "I can't believe it."
"Come on, it wasn't that bad." Lauryn said comfortingly as she sat in the chair.
"Sansa had her stomach pumped! Sansa had her stomach pumped!" Rickon and Arya chanted repeatedly as they did a strange tribal-esque dance. Sansa threw a shoe at them and Lauryn stood and shepherded them out of the door, locking it once the door was closed. Lauryn looked at Sansa before kicking her shoes off and then climbing into the bed beside her.
"It was awful."
"Other people have done worse on their eighteenth birthday." Lauryn said comfortingly.
Sansa turned her head and looked at the older girl. "What did you do on yours?" She asked.
"Shh." Jon said, running his thumb over her lips, prompting Lauryn to tighten her fingers in his hair.
"Kiss me again." She demanded and Jon smiled as he complied, slipping his hands down to her thighs, lifting her up and throwing her onto the bed…
"It's irrelevant." Lauryn said and Sansa rolled her eyes, "The point is, it happened and now you can say you've had the experience of being so drunk off your face that you fell down the three steps to the dancefloor, you licked the DJ's face, got us kicked out of the club, vomited on a stranger's takeaway, called my Dad Mummy and had your stomach pumped."
"Wait, why was your Dad there?"
"We figured you might need a guardian's signature and seeing as he's your godfather and you didn't really want your parents there, he was the best person to call."
"Did I really lick the DJ's face?"
"Yes. He was about fifty and was confused about whether to be horrified or grateful."
"Can I just die now?"
"No. The world of fashion needs you." Lauryn said firmly and Sansa gave her a grateful smile. "Do you want a cup of tea?"
"Nettle tea would be nice." Sansa said quietly and for a moment, Lauryn was reminded of the shy little girl that she met thirteen years ago.
"I'll go and get that for you." Lauryn said with a kind smile, getting out of bed and grabbing her shoes before unlocking the door, closing it again behind her and making her way downstairs. She dumped her shoes with everyone else's and hung her jacket up over Jon's before making her way into the kitchen where Catelyn was baking. "Hey Auntie Cat."
"Hello Lauryn, love. Does Jon know you're here?"
"Yeah but right now I need to make a nettle tea for Sansa." Lauryn said and Catelyn stopped what she was doing.
"Poor girl. I can't believe she had her drink spiked on her birthday."
So that's what the lie was – not that she was just completely smashed. "Yeah. Is there a particular mug I should use?"
"Anything floral. Those are all Sansa's." Catelyn said and Lauryn set about her task. "I like how you've grown to be like one my children. You fit in very well in this family."
"Growing up across the road from you and being the only child of your husband's friend, it seems like a fairly natural progression." Lauryn said, turning around to face her as the kettle boiled. "I'm just worried about university now."
"Yes, of course. Jon's been accepted to Pentos and Winterfell. What about you dear?"
"I got accepted to Kings Landing, Casterly Rock and Braavos." Lauryn answered. "It's going to be weird not being with Jon."
"I'll bet." Catelyn smiled and the kettle whistled to signal it had reached boiling point. Lauryn turned around and wobbled a little. She was surprised by the way the motion made her nauseous and then she was vomiting into the kitchen sink, Catelyn rubbing her lower back. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, it's probably just last night catching up to me." Lauryn smiled. "I'd better take Sansa's tea up."
"No, I'll do that. You go home and rest." Catelyn said, guiding her to the front door. Lauryn sat down on the stairs and pulled her shoes on before grabbing her jacket. She was making her way to the front door when Robb, Jon and their adopted brother Theon appeared from the living room.
"Lauryn, you're leaving already? I thought we were going to go to the cinema?" Jon said.
"She's just been sick in the kitchen."
"It's just the after-effects from last night." Lauryn said before whispering, "Catelyn's just fussing."
"You go home and get plenty of rest, alright." Catelyn said and Lauryn nodded, throwing Jon an apologetic look, before leaving the house and walking across the street to her own house.
"You're home early. I thought you and Jon were going to go to the cinema to see the latest action film or whatever." Jory said once Lauryn was through the door.
"I threw up in the Stark's kitchen sink." Lauryn said as she leant against the doorframe in the entrance to the living room and Jory stood up from his armchair and was by her side as fast as possible, his hand on her forehead. "I'm fine Dad. It's probably just a little bit of residue from last night."
"And what about when you were sick yesterday morning?" Jory asked, raising his eyebrows.
"It's nothing Dad. I'm probably just allergic to something." Lauryn said, but something in her father's eyes was making her unsure of everything. Later, when he had gone out to the pub with Ned and Robert Baratheon, Lauryn snuck out of the house and went to the pharmacy in town. "Hello?" She asked the empty shop. There was a loud clatter from the back room.
"Ow! Fuck. Coming!" A male voice called out and Lauryn nervously drummed her fingers on the counter. A young man appeared and Lauryn took a deep breath. "Hey I'm Renly, how can I help you?" He asked with a friendly smile.
"I think I might have a problem but I'm not sure if it is a problem yet." Lauryn said and he looked at her with a confused expression. "I've been feeling sick and I've missed my period." She said and his eyes widened before he reached under the counter and placed a pregnancy test on the top.
"There's a toilet out the back if you don't want to go home."
"Thanks." Lauryn said and he gestured for her to follow him. The instructions were fairly simple and Lauryn set a timer on her phone. Renly sat on the floor in the corridor with her, where they finally introduced themselves properly. When the timer went off, Lauryn felt sick again. She looked at the test and burst into tears. Renly took her in his arms and held her in comfort as the positive pregnancy test fell onto the floor.
The living room light was on when Lauryn returned home, meaning her Dad was home. She checked across the street and the Stark lights were mostly on so it would just be her Dad at her house. She opened the door and closed it behind her. She took off her coat and kicked off her shoes before walking into the living room and she found her Dad standing by the window – he had been waiting for her.
"Where were you?" He asked and then he noticed her face. "Have you been crying?" He asked. Lauryn couldn't bear it and burst into tears again, throwing herself across the room into his arms.
"Oh Daddy, I'm so sorry."