Chapter 28

Daenerys Targaryen POV

Cersei, Jaime and I are going to a Thursday night party at Bronn and Jorah's dorm. It's the first party we've been to since coming back to campus after winter break.

"So Tyrion," Bronn says after we meet up with Tyrion and Oberyn once they've arrived. We're all sitting around, drinking and smoking a little weed. "Any girls catching your eye now that you're here at school?"

"No," he says. "I mean, I had a good amount of sex last semester."

"You can say that again," Oberyn chimes in. "You forget we share a wall."

"Hey," Tyrion laughs. "I can't help it that I'm that good."

"I heard you and Shae way more times than I'd care to admit," Jaime says. "Also you and Ros at that one party."

Cersei makes a gagging sound. "God, you're disgusting," she says to Tyrion. "Can't you have some class?"

"You're one to talk," Tyrion says, and Jaime glares at him.

They continue laughing and talking, and I go outside to take a break from the party. Eventually, Jaime walks out and sits next to me. It surprises me, usually he sticks with Cersei for most of the night.

"Hey," I say. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he says. "Just taking a break."

"What's Cersei doing?"

"Being all flirty with Bronn again," he says. "I don't want to be around that. If she hooks up with him again, it won't matter that I'm around anyway."

"Sorry," I say after a pause. "So something might be happening, but you can't tell Cersei about it yet."

"Okay, why?"

"I'll tell her," I say. "I just want to do it when I'm ready because I know she won't be happy. Also, nothing is definitive yet."

"Dany, what's going on?"

I pause and take a deep breath. "Jon is looking into transferring to our school," I say. "If he does, he and I are going to get a place together."

"Wow," Jaime says. "You're right, Cersei will be really mad if she finds that out."

"I know," I say. "I just wanted to tell someone, please don't tell her."

"I won't," he says. "Just tell her as soon as you know for sure, it'll be better that way."

"You know I'll still hang out with you guys if that happens," I say. "It just means I won't live with you anymore."

"That won't matter to her," Jaime says. "She'll see it as you choosing Jon over her."

I sigh. "I wish she would get some help," I say. "She really needs it."

"I know, but you and I both know that pushing her isn't the way to get her to get that help. She'll just push us away if we go too far."

"Yeah, I know. But if you can't convince her, then no one can."

Jaime chuckles at that, but it is really sad. I want to tell him the truth about how I've been feeling about Cersei because I trust him, but I'm still concerned it'll get back to her.

"Jaime?" I say. He looks at me. "A big reason I might move in with Jon is because of how much Cersei is draining me. I feel like I can't help her and it's just hurting me."

"I don't blame you for feeling that way," Jaime says. "But she needs someone."

"Do you feel the way I do?"

"It doesn't matter how I feel," he says. "I could never abandon her. I know she needs help, but I'll be by her side no matter what."

"Even if it hurts your mental health?"

"That doesn't matter," he says. "It'll hurt my mental health so much more if I lose her. She's the person I love most in this world."

I've never heard him say it like that, but I've always known it to be true. He's never told me how close they actually are, but I know he knows that I know. I could never convince him to step away and distance himself from her, even if it's what they both need.

We head home a little while later and go straight to bed, of course Cersei is drunk and high out of her mind. I really hope Jon does transfer here, he wants to be close to me and it would definitely be better for me. I don't want him to do it just for me, but it's definitely something that I really hope happens.

Gendry Baratheon POV

Maybe telling Arya I love her was a mistake. I mean, I definitely meant it. I'm just not surprised she didn't feel ready to say it back. I don't want her to do or say anything that she isn't ready for, but it still hurt.

Arya and I are stopping at the creek for a smoke like we usually do on our way home from tech practice. I feel awkward around her now, even though she's trying to act like everything is normal. She's casually smoking her cigarette and leaning against a tree.

"Sansa wants to have a birthday party this weekend," she says. "She didn't really do much last year with everything that she was going through, so I think our parents have been wanting to do something special this year."

"That's nice," I say. "Is it just a girls' party?" I want to ask if I'm invited without making it seem like that's what I'm expecting.

"No," Arya says, putting out her cigarette and crushing it under her foot. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to come. Sansa said she'd invite Joffrey, Myrcella and Podrick."

"That sounds fun," I say. "Will it just be at your house?"

"Yeah, we're planning on having cake and then probably just playing games."

"That sounds like fun," I say. "As long as it won't be weird that I'm going."

"I promise it won't," Arya says. "There will be other guys there."

"It'll be nice to get to know Sansa better," I say. "We haven't hung out much since you and I started dating, I know you guys are really close."

"We are," Arya says. "She wants to scope you out more and make sure you're right for me." We both chuckle at that.

There's another pause. "Arya?" I ask her. She just looks at me. "Are you feeling okay about what I said the other day?"

"What do you mean?"

"I want to make sure things aren't weird since I told you I love you."

She takes a drag after lighting another cigarette. "I do feel a little weird," Arya says. "I just thought maybe you expected me to say it back, and I didn't want your feelings to get hurt because I'm definitely not ready for that."

It's weird to me that she was ready to have sex with me but not to tell me she loves me. I know Arya isn't like most girls when it comes to that stuff, it's just something that definitely caught me off guard.

"You never have to do anything you aren't ready for with me," I say. "You know that. It'll be more special if you say it when you know you really mean it."

She smiles at me. We eventually start making out against the tree, her mouth tastes like cigarettes. I'm sure mine does too.

"Do you want to go do some stuff?" She whispers to me.

"Are you sure?" I ask.

"Definitely," she says. "It's been a while, and I'm really in the mood."

"Okay," I say. "As long as it's not just to stop this conversation." She cuts me off by kissing my neck, and I can't help but moan.

"Shut up," she says in between kisses. "It's not."

We head to our usual, more isolated spot in the woods. If Jon knew how she acted around me, he would see that I'm not taking advantage of her. I wish he could hear me tell her I love her, or see how often I think about her.

Literally the most important thing to me is her consent and her happiness, I'll never understand how Jon and Margaery can't see and respect that. I know I'm older than her, and I understand their concern. I just feel like if they listened to both of us about it, they would understand it better from our perspective and see that we're happy together.

Sansa Stark POV

I'm hanging out with Joffrey, Myrcella and Podrick after cheer one day. I want their input on my birthday party since I invited all of them.

"You guys are coming to my birthday party this Saturday, right?" I ask.

"Yeah," Myrcella says. "We're all planning on being there, right Pod?"

"Yeah," he says. "It'll be fun. What are we doing?"

"I was thinking it would be fun to do some baking and a photo booth style thing," I say. "I've been wanting to get more into baking now that my relationship with food is better."

"That sounds lame," Joffrey says. "A photo booth, What are we, in elementary school?"

"I like that idea," Myrcella says. "We can't always throw a rager, you know."

"Yeah, man," Podrick says. "It's your girlfriend's birthday, can't you be cool?"

"I was just making a joke," Joffrey says after a pause. "God, Myrcella is really rubbing off on you isn't she?"

"What do you mean by that?" Podrick asks Joffrey.

"You're getting oversensitive just like she does," Joffrey responds. "I was just kidding, Sansa's at least getting a little better with her overreactions."

I'm glad he at least thinks I'm getting better, but it's still annoying to hear him talk about Myrcella like that. I'm just glad Podrick is standing up for her, I know Joffrey will only turn on me if I do that.

"Myrcella doesn't overreact," Podrick says. "And don't talk about her like that."

"Okay, jeez," Joffrey says. "Forget I said anything, we'll do Sansa's lame party idea." That doesn't make me feel better, but it's something.

…

I get back from hanging out with my friends, and Arya is already home. "Hey," she says when I walk in. "How was cheer."

"It was good," I say. "Myrcella, Podrick and Joffrey are definitely coming to my birthday party on Saturday."

"That's good," Arya responds. "Gendry said he'd definitely be there too."

"Awesome," I say, sitting on my bed. I pause, wanting to tell her about the conversation that happened today. "Joffrey thinks my party idea is lame."

"Really?" Arya asks. "I like your idea, I think it'll be a lot of fun. So does Gendry."

"Really?"

"Yeah, he even told me today that he wants to get to know you better."

I smile, I didn't know Gendry cared that much. "That's really nice," I say. "That really means a lot to me." It kind of sucks that Arya's boyfriend is nicer and more excited for my birthday party than my own boyfriend is.

"I'm excited to try baking again," I continue after a pause. "I haven't really gotten back into it since I got back from treatment."

Arya looks at me, I can tell she's surprised that I'm bringing it up. "Are you doing okay since coming back?" She asks.

"Yeah," I say. "I eat less than I did when I first got back, but that's just to make sure I stay on the skinnier side for when I go to modeling camp."

"Just take care of yourself," Arya says. "I know you don't want to have to go back to treatment again."

"Definitely not," I say. "I'm glad I met Myrcella there, but it was really rough."

"I bet," Arya says. "Gendry told me he loved me the other day."

"Woah really? What prompted that?"

"I was kinda insecure about Margaery," Arya says. "She came downstairs and basically told me Gendry didn't really like me, so I called him and he told me he loved me."

"Wow…" I say. "I'm sorry about Margaery. She asked to hang out last minute, and I thought you were still at fencing."

"It's okay," Arya says. "You can keep hanging out with her, I know she's your friend too."

There's a pause. "So did you tell him you love him too?"

"No…" Arya says. "I told him I really like him and want to stay together, but that I wasn't ready for something like that."

"That makes sense," I say. "Was he upset?"

"I could tell he was a little disappointed, he told me he was today," Arya says. "But he understood, he's always super understanding. I started kissing his neck, and then we had sex and he forgot about it."

"Damn," I say. "Well I'm glad it worked out. I still can't believe he said he loves you."

"Me neither," Arya says. "It really caught me off guard."

I'm happy Arya is with someone who loves her so much, but it's making me wonder about Joffrey. He isn't very affectionate with me, and he says a lot of subtle things that hurt me. I believe he can be a good person, but I'm starting to wonder how long I should wait for that to show through.