14. The Bond Between Brother and Sister
It is well known that most families have a tradition. These traditions can be the most simplistic things to do together such as eating, or the it can even be something expensive. Most people in the world loved taking part in these traditions while others hated them. It depended on the age a person was; the older they were, the more they disliked taking part in a tradition.
This was also true for the Stark family as a result. A family as old as the Starks would definitely undertake a tradition, and for them it was having a meal together at the old cafe near their house. Sansa recalled her father telling her that the café was old even when he was a little boy.
Despite the dreary appearance of the café, the Stark siblings relished coming to the place, especially as children would receive chocolate cake for free, if families visited. However, as time passed along, the wonder of free chocolate cake dampened until, Arya and Bran gave up completely with this trip to the café each month, due to the lack of time they had to go anymore, whether it was work or school they were swamped with. Sansa, on the other hand, did not mind the family tradition especially as it was spent with her older brother, Robb, whom she barely got to see for most of the year. Her favourite time of visiting, in particular was in the winter, the ones that made the cold days feel cosy, sitting in a heated café with her siblings, eating apple pie with vanilla ice-cream; the traditional flavours were usually the best.
It used to be a fun occasion when the Stark kids were younger, a part of the month in which childhood and innocence just existed, and they would just enjoy talking to each other without the heavy weight of adulthood in the back of their minds. But the thrill of the occasion ran out a few years ago when most of them grew up and found the whole situation tedious. Thinking about it made Sansa wish for the days of her youth.
Nowadays, it was mostly just Sansa and Robb, (with the rare company of Bran sometimes) who would carry on the tradition, neither one of them having the heart to stop it completely. And if she was being honest with herself, even though she would never admit it out loud, these trips to the café with her brother were her favourite part to look forward to each month. More so now, as her time with Robb was so limited seeing as she would be moving abroad for university next year, and she would see him even less; she grasped every opportunity she could as to spend more time with him before a change came in her life.
This was why she found herself standing on the pavement opposite the little café, from across the street, gazing at the sign of the entrance. She'd been so lost in her wondering that she was surprised to see how far both her and Robb had come since they'd left the house. Already the cafe was in sight.
There was nothing physically special about the building, no fancy fonts or white writing etched upon the glass. You could pick the whole thing up and send it back thirty years and it would not look out of place. There were not any tables with fancy umbrellas, just the uneven pavement baring the cracks of age. It was huddled despondent among the huge city buildings, as it stood under the overcast sky, hunched in itself, fighting against the cold November air. Hundreds of people rushed by it, outside on the crowded street. The half a dozen customers glanced up as the door swung open, heralded by a blast of cold wind. Unlike the outside, the interior of the café was warm and cheery, with bright lights and colourful walls. The customers returned to their conversations as the door swung closed behind the new entrants and the cold breeze was forgotten.
Sansa's hands reached upwards to remove her scarf and hat, letting out a breath of air and turned to look at her brother.
Robb gave her a sideways glance, the tips of his ears coloured as red as his hair. "Do you want to sit by the window?" he asked her, motioning towards a square table with two seats, stood by the centre of the café window.
Sansa looked over and nodded. "Sure," she agreed and they both walked over, seating themselves comfortably into the wooden chairs. Grabbing the bright menu off of the table, Sansa opens it, her eyes scanning over the bold printed words. "So, are you going to get the usual then?" she asks casually without taking her eyes off.
Robb looks up, scrunching his forehead. "Obviously. Aren't you getting what you normally get?" he asks with a raised eyebrow in her direction.
Sansa's eyes narrow thoughtfully. "Hmm, maybe not. I might try something different today," she mentions casually.
Robb felt confused. "Why? You've always got the bacon cheeseburger; do you not like it anymore?" He paused considering something before speaking again. "Wait. Is this some new healthy diet thing you're trying out or something because Margaery recommended it?" he asked.
"No, I just want to try something different. Is there something wrong with that?" she rolls her eyes in exasperation.
Robb shakes his head before turning back to his menu. "No, just that you haven't changed your meal here ever since you were a kid."
"Yes well, I want to try something different. Now, are you ready to order?" she looks up at him, placing her menu down on the table. She removes her elbows from the table and sits a little straighter. From the corner of her eye, Sansa catches a young woman staring at them, her lank mousey hair falling in ribbons above her colour-drained t-shirt. In her hand is a small writing pad and a biro, instantly indicating that she was the waitress.
Robb gives a short nod and beckons the waitress over. Sansa observed how startled she became, her face turning red as she bustled over to the to their table nervously. It seemed as she was new, judging by the nervous twitch she gave when her brother gave his order to her, and due to the fact that Sansa had never seen her before in the café.
The new waitress kept fidgeting on the spot, making Sansa think rather disgustedly, whether it was because Robb was talking to her. Whenever she went somewhere with her brother, he always attracted so much female attention, which made her wonder as to why. Without coming up with a solution, she just put it down onto life's many my unsolved mysteries.
The waitress shifted her eyes at her reluctantly, Sansa noticed, inwardly rolling her eyes. "Can I have the club melt, please," Sansa said, not forgetting her formalities.
The waitress kept shifting her eyes backwards and forwards between her and Robb. "Sure. I-I'll be right back with your orders shortly," she jotted down their orders and went behind the counter, clenching her fists tightly in her hands. Sansa felt sorry for her as she stared back at her oblivious brother who barely gave the nervous waitress a second glance.
She felt her phone vibrate from her pocket, making her glance down, alerting her to a received text message. Digging it out of the jean jacket, she taps the screen awake and checks her text messages—holding her breath when she sees Jon's name in bold at the top of the list.
Jon: Hey, sweet girl. I hope you enjoy your time with your brother. Thinking about you when I'm marking these papers. :)
She hoped that her face was not flushing red, at this moment. Biting her lip in order to keep a wide grin from breaking out she quickly texted him back.
Sansa: Thank you, Jon. Thinking of you too :)
She shoved her phone back in her jacket, concentrating her attention to Robb who was glancing curiously at her. "So, how's school?" he asks leaning back on his chair, stretching his legs out until it hit Sansa's on purpose.
Frowning she pushed his legs out of her way before giving out an amused smirk. "Really? That's the first question you're going to ask?" she raised him an eyebrow.
Robb held his hands out in defence. "Hey, I'm the one trying to initiate sibling bonding over here, now answer the question," he points a finger at her.
Sansa pauses a moment, mentally preparing herself on how to truthfully answer his question without giving much away. "School's great, I'm really enjoying it at the moment," she settles for, knowing it wasn't far from the truth. She really was enjoying school at the moment, or rather a certain dark-haired teacher at school.
Robb grins at her, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table. "That's good. How you thought about what you want to do after school then?"
Sansa lets out a sigh, "Robb, I already told everyone that I wanted to go to university abroad. In fact, I mentioned this to you last year when you came to visit," she said, giving him a pointed look.
"Yes, but where? Abroad is a broad term, I thought you were supposed to know that, being a literature student," he teased, crossing his arms across his chest.
Sansa glares at him. "Shut up, I do know what that means. And to answer your question, I was thinking Volantis, maybe," she shrugs, gazing curiously at him, wanting to see his reaction.
Robb furrows his eyebrows. "Volantis. That's quite far actually," he looked surprised. "You know mum is going to be crying for months after you leave," he points out to her.
"I know, which is why I need you to be there to comfort her when I leave. Okay?"
Robb nods his head. "Yeah, I'll be there don't worry." A slow smirk spreads across his face. "Aww, they grow up so fast. I remember when you were starting year one in with pigtails," he drawled teasingly.
Sansa sighs, wishing she could erase that memory from her mind. "Oh, be quiet, Robb. It's not as if you had a bowl haircut when you started school. I specifically remember how the kids teased you for it, and you came bawling your eyes out to mum."
Robb's smirk disappeared, a scowl quickly appearing on his face. But before he could open his mouth to retort something back, the waitress appeared in front of them with a tray of their food, making Robb forget whatever he was about to say, much to Sansa's satisfaction.
Men, and their stomach.
Picking up his knife and fork, Robb starts shovelling food into his mouth, making Sansa wrinkle her nose at him in disgust while also taking a sip of her drink.
Robb eats food like it's going out of fashion and spends half his life in the gym. Now that his teenage years are gone, as well as the spots she so clearly remembers, he's got girls lining up to date him. At home, he used to be her nemesis, poking fun at her morning and night. No embarrassing secret was untouchable between Sansa and her other siblings as well. But, she also reminisces on how at school, he used to be her big brother, the one who shut her early bullies down when the teachers said that it was 'just kids having fun.' He walked her to class everyday so another repeat of Joffrey wouldn't occur, warning all the other boys in the school as a result.
He was her worst enemy and best friend all in one neat package, she felt a pang of sorrow, at the fact that he was going to be leaving next week to go back home with Talisa.
His voice broke her out of her thoughts. "What's wrong with you? Aren't you hungry?" he asks furrowing his eyebrows at her, noticing her uneaten sandwich.
Sansa cleared her thoughts from her mind. "Hmm, oh nothing's wrong. Anyways, how are you and Talisa doing?" she picked up her sandwich and gave a bite.
Robb swallowed the food in his mouth and gave her a grin. "We're great. She really makes me happy. I don't think I've ever felt this way before with anyone," he admits with a thoughtful gaze.
"That's good to hear. Two years, it's been. So, any plans with her and you in the future then?" she hints to him, gazing at his expression for any clues.
Robb shrugged, picking his drink up and taking a sip. "Not that I know of. I mean we are moving back to our chosen house next week, if that's what you mean."
Sansa gave a sigh, inwardly rolling her eyes at how oblivious her brother was to Talisa hints towards him. At this rate, even Rickon would have known what Robb girlfriend wants instead of her own boyfriend.
"So, what about you? Any mystery guy in your life you failed to mention to your brother?" he narrowed his eyes at her, changing the subject.
Sansa shifted nervously in her seat. "What do you mean?"
He rolls his eyes. "Oh, come on, Sansa. Do you really think I'm as dumb as Arya says I am? Actually no, don't answer that question," he quickly says, noticing the smirk on her face. "But really, you're going to avoid this entire subject?"
She gives out a nervous laugh, her elbows digging into the table. "I don't know what you're talking about, Robb?"
"Yeah, well what about the older guy that Arya mentioned that you had a crush on?"
Sansa let out a breath she didn't know she was holding. "Oh, that guy. I already told her that I didn't have a crush. She just made that up to avoid talking about her feeling for Gendry," she rolled her eyes.
"Oh, that's good," he nods in relief before narrowing his eyes again. "Wait. What about Gendry? I thought she said that she didn't like him," he frowns in confusion.
Sansa sighs in frustration at the obliviousness of her brother. "Never mind, Robb. Just eat your food," she points at him.
He gives a shrug, turning back to eating his food. dismissing the thought from his mind. "Okay."
They both sat in silence for a few seconds before Robb glanced up at her, opening his mouth to speak. "Oh, by the way you know your English teacher, Jon?"
Sansa froze in her seat, her eyes quickly shifted to Robb's face. "Jon?" she hoped her voice didn't come out as a squeak.
"Sorry, you probably know him as Mr Snow. Well, I was wondering whether you'll be able to pass on a message from me to him when you see him."
"Why would I see him? And since when do you know him?" she clenched her fork tightly in her hands.
Robb gave her a peculiar glance. "Because you have lessons with him, obviously. And because we met at dinner, don't you remember," he rolls his eyes. He carries on talking before Sansa could say anything. "So, can you tell him that instead of my parents coming for parents evening, I'll be coming instead."
"You're coming to parents evening…" she repeats weakly.
"Yes, I just said that, Sansa. Come on, keep up. So, can you tell him or not?" he gazes at her expression.
Sansa nods weakly, her stomach too tightly wound up in nerves to coherently speak. As her brother beamed at her, she had to push the feeling of guilt that was swirling around in her stomach.