"What are you bringing again?"
Sansa shut her eyes and rubbed her forehead. "I'm bringing a salad. You're getting the fish."
"I hate fish," Catelyn groused.
"You like it with vinegar."
Catelyn sighed and Sansa could practically see the pinched expression on her face through the phone. "Mom, you just had a heart attack—"
"Four months ago."
"Still. You remember what the doctor said about making life changes."
Catelyn sighed again.
"Mom, please. I'm trying here."
"I know you are, sweetie. I'm sorry. I just really miss having hamburgers and French fries."
"You can still have a hamburger and French fries. Just not every day. Once a week – no, every two weeks."
"Yes, dear."
Sansa laughed. "I'll bring some vegetables to roast on the grill, too. Okay?"
"Sounds good, honey. Robb is planning on getting here for five. When are you coming?"
"I'll come for five, too."
"Did he tell you he arrived yesterday? Did you see him?"
"He did tell me, but no, I didn't see him. I had stuff to do for work."
"Of course you did. Well, you'll see him tonight. I'll see you later."
"Bye, Mom."
Sansa disconnected the call and went back to making her salad for tonight. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. Three hours. It didn't feel like enough time to prepare herself for seeing Robb and Talisa…and this would be the first time meeting Talisa.
Sansa stood outside on the deck of her apartment and shivered. There was a chill in the air, but it wasn't that that had caused her to shiver. It was knowing that any second now Robb was going to pick up the phone. They didn't do this anymore: talk. They'd agreed it would be easier without contact. It hadn't been, Sansa could vouch for that.
"Hey, Sansa," Robb said by way of answering his phone.
Without the customary 'hello?' plus hearing his voice again after so long, Sansa was momentarily thrown.
"Sansa?" he prompted.
"Hey – um, hi."
"Hi."
"So, I got your invitation to the wedding in the mail and I am RSVPing," she said.
"Oh, um, yeah – you know you could have mailed it—"
"I'm not coming."
Silence fell. Sansa felt drops of rain on her head. She looked up and one got her right between the eyes.
"You're not coming to my wedding?" Robb asked softly, his voice low.
"No. I'm sorry. I'm happy you're happy but I can't do it."
"I understand," he said and he sounded sad.
Sansa welled up in tears and she wanted to ask him if he actually did understand. He was the one getting married. He was the one that had found someone so quickly after moving away. The corpse of their relationship had barely been cold and he'd already started dating. Meanwhile, she felt as though she still wasn't over it. It wasn't fair.
"Congratulations," she forced herself to say. "And good luck." She had to end this before she started to cry on the phone to him. "Bye, Robb."
Then she broke down and it started to pour.
"Honey, I'm home!"
Sansa snapped out of her memory and looked over at Willas who had just come through their front door carrying bags of groceries. Another wonderful thing about Willas. He went grocery shopping when she asked him to.
"Please tell me you understood what I meant when I put 'roasting vegetables' on the list," she said with a wince.
"Yeah, I think I managed to figure it out."
"I'm sorry. I just talked to my mother and she's already giving me a hard time about having fish."
"I got another bottle of vinegar just in case."
Sansa beamed at him. "You're awesome."
He grinned. "I know. And after I put the groceries away and you finish that salad, I think you should let me show you just how awesome I am."
Sansa laughed and then winked at him. "I think that could be arranged." Sex with her fiancé before seeing her brother again? That just might help take some of the edge off.
xxxxxxxx
"Robb, call your sister. She was supposed to be here a half an hour ago," Catelyn told her son. "I'm hungry. Even if it is fish we're having."
Robb nodded and headed out of his mother's house. He had just pulled out his phone to call Sansa, when a blue Prius came down the driveway. This had to be Sansa. He pocketed his phone and forced himself to stand there and not run back inside to hide. He had to face her at some point. They were in the same town now after all.
It was the fiancé that got out of the car first. He was a handsome fellow and had a smile at the ready. He waved to Robb and Robb waved back. And then the passenger side door opened and Robb thought he might forget how to breathe.
Sans stepped out wearing a white sundress with flowers on it. She had sunglasses on and her hair was long and sleek and fell to the middle of her back. She waved at him and didn't even look long enough to see if he waved back (he did) before she was opening the back door and bending to grab something.
Robb felt his feet carry him forward though he very much did not want to. "Can I help?" he managed to say as he came up behind Sansa.
Willas was on the other side and the two were talking between the seats. Sansa straightened and looked over at him. God, she was beautiful. His heart felt as though someone had reached in and pinched it.
"Oh, hey, I'm just grabbing the salad. Willas has the pan with the vegetables." She bent down and grabbed something and then handed it to him. It was a bottle of vinegar. "Can you carry that in?"
Robb nodded dumbly. Should he wait for them or just go in?
He headed back; he needed to collect himself a bit.
Goddammit she was beautiful. When he'd left she'd been twenty-one. Now she was twenty-seven and still looked twenty-one. Well, sort of. She looked more…mature. She had a career now, a fiancé, and a house. It made sense that those things would mature her.
He felt shaky, almost like his blood sugar was dropping.
When he got in the house he placed the bottle of vinegar on the kitchen table. His mother and Talisa, who were sitting at the table, looked up at him.
"Did she say why she's late?" Catelyn asked.
"I didn't ask," Robb said.
Catelyn smirked. "I bet they were having sex."
"Mother!" Robb exclaimed, horrified.
Catelyn shrugged. "It's what engaged couples do." She smiled mischievously. "And married ones. Especially married ones who want to give me grandbabies."
Robb looked away and Talisa emitted a nervous laugh. Sex? He and Talisa hadn't had sex in months.
Sansa came bustling inside cradling a big bowl that had tin foil on top. She put the bowl down on the counter and then opened the door for Willas. Once Willas was inside, Sansa took off her sunglasses and placed them on the counter as she smiled at them all. "We're here!" She laughed, and to Robb it sounded like she was a bit nervous. She glanced at him and then focused on Talisa. "And you're here." She stepped closer to Talisa, who stood up from her seat, and the two shook hands. "Hi, I'm Sansa, Robb's sister," Sansa said. "I think we talked on the phone once, right?"
Robb watched the exchange, trying to be detached from it, trying not to stare at Sansa. She introduced Talisa to Willas and then she focused on him, though didn't look at him directly. She introduced Willas and Robb to one another and then kissed their mother on her head and turned on the stove.
She was like a whirlwind.
"Aren't you going to hug your brother?" Catelyn asked her.
Sansa peeled back the foil that covered the pan Willas had carried in and waved a hand. "I'm not a hugger."
Since when? Robb wanted to ask.
"Yes, you are," Catelyn said. "Give your brother a hug."
Sansa sighed and looked at Robb. She smiled, a fake one in Robb's opinion, and came over to him. "Hi," she said.
"Hi," he said and forced himself to smile as well so he supposed he couldn't really fault her for that. He wrapped his arms around her and ignored the jolt of awareness that rushed through him.
She smelled good. And she fit against him just as she used to.
Robb pulled Sansa in his arms and she molded herself against him. He felt like they were puzzle pieces that had just clicked together when they embraced like this. He nuzzled the side of her face and murmured, "I love you."
She lifted her head to kiss him and said, "I love you, too."
Robb released her quickly. Sansa didn't even bat an eyelash. She simply went back to preparing the food.
On a scale of one to ten of the most awkward moments ever, this was easily a twenty.