*Shows up two years late with Starbucks*

Gendry woke before the dawn broke. His face was covered in sweet frosting. Pushing himself up from where he lay, he took in his surroundings.

Oh. That's right

Something beside him moved. He looked down, and saw Sansa, her hand reaching out for where he was laying just moments ago. He laid down next to her, and gently put his hand on her arm.

"Sansa," he whispered.

Sansa's face soured, and she turned to look at the sky and lazily opened her eyes.

"Mmpph?" she asked, still sleepy.

"We have to be getting back," he said, reaching to brush some crumbs from her hair.

"No we don't," she reached up and pulled his neck down, putting his head against her breasts.

"Sansa," he giggled. "If someone sees us-"

"If someone sees us I'll have them hanged. Quartered." she mused, and began to run her fingers through his hair. She had never been this relaxed around him before. He wanted to stay where he was, pressed against her, watching the stars as she raked his hair with her fingernails.

"When I was a child," she said dreamily, "and the nights were reasonably warm, my mother used to take me out onto the balcony, and we would lay down like this." Gendry looked up at the expanse of dark, night sky, trying to imagine Sansa as a small girl, laying in the snow, wide eyed and fascinated. "It was after Arya was born, and I was upset that my mother was spending so much time with her. This was how she made it up to me. The first time, she pointed out these constellations - I don't remember their true names. She asked me to give them my own names, and then she just started telling me these wondrous stories about them. I don't know if she had prepared it, or if she was just making it up, but she kept on. We'd go out every so often and she would tell me a new story. She never told anyone else. Not even Father." Her voice began to warble.

Gendry turned his head to look at her.

"I'm sorry," she said, brushing under her eyes.

"Why?"

"Because...it's not very becoming, is it? Seeing a woman cry," she laughed in spite of herself.

"I don't think you could ever be unbecoming,"

Sansa stopped wiping her face, and blushed deeply. Gendry pushed himself off of her, and began to look around the garden.

"Can I take you somewhere?" he asked.

Sansa sat up.

"Yes," she said, reaching out to accept his hand up. She brushed the crumbs off her shift.

"The ravens will see to that," he said, gesturing to the crumbs. "come,"

He led her up the side stairs from the garden. Two flights up, he stopped her at one of the roofs.

"Here," he said, gesturing for her to climb over the stonewall and onto the next roof. Carefully, Sansa threw her leg over, but the slick surface caused her to lose her balance and fall onto the floor below.

"Fuck!" Gendry hopped over the stone and bent down, ready to tend to any cuts or bruises. Instead, she was laughing.

"Bloody hell, some graceful lady you are," he teased. She pushed him away playfully as she stood up, and dropped into a low curtsey in her shift.

"I am incredibly graceful. I am a swan," she extended her arms.

"Come on, then, swan. We've got a bit more to go."

Sansa straightened up and noticed how close she had come to falling off another distance. Carefully, Gendry jumped down another meter, and reached up to take her waist. Sansa jumped down, and felt his hands linger a bit longer.

"Um, through here," he said, turning abruptly into the small doorway that took them through the stone. Crouching down, she followed him until they came upon a large stone room with a massive hole in what was once a glass dome.

The room was surprisingly furnished. A desk had been pushed to the corner, and there was a few massive piles of books scattered across the floor. An upturned chest, a few old robes. Gendry made for the corner, and pulled a ladder from the floor. He leaned it against a crack in the glass, leaving a window between the dome and the stone.

"Come here," he said. Sansa padded over softly, and reached out to grab a ladder rung.

"I'll be behind you," he said. "The ladder is sturdy if I put it between these two stones," he kicked the floor. Sansa nodded and began the small climb up. Then stopped. She turned around,

"You're not looking up my shift, are you?" she asked.

She was immediately embarassed, and shocked she could have said something more rude.

Gendry turned a deep purple red. "Oh fuck - no- not - no! I didn't even think-"

Sansa let out a giggle. "Well," you'll have to eventually. If we're to be husband and wife after all." With that, Sansa began climbing up the ladder quickly, leaving Gendry below to contemplate what she had just said.

Sansa wondered if she had too much to drink before bed, or if she was just letting herself be giddy, like she used to be with Jeyne, and her brothers. Maybe happiness was such a foreign emotion to her now, after all these years, that when she felt it now, after all the misery, it was a glorious high.

Then she noticed the sky.

With no trees crowding her view, and no walls keeping her in, Sansa felt the sky envelop her. The massive, dark blue blanket that danced along the horizon, where families had left torches outside. She breathed in, and felt Gendry finally start to come up the ladder.

"This is amazing," she said. She carefully reached out a hand to touch the glass dome's exterior.

"I found it when I was looking through old sketches of the floor plans in the library,"

"Sound terribly interesting,"

He ignored her. "This used to be the astrology tower. The first Lord of the Vale in recorded history still practiced a wildling religion based on the phases of the moon. He insisted this be built. It fell apart during a storm, about fifty years ago."

"How has no one fixed it?"

Gendry shrugged. "You can't see it from any side approaching the castle. The only windows looking down directly into it are the library's. Probably didn't have the coin." he started to move down the ladder. Sansa took one last look before following him down. In the center of the room, the hole let in a massive flood of light. Sansa went to stand below it, looking up into the sky. She turned to Gendry.

"Can we stay here?" she asked.

"What?" he turned to her, his eyebrows raised.

"Just for a bit. I want to lay and look at the stars." she retrieved some robes from the chest, and spread them on the floor.

"Sansa, we...this isn't proper. It was different in the garden, because everyone was asleep, but people will begin working soon. And...I don't want to..."

"What?" Sansa pushed herself up.

"I shouldn't have snuck you out. You're a proper lady, and..."

"And I'm perfectly capable of making up my own mind," she retorted. "You didn't drag me out of my room. Besides, you said no one can see us up don't exist to the world."

Gendry looked up at the sky. Sansa could tell he was unsure.

"Gendry," she stood up, and pulled his face down to her's. "Lie down with me. Just lay down and look at the stars."

Gendry sighed, and slowly dropped down onto the pallet with her. Sansa reached up, and gently ran her fingers through his shirt's laces and his chest hair.

"You're not trying to undress me, are you?" Gendry teased, imitating her voice from moments before.

"Yes. I'm here to rob you of your honor," Sansa threw a leg over his hips.

"Don't...don't put your leg there."

"Why?"

"Because." he said pushing her leg down.

She considered his face, contorted in embarrassment. She felt her cheeks becoming hotter. She moved her leg up again, making a point to lightly press against his hardness.

"I don't mind," she said. "I like it."

Gendry turned to her, an astonished look on his face. But something else. Something more primitive and ancient.

She felt butterflies push against her chest. She leaned her head down onto his chest, listening to his frantic heartbeat. She brought up her hand and began to draw circles on him. Slowly, he seemed to relax. He looked up at the sky, and took in a deep breath. He stroked her hair, and soon, felt her breath even out. He peered down, and saw her eyes were closed.

"Sansa,"

"Not yet," she sighed, nuzzling closer. "I can still see the stars."

Gendry softened. This was the first night in what had been a series of terrible, crushing years that she was allowed to be carefree. To explore a castle, steal sweets, and laugh. He pulled her closer up against him, and dropped a kiss to her forehead.

"Okay,"

When they woke up at the bright light of noon, they were still tangled up together.

Decided to go in a different direction and rewrote the chapter.