Getting ready for the picnic was more difficult than Sansa had expected. Going to the park with Robb used to be easy, she'd throw on any old t-shirt, pack some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, grab a blanket and get in the car. But suddenly she found herself fretting over every little thing. She changed her outfit four times before settling on a simple white sundress. She applied makeup and then took half of it off because she was worried she'd look like she was trying too hard to impress him, which she was. She started making ham sandwiches and then threw them out in favor of pb+js because she was worried the mustard would make her breath smell bad. Her only relief was that Robb had already packed drinks and the blanket because, knowing her, she would have spent half an hour debating whether packing Sprite came off as abrasive.

When she walked outside she found that Robb had already put the top to his convertible down and was packing their basket in the trunk. She placed her hands on the side of the car and hopped into the passenger seat just like she used to when Robb would drive her to tennis practice. Robb climbed in next to her and started the car.

For the first few minutes of their ride they sat in silence. They didn't always talk when they took car rides, sometimes they would just enjoy the other's company. But now for some reason Sansa felt uncomfortable, like she had too fill the empty space somehow. But she wasn't sure what she could say. Robb on the other hand seemed completely fine, a small smile even crept on the corner of his lips. Eventually Sansa decided to turn on the radio. After only a few clicks she found the perfect station. "All These Things Things That I've Done" by the Killers, an old favorite of theirs, was just starting.

"Oh, leave this one on!" Robb shouted.

So they sang to at the top of their lungs and laughed occasionally when one of them would do a funny dance or bob their head to the rhythm. It almost felt like old times. But between belting lyrics Sansa noticed once again how handsome Robb looked. The wind was blowing through his tousled dark chocolate curls and he was singing at the top of his lungs which accentuated his strong jaw. When their favorite line came up they looked into each other's eyes and sang loudly, "While everyone's lost the battle is won, with all these things that I've done" and flailed their arms wildly to the guitar solo. The song ended just as they pulled into the parking lot and they both laughed heartily as they got out of the car.

"I haven't sung that loud in quite some time," Robb said.

"Yeah I can tell," Sansa teased.

"Ouch! Is Sansa Stark throwing shade right now?"

"Maybe," She replied with a coy smile.

They set down their blanket in the middle of the park with the playground to their left and the baseball diamond on it to their right. It was a picture perfect day, which was especially unsual considering it snows seven out of the twelve months in Winterfell. The sun was shining and they the grass beneath their feet was soft and dewy from the previous night's rain.

They began eating their sandwiches as they watched a little league game going on in the distance.

"What do you think they're story is?" Sansa asked, pointing to a middle aged couple sitting on the small metal stands beside the baseball field.

This was an old game they used to play. One of them would start by picking out a person or couple nearby, then they would work together to try to guess who they were and what they did. The woman Sansa picked had cropped blond hair that parted her face by means of large round sunglasses balancing on the top of her head. She wore white capris and watched the game intently.

Robb pursed his lips, "Hmmm… She had an upper-middle class upbringing, majored in interior design, got married young and is now on the verge of a mental breakdown. Oh, and she's also having an affair with their pool boy."

Sansa laughed, "You're more cynical than I thought- and who even has a pool boy these days?"

"Them, clearly," Robb answered. "It's written all over her face."

"And what about the husband?"

"I don't know, what do you think?"

The man in question had a large forehead, mostly due to his receding hairline. He appeared to have little interest in the game and instead fixated on his smartphone like his life depended on it.

Sansa sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. "He partied a lot in college, joined a fraternity, she was in a sorority. They used to smoke a lot of weed together but since the kids the only smoking he does is in the backyard when she's out at book club." Robb laughed uncontrollably beside Sansa, coaxing her to continue. "And we all know book club is just code for margaritas and gossiping about the neighbors."

"And you thought I was cynical" Robb chuckled.

Sansa shrugged and pointed to a boy maybe fourteen years old pacing around the playground with his hands in his pockets. He was wearing baggy denim shorts and a lopsided beanie on his head. "What about him?"

"He," Robb started, "is a young drug dealer, and will probably buy his first car in cash."

Sansa exhaled and leaned her head against Robb's shoulder. "Well at least he'll finally have the money to buy some well fit trousers."

"I think it's a fashion statement," Robb said.

"Why would anyone do that?"

"I have no idea."

xxxxxxxxxx

The rest of their picnic continued like so. They watched people for a while until they had named and identified nearly every person in the park. Afterwards they played catch and Sansa told Robb about her new friend Myrcella from school. Eventually they ended up laying across the sunflower patterned quilt Robb had packed and stared at the sky, pointing out different cloud shapes.

"That one's a whale," Sansa said and took a sip of her Capri Sun. She had her body angled away from Robb and her head resting against his torso.

"Which one?" Robb asked. Sansa grabbed his wrist and pointed it towards a large puffy cloud directly above them.

"See? Right there," she said, still holding his wrist in her delicate grasp.

"That looks more like a shark."

"It's clearly a whale."

"Look at the fin on it's head, it's clearly a shark," he observed.

"So you're a shark expert now, is that it?" she challenged.

"Now that you mention it, I know it's statistically impossible, but I just have the strange feeling that I'm destined to die from a shark attack." Robb joked.

Sansa laughed, "Actually in the United States you're more likely to be crushed by a vending machine than to be killed by a shark."

Robb laughed, "That is not true."

"It is!" she protested.

"Where did you see that?"

"On the internet."

"Well then, I guess it must be true," he said sarcastically.

She punched his side playfully in reply.

Moments like that were what Robb loved about Sansa. They could do everything and nothing together and still have the best time. He still loved her as his sister and his best friend, but there was something else. There was an ever present fire that she ignited in him. Right there for example, with her head cushioned against his ribs and her hair strewn across his t-shirt, he felt his heart threatening to leap out of his chest. She was just so beautiful. Since he'd been home he'd felt lust for her new features, but now there was more. He loved being with her. He loved how she made him feel like he was the only person in the world that mattered. He'd always loved her compassion but now she'd grown up and he loved her new found wit and charisma.

So again he watched her, pointing out clouds and talking about a man crushed by a vending machine in Minnesota. He absentmindedly reached for a piece of her hair and twirled it around his fingers, it was so long and smooth and red. She peered up at him from the contact and smiled sweetly. There it was again, the invisible electric force pulling him to her. He wanted, no, he needed, to kiss her. She closed her eyes and he thought to himself, I could do it. I could kiss her right now, just to see what it would feel like. He started to lean in but then another thought invaded his mind like a plague, She's your sister. It's wrong. So he continued to lean, but this time to sit up, urging her head off of his side.

"It's almost six," he said, looking at his watch. "We should get going so we're back in time for dinner."

"Oh, ok," Sansa replied with what sounded like disappointment in her voice.

They packed up their picnic and headed back to the car in silence. Sansa turned on the radio but neither of them made any move to sing this time. Instead they sat quietly. But there was a new found tranquility in their silence. It wasn't any of that "awkward silence" bullshit, it was just choosing not to talk. Sansa looked out the window and Robb kept his eyes on the road but occasionally stole glances at her. He wasn't sure if she knew he was looking, if she did she didn't let it on.

When they arrived home Catelyn had already prepared homemade lasagna for them. Robb and Sansa sat down beside each other around the kitchen table.

"How was your picnic?" Catelyn asked.

"It was perfect," Sansa replied with a warm smile and moved a hand to brush Robb's forearm underneath the table. It could have been a completely innocent sisterly touch, but he had a strange hankering that it wasn't. There was a glint in her eyes that made Robb wonder if, just maybe, she was being ignited by the same fire that he was.