Sansa alternated in and out of sleep all night. By eight o'clock she decided there was no use trying to regain the time and rest she had lost. At first she hesitated about going downstairs for fear of seeing Robb there, but eventually her rumbling stomach won out and she headed to the kitchen. After she poured herself a bowl of Special K she moved to the living room to find Arya, Bran, Rickon and Robb eating cereal and watching cartoons. She blushed with memories of the previous night as she made eye contact with Robb and quickly averted her gaze. She opted to sit as far from him as possible and took a seat next to Bran on their leather corner sofa. The couch fit four comfortably but the five of them could squeeze in as kids.

"So is this like a new thing for you or something," Arya asked, "waking up early?"

Sansa ignored her sister's skepticism, "I don't know. I've just had trouble sleeping lately. Maybe." She paused. "Aren't you guys a little old to be watching cartoons."

"It's Avatar the Last Airbender," Bran answered. "It's not just a cartoon."

Sansa turned to the screen and watched for a few moments, "Ooh, is this the solar eclipse episode?"

It was the solar eclipse episode. Sansa realized it was the first time she had really taken note of all of her siblings since Robb had been home. She missed Bran's witty commentary, Rickon's small gasps during an intense scene and Arya constantly remarking, "Wow, Zuko's a badass". The five siblings all knew the best lines in the episode and would speak them aloud together if it was a particularly epic scene.

Something about the nostalgia of watching cartoons with her siblings snapped Sansa back into the reality she had been ignoring the past few days, that she was still kid. She was only seventeen and yet she was dealing with things way out of her league. She was in over her head with emotions she didn't yet know how to handle.

She missed her sibling's dynamic. It was true that they were all different, she and Arya were proof of that, but they were also connected in a way she would never be with anyone else. They were the only ones who would ever completely understand each other's roots. Decades would pass and no one else in the universe would live to remember the little seemingly insignificant stories and moments that defined their lives. No one else would ever remember when Bran fell off the roof of their shed playing hide and seek, or the time their luggage got lost during their vacation to Hawaii, or that they had to buy clothes from a tourist shop in the airport, or that even after their luggage was returned Ned refused to take off his Hawaiian shirt.

Then she thought about Robb and about last night. He was her brother. She'd told herself he was a million times but she had forgotten its significance. They weren't just biologically related, they shared a bond that could not be tested by DNA. The same bond she shared had with Arya, Bran and Rickon. She knew she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she was the one to destroy that bond just because her hormones were raging.

Sansa decided it would be best for everyone if she took a deep breath and spent some time away with Robb, for everyone's sake.

Amidst her realization Ned and Catelyn came down stairs.

"Sansa, could you do me a favor and stop by the grocery store today? I need vegetables for the salad tonight?" Catelyn asked.

"Sure Mom, no problem." Sansa reassured her.

"Thank you. Ok kids Dad and I carpooling to work, please stay out of trouble."

Ned ruffled each of his children's hair before they headed out.

xxxxxxxxxx

After a sitting through five episodes on the couch Sansa figured it was her cue to get up before an addiction manifested. As she dressed she consciously didn't put much thought into her outfit. If I want things to go back to normal I need to stop basing every decision on what Robb will think, she told herself. So she threw on a peach colored tank top, jean shorts and an old pair of sandals. She ran a round brush through her hair and looked in the mirror. Her hair was so red, kissed by fire as her father would say, and cascaded gracefully down back. There was something comforting, Sansa found, about growing her hair long. It was like a security blanket, always there and always growing despite the turmoil in her life. Once it was as smooth as silk she gathered it into a messy ponytail.

Sansa bounded down the stairs and nonchalantly passed the den where her siblings remained.

"I'm headed to the store for Mom!" she called. "Text me if you need anything!"

"Wait, Sansa!" she heard a familiar voice call.

She rolled her eyes. Please God, what now?

Robb approached her at the door and began putting on his shoes.

"What is it?" she asked with a slight edge in her voice.

Robb clearly didn't catch her tone because he continued to lace up his white canvas sneakers and answered, "I figured I could help you with the groceries. It'd be nice to get out of the house anyway."

Sansa shook her head and tried to walk out the door, "No, you don't have to do that. I can manage my own."

"No, really, I want to go."

Sansa didn't meet his eyes, "Really it's fine."

Robb shot her a puzzled look, "Is everything ok? Did I do something?"

Sansa gave an agitated sigh, "No, Robb it's just-". She turned over her shoulder to look at him. His sapphire eyes were wide with hurt. Why couldn't she say no to those eyes? "I just didn't want to make you go out of your way. But if you're sure, ok, let's go."

So they took off in Catelyn's white SUV. Sansa drove without turning on the radio, she was determined to make as little of an effort to connect with Robb as possible. Of course Robb was oblivious to her attempts and continued being his charming self.

"So, have any dreams last night?" he asked.

Sansa slammed on the breaks abruptly causing them to lurch forward against their seatbelts.

"Jesus Sansa are you ok?"

Sansa's face was beet red and her eyes were wide with terror. "Yeah," she tried to say coolly, "I thought the light went yellow."

The traffic light was more than ten feet ahead of them and clearly green. Luckily they were on the back roads and there were no other cars in sight.

Robb raised his eyebrows, "Umm ok, if you're sure. It's green now though."

Sansa released the brake and began accelerating.

"So, no dreams?" he inquired.

"No," Sansa said probably far too quickly. "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know. I had one last night, but I don't remember all of it?"

"What do you remember?" she asked trying to sound casual.

"It was strange, you were there." Sansa's heart pounded furiously as he continued, "We were at Mom's lake house in Riverrun. We weren't doing much, just swimming. But then suddenly Mom came up on the dock and made us get out of the water. She started screaming at us, it was freaky."

This caught Sansa's attention. "Why would she scream at us? Were we doing anything else, like smoking crack or something?" Admittedly, smoking crack wasn't what Sansa had in mind about swimming alone with Robb.

"I think I'd remember if we were smoking crack. Actually now that you mention it I think maybe-" Robb trailed off. "Never mind, It's gone."

xxxxxxxxxx

The remainder of their drive was uneventful. Robb asked questions and Sansa set the record for most one word answers given in a short period of time.

Once they were inside the grocery store Sansa turned to Robb, "I'll get the vegetables. Could you get the dressing and croutons from aisle 3?"

"Yeah no problem," Robb said.

By the time Robb had finished answering her Sansa had turned around and walked off towards the produce section. He was very confused. She'd had a good time yesterday, or at least he'd thought she had. But this morning she was avoiding him like the plague. She only looked him in the eye when completely necessary and refused to give him anything more than "yes", "no" and "I'm fine". Maybe she thinks I'm hovering too much, he thought. Maybe I should give her some space. I could call Theon and see if he's back from the Iron Islands yet.

Robb was deciding between Ceasar and Thousand Island dressing when he heard his name being called. Initially he thought it was Sansa but he looked up to find a much shorter brunette.

"Roslin?" he asked.

"Hey you!" the woman said and reached out for a hug. The hug was stiff and so quick that their torsos scarcely touched.

Robb knew Roslin Frey distantly from High School. They weren't entirely close. In fact, this was probably the first time they'd ever embraced. But they were in the same circle of friends and she was always nice to him. They'd sat next to each other in calculus senior year and Robb had borrowed her notes a handful of times. She was a diligent student and always had a spare Bic mechanical pencil on her when he needed it. But that was the extent of their relationship: mutual friends and mechanical pencils.

"What have you been up to?" he asked with much more enthusiasm than he felt. To be honest he didn't care very much what Roslin had been doing with her life.

"I just finished my first year at Riverland U," she answered excitedly. "I got home Wednesday and, no surprise, am already running errands for my Mom again."

Robb held up his mother's list Sansa had given him, "Some things never change."

Roslin laughed. She was truly very pretty. She had a sweet heart shaped face and large doe like coffee colored eyes. Her mousy, shoulder length, brown hair was tied half up and she wore a tightly fit green romper. But her face scrunched up in an unattractive when she laughed and there was no softness to the sound.

"We should totally catch up some time?" she offered.

Robb was taken aback. He wasn't a man whore or anything but he had plenty of experience with women in college and he knew when he was being asked out. Her eyes were wide and she was chewing absentmindedly on her slim lower lip.

He considered turning her down but then his mind drifted back to Sansa. He'd let his unhealthy delusions go on too long, maybe spending time with another girl would snap him back into reality.

"Yeah, that sounds great! Are you free tomorrow night?"

Roslin lit up with delight. "Yeah, that sounds super!"

"Ehem," Robb heard behind his left shoulder. He turned to find Sansa, standing with a basket of lettuce and cucumbers in her arms. Somehow he felt guilty, like he'd been caught cheating.

"Oh, um, Roslin, this is my sister Sansa," he said sounding quite flustered.

"Oh my gosh it's so great to meet you!" Roslin squeaked.

"Yeah, I'd shake your hand but mine are kind of filled with produce," Sansa answered with a melancholy smile.

Roslin emitted her displeasing laugh again.

"I'm sorry, how do you two know each other?" Sansa asked with a slightly confused expression towards Robb.

"High school, we were in the same math class," he said.

Roslin nodded in agreement. "Well I should be off. I'll see you tomorrow Robb," she said whilst scribbling her number on a piece of paper and handing it to him.

Robb nodded uncomfortably as she walked away. He really wished Sansa hadn't seen that. She probably had all kinds of ideas about them now, that they were an item, or that he actually had feelings for her.

"She seems nice," Sansa said curtly and walked away from him towards the registers.

Robb sighed and raked his fingers through his curly hair. He stared at the scrap of paper in his hand and the curly numbers written on it. He considered calling Roslin tomorrow morning and saying he'd gotten the flu, but that wouldn't be right, he was a man of his word. So with another long exhale he grabbed a bottle of Thousand Island dressing and followed Sansa towards the check out aisles.