Flashback
A ten-year-old Sansa Stark sat on the living room rug, playing with an American girl doll. It was just the right type of the day so that the sun shone through their large stained-glass windows and illuminated the carpet. Sometimes around this time of day Sansa would stretch herself out across the red velvet and feel the warmth that the sun had left on its fibers.
Today was not one of those days.
She absentmindedly brushed her doll's long chestnut hair. She had shimmering green eyes and smatterings of freckles on her cheeks. Sansa thought she was beautiful, she wished one day that she could be that beautiful.
Arya sat in the corner, pressed against the heater. A few minutes ago she was smashing power rangers against each other. She must have lost interest because now she just stared blankly into space.
Robb paced the room nervously. Eventually he sat down next to Sansa. She kept her eyes on the doll, now braiding its silky caramel locks. Robb smiled.
"Which one's this?" he asked, gesturing towards the doll.
"Felicity," she answered timidly. "She lived in America back when they were colonies. She's a patriot but her best friend Elizabeth is a loyalist."
"That's interest—".
Robb was cut off by his mother's screams. Catelyn and Ned were upstairs in their bedroom arguing. They thought that, in this huge house of theirs, there was no way the kids could hear them. But they were wrong.
Earlier that day Bran had fallen off of the roof of the shed in their backyard. Ned and Catelyn had seen it happen and quickly called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. The doctors confirmed that he'd broken his leg, they'd have to run a few scans, but overall it was nothing to be concerned about.
Something had come over Catelyn that day. As soon as Bran fell she began pointing at the top of the shed and screaming, "I saw them! I saw them!"
Ned quickly rushed the kids into the living room and took her upstairs. They'd been yelling for nearly half an hour.
"Calm down sweetheart," Ned pleaded.
"Don't tell me to calm down! I know what I saw!" she cried hysterically.
"There was nothing there!"
"There was a man and a woman. I saw them push Bran off the roof!"
"Honey, no one was there."
Catelyn's sobs became noticeably elevated. "You think I'm crazy?"
"No honey," the pain in Ne d's voice was evident. "You're not crazy. You're just confused. We need to go to the hospital."
"No!" she wailed. "I know what I saw."
Tears streamed down Sansa's cheeks like water droplets on a windowpane. She finally turned to look at Robb; her eyes were bleak and emotionless.
"It's happening again, isn't it?"
Robb took her small hand in his and nodded, "Yes. I think it is."
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Sansa was pouring herself a cup of coffee when Catelyn walked in the kitchen. She rummaged through the cabinets and pulled out a small orange prescription bottle.
"Good morning," Catelyn mused as she unscrewed the cap and poured two tiny white pills into her palm.
"Morning," Sansa responded. Her mother's strength continued to amaze her to this day. When Sansa was six her mother had been diagnosed with Schizophrenia. The thing most people don't know about schizophrenia is that different it's for everyone. It doesn't always mean multiple personalities disorder and babbling to yourself like a manic. The way Ned described it was that a person with Schizophrenia could look into a crowd of people and think that they're all trying to kill them.
Since her diagnosis she'd only had one relapse: when Bran fell of the roof. She was in the hospital for three months and refused to let her kids see her in such a ruined state. Even after she came home, it was almost a year before she was fully herself again.
Seven years, Sansa thought. It's been seven years since her relapse.
She finished her coffee and enveloped Catelyn in her arms.
Catelyn chucked, "What is this for?"
Sansa smiled, "Nothing. I just love you."
"I love you too darling."
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Robb heard a knock at the door. He opened the door to find Sansa dressed in head to toe Lululemon.
"Feeling sporty are we?" he toyed with her.
She made a mock-scowling face and punched him lightly in the arm. "Says the king of Vinyard Vines."
"Ok, I had one hat in middle school and it was a gift from Uncle Edmure."
"Whatever. Are you coming or not?"
"Yeah, just let me change."
They didn't talk while they ran. It wasn't any of that "awkward silence" bull shit, it was just not talking. It was peaceful even. Robb spent a lot of the time watching her. She looked so cute in her tight purple athletic shorts with her hair in two French braids falling down her back. He assumed they were doing their usual 5-mile lap around the lake, but somewhere around the half way point Sansa took a sharp turn.
"Where are we going?" Robb called out.
Sansa broke out into a sprint. "Come find out!" she called over her shoulder.
Robb sped up so he wouldn't lose sight of her. He panted up the hill and stopped beside her. They stood in a completely open pasture surrounded by magnolia trees. The sun shone brightly off the waxy petals that lay scattered in the plush grass. A strange sense of déjà vu came over him and he remembered, he'd been here before.
A few years back (he couldn't have been more than 10 or 11) he and Sansa were scouting out a new location to build a fort when they came across this field. It was perfect, a secluded out cove from the small-town-bustle of Riverrun.
A smile curved on the edges of Robb's lips at the memories. He turned to face Sansa. He realized that, although she had grown and his affections for her had changed, she was still the same little girl he'd played knights and princesses with. He loved her then and he loved her now, even if now in a different way.
He was overcome with such deeps emotions of warmth and adoration that he barely realized that he had pulled her forward for a kiss.
There was a new found softness in this particular kiss. It sent a jolt of warmth up Sansa's spine. It was delicate, passionate, and loving. He cradled her face with both his hands as if she was were a treasure. His tongue made delicate strokes inside her mouth that made her gasp. She tugged at the hem of his t shirt gently, bending her knees until she was laying on the ground. He moved on top of her and let his hands roam and caress her sides.
Sansa's heart pounded at the frequency of a hummingbirds as she pulled away from Robb's kiss to gaze into his eyes.
"Make love to me Robb," she whispered.
He nodded slowly and carefully removed her clothes until her was completely bare beneath him. Although it was now the third time he'd seen her naked Sansa somehow felt more vulnerable now. It was both terrifying and exhilarating.
She eagerly raised her hips to meet his erection through his shorts but he didn't respond as she expected. He pressed back, but slowly and tentatively. She snaked her hands to the hem of his t-shirt and pulled it up over his head, running her fingers across his chest as he removed his pants and boxers
God, how is he so damn perfect? she wondered.
Robb returned a hand to thread in her hair as he positioned himself at her entrance. She was soaking with anticipation. They locked eyes as he pushed into her.
It wasn't urgent or rushed like the first time but equal, if not greater, in passion. He pushed all the way in then pulled out to stroke her clit before returning and repeating his actions. They only broke eye contact momentarily for deep, sloppy kisses.
They were connected so intimately, both physically and emotionally. Robb supported himself with one hand and roamed her body with the other, gingerly stroking her thighs and squeezing her breasts. Sansa intertwined her legs tightly around the small of his back. She moaned his name as he pushed deeply inside of her. She met each thrust with a roll of her hips.
His hot breath in her face. The pink flush of her skin. The curl of her toes. She was completely whole with ecstasy.
His cock twitched inside of her and he gasped.
"Sansa," he whispered. "I'm—"
"I know," she panted. "Me too."
Robb moved a hand to place deliberate circles around her clit and that was the end of it. She draped her arms around him like a rag doll and became completely undone. Her head fell back as she stifled a long, satisfied whimper.
They lay like that for what seemed like hours. Sansa closed her eyes while Robb placed lazy kisses on her neck and collar bone.
"I love you Sansa," Robb murmured.
They'd said it before, but this was the first time they had both understood what it really meant.
Sansa opened her eyes and gazed up at him with certainty.
"I love you Robb".
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The next week was pure bliss.
During the day they were perfect siblings. They attended family game nights, helped clean the dishes after meals and taught Rickon how to water ski. But at night they were star-crossed, passionate lovers.
Sometimes 9pm to 11am wasn't enough. They stole kisses in the pantry. They fucked in the treehouse. Ever since that night at the Chinese restaurant Robb caught himself watching for any moment he can find to pull her into an empty room, any chance to let his hand brush hers, any opportunity to tug her close and feel her body curve around his.
And she was just as bad. One day Robb had been helping Ned to get ready to take the boat out when Sansa suddenly tugged him into the cabin below, kissing him even as her father's footsteps sounded heavily on the deck above. Then that night, when they'd sat next to each other at dinner, she'd taken his hand under the table and placed it on the warm soft skin of her upper thigh, her face perfectly calm and composed while he'd fought the urge to let his fingers travel higher.
Of course the sex wasn't helping his need to touch her, but it was also more than that. It was love, full on honeymoon phase young love.
It seemed like it would never end. It seemed like they were destined to do this forever. That was before August 5th, the second to last day before they returned to Winterfell.
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The rest of the family was gone. They'd left early to go on a hike and Sansa and Robb had intentionally slept in to avoid this outing. They were paddle boarding back from the desolate island in the middle of the lake and were buzzing with elation quickie they'd had only fifteen minutes ago.
"Watch out!" Robb called as he steered his board straight into hers. Sansa clumsily fell into the water. She bobbed to the top and gasped for breath.
"You are an asshole!" she screeched. She grabbed the bow of his board and shook until he too toppled into the cold water.
Sansa laughed as he resurfaced and gave her a puppy dog face. She was about to apologize until he splashed her harshly in the face with water. They laughed and squealed as they continued their splashing fight. Eventually Robb grabbed her by the waist and dunked her under the water.
"Stop, stop, stop!" Sansa squealed playfully. "You win," she cooed.
Robb had his arms locked around her waist so her back was pressed into his chest. He bent his neck to place a deep kiss on her shoulder.
Sansa's smile from the sweet gesture only lasted a moment before she heard a screeching voice from the dock.
"Get out of the water, right now!"
Sansa whipped her head around in complete shock. Her heart pounded hard in her chest. That's it, she thought. We're caught. We're done. Robb didn't dare look at her and as he swam up to and climbed the dock. Sansa followed suit, so jittery that she nearly slipped as she climbed the last rung of the ladder. Robb instinctively moved a hand to her waist to steady her. Catelyn practically lurched forward and pushed Robb's chest with her palms away from Sansa. She blocked Robb's path towards Sansa.
"Get your hands off her!" Catelyn cried hysterically. Her eyes were wide with terror and glistening with tears.
"Mom!" Sansa whimpered with a broken voice.
"How dare you!" Catelyn wailed towards Robb. "She's your little sister!"
Robb stood completely awestruck. "Mom, I don't know what you think you—"
Catelyn cut him off harshly, "Don't you dare! I saw you! I saw your hands on her!"
"We were just joking around!"
"I know what I saw!"
By this point Catelyn's face was beat red and she was screaming loud enough that the entire lake could hear. Tears streamed down Sansa's cheeks. It was too much, not just being caught but watching Robb be attacked because of her, and watching her mother who had only ever loved her be completely torn apart.
Sansa didn't know for how long but she'd zoned out of their conversation. She was jerked back into reality when she saw Catelyn beating her fists against Robb's chest as she pushed him down the dock towards the lawn.
"Get out! I never want to see you again!"
The sight shocked Sansa to her core. She moved towards Catelyn in a haze and grabbed her arm, pleading, "Mom, please. Please Mom, he didn't do anything!"
Catelyn turned around suddenly and struck Sansa across the face.
"You should be ashamed of yourself!" she cried hysterically.
Sansa sunk down to her knees and cradled her face. It wasn't even the pain, it was the complete and udder shock. She wept uncontrolledly and somewhere her peripheral vision saw Ned run down the steps to the dock and pull Catelyn out of sight.
Robb sat down beside her and enveloped her in his arms.
"Shhh, it's ok," he soothed. "Everything's going to be ok,"
Sansa kept her eyes shut and sobbed into his shoulder because she knew. She knew that he was lying.