Game of Thrones: What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Chapter 9 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 9

Robin sighed as he stood in his room at home. He was looking in the mirror in dismay; having changed out of his school uniform. But it sadly wasn't an improvement as he still felt ridiculous, the clothes he had on were a pair of light blue short trousers, a white button up shirt, light blue blazer, light blue knee length socks and brown T-bar sandals. In a way, he felt it was worse than his school uniform.

'I look stupid.' He thought; equal parts sad and angry. 'Even at home I'm not spared, I wear shorts; I look like a little child.'

He grit his teeth, struggling to remain calm; he knew he couldn't afford to lose his temper or that might bring on another fit.

He took strength the only way he knew how. 'Still Tommen doesn't care how I look; he still wants to be friends. I guess, I guess I can stand it, knowing he's got my back.'

Still; he knew he couldn't go on like this; he needed to stand up for himself, to make his mother see.

As if on cue, Lysa called upstairs. "Robin honey, it's dinner time!"

He prepared himself; he figured this might be a good chance to do so. Taking one last dismayed glance in the mirror; he turned and left the room, heading downstairs for dinner.

He entered the dining room, his mother and step-father were already seated. As usual, Petyr merely nodded in his direction; nothing else. He seemed to have finally accepted Robin would never accept him, so made no further effort to force the issue. Lysa looked up at her son and beamed happily.

Robin fought back a sigh as he sat down. 'Honestly, I feel like I'm being babied.'

Dinner then began, they all ate, Robin could feel himself blushing furiously as he felt totally humiliated.

'Gods.' He thought angrily.

Unfortunately, his emotions must have shown on his face as his mother turned to him.

"Robin, is something wrong?" She asked, sounding worried.

He sighed; now or never. "Actually, yes mum, there is."

He saw her eyes widen in panic, but quickly explained.

"I just…I love ridiculous, I'm far too old for shorts." He said quickly.

Lysa however shook her head, smiling. "Oh come now, none of that. You're look lovely, a real cute gentleman."

Robin groaned "Cute, honestly."

"Lysa, Honey, you know I don't wish to interfere in your ways of raising your son." Petyr said suddenly. "But he does have a point. He is a teenager now. He's becoming a man."

Lysa gaped "Petyr! He's my baby!"

Petyr shook his head "Even at 50, he'll still be your baby. Clothes won't change that and besides, you and I can have a baby of our own for you to dress up as you please."

Lysa nearly choked on her drink at that.

There was stunned silence, Robin was amazed at what had just occurred.

'Petyr is…on my side?' He thought to himself; unable to believe it.

Lysa finally composed herself, staring in amazement at her husband.

"Petyr, oh, Petyr, you mean that?" She gasped; eyes shining.

Petyr nodded, a small smile on his face. "Indeed."

Robin smiled too, the thought didn't seem that bad. "I'd love a sibling to be honest. You deserve to have a baby by the man you love, Mom."

Lysa laughed and smiled. Robin inwardly sighed. He had lost this argument sadly; but at least things weren't a total loss; he knew at least someone else didn't put him down for his childish clothing. That was something at least.

Meanwhile, at Shireen's house, Shireen bit her lip as she stood nearby, listening in. Devan had come over and was talking to her mother. He had called her saying his siblings and some friends were going out and he wanted to invite her along.

She just hoped he'd be able to convince her mother, no easy task. Selyse Baratheon was after all, not the most loving of mothers at the best of times. But ever since she had joined the new R'hllor religion, she had become almost fanatical about it and very vocal about sin, which she saw in almost everything.

It made things even harder for Shireen, who felt she was walking on eggshells every waking moment.

'Honestly, I just want to go out and live my life, be a normal teenager.' She thought sadly. 'Especially since well…since I realized I wasn't actually that bad.'

It was true, while she still had some issues with her appearance, she was generally happier about it, thanks to a little encouragement from her cousin Myrcella.

She listened as Devan spoke. "Mrs. Baratheon, my brother's and I are going swimming with some friends. I was wondering if Shireen could come along?"

Shireen smiled, Devan was playing it right, polite, respectful, explaining exactly what was going on. She had some hope that her mother would accept; it had been some time since she last went swimming.

Unfortunately her mother's reply crushed that.

"Absolutely not."

Devan seemed startled. "Something wrong?"

Selyse glared at the boy. "You think I would allow her to go to such a place."

'Especially with you, Seaworth, wearing such…obscene swimsuits.' She thought disgustedly.

She had been present the last time Shireen went swimming, had seen Devan and was horrified that such a boy was anywhere near her daughter. He wore Speedos when swimming, something that she found appalling; something she felt only perverts would wear.

Devan sighed and she then added. "Pools are a well for sins, I will not…"

Desperate Shireen threw caution to the wind and jumped in.

"Mum, please, it's alright, I'll take my usual swimsuit." She said. "You know, the one you bought me."

Selyse looked at her with narrowed eyes for a moment; Shireen's thoughts went to the plain dark blue one-piece swimsuit she was referring to. Something she normally would have worn, but with her new confidence, she had other plans, she just needed her mother to agree.

Finally Selyse sighed. "Well, since you've done well enough in school lately, very well then."

Shireen smiled and thanked her mother before going to get everything ready. She met Devan outside and spoke to him.

"Don't worry, I have something else in mind. I'll you guys there, I need to go see Cella." She explained.

Confused but happy she was coming along, Devan nodded and began to head off.

Meanwhile, Shireen headed around to the Baratheon mansion and met Myrcella just outside. She had texted Myrcella to tell her she was coming and she was waiting for her.

"Hey Shireen." Myrcella greeted. "Here you go."

Shireen smiled. "Hi Myrcella, thanks."

She gratefully accepted what Myrcella gave her; the swimsuit she actually intended to wear. One her mother would never approve of and so she had to hide.

"Thanks for this, I owe you one." She said.

Myrcella nodded. "No problem; I just wish I could come but, you know…That time of the month."

Shireen nodded sympathetically and, thanking Myrcella again, began to make her way to the swimming. Once there she got changed and soon found the others, smiling as she approached them, clad in her new swimsuit, a yellow string bikini, the laces black in colour.

"Hey guys." She greeted cheerfully.

They all turned to greet her, many of them had surprised expressions on their faces, especially when they saw her swimsuit.

"Hi." A girl who looked a lot like Myrcella, her cousin Rosamund, said at last.

Edric smiled, recovering from his surprise. "Hey Shireen."

The others all greeted her too, recovering. Shireen grinned and prepared to join them. She looked around at those present, all clad in their swimsuits. First was Devan, clad in a black Speedo and his two brothers, Stannis Seaworth and Steffon Seaworth. Both boys wore a green Speedo and red trunks respectively.

Rosamund was clad in a pink tankini while Edric wore blue trunks with white stripes. The final two guests were Sansa Stark and Margaery Tyrell; both clad in bikinis. Sansa's was light blue while Margaery's was a dark green string bikini with black laces.

Grinning at the gathered crowd; Shireen joined them in the water and they began having fun. Shireen couldn't help but note Sansa seemed more relaxed than usual.

'Presumably because Joffrey isn't here.' She thought to herself with a sigh.

Devan meanwhile was sitting at the edge of the pool, catching his breath, he couldn't help but admire Shireen, especially in her bikini.

'Wow, she looks so…huh?' His thoughts were cut off by his brothers.

"Devan, are you alright?" Steffon asked.

"Huh?" Was his eloquent reply.

He then realized however why they were asking; just as Stannis remarked.

"You look uncomfortable, is your Speedo too tight?"

Devan felt his face heat up. 'Oh crap.'

He quickly stood up. "It's fine."

With that he made his way to the bathroom, praying nobody else would notice his growing erection. The tight confines of his swimsuit made it practically impossible to hide after all.

"What was that about?" Shireen queried; surprised.

Edric shrugged. "Beats me?"

In the bathroom; Devan locked himself in one of the stalls and began trying to calm down.

'Need to wait for this to go away.' He thought to himself; before mentally chastising himself. 'Gods, calm down; yeah Shireen looked great in that bikini. But still, can't react that way, I need to behave.'

He remained where he was until things were back to normal.

Finally, Devan returned to the pool, joined the others and began swimming again. Unfortunately he was reminded of the incident when Shireen swam up to him.

"Are you alright?"

He swallowed nervously. "F-fine, yeah, I'm fine."

"Well, okay." She said; although she didn't sound convinced. She noticed something however and smiled. 'Wow, I never noticed how tan Devan was before…'

She wasn't used to seeing this much skin on him, but due to his Speedo, she could see more of his body than usual and noted that, unlike most people, Devan's tan seemed natural, seemed to cover his entire body.

'It looks so, so hot…much better than mine.' She thought to herself. 'All ghostly white, except the ugly grey bits…'

Still she smiled in return to Devan's smile and they resumed swimming. Devan was lost in thought however.

'I…I think I love her.' He pondered for a moment; before finally realizing. 'I must; a friend wouldn't have such…carnal thoughts about another friend, I must love her.'

All the same, realizing it didn't make it easier. Now he had to work out what to do with his feelings.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.