Chapter Three

After the movie, Jon offered to take her out for something real to eat, but Sansa begged off. She wasn't hungry. The Sour Patch Kids felt as though they were sitting like a glob of goo in her belly.

As he always did, Jon insisted on walking her to her dorm before leaving her. She gave him a hug and then slipped inside the dorm. She stood at the entrance and watched him go, head down, hands in his pockets.

Jon deserved to be happy. Whatever she was feeling was just a temporary…madness. Yes, that was it. She wasn't actually jealous because she wanted Jon for herself – okay, well, yes, she did, but not in that way. She just knew what it meant if he started dating. The girlfriend would come first and Sansa would come second.

She placed a hand over her heart and furrowed her brow. That hurt to think about. Okay, her fall earlier must have affected her brain. Perhaps she should eat something. She had to be loopy.

When she got to her floor, she was unnerved to find it so quiet. She felt like she had to creep down to her room. Margaery was in there, on her bed, and watching Nosferatu.

"The floor is like super quiet right now," Sansa whispered as she shut the door behind her and locked it. (Jon would have a conniption if she told him sometimes she and Margaery forgot to lock it at night).

"Daenerys came home and reamed us the fuck out," Margaery said. "I thought she was going to put us on suspension or something, but she didn't. Just yelled a lot and told us to clean up."

"Phew."

Margaery smirked. "Yeah, you certainly dodged that bullet."

Sansa went over to her bed and sat down. She kicked off her shoes and looked over at the TV.

"Uh, so are you going to spill about Jon?" Margaery said as she sat up and shut the TV off. The only light in the room was Margaery's desk lamp. It was rather dim.

"I was getting snacks and he was talking to some girl named Ygritte from his psych class outside our theater," Sansa told her. She went on to explain how she played Jon's wingman, even if he was totally clueless about it.

"And?" Margaery asked.

"And what?"

"Did he ask her out?"

"No, he was completely clueless that she was crushing on him." Sansa rolled her eyes. "You know how he is."

Margaery just hummed her agreement and had that look on her face that told Sansa she was thinking something but wasn't sure if she should share with the class.

"What are you thinking?" Sansa asked.

"How do you feel about it, Sansa?"

Sansa sucked her bottom lip into her mouth and bit down on it gently, thoughtfully. "I… it's…"

"You fucking hate it, don't you?"

Sansa threw up her hands. "So hard. So incredibly hard. What is wrong with me?"

Margaery smiled, but it was sympathetic which Sansa wasn't keen on. She felt like she had to brace herself. "I think it means that you know there's a possibility that things could change between you and Jon now."

Sansa nodded. "Yeah, I mean, if he started dating someone I wouldn't see him as much."

"San…do you think…maybe…you could have feelings for Jon that are not of the sisterly sort?"

Sansa shook her head. "No. It's Jon. It's just Jon. It's Jon."

"I know who it is. And saying his name a whole lot doesn't really give me any indication of what you're thinking."

"Jon is like a brother to me."

"A brother you might want to make out with?"

"That's gross, Margaery."

"Yeah, but – Sansa, you and Jon have a serious –you guys act like you're together. Minus the sex, which is weird, but you're always together, he's always here with you, you're always over there with him—"

"How can he always be here with me if I'm always over there with him?"

Margaery flung one of her throw pillows at Sansa. "You know what I mean!"

Sansa sighed. "I do. I just don't think…we're just close is all."

"I don't know, Sansa, I just don't think it's completely out of the realm of possibilities. Seeing him talk to some girl that he could potentially ask out… I think you're jealous. I think it stirred something up inside you that maybe you didn't know was there."

"I'm sorry, are we in a romantic comedy now? What is happening?"

"Make jokes if you want, San, but I think you should seriously think about it. And then decide what you're going to do about it. If you don't want Jon the way I think you might then fine, but if you do…well, then you might have to simply tell him how you feel. I think you might be surprised by what would happen if you did."

Now Margaery was just talking nonsense. Jon didn't think about her that way at all….

Sansa laid back on her bed while Margaery turned the TV back on. What if Jon did have feelings for her? No. He definitely did not. Sure he was protective of her, but he promised Robb and her entire family that he would look after her. They were each other's slice of home so far away from it. If anything she probably drove him nuts, if by how exasperated he was with her this afternoon after the water fight was anything to go by…

No, Jon didn't feel that way about her and she didn't feel that way about him. He was blushing talking to Ygritte. He never blushed talking to her. She made a face. Did anyone blush talking to her? Was she blush worthy?

Okay, she was getting off track. But, perhaps that was a good thing. A good night's rest and a fresh new day with a fresh new perspective, that's just what she needed.

"Hey," Sansa said to Margaery. "Want to get a pizza?"

xxxxxxxx

"Were you out with the lovely Sansa?" Sam asked when Jon returned to his dorm, The Wall. The upper classmen's dorms were more like suites with a general socializing area with a couch, a couple chairs, and a small kitchenette.

Sam was reading a book on the couch when Jon had come in. "Yeah, I was," Jon said.

"And how is she?" Sam asked, his big brown eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled.

Jon grinned. He knew of Sam's little crush on Sansa. It wasn't a serious crush that Sam had any interest in pursuing, but he still liked to ask about her. And when Sansa came around, Sam's round face went as red as a fire truck.

"She's well," Jon replied. "Next time I see her I'll tell her you said hi."

Sam smiled and went back to his book, his cheeks already turning pink.

Jon entered his bedroom, shut the door, and turned on the light. He had a single. All his suite mates did. It was a pretty sweet deal. When he looked around his room now, though not quite as neat as Sansa's room, he heard her in his head telling him to "put up some goddamn decorations already."

He did keep things rather sparse – just his unmade bed, his desk, night stand, and a couple bureaus. There was a framed picture of the Stark family on one, one of Sansa that she gave him for Christmas on his nightstand, and one of his adoptive parents on his desk.

Thinking about how Sansa had been acting a little funny after the movie, he decided to send her a quick text: Are you okay?

While he waited for her to reply, he went to his desk and sat down in his chair. He lifted the lid of his laptop that was on his desk and searched for the bookmark of the pizza place just down the street. His phone went off, though it wasn't a text, it was an email, and Jon picked his phone up and was surprised to see it was from Ygritte.

Hey Jon,

It was great to run into you at the theater. Did you enjoy your movie?

So I was wondering if maybe you'd like to get a cup of coffee together sometime? Let me know.

Ygritte

Jon sat back and put his phone down on his desk. Sansa had been right. Shit. Sansa had been right, and that meant she was going to lord that over his head for an eternity the way she did every time she was right about something.

Then, shit again: Ygritte had just asked him out.

That's what that was, right? Getting coffee meant a date?

He didn't know how he felt about that. Flattered, yes. But…but all he kept thinking was – how would Sansa feel about this?

It shouldn't matter, this was his life after all and he could live it any way he saw fit, but…but he spent the majority of his time with Sansa. If he dated Ygritte –

Okay. Wait. Coffee did not a relationship make.

Relax, Jon.

He'd talk about it with Sansa tomorrow and ask her what she thought. He didn't have to do anything about this coffee invite tonight.

Ygritte was nice enough, and quite pretty too, but he hadn't thought about her in that way. He hadn't thought about many women in that way for quite a while actually. Not since Val. No, actually not since –

Not since Sansa had come barreling onto campus. From her very first day she'd arrived he'd spent every free moment with her.

But his not dating wasn't Sansa's fault. Jon was just terrifically bad at dating. He had a hard time talking to women. The only one that he felt comfortable with was Sansa. Even talking with Ygritte that night had felt funny. The words just didn't come smoothly for him and while Sansa understood that, not many others did. He was twenty-one years old and he still had a hard time talking to women. How pathetic was he?

Well, maybe getting a coffee with Ygritte could help with that. They didn't have to date. They could be friends.

Jon decided to send her a quick email back and told her yes, he would like that. He even offered a time and the place – noon, and at the coffee shop Sansa liked to go to.

Within five minutes she'd replied back agreeing to both. Jon sighed and looked at his phone again. Sansa still hadn't replied.