The last stop of the day was the Lannis Port Bookstore. It was old and dark, a little musty, but so beautiful inside. It was one of those bookstores that made one feel as though they were stepping back in time. With Stephen King on the shelves.

Many times Jon and Sansa had ended up spending hours just perusing the shelves or reading snippets of books – once Jon had actually read a whole book in two hours while sipping on a latte.

Sansa was checking out the music text books when Ygritte came up beside her.

"Music? I thought you weren't a big fan," Ygritte said.

Sansa cleared her throat. "I am, actually."

"Just not The Smiths."

Sansa smiled. "Just not The Smiths."

Silence fell and Sansa prayed Ygritte would just walk away. She didn't.

"You and Jon are close, huh?" Ygritte said.

"We are," Sansa said with a smile. "He probably told you that he practically grew up in my house. He was – is – best friends with my brother."

"Ah, yes. I remember him telling me how he promised your parents and brother he would look after you, make sure you stayed out of trouble and kept your grades up."

Sansa nodded, her smile faltering.

"How nice it must be to have a surrogate brother right here on campus."

Sansa had the distinct feeling Ygritte was building up to something.

"It is," Sansa said, almost cautiously.

"It's very important to Jon that you and I get along," Ygritte said. "That's why he wanted us to go out today."

Sansa nodded slowly, waiting. Ygritte reminded her of a cobra and now Sansa was just waiting for the strike to come.

"You want Jon to be happy, don't you?" Ygritte asked.

"Of course I do."

Ygritte turned and looked at her fully then. "Then stop being a child and let him be happy. You play these games with him to keep him coming after you, to keep him wondering what's wrong with poor little Sansa. Do you even want him? Would you know what to do with him if you had him? I know you're probably used to being the center of attention, but I think it's time you loosened the slack and let Jon have his own life. He needs a woman, not a child."

Sansa wasn't sure if she could point out that there was only a two year difference between them.

"Do we understand each other?" Ygritte asked.

Sansa nodded.

"I trust this will be kept between us?"

Sansa nodded again.

Ygritte patted Sansa on the top of her head. "Good girl."

Sansa stared at the bookshelf in front of her, not even seeing what was there. Her face felt hot and tears stung her eyes. She really was terrible at confrontations. Hastily, she wiped them away.

She had to get the fuck out of there. She surely couldn't let Jon see her like this – wouldn't Ygritte just love that? And if Margaery saw her she'd want to know why she was upset and no doubt go after Ygritte. And poor Jon. He wouldn't know what to do.

Sansa discreetly looked around her. No one was around her. Quickly, she made her way to the bathroom and locked herself in. She let the tears loose then. Confrontations always left her shaken and emotional. Get it together, Sansa, think.

To tell Jon or not to tell Jon? If she told him, he would be upset with Ygritte to be sure. Would he dump her over it? Did Sansa want him to? Expect him to? There was no doubt about it that Ygritte was a bitch. Who the hell did she think she was to say that to her?

Oh yeah. Jon's girlfriend.

No. She wasn't going to say anything. She would just prove herself to be the child Ygritte called her if she did. And it wasn't as though Ygritte wasn't right about a few things. Do you even want him? I don't know. Would you know what to do with him if you had him? Not at all.

She had been pulling away from Jon the past few weeks, so intent on leaving him before he could leave her. He'd felt it and he hadn't liked it and maybe that's what she had counted on. His coming after her. That wasn't very fair was it? She was being selfish by essentially not knowing if she wanted him in that way, but not wanting anyone else to have him either.

That stopped now.

Her phone chirped, alerting her to a new text. She pulled her phone out of her purse and smiled faintly when she saw it was from Jaime: Can I see you tonight?

She replied back. Yes. When?

xxxxxxxxx

"You're quiet tonight," Jaime said as he sat down beside Sansa on the overstuffed burgundy couch in his living room. He handed her a glass of wine and then sipped his. "Everything okay?" he asked as he put his glass down on the mahogany coffee table in front of them.

Sansa sipped her wine and placed it down next to his and nodded. "It's just been a busy day," she said. "Margaery and I hung out with Jon and his girlfriend."

"Oh? And how did that go?"

Sansa thought of her conversation with Ygritte. "Great."

Jaime arched a brow. "Did it really?"

Sansa nodded. She didn't want to think about Ygritte and Jon. She didn't want to think about what they could be doing at the moment since Ygritte had let it be known quite loudly that she and Jon were headed back to his room.

Margaery was wrong. Ygritte and Jon were having sex, Sansa was sure of it. She leaned into Jaime and tipped her face up for a kiss. He grinned and dipped his head down to capture her mouth.

Sansa reached up with one hand and twined her fingers through his silky locks and her mind drifted to what it would be like to kiss Jon and feel his curls under her hands…

She broke the kiss. "Sorry, I—"

Jaime, though, was undeterred. He kissed along her jaw and then down her neck. Sansa clutched at his shirt and shut his eyes. That did feel rather good…

"You were saying?" Jaime murmured against her collarbone as he pushed her back onto the couch.

Sansa's head met with a cushion and her heart started to race. Did Jaime think tonight was the night? "I'm not on the pill yet. I have an appointment tomorrow," she blurted out. And then she winced and turned her face from his. Could she have sounded any more like a child? Ygritte was right about so many things as it turned out…

"Sansa, will you look at me?"

Slowly, she turned her face to look up at him. He was smiling lazily at her. "I know you're not ready for sex yet," he said. "You're a virgin, aren't you?"

She nodded, and she felt her cheeks begin to warm. "I am that obvious?"

"No…maybe a little."

"Oh, God," she moaned and put he hands over her face.

"Do think there is something wrong with that?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"Why?"

"Because I don't know what I'm doing!"

He gripped her wrists and pulled her hands form her face. "That doesn't mean you'll never know. It just means you need someone to teach you."

She turned her head to look up at him. Jaime wanted to be that someone, she knew that much. But did she want him to be? It was heady to think of – this hot, older, and cultured man wanted her. Her. It didn't make her feel so childish and stupid. It rather made her feel….powerful.

"Can—can we take it slow?" she asked.

"Of course, Sansa." He then stretched out beside her on the couch and gathered her in his arms and nuzzled the side of her face. "If I do something you don't like, just tell me to stop."

Sansa nodded and whispered, "Okay," before he kissed her again.

xxxxxxx

"Well, well, well, look at who finally came home," Margaery drawled when Sansa finally arrived home that night.

Sansa jumped a mile. "Geez, Margaery, it's pitch black in here. I thought you were sleeping. You scared the crap out of me!"

"I couldn't sleep."

She heard Margaery moving around and then a second later, her desk lamp came on. Her friend was frowning. "How was Drogo?"

"He felt me up," Sansa said and then giggled.

Margaery sighed. "Sansa…"

"Can you just not lecture me or make me feel bad about it? I liked it. I wanted it."

"Do you? Or are you settling for Jaime because you can't have Jon? Although you could—"

"Please, not this again," Sansa said, a bit sharply. "Jon is with Ygritte and he's happy."

"I don't think he's as happy as you think. Or as happy as Ygritte would like to pretend they are," Margaery said softly.

"Did she say something to you while Jon and I were climbing the rocks?" Sansa asked.

"Yeah, she went on at great length about how compatible she and Jon were, how they both felt as though they'd known each other forever…it was disgusting." Margaery looked disgusted just at the memory of it.

Sansa's heart clenched. "And what did you say?"

"I told her that if she ever needed advice on how to handle Jon, or you know, what to get him as a gift or whatever, you'd be the person to talk to since you know him best of all."

Sansa burst out into a laugh. "Oh, I'm sure she loved that!"

"It shut her up."

Sansa considered for a minute telling Margaery about what Ygritte had said to her in the bookstore, but then opted not to. That was just a can of worms. It was best to keep it to herself.

"Whatever I thought was there," Sansa said. "Whatever confusion I felt, I just want to put it behind me now. I feel like I've been in some limbo with it and as a result I feel like maybe I kept Jon in that limbo too. I'm just going to move forward with Jaime and let Jon be happy with Ygritte."

Margaery just looked at her, and then with a sigh, burrowed back under her covers. "Okay."