Graduation was upon Sansa. That meant finals came first. Thankfully, Sansa didn't have a lot of them, though from what she understood from overhearing her mother and Robb, he had a lot.

She and Robb hadn't talked much since the weekend they had alone. When they did speak it was small talk – pass the salt, have you seen Dad, can you grab a file for me. Nothing of substance. Sansa knew she'd hurt him, and she felt terrible about that, but she couldn't dig her head in the sand the way he wanted her to.

The Monday at work following their estrangement, Sansa learned from her father of all people that Robb had ended his relationship with Margaery. Instead of acting out as Sansa had expected her to, Margaery seemed to withdraw. Then she'd started dressing more demurely and no longer could Sansa hear Margaery bellowing from the other side of the building the way she could before. Margaery had a plan in motion already and that plan, it appeared, was to change everything about herself to make Robb like her.

Sansa felt bad for her.

And she felt bad for Jon. She'd put the brakes on their relationship and told him that she needed some time to sort a few things out. Unlike Robb though, Sansa didn't tell anyone about what she'd done. She figured it might buy her some time to think about what to do, because she simply did not know. She spent a lot of time at the library and if they wanted to believe she was with Jon, she didn't dissuade them of the notion.

When she and Robb were in the same room together she felt that invisible cord pulling her to him. She wanted to just stare unabashedly at him, but she knew she couldn't. And she was always hyper aware of where he was when they occupied the same space. She was so attuned to him she swore she could hear every breath he took. Her palms would itch – she wanted to touch him. It didn't even have to be sexual. Just a hug would have sufficed in this state she was in. When she heard his voice she strained to hear his every word. She loved his voice, deep and sexy with a little bit of a rasp to it.

She missed him. She missed him so much her heart ached, but she didn't know what to do.

So, she threw herself into her schoolwork.

Her parents wanted her to attend graduation, but Sansa didn't feel like it. She just wanted her diploma. But, at her mother's insistence, she attended. She didn't do it for herself; she did it for them. Afterwards, they had a barbeque in the backyard to celebrate. Just family – Sansa insisted. She told them Jon might stop by, but she never bothered to tell Jon about it. Besides, she was pretty sure he had his own thing going on with his own family.

She was in the kitchen grabbing condiments from the fridge and putting them on a tray to take outside when Robb came in. He started going through drawers and was clearly looking for something with no success. When he slammed one of the drawers and swore, Sansa jumped.

"Robb, what are you looking for?" she asked.

"That big grill spatula that Dad uses," he muttered. "Where the fuck is it?"

"The sink. He took it out to clean it and apparently forgot about it," she told him and went to grab it at the same time Robb did. Their shoulders touched and they both froze. Sansa hadn't touched any part of him in over two weeks and so just that small contact might as well have been full body contact. Robb moved away from her and started to leave the kitchen. "Bring it out with the tray, please," he said without even turning around and looking at her.

The rest of the afternoon went by without incident and after everyone had dispersed to do their own thing, Sansa stayed outside as the day started to fade into night and sipped on a beer, her knees up to her chin.

When it was dark out and the moon and the stars had made an appearance, she heard someone shuffling around behind her on the deck and without turning around said, "Who's back there?"

It was Robb. She heard him swear. "Christ, Sansa, you scared the fuck out of me. What are you doing out here in the dark?"

"Just sitting here," she said.

She heard him come closer and swore she could feel exactly where he was.

"Why don't you come inside before you get eaten alive?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine. I sprayed bug spray on me earlier. What's everyone doing inside?"

"Arya, Bran, and Rickon are gone with their friends. The Greyjoy's came over to talk to Mom and Dad so they're all sitting out on the porch talking and drinking wine."

Sansa laughed softly. "So it'll be an early night for Mom. Dad's probably going to have to carry her to bed."

"She always thinks she can hold her liquor but she really can't." Silence, then, "Well, I'll leave you to it then." She heard him start to shuffle away and that was absolutely not what she wanted. This was the most they'd spoken for the past two weeks.

"Hey, Robb?"

"Yeah?"

"I never asked how finals went for you."

"They were fine," he said. "I passed."

"And your GPA would be?"

"Four point oh."

"Excellent job. I graduated with a three point five."

It was odd having a conversation without looking at each other. Maybe that was for the best? Sansa just didn't know anymore.

Silence stretched for so long Sansa began to wonder if he was like a bandit and managed to get inside the house without her hearing him move when he finally asked, "So, grad school in the fall?"

"Yeah…I'm going to take the Teacher's Certification test next week."

"Nervous?"

"Nah…but ask me when I haven't had a couple beers."

Robb laughed softly. "You're a smart woman, Sansa. You'll be fine. What grade are you looking to teach again? Kindergarten?"

"Yep."

"Not high school like Mom?"

"No way. So, you have like, what, fifty years left of grad school?"

"Just one."

"Oh, that's not too bad. What is it you want to do exactly?"

"I'm leaning towards environmental law right now, but I also like litigation."

"You like to argue."

She heard the smile in his voice when he said, "I guess I do."

She wanted to tell him that she missed him. That she was on a break with Jon and she didn't know what to do. She wanted to tell him she was sorry for being so difficult, but at the same time she didn't think she should have to apologize for thinking ahead, for thinking about what could become of them if they were caught or if they decided to run off together. And now, with him still being in school and her starting grad school in the fall…

It was impossible.

And Sansa felt the weight of if all sitting right there on her chest making her unable to breathe.

"Good night, Sansa."

Sansa forced herself to sound light and airy when she bid him goodnight. Inside though, she felt absolutely gutted.

xxxxxxxx

A few days later when Sansa came home from running a few errands, she found Robb in the kitchen with some woman that looked only vaguely familiar to her.

"Hey," she said slowly as she dropped her purse on the table and looked at the woman. She had long brown hair, a heart-shaped face and amber colored eyes. Robb, who was at the fridge taking out a couple bottles of water gestured to the stranger. "Sansa," he said, "this is Jeyne. Do you remember her?"

Sansa pointed at her. "You used to work at the public library with Robb, right?"

Jeyne smiled. "I did. Sansa, right?"

Sansa nodded and held out her hand. They shook hands and then it hit Sansa like a thunderbolt. This was the woman that Robb had said had a crush on him just before she'd decided to go out with Joffrey.

"So, how did you two meet up again?" Sansa asked.

Robb came over and handed Jeyne a bottle of water. "We ran into each other at the grocery store of all places. I invited her back here so we could catch up."

Sansa forced herself to smile. "That's nice."

Feeling awkward, like she was intruding on their "catch-up" time, Sansa excused herself and headed up to her bedroom. A half an hour later, Robb shouted up to her and told her that he and Jeyne were going out to dinner.

"Have fun!" Sansa called out to him.

Sansa sat on her bed and attempted to talk herself down from the ledge of emotional breakdown she felt coming on. She told herself that this was for the best. Robb was moving on. It wasn't like she could make him wait forever while she figured out what she wanted. He had a life to lead and she couldn't be making him wait for her.

This was good. Good for him. Good for her. She'd just be his sister and nothing else. He'd date Jeyne, maybe marry her, and Sansa would maybe get back together with Jon. She and Jon still talked frequently via text and email, and though she missed him as her best friend, she didn't miss him as her boyfriend. But, maybe now she could be more open to him since Robb was obviously moving on.

Yes, this was for the best. It really was. Robb deserved to be happy, and with Jeyne he could be open about his feelings. No running, no hiding, no lying and scheming for alone time…

This was great. Fantastic even.

If only she didn't feel like she was a giant wound that was bleeding out.

Please let me know what you think! :)