Disclaimer: Game of Thrones and Life is Strange aren't my properties, they belong to D&D, George R.R Martin, DONTNOD and Square Enix. And the Lord is good, because if I were the owner, believe me, you'd hate what I'd do with that.

Summary: All he wanted was to forget, to have a fresh new start. And so did she.

Author's note: This is set after the end of LIS with the "Save Arcadia Bay" ending. As for Game of Thrones, it is set in a modern universe and the characters are at the end of season 2, personality wise.

WARNING! THIS FANFICTION CAN CONTAIN HEAVY THEMES SUCH AS MENTIONS OF SUICIDE ATTEMPTS, SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS, BULLYING ETC. IF YOU ARE ILL-AT-EASE WITH THESE SUBJECTS, FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS FANFICTION.

Begin again

Chapter 7

"Mom, is that him?" A voice asked

"Yes, it is, Honey." A sweet woman's voice replied

Lancel didn't pay attention to it. He was strolling with Kate in the streets of Arcadia Bay. The weather was getting slightly warmer and flowers were shyly blossoming. Hand in hand, they were looking at the storefronts. Lancel had already offered Kate a book by her favourite author and they had shared Joyce's famous burger at the Two Whales. And of course, he couldn't help it, he had taken lots of pictures of Kate. She was just so inspiring! But, he always asked for her permission or when he took one, he showed her and would delete it if she didn't want to appear. Unlike some former teacher, he had respect for his model.

"He looks so radiant and happy!" The woman thought

She approached, accompanied by a teenager.

"Well, well, looks like Arcadia Bay changed your eye so much you don't recognize us." The boy teased

Lancel turned and when he discovered the duo, after an initial shock, he had the brightest smile as he embraced them. The woman broke the embrace, clearly moved, and she gently grabbed Lancel's face in her hands, looking at him with an undying love. Lancel's eyes quickly grew sad as he was reminded that it was the first time since his suicide attempt that he had actually saw his mother and his younger brother. Of course, they had called, they had talked, but it wasn't the same as seeing them in flesh.

"Mom, Martyn, about what happened, I…"

"Don't." Martyn cut

His brother looked at him, confused.

"Victims don't apologize."

Kate only nodded. Dorna turned to face her and the younger woman studied her. Of course, she had already seen her in pictures, so she wasn't surprised, but she could understand why Kevan seemed so in love with his wife, from what Lancel had told her. An aura of goodness was surrounding her.

"You must be Kate Marsh."

"I am. Pleasure to meet you, Mrs Lannister."

"Call me Dorna. How could I ever thank you for saving my son's life?"

Kate only smiled and repeated what she had told Kevan. She did nothing. Lancel saved himself, he chose to live.

"But you certainly helped in making him choose. Lannisters always pay their debts, even I who was born a Swyft."

"Oh, I think the debt is paid, Mom." Martyn stated

She looked at him, puzzled.

"Didn't you notice the way they look at each other? That they held hands? Kate will be family soon."

"Always the best at Cluedo, brother." Lancel teased

Kate laughed, it was so good to see Lancel with his family, in another context than the meeting with his father at the hospital.

"But… Though I am really happy to see you, what are you doing here?" He wondered

It was Dorna's time to have a smile.

"Your father didn't tell you? We moved here."

Lancel's surprised face made Martyn laugh his heart out, wishing Willem had come along with them to see it.

"You moved here…"

"We wanted to be with you. We missed you too much. And besides, we needed a break from Cersei's drama. Especially with Joffrey at the Wall."

"Joffrey was sent to the Wall?!"

Facing Kate's puzzled look, Martyn told her it was one of the most ancient and the stricter military school in Westeros, founded by Bran the Builder, the ancestor of the famous Stark clan.

"But… Uncle Tywin…" Lancel whispered

"Your uncle Tywin gave us his blessings and even helped in finding a house." Dorna explained

They started to walk down and found themselves in the street where Joyce lived. There was a moving truck near a house with a green front. It was quite large and had two floors. The garden was a reasonable size and could be expanded at will. As they entered, a little blond storm ran to Lancel to capture him in a hug, shouting:

"Lany!"

Lancel knelt and hugged the little girl back.

"Janei!"

She had a bright smile, the same Lancel could have.

"Mommy told me we'd see you!"

Lancel only beamed. Soon enough, Martyn's twin brother, Willem, arrived to greet his older brother. Kate and him were offered a tour of the house. According to what he knew, the organization of this house was similar to the one Joyce was living in. Max had shown him pictures of Chloe and her before she moved away, having decided to store them in an album. His parents even had a room set for him, in case he wanted to live with them again. Living with them… How he'd love that! But that would mean he wouldn't get to see Warren's sleepy face in the morning. He clearly wasn't a morning person and that was always funny to witness.

"You know what we should do?" Willem said to his mother. "Once we are all set, we should invite over all of Lancel's friends for dinner."

"What a great idea!" Dorna agreed

"Err… You wouldn't want that, I made quite a lot of friends." Lancel stated

"And we have the space to receive them all. And after that, you bring home your closest friends." His mother replied

He immediately thought of Warren, of Max, of Dana and of Juliet. He got on well with the others but they were his crew.

"Kate, can we play dolls?" Janei asked

"Janei, Honey, don't bother Kate." Dorna sweetly said

"It's no bother, really. I have sisters as well."

Lancel couldn't resist the urge to take a picture of two important women in his life playing together, as his mother was brewing him his favourite tea.

XXXXX

"I still can't believe you leave the dorms…" Warren said, sad

He was helping Lancel packing his things, the twins having come to help out as well.

The room was a mess but the bare walls gave it a sad and depressing tone.

"Hey, it's not as if I changed school." Lancel said, trying to cheer him up

"Yeah, but we won't get to have our marathons, our movie nights, our gaming nights…"

"Someone said gaming?" Willem asked

"Yeah, your brother and I are quite the gamers."

"Tales of Symphonia?"

"Best Tales of ever!"

"The Wolf Among Us?"

"Bigby and Nerissa all the way!"

"I'm so in love with you right now."

Warren blushed as Lancel burst out in laughter.

"Careful now, you're going to make Max jealous!" He teased

"Martyn, do you think Mom and Dad will be against me and Lancel having Warren over for sleepovers?" Willem wondered

"No, Mom and Dad won't mind at all." Kevan replied as he entered the room

Lancel smiled.

XXXXX

"They're awfully quiet." Kevan stated

"Well, they don't want to wake Janei." Dorna explained

The spouses took a glance in Lancel's new room. The light was small, the TV was on and their son, sitting down on the floor, surrounded by Max, Warren and Kate, were enjoying a Reign marathon, bowls of popcorn and of potato chips near them, along with bottles of Doctor Pepper. Kate was nestled against her boyfriend. The controllers of his Playstation 3 were out but the games were all tidied up. Lancel was smiling, a sight that was becoming a habit of his, once again. He was smiling more and more, he was slowly becoming again the boy he used to be: the cheerful, carefree, loving, dreamy and optimistic young man they had raised together, their little miracle after sixteen years without a child.

When he saw his son so well again, Kevan knew sending him to Arcadia Bay and moving to be with him was the right choice.

To Be Continued