Chapter 11

Sansa Stark POV

My family and I are leaving today for our Fourth of July camping trip. Arya and I are finishing up packing and getting ready in our room. I'm not sure this trip will be fun, but at least we'll have each other.

"I'm not excited for this," I say, making sure everything I need is in my duffel bag. "I haven't been looking forward to this since I found out it was happening."

"Really?" Arya asks me. "Why not?"

"Are you excited?"

"Not outwardly," she says. "But I'm not dreading it, either. I guess I just feel indifferent to it."

"I just never feel like we bond with the family like they want us to," I say. "Bran and Rickon do, and of course Robb is the favorite. I just feel like the middle three of us get forgotten."

"Well, that's nothing new," Arya says. "That's always been the case."

"Jon's always going on about how he's the least favorite," I say. "But we have it just as bad as him. Mom never makes an effort to connect with us, and dad's attention is spread pretty thin."

"Yeah," Arya says, double checking her bag. "Jon is the least favorite, thought."

"I just feel like he loves to throw himself a pity party," I say. "He's not the only one who's felt forgotten by mom, being emotionally unavailable is kind of her thing."

Arya chuckles at that, but it's not funny. I'm glad she isn't hurt by it, but there have been a lot of times during my childhood where I wished I could go to my mom for more support. She's just never been open like that.

We take our stuff downstairs and get into the car. We're on the road a whole 20 minutes before someone starts complaining. "It's hot," Rickon says. "Can I have some water?"

"You'll just have to go to the bathroom immediately," my dad says. "Let's wait a little bit."

"Of course he can have some water," my mom says. "It's hot back there."

She's always the one to give Bran and Rickon what they want. She gets a bottle of water from the cooler behind her and passes it to Arya, who turns around and passes it to Rickon.

"Thanks mom," Rickon says.

"How long until we get there?" Bran asks.

"We just started driving, idiot," Arya says. "How are you asking that already?"

"Arya!" My mom says, raising her voice. "Don't talk to your brother like that, apologize now."

"Sorry, Bran," Arya says, not sounding very enthusiastic.

"We have another hour," my dad says. "You guys are old enough to be patient for that long."

"Sansa and I had to deal with it way before you guys are," Arya says. "We had to entertain ourselves in the car when we were 7 onward."

"You sound like a grandma," Bran says, laughing. "What are you, 80?"

"I swear," my dad chimes in. "If you kids don't cut it out with each other, I'm turning around." He threatens that a lot, but I don't think he's ever actually done it. He wants to go camping just as much as they do.

I look behind me where Jon is sitting with the boys and he gives me a smirk, we tend to tune out the shenanigans more often than not. At least we can bond about how crazy our family gets and how we don't want to be a part of it.

I wish Arya wouldn't join in on the boys' banter so much, it just gets my parents more upset (especially my dad). Was I this annoying when I was 12 and 13, or even 15? God, I really hope not.

Jon Snow Stark POV

We get to the campsite and start unloading the car. Sansa immediately sits down on a bench next to where our tents are going to be, she doesn't seem like she wants to be a part of helping. She tends to do this when we go on trips, I thought she would've outgrown it now that she's 17.

"Sansa?" I ask her. "Will you come help?"

"Do I have to?" She asks.

"It would be nice," I say. "We're all on this trip together, you know?"

"Arya's not helping," Sansa say. "You aren't getting on to her."

"Sansa," my dad says. "Help us set up this tent. Arya, go help your mom unload the coolers and get organized." I can tell he's irritated with them.

"Fine," Sansa says, walking over to us. Arya goes to meet my mom at the car. "Whatever."

We hear a yell and a thud come from a little ways away, I look over and see Bran and Rickon wrestling on the ground.

"Bran! Rickon!" My dad yells. "Get over here and help us right now! Cut that out!" My dad is clearly at his breaking point with the kids, he almost never yells like that.

Bran and Rickon pause, clearly surprised that my dad yelled at them. They walk over to us and start setting up the tent.

"So I was thinking," my dad says like he wasn't just screaming. "We should go for a short walk and then roast some marshmallows tonight."

"I want to be able to call Dany tonight," I say. "If I can find a spot with okay service."

"You can call her after we roast marshmallows," my dad says. "The service isn't terrible here, you should be fine."

At least he's not giving me a hard time about wanting to call Dany, I'm not sure why he's in this type of mood. I know it's hard to rangle all of these grumpy kids who don't want to listen, but he usually doesn't get angry like this.

We finish setting up and then get started on our hike. Of course Bran and Rickon run up ahead of everyone, and my dad doesn't fight with them this time. He only has so much energy. Arya and Sansa are lagging behind. That tends to be the norm, unless Arya decides to roughouse with the boys.

"Jon," my dad says as we're walking together. "How are things going with the apartment search? I haven't heard an update in a while."

"We got approved for the studio apartment," I say. "We're going there in a few days to sign paperwork and submit our security deposit."

"Wow, really?" My mom asks. "Why didn't you tell us?"

I don't ever want to share anything with my mom, she has a lot of nerve to ask me that.

"I've been so distracted with looking at places and figuring out logistics," I say. "Sorry, dad. I meant to say something." I want to make it clear that my mom isn't the one I actually care about telling.

"I feel like we've barely seen you this summer," my dad says. "That's a big reason I wanted us to take this trip just us as a family."

"Sorry," I say. "I just didn't want to give too many updates until I knew it was happening."

"That makes sense," my dad says. "We just would've liked to know."

"Yeah I know," I say. "Sorry."

"Let us know if there's anything we can do to help," my dad says. "We'll figure out something, but let us know if you think of anything in particular."

I know he means that, but I've been wanting to distance myself more and more from my family lately. I love my dad, but I feel like I need to move on. I'm not ever going to fully cut off contact with them, but lately I've just been confused.

He's never told me many details about my mom, and I'm not sure he ever will at this point. If he was going to, he would've by now. It just makes me feel lost not knowing who she is. I want to meet her, and maybe one day I'll make an effort to locate her and try to make that happen.

Beyond anything else, I just want to move on and create my new life and a new family with Dany. My parents and my siblings will always be in my life, but I've felt like I want to move on and pave my own way more and more lately.

Arya Stark POV

Sansa and I are walking around the campsite down various small trails, they lead to different spots where tents are supposed to be set up. I guess this was the short hike my dad wanted to do, it's got a good amount of shade considering how hot it is.

"Are things still awkward with Gendry?" She asks me while we're walking and lagging behind the rest of the family.

"A little," I say. "We still hang out, and I'm glad we can still be friends. I can just tell he's still kind of emotional about the breakup."

"I'm honestly surprised you're not," Sansa says. "I know how emotional I was about my past relationships, even though both of them were really toxic and I'm glad they ended."

"I guess my situation is just different," I say, shrugging. "I honestly see Gendry as just a friend, it was always hard for me to see him in a more romantic way."

"Clearly you could see him in other ways," Sansa says, teasing me. "That wasn't a problem for you."

"Sansa! Mom and dad might be able to hear us."

"I doubt it, we're way far behind them," she replies. "I'm surprised they haven't figured out what you guys did, especially Jon."

"I honestly think he couldn't let his mind even go there, and mom and dad thought they were supervising everything."

Sometimes mom and dad can be clueless, but I think it's understandable with how many kids they have. It doesn't help that mom favors the boys over us.

…

We get back from our hike and start getting ready to grill some meat that my dad brought. He likes to grill in the summer, and he's good at it so no one's complaining.

"Dad?" Bran asks, walking over to the grill. "Can I help?"

My dad looks surprised that he asked that. "Sure," he says. "I think you're old enough."

"I want to help too!" Rickon yells.

"I think one helping hand is fine for now," my dad says. "You can help with the marshmallow roasting later."

Rickon pouts and walks away. I think my dad just agreed for Bran to help so that he and Rickon don't start beating the shit out of each other again. They're always causing trouble, and I know my dad needs to focus on grilling right now. My mom's reading a book, I think my dad wants to let her relax.

Surprisingly, my mom puts her book down and sits next to me. "You okay, Arya?" She asks me.

"Yeah," I say. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, I heard you and Gendry didn't work out," she says, playing with my hair. I move her hand away. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay."

"I'm fine," I say. "Why does everyone assume I'm heartbroken about it?"

"Well, it was your first relationship," my mom says. "That can be tough."

"I broke up with him," I say. "I thought we were better as friends."

"Then it was probably for the best," she says. "You're a smart girl, and he was probably a little too old for you."

"Okay," I say. "Maybe."

"Don't be afraid to come talk to me if you need to," my mom says. "I'm always here."

I don't respond, and she walks away and goes back to reading. It always seems forced when she tries to connect with us, even though I'm sure she means well. She doesn't seem to have an easy time connecting with me and Sansa, and when she tries it just feels weird.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

I'm laying in bed on my laptop when I get a call from Jon. I'm excited to talk to him, I hope the drive with his family went okay and he got settled in easily. I know trips with his family can be hard, especially when he doesn't have Robb there to hang out with.

"Hey, babe," I say, answering the phone. "How's the trip going?"

"Eh, it's okay I guess," he says. "My family is driving me crazy."

"I'm sorry, anything unusual happening or just the typical stuff?"

"Bran and Rickon have been unruly, wrestling with each other and all that," he says. "Pretty typical stuff, but my dad seems to be in a worse mood than usual and I'm not sure why."

"I'm sorry," I say. "I wish I could've come with you."

"Me too," he says. "But it would've been really crowded. I'm honestly glad Robb and Talisa didn't come, even though they were invited."

"Really?" I asked. "I thought you missed Robb a lot."

"I do, but we wouldn't have been able to hang out much if he brought Talisa and the baby," Jon says. "And it would've been a crowded hastle."

"I get that."

"And my parents were a little peeved that I didn't tell them we found a place," he says. "I know I should've, but I honestly forgot."

"What did they say when you told them?"

"My dad seemed happy for us," he says. "He said he'd think of ways to help us."

"That's really nice of him," I say.

There's a pause as we aren't really sure what to talk about but we also don't want to hang up yet. I've noticed I can be comfortable just sitting in silence with him and knowing he's on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, by the way," Jon says. "Sam wants us to hang out with him and Gilly at some point this summer, they haven't had much time with friends since the baby was born with work and school."

"Would it just be them?" I ask, and he knows what I mean.

He sighs. "Probably not," he says. "But we don't have to do it if you don't want to. He's just been texting me about it more, and he mentioned that we're all adults and it should be fine last time I saw him."

I think for a second. I'm not too excited about that, but a lot of time has passed since I was around all of them, maybe it'll be different this time.

"He's right," I say. "We are all adults now, and we should do it."

"Really?" Jon asks me, sounding surprised. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I say. "I want us to be able to be around your friends, we shouldn't let one person stop us from that."

"You're right, that's good to hear," he says. There's another pause. "I should probably get back to my family, they're about to roast marshmallows."

"Okay, bye. I love you."

"I love you too."

We hang up and I go back to working on my laptop. I feel good about this summer, even about hanging out with Jon's friends. We're getting our own place and we've been together for years, it really feels like we're growing up. It's a good feeling.