Chapter 17

Jon Snow Stark POV

Dany and I are heading to Sam's place today to celebrate him and Gilly's engagement. We got them a gift card to a home supplies store in case they need anything, we weren't really sure what to get them that they could both use.

We knock on the door and Sam opens it. "Hey guys," he says. "I'm really glad you guys could make it."

"Where's the baby?" Dany asks as we walk in.

"He's with my dad," Sam says. "I know, he's very cute. We just wanted some time to hang out together since we haven't in a while."

"Makes sense," Dany says. "I hope he's doing okay."

"He's wonderful," Gilly says. "Being a mom is really tiring, but it's hard to believe I ever had a life without him."

"That's so sweet," Dany says. "I'm excited to have that one day."

That's scary to think about, I'm definitely not ready to be a father. I do want that with Dany, just not for many years. I know she didn't mean anytime soon, but it's still weird to hear.

"Do you guys want something to drink?" Sam asks. "We don't have any beer, but we have sodas and stuff."

"I'll take a coke, if you have it," Dany says. "Thank you."

Sam gets a coke out of the fridge, opens it with a bottle opener and hands it to Dany.

"So how does it feel that you guys are getting married?" Ygritte asks. "I bet that's wild."

"It really is," Gilly says. "I really didn't expect him to ask me."

"I did," I say. "He told me he had the ring and was just waiting for the right moment."

"Sam, really?" Gilly asks.

"Yeah," Sam says, sitting next to her and putting his arm around her. "When I asked you, it was really spontaneous. I thought it would be on a romantic date under the stars or something."

"Do you wish it had been?" Dany asks Gilly.

"Honestly, no," Gilly says. "It was perfect. Honestly, getting married isn't something I had really thought about much."

"Really?" Dany asks.

"Yeah," Gilly says. She turns to Sam. "I mean, I love you and could never see my life without you in it. But I was in such a bad situation when I found out I was pregnant, ever since then I've just been trying to survive."

"Wow, I'm so sorry," Dany says. "I had no idea any of it was that bad."

Gilly looks a little surprised. She must have assumed I told Dany everything, but I'd never do that. It isn't my business or my story to tell, I'm surprised Sam even told me.

"I couldn't dream about things like getting married," Gilly says. "My biggest dream for a long time was my son and I being safe."

There's a pause. I don't think anyone expected the conversation to get this dark, and now no one knows what to say or how to change the conversation to something more lighthearted.

"Thank you for asking me to be your maid of honor," Ygritte finally says. "You know I would've killed you if you'd asked anyone else."

"I know," Gilly says, smiling. "But you're the only one I could've thought of asking."

"Don't you have sisters?" I ask her.

"I do," she says solemnly. "And I love them, I just don't think it's safe for me to be around them right now for many reasons."

"Sorry Gilly," I say. "I didn't mean to upset you at all."

"No, it's fine. Ygritte is my best friend," Gilly says. "She's been there for me more than anyone else. Besides Sam, of course."

"That reminds me," Sam says. "Jon, I wanted to ask if you'd be my best man."

"Seriously?" I ask him.

"Seriously," Sam says. "I don't know when we're getting married, but you're the only one who could do that for me."

"Of course," I say after a pause. "That's so flattering, I'd love to."

I'm glad things are finally going well again for Sam. The situation with Gilly was so hard, and I know how stressful it was for both of them. Being a new father on top of that was a lot to handle, but he was made to be a dad. He handled it better than any guy I could've imagined, except maybe my dad.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

My phone rings as I'm hanging out with everyone, it's Cersei. I don't want to talk to her, but I do want a break from everyone. The group is just hanging out, so it's not like I'll be missed that much if I slip out for a few minutes.

"I'm going to step outside to take this," I tell Jon. "I'll be right back."

"Okay," Jon says, nodding.

"Hello?" I ask, stepping outside.

"Hey, it's me," Cersei says. "Can you talk?"

"Only for a minute," I say. "I'm hanging out with Jon and his friends."

"I'm just super stressed out," Cersei says. She sounds so defeated. "Jaime's acting really weird around me lately."

"How so?"

"We just aren't hanging out as much as we usually do," she says. "I try to get him to do stuff with me, and he brushes me off or seems distant when we are spending time together."

"Have you talked to him about it?"

"No," she says. "I'm just too angry to do that."

"Cersei," I say. "If it's bothering you so much, you should just talk to him. It's probably nothing. You guys grew up together and have been inseperable since you were born, it's okay if he wants to branch out a little."

There's a pause. "You're really not much help," she says. "I though you'd actually give me real advice."

"I don't know what to say," I say. "That's all I can think of. I'm sorry, this just doesn't seem like a big issue to me."

She sighs. "Whatever," she says. "Have fun with your friends."

She hangs up, but I don't even feel bad. I feel like she's always upset about something now. She's always been like that, but I'm noticing it more now. I also don't know how she can ask me for advice when she can't even be honest about her and Jaime's relationship.

Ygritte comes outside as I'm getting off the phone, she sits down on the steps next to me. "Is it okay if I smoke out here?" She asks me.

"I don't care," I say. "It's not my apartment complex. I'm about to go inside anyway."

I feel like everyone we went to high school with is smoking now, but I don't want Jon and I to because it's so bad for you. Ygritte lights up a cigarette, which I really don't want to be close to.

I start to get up because I don't like the smell of cigarette smoke, but she stops me. "Wait," she says. "I'm actually glad you're out here. I wanted to talk to you about something."

I don't have a good feeling about this, but I sit down next to her again anyways. "Okay," I say. "What's up?"

"I'm sorry if I've ever come off as rude to you," she says. "I was pretty hung up on Jon for a while, and I feel bad."

"It's okay," I say after a pause. "I do appreciate your apology, though. There were times you made me feel uncomfortable."

"And I'm really sorry about that," she says. "I heard that a little bit from Gilly, I guess Sam and Jon had talked about it."

"I guess I just felt like you were trying to make me uncomfortable," I say. "Like you were jealous of me and you wanted me to feel down."

"I was 15, and really immature," she says. "I really liked Jon for a long time before we were together and after we broke up. I thought we worked well together, and I guess I was hoping that we'd be able to try again at some point."

"I get that, I've felt that way about guys in the past too."

"I guess I just wanted to tell you that," she says. "Maybe we can be friends, or at least friendly."

"That sounds good," I say. "I'm going to go inside now, it's hot out here."

"Okay," she says. "Thanks for listening to me."

I smile at her and head inside. I'm glad she and I had this talk, and I'm glad we're all growing up. Ygritte and I will probably never be besties, but I'm glad we can be friendly and hang out at the same events. I know Jon's friendship with Gilly and Sam is important to him, and I'm glad we can be a part of that.

Sansa Stark POV

Jon is over at Sam's place and my younger brothers are out, so I'm having some friends over today. Myrcella, Podrick and Gendry are coming over to hang out. My mom and dad are doing an overnight thing for work, so Arya and I have the house to ourselves for the night.

"So is it true you guys are getting an apartment together?" I ask Podrick and Gendry as we're sitting around the living room.

"I hope so," Podrick says. "I'm really sick of living with my family."

"Honestly, I'm getting there too," Gendry says. "I love Renly, but I'm tired of sharing a room with him and getting kicked out when Loras is over."

"Are they still going strong?" I ask.

"Yeah," Gendry says. "They're not keeping it from anyone anymore. I'm happy for them, it just sucks when I have to run into Margaery because of it."

"Does she come around with Loras a lot?" Arya asks.

"Not really," Gendry says. "It's just been a couple times, but it's still awkward and I avoid talking to her."

"I'm glad things are working out with Loras and Renly," I say. "I feel bad that he felt like he had to keep his sexuality a secret."

"Me too," Gendry says. "I know it was really hard on him for a while."

There's a long pause, I guess no one else really has much to say about that. I know I went through some stuff with Loras a while back and it did hurt me at the time, but I'm glad we could both move on and he could be happy in his relationship with Renly. He didn't deserve to have to hide it.

"Myrcella's been working on a new solo for choir," Podrick says. "I think it's been coming along really well."

"Pod," Myrcella says. "You really shouldn't bring that up, they don't care."

"Wait, I care," I say. "What song is it?"

"Jenny of Oldstones," Myrcella says. "It's a song my choir teacher thought I'd be good for, but I'm not sure I believe her."

"You should sing it," Podrick says. "You sang it for me, and you sounded incredible."

"Here, tonight?" Myrcella asks. Podrick nods. "Absolutely not."

"Come on," Arya says. "I think we'd all want to hear it."

"Okay, someday," Myrcella says. "But not right now, with no music."

"Gendry," Podrick says. "Do you have your guitar in your car?"

Gendry pauses, he looks surprised that Podrick brought him into this by asking him that.

"Yeah," Gendry says. "But I usually don't play in front of people."

"You don't have to, I just thought it might be fun," Podrick says. He turns to Myrcella. "I'll sing it with you."

"Okay, fine," Myrcella says, blushing. "But no one can make fun of me."

"Of course not," I say. "Joffrey isn't here, you don't have to worry about that."

Myrcella smiles and Gendry goes outside to get his guitar. He comes back in and sits between Myrcella and Podrick on the couch. Myrcella takes a deep breath, I can tell she's really nervous. Podrick reaches his arm behind Gendry and rubs her shoulder to reassure her. I hope I can have a boyfriend like that one day.

Gendry starts playing and they start to sing the song. Myrcella really does have a beautiful voice, and Podrick actually sounds good too. I'm glad she's feeling more comfortable to show her true self around us, I know she had a hard time when she first moved here after leaving treatment. It feels like we're both actually doing well for the first time.

Arya Stark POV

Tonight has been fun, I've been having a good time. Gendry's actually pretty good at playing the guitar, I'm surprised he played in front of us. It's been a fun night, I needed to let loose a little and this has been more fun than I expected.

I go outside to smoke, I've been able to get a few cigarettes from Gendry here and there. I sit on the grass and I'm lighting one up when he sits next to me. "Hey," he says. "You're out here to smoke, too?"

I nod. "Yeah," I say. "I had a drink bit I still could use a cigarette."

"Me too," he says. He lights one up too and starts smoking. "God, it's even hot at night."

"I know," I say. There's a pause. "I'm glad you played the guitar for us tonight, you're actually pretty good."

"Thanks," he says. "I didn't want to, but Podrick and Myrcella really wanted to sing tonight. Myrcella's usually really shy about that, so I wanted to get her out of her shell a little."

"Podrick seems to help with that a lot," I say. "Her voice is really pretty."

"It is, and so is his. I keep telling him he should sing more, but he doesn't want many people to know he can."

"That's lame," I say. "People should showcase their talents when they have them, I know I would if I had any."

"Shut up," he says. "You're great at fencing."

I shrug. "I'm alright."

There's a long pause. "Are you doing anything fun in a couple days?" Gendry asks me.

"I wasn't planning on it," I say. "My summer has honestly been kind of boring. I may watch movies with my brothers, but they've been annoying me more and more lately."

"I was planning on going to a concert," he says. "I was wondering if you wanted to come with me."

"Where is it?"

"It's at this bar," he says. "It's 18 and up, but they'll let you in if you're with me and you look cute. That shouldn't be hard for you."

"Why would you want to have me tag along?"

"I have an extra ticket," he says. "It's a band I really like, I think you'd like them too. And I have a fake ID, so I could get us a couple drinks. They're really lenient there."

"Are you sure?" I ask. "I wouldn't want to get you in trouble."

"Trust me, you won't," he says. "I know a couple of the bouncers, I've been going there since I was like 15."

"Okay, that would be fun," I say. "But only if you're sure we won't get in trouble."

"I'm sure," he says. "An old friend of mine knew the bouncers really well, so we used to go all the time for their shows."

"Okay, then that sounds fun," I say. "I don't ever go to concerts."

"Really?"

"No," I say. "Sansa dragged me to see Taylor Swift with her and my mom when she was like 10, but I couldn't have cared less about that."

"This band is nothing like Taylor Swift."

"Then I'll probably like it more," I say. "Let's do it."

He smiles at me. I'm tired and a little tipsy, so I lean on his shoulder. I hope he doesn't take that the wrong way, but he doesn't put his arm around me or anything. I'm excited to go to a concert with him, we never went many places when we were dating. We'll be going as friends, but I think it'll still be a lot of fun.