Chapter 17

Cersei Lannister POV

I'm staying over at Bronn's place tonight, Jorah is at his parent's house and it's a lot less awkward than being at my place when Jaime's there.

"Do you want to go out?" I ask him shortly after I get there.

"Not particularly," he says. "Unless you really want to. I was thinking we could just order a pizza and watch movies."

That honestly sounds kinda nice. "Sure," I say. "I'd like that."

We order a pizza and start watching a scary movie. It's October, so it seems fitting. We don't end up finishing the movie, though. We start fooling around during it and he ends up going down on me. We move to the bed to finish up without even turning the movie off.

We have a pretty good time. It's decent sex, but he isn't better than Jaime. It gets the job done. After we finish, we're just laying in bed kissing. I feel weirdly close to him, this doesn't usually happen with someone other than Jaime.

"Was that okay?" He asks me.

"That was great," I say, kissing him again. "And I'm not just saying that."

"You know," he says. "I do want to get to know you better."

"Really?"

"Yeah," he says. "We've known each other for a couple years, but I don't feel like we know much about each other."

"What do you want to know about me?"

"Anything I can," he says. "And I want you to know more about me."

"You can ask me stuff," I say. "I'm a pretty blunt and honest person."

He pauses and takes a deep breath. "Why do you hate Tyrion?" He asks. "He's said you two don't get along, but he didn't really elaborate. He's so funny and cool."

I sigh and can feel rage boiling in me. I compose myself before speaking. "Our mom died giving birth to him," I say. "I guess I've always resented him for that."

"That's not his fault," Bronn says. "You know that, right?"

"I guess," I respond. "We've also just always butted heads, he's always been a little shit."

"I guess I get butting heads with your sibling," he says. "I didn't mean to upset you."

"You didn't," I say. "I just can't change the way I feel about Tyrion, and I think it's a little too late to mend our relationship now even if I wanted to."

"I see what you mean." There's a long pause.

"I used to self harm a lot," I say. I didn't even think before I said it, I didn't mean to dump that on him. "It wasn't healthy, but it helped me deal with my anger issues at that time. Both with Tyrion and my father."

"Do you still do it?" He asks after a pause.

"No," I say. "I haven't in a couple years or so."

"That's good."

"What about you?" I ask after another pause. "I deserve to know some of your dark secrets now."

He chuckles. "Well, I started dealing in high school," he says. "No one really knows that, and it was on a much smaller scale."

"Why did you do that?"

"My family used to have money, but when I was in high school they went bankrupt," he says. "If I hadn't done that, I wouldn't have been able to buy myself anything."

"It happens," I say. "I guess I'm pretty lucky that my family's always been rich."

"I'm only in college because we had a little bit of money set aside and I got a partial scholarship."

"I'm sorry you've had to resort to that," I say. "You never should've had to."

"Hey, it is what it is," Bronn says, shrugging. "I'm glad about it now, it's good money."

"I just don't want you to get hurt," I say. "That stuff is risky."

"I won't, I know what I'm doing," he says. "I'm honestly just surprised you care."

"We're dating, of course I care."

"I'm sorry Jaime doesn't approve of us," Bronn says. "It sucks, but we can't help it."

"He's just protective," I say. "But he's talking to a girl he had a fling with over the summer anyway, so I don't want to hear it from him."

"I get him being protective," he says. "It just seems a little extreme."

"We've been through a lot together," I say. "He's been by my side through some really tough things."

"If you ever want to talk about that stuff, I'm here," he says. "But no pressure, I just wanted to say that."

It's good to hear that from him, I'm glad we're forming a relationship and talking about deeper things. He seems a lot more caring than I originally thought, I'm starting to genuinely enjoy being with him for more than just the sex. That doesn't usually happen with me.

I'll never tell him about me and Jaime, but maybe I can tell him about the miscarriage if things get more serious. I definitely need to wait a little bit before I drop that on him, though. Once he tells me more stuff about him, I can consider that. It's just still hard for me to talk about, and I can't go around telling everyone.

Jon Snow Stark POV

Dany gets home from class and we're just hanging out at the apartment tonight. I'm glad she doesn't have work, that way we can spend some time together before we have to study. We're watching a show when I see her phone buzz and she starts texting.

"Oh shit!" She says. "Did you hear Sansa got into our school?"

"She did?" I ask.

"Yeah, she didn't text you?"

"Nope," I say. "But we really don't talk much these days."

"I'm sorry," Dany says. "I get how that might be rough. She texted me, apparently your parents are taking her and the siblings out to eat."

"Oh okay," I say. "That makes sense. I'll have to text her."

"Why don't you call her?"

"You think I should?" I ask after a pause. "Like I said, it's been a while since we've talked."

"Yeah," she says. "Just to say congratulations, she should know you care."

"I guess you're right," I say. "I'll give her a call right now."

I dial her number and she answers after a few rings, she was probably talking and getting ready with Arya. "Hello?" She asks when she picks up. "Jon?"

"Yeah, it's me," I say. "I heard you got into our school, I wanted to say congratulations."

"Oh, thanks," she says. "I'm surprised you care."

"Of course I care," I say. "I'm really proud of you."

"Thanks Jon," she says. "It really doesn't feel like an accomplishment, everyone gets into college."

"Not everyone," I say. "It's definitely something to be proud of."

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to go," Sansa says. "I want to just be a model."

"I know," I say. "But you can still go to local castings, college is good for a long-term plan."

"Yeah, that's what everyone says."

"Either way, I'm still proud of you," I say. "I want you to know that."

"Thank you," she says. "I'm excited to study fashion, and for Dany to take me to parties."

"We love your priorities," I say, chuckling. "I'm sure she'll be happy to do that."

"Well I have to go," she says. "I have to finish doing my makeup."

"Okay, have fun," I say. "Bye."

We hang up and Dany turns to me. "Are you glad you did that?" She asks.

"Yeah," I say. "She doesn't seem too excited about going to college, though."

"Why?"

"She wants to be a model," I say. "I told her college would be beneficial and she could still go to castings."

"That's good advice," Dany says. "I'm glad she got into our school and I'll be able to spend more time with her, hopefully. If my job and class doesn't take up too much of my time."

"She said she wants you to take her to parties," I say, laughing. "I said you'd be happy to, I hope that's okay that I said that."

"It's fine," Dany says, also chuckling. "If she's going to go party, I'd rather be there so I can help her be safe."

"Makes sense," I say. "You're a really good friend to her."

"You know I'll still be friends with her even if we break up, right?"

"I know," I say. "But we never will."

She leans her head on my shoulder and we keep watching our show. I'm glad Dany encouraged me to call Sansa and let her know I'm proud of her, our relationship has definitely been fractured since she started high school. I am proud of her, though. I always will be, and I'll always love her just like I'll always love all my siblings.

Sansa Stark POV

I appreciate that Jon called me. We haven't been as close lately, but we'll have to see each other more when I'm in college so it's nice that we got to talk. Plus, it's sweet that he made the effort to contact me, even if it was at Dany's urging.

Tonight we're going out to eat to celebrate me getting into college. My parents are taking me, Arya, Rickon, Bran and Meera. I wish Jon and Dany could come, but they have to be at class and work tomorrow so it wouldn't really make sense.

I'm getting ready in my room and doing my makeup, we're going to one of my favorite places so I wanted to look nice. I'm wearing a yellow glittery skirt and a white blouse.

"I'm so excited for the restaurant," Arya says as I'm getting ready. "We never get to go to a nice place like this."

She's right. We have the money to, but my parents rarely take us out because of how busy they always are.

"I'm excited too," I say. "We finally have a reason to celebrate."

I finish getting ready, and we get in the car with my family and head to the restaurant. My parents made a reservation, which is nice since it's really hard to get seven of us all in one place. After we sit down, the questions start.

"Are you excited to go to college?" Meera asks. I'm glad she's talking to us more, she's usually really quiet and reserved. It's weird that Bran likes her so much, he's the exact opposite.

"I suppose," I say. "It's pretty scary, though. I'm really nervous."

"I know you'll do amazingly," my dad says. "Plus, Daenerys and Jon will be there for you to lean on for support."

I understand the sentiment there, but Dany is really the only one I can lean on for support out of those two.

"What are you going to study?" Meera asks me.

"I really want to do something fashion related," I say. "I want to be a model, but if I can't do that I want to work in the fashion industry."

"That's so cool," Meera says. "I wish I was pretty enough to try modeling."

"You are," Bran says to her quietly. "You definitely are." That's really sweet, it makes me happy seeing him be sweet to her.

We order our food, I get some seafood pasta. It feels nice to be able to get that, pasta used to be one of my biggest fear foods.

"Arya," my mom says. "Have you given any thought to what you want to study in school?"

"Mom, do I really have to worry about that now?" Arya asks.

"It wouldn't hurt to think about it," she says. "You'll be applying for schools before you know it."

"Cat," my dad says. "We're here to celebrate Sansa, we can worry about all that another time."

"Thank you, dad," Arya says. I think she secretly gets happy when dad takes her side on things.

"Okay," my mom says. "But just keep it in mind, it really does sneak up on you."

"What are you most excited about for college?" Rickon asks me. I kinda hate all these questions, but I guess I should probably get used to it.

"I'm excited to be on my own," I say. "I want to explore more, and meet new people."

"That'll be good for you," my dad says. "I know it's been good for Jon and Robb." Of course it's been good for Robb, he's married with a kid now because of college.

"I'm excited to do stuff on campus, too," I say. "I want to do a lot social stuff, I know that."

"That's Sansa's way of saying party hard," Arya says, laughing.

"Arya!" I say. "That's not what I meant at all!"

"And meet boys, of course," Bran says. Arya laughs at that, too.

"No," I say. "Not that either."

"Sure," Bran says. "Whatever."

"What kind of fashion would you want to do?" Meera asks. I'm relieved she changed the subject so my siblings would stop teasing me.

"I'm not sure exactly," I say. "Maybe help plan runway shows since I want to model, or do editing for photoshoots."

"That would be awesome," my mom says. "I think you'd be really good at that. I'm happy you have goals in mind."

I feel like my mom is too hard on me and Arya, she isn't this hard on the boys. I get that she wants us to accomplish things, but she didn't have to start grilling Arya like that when it wasn't about her. She'll figure out what she wants to do, she doesn't need all this pressure from my mom right now.

They let me get dessert, so that's nice. It felt good to have my family celebrate me tonight, I feel like I don't get recognized as much as I'd like to for my accomplishments. I think we all have felt that way, with how many of us there are and how often my parents are gone or busy.

Arya Stark POV

It's been a fun night, and I'm happy for Sansa. I know she gets annoyed when we make fun of her, but that's what siblings do and she still loves us. I know she does.

We get home from dinner after dropping Meera off at her place and head to our room to get ready for bed. "That was fun," I say as we're getting changed. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, I did," Sansa says. "Kinda sick of all the questions though, honestly."

"Yeah, I can see how that would get annoying."

"I'm glad Meera is coming out of her shell more," she says. "She's so sweet, Bran doesn't deserve someome like her."

"Yeah, that pairing doesn't make sense to me at all," I say. "It just doesn't seem like they would mesh well as a couple."

"I agree," Sansa says, putting her dinner outfit in her hamper. "But he is sweeter to her than I imagined, he told her she was pretty enough to be a model. That was really cute."

"Yeah, and I know he's been friends with Jojen since they were little."

"Yeah," she says. "They grew up together."

We get into bed and turn the lights off since it's getting late and it's a school night. "Arya?" Sansa asks after a long pause of silence.

"Yeah?"

"I'm honestly pretty scared to go to college," she says. "I'm kind of dreading it a little bit."

"Really?" I ask. "I thought you were excited."

"I mean… I am," she says. "But I'm also just really scared."

"Of what?"

"Being an adult," she says. "I'm scared of something bad happening while I'm there."

"Like what?"

"Anything," she says. "I don't know, I just have a lot of anxiety about it."

"Well, Jon and Dany will be there to help," I say. "And you know you can always call me."

"Thank you, Arya," she says. "You know I love you, right?"

"I love you too."

Sansa yawns. "I'm going to try to get some sleep," she says, turning over. "Good night."

"Good night."

I understand why Sansa is scared, and I want to be as helpful as I can. I know she can handle it, she's a lot stronger than she thinks she is. She should give herself more credit.