Chapter 32

Arya Stark POV

I still do fencing once a week, but I haven't done a competition in a while. We haven't had much time, and I honestly don't practice enough to get back into competing. I want to, though. I'm hoping I can get back to competitions when I have more time.

I saw a sign-up sheet for an upcoming practice session, apparently there's a competition in three weeks. Sometimes they'll have practice sessions for upcoming competitions. I really miss competing, so I put my name down. I still have to ask my mom, though.

I get into the car after fencing, my mom is waiting for me outside. "How was practice?" She asks me as she starts driving home.

"It was fine," I say. "There's actually a competition in three weeks, I was hoping I could go."

"Do you need to sign up?"

"I put my name down so it wouldn't fill up," I say. "Please, can I go?"

"I don't see why not," she says. "You haven't competed in a while, though. Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I say. "I really want to get back into it. I feel like I haven't been focusing enough on my hobbies lately."

"Then I support it," my mom says. "I'm sure Sansa would love to come watch you."

"There's a practice session next week that I really want to go to," I say. "It'll help me get one extra practice in before the competition."

"Of course," my mom says. "I'm really glad you decided to compete again, you've seemed pretty down lately."

"I was for a while," I say. "But I'm trying hard to get out of feeling that way."

"That's good," she says. "You know you can always tell me if you need anything, right?"

"Yeah, I know," I say. "Thanks mom."

It doesn't feel like I can tell her if I need anything, opening up to her didn't really end well for me or Sansa in the past. I know she wants us to be able to trust her, but it really doesn't feel like we can based on what's happened.

We get home, and I go towards the kitchen to get a snack. On my way in, Bran stops me. He and Rickon are playing video games on the couch.

"Hey," Bran says, not looking up from his game. "How was practice?"

"It was good," I say. "There's a competition in theee weeks, I decided to sign up for it."

"Cool," Bran says. "Can Meera and I come?"

"Really?" I ask. "You guys would want to do that?"

"I'm sure she'd be into it," Bran says. "It would be fun."

"Then sure," I say. "Sansa will probably come too, if she doesn't have cheer."

"Can I come?" Rickon asks.

"Of course," I say. "Everyone can come." I walk into the kitchen, get my snack, and head back upstairs to my room.

Sansa is eating a snack and sitting on the floor while reading, she had cheer today. "Hey," she says when I walk in. "How was fencing?"

"It was good," I say. "I signed up for a competition in 3 weeks."

"Really?" She asks, looking at me. "It's been a while since you've competed."

"Why is everyone saying that and acting so surprised that I'm getting back into it?"

"I don't know," Sansa says. "You still practice, but I assumed you were done competing for a while."

"I really want to get back into it, I miss it."

"That's good," she says. "I'll definitely be there."

"Bran wants to invite Meera," I say. "I said go for it, even though I didn't think she'd care about that stuff."

"Aw, that's still sweet of him."

I sit down on my bed. "Oh, mom tried to bond with me again on the way home," I say. "She said I can always tell her anything."

"Yeah, she'll say that," Sansa says. "But she punishes us when we tell her something she doesn't want to hear."

"Yeah, it's confusing," I say. "She doesn't exactly foster an environment that makes us want to open up to her."

Sansa chuckles. "I'm kind of done with trying to open up to her," she says. "At least we have each other, and I have Myrcella and Margaery." I just nod at her.

I'm excited to get back into competing, I haven't been feeling like myself as much lately. Everything that happened with Gendry really messed me up. I finally felt comfortable enough to open up with someone and love them, and then he left me.

I'm done opening up to someone like that, at least for a while. I love my siblings and my friends, and that's really all I need right now. I need to get back into the things that I love doing and try to find myself again.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

I'm still pretty mad at Cersei, I can't believe she thought it was me who told on her and got her fired. I literally promised her I wouldn't. I don't want to be a part of her drama, even if I think she deserves to get fired for drinking on the job.

I don't expect her to believe me that I didn't tell on her. Once she's made up her mind, there's really no convincing her otherwise. Maybe this will finally let our friendship just dissolve. I feel like I'm done standing by her at this point, she only brings me down.

Jon gets home from working at the Student Center one Sunday afternoon, I had an early shift and have just been writing a paper. "Hey," I say. "How was work?"

"Pretty okay," he says, sitting down next to me and kissing my cheek. "How was it for you?"

"Busy," I say. "It was a Sunday lunch shift."

"I was thinking maybe we could go on a walk," he says. "It's not very cold today. Unless you're too busy writing."

"Honestly, that would be really nice," I say, closing my laptop. "Let's do it."

We put on our jackets and start walking around the courtyard by our apartment. We aren't talking much, but it's not an awkward silence. It's actually pretty nice.

"So have you heard from Cersei at all?" Jon finally asks to break the silence.

"Not since she called me yelling," I say. "I really don't think I can convince her that I'm not the one who told on her."

"Do you honestly want to convince her?"

I take a deep breath and let out a sigh. "I'm really not sure at this point," I say. "I'm kind of ready to shut the door on it."

"What do you mean by that?" Jon asks me.

"I'm not sure being friends with her is good for me anymore," I say. "Especially if it's this easy for her to turn on me."

"I honestly think you make a good point," he says. "I've thought for a while that you should reconsider your friendship with her."

"Really?" I ask. He nods. "Why didn't you say more about it?"

"I didn't want to seem controlling," Jon says. "I don't want to be the guy who tells his girlfriend to cut off her friends and tries to isolate her."

"You're not isolating me," I say, smiling and nudging him. "I value your opinion. Plus, I'm never going to do something solely because you suggested it."

"That's good," he says. "I know you're too headstrong for that."

"I just think we need to at least take a break from being so close," I say. "I need to give her some time to figure out what she's doing and get her shit together."

"Do you think she ever will?"

"I don't know," I say. "But that just isn't my responsibility."

"I agree," I say. "You've done enough for her, she can figure the rest out."

There's another pause as we keep walking. "So have you decided if you're going to do the DNA test or not?" I eventually ask.

"No, not yet," Jon says. "What do you think I should do?"

"It's ultimately your decision," I say. "Do you think it would help anything?"

"I think it would help my parent's relationship," he says. "I just don't want that to be my responsibility."

"It shouldn't have to be," I say. "I think you should only do what you want to do."

There's a pause, I can tell he's thinking about it. "I think I'm going to do it," he says. "But only so this can finally be over."

"That makes sense," I say. "Does it give you any comfort knowing your dad isn't actually a cheater?"

"A little," he says. "But I still wish he had been more honest. I get he wanted to protect me, but if he had been honest to begin with then we wouldn't be in this situation now."

"I'm sure he did the best he could at the time," I say. "But I get that it's confusing for you, and it's not right that you have to pick up the pieces."

"I know," he says. "That's why I want to do the DNA test. I know if I don't, my dad will just keep asking until I do."

I don't think that's right, but I understand Jon just wanting to be done with everything. I wish Ned hadn't put all of this on him. I think Jon's right, this would've been much easier if he had just been honest to begin with.

"You know I'm here for you no matter what, right?" I ask him.

"Thank you," he says. "I love you, and I'm here for you for whatever happens with Cersei."

"Thank you," I say. "I love you too."

I'm glad he and I can have these more intense conversations, it's important that we can trust each other with that kind of stuff. It's important to me to have a relationship like that. We're both going through a lot with our family lives and friendships, I'm glad we can support each other through that.

Jaime Lannister POV

I had a good time with Brienne, but I'm sad she had to leave and could only stay 2 nights. I do like her, and it was nice that we finally slept together again. It's important to me to have sex in a relationship, so I'm glad we're at that point again.

I decide to hang out with Tyrion and Oberyn today at Tyrion's place. Tyrion and I are going to drink a few beers and Oberyn will meet up with us after he's done with work. It's been a while since I've hung out with people, luckily Bronn is with Cersei so I don't have to worry about him.

I show up with two 6-packs, I want to make sure we have enough. I knock and Tyrion answers the door.

"Hey," he says. "Come in, it's been too long since we've really hung out."

"I know," I say, walking in and setting the beer down. "I was expecting we'd have more time now that we're both in college."

"Same," Tyrion says. "I'm glad we have more opportunities without Cersei, I just wish we took advantage of them more."

That makes me pause. It makes me sad that Tyrion felt so alone in life when we were growing up, and I know my relationship with Cersei didn't help the situation.

"Sorry," Tyrion says when he notices my expression. "I didn't mean to bring you down."

"You didn't, it's fine," I say. "Let's game."

We play video games until it starts to get dark, the time really got away from us. After Tyrion kills me in the game again, we finally stop.

"Are you hungry?" He asks me.

"Yeah," I say. "Can we order a pizza?"

"Sure," he says. "Meat lover's okay?"

"Definitely," I say. "You know it."

He calls and orders the pizza and then hangs up. "Do you mind if I smoke?" He asks.

"Not at all," I say. "Can I sit outside with you?"

"Of course."

We walk out to the front porch and sit outside with our beer. "Do you want a joint?" Tyrion asks me.

"Sure," I say. "Why not?"

He rolls me a joint and I light it. "So how did it go with Brienne?" He asks me after we smoke for a bit. "I know she stayed with you recently."

"Yeah, it actually went great," I say. "We finally slept together again."

"You hadn't yet?"

"Not since our fling over the summer," I say. "She wanted to wait until we were a little more established in the relationship."

"And you were fine with that?" Tyrion asks. He genuinely sounds surprised.

"Shut up," I say, smiling. "I'm not an asshole, I can be a gentleman."

"Yeah, right," he says, laughing. "Sure."

"But seriously, things are going well?"

"Yeah," I say. "I just feel bad that I ever hurt her."

"I think she's good for you," he says. "Definitely better than Cersei, and I'd be saying that even if she wasn't related to us."

This whole situation is so twisted, and I recognize that. It just sucks that it's become so normal for us.

"I still wish she wasn't with Bronn," I say. "I know he's not good for her and he got her into drugs."

"Yeah, I really don't like that guy," Tyrion says. "He always gave me a weird vibe."

"I really didn't appreciate that he just blurted out that Cersei and I were together a while back," I say. "He basically pulled that information out of me and I swore him to secrecy."

"He told Jorah," Tyrion says. "Jorah told me."

I sigh. I want to be furious, but I can't even say I'm that surprised. "Makes sense," I say. "I really thought I could trust him."

"I'm surprised you told him at all," he says. "I just figured it out."

"He asked me, and he seemed pretty understanding about it," I say. "It was clearly a mistake."

"It is what it is."

"I just hope I can have a fresh start with Brienne," I say. "I want to put everything behind us and move on."

"What about Cersei?"

"I'm done trying to save her," I say. "I tried for years, she clearly doesn't want mine or anyone else's help."

"That's smart," Tyrion says. "I think that's a very good call."

I'm not surprised that Bronn told Jorah about me and Cersei. It just proves the opinion more that I already had, which is that he was never my friend. I thought I could trust him, that was obviously a mistake. With everything that he's done to Cersei and me, he clearly never had good intentions.

Even though Cersei and I aren't together anymore, I do hope she gets away from him. I don't want to see her with someone damaging to her, even though she's really hurt me and upset me. I hope she sees through him eventually, but I'm not holding my breath for that.