Chapter 9

Sansa Stark POV

I'm hanging out with Myrcella after cheer today, I know she's been going through a lot. We usually eat lunch together, but I've noticed her eating with me less and less. I asked her if I did something, but she said she's just been needing to clear her head. She also doesn't want to see Joffrey, even at school.

I'm waiting outside for Myrcella when Joffrey walks up to me. Ugh, I really don't want to talk to him. "Hey Sansa," he says. "You okay?"

I'm confused, I'm not sure why he's coming up to me and acting friendly. "I'm fine," I say in a not-so-friendly way. "Just waiting for Myrcella." Shit, maybe I shouldn't have let him know that.

"Oh," he says. "Did you hear our dad let her move in with Podrick?"

"Yeah," I say. "I heard something about that, she was surprised he let her."

"I was too," he says. "It was probably an excuse to get her out of the house."

"Maybe," I say. "Not sure why it matters to you." I really don't want him to think I'm being friendly because I'm not outwardly telling him to go away.

"Listen," he says. "I'm sorry for what happened between us last year." I pause, I didn't expect him to say that.

"It's okay," I say. "Really, I've moved on from all that."

"And by the way," he continues. "Whatever Myrcella is saying about me, take it with a grain of salt. Don't believe everything you hear."

"Noted."

I'm avoiding eye contact with him. I believe everything Myrcella says about him. She wouldn't lie, and we both know how he is. I just don't want to start anything with him. Myrcella finally walks out, and Joffrey immediately starts walking away.

"Hey," Myrcella says, walking up to me. "What was Joffrey talking to you about?" I can tell she's nervous about what the conversation was.

"He apologized to me for what happened between us last year," I say. "I said it was fine, I really didn't want to talk to him or get into it."

"He hasn't talked to you much since you broke up," Myrcella says. "He's probably just trying to get on your good side after what's been going on with us."

"Yeah probably," I say. "You ready?"

"Yeah, let's go."

We walk to my car and get in. "Joffrey also said to take what you say about him with a grain of salt," I say, starting the car. "Implying that you may not be telling the full truth about it."

"Figures," she says. "He's been trying to convince my dad of the same thing."

"For what it's worth," I say. "I don't believe a word Joffrey says, about you or anything else."

"Thank you," Myrcella says. "It's good to know I have people who believe me."

We start driving to go get food. I feel bad that she's going through this, but I'm glad I'm not blinded by my crush on Joffrey anymore and I can be there for her.

"How are things with Podrick?" I ask. "Is it going okay living with him."

"It's definitely better than where I was," she says. "We've had a couple fights, but nothing serious. We just aren't used to living together like adults."

"Is he wanting you to pay rent?"

"We talked about it," she responds. "He and Gendry are doing okay with rent since they both have jobs, so he doesn't need me to. I told him I'd probably get a job next summer."

"I can't believe your dad let you live with Podrick," I say. "My parents would never let me live with a guy while still in high school."

"I was shocked he said yes, too," she says. "I think he really just didn't care if I was in the house or not."

"That's really sad," I say. "He should be standing up for his daughters."

"I agree."

There's a long pause. "How is Shireen?" I ask eventually. "Is she still having to deal with Joffrey's bullshit?"

"Yeah," Myrcella says. "I'm there most days for a little bit so I can see her, but I know she misses me. She cries every time I leave."

"I'm so sorry," I say. "That must break your heart."

"It really does," she responds. "I hope she can find a better situation at some point."

This really sucks for Myrcella because it's really a no-win situation. I wish I could help her more, but Podrick is such a better boyfriend than most girls our age would have. I hope one day I can find a guy like him who will protect me at any cost. He's truly a rare breed, and she deserves love like that.

Arya Stark POV

Gendry is picking me up after tech today. I told him some stuff was going on with my parents, but I haven't told him I'm grounded. We probably won't even be able to go to the creek for a smoke, I don't want to come home smelling like cigarettes. I get into his car after I see him pull up.

"Hey," I say, getting into the passenger's seat and giving him a kiss. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you too," he says. "How come we haven't seen each other as much lately?"

"A lot's been going on with me," I say. "I've been wanting to tell you about it, but it's just been so annoying."

We get to the creek area in the woods and sit down at our usual place. "So what's been going on?" Gendry asks me as he lights up a cigarette.

"My parents figured out that I've been smoking," I say. "I smelled like cigarettes when I got home from seeing you last time."

"I'm sorry, Arry," he says. "Were they mad?"

"Yeah," I say. "I'm grounded, and they said they want to have a 'serious talk' with me about you and I's relationship."

"Do you think they'll let us see each other again?" Gendry asks me.

"I don't know," I respond. "But either way, I'll find a way to see you."

"I feel so bad," he says. "So I guess they think you're at tech right now?"

"Yeah," I say. "They obviously don't know I'm out here with you."

"I hate that I'm getting you in trouble," he says. "This is what I was worried about."

"What do you mean?"

"Well I figured no one would approve of our relationship, especially Jon and your parents," he says. "I knew we'd have to face some obstacles, I just didn't think there would be this many."

"It's been harder than I imagined, too," I say. "But being with you is worth it."

"I agree," he says, kissing me. "I love you."

"I love you too."

We end up having sex in the woods like old times, it honestly feels kind of nostalgic. Gendry was hesitant to do it, he didn't want my parents to somehow find out and me get into even more trouble. I'm glad we did, though. I needed to forget about everything.

When I get home, my mom is cooking dinner. "Arya," she calls out. "Can you come in here?"

Shit, I hope I'm not in trouble. "Yeah?" I say, walking into the kitchen.

"How was tech?"

"It was good," I say. "I got a ride home from my friend HP."

"Okay," my mom says, sounding not very convinced. "Your dad and I are going to have a talk about Gendry this weekend, I appreciate you not seeing him in the mean time."

"It's not like I had a choice," I say. She gives me a look. "I'm not smoking anymore, mom. I only did it a couple times."

"Well we still need to have a talk," she says. "We're starting to think he's a bad influence."

"He's really not, mom. I promise, I just made a mistake."

"I hope that's true," she says. "But the age difference is something we probably should never have condoned."

"Bran has a girlfriend," I say. "You don't care about that."

I know he didn't want me to tell my parents that they were dating, but I'm not sure it matters since they know I smoked. Them finding out about that was the only thing keeping me from telling on Bran. Plus, I'm pretty sure they already know. He isn't as slick as he thinks he is.

"Bran and Meera are the same age," she says. "They grew up together with Jojen, we've known them for years. Plus, they're the same age."

"I still think it's unfair," I say. "You've always treated the boys differently than me and Sansa."

"Arya," she says. "I'm not going to argue about this, you know it's not the same."

"Whatever," I say. "I have homework I need to do."

"Okay," my mom says. "Be down for dinner in 45 minutes."

I go upstairs and shut the door. Sansa isn't home, I think she's out with Myrcella. My mom might be upset that she won't be home for dinner, but maybe not. I feel like she's preoccupied with being mad at me. I'm tired of this control, I can't wait to be an adult and call the shots myself.

Jaime Lannister POV

I'm not sure if Cersei is doing okay, she's being a little weird. Not like before, it was more obvious then. I don't think she's drinking a lot anymore because I'd be able to tell, but I'm worried it's something else that she doesn't want to tell me.

I always thought we shared everything, but now I'm starting to believe I don't know her like I thought I did. Maybe we're just growing in different directions, which is honestly never something I imagined would happen with us.

I'm hanging out with Jorah after my class, Bronn is in one of his classes so he's busy. "So how's it going?" Jorah asks me as we're walking around campus. We're headed to the student center to get something to eat.

"It's been going okay," I say. "Cersei started a new job, so I think that'll be good for her."

"Oh, at the restaurant right?"

"Yeah," I say. "How did you know?"

"I'm pretty sure Bronn mentioned it," he says. "He said she and Dany both work their now."

"Oh, okay," I say. "That's weird, why would Bronn know? I didn't think he talked to either of them that much, especially Dany."

There's a long pause as we sit at a table after walking into the student center. "Wait," Jorah says. "You didn't hear?"

"Hear what?"

"Cersei and Bronn went out," he says. "They went on their first date on Sunday."

I take a pause. I'm shocked, especially since Cersei said she had dinner with Dany on Sunday. I can't be that surprised that she lied, she's obviously done worse. I just feel like an idiot for not seeing through her.

"No, I didn't hear that," I say. "Cersei told me she was with Dany on Sunday."

"God, I'm sorry dude," Jorah says. "I thought you knew, I really shouldn't have said anything."

"No, I'm glad you did," I say. "I'm more just upset that Cersei didn't tell me and that she lied to me."

"Yeah, I don't blame you," he responds. "Maybe she just didn't mention it because she didn't want to tell you if it wasn't something serious."

"I don't think that's it," I say. "I think she knew it would upset me and she didn't want to deal with that."

"That's probably it," he says. "She probably didn't want to make you mad. I don't want to assume, you know her better than I do."

I think she wanted to have her cake and eat it too, meaning she wanted to have both me and him. He knows about me and her, and he has a lot of nerve trying to get with her after everything that happened with the drug stuff.

I get back to the apartment, and Cersei is already there sitting on the couch. Part of me wants to go into my room and not deal with any of this, but I think it's better if I just confront her. We're going to have to talk about it eventually, she can't expect to keep this from me forever.

"Hey," she says when she sees me. "How was your class."

"It was fine," I say. "I want to talk to you, though."

"Okay," she says quietly. "About what?"

"Why didn't you tell me you went out with Bronn?" I just spit it out. I'm afraid if I don't, I'll never get the guts to confront her.

"Wha—" she starts stuttering. "I don't understand."

"Me neither," I say. "Why did you tell me you were with Dany?"

"How do you even know about that?"

"Jorah told me," I say. "He thought I already knew."

"What do you want me to say?" She asks. "I didn't know how to tell you just yet, and I needed a little bit more time."

"I don't appreciate you lying to me," I say. "You shouldn't have told me you were with Dany when you weren't."

"Jaime, I really don't want to hear it," she says. "You were with another girl over the summer, and you were secretive about it. You straight-up fucked her, and I can't even meet up with a guy?"

"You were so mad at me when I said I was seeing Brienne," I say. "I don't want to hear it."

I walk towards my room and am about to go in when Cersei speaks up again.

"I don't think you have any right to be upset with me," she says. "Especially not after what you did, it was just dinner."

I'm so mad that she's holding this over my head. "I can't talk about this right now," I say. "Just leave me alone."

I walk into my room and shut the door behind me. I'm really upset with her, even though I know I couldn't have stopped her from doing what she wanted. I just hate this double standard she has, she's been with way more guys than I have girls. I'm tired of this back and forth with her, I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it.