Chapter 10
Jon Snow Stark POV
Dany and I are going on a real date for the first time in a while, we've both just been so busy with school and starting our jobs. I miss spending more time with her.
"How is working with Cersei?" I ask her as we're getting into the car. "Has she embarassed you too much yet?"
"Not too much," Dany says, laughing. "She flirts with the head bartender sometimes, but it's nothing too crazy."
"She's probably hoping he'll give her free drinks," I say. "Even though she's only 20."
"At least she's not drinking on the job," Dany says. "That's what I was really afraid of."
"I know," I say. "I just hope she doesn't ever get worse, but I'm not super confident."
"Me neither," she says. "I know her pretty well, I know how she is. She can't keep up a professional facade for too long."
We go to a knew food truck nearby to get some ice cream, I know we've both been wanting to try it out because they have some unique flavors. We order and then sit town at a table, the weather is finally cooling down a little so it's not incredibly miserable outside.
"Cersei went on a date with Bronn," Dany says as we're eating ice cream. "I guess she likes him now."
"How do you feel about that?"
"It's not really my concern," she says. "But I don't think it'll end well."
"I don't want to judge," I say. "But you're probably right, they're both a mess."
"Yeah," Dany says. "I'm just nervous about the incoming trainwreck."
"Do you want to try to talk her out of dating Bronn?" I ask.
"It wouldn't work, even if I did try," she responds. "She can't be convinced of anthing."
"You know she's not your responsibility, right?"
"I just don't think I'll ever really be able to let go of the feeling that I should stick by her," Dany says. "I know a lot of people wouldn't have, but I feel like I owe it to her."
"I know you do," I say. "But if she can't be helped, you don't deserve that stress."
"So how are things going with your dad?" She asks after a pause. I can tell she wants to change the subject. "Have you talked to him lately?"
"Not since the last time," I say. "I'm just nervous to see him over Thanksgiving break, I don't know what he's going to tell me about my mom."
"Isn't this what you've been wanting to know your whole life?"
"Yeah," I respond. "But now that it's coming closer, I don't know how to handle it. I guess I never thought I'd actually find out the truth."
"Well you still have a couple months before that happens," Dany responds. "And you know I'm here for you, right?"
"Of course," I say, grabbing her hand from across the table. "It'll also be right around my birthday, so that's something else."
"You can stay with me if it's more information that's too shocking," she says. "I'm here to support you."
"Thank you," I say. "I'm here to support you with Cersei, or anything else."
"I know."
"I love you," I say. "So much."
"I love you more."
"Not possible."
I've always loved how supportive Dany is of the people she loves. I know she's held onto her friendship with Cersei for longer than she should have, but it's just because her heart is so big. She really isn't willing to give up on people easily, and that's one of my favorite qualities about her.
Arya Stark POV
My parents told me they wanted to have a talk with me about Gendry after my fencing practice. I'm nervous, but at least I know I can find a way to keep seeing him regardless. I hate that they're just now starting to think of him as a bad influence because of the smoking. If they were going to think that at all, his age should've been what did it.
I'm waiting outside after my fencing practice when my mom pulls up. "Hey," she says when I get into the car. "Did you have a good practice?"
"I guess," I say. "Can we get this over with?"
"What?"
"You wanted to have a talk with me about Gendry," I say. "Can we just rip the band-aid off? You guys have taken long enough."
"Arya, please be polite," my mom says as she starts driving. "We will when we get home, your dad wants to be involved in it."
Of course he does. This really shouldn't have to be this serious. We get home and my dad is on the couch. My mom sits next to him and I sit in the chair across from them.
"Okay," I say, sitting down. "Let's get this over with."
"Arya, you need to be polite," my dad says. "I don't know what's gotten into you lately, but you can't talk to us like this. This isn't how we raised you."
They barely raised me at all, Jon and Robb mostly did. "Fine," I say. "What do you want to talk about?"
"How long have you been smoking?" My dad asks.
"I told you," I respond. "I only smoked that one time, I just wanted to try it."
"We just thought Gendry would look out for you more," my mom says. "We didn't even know he smoked and that you were around that."
I'm not sure since when they've been worried about this so much. They've never paid enough attention to notice what we were doing, but it has been a little more intense since Sansa went to treatment.
"He didn't want me to try it," I say. "He tried to discourage me." That's not a lie, they just don't know that I was 13 the first time I tried smoking cigarettes.
"He shouldn't have let you at all," my mom says. "They're his cigarettes, he paid for them."
"What's the point of all this?" I ask. "Are you just going to insult Gendry, or am I punished further?"
There's a long pause, I can tell they're nervous to get to the point. "We don't think you should be seeing Gendry anymore," my dad says. "At least not for a couple years."
I'm shocked. I thought they might go back to strict supervision rules or I'd be grounded for longer and that would be the extent of it.
"Why?"
"He's too old for you, we've always thought that," my dad says. "It seems like he's not a great influence on you."
"This is ridiculous," I say. "He's really sweet to me. I— I really like him." I can't tell them I love him, I can barely say that to him.
"This is what we've decided," my dad says. "It's nothing against him, he's just too old right now."
My eyes start to tear up and I run to my room, slamming the door. I sit on my bed and dial Gendry's number as I start crying.
"Hello?" He says. He hears me sniffling. "Is everything okay, Ary?"
"My parents said I can't see you anymore," I say. "They don't like that you smoke, and they think you're too old."
There's a pause. "It's a little late for them to be complaining about the age difference," he says. "Did they find out that we've done… other stuff?"
"No," I say. "I think they would've called the police if they knew that."
"So what do you want to do?" He asks me after a pause.
"I still want to see you," I say. "I really do love you, and I think we can make it work."
"I love you too," he says. "We can do that, but I don't want to get you in more trouble."
"It's worth it, you're worth it," I say. "We've snuck around before, we can go back to doing that."
There's a pause, I can tell he feels uneasy about it. "Okay," he says. "I'll talk to you later. I love you, Ary."
"I love you too, Gendry. Bye."
We hang up and I just keep crying on my bed. I hate that this is happening, especially since we just got Jon to somewhat approve and not hate Gendry's guts. I know we can get past this, we've done it before. It just won't be easy.
Sansa Stark POV
I'm dropping off some stuff to Myrcella on my way home from cheer, she needed some pads and didn't have a way to get them because Podrick is at work. I feel bad for her, and I'm willing to help in any way that I can.
I pull up and walk up to the apartment, Myrcella opens the door after I knock on it. "Thank you so much," she says as I hand her the pads. "Do you want to come in?"
"I have a decent amount of homework, so I should go," I say. "But I did want to ask how you were doing."
"I'm better now that I'm here," she says. "But I'm sorry I asked for this. I didn't mean to cause you any trouble."
"You didn't," I say. "I really don't mind helping in any way that I can."
"Thank you," Myrcella says. "I really can't thank you enough."
"It's really nothing," I say. "Are things still okay with Podrick?"
"Yeah," she says. "I'm depressed about my family, which obviously makes him upset. Our relationship is still good, though."
"I'm glad to hear that," I say. "I'm still sorry this happened the way it did."
"Me too," she says. "I wish my family cared about me."
"I think they do, deep down."
"It doesn't seem like it," she says. "They really have a funny way of showing it."
"Do you have any update on Shireen?" I ask. "How is she?"
"She cries whenever I leave to come back here," Myrcella says. "It breaks my heart, I feel like a terrible person for leaving her."
"You're not," I say. "You need to look out for your wellbeing before anything else."
"You sound like Podrick."
"Maybe he knows what he's talking about," I say, chuckling. "Anyway, I should get going. Have a good night."
"You too."
I'm glad I could help Myrcella, she deserves to be happy. Podrick is probably the best thing that's ever happened to her, I can tell he really loves her so much. They deserve each other, they're a really healthy couple from what I've seen.
When I get home, I walk into my room and see Arya on her bed. I can tell she's upset and she's been crying. "Hey," I say. "Are you okay?"
"Not really," she says. "Mom and dad had their talk with me about Gendry."
I put my bag down and sit on my bed. "How did that go?" I ask.
"They said they didn't want me seeing him anymore," she says. "He's too old for me, and a bad influence apparently."
"Arya," I say, moving over to her bed and sitting next to her. "I'm so sorry. They really said you can't see him at all?"
"Yeah," she says, nodding. "They think he's a bad influence since he gave me cigarettes."
"I'm so sorry," I say. "Do they know you guys slept together?"
"No," she says. "It would've been much more dramatic if they knew that."
"Yeah, I bet," I say. "Are you still going to sneak around and see him?"
"That's the plan," Arya responds. "We've already talked about it."
I pause. I want her to stay with Gendry, but I'm nervous about how that will go.
"You know it'll be really bad if you go behind their back like that and they find out, right?"
"Yeah, I know," she says. "But he's worth it."
"Okay," I say. "If you truly believe that and are willing to risk it."
"I do," she says. "I'm not going to let them control me."
"Okay," I say. "I support you, you know that right?"
"I know," she says. "Thank you Sansa."
I do worry about Arya, but she seems set in her decision. There's no point in trying to convince her to do something else, nor would I really even want to. I know she and Gendry love each other, I just hope they can get through this without one of them getting killed.
Cersei Lannister POV
I'm meeting Bronn again today because I don't care what Jaime thinks. He can't control what I do, no matter how hard he tries. We're meeting to get tacos at one of the campus food buildings. I'm excited to see him, I'm excited about about where this could go.
I walk in and Bronn is sitting down with his food. "Hey," I say, sitting across from him. "You really couldn't wait for me? I wasn't that late."
"Sorry," he says. "I thought they'd be slower with bringing my food out."
"I'll go order," I say. "I'll be right back."
I order my food and sit back down. I don't expect Bronn to pay every time we go on a date, especially since we're both in college. His family isn't rich like mine.
"How are you?" He asks me. "Have you worked at all since we last went out?"
"Yeah, I've had two more shifts since then," I say. "It's fine, I guess. I'm not super excited to be working."
"I get that," he says. "Just do what I do, it's much easier money." I know he's referring to his drug hustle, but I just laugh.
"Jaime would kill me if I did that," I say. "Plus, it's way too dangerous for someone like me."
"I'd protect you."
…
We finish eating and then head back to his apartment so he can drop off his laptop. He moved out of his old dorm, but he and Jorah still live together in a campus apartment.
"Is Jorah here?" I ask him as we go into his room.
"No," Bronn says. "He had to go to a study group."
There's a pause as I look around his room. It's cleaner than I expected, not like a typical nasty college guy's room.
"Do you want to go do something else?" Bronn asks me.
"What if we stayed here?" I ask, walking closer to him.
"And do what?" He asks, smirking at me.
We start kissing and then lay down on the bed. It's not long before our clothes are off. I'm honestly surprised it took this long for us to sleep together, I know he's wanted me for a long time.
After we finish and we're laying in bed together, I feel like there's something I should tell him. "Jaime knows about us," I say to him. "I was basically forced to admit it."
"You didn't want him to find out?"
"He's just really protective of me," I say. "And he doesn't really approve of you. I knew he'd be mad, and I was right."
"Why were you forced to tell him?"
"Jorah told him we went on one date," I say. "And he came home and interrogated me."
"What did you say we were?" Bronn asks me.
"I said I was seeing you, and I wanted to see where it went," I say. "Should I have said something else?"
"I mean," he says, sounding nervous. "You could say we were dating."
"I wasn't sure if we were labelling it," I say. "We hadn't had that talk yet."
"It doesn't have to be anything serious," he says. "But I'd like to keep going out with you."
"Then we're dating," I say, kissing him. "Don't expect me to be all romantic now, though."
"It would be weird if you were," he says. "That's not really my style."
We hang out and watch a movie before I leave. Luckily Jaime isn't home when I get there. I hear him come home and go straight to his room later in the night, he never comes into my room and I don't go in there. It feels weird for us to have this dynamic, but maybe we could use a break.
I wish we weren't on bad terms, but I don't think there was any winning in this situation. I refuse to feel guilty about seeing Bronn, and he has no right to make me feel that way. I'm also still mad at him about Brienne, even though I act like I'm not. Maybe taking some time apart is good for us.