Chapter 22

Sansa Stark POV

I'm at home when I get a call from Myrcella. We're back at school, but we only have a couple weeks left before winter break starts and we're just preparing for finals right now.

"Hello?" I ask when I answer the phone.

"Hey," she says, sounding very serious. "Do you want to come over?"

"Sure," I say. "Is everything okay?"

"I just need to talk to someone," she says. "Can you meet me at my place?"

"Sure," I say. "You're kinda scaring me."

"I'm really okay," she says. "I just wanted to invite you over because Gendry has some weed, if you're down for that." That surprises me, she's never really been into that.

"Yeah," I say. "I'll be over soon."

She hangs up suddenly. I get up and put my shoes on, I hope she's okay. I know it was probably a stressful holiday if she had to see her family, and having to prepare for finals right after probably didn't help.

I head over and go up to the apartment. "Hey," she says when she opens the door. "Come in."

"Are you sure everything's okay?" I ask her.

"I guess," she says. "I just really need to chill out, Thanksgiving break was so stressful for me."

"Yeah, I can tell," I say. "You never really have been into smoking weed."

"Gendry bought some for him and Podrick, and I decided to try it," she says. "It was fine, but it made me hungry."

"Yeah, it doesn't do that for me," I say as Myrcella gets some of the weed from her and Podrick's room and we head out back to smoke it. "It just makes me tired."

"That's why I used to be so against trying it," she says. "I didn't want to get the munchies."

We sit on the back porch and she starts attempting to roll a joint, but I can tell she's struggling. "You need help?" I ask.

"I just have never done this by myself," she says. "Do you know how?"

"Not really," I say. "But I can try."

I'm able to roll a couple loosely, but it's not great. We're still able to smoke a little bit. "So how was Thanksgiving?"

"Not great," she says, coughing. "I hate my family."

"Why did you even go see them?"

"Shireen wanted to go, and I didn't want her there without me," Myrcella says. "I don't know why she wanted to go, she has a way bigger heart than I do."

"Was everyone nice to you?"

"They couldn't be too bad because my uncle Stannis was there," she says. "Joffrey was giving me the death stare, though. And he did comment on how much I ate and said i was getting chunkier."

"God, what a fuckhead," I say. Myrcella laughs at that. "I hate him so much."

"Me too," Myrcella says. "I've given up hope that he can change, especially with Tommen following after him and my dad enabling that behavior."

"He said the same stuff to me when we were dating," I say. "I just thought he didn't realize the impact, but he clearly knew what he was doing."

"He knew, he always knew."

There's a pause. "Is your dad mad at you for moving out?" I ask.

"Mad? No, I don't think so," she says. "I think he's ambivalent because he values his sons more."

"That sucks," I say. "I'm really sorry, I wish there was more I could do to help."

"Don't," she says. "You're an amazing friend to me."

I smile and we hug. I hope I'm a good friend, I try to be. I feel bad that I didn't listen to her and still dated Joffrey, I know I should've and it just made her feel like her feelings weren't valid once again. I'm really glad she has Podrick, he clearly loves her so much.

Her family is awful, it really sucks that they're treating her this way. I hope she and Shireen both never have to go back there, and I would cut off all contact with my father if I were here. I know that's easier said than done when it's your family, though.

Arya Stark POV

Sansa gets home right before 10 p.m, which is later than she usually does. I figured she would be at cheer practice, but that never runs this late. She has to be home by 10:30 on school nights, so at least I didn't have to cover for her.

"Hey," I say when she walks into our room. "Where were you?"

"I was with Myrcella," Sansa says while putting her bag into our closet. "She's having a hard time right now."

"Oh, why?"

"Just family stuff," Sansa says, sitting on her bed. "She saw them for Thanksgiving and it was really tense, which is what she expected."

"So why was it so bad?"

"She just hates being around them in general," Sansa says. "She wants to be there to protect Shireen."

"That makes sense, it's very sweet," I say. "Would you do that for me?"

"Of course," she says. "I'd do anything for you."

I smile and we look at each other, I notice she looks a little different. "Why are your eyes bloodshot?" I ask her.

"Oh, we smoked a little weed," she says quietly. "Gendry bought some recently. I'm really not that high, though. I barely smoked any."

"Oh, was he there?"

"No, it was just me and Myrcella," Sansa says. "I would tell you if he was, or if he said anything about you."

"Oh no worries, I was just curious," I say. "I'm starting to think I don't really want to know."

"Why?"

"I don't know," I say. "I think it might be time for me to move on."

"That's not a bad idea," she says. "You mean date someone else, or just try not to think about him much?"

"Try not to think about him," I say. "I'm not really ready to date again. If I did, I'd probably want to date a girl."

"Oh, that would be cool," Sansa says. "It wouldn't hurt to try that out."

"You think?"

"Yeah," she says. "You might have to tell mom and dad then, though."

"I wouldn't mind that," I say. "I don't think they'd have a problem with it, do you?"

"No, I just wasn't sure if you were ready to tell them."

"I would be if I was dating a girl," I say. "I'll worry about that if I meet someone."

"Good call," Sansa says. "I'm glad you're thinking about seeing other people again."

"Me too," I say. "I loved Gendry, but I think it's time to move on."

I really mean that. I can't date Gendry now, and I have no idea where we'll both be in 2 or 3 years when I can. I'm definitely down to date a girl if I meet one, I want to know what that's like. I'd be nervous to come out to my family, but I know I'd have their support. It would just be something for them to get used to.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

Cersei and I are working tonight, even though we just got back from Thanksgiving break. The holiday season is crazy for restaurants, this evening has been a nightmare. I've been running all over the place my entire shift and I haven't gotten a break yet.

"Cersei," I say, walking up to her. "Can you please help me wipe down a couple tables? I'm losing my mind here."

"Yeah, whatever," she says, putting her phone back in her pocket. "Relax."

"How are you so relaxed?" I ask her. "It's a damn madhouse in here."

"I had a shot a few minutes ago," Cersei says, grabbing a bus tub. "I needed it dealing with your high anxiety."

"Cersei!" I say. "You know you'll get fired if the manager sees you doing that."

"Well good thing they won't then I guess," she says, clearing off a table. "What's it to you?"

"Don't expect me to cover for you if you get caught," I say. "I'm letting you know that right now."

"I never asked you to cover for me," she says, turning to me. "You ever think maybe it isn't all about you?"

She walks away before I can respond. I'm not delusional, I know she would want me to cover for her or at least help her if she got in trouble. I'm surprised she hasn't gotten fired already, she barely does any work. I know she doesn't care about this job, but I do and I'm not going to lose it because of her.

Cersei Lannister POV

It feels kind of good to be back from break, even though I immediately had to work the day after we got back. I'm smoking a cigarette outside after work and waiting for Bronn, we're supposed to go out tonight.

He pulls into the parking lot and waves at me, I walk over to his car and get into the passenger seat. "Hey babe," he says, giving me a kiss. "How was work?"

"It was okay," I say. "Really busy, and Dany got pissed at me like always."

"I'm sorry," Bronn says. "Do you want to do something?"

"I'm not really hungry," I say. There's a pause as we just sit in his car. "Oh, I meant to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Do you want to come to my place for Christmas?" I ask. "I get if it's too soon, but I'm having a birthday party and you could meet some of my friends back home."

"What are you planning on doing for your birthday?"

"We'll probably combine it with a Christmas party," I say. "That's what we usually do, but we're turning 21 so it's going to be a rager."

"And 'we' is you and Jaime?"

"Yeah," I say after a pause. "We've always thrown joint birthday parties, it would be weird to stop now."

"That makes sense," Bronn says. "Honestly I'd love to come."

"Really? Are you sure?"

"Yeah," he says. "I don't really love hanging out with my family, and I can always see them before or after your stuff."

"Okay, that would be great," I say. "I'm not sure what I want for my birthday, though. I've wanted to get a tongue piercing for a while."

"Really?" Bronn asks. "Why don't we do that now?"

"Seriously?" I ask.

"Why not?" He responds. "I'll buy it, it could be my early birthday present to you."

"Wow," I say. I think for a minute. "Sure, let's do it."

He drives me to a piercing place that takes walk-ins, I can't believe I'm doing this. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Bronn asks me when we pull into the parking lot."

"Yea, I'm sure," I say. "But this just means I can't suck your dick for a while."

Bronn chuckles at that. "I'll survive."

We go in and I walk up to the front counter. I show my ID and wait in the waiting room while looking at all the different piercings in the window.

"What do you think you want to get?" Bronn asks me.

"I don't know," I say. "I like this gold one with the red gemstone, those are my favorite colors."

"Then get that one," he says. "It would look good on you."

"Thanks."

They call my name and I pick out the red and gold piercing. We go into the back and they let Bronn come back there, which is nice. The piercing surprisingly doesn't take that long, and it's just a sharp and sudden pain before feeling sore. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

We check out and they give me instructions on how to keep it clean. We walk out and get back into Bronn's car. "How you doing?" He asks me.

"Great, actually," I say. "That wasn't so bad."

"You made a noise when they first did it," he says. "But it didn't hurt much?"

"It hurt," I say. "But it wasn't like, unbearable."

"Can I take a picture of you?" He asks. I nod and stick my tongue out, he takes a picture on his phone. "Happy birthday."

"Thanks babe."

This was fun, it felt good to make a spontaneous decision. I'm actually excited for my birthday, even though Brienne will be there. At least Bronn will be there too and we can make Jaime jealous. I don't care what my family or Dany thinks about me getting a piercing, it's not my fault they never do anything fun.