Chapter 24

Daenerys Targaryen POV

Cersei and I are heading back home for winter break today. I'll be riding back with Jon, but it made more sense for Cersei and I to ride home together after we finish up our last work shifts before the holidays.

I stayed at Cersei's place last night, I slept in Jaime's room. We used to be so close that we'd sleep in the same room together always, often in the same bed. Times really have changed. I'm making coffee when Cersei walks out of her room, yawning and stretching.

"Morning," I say. "Are you all packed up?"

"Pretty much," she says, getting a mug from the cabinet. "Just looking around to see if there's anything last-minute I need to bring. Did you make enough for both of us?"

"Yep," I say. "Sure did. How's your piercing holding up?"

I want to say I can't believe she did that, but I can believe it. Nothing she does surprises me anymore, and getting a piercing really isn't that bad in comparison.

"A little sore," she says. "But I'm getting more used to eating and talking with it in."

"You look better with it than I expected," I say. "It kind of suits you."

"Jaime didn't like it," she says. "Neither did Tyrion, but I know he just says shit to piss me off."

"Did Bronn?"

"Of course," she says. "He's the one who got it for me as a birthday present."

I take a sip of my coffee, I'm not sure how to respond to that. I hope he didn't pressure her into doing it, but I don't think she would've put up with that if he tried to.

"Will Jon be staying with you over the break?" Cersei asks me.

"Probably at least a little bit," I say. "I know things are tense with his family, so he'll probably go back and forth."

"Did you ever find out what was going on with him?"

"Not many details," I say. "Just that him and his dad are going through a rough patch."

Cersei just nods, I know she gets family drama. I know I'm lying when I say I don't know many details, but it's not really her business and I don't feel like explaining all the details of the situation. I don't think Jon would appreciate me doing that, either.

…

We finish up our coffee and pack up the car. I'm nervous about being in a car with Cersei for any extended period of time, but at list the trip won't be too long.

"Are you excited for break?" I ask as we start driving away from Cersei's place.

"Yeah, I guess," she says. "I'm honestly more excited about my 21st birthday party, you know I'm going to go crazy."

"Oh, I know," I say. She deserves to on her 21st, I just wish it was more of a special occasion and she didn't go crazy all the time. "Are you excited Bronn will be there?"

"Definitely," she says. "I'm a little nervous for him to meet everyone, though."

"Why?"

"He's so much cooler than our group back home," she says. "He's older, he's mysterious. I just don't want him to think we're lame."

"Why would you be worried about that?" I ask. "We were always the opposite of lame."

"I just like him, and college is different," she says. "Just because we were cool then, doesn't mean people will think we're cool now."

I guess she sort of has a point, but it's stupid that she still worries just as much about being "cool" now as she did when we were younger. I'm not even sure what that means anymore.

"So when is Bronn coming to town?" I ask. "I'm surprised he didn't ride back with us."

"He's going to see his family for a bit while they do an early Christmas thing," she says. "We have a long break, so it made sense."

"You didn't want to go do that with him?"

"I feel like it's a little too soon for me to meet his family," Cersei says. "I doubt he'll even meet father since he'll most likely be out of town or with his colleagues for most of the break."

"I guess," I say. "I'm glad things are going well with him."

"Are you?" She asks. "I know you don't approve of him, you've made that clear."

"I really mean that, Cersei," I say. "I was scared he'd hurt you or put you in dangerous situations. It seems like he's not."

"He's a good guy," she says. "Just because he makes good money from something illegal doesn't mean he's a bad person."

"I've never said that," I say. "I just worry about you."

"Yeah, too much."

"I know you'd do it for me," I say. "And you know you would too."

"I'm not your mother," she says. "I would just give you my input."

"Is that not what I'm doing?"

"Whatever," she says. "I love you, but it's a little much sometimes."

"I love you too."

I still don't approve of Bronn, but I can recognize that I've been a little hard on Cersei. I'd still argue she deserved it, but maybe if I pretend I'm more supportive she'll feel less inclined to rebel. Sometimes I feel like she does things just because she knows people don't want her to.

At least when Bronn comes to town, I can see how he acts around her friends. If he's a dick or disrespectful, I'll take him down. I just hope he doesn't let her go crazy with the drugs because it's her birthday. I can't see her birthday party ending well, especially since she sees it as an excuse to go wilder than normal.

Sansa Stark POV

Dany invited me to Cersei and Jaime's birthday party over the break, and Margaery and I are going shopping for outfits and a couple of gifts for them. She knows them better than I do, we might just get something from the both of us.

I normally wouldn't be too excited to go to their party, but hanging out with high school people should be fun. I also haven't partied much this year with how busy I've been with cheer, so it'll be nice to get out of the house.

"What are you thinking of wearing to the party?" Margaery asks me as we're walking through the mall.

"I don't know," I say. "I'm not sure if Ramsay will be there, so I kinda don't want to wear anything that would get his attention."

"Just come get me if he talks to you," she says. "I'll punch that motherfucker in the face if he bothers you again."

I laugh at that. "Thank you."

I find a red skirt that looks cute. It's knee-length and has a bow on top.

"What do you think of this?" I ask, showing it to Margaery. "It's not too short, and I have a black shirt I can wear it with."

"It's cute," Margaery says. "Very Christmas-y."

"You think I should try it on?"

"Sure," she says. "Honestly you'd look good in anything, you know that."

I don't know that, but it means a lot that she said it. I still feel insecure about my body sometimes, and I have to distract myself when I start picking myself apart in the mirror. I don't want to relapse, I really don't want to go back to treatment. I'm doing better than I was, but I still have to keep an eye on it.

"I'm thinking this green dress," Margaery says, pulling out a dark green dress with a halter top. "I think it would fit the theme."

"I do too," I say. "Green really is your color."

She smiles at me. "I do want to look good," she says. "I always want to impress people I haven't seen in a while, they need to know that I'm still hot."

I laugh at that. "Are you hoping to see Gendry there?" I ask her.

Margaery shrugs. "I don't know," she says. "I don't think it'll work out between us this time."

"Did something happen last time you guys met up?"

"Nothing bad," she says. "It was just a little awkward and it didn't feel the same. I think we were just a little tipsy when we got to talking at the other party and had loosened up."

"Makes sense," I say. "I'm sorry, I know you wanted it to work out this time."

I want Margaery to know I'm sympathetic, but I don't want to sound super sympathetic because of Arya. It's a tough situation for me to be stuck in the middle of.

"It is what it is," Margaery says, shrugging. "It just wasn't meant to be."

We try on our clothes, and I decide to go with the red skirt. Margaery buys the green dress, it really does look good on her.

"I'm hungry," Margaery says when we're done checking out. "Do you want to eat something?"

"Sure," I say. "But not food court food, that honestly sounds disgusting. Not much is good here."

"You're honestly right," she says. "Why don't we drop our stuff off at your place and decide where to eat?"

"That sounds good."

We go to my place, and Arya is reading on her bed when we walk in. God, I hope this isn't too awkward.

"What did you guys get?" Arya asks when we walk in.

"I got a skirt, Margaery got a dress," I say, pulling my skirt out of the bag and showing it to her. "What do you think?"

"It's cute," Arya says. "Great for the holidays."

"That's what I said," Margaery says. Arya doesn't respond, and Margaery turns to me. "Where do you want to go eat?"

"I'm kind of feeling a salad right now," I say, going into my closet and hanging my skirt up. "What do you think?"

"That sounds good," Margaery says. She turns to Arya. "Do you want to come with us?"

Arya looks up from her book. "Really?" She asks.

"Yeah, why not?" Margaery asks. "It's on me."

There's a pause, I think Arya assumes that there has to be a catch. Honestly, I do too.

"Okay," she says, closing her book and getting up out of bed. "Thanks."

We head out the door. I'm so nervous, I really hope Margaery isn't passive-aggressive and rude. I'm honestly surprised Arya said yes to her offer. I can't imagine this being anything other than awkward.

Arya Stark POV

I don't know why Margaery invited me to come out with them, this has been about as awkward as I expected.

"Are you coming to the Lannister's birthday party?" Margaery asks me as we're walking into the food place we drove to.

"No," I say. "I didn't know I was invited."

"Anywhere I'm invited to, you can also go," Sansa says. "You know that."

We get in line to order food. "I don't think it's for me," I say. "I never really got along great with them or even knew them well in general."

"That's what I figured," Sansa says. "That's why I didn't tell you."

"It's okay," I say. "I really don't care that much."

We order our food and sit down. "How's cosmetology school?" Sansa asks Margaery.

"It's good," she responds. "I'm finally getting to work on more models."

"Can I come in and be a model for you?" Sansa asks.

"Of course, I'm surprised you haven't already," Margaery says. "Come in anytime and I'll do your makeup."

"I've just been so busy, but I want to," Sansa says. "I'll make time to do it soon, I promise."

"Good."

There's a pause as our food comes and we all start eating.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom," Sansa says. "I'll be right back." She gets up, leaving me alone with Margaery. I hate this.

"Arya," Margaery says to me after Sansa walks away. I'm scared. "I invited you to come eat with us because I was hoping we could be friends."

I pause, I didn't expect her to say that. "Really?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says. "Gendry and I met up a few weeks ago, we reconnected at a Thanksgiving break party."

"You did?" I ask. "Are you guys back together?"

"No," she says. "I thought maybe we could be, but I don't think we're right for each other."

"So… why are you telling me this?"

"I just wanted you to know," she says. "I don't want you to hate me, and I didn't want you to here it from someone else."

"Thank you," I say. "I appreciate that."

"I know we may never be super close," she says. "But I want to at least be able to get rid of some of the awkwardness we have. Sansa means a lot to me, and I know you guys are really close."

"That's a nice sentiment," I say. "I'm sure Sansa would appreciate that."

I'm not going to tell her that Sansa already told me that she and Gendry were talking at that party. I'm sure she figures that it got back to me somehow, she can't be so naive to think that I didn't already know that. I'm not sure why she's being so nice to me, it always feel really fake when she does that.

…

Margaery drops us off at home, and Sansa is on her phone while I'm reading on my bed later in the night. "Sansa?" I ask her.

"Yeah?" She responds, not looking up.

"While you were in the bathroom, Margaery said she wanted to be my friend," I say. "Do you think she meant that?"

Sansa looks at me. "Do you want my honest answer?" She asks. I nod. "I don't think she did, I think she just wants to be petty since it didn't work out between her and Gendry a second time."

"That's what I figured," I say. "Why are you friends with her?"

"She isn't all bad," Sansa says, shrugging and going back to her phone. "She was one of the first popular girls to be nice to me, that meant a lot. I just think she has a lot to work on."

"She just seems like a typical snobby rich girl," I say. "I know she's your friend, but she's always given me a weird vibe."

"I get that," she says. "You guys probably wouldn't vibe as friends anyway, just don't let her get to you too much."

"I don't really want to be her friend," I say. "It just really confused me why she said that to me in the first place. I thought you'd be able to answer since you know her better than me."

"She's petty, that's for sure," Sansa says. "It doesn't surprise me that she said that to you."

"I just already felt insecure and jealous of her, which I hate," I say. "I always felt like she was prettier and girlier than me when Gendry and I were dating."

"I don't know if this will make you feel better," she says. "But the way he acted with Marge was nothing compared to how he acted with you. He was so in love with you, he just kind of liked her."

In a way that makes me feel worse, because it makes it hurt more that we can't be together. At least if Margaery was better for him he could just go back to her and be happier.

"Thanks," I say anyway. "I appreciate you answering honestly."

"Of course," Sansa says. "I always will, you know that."

I smile at her. She really is a great sister to me, even though we're honestly polar opposites. I am trying to not let Margaery get to me, and at least I know now that we can be civil towards each other. I know I'll have to see her here and there because she's friends with Sansa, at least Sansa isn't oblivious to her true motives.

Gendry's the one I would have a harder time being around, I know I'll probably have to see him again at some point. I don't know how I'm going to handle it when that happens. I do still love him and wish we could be together. I was willing to keep trying to make it work, it seems like he wasn't.