Chapter 27

Jon Snow Stark POV

We're nearing the end of Winter Break, but I still have a couple of days left. I've been trying to spend it with my siblings, especially my younger brothers. I feel bad that I haven't been around as much, but I also feel like it's been good for me.

I played some video games with Bran and Rickon. They'll say they don't care about me, but I know they appreciate having a third player. I won our first game, but I let them win after that. They can't tell, or they just don't care. Dany was watching us play games, but I think she went to go talk to Sansa.

I'm sitting on the couch with them and eating a snack after playing games when my dad walks into the room. "Jon," my dad says. "Can I talk to you for a bit?"

"Sure," I say, not getting up. "What's up?"

"I was hoping we could talk outside," he says. "If that's okay."

"Please," Bran says. "You're blocking our show."

I get up and walk out to the back porch with my dad, he shuts the door behind him and we sit down. "What's going on?" I ask. "Am I in trouble?"

"No, you're not," my dad says. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing better after everything I told you."

"It was hard to process," I say after thinking for a moment. "But I feel better knowing it."

"Do you believe me?"

"I do," I say. "But I do want to ask you something."

"What is it?"

"Do you think I'll ever be able to meet my father?"

He pauses, I can tell he didn't think about that since he always thought I would believe he was my father. "I hope not, since he was abusive," my dad says. "That's why I kept you away from him and took you in, but I can't stop you if you ever decide you want to get in touch with him."

"I'm not sure I will, especially knowing my mother isn't alive," I say. "I always wanted to know her, and I can never know that."

"If you ever want to, I'd love to tell you about her," my dad says. "She was an amazing woman."

"Maybe one day," I say. "When I've had more time." He's already told us about his sister, but I'd love to know more now that I know she's my mom.

"Of course," my dad says. "Did you tell your mom anything?"

"No," I say. "Is that really what you care about?"

"No," he says. "I just wanted to ask."

"I probably won't," I say. "I'm not sure she'd believe me anyway. Are you going to tell her?"

"Maybe when the time is right," he says. "But I'm not sure I see the point now that you know the truth, you have a good life with us and it will just bring up old wounds that she doesn't want to remember."

"She hated me for my entire life," I say. "I think you owe both of us the truth."

He pauses, I guess he didn't think about it that way. He didn't think about the long-term effects of his lie and how I felt like an outsider for my entire life growing up.

"I suppose you're right," he says. "I'll tell her, just give me some time."

I guess I can do that, his answer could've been worse. "Okay," I say. "That's fair."

"I love you, Jon," my dad says. "Everything I've done, I've done to protect you."

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

I do love my dad, but I feel like he tried too hard to do the right thing. That sounds weird, but I've always felt like he wants to be morally good more than he wants to be honest. I hope he does tell my mom the truth about me, she deserves to know and I deserve an apology for how she treated me.

Daenerys Targaryen POV

I came to Jon's house with him, but he's talking to his dad so I'm going to go talk to Sansa. I took a breather outside, but I do want ro spend time with her. I wish we got to hang out more, I really do love and care about her so much.

I walk over to Sansa's room and knock on the door. "Who is it?" She call out.

"It's Dany," I say. "Can I come in?"

"Of course," she says. I open the door and stand in the doorway. "What's up? I thought you'd be hanging out with Jon."

"He's having a talk with your dad, I wanted to give him some privacy," I say. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to get some ice cream or something."

"Sure," I say. "I'm down for that."

We go to an ice cream shop nearby, even though it's chilly outside. It feels good to hang out with Sansa again.

"So how has it been being cheer captain?" I ask her as we're waiting in line.

"It's been fun, but I'm ready to graduate," she says. "I'm nervous for college, but I feel good about it."

"I'm glad you'll be going to our school," I say. "You know you can come over as much as you want."

"You know I will," I say. "But it'll probably annoy Jon."

"He'll live."

We order and I pay. I want to do something nice for Sansa since we don't get to see each other much, so I don't mind paying. We go and sit down after getting our ice cream.

"What are you doing for your birthday?" I ask Sansa. "Isn't it coming up soon?"

"Yeah," she says. "I honestly haven't thought about it, I'll probably just do something with Arya and Myrcella."

"I'm sorry I can't hang out with you," I say. "I miss being able to."

"It's okay," she says. "I just thought I'd have more friends at this point like you did, being cheer captain and all."

"It seems like things have changed a lot since I graduated," I say. "Some probably for the better."

Sansa looks around and leans in to be closer to me. "Do you have any alcohol at home?" She asks.

"What?"

"I want to drink on my 18th birthay, but I know my parents won't let me and Jon would kill me if I asked him."

"Sansa," I say. "I don't know if that's a good idea."

"Why not?"

"You shouldn't be drinking underage," I say. "And I know you'll share with Arya, who's only 15."

"So?" She asks. "I know you weren't completely sober at 15."

I pause because she's right, I did drink at that age. Either way, I'm still not sure I'd be comfortable giving her alcohol.

"You're right," I say. "But I'm still not sure it's a good idea."

"Come on," she says. "We're just going to be hanging out at my house, and Myrcella will probably be there too. It's not like we'll go anywhere."

I think about it. I want her to be safe, and at least I know if I give it to her it'll be the right stuff and she won't be getting it from anyone else.

"Fine," I say. "I have some tequila that I got from Cersei's birthday party, but that's all you're getting."

"Thank you, Dany," she says. "Thank you so much."

"Don't," I say. "I'm only doing it because I know you're responsible, and because I was much worse at your age."

"Promise you won't tell Jon?"

"Only if you promise you won't," I say. "He'll kill me as much as he'll kill you."

"I promise."

We go back to my place and I get the alcohol for Sansa. I don't really feel great about doing this, but I did worse and I want Sansa to have fun. I know she'll be responsible. Drinking on your 18th birthday isn't the worst decision that could be made, she won't do anything too crazy or stupid.

I end up going home after that, Jon decided to stay at his parent's place. I know things seem to be going a little better for him there, and I know it's good for him to try and patch things up. He's always welcome at my place, and I don't mind him staying with his family since we live together and see each orher all the time.

Jaime Lannister POV

I'm staying at Brienne's place tonight. She was kind of upset at me for how drunk I got at my birthday party, so I want to make it up to her by spending the whole night together. We've gone on a couple days since the party, but I can tell she was a little distant so I want to do something romantic.

I went to the store and picked up some stuff to make her dinner on my way over, I haven't cooked for her yet. I go up to her door and knock.

"Hey," she says, opening the door. She sees the bags in my hand. "What's all that?"

"I wanted to make you dinner," I say, walking inside. She shuts the door behind me. "I thought it would be a nice thing to do."

"Aw, that's really sweet," she says. We go into her kitchen and I set the bags down on the counter. "What were you planning on making?"

"I was thinking chicken with parmesan and cheese sauce," I say. "And maybe some garlic bread to go with it."

"You're very sweet," she says. "I'd love that, but I'm happy to help you."

"Sure," I say. "We can do it together."

I start taking the stuff out and she puts the garlic bread on an oven tray. I had to get that frozen, I was in a hurry. Hopefully it'll still be good.

"Listen," I say. "I'm sorry I got so drunk at my birthday party, I know it was a little awkward for you."

"That's not what was awkward," Brienne says. I move out of her way and she puts the garlic bread in the oven. "I didn't like that you were pressuring me to do stuff with you."

"Again, I was drunk," I say. "And I don't know, I felt like I deserved a little something on my birthday."

"Or were you just mad that Cersei was getting laid and you weren't?"

"It's not about that," I say, even though it partially is. "It was my birthday."

"My boundaries don't change based on what day it is," Brienne says. "I thought you could understand that."

I pause as I finish coating the chicken in the sauce. "I do, and I'm sorry," I say. "I get a little horny when I get drunk, but I apologize."

"I can live with you getting drunk, it was your 21st birthday," she says. "I made it clear what the problem was."

I take the garlic bread out of the oven and put the chicken in. "You did, and I'm sorry," I say. "I wanted to do something nice for you tonight to make it up to you."

"I really appreciate that," she says, giving me a hug. "Do you want to watch something while we wait for the food to be ready?"

I nod. "Sure, that would be nice."

We watch some TV until the food is ready, and then we make our plates and sit back on the couch.

"How did it turn out?" I ask as we start to eat. "Be honest with me."

"It's really good," she says. "I mean that. I don't normally eat food this dense, but it doesn't hurt to treat yourself once in a while."

"I didn't bring anything for dessert," I say. "I'm sorry."

"You made dinner," she says. "That's more than enough."

"So we're okay?" I ask after a pause.

"Yeah," she says. "I'm glad you could recognize what upset me and apologize, that's what's important."

"I'm trying," I say. "I just haven't been in a lot of relationships, so I don't really know what I'm doing."

"I haven't been in any," she says. "So I know what I'm doing even less."

I smile at her, I'm glad we could be mature and work it out. It makes me feel a little better that she has even less experience than I do. That may sound bad, but it's nice that we can figure this stuff out together. I like her, and I do want this to work.

I sleep over at her place. We don't have sex, we just make out and cuddle a little. That's fine with me actually, I like hanging out with her and I don't want to upset her again. I'm still not super stoked about waiting, but I can live with it. I feel like she's worth it.

Cersei Lannister POV

Bronn's staying over tonight. It'll be a little awkward with Tyrion still here, but my dad isn't here so he'll mostly just stay out of our way. Jaime's with Brienne, so I don't have to worry about it being awkward with him.

Bronn and I are hanging out in my room drinking beer and listening to music. We went to get food earlier, but we decided to stay in tonight. We debated going out, but I didn't really feel like it for once.

I went out of my room to go get some tequila from the kitchen. I like beer, but I want to take a shot so it'll hit me faster.

"I got it," I say, walking back into my room. "Do you want a shot?"

"I'm good," he says. "Did you have to run into Tyrion?"

"No, he's been locked away in his room," I say, sitting back on my bed with Bronn. "Thank God, I hate him."

"Why?" He asks. "I mean, I know you guys never got along, but it seems way more passionate of a hatred than most siblings."

"He didn't tell you?"

"Not a ton," Bronn says. "Just that you resent him for your mom dying."

"That's pretty much what it is," I say. "Also, he's always been a little shit. He does stuff just to piss me off."

"I think most siblings are like that," he says. "But you've always gotten along with Jaime."

"Yeah," I say after a pause. I hope he's not trying to get me to admit to anything. "We're twins, it's only natural."

"Were you guys always close?"

"Yeah," I say. "Of course."

There's a pause of silence. I can tell Bronn wants to ask the big question. "Look," I say. "I don't know what you've heard about me and Jaime, but there's been a lot of rumors about us over the years and none of them are true."

"Oh, okay," Bronn says. "It's been implied that something else may have been going on with you guys."

"Of course Tyrion said that," I say. "He's always been one of the main ones to spread those rumors, and people believed it because Jaime and I are close. People are gross, and Tyrion is disgusting."

"I believe you, and I didn't want to ask and intrude on your privacy," he says. "But thank you for being honest with me."

I'm not sure he actually believes me, but I just want to change the subject. I don't want this to follow me forever, even though it is true. I don't even think what Jaime and I have done is that weird, it's definitely more common than people think.

"Do you have any Xanax?" I ask after taking a shot. "I could really use some."

"Yeah," Bronn says, walking over to his bag and getting some. "You know I brought some."

"Good," I say. "I just hate that it takes a while to kick in, and it seems like my tolerance is getting higher."

"You could always snort it," Bronn says, getting the pills out and sitting back down next to me. "It'll hit your system faster, and it won't take as much."

"Isn't that worse, though?"

"Not really," he says. "That's mostly a scare tactic, and we can start with a little bit."

"Okay," I say. "I'm fine with that."

He crushes a small amount up and shows me how to do it. I was hoping he would do it with me, but he just swallows a couple pills. It gets him high, but not too out of his mind. That's probably good, I can quickly feel myself getting there so I'm glad he's more sober.

He was right, it does hit you way faster. That combined with what I drank makes me pass out pretty quickly, but I can't say it wasn't fun. I know Jaime and Dany would be livid if they saw or found out about this, but it isn't their business.