Chapter 39

Daenerys Targaryen POV

I'm telling Jon what Cersei told me today, he was staying at his parents' house last night. I think his dad really wanted him there, he had been staying with me for most of the break. I don't mind at all, but it's probably good that he spent at least a little time with his family. It's been hard for him lately, but I know his dad's a good man.

It's Friday, we're leaving to go back to school on Sunday. I asked Jon if I could come over to his parents' place today so we could talk, and he said sure. I don't think he sensed anything was wrong, but I'm really scared. I know he isn't going to react well to the truth, and I don't want him to do something stupid.

I pull up, and Jon is already sitting outside. I get out of the car and walk up to him. "Hey," I say, hugging him. "How was the wedding?"

"It was nice," he says. "Sam and Gilly are so happy, and they deserve to be."

"How was Ygritte?"

"She was fine," he says, shrugging. "Happy for them too."

There's a pause. "Can we go to the backyard?" I ask.

"Is everything okay?" He asks.

"Everything's fine with us," I say. "But I need to talk to you. I just don't want anyone eavesdropping."

"Okay," he says. "That's fine."

We walk into the backyard and sit in the grass next to each other. "I saw Cersei yesterday," I say. "It was the first time seeing her since she left the hospital."

"How is she?"

"She's okay," I say. "She and Bronn broke up."

"Oh," he says. "Maybe that's for the best."

"I think it is," I say. "She seemed fine with it, they were never meant to be serious."

He nods and there's a pause of silence. "So what did you want to talk to me about?" He finally asks.

I'm so nervous, I grab his hand and take a deep breath. "Do you remember the first football game of your junior year?" I ask.

He thinks for a bit. "I do," he says. "That was when Bran got a concussion."

"Did he ever tell you how that happened?"

"No," Jon says, looking confused. "I guess he never explicitly told me, I assumed he fell."

"When Cersei and I met up, she told me how it actually happened," I say. "I feel like I should tell you."

"What do you mean?" He says. "How would she know?"

I'm shaking. "Cersei told me that she and Jaime were in the treehouse hooking up that night," I say. "Apparently Bran went up there and saw them, and Jaime pushed him out."

There's a pause that feels like it takes an eternity. I can tell Jon is just trying to comprehend what he's heard. I just worry that somehow he'll be mad at me for this, even though that's crazy because I had no idea.

"He told you this?" He finally asks.

"Cersei told me," I say. "Apparently Jaime told Brienne because he felt bad, and he was going to tell me but Cersei said she would."

"How do you know she's telling the truth?"

"I guess I don't," I say. "But I'm eventually going to talk to Jaime. I really thought you'd be more angry."

"I'm trying not to start throwing and hitting things," he says. His voice is shaking. "I'm so fucking angry, Dany."

I can tell the reality is hitting him, and he's getting angrier. "I am too," I say. "I literally don't think I can be their friend anymore."

"You better not," he says. "I can't believe I slept in this person's house, and I had no idea what he was capable of."

"I hear you," I say. "I feel the same way."

"I have to go," he says, getting up. "I'll try to be back soon."

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to kick Jaime's ass," he says. I get up and follow him out of the backyard. "Is he home?"

"I don't know," I say. "Jon please, calm down. Think about this."

"I'm going," he says, going to his car. "You can't stop me."

I catch up to him and stop him. "Can I at least come with you?" I say. "That way you won't do anything stupid."

He pauses and looks at me. "Okay," he says. "Let's go then."

We get in the car and start driving there. I'm glad I convinced him to let me come with him. He's right, I can't stop him from going over there. I'm just hoping my presence will help him not do anything crazy. At least I can stop that from happening.

I knew he'd be angry, but I didn't think he'd actually go there immediately to confront him. Maybe this isn't so bad, maybe I can talk to Jaime today and get it out of the way. I hope he's home, this will be the last time I ever speak to Jaime Lannister.

Jon Snow Stark POV

Dany and I get in the car, and I drive us to Jaime and Cersei's place. I'm seeing red, I can't believe this.

"Jon, I'm scared," Dany says. "I can tell you're really upset, maybe we should wait until you've calmed down a little."

"I need to talk to him," I say. "He really impacted Bran, and I don't think he even realizes it."

"How did it impact him?"

"He rarely went on adventures after that happened, and he at least took Rickon with him," I say. "He made off-hand comments about sex once in a while, which I didn't put together until now."

"What kinds of things did he say?" She asks me.

"One time he said he'd seen people do it," I say. "That's the only thing I can remember, but I thought maybe he walked in on mom and dad. I know me and Robb have."

Dany just nods. "I'm sorry," she says, tearing up. "I never meant for this to happen."

"I know, I'm not mad at you," I say. "Just mad that this happened, and that I didn't know until now."

"I would've told you if I even thought something was amiss," she says. "I hope you know that."

"I do," I say. "I know you didn't know this at all."

"I didn't," she says. "They're basically my brother and sister, I thought I knew them better than anyone else."

I feel for her, I really do. That's similar to how I feel about my dad now. He isn't an evil person like Cersei and Jaime are, but I just thought I knew him. He wasn't the person I thought raised me, that's been really hard for me. It feels like I don't know anyone anymore.

We pull up to Cersei and Jaime's place, and I pause. I didn't plan out what I was actually going to do when I got here. "I'll go knock on the door," Dany says, starting to get out of the car.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she says. "He'll be suspicious if you just show up."

"Okay," I say. "I'll wait here."

I see her go up to the door and knock. Jaime eventually answers, and I see her talking to him before they both look at me. Jaime looks scared, and I get out of the car.

"Jon," Jaime says as I'm walking towards him. "Jon, wait a second."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" I ask. Before I know it, I push him. Dany immediately moves me away from him and Jaime steps backwards.

"Hey!" Dany says. "Jon, calm down. This is exactly why I wanted to come with you."

I take a deep breath. "Sorry," I say. "Can you leave Jaime and I to talk?"

"Okay, I'll wait in the car," she says. "But if it gets physical, I'm jumping in again."

"Okay, that's fair," she walks to the car and gets in. I look at Jaime. "Is it true, what Dany told me?"

"Yes," he says. "I pushed Bran because he saw me and Cersei hooking up."

"Why would you do that?"

"I wanted him to keep it a secret," he says. "I thought it would teach him a lesson to keep quiet and to not be so nosy in the future."

"Why would you think that's your job?" I ask. "I'm sure he was traumatized enough seeing that."

"I was a kid," he says. "I was narcissistic, I thought if anyone did find out that we could cover it up?"

"Because you're a Lannister?"

"Yeah," he says. "My father had gotten us out of speeding tickets, he even kept Cersei from getting suspended because of who he was. I guess all that went to my head."

"But you still hurt him," I say. "Whether or not you got in trouble, it still could've done permanent damage to him."

"I wasn't thinking about that," he says. "I was more worried about myself, and I thought I was invincible."

I shake my head and pause. "So why the change of heart?" I know I heard some of the reasoning, but I want to hear it from him.

"Brienne was more compassionate towards me than I deserve," he says. "I don't want to lose her, she makes me a better person."

"I just can't believe I slept in your house, went camping with you, and spent all this time with you and I had no idea," I say. "I knew you were spoiled and rich, but I never imagined you were this disgusting."

"Trust me," he says. "I feel terrible."

"Good," I say. "Don't go back inside yet, Dany may want to talk to you."

"Yeah, I figured," Jaime says. I walk away and get into the car.

"Are you done?" Dany asks me.

"Yeah," I say. "I'll tell you what he said later, but it isn't anything groundbreaking."

"Okay," she says. "I want to talk to him."

"Good luck," I say. "I'll be here."

She kisses me on the cheek and walks out of the car. It feels good to have this confrontation and get answers to why things happened the way they did. I'm glad she's willing to cut them off finally, I can't imagine knowing she's with them considering what they're capable of. I would be scared for her. Dany's an amazing person, and she deserves better.

Jaime Lannister POV

Jon gets in the car so that Dany can talk to me. I knew this was going to happen, but I wish I had been more prepared or received some sort of warning. Dany gets out of the car as Jon gets in, and just looks at me for a second. I don't know what she's thinking, but I imagine she's probably still in shock.

"Why did you do it?" She asks me.

"I wanted him to keep quiet," I say. "I thought maybe if he got hurt, it would teach him to not be so nosy."

"What would you have done if he really got hurt?"

"I don't know," he says. "I didn't think that far ahead, we just left right after."

"Oh, you didn't keep going?" Dany asks. "How noble of you."

I roll my eyes, I'm not that sick. There's no way I could've kept going after that, it definitely killed the mood.

"Of course not," I say. "I'm not that soulless."

"You could've fooled me," she says. "I always thought you were decent, Jaime."

"I thought I was too," I say. "I get it if you hate me, but I can promise you I hate me more."

"So what?" She asks. "Were you just never going to tell me after I started dating Jon?"

"We were never going to tell anyone at all," I say. "It was too dark, and I wanted to forget I did it."

"I hope you know this is the last time I'll ever talk to you," she says. "If I can help it that is, I'm sure Cersei will call me soon."

"She probably will," I say. "She might twist the narrative and try to get you to forgive her."

"I know she will," Dany says. "And I won't."

"That's valid," I say. "Take care of yourself, Dany."

"I hope you heal, I really do," she says. "Bye Jaime."

I watch Dany get into the car, and she and Jon drive off. I can see Dany wiping her eyes and starting to cry, it breaks my heart. I walk inside and go up to my room to call Brienne.

"Hello?" She says when she answers.

"Hey babe," I say. "Jon and Dany just left."

"Really?" She says. "You didn't mention they were coming over."

"They literally drove up with no warning," I say. "I had no idea they were coming."

"Oh," she says. "How did it go?"

"Jon pushed me," I say. "But Dany broke us apart. I know he would've beat me up if she wasn't here."

"What was he saying?"

"He said he couldn't believe he'd hung out with us and slept in our house without knowing what we did," I say. "He said I was disgusting, and then he waited in the car while Dany talked to me."

"What did she say?"

"Dany said she was done with me and Cersei," I say. "She said she never wanted to speak to either of us again."

"Is Cersei there?"

"No, she's out," I say. "I'm not sure what she's doing, but she's not here. I'm dreading her getting back and having to tell her what happened."

"Do you want to come here?" She asks. "I know you don't have much longer before you have to go back to campus."

I pause and think about it. I know I should talk to Cersei, but I really don't want to see her. "Yeah," I say. "I'd like that."

"Okay," she says. "Let me know when you're on your way."

"You really still want to be with me?"

"I do," she says after a pause. "You made some really bad mistakes, but I can respect you for trying to make it right."

"That means a lot to me," I say. "I'll see you soon."

I hang up and get ready to go. I can't believe Brienne is standing by me, but it means a lot. I'm glad we're back together. I left her for Cersei once, and I don't want to do that again. I can't imagine Cersei and I being able to go back to normal, even if we wanted to. I think that stopped being an option a long time ago.

I understand why Dany wants to cut us off now, but I do worry about how Cersei will handle that. I know she's not being her best self right now, but I do still care about her on a human leven. I would feel guilty if anything were to happen to her, and I feel bad leaving her alone. I know it's not good for me to see her tonight, though. I'll have to deal with her handling of this later.