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Almost there, you can make it, Snow.
The first day of class for his last year and he’s running late! He blames Grenn and Pyp and their insistence on having celebratory shots to commence their last year as undergrads. Jon should have realized that it’s never just one shot when it comes to those two. He also should have realized that running with a hangover was not a good idea. The last (and most important) thing that he should have realized? That his shoelaces were untied.
The regret of taking all early morning classes for her last year was too real. On the plus side, at least she’s done with school for the rest of the day. Sansa sipped the remains of her coffee as she trudged across campus to the daycare for her shift. This job made having all of her classes so early in the morning worth it though. It was exhausting and a lot of work, but she loved taking care of the children. Working there was honestly her favourite part of the day. The funny part? She found out about the open position because of her ex, whose daughter, Alys, was enrolled there. Sansa and Harry might not have worked out, but she absolutely adored Alys and even got on with Alys’ mother, Cissy.
Busy with her coffee and trying to get in what she likes to call her “teacher mode”, Sansa didn’t notice the man running towards her until he yelped and fell right at her feet.
Her mind went a mile a minute at the sight. Oh my god, is he okay? Wait, was he in one of my classes last year? He looks kind of familiar. Oh fuck, he’s kind of cute. Holy shit, is he bleeding? I should see if he’s okay.
All of those thoughts, and yet the thing that came out of her mouth was, “And this is why we use our walking feet.”
Fucking hell.
The two shared a look and all Sansa could do was cringe at herself because did she just use her “teacher” voice and lecture a random stranger about running on campus? The guy looked as taken aback by her words she felt about saying them. Who the fuck tells grown ass men to use their walking feet? Sansa, what the fuck!?
Instead of calling her a swotty lunatic though, he just nods his head slowly.
“Yeah. Yeah, no you’re right. Er, sorry,” he apologized as he stood up, wincing at the cut on his palm that will surely scab. “Um. My bad, I shouldn’t have been running like that.”
Why is he apologizing for falling? I should be the one to apologize!
But when she opens her mouth, an apology doesn’t come out. “I have cartoon direwolf band aids if you need. They’re pretty neat.”
Pretty neat!?
As mortified as she was, Sansa knew she couldn’t just rescind her offer. So she dug in her bag and pulled out her mini first aid kit. To her relief, he didn’t reject her. Instead, he gave her his hand in a sort of confused manner. Honestly, she was confused about this whole interaction as well. Why couldn’t she just act like a normal person?
After cleaning his wound and putting on the plaster, she gave him a short nod. “Good as new!”
He looked down at the bandaid on his palm. “Cool,” was all he had to say.
Cool?! Is he mocking me? “Well. I -uh- have to get to work now.”
“Right, me too. Uh, I mean class. I have class to get too. Shit! I’m late! Uh, thanks for the bandaid!” With a last wave, he took off.
Sansa chuckled softly as she watched him suddenly slow down and went from running to walking. Oh god, he actually listened to me.
“Wait, so you’re telling me you told the dude to use his walking feet?” Beth giggled. It was currently snack time and Sansa and her coworker took advantage of the kids eating yogurt to catch up.
“Yes,” Sansa groaned. “I’m so embarrassed!”
“Aw, it’s fine, Sansa,” Beth reassured her. “Anyway, didn’t you say he agreed and accepted your bandaid? Sounds like it could have gone a lot worse.”
“Yeah, but he was so cute," Sansa confessed. That only made Beth giggle more.
“Uh, Jon? Why do you have a giant direwolf sticker on your hand?”
“It’s not a sticker, it’s a bandaid!”
“Yeah Grenn, it’s a bandaid!”
“Shut up, Pyp.”
Jon glared at his friends as they laughed at his expense. In all honesty, he’d forgotten the thing was on his hand. He tried to forget the bizarre interaction he had with that pretty redhead this morning. Well, he tried to at least forget what a complete imbecile he was. Apparently, it didn’t matter that he was late and had places to be. Put him in front of a pretty girl and suddenly Jon Snow forgets how to function. He didn’t even remember to ask her for her name!
“Actually,” Tormund said, “That’s actually a pretty cool bandaid!”
Jon smiled. That’s what he said too.
It’s a few weeks later when she sees him again. And she couldn’t help but notice that he’s walking this time. Suddenly feeling the need to take the longer route to the library, Sansa changed course. So what if that happened to put her in the path of Mr. Cute Running Man? Purely a coincidence.
When she caught his eye, Sansa was relieved to see recognition. At least she had that going for her. She returned his smile, but when they got closer, the wave of relief washed away.
“Hey! Walking feet lady!”
Alright. I deserve that.
To the guy’s credit though, he seemed to realize what he said and winced. “No, that came out wrong. Sorry. I just never caught your name.”
“It’s Sansa,” she answered sheepishly. “I am so sorry for that, by the way. I don’t know why I said it. I think it’s because I say that sometimes to the kids I watch at daycare.”
He laughed. “Hey, I mean it was good advice. Haven’t fallen since.”
“Good, that’s good.”
The two of them stood there for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Sorry, er, I’ve got to get to class.”
“Right, no yeah, of course.”
As they both walked their separate ways, something in her made Sansa turn around. “Hey wait! Sorry, I never got your-”
“Jon,” he answered rather quickly to her unfinished question. “Jon Snow.”
“Right.” She smiled at him again. “Well, I’ll see you later, Jon Snow.”
And this time they actually walked away. Unbeknownst to the other, they both snuck glances in alternating turns. Always missing each other’s look by a few seconds.
It’s less than a week before Jon sees her again. It’s late in the evening and she’s sitting in a secluded corner in one of the campus cafés and facing away from him, but he’d recognize that hair anywhere. Taking his chances, he walked up to her.
“Hey walking feet lady.”
She looked up and glared when she realized it was him. And he would have thought she was actually annoyed if she didn’t follow it up with a sheepish smile. “I’m never living that one down, am I?”
“Nope!”
Sansa sighed dramatically and gestured to the open seat at her table, a silent invitation that Jon gladly took. She already had a workbook and her laptop out, so he followed suit.
“So what are you working on?”
“Socio economics. You?”
“Gross. Child Psychology and Development.”
Jon snorted at her remark on his current studies. “I’m sorry?”
“Nah, it’s just that I took a socio economics class last semester and I did not like it.”
“You know what? That’s fair.”
The two fell into a comfortable silence and each did their own work. It was only when one of the baristas did a last call that Jon realized how late it’s become.
“Oh shit, I forgot I promised my mates I’d help them with a project. I should get going.”
He packed his things quicker than Sansa did hers. When he’s done, he looks at her again, unsure of how to say what he wanted to say. Lucky for him, she takes the lead.
“I like to study here on Thursday evenings. Happy hour’s at 5PM and the House coffee is 50% off.” She states it as a fact, but he hears the question behind it.
“I have a sudden urge to come here and study on Thursday evenings as well. Half off coffee at 5, you say? I love a good deal.”
They share a smile before Jon retreats. Not wanting to break eye contact with her, he slowly walked backwards towards the door. It’s only when he bumps into an empty chair and almost falls over does he fumble and is forced to look away. At her giggle, he spins around and wags a finger at her.
“Don’t you dare say anything, I wasn’t running this time!”
Jon left a giggling Sansa in the café.
It’s become part of her schedule now. He’s become part of her schedule. Part of her life. Classes in the early mornings. Work after lunch time. And study dates with Jon on Thursday evenings. Well, not dates dates. More like study sessions. Study meetups. Study get togethers. Study our own thing but still be in proximity of each other. Certainly not dates. At least, not yet?
But she’s resolved herself. Today’s the day. There’s only a month left of the semester and they’re both graduating at the end of the next semester and she knows they’ve only just met this year, but she knows she’ll regret it if she doesn’t ask him out on an actual proper date.
So Sansa’s hyped herself up and she’s ready to ask Jon out, but when he walks through the café door she thinks maybe after the study session. And that makes sense. School comes first. She didn’t chicken out, no sir! She’ll ask him when they’re done.
And that’s what happened. After they’ve both packed up and walked out of the café, she plucked up all her courage and turned to him and asked, “Do you wanna go out this weekend? We can maybe grab a bite or something? Watch a movie?”
“Oh yeah, sure. That sounds good. Anything in mind?”
Despite the answer, Sansa couldn’t help but feel disappointed at the lack of… enthusiasm? Maybe she didn’t make herself clear.
“Not really,” she answered slowly. “But I meant like. As in a date?”
Jon tilted his head and Sansa suddenly had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. But like with the direwolf bandaid incident, she had to doubledown.
“Like, a date. With me. I’m asking if you want to go out with me. Like. Romantically…” She finished weakly.
Suddenly, Jon’s eyes widened. The pit in her stomach got heavier.
“Oh no,” he said.
“Oh no,” she replied.
“Oh no,” he said again.
“Oh no,” she replied again.
“Shit.”
“No, wait I’m sorry-”
“Fuck! Pyp was right.”
“-we can just pretend this never happened-”
“No!”
His loud interruption got her to snap her mouth shut.
But instead of speaking to her, Jon started pacing back and forth with his hands on his hips. A sight in which she normally would have found incredibly amusing if it were any other situation. When he stopped pacing he looked at her and she almost did laugh. By his expression, he was very much chagrined at the whole situation. But that reminder sobered her. Right. Not going on a date with him then. Not ever. Before she could say anything though, he spoke up first.
“Well, I don’t know how to say this, so I’m just going to say it.” He takes a deep breath.
Sansa prepares herself for the final blow.
It never comes.
“So, um. I thought we were already dating?”
“What?”
“What?” He raises his arms in exasperation. At himself or at her, she can’t tell. “Well I mean- Okay, look. In my defense, we talk almost every day! We meet up on study dates once a week! And I know I technically never officially asked you or anything, but neither did you, and- will you stop laughing?!” And despite that last part, Jon was laughing too. “Sansa! We’ve held hands!”
And she’s still laughing. Because all of that is true. They talk every day now, they -apparently- go on weekly dates, and actually, yes, they have held hands. It’s just-
“I thought it was just like. A friendly hand holding!”
He barked a laugh and the look he gave her could only be described as fond. “A friendly- Sansa!”
“What?” she giggled.
“I mean yeah, okay. Friendly hand holding is a thing. But I can assure you, that is not that case with you and me.”
“Really?” She teases him now. And only because she knows it’s safe. “You sure about that?”
Jon gently grabbed her face and pressed his forehead to hers. “Sansa, darling, I would absolutely love to go out on a date with you. Romantically, that is.”
She stifled her laugh. “Cool.”