Chapter Text
“Lyanna! Tell me you’re dressed, Theon will be here any minute,” Jon shouted from the kitchen as he put the tray of lasagna in the oven.
Out of the corner of his vision, he saw his little sister come out of her bedroom on her phone.
“Yes, I’m ready, but honestly I don’t get why I had to change, it’s not like I’m going anywhere,” Lyanna huffed without looking up from her phone.
Jon set the timer on the oven for 45 minutes and walked towards the front door of their apartment to put on his shoes. He was actually having a night out to himself for the first time in 3 months, at the behest of his best friend whom had been bothering him every weekend to come out to the bar with her. Jon had finally relented after the hundredth text and phone call from her.
Jon finished tying his laces and walked over to his sister, now on the couch, and ruffled her hair to get her attention away from that bloody phone, “well I appreciate you putting on pants, I’ll consider that a win,” Jon laughed at the dirty look Lyanna threw his way.
“We’ve talked about this, pants are overrated. Don’t deny it Snow, you agree with me, I can see it on your face,” Lyanna argued.
Jon grimaced, “You spend too much time with Theon, I think I’m going to have to find you a new babysitter.”
“I’m 13, I don’t need a babysitter anymore, exactly what kind of trouble do you think I’ll get into dear brother?” Lyanna batted her lashes innocently, giving her brother the wide doe eyes, which he would admit, tend to make him soft.
“I’m not answering that…and you know I feel more comfortable if there’s someone here with you. Plus, I thought you liked hanging out with Theon,” Jon asked just as he heard said man knock on the front door.
He hurried to answer it before Ghost started barking and upset the neighbors again.
“Hey man.”
“Jonathon, always good to see you mate, where’s Baby Snow?” Theon pushed past Jon, not waiting for the man to “fake” being annoyed at the use of his full name. Theon noticed the mop of dark hair hanging over the edge of the couch and leapt over the side, surprising Lyanna.
“Jesus, why don’t you give me a heart attack, you sure I shouldn’t be babysitting YOU?” Lyanna shouted while still trying to catch her breath.
“Oh what, don’t want me to see who you’re texting Baby Snow? Got a secret admirer I need to grill?” Theon exaggeratingly leaned over Lyanna’s shoulder to get a better look at her phone, “Andrew? Who the fuck is Andrew!” Theon yelled towards Jon, while Lyanna punched his shoulder.
“It’s 2020 asshole, girls can be friends with guys and don’t need to be interrogated by you or any other man in my life for that matter!” Lyanna fumed.
“Language!” Jon shouted from the kitchen, checking on the lasagna in the oven, “I’m heading out, hopefully the two of you can keep from murdering each other for a few hours. Theon, dinner is in the oven for you both, should be ready in about 30 minutes. If you smell smoke, you’ve left it in too long,” Jon exhaled as he walked back into the living room and kissed his sister on the forehead.
“I love you, be good for Theon. Theon…make sure she eats something and doesn’t just sit on her phone all night.”
“No worries Jonathon, Baby Snow and I will make sure to watch violent movies and play video games for the rest of the evening,” Theon winked at Lyanna who threw him back a small smile.
Jon just shook his head and made his way out the front door, earning one last, “Don’t I get a kiss goodbye!” from Theon.
Jon walked into the dimly lit pub a few blocks down from where his and Lyanna’s apartment was and quickly looked around to see it was only half full. The person he was looking for sat at the bar already drinking a beer almost half the size she was. Jon sat on the bar stool next to her and ordered a beer.
“Hey, I was getting worried you backed out on me, thought I was gonna have to call Lyanna to kick your ass out of the house,” the young woman smiled softly towards her best friend.
“Nice to see you too Arya,” Jon chuckled and took a swill of beer.
“Little do you know this is part of my master plan to make you have a life again and spend time with people your own age. I love Lyanna, but being trapped in a tiny apartment with a 13-year-old all day sounds like hell.”
Jon smirked sadly, but quickly pulled his face back into strong stoicism that he knew Arya could see right through, “you know she needs me right now. She’s still getting adjusted to the new school and trying to make friends. I still wonder if it was the right call to move back up North,” Jon swiped a hand through his long curls, chastising himself for not bringing a hair tie.
Arya looked at her best friend with soft eyes, wishing he wasn’t so hard on himself, “Jon, you did the best you could with an all-around shitty situation. Cut yourself some slack. You went from being a brother to being a parent in the blink of an eye. Nothing prepares you for that and as your best friend, I feel the need to tell you you’re doing a brilliant job.”
“Arya…”
“No Jon! You need to hear this! You took care of all your mother’s affairs by yourself, managed to move you and Lya up here because you wanted her to have a support network around her, found a place for you all to live, and her a new school…without anyone’s help. I don’t know of any other 26-year-old who is capable of that type of responsibility. I mean shit, look at Robb and Theon,” Jon laughed alongside Arya as he held the bottle of beer in his hand, watching as the condensation dripped down.
“Thanks, hon…I just worry about Lyanna. She’s always been quiet, even before mom died. I fear she hasn’t really processed everything, I know I haven’t.”
Arya turned back towards her beer, “well she’s got you and the entire Stark family to support her. Plus, you know I’m always around if she ever needs anything she might not want to go to you for.”
Jon couldn’t help but wrap his arm around his best friend’s shoulders and plant a kiss on her temple. He had known Arya’s brother Robb since high school. Robb’s father and Jon’s mother had been childhood friends and reconnected around the time Jon started high school. Jon met Arya through Robb and naturally, him and Arya clicked as soon as they were introduced. Jon didn’t want to admit it to Robb, but leaving Arya when he went off to college was more devastating than leaving Robb. When Jon and Lyanna’s mother was diagnosed with cancer last year, the entire Stark family stepped in to help. Lyanna thought of Ned and Catelyn Stark as grandparents, and even stayed with them for a month after their mother passed away so Jon could get things together in order for them to move back North. After Jon saw the support the Stark’s gave to him and Lyanna throughout the entire affair, he knew it would be in Lyanna’s best interest to move them closer to them where she would have that continued support. Jon wasn’t keen to admit it, but he enjoyed having them around too.
“Speaking of the Stark family. Mom wanted me to invite you and Lyanna over for brunch tomorrow. She keeps asking why she hasn’t seen you both in a while. I told her you’ve been trying to get Lyanna adjusted to the transition and settled in but she really wants to see you guys,” Arya said.
“Who all is going to be there?” Jon asked as he sipped his beer.
“You mean, is Sansa going to be there?” Arya grinned cunningly, raising an eyebrow.
Jon flinched at the mention of his teen crush. He had never spoken to Sansa much when he was younger. Jon’s family didn’t live close to the Starks so he always had to make an effort to see Robb and Arya, meaning he never got to spend much time around Sansa. He had only talked to her in passing, then she went off to college in the South. All Jon remembered was being very attracted to her and Robb teasing him endlessly about it. Evidently, Robb had mentioned it at some point to Arya.
“Arya…” Jon groaned.
“Yes Jon, my hot sister whom you had a crush on will be there in all her red-haired glory for you to woo,” Arya giggled.
“Ugh, god, I’m going to kill Robb,” Jon said as he rested his hand on his cheek, trying to will away the blush that had been there since the mention of Arya’s sister.
Arya couldn’t seem to stop laughing…Jon eventually joined in.
Jon was glad he didn’t drive to the pub as he was definitely borderline drunk. Arya had insisted they do whiskey shots. Jon hadn’t drunk like that since college and as small as Arya was, she was not in any way, a light weight. He hoped the cold walk back to his apartment would sober him up or at the very least, Lyanna would be asleep before he got in so as not to see what a bad example her brother was setting for her.
Jon walked up the steps to his apartment door and unlocked it as quietly as his alcohol laced brain would allow him. Ghost stood up from where he was lying in the living room and walked sleepily over to Jon.
“Hey boy,” Jon bent down and gave Ghost’s head a rub before wandering towards the living room to see Theon watching television quietly with Lyanna asleep against his shoulder. Theon lifted his gaze when he saw Jon by the couch.
“Baby Snow passed out while watching Return of the King, would honestly be mad at her for her treachery if she wasn’t so cute,” Theon muttered quietly, as to not wake Lyanna.
“How was she?” Jon asked as he sat down on the couch next to his little sister.
“All is quiet on the home front Jonathon. We ate dinner and played video games for a while, then I started asking questions about this Andrew fella and she quickly stated she wanted to watch Lord of the Rings. I’ll get the scoop out of her one of these days.”
Jon chuckled, “Andrew is her best friend from school back home, he was devastated when we moved and they’ve been talking every day since we left.”
“Sounds like more than friendship to me Jon,” Theon teased, enjoying the death glare Jon shot his way.
“I better get her to bed so you can head home,” Jon stood and picked Lyanna up, carrying her to her bedroom. Jon laid her gently on her bed and tucked her in.
“Thanks for hanging out with her tonight Theon, Arya was right, I really did need a night out to myself.”
“No problem, she’s way more fun to hang out with than you anyway,” Theon tormented as he bid Jon goodnight and excused himself from the Snow household.
Jon sat on the couch, much too wired to try and fall asleep. He thought about seeing Sansa tomorrow and wondered how much she would look like she did from his memories. Jon sighed and rested his head on the back of his couch and closed his eyes.