I groaned, plopping next to Bran with a smile already on my face. "What's wrong, you Grump?" I asked, propping my arms up on my knees as I looked at the boy with a pointed expression. He shrugged and I raised my eyebrows. "You know I'm not letting this go, Brandon Stark, you might as well just give in."

Bran sighed, the ghost of a smile pulling at his lips at my stubbornness. "What's between you and Jojen?"

My eyes found Jojen across the group, sitting next to Meera, and softly smiled out of habit. "We're engaged."

A scowl settled on Bran's face. "Why? You don't love him."

"Since when has that ever mattered?" I asked. Bran shrugged again. "You know, I felt the same way when I heard that I was to marry a boy I'd never met," I admitted. Bran looked at me with a sad expression. "I hated my parents for it. He was my age, though, which is lucky. And I was allowed to write back and forth with him so over the years I got to know him. Really, I just had this friend and then when I turned ten my parents told me I would be marrying him when I was older." My face warmed and I laughed. I looked at my feet but I could still feel Bran's eyes on me. "When I met him I was twelve. Thought he hated me, he was so quiet and distant. He never smiled. But then we had two years to get to know each other in person, meeting once every month. I was lucky. He's a good man and after this, when we get back, we'll be married and I think I will be very happy with him."

The quiet stretched until I looked up at Bran. "Do you love him?"

I smiled. "You've finally asked the right question." My face heated more and I crossed my legs Indian Style. "When he and Meera set off, he told me. The night before he was to leave was the night of our monthly visit and he told me that he was sorry but that he would be leaving for quite a while. He cares about me, and he felt guilty for leaving me. I refused to let him go without me. I told him, I said, 'Jojen,' which you see was rather strange because I'd been calling him 'Lord Reed' to tease him for the longest time. But anyway, I said, 'Jojen, you will either take me with you or I will scream and reveal your plan.' He seemed to like that I refused to stay home like some worrying mouse, waiting for him and never knowing where he was or in what condition or how far he was from me. So I came along."

Bran tilted his head. "But you could have died. Still could."

My smile grew as I looked at Bran, my voice lowering. Osha, nearby, was pretending not to hear but I could see her smile. "I left because I love him, Bran. And I would rather die by his side then stay at home worrying and never knowing without him. I want to protect him as much as Fate will allow." Bran grew very quiet. "What prompted this?" I asked. When the boy didn't respond, I leaned over and nudged him. "You don't like me do you Bran?"

He looked up, the shock and horror in his eyes enough to attest to me that he most definitely did not, even before he spoke. "Oh, no," he shuddered. Osha looked at us, managing an amused smile and as our eyes met, I winked at her. She returned to the rabbit she was skinning, shaking her head at my antics. Bran had blushed and he shoved me, causing me to laugh.

After I regained my balance and sat back up, I inquired, "Then what's on your mind, Bran?"

The boy sighed, long and heavy. "I see the way you look at each other. I haven't seen anything like it, the way you're so openly affectionate and are so obvious with your emotions. I want something like that one day." He chuckled. "Not anytime soon, because there are far more important things. And I suppose I don't know what my future really holds for me, but I would like to think one day someone will look at me like you look at Jojen." He blushed, avoiding my eyes. "I know it's silly to think of now of all times-"

I reached out, resting my hand on his arm. He looked at me and I gave him a tender smile. "Bran, that's not silly at all. Even in the amidst horror and strife, it's important to have something good to hold onto. Especially then, even. There's already so much on your shoulders. The same with Jojen. We're all so young. I wish you two boys would smile more. Be more reckless and loud and dumb like other boys your age." I shook my head. "One day you'll be free of this journey and you'll have someone who cares about you. Who loves you. I have no Green Sight, so you'll have to just trust my womanly intuition."

Bran grew quiet, but this time smiling softly to himself. I moved my hand from his arm to his hair, ruffling it up. He could only keep a glare for a second before I cracked up and he was grinning. The rest of the night was quiet and peaceful. I even got Meera to join in as I got Hodor, Osha, Bran, and Rickon all laughing. I was a pathetic fighter and all I knew about hunting and cooking I'd learned in the short time I'd had with Osha and Meera, but this? Laughter and light? I could add that to the group. I suppose it didn't add much to anything in the long term, but it definitely added something.

-

Jojen didn't speak to me for two days. I noticed immediately with how he wouldn't smile at my jokes or stay next to me for long before he would steam ahead with some lame excuse. Osha mostly brushed it off but after the first day Meera agreed that something was up when he moved away from me after I sat down next to him for dinner.

At the end of the second day, I approached him in private. "Lord Reed," I sighed. He didn't look over. Jojen wasn't one to be angry, but the cold distance he put between us was definitely a sign that something was off. I scooted close to him, smiling softly to try and cheer him up, but he moved away. My smile faltered. In moments of quiet and peace and safety as now, my smile never faltered. My smile had never faltered once until I met Jojen. "If you're going to be sour at me, you could at least explain why instead of acting as a child and ignoring me."

He scoffed so softly it was almost a sigh. "There's nothing wrong. It's just the journey and the cold. I won't be good company. Please, spend time with Osha and Bran. They'll be able to keep that pretty smile on your face."

It was the way he said Bran's name. Something that made me pause and search his face. The way he wouldn't look at me or touch me. It was the close looking that allowed me to catch the split second of emotion when his face twisted when he called my smile pretty. A sadness. A loss. I wasn't sure what he was upset about but it had to do with my happiness and Bran, which made no sense. Wouldn't he be happy that I was being friends with Bran if it made me happy? The last two days Bran and I had been talking a lot more since Jojen had ignored me and I'd been using the reading and joking as a distraction for the pain of being ignored. I moved close to Jojen again, taking his arm so he couldn't move away. He looked at me and our eyes met. "I don't want to go to Bran."

His nose scrunched. Just a bit. I couldn't read the expression in his eyes. "What if I want you to?"

I dropped his arm as if he'd burned me, dettaching from him suddenly. I blinked, my eyes finding the flames of the fire one of the other girls had started. It took me a second, but I managed a, "Then I will do as My Lord wishes." A pause. "Do you wish me to leave you alone, Jojen?" My eyes found him again, being obvious about the hurt I felt. I could never hide my emotions from anyone, least of all him.

A long silence stretched out where he looked between my eyes, searching. "I want you to be happy."

"You make me happy," I whispered.

"Bran could make you happy longer," he said carefully.

My eyes widened. "Jojen are you... jealous?"

It was his turn to widen his eyes. "I was simply thinking out loud. I'm not as good at getting you to smile. Get that wide grin on your face. Bran is better."

My smile was back, amusement and teasing rolling off of me in waves. I didn't move closer, seeing his hands twitching to reach out for me. "Jojen, I promise you, NO ONE makes me happier than you make me." I smiled more softly, tilting my head. "No one will ever be able to. When he didn't respond, I finally moved closer, taking his face between my hands. "Jojen." His eyes met mine. "I'm engaged to you. For all intents and purposes, you are my husband and you have my loyalty."

He sighed, his breath falling against my lips. "What if I don't just want your loyalty?"

My heart stopped in my chest. "You also have my heart. If that helps at all." We both froze and I dropped my hands from his face. He caught me by the waist before I could move away though. His eyes bore into mine, desperately begging for me to say what he knew I wanted to. I smiled weakly. "Oh come on Jojen don't pretend you don't know I love you."

He leaned close and everything went into slow motion, silence dropping and blocking out the outside world. His nose bumped mine and I caught my breath. And then his lips were on mine and I was jumping into action, my hands shooting around the back of his neck to bring him closer. His hands tightened on my waste.

Something wet and cold hit the side of my face and I gasped, parting from Jojen to look over. Bran was beet red, looking the other way and Meera was laughing hysterically, covering her mouth to muffle the noise. Osha, it seemed, so be the one who had thrown the snowball, her eyes wide and face twisted in horror. "You're not alone," she hissed. It was more of 'I don't want to see that' than anything but Jojen and I looked at each other, faces as red as Bran's and matching grins on our faces. I realized she had her other hand over Rickon's eyes when the youngest boy complained loudly.

Hiding my face in Jojen's chest (much to Osha's grunting disapproval), I covered my giggles and red face. His arms wrapped around me and settled back into his spot. We'd been separate from the group, yes, but not nearly enough. I felt terrible for Rickon and Bran mostly. Hodor a little, too. Meera didn't worry me much, she'd always been around Jojen and I and had been there for the many lectures of proper etiquette on how to handle someone of the other sex. Even Osha seemed to be smiling through her feigned disapproval.

But Bran and Rickon. Oh man...

As people began to fall asleep, Jojen and I stayed cuddled up. Jojen had offered the first shift so I was trying to stay up as long as possible with him. "Sleep," he whispered to me.

"I don't want to leave you alone," I mumbled incoherently.

He chuckled. "I'm not alone. You're right by my side. But you need sleep, My Love."

I looked up at him. "You love me too then?"

Jojen rolled his eyes, shaking his head and smiling. "Don't pretend you don't know I'm in love with you." Hearing my own words in his mouth made my body buzz and I lay against him, snuggling tightly into his side. I thought about our future, married and cuddling in our warm bed without people hissing at us. Living together. Seeing him all day like I did now but in the safety of he life awaiting us once we got home. I wondered how many kids we would have and how long he slept in the mornings when there was more time to waste with sleep. Did he sleep as long as possible every night or was it the exhaustion that made him pass out cold every chance he could? What did he like to eat for breakfast? It was a good future, the one in my mind. I could be happy with it.

Too bad it would never happen.