“I'm sorry you and Aemond had a fight”, Cregan whispered against your temple, as you and him watched Aemond get into the Land Rover from a hallway of the second floor of his castle.  They were going to take him back into Winterfell and then the airport.

“I'm his best friend, he's just afraid of losing me”, you whispered, your eyes never leaving his lithe form, “he'll get over it”, you said, faking a smile to Cregan. “It’s just, a bit much, in so little time, us meeting and getting engaged, then marrying two weeks later, me moving here…”

“Aye”, he said with an understanding that it was bigger than you deserved.

But you felt as if your heart left when Aemond did. 

How could you let him kiss you? Where did that come from?

You were equally guilty, you reciprocated the kiss with the same energy. You already knew, it had always been there hiding just beneath the surface, hiding from him. 

But it was too late now

Yes you might not know Cregan much, but the connection you had with him was like something magical, you really wanted to be with him, you were getting married tomorrow! the decision had been made

“Aegon, what the hell are you doing here?”, asked Cersei as he let the blonde enter the room, “I thought Aemond left”

“Well, he did”, he said, “he left dramatically and hastily, and in that haste, he forgot about me, so…I will be the new maid of honor”, he said simply, rolling up his sleeves, “Walda, darling, let’s get you inside that dress”

The three girls just exchange concerned looks. 

Aegon took place behind Walda, and he grabbed both ends of the back of the dress.

“Alright! let’s do this!”, he said cheerfully

“Can you just suck it? Suck it”

“Okay, okay. I am!”

“Suck it in! Breathe in…! More…!”

“Pull it! You can get into it!”

“Pull it! I'll pull it tighter!”

“I'll hold…! you zip it together!”, demanded Cersei

“Come on! One,..! two…! Three!”

“Oh, my God, it fits!”

“It fits!”, chanted Baela with a wide smile

“Oh, it fits! It fits!”, chanted Walda

“Up top!”, Aegon high-fived the girls excitedly, and then, the girls invited him to get dressed… in a kilt on a pale violet pattern, the colors of the bridesmaids, and he did so without complaint.

Then they went to see you, the hairdresser was putting the final flowers on your hair arrangement, and you smiled nervously through the mirror to your friends

“You look beautiful”, said Cersei. Aegon nodded enthusiastically, but he could see the nervousness in your smile

“Why are we stopping?”, asked Aemond to the driver, as the car was stopping in the middle of nowhere

“Surry ‘bout that, unruly flock”, he said calmly, Aemond looked forwards and he found a herd of sheep blocking the road

First it had been a flat tire, now this, he was going to miss his flight.

He was going to miss his flight, the next one was tomorrow, so he was gonna have to stay in Winterfell till then… meanwhile you were getting married, and then the party, and then the wedding night and then…

He was going to lose you forever

And while he stared down the road, at those sheeps, he cursed under his breath

“I’m insane”, he muttered, “I have to stop it”, he thought of you, of your beautiful face, he thought about how you kissed him back, you wanted to be with him, as much as he wanted to be with you, he just needed to prove it, to prove how you could take this leap for him, with him, and he was going to be there for you, because he wanted to marry you.

He loved you

More than anything in the whole damn world

And he was not going to lose you, not without fighting till the end, he was going to look you in the eye and ask you, he knew you better than anyone, he was going to be able to tell if you meant it, and if you really wanted to marry that guy, he was going to leave you alone

But he needed to know first. 

“Turn around”, he said to the driver

“Whot?”

“I have to go back!”, he said quickly, “I have to!”, the man looked at him quizzically through the mirror, but he shrugged and turned the car around. Aemond let out a breath of relief. 

He checked his watch, and by now… you should be on your way, crossing the lake to the church right now.

“Take me to the crossing!”, he commanded, and Theon seemed to be on a mission, as he stepped on the gas.

Your feet already hurt from walking through all the ancient passages and rock hallways, but here you were, in the small chamber, at the church where Cregan’s parents and grandparents had married. And now you.

“Let's just pin these nice pressed pleats”, murmured Gilliane as she fixed the sash around you, “And it goes across the dress, it looks really beautiful. It's our tartan”, she said proudly, and then she left you alone after a last squeeze in your arm.

And when you looked in the mirror

You saw everyone, but you.

You had agreed to make concessions, Cregan’s family was millenary and they had traditions and you were willing to accept and embrace them, but you never guessed that by the end, there was going to be nothing of you. You didn’t like the hair, you didn't like the dress, you didn’t like the long dramatic veil they put on you.

You flinched when you heard your mother call your name, you were so enthralled by looking at the mirror you didn't even see her come in, you turned nervously, as you were fidgeting with your fingers

“You don’t want to do this”, she accused, in her severe, but somewhat gentle tone

“I do”, you said back, defensively

“Then you shouldn’t feel as nervous as you are right now”, she said with certainty

“I just…”, you murmured, “I don’t know”

“When I married you father… you know… we took months to prepare the wedding, we had everything, the food, the catering, the drinks for the party, the procession, freaking doves to be released, flowers, music, all of it, after months of carefully planning every detail… you know what happened?”, you shook your head, she only chuckled, “all the doves got released the day before, we were completely ripped off and someone stole all the boxes with the wine bottles. When I was dressed and ready to go, I got caught up, and a single thread undid all the embroidery in my carefully made dress…”, you gasped, but smiled nonetheless, “the flowers were sent to the wrong address, we barely had forks and spoons… everything that could go went terribly wrong”, she said. “And you know what? when I appeared at the end of that hallway… and I saw your father, waiting for me, I couldn’t have been more calm, even if I took a hundred valiums”

“Really?”, you asked her, she nodded

“How are you feeling, love?”, she asked gently

“I adore Cregan, he is a great man, and any woman would be lucky to have, he is perfect… so perfect…”

“But is he perfect for you?”, she asked. 

Was it horrible to think that… the first thought that came to your mind when your mother asked you that was… Cregan was perfect in every sense of the world, he was devastatingly handsome, in a Northerner kind of way, he was tall and muscular, he was kind, and generous, athletic and terribly smart, bonus point for having a distillery and a family legacy that went back thousands of years.

But no, he wasn’t the perfect man, for you.

And you felt like the most horrible person in the planet right now, even more so now that you started thinking about someone else in particular

Nobody knew you like Aemond did, with your flaws and all, he knew you like the palm of his hand, he was handsome in an old Hollywood kind of way, and he was good, creative, energetic, always looking for ways to make you smile and…. and…

You loved him, he complemented you, he was the chocolate to your lemon.

But he couldn’t say it back! you couldn’t count on him and after everything that happened, even your friendship might be ruined, so you had nothing to turn to, nothing and all

And that made you feel even worse if that was even possible

Because Cregan didn’t deserve to be your second choice, he was such a great man he should be a girl’s dream

You came to your senses when you heard your mother calling for you, grabbing your arm softly, and only then you realized you were crying.

“I’ll bring in the big guns”, she said, and she exited the room, only to get back with your flying squadron, your very best girlfriends, and well… Aegon in tow

When he saw you, crying, his face got all serious

“Can I speak to you?”, he asked you, you barely nodded, and all of them left except for him

“Aegon”, you knew him from school, even before Aemond, and then, as you became closer to his brother, he was always there, friend by association.

“He loves you”, he said

“What?”, you asked him

“Aemond… he is the biggest pussy I have ever seen, but he adores you”, he said, “he came all the way here to prove that to you”

“Aegon, he couldn’t say it back”, you murmured

“I don’t know why he didn’t say it”, he explained, “but he does”, he said, “and it's your wedding day, and you are crying”, he said, “don’t do it for Aemond, do it for you”, he said, “he might be a coward, but you aren’t, and if you are afraid you lost him? that’s never going to happen, he is crazy about you, and he will always be there for you, no matter what you do”

“Aegon…”

“(y/n)”, Cersei entered the room, interrupting, that determined look in her eyes, “it’s time, Cregan is making his entrance”, she said softly, she looked at Aegon, and then she looked at you. 

You wiped your tears, and looked back at the mirror, to check how you were looking.

You had made a decision 

It was the longest hour of Aemond’s whole life

And when he finally arrived and jumped out of the car right on the docks, he saw in panic how the ferry was on the other side of the lake.

“Oh, no”, he mumbled, “Shit. Shit! Shit!”, he cursed, he turned to the men there, “Hey! I need another ferry boat!”, he said desperately 

“We've only got the one ferry”, an old man said, as they both alongside Theon looked back at Aemond 

“What?”, asked Aemond

“It's waiting over there for the ceremony to finish!”, he said pointing at the boat arriving at the other side of the lake

“Is there another way to get there?”, he asked quickly

“You can drive”, he offered

“Drive. Drive. How long?”, he asked

“It'd take about an hour and a half”, he said

“That's too long!”, he fought

“You can swim”, mocked Theon

“Swim?”, he said it as a joke, but Aemond was actually considering it 

“Well, you can go on foot around the shore”, offered the older man, “But that would take a wee while”, he said then

“Shore... Foot”, Aemond thought about his options and so far swimming seemed to be the best one. 

Then a truck pulling a big horse cart drove until it was parked right next to the range rover that drove him here, a beautiful black horse neighed loudly, restless inside of the metal cage

“A horse! A horse!”, he said quickly, he had taken riding lessons in his youth, but since then, he never rode a horse again, but this might be just like riding a bike, how hard could it be?. “Hey!”, he called the man “I need your horse!”, he said quickly 

“My horse?”, the man asked

“Yes”, he said, walking straight for him. He saw the men hesitating but he did not have the time for it, so he just climbed into the cart, and mounted the horse, ho coincidently had a saddle on already

“Hey, come down from there!”, called the owner of the horse

“I need to get to the church!”, he said quickly, 

“What do you think you're planning, you great fool? You'll hurt yourself!”, said Theon

“I'll tell you I'll give you: 3 copper dragons for every coffee collar used worldwide”, he said loudly to the man who owned the horse

“What?”

“Do you have any idea how much money that is?”, Asked Aemond.

The man just looked at the crazy silver haired men, and then, he opened the doors of the cart to let him out, shrugging 

“Agh, good luck to you then. Her name's Nancy”, he said with a smile. Aemond smiled widely 

“Thanks. Nancy. Let's go!”, he said spurring Nancy. 

“Stick to the shoreline, past the monument, the church is on the left!”, Theon screamed at Aemond, who was already galloping away from the men

“What in the name of the wee man is a coffee collar?”

Aemond could already tell his ass and thighs were going to be sore tomorrow but he didn’t care, the only thing he had to do right now was get you back, stop that wedding. He had to trust the fact that he knew you, he knew you better than anyone and he knew in his heart.

That you loved him like he loved you 

In a romantic way, in a passionate way, in a romantic soulmates kind of way

He couldn't believe there was this chance of losing you.

He spurred Nancy even more.

He could feel his heart beating strongly inside his chest, but such determination took a hold of him that he saw nothing but the finish line. He saw nothing but you, waiting for him.

He couldn't wait to have you in his arms.

To tell you how much he loved you.

Nancy galloped frantically, feeling the adrenaline on her rider, and soon, Aemond with a sigh of relief could see the church right in front of him.

It was a very old, but small stone church, with a beautiful painted glass above the old door.

A cute small metal fence around it.

But Aemond didn’t have more time to see it, as Nancy stopped abruptly and he got ejected forwards. . 

When he managed to regain his bearings, he looked up and he saw you, across the small garden at the side of the church. You had been sitting on a stone bench. You wouldn't believe what you were seeing.

Aemond showed up out of nowhere, flying through the air. 

“Aemond?”, you called. But he had taken a hard hit. “Aemond. Are you okay?”, you asked him, trying to make him look at you to assess any damage he might have gotten.  

“Yeah, I think so”, he said, he seemed relieved, you were not getting married, but alas, this seemed like a dream, why weren't you getting married?, “Did you get married already?”, he looked around, but couldn’t find anyone else

“No I… didn’t”

It was probably the hardest thing you had to do. Aegon had gone in and grabbed Cregan, who had already taken his post in front of the altar. Whispers and murmurs filled the room as they waited for you, this raising their suspicions 

He was a smart man, he saw it coming as soon as Aegon came to grab him. 

“Oh, no”, he murmured, he only had to look at your face when he entered the small chamber, when he saw your crying face. You grabbed his hands

“I can’t do this Cregan”, you admitted, he barely nodded, looking straight into your eyes, “I'm… so… very truly sorry. I don't expect you to ever forgive me”, you assured him, “you deserve the whole world”, the sadness in his beautiful eyes made it so incredibly sad, “just so you know… you are the perfect guy. Just not the perfect guy for me”, you explained softly.

He smiled, sadly, leaning in and kissed your forehead

“Goodbye, (Y/N)”, he said gently. squeezing your hands

“I’m sorry”, you repeated

“You have nothing to be sorry for”, he assured you, and he left the room. He took his family first, you couldn't stand to watch that, you felt so embarrassed. Your family and your bridesmaids where waiting for you on the other side of the lake, at your request

“Aemond, what are you doing here?”, you asked him, wide eyed 

“I have to tell you something”, he said, grabbing onto you, he was smiling widely

“Yeah?”, you asked him, confused, you column’t believe he had returned, you couldn’t believe this was happening 

“(Y/N)... Your hair looks awful”, he said then, frowning

“It does?”, you asked him

“Yeah”, well, you nodded, deep down you knew that too, “And the sash… it sucks”, he said

“Oh, no”, you murmured, looking down at yourself 

“But that hair… It's like a co-op for parakeets”, you opened your mouth in surprise

“What?”, you asked, horrified, touching your hair. 

“Look... (Y/N), you know, I pride myself on being honest with everybody, but there's somebody I've been lying to for a very long time: Myself”, he said firmly, “Because the truth is… Is scary, and 10 years ago, I got in bed with the wrong girl, she turned out to be the right one”, you smiled at the memory, happy tears springing to your eyes, “I love you, (Y/N), I always have. And I always will”

“Aemond Targaryen… you are the worst maid of honor of all time”, you said, with a soft smile. 

“I know”, he said, with a wide smile, he caressed your face, “you didn't get married?”, he asked, you shook your head

“Cregan wasn't the one I really loved”, you said simply, looking straight at him, “I love you”, you confessed, “in the romantic way, not in the platonic way”, you murmured

“And I love you too”, he said it again, making happy tears roll down your cheeks, “in the… I want to spend the rest of my life with you way”.

And then, you finally kissed.

It was a real kiss, a kiss in the open, with the man you truly loved.

It was true, it was, because six months later, as you were putting on your perfect dress for you, and the hairdresser finished doing your hair in a simple and yet fantastic way that you picked, you were so calm, and relaxed.

Especially when the doors to the roof opened and you saw him there, waiting for you.

As handsome as always, or perhaps even more so, looking at you with such adoration it made your legs buckle in the best of ways

You looked around and you saw all your friends and families, even Aemond’s mother was there, which surprised you a lot.

And they were all smiling at you. 

Aegon, at Aemond’s side, threw his thumbs up at you with a wide smile on his face.

Everything was alright.

You decided to do a small ceremony on the roof of Aemond’s penthouse, and it was beautifully decorated and everything was just… exactly what you both wanted and needed.

You walked alone until you reached him, and when his hands grabbed yours softly it felt like everything was well in the world, all of it.

He was your soulmate

“...So (y/n), do you take Aemond Targaryen, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”, asked the septon

“I do”, you said happily, your eyes never leaving Aemodn’s

“And, Aemond, do you take (Y/N) to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

“I do”, he said quickly, his eyes never lingering from you

“Now, this is the moment, I now pronounce you husband and wife… At last! you may kiss your bride”, they said gently. Aemond grabbed you by the waist, turned you in his arms, making you lean back, and he leaned in himself to kiss you softly.

“I love you”, he said with such adoration your legs buckled

“I love you”, you whispered, looking into his beautiful eyes, he pulled you back up and raised both your hands to your friends and family who clapped loudly

You lead the way, as your ‘procession’ of maids of honor and best men were behind you.

Otto grabbed Cersei by the arm as he winked at her

“Number six?”, asked Criston mockingly behind him

“Seven!”, he corrected, winking at him too.

Walda followed next, she had brought from the North Cregan’s family member Roose Bolton, and they seemed happily together. 

Baela was escorted by Addam

And Aegon grabbed your grandmother 

“You're absolutely glowing tonight, grandma Pearl”, teased Aegon, as he saw your grandmother using her mythical thunder beads necklace

“Thank you”, she said, “It's very nice of you to say so”, she said, squeezing his arm and winking at him, making him chuckle 

The ebay part about marrying your best friend and love of your life?

Aemond lost his voice, standing there still, as he saw you, he was left speechless. 

He knew you like the palm of his hand, but you knew him too, and that helped you select the perfect lingerie set to surprise him on your wedding night.

“You look…”, he tried, but no words came to him, he grabbed you tightly, holding you against him, kissing you hungrily

You both landed on the bed, you were going to finally consummate the adoration you felt for one another. 

Aemond released you for a second, to stretch his arm and turn on the nightstand lamp

“What are you doing?”, you asked him, with a soft smile

“I'm just making sure I got the right girl this time”, he teased, making a remark on the first time you guys met. 

“Oh you do”, you assured him, as he returned his hand to caress your body, “Definitely”, you whispered against his lips, kissing him softly. He chuckled, sinking his face on the crook of your neck making you laugh

“Oh, Tyanna!”, he moaned, exaggerating of course, the pitch of his voice

“Oh, Maegor!”, you moaned back, giggling

And you lived happily ever after

PCN: For those who had seen the movie, I changed the whole last part, it's just… it was poorly handled in the movie and I didn’t really like it, poor Cregan, I didn't want the reader kissing Aemond right in front of him, so I made a bit more… tasteful

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Aegon fanned Aemond’s face as it was clear that the heat was getting to his brother, as he tried to keep everything on him and together, he had his passport and boarding pass in one hand, his man purse in the other as he was trying to grab onto his carry on. As all his friends around him were trying to help him in the entrance to the departure part of the airport.

“What about the dresses?”, Aemond asked Addam

“WPS is delivering them tomorrow morning, I gave you the tracking number”, he said sympathetically, fixing the strap on his man purse that had fallen off, the leather threatening to touch the ground. 

“I got it, I got it, I got it!”, said Aemond as he was getting more overwhelmed despite his friends’ efforts to help him 

“Alright, when you get up there, there is going to be special transport to take you to the Stark’s state, where (y/n) will be waiting for you”, said Criston. The entire of that sentence didn’t pleased Aemond at all, but he nodded

“Okay, great”, he said, finally getting it together, he didn’t know how the ladies did it. Aegon then passed him his coffee and all the balance he had manage to have, went out the window

Aegon went back to Criston’s jeep and took out his own bag

“What are you doing?”, asked Aemond

“You don’t think I was going to let you go alone to the most important mission of your life, right?”, he asked with a wicked smiled, and when Aemond looked around his group of friends he realized they were all in on it

“(y/n) is going to freak if you crash her wedding”, warned Aemond

“Hey, we go way back, she told me it was cool”, he said simply. Aemond nodded. “Let’s bring your girl back home”, he said with a cheeky smile. 

“Go get them, maid of honor!”, chanted Addam

“Yeah!”, chanted Criston, who was living the saying, “if you can’t beat them, join them”

“Make this the perfect wedding… And steal the bride!”, said Adam

“Thanks, guys”, said Aemond with a little smile, and the four of them all hugged tightly, “Thanks for everything, man”, muttered Aemond to Addam’s ear

And with the help of several small liquor bottles and a sleeping pill for Aegon, and good headphones and his notebook filled with notes for Aemond, they managed to pull through the flight without bigger complications. 

The rest of the bridesmaids were on the flight too, Aemond just say hello and was thankful that Aegon didn’t notice them until they landed and he looked like a mess with his sleeping mask around his forehead like an idiot, and his dragon shaped sleeping pillow around his neck.

They took the big van together, alongside a part of the bridal party, they didn’t even go into the city, taking an alternative highway, just giving them the main idea of what the capital of the north looked like. 

The scenery was beautiful, kilometers of golden tundra, enchanted looking forests, big rivers, a mountain range decorating the horizon, it was breathtaking. 

“Wow, this is like a fairy tale”, admired Walda looking through the window with her big eyes. “(Y/N) is so lucky”, she sighed dreamily 

“I know”, said Baela, “I wish I was her”, she whispered

“I thought things with Jacaerys were going great”, asked Wlada

“They are, but he doesn’t own a castle in the north!”, she giggled, and they all giggled with her 

“We'll come visit her”, said Cersei, keeping her composure, looking around with a pleased smile on her face

“I know”, said Baela, grabbing the blonde’s hand in hers and squeezing. “All the time”. But then all of a sudden, like mixing with the surroundings, stood a huge dark stone castle, it was the biggest castle Aemond had ever seen, even bigger than the Red Keep.

“That's his house!?”, asked Aegon, taking out his sunglasses and placing them on its head 

“No. I think this is the summer house?”, asked Walda, Aegon shared looks with Aemond

“The Starks have homes for each season”, said the driver, “This summer home is the smallest. They also have an autumn home, winter home, spring…”

“I know the seasons, buddy”, interrupted Aemond

“Somebody's richer than you, Aemond, I guess you gotta go invent something even stupider”, mocked Cersei

“The entire castle was actually built in 3987 before the conquest”, kept saying Theon

“This is incredible, isn't it?”, asked Cersei when she got off the van and into the beautiful stone entrance. Aegon looked between the castle with admiration and his brother with fear, but anyways, he was happy to be here.

Also, from the other car, got out your mother and grandmother, Aemond tried to get to them, but Cregan was quick to help your grandmother Pearl, as she nodded, enchanted by his Northerner charm. 

And there you were, waiting by a small army of staff, with a wide smile and open arms to receive your friends, Aemond was last, but he held you tight, kissing you in the corner of your mouth lovingly. 

“I’m so glad you are here!”, you said excitedly, you looked so happy, and Aemond wanted to believe that it was because you were receiving your friends, and nothing else. “Aegon! so happy you crashed my wedding!”, you said happily, hugging him tightly, what was one more, right?

Cregan greeted him as well with a handshake and a hug, and then he led them all inside of the huge castle

“This castle has been in my family for generations…”, Aemond only rolled his good eye as he listened to him mumble 

“Grandma Pearl, Joan, this is my mother, Gilliane and my father, Rickon”, he said, as Aemond noticed than in a big hall that might as well be a two story tall living room, where Cregan’s family, waiting to receive them 

“How do you do?”

“How do you do?”, greeting flied there and there

“Nice to meet you, Joan”, greeted the severe looking guy, Rickon

“Nice to meet you. Welcome”, greeted Gilliane 

“Everyone”, Cregan called the attention of everyone in the room, “I want you to meet someone who is special to my (Y/N) and has been a lifelong friend, and now her maid of honor: Aemond”, he said proudly, raising his cup. Aemond smiled awkwardly, as suddenly all the eyes of the room were on him. 

“Yes”, he mumbled, nodding

“Did he just say he's the maid of honor? He's a bloke”, Rickon Stark whispered to his wife Gilliane, she just shrugged 

“How do you do?”, he greeted both with a tense smile

“Very good, thank you”

“RIckon”, presented the man

“Rickon, pleasure” 

“Thank you.”

“Definitely gay”, Rickon whispered in his wife’s ear. You could hear Aegon’s laugh at that. 

There was also the family of Gilliane, the Boltons there, and some family on the side of RIckon, his brother Ned, and his family as well. 

“Oh, and these are the bridesmaids: Walda, Baela and Cersei”, Cregan presented to his parents

“How do you do?”, greeted Baela 

“Oh, hello”, greeted Gilliane 

“Hi”, greeted Walda

“Nice that you could come”, greeted Rickon

“How do you do?”, greeted Gilliane

“So, what do you think?”, you asked Aemond as you finally had him by your side

“I think they think I'm gay”, he answered, who had clearly heard Rickon Stark

“What?”, you giggled

“Listen, can we get together? Talk, catch up?”, asked Aemond, you were going to answer, but you were interrupted 

“Aemond, do you wanna see your chamber?”, asked Cregan, smiling at him. 

“Oh, love to. Thank you”, he said, looking at you asking for help, but you didn’t ‘help’ him as Cregan dragged him away

“Follow me”

“So… (y/n)”, called Aegon wrapping his arm around your shoulders, you smiled at him, “are you really going to move to this icy tundra?”, he asked, you frowned

“I think so, yeah”, you said simply

“You know a castle this old must be hunted”, he said then, “are you ready to live in a haunted castle?”, he asked, you looked at him and giggled, he was clearly joking.

“I think I can handle it”, you said, and then you left him with an apologetic look and went to mingle with your future family by law.

Aegon took out of his pocket his small notepad, and a small pencil, scratching “haunted castle”, out of his ‘reasons’ for you not to marry this northerner prick. 

“Right, onto the next… northerner food sucks”, he said proudly. 

The introductions had gone well, you believed. You were terribly nervous, not only because of your friends, but because of your family as well. But they all seemed to get along just fine. At least that's what Cregan told you when he kissed you goodnight.

Cregan haven't ‘touched’ you since you arrived at Winterfell, in King’s Landing he seemed he wasn’t able to keep his hands to himself, but now that you weren on this millinery castle, he seemed to be more reserved, like he was trying you, he made you feel like some sort of horny slut, so each night he would kiss your temple at the door of your room and then he would go, and let you to fend for yourself in this cold room. 

But now your friends are here, and the thought made you feel better, you had a big day ahead, and with that on your mind, you went to sleep. 

As a future bride of a very important Northerner family, you had to put up with many traditions of the ancient house Stark, it was fine by you, it was, you knew what you were getting into… but you never expected this.

You started coughing as the hair dressed bathed you in setting spray,a after fixing your hair in a very northerner fashion 

“Thank you”, said Gillaine, but she just wouldn’t stop, you couldn’t even see, “thank you!”, she said, grabbing the spray and throwing it across the room, the poor hairdresser just nodded at her. 

“Now, then”, she said, fixing your hair, “I think just a few more sprigs of gypsophila at the front there”, she indicated, placing little flowers on top of your forehead. “Lovely” she said once she was content. 

You didn’t like it, not one bit, and it got worse when you looked at your friend’s reactions through the mirror. 

“What do you guys think?”, you asked, hopefully 

“Oh, it is gorgeous”, Baela jumped first

“You look amazing”, said Cersei, nodding with her solemn face

“It is so pretty”, offered Walda, and she is the only one who seemed sincere. “With the veil… it’s going to look great”, she said, and that did make you feel better.

Like you were saying, you didn't want to fight your future family for this, you wanted to be pliant, but this wasn’t like you at all, you just hoped that Cregan would appreciate it. 

“It's so shiny, it's gorgeous”, compliments kept flying but Aemond stood there, without saying a word. 

“What do you think?”, you asked him, finally waking him up from his stupor

“Of?”, he asked

“The hair”, you clarified.

“Yeah, it, um…”, oh he hated it

The nice lady who was helping you with the hair pulled you away to help you get in your dress, so she wasn’t only a hairdresser, interesting. 

They all helped you get in a puffy dress, and when it was done, a woman put a sash around you, with the colors gray, soft old green, black and white.

“This sash will go on the dress”, said Gillaine, taking the job of fixing it around you herself.

“Really?”, you asked her

“Tradition”, she said simply 

In the meantime, Baela grabbed Aemond who looked completely horrified as he watched you try that awful looking dress, sash and hair-do

“What's up with the hair?”, he asked Baela, but Cersei came in, who pinched him in the arm aggressively, making him whine, “Well, I'm not entirely sure that…”

“You're the maid of honor. It's good to just be supportive…”, encouraged Baela with a look that wasn’t at all so encouraging, she looked like she wanted to kill him. 

“I'm supportive”, he defended

“I don't think you are”, came in Cersei. 

“I think I am”, he said back

“No, listen to me”, she said, “this is hard for her as well but this are traditions of the family she is marrying into, and we would be helping her a lot making those decisions more easily for her to make”, she said with greeted teeth, “got it?”, she asked, threatening to pinch him again

“Yes! got it!”, he said quickly. Then the four of them turned to you, who were looking back at them with hope in your beautiful eyes, only you could make all that tragedy look beautiful 

“You're doing great, you're doing great”, he assured, and only that could pull a smile on your face. Aemond called your name and you turned to him expectantly. “Actually, you know?, your hair looks amazing”, he said gently, gods he was a good lair. 

“Really?”, you asked him

“Yes”, he said, nodding solemnly, and you smiled, now more reassuring. 

The door to the small chamber opened, and a woman appeared with her hands full of beautiful looking fabrics 

“Oh, the games will be starting soon!”, said Gilliane, “here are your costumes”

“Games?”, asked Aemond, but his voice was drowned by your friends’ excitement 

“Costumes!”, chanted Baela

“Costumes?”, asked Aemond again, “what do you mean "games"?”, asked Aemond to Gilliane 

“Oh, the Northerner Games dear!”, she said simply, “It's a tradition in honor of the wedding, it goes right back to the time when the groom had to prove that he was man enough to deserve the bride, If he didn't win, he didn't get the bride”, she said proudly, “No problem for my Cregan though”, she said simply. 

Alright, he could do it, he never had trouble with this sort of thing. 

So the afternoon found you in a big valley, filled to the brim with people. You were wearing a long dress, it was more of a costume, as it was something the ladies would have worn five hundred years ago. You were even wearing a headdress. 

“Welcome, one and all, to the Northerner Games!”, a voice with a thick accent could be heard through speakers, “men have traveled from all four corners of this great country to compete in feats of strength and agility! But only one warrior will be man enough to claim the bride! One competitor who needs no introduction is our very own Cregan Stark!”, all around the grounds the people cheered, as you did, who were sitting on wooden bleachers 

“Doesn't my Cregan look handsome?”, Gilliaine asked you, you nodded. All the men were wearing traditional northerner clothes, kilts, being a part of said outfits. 

“Yes”, you said dreamly, you never thought a man wearing a skirt could look so manly, but there he was. And then there was Aemond.

You opened your mouth in shock when you saw him 

“Coming up the rear, all the way from King’s Landing, (Y/N)'s maid of honor... Aemond, who, I think you'll all agree, is wearing a rather fetching wee minikilt!”, a man said out loud, he was indeed wearing what you would consider a miniskirt. 

“Who was in charge of that?”, you asked, horrified, as all the men women and children present in the games were laughing at him. 

“I have no idea”, said Cersei with a smirk

Aegon on the other hand, was having the time of his life in a kilt with the colors of his own southerner house, with a black background and red and golden lines. and a white button up shirt and leather jacket, and he had his sunglasses on, and of course he was getting the looks of all the ladies there as they presented him.

“And the games begun!”

It was mainly a show of strength, throwing things, pulling things… and with the hilarious comments of a local man with a microphone. 

First they had to throw a metal block over a tall hurdle. 

Aegon comically lost all the games he participated in, but he did with such gusto, that everyone just cheered him on, he was stealing the show

“Yeah, you're sexy!”, someone shouted, you believed it was Baela, as he flexed his almost non existing muscles to the crowd 

“Everybody giving their all!”, said the presenter, Cregan’s uncle Ned Stark, as the competition this time was using a bow and an arrow. And the one who managed to land three arrows near the center was the winner.

Aemond was a little rusty, but he defended himself quite nicely, but again, Cregan proved to be unbeatable as he landed the three arrows in the smaller red circle in the center 

“And as we are heading to the third competition, we're running neck and neck! A Northerner against a Southerner!”

It was a long, long day.

Aegon lost quite easily, but he was now being comforted by three Northerner ladies who were congratulating him on his performance. 

And the rest of the games? let’s just say it was the longest day in Aemond’s life

He had done everything they asked of him, he pulled a rope accompanied by four other men against Cregan’s best five.

He climbed a huge log with only the use of his hands and legs, he was sure the eternity of the North had seen his underwear. He threw a huge cannon ball across the green field… and many, many others.

Most of the men had withdrawn from the race already, but not him, oh no, not him, he couldn’t, he needed to prove, to all these northerners, and to you, that he was “man enough”, to marry you, yes, he needed to prove that. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, the result of today's Winterfell Games rests upon the caber toss!”, finally, the final test, he thought, as he wiped sweat from his brow

He might be the outsider, he might be wearing a ridiculously short kilt, but he was still in the competition, and he was going to prove how deserving he was. 

“The competition is down to two competitors! Aemond! and Cregan!”

But oh fuck is this wasn’t the icing of the cake, when Aemond finally realised what he had to do to prove himself. 

“A tree? We're tossing a tree?”, asked Aemond, who could barely get his breath on check

“Yeah”, said Cregan happily, and Aemond cursed him hard on his mind, because again, he wasn’t even trying! He was giving his best in trying to compete against Cregan, but he didn’t even see him as a competitor, and it wasn’t even mean about it, he just didn’t care, he was nice like that. 

Cregan grabbed the three, with effort, he could see that, but then he took two strong steps and threw the damn thing across the field, that thing took two tumbles, making it like 20 meters. 

“What a toss!”, congratulated the presenter, “What a toss! Way to go, Cregan!”

He saw with discouragement how all the ladies of the bleachers, including you, were chanting Cregan’s name with excitement.

But they were going to be chanting his in no time, he knew it. 

“He's strong!”, teased Cersei to your ear, you just nodded excitedly, you had already seen what those arms could do, and it looked promising.

“Well, then, Aemond! Let's see what you're made of! The whole competition rests on this throw”, said Ned with excitement. 

He was possibly petrified at the very thought.

But this was it

“Look alive, lassie!”, he said someone called for him.

“Come on, Aemond!”, oh finally, that was your sweet voice! calling his name, he had to make this throw! he had to! 

“Okay, I can do this. I can do this”, he chanted as a mantra, if he could throw this tree, this huge log, then he could confess to you his love, he could. Two men passed him the log, and he grabbed it as he could.

He had to grab it by the base, that way he was going to throw it more easily, he knew it, but gods if that was hard to do!

“Okay, here we go!”

He stumbled, the shit was heavy, very heavy, he stumbled once more as all the voices around him got quiet all of a sudden

“COME ON AEMOND YOU CAN DO IT!”, he heard the voice of his brother Aegon, cheering him on 

“Okay. Okay, okay. I got it.”, he said, more to himself, this might as well be the hardest thing he had ever done

“Here we go!”, the presenter said as he started to take more determined steps, to get momentum to throw the log, “HERE WE GO!”, he heard, excitedly.

he did as he could, he did, he threw it will all his might, with all his determination 

The log flew through the air. But Aemond had stumbled a bit before he released it, so all the people there gathered to watch in horror as the log landed on top of a car. 

A freaking car!

It completely destroyed it 

“Oh, dear. That's gonna cost the Southerner the girl”, he said through the speakers. 

“What an ass!”, mocked Cersei 

And just like that… he lost the freaking games, he looked back at you with fear in his eyes and you looked completely surprised at the sudden turn of events. 

“And the winner of the Wintertown Games is our very own Cregan Stark!”, called the presenter, and again, everyone cheered, his friends came in to hug him, and congratulated him. But Cregan ran to you, to get a sweet kiss from your lips which you happily gave him.

That certainly deter Aemond’s spirit significantly

That very night, you were having dinner at the great hall back in Winterfell castle. 

Cregan stood up, and sang, he actually sang to you, and to all the guests of the wedding, he had a beautiful deep voice, and the song he chose was more of a poem, but it was stunning nonetheless. As he finished, he looked at you, and kissed you softly on the lips

“Well done, my boy”, said Gillaine with a soft voice as the rest of his family threw praises left and right

Is there anything he wasn’t good at? thought Aemond sulkily from his seat, hiding his disgust in his cup of wine. 

“Robert Burns, who wrote that song, is Winterfell's most famous poet”, Cregan said to you, you just smiled at him in thanks for this beautiful song he had dedicated to you

“So Cregan”, asked his aunt from the other side of the table, “when are you going to graze us with children, uh?”, she asked, looking at you

“Well, (Y/N) wants to wait a few years first”, he said softly, surrounding your shoulders with his thick arm

“Why? she is not getting any younger!”, you almost spilled your drink, “and you know, how you should name him once he is born”, you didn't know what to say to all of that, but Cregan could sense your tension

“No, no, auntie, we haven't had any children yet, so we haven't got any names”, he said softly, and you appreciated that, but you didn’t like the direction the conversation was taking. 

“Athol”, the woman said to you, taking you a-back, this she just called you an asshole?

“Excuse me?”, you asked her 

“It's a name for the children”, said Cregan quickly 

“Athol”, the woman repeated, and you looked at Cregan horrified, he couldn’t mean that, could he? It sounded like an asshole!

“Yeah, no, we won't be naming our child Athol”, you said quickly, “maybe when he's a teenager”, you offered, Cregan laughed by your side, but you could tell he was faking it. 

“My mother's cousin was the Duke of Athol”, said Cregan’s aunt, “We're a long line of Athols”, yes they were. 

You were feeling overwhelmed, you got no say in your hair, or your dress, or the sash, or the traditions, and apparently, not the name of your own child.

But as you looked at Cregan, he was worth it, he was the sweetest man you had met…

But gods, why the name for the children?

“Well, maybe... maybe we'll keep it in the mix, eh?”, Cregan asked you, “Maybe as a middle name?”, you didn't know if he was being serious or not, but you just nodded, not very much enthusiastic

“So, (Y/N), do you like the venison?”, Gilliane asked you over Cregan. And you were just thankful the topic had changed

“It's delicious”, you offered

“Cregan shot it. He's a wonderful shot”, she said with a smile, and you were petrified

“Oh, stop, mom, you'll make me blush”, muttered Cregan

“And this is the moment, I've just remembered”, she said, taking out his phone

“What moment's that?”, you asked her, as she pulled her phone to you

“When Cregan killed the deer, I filmed it”, you jumped when a shot rang through the speakers, “Right between the eyes”, oh right you saw it happening on the screen, “In fact, everything we are eating this evening, Cregan has killed!”, she announced to everyone at the table, and they all seemed fascinated 

“Cregan!”, called Rickon, raising his glass

“To Cregan!”, they all echoed, raising their own glasses 

“In your honor, (Y/N)”, Cregan said lovingly, and you wished you could be honored, but you were horrified. 

“That is so thoughtful”, you said with a wide smile, placing a hand on your chest, “I'm so sorry I didn't kill anything for you”, you offered, Cregan only chuckled. 

The desserts were being served, interrupting you once again

“Oh, gosh. What did you get?”, you asked him lovingly, and you looked with a smile as Cregan got a slice of chocolate cake.“Oh, I love chocolate!”, you took your fork as you intended on taking a piece of his place. But to your horror, he stopped you

“Don't... Don't do that”, he said, and you froze on your spot, “If you want some…”, he said, grabbing a tiny bit with his own fork, and placed it on a plate between the two of you. “Here, give you some. Okay?”, you pouted 

Aemond couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

He wasn’t even relieved anymore, because his job was getting easier, he couldn’t believe this dude! 

After that messy dinner, you all got your drinks at the next room, a cart filled with bottles of the distillery, a hunting room by the looks of it. The thing was filled with stuffed animals and heads of deers on the walls, hunting trophies. 

Aemond and Aegon looked at the room with interesting look on his faces

“Look nothing happened when I told her about the haunted castle, that didn’t work, so… I’ll keep trying”, Aemond just looked at his brother wondering how more dumb he could get, but then he just nodded. His eyes then found you, who was being boarded by your future father in law and his brother. 

“Go save her”, said Aegon, Aemond nodded and went straight for you

“Excuse me”, he said as he passed by members of Cregan’s family, getting to you, “Hi”, he greeted, the men just nodded, acknowledging him, “A wonderful dinner, by the way”, said Aemond

“Delighted, Aemond”, muttered Rickon

“And your wife is looking for you”, he said quickly. 

“Oh, thank you very much”, he said, and the patriarch of house Stark finally left you alone to look for his wife, his brother following in tow. 

“Nice one”, you said, he smirked

“Cheers”, you clink your glass with his, and then downing your scotch

“A little birdie tells me Cregan personally slayed each one of these reindeer heads”, he said, looking around the room

“Aemond”, you warned

“You're right… When I say a little birdie told me, he would've told me, but Cregan shot it”, he mocked. You were not commenting on it, so he changed the subject, “Listen, seriously. Can we go somewhere private and talk? It's important”

“Yeah”, he looked serious

“Shall we go?”, he asked, you nodded, but before you could slip away, the sound of… some horrible musical instrument interrupted you

“What is that?”, growled Aemond. And there he was, Cregan accompanied with a couple of his cousins, playing a musical instrument based on wind that was just awful.

“Oh, for all the gods”, you muttered. The sound was truly haunting, but you could tell he was putting on a show for you, and your guests 

“You know, he's been playing the windpipes ever since he was 3 years old”, Gillaine told you, you just smiled and nodded, “practices every night”, you quickly stopped smiling

“Every night?”, you asked her, horrified. You couldn’t bear the thought of hearing mating seagulls every single night 

“Oh, never misses”, she said proudly. 

Aegon was dead-ass covering his ears with a disturbed look on his face, and your grandmother didn’t look so impressed either. When it was finally over, he took his hands out of his ears, and looked at the glow in the dark necklace your grandmother was wearing

“What kind of necklace is that?”, Aegon asked, looking at grandma's Pearls necklace.

“They're glow-in-the-dark thunder beads”, she said proudly, and Aegon just laughed loudly, wrapping his arm around Pearl’s, “let’s get you a drink my friend”

“Finally!”, she said, “don’t tell my daughter!”, Aegon laughed again

“I won’t! just don’t get frisky with me!”, he warned in a tone of a joke, Pearl just smiled, but he laughed when he felt the hand of the grandma going more ‘south’ than his back, “watch those hands grandma!”, he laughed. 

The gathering ended shortly after, and you found yourself getting ready for bed in your room, when a soft knock on the door interrupted you. You open the door and it was your mother

“Oh, hi, mom”, you greeted

“I have something for you”, she said softly, you both sat on the big bed, and she showed you a photo album she had, “This is so you can have a little piece of home with you”, you eyes filled with tears as you looked at her 

“Thank you”, you said softly. You started looking through the pictures, 

“Oh, look at you”, she said, “you were so small”, you were lacking some teeth and were smiling right at the camera… “There's you and Cersei”, both of you were on your uniforms for your first day of school, “You were about 5 there”, you kept looking at the precious memories. “Oh, do you remember this? It was taken at the lake when your father broke his arm because of that silly motorcycle of his”, she said, looking at the picture taken at the God’s eye

“I miss dad so much”, you whined wiping a tear off of your face as you saw a picture of him. 

“Me too, sweetheart”, she said, caressing your arm

“I just wish he could've been here”, you whispered, “he was always so worried I was never gonna meet anyone”, you said with a soft chuckled

“Oh, no, he wasn't”, she said dismissively, she then pointed at a picture, “Oh, that's Braavos”, it was a picture of the three of you under the Braavos’ Colossus, and then when you turned the page there was a picture of you and Aemond, shortly after you finished college, “He could be so off-base sometimes”, she said mindlessly 

“What? why?”, you asked her

“Well, it's just… he was always convinced that you were gonna marry Aemond”, she said gently, you just looked back at her, wide-eyed

“Really?”, you asked her, she just smiled sadly at you

“I'll see you in the morning”, she said lovingly, “Good night, my angel”, she kissed your temple and left you.

A wave of sadness engulfed you, were you really mad? moving halfway across the whole continent? leaving your family behind? your mom and your grandmother? you were the only thing they had left. And there was no possible way they’d move up here… you just hugged yourself and tried to sleep. 

“It's pulling off a Band-Aid. You just have to close your eyes and do it”, Aemond closed his eyes as he took a long sigh

“But I just haven't found the right time”, he explained to the phone

“What are you talking about, "right time"? Any time is the right time to say "I love you. Marry me."

“Right”, but Aemond wasn’t convinced 

“Come on, what are you there for, man? Take the shot, win the game, and bring her home. And stop running up my long-distance phone bill with these crazy calls!”, said Addam, “besides, you got Aegon right there with you!”

“Right. Right, right, okay”, he said simply, “Thanks, Addam”, 

“You can do this, Aemond! You can do this, you can do this”, he repeated until his friend believed him

“What's wrong with me?”, whined Aemond, he was not believing it

“You can do this. You can do this!”, he kept repeating. He hung up the phone and put it in his pocket, and then turned around and you were walking towards him.

“Hey”, you greeted softly

“Hey”, he said back, oh when he looked at you he felt like the world stopped, and there was nothing more important than you. “Hey, I thought we could go for a walk and, uh, work on the vows”, he offered, it was a beautiful afternoon, the sunset was about to happen and the day was very calm

“Good idea. I could use some help”, you said with a soft smile. 

“Yeah? Good, okay”, you walked with your arm coiled with his, towards the beautiful lake that surrounded the property. You sat on a beautiful bench with the views of the sunset and you presented your ideas to him, that you had scribbled on your notepad

“So… what do you think?”, you asked him

“I think a lot of things”, he said simply, relaxed because you didn’t know what to say in your own vows, and he took that as a good sign. He looked at you, you looked beautiful under this light, and he knew… this was his moment, it had to be

“I've been working on them all week, and I think they're actually getting worse”, you said, discouraged. No matter how hard you thought about it, the words just wouldn’t come to you, you felt so strongly about Cregan and yet… nothing you could put into words. 

“Yeah”, he mumbled, looking straight at you, but you were looking ahead. 

“At first, I went for the emotion, then I thought, oh, God, what if Cregan doesn't?”, you kept rambling

“Yeah”, he didn’t care, the only thing he cared about was you

“And then I tried to be funny, well, I don't know if the Northmen have the same sense of humor as King’s Landers”, you tried, “So now I'm back to something basic, and I totally think I veered off into something boring”, you didn’t know what to say, but he did, this was it.

“I'm crazy about you”, he said quickly, looking into your eyes, you were just looking ahead into the horizon, “I think about you all the time. And I want to spend the rest of my life with you”, he tried then. He saw you frown

“Really?”, you asked him, finally looking back at him

“Really”, he said firmly, alright, this was it… his moment

“That's so generic”, you said then, and Aemond’s face was now horrified 

“Generic?”, he asked

“Yeah”, you said, oblivious to his confession, you thought he was just helping you with your vows

“Generic?”, he asked again

“It totally is”, you said back

“How can that be generic?”, he asked 

“It sounds like something somebody is supposed to say as opposed to what you're really feeling”, you said, looking at the sunset, trying to get inspired

“All right, how about, uh…”, alright this was it, his moment, “nobody in the world makes me laugh the way you do, you're my best friend, I just want to be with you”, he blurred it out, and you didn’t think how that could apply to Cregan, but then you noticed the way Aemond was looking at you.

“What?”, you asked him, did he mean it? he could not possibly mean it.

“Look out, look out, look out!”, you heard the screeching of Baela, making you turn on your seat. 

“There she is! (Y/N), let's go!”, called Cersei, and Aemond looked like he wanted to take a swim at the lake. They all surrounded you, they had a cape in their hands and a strange pot

“What is this?”, he asked, completely horrified

“This is her "taking out.", said Walda

“Her what?”, asked Aemond

“We dress her up and then we parade her around one of the pubs”, explained Walda

“That's weird”, he mumbled

“It's tradition!”, she corrected

“And then we fill a toilet with salt and we sell your kisses for change!”, said Baela

“Really? They sell your kisses?”, asked Aemond, “that is unhygienic”

“Yup”, said Baela, “can’t wait!”

“Come on, it's like a Northerner bachelorette party”, you offered to Aemond, who was again, completely horrified. Your friends started to pull you back towards the castle, and he followed in tow. Cars where waiting for you to take you to the town

“Okay!, come on!”, cheered Baela, to Aemond’s surprise, Aegon joined in, and the six of you went partying

The pub was classic looking, and extremely old, but it had his charm, it was the most popular bar in town. Your friends had dressed you with a colorful and traditional “maiden cape”, with the colors of your soon to be husband’s House. 

As you entered the bar everyone there looked at you

“All right, let's sell some kisses!”, said Baela excitedly. 

“Uh! can I sell my kisses too?”, asked Aegon, looking around finding beautiful women. 

This huge guy put some coins in your bucket and then he kissed you quickly on the lips, taking your breath away, you really weren’t expecting it, he then spread his arms to the entire bar

“It's her taking out! She's got the breath of an angel!”, to your horror, everybody cheered. And then, a bunch of guys just started putting coins in your bucket and then stealing short close mouthed kisses.

At first it was weird, but as your friends started giving you scotch, it became funny, as more men, of all sizes, ages and heights stole kisses from you

You friends got in the bar, exchanging the coins for glasses of scotch, which they dawned quickly. 

“Another!”, chanted Aegon to the bartender as they asked for another round, enjoying the funds you were procuring with your kisses

“Another!”, said Cersei, “Thank you!”, she said, taking another drink to you that you just pushed back pretty quickly. 

“Come on man”, said Aegon, putting some coins in Aemond’s hand, “go for it, I’ll distract the flock”, he said quickly, Aemond nodded as he watched his brother stump back to the group of ladies and now he was truly thankful of having him here. 

And now he went straight for you, who had been walking towards a more deserted part of the old pub. He got in your way, trapping you in a tight hallway from one room to the next.

“This is all I have”, Aemond said, placing a couple of golden dragons on your pot, you looked at him wide-eyed, he leaned in, and trapped your lips on his. 

He was doing it for fun, he always kisses you like this, it was… but then why was he encasing your face with his hands?

You didn’t even realize when you dropped your pot and all its contents as you hugged Aemond tightly against you, the kiss turned more heated, as you opened your mouth to receive his eager tongue.

He placed his hands on your hips and stuck you to him, as you never wanted this to end…

Did he mean it? everything he had said?

“Oh, my gosh, you guys!”, you separated as the other was on fire when you heard Baela’s screech, you dropped to your knees to gather the contents of your pot, the coins and the salt. Aemond was right there to help you. 

You feel your friend’s hands on you as you get back on your feet. 

“We have to get more kisses!”, said Baela, and you were relieved that she didn't see anything. 

“Kisses!”, screamed Walda

“More kisses!”

“Kisses!”, and you didn’t dare to look at Aemond for the rest of the night. 

Aemond knew it was coming, he knew you, he knew you were going to come for him tonight, so when he heard a knock on the door, he smiled softly, he prepared himself, took a long breath, and then opened the door, but it wasn’t you on the other side… 

“I can't take it anymore!”, mumbled Cersei drunkenly 

“What are you doing?”, he asked, genuinely scared

“Let's do it again. For old times' sake”, she said, she was only wearing a long coat, and when she took it off, it was only lingerie underneath. 

“Don't take that off!”, he said, trying to cover his eyes

“No, Aemond, I need to make this up to you!”, she said,t aking his hand to take them out of his face

“Don't take this… off”, he muttered, but she was all over him, she pushed him to the bed and he fell on his back 

“I'm really unhappy!”, she cried, this was just a mess

“That's fine”, offered Aemond, “let’s just not do this”

“No, it's okay!”, she said, trying to kiss him, she was over him in a second, pushing him harder against the bed 

“Aemond, I'm not happy at all”, she said, between kisses she was trying to land on his face. Aemond did try to push her off of him, but he didn’t want to be rough, after all, she was a lady, and he didn’t want to hurt her. “And I am in a really, really confusing place in my life right now”, she kept with her monologue that frankly, he didn’t understand. 

“Confusing?”, he asked then

“Listen, I have had some whisky…”, she explained messily, 

“I can tell…”, answered Aemond

“And I need you to service me”, she completed

“Service you!?”

“Service me, bitch!”, she demanded as she slapped him across the face. “Service me!”, that is when he noticed the door was opened, and Cersei was screaming

“Be quiet! Be quiet!”, he begged 

“You be quiet”, answered Cersei 

“Get off of me!”, he begged, “Just be quiet”, and when he was turning his face, he saw you, standing on the door frame, looking at the scene, completely heartbroken. 

“(Y/N)!”, he called, but you ran off. He then pushed Cersei to the floor as she landed in a fit of laughter

“Bring me more whiskys!”, she demanded front he floor, but he didn’t care, he ran after you

But he didn’t manage to catch you before you locked yourself in your room

“(Y/N)!”, he called but she just closed the heavy wooden door on his face, but that didn’t deter him, he knocked on the door hastily, “It's Aemond, let me in! Let me in!”, he begged. 

“Go away, Aemond”, you said, placing both your hands on the door to keep him out, despite the door being closed. 

“No, no, no, no, no, let me explain”, he said quickly, sticking his face to the ancient wood, “It's not what you think”, he couldn’t believe this was happening to him, after all of it, after all the work, after all the training, one single moment could ruin everything

“It doesn't matter now”, you said brokenly

“Yes, it does”, he said. “Why did you...?”, he needed to know, he needed to know why you looked for him tonight. 

“Just go!”, you begged, and this was just what you needed, you couldn’t believe you were willing to throw everything away with Cregan just for a fling with Aemond, you knew him, you knew how he was and still, you couldn’t help but think you were going to be different. Then you remembered painfully why you never could give him an inch of space. 

“I'll go. Just tell me, why did you come to my room?”, he asked him, but there was no answer, “(Y/N)? Why did you come to the room?”, he asked softly, he knew you, he did, he was getting answers.

“To talk about that kiss”m you answered softly

“Oh, (Y/N)”, he whispered lovingly, he knew if he could just see you now, he would convince you. “Please don't… Don't marry him”, there, he said it, he begged you to

“All these years, Aemond”, you cried out. After all these years, you loved him, you loved Aemond, and you had lost count of how many times you wished you could just let him in… but you never did. 

“Don't marry him”, he repeated

“All this time…. You're doing this now?”, you asked him

“I know”, he said. You could tell this was hard for him too, but that didn’t make the anger that was bubbling up inside you change. 

“How can you do this?”, you asked him. slapping your hand on the door

“I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Just let me in”, he begged. 

“No, I can't”, you whined, voice broken

“Let me in”, he begged softly

“You're only doing this now because you're afraid of losing me”, you accused, “I need someone

who's gonna be there for me no matter what happens”, you said, choking up in your own words, “Someone who truly... loves me… Someone I can trust”

“But (Y/N)... I…”, you stuck your ear to the door, waiting to hear him say it… but it never came  

“You can’t even say it”, you whispered, a tear falling down your eye, “I'm marrying Cregan tomorrow… Aemond”, you said more decisively, wiping your own tear from your eye

“I can't be your maid of honor”, you heard through the door, “I can't give you away to him, I can’t… I'm sorry, (Y/N)”, he whispered back. 

You heard his steps walking away and that when you slid down the door to the floor, tears kept falling down your eyes.

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“Whoa, Cersei's pretty good”, muttered Addam, after Aemond told him the story about how she tricked him into hiring a dildo saleswoman to appear into your very family friendly bridal shower 

“The whole goal here was to convince (Y/N) that I'd grown up and she doesn't know

anything about Cregan, that I'm the right man for her, that did not happen!”, he said, exasperated, as both of them were in the locker rooms, getting ready to play some basketball as they always did 

“Yeah, but you're still the maid of honor, right, Aemond?”, he asked, “you're still in the game?”

“I don't know, I think she might have fired me”, he muttered angrily

“Get outta here! How does somebody get fired from being maid of honor?”, laughed Aegon arriving, late as always, a new pair of jordans under his arm 

“Tell me about it”, mumbled Aemond, not being able to confide in Addam his newest realization

That he not only wanted to be with you…

He wanted to marry you

“You know what? I got an idea”, said Addam, trying to cheer his friend 

“Okay”, muttered Aemond, not convinced 

“To prove to (Y/N) that you're the only man for her we have to make you the best maid of honor ever”, he said with certainty

“Right”, he said, not quite convinced 

But then Criston showed up, a frown on his face

“I'm at a loss, completely stunned”, he started dramatically, his friends watched him carefully, “my guy couldn't find any dirt on Cregan”, he finalized, “this has never happened before!”, he was so amazed it surprised Aemond and the rest, “this guy's clean”

“I'm glad it happened to me”, said Aemond, as he and his friends walked towards the court 

“You know he's got three Guinness World Records?”, said Criston

“Cool”, mumbled Aegon, still suffering his “bro crush”

“For what?”, asked Addam, but he obtained no answer

“He's actually got a Medal of Honor”, continued Criston

“Hey, that's pretty funny because we got the maid of honor right here!”, laughed Aegon

“All right, let's stay focused”, demanded Addam

“Look, the point is, we're not gonna get her off this guy”, sentenced Criston, hoping his friend would forget about you, but this was not his luck

“Yeah, so, we need to not make this about Cregan”, said Addam, “We need to make it about you”, Aemond raised an eyebrow

“How?”

“But you gotta show her that you're growing up finally…”, he warned 

“I am”, he said defensively

“... that you're changing”, he continued 

“I am. I am changing”, he said, more convinced but angry too, “I'm growing up!”, but his friends didn’t quite believed him

“Good. Then this should be easy for you”, said Adam with a wide smile

Aemond flinched with the noise all the contents of Addam’s box made when they hit his coffee table. There was dozens of magazines, and DVD’S 

“These are bridal magazines from 18 different countries, each with a feature article on the duties of being a maid of honor”, he said decisively. Aegon grabbed one, more entertained than the rest of the men, and excited too

“Ãœber Bride”, he pronounced poorly, “high Valyrian? really?”, he mocked 

“Yes, they are great at weddings!”, said Adam, “they throw the most amazing, meaningful and pagan weddings of all time, and besides that should be no trouble for Aemond”, he said with a wide smile 

But Aemond nodded, determined, nodding purposefully, the gears on his head working full time, he was determined, not only to win you back, but to marry you. 

“Nice appetizer there, Addam”, he said softly, looking at his friend, “give me the main course”, he demanded

“Here's the main course”, he said back, raising his eyebrow, looking back into the box. 

“What do you got for me? Bring it on”, continued Aemond with his bravado

“My beautiful wife is an A-type personality…. She has to do everything perfectly”

“Sure”, Aemond said, unconvinced 

“Love her”, said Addam signaling with his hand, “Hate that about her”, he said with a hiss, “Anyway, she rented this when she was gonna be the maid of honor for her yoga teacher….”

“Uh this is getting good”, said Aegon, rubbing his hands together

“This is the goods”, corrected Addam, grabbing a DVD from the box and showing it to Aemond

“I’ll get the popcorn!”, said Aegon, jumping from the couch and running to the kitchen. 

10 minutes later they were all seating in Aemond’s livingroom, Aemond with popcorn and a beer, Addam with one of his own, and Aemond with a notepad and pen, ready to write it all down.

“Hi, I'm Jeyne Poole and I'm just so thrilled you purchased this program, and I'm proud of you because it shows that you're not happy being just an ordinary friend and loved one, no, you and I are going to work together to make you the perfect maid of honor… When we're through, you'll know everything there is to know about dresses, crockery, nuptial etiquette, and pleasing your bride!”

It was a hellish couple of hours for the boys.

But Aemond was determined, Aemond was taking notes, Aemond now knew things he wished he didn’t but he knows them now nonetheless, like color combinations, and schemes, or which textures went with what.

And after agonizing days of studying… he was finally reaedy

“Okay. What's the length of the bridesmaid's dress!?”, Asked Adam, throwing the basket-ball at his friend, Aeond catched it flawlessly

“Can't be longer than the bride's”, h said, easy piecy, he thought, and he passed the ball back. Adam passed it down to Aegon

“What if someone won't be able to attend the wedding?”, he tried his brother 

“You gotta send an invitation anyway”, said Aemond, receiving the ball and passing it back to Cole

“Receiving line?”, he tried, Criston passed it back to Aemond

“Receiving line?”, he asked, but when he saw his friend shit-eating grin he chuckled, “If there's a receiving line means I've failed because (Y/N)'s married”, he finished, slamming the ball against the floor.

“Right, it was a trick question”, conceded Criston, and they all found it weird he was paying attention in the first place.

Larys catched the ball that had been bouncing in the middle of the court, he threw it to Aemond who didn’t catch since he wasn’t looking at him, he whined rubbing his arm where the ball hit

“Who was the runner-up MVP, 1974?”, he asked, the four friends looked back at him

“No, hey, these questions all have to do with Aemond being the best maid of honor he can be”, said Adam

“All right. I-I-I thought we were just asking, like, questions”, said Larys

“Go sit down” demanded Aemond

“Alright”, he said nodding enthusiastically, and went and did as they told him to

“Basic duties of the maid of honor?”, demanded Adam

“Manage the bridesmaids, hold the ring, support the bride”, said Aemond quickly

“Basic duties as you as the maid of honor?”, tried Aegon, grabbing his brother by the shoulders and shook him

“Show (Y/N) that I've matured, that I can take care of my responsibilities fully and that I need to destroy the wedding from within”, he said decesively

“What happens if you fail at that task?”, asked Criston

“Cregan gets her”, said Aemond

“So… What are we gonna do?”, asked 

“Steal the bride”, he said in a whisper

“DIDN’T HEAR YA”, Said Adam firmly, “What are we gonna do!?”

“Steal the bride”, he said louder and firmer

“WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!?”, asked Aegon excitedly 

“Steal the bride!”, shouted Aemond

 “STEAL THE BRIDE!”, everybody shouted 

“You know, you didn't have to clear your whole day to do all this”, you said excitedly, wrapping your arm against his, feeling a bit guilty of wrinkling his crisp suit, but he didn’t seemed to mind as he always did, when he smiled down at you, your best friend

“Are you kidding? Of course I did”, he said lightly, “The perfect maid of honor is with his bride every step of the way”

“His bride uh? wow!”, you said excitedly, “A changed man!”, you admired, you knew dedicated Aemond, mainly when he was dedicated to hunt women or his job, but… it was great to see it invoked because of you

“I am, indeed, a changed man, because of you”, you passed that as sarcasm, but you didn’t mind because despite what you interpret, you were so happy to have him by your side, all motivated to help you

You entered the biggest and fancier apartment store in all of King’s Landing, five floors of clothes, bed clothes, fancy plates, everything for your house, you had so many things to pick, your wedding gifts list and some other things you wanted to buy for your new home and for the wedding day itself.

“I don't even know where to begin!”, you said excitedly, “should we begin by tagging my wishlist? my mom said she was going to gift me the china collection, but there are so many, I don’t know which one to pick”, you said softly.

He looked over the table where they exhibited all the models, and he was almost shocked he knew exactly what to do, what to say to you, he grabbed two beautiful plates with Valyrian designs on the edges of the plates

“When choosing your china patterns you need to think about what type of entertainment you will do, what sort of... foods you wanna cook”, he said, you were taken completely aback by his statement, “Ah, here, look. Now, don't be afraid to mix and match”, now even more so, specially when he started throwing the plates in the air, even more shocked when he caught them, and started juggling them, he even grabbed a third one, “It's important, even with different styles and textures…”, he said, you placed a hand in your mouth to keep yourself from saying something out loud and snitched to a clerc, “What you wanna do is stir up the table…”, he said, looking at you excitedly, he catched all three of the plates, “Make it come alive with color and finesse”, he said, placing one on top of each other by size, “That is the goal”, he said, you noticed that women had gathered around you, listened to his words, “Also, at the end of the day, you will find… connections”, he said, placing a perfectly matchable bowl at the top, and when you looked, you realized, they were all different, but together they looked beautiful.

“Thank you very much!”, he even took a bow when even an employee of the store started applauding him. You did too, as you were so excited, Aemond looked back at you and nodded

“Let's go… If you think I'm good with plates, wait till you see what I do with linens”, he said, weirdly proud of himself. You went up a floor and then another, and then you came across something waaaaay more interested then linens

Underwear

One you needed for your wedding night. 

“Lingerie, perfect!”, you said, excited.

“What about the linens?”, Asked Aemond, as he seemed truly lost

 “You'll be able to help me pick up something for the wedding night”, you explained, he shook his head

“No”, he denied you even with his hands, “Are you crazy?”, you were fearful of it being weird, but then you thought he was the best person for the job

“You're the perfect person for this job!”, you said simply, “Who's taken off more lingerie than you? Let's put your whoring to good use”, and you dragged him into the “forbidden” section

“Good point”, he grunted. Even though he wanted nothing else but to see you in your underwear, he really didn’t want this to be the context in which he was right now…

He was grabbing onto his knees for dear life, as he was waiting for you to finish putting on some lingerie… for your future husband, he looked down to his crotch

“Behave, you hear me?”, he demanded. He then looked back at the moving curtain, the one you were behind, “So, how did it go with the Northerner Grand Council?”, he asked. He had to have his head in the game, and starting to look for weak spots

“Great. Cregan got them to approve everything!”, you said excitedly

“Great!”, DAMN IT, he thought

“So, I gotta tell you, I know this is gonna sound funny but, um, I have to thank you….”, you heard him said, not watching his face got you a bit bold as you tried on the tights

“For what?”, you asked

“Well, for asking me to be your maid of honor”, that made you stop your movements, “Yeah. I-I know this is gonna sound crazy but... you've really opened my eyes to the whole idea of marriage”, that shocked even more than the plate juggling

“Right”, you mocked 

“No, seriously”, he said

“Have you met someone, Aemond?”, you asked then, entertained, although, you felt something you didn’t quite like, if he was serious

“No”, he said softly, and that made you feel better

“Well, then how can you be serious?”, you asked

“I don't know. I just… I don't know”, you finally finished putting your leather get up on, and you got out of the dressing space, moving the curtain theatrically

“What do you think? Think Cregan will like it?”, you asked, you even had a small whip in your hand. But Aemond’s face… you were feeling so confident, getting completely out of your comfort zone with this, and he seemed completely horrified

“No”, he said quickly, looking straight at you, “NO”

“No?”, you asked

“It's just…”, he said quickly, now looking away

“What?”, you sked, looking down at yourself, you knew you didn’t have a perfect body… but he was acting like….

“It's cute”, he said, recomposing himself 

"Cute"? I don't wanna look cute on my wedding night!”, you said, looking down at yourself again, what was wrong with this lacey outfit?, you looked back at Aemond and he was giving you a long coat

“Just put this on”, he said quickly, “Cover yourself up”

“Oh, hey. That's my coat!”, said the other women who was in the other dressing room 

“Here, let me get you in a cab”, he said, placing his hand on the small of your back, leading you out of the store

“I can't believe this is my last day in King’s Landing”, you said softly, looking around at all the buildings, you took a deep breath, trying to memorize the… frankly… shitty smell, but to you it smell like home

“What are you talking about?”, asked Aemond, you looked at him with a smile, although he looked pretty terrified

“I've been meaning to tell you, Aemond”, you started softly, “When I leave tomorrow… I'm not coming back”, you said softly, “I've decided to move to Winterfell, to be with Cregan”

“You're leaving King’s Landing?”, he asked, really surprised 

“I am”, you said, more firmly, he had this tendency of making you take back some of your decisions, but this, was something you were sure of, “It's exciting, you know, and it makes sense”, you said, “we are going to get married, and he can’t move here, he's next in line to take over the family business and...It's a whole new chapter”, you said quickly, he only looked down the street, with an uncrackable look on his handsome face, “You were amazing today, you know that?”, you said lightly, hoping to get him out of his mind. He shook his head, fixing his jacket, a smile returning to his face, although he looked constipated 

“Oh, yeah?”, he asked, his voice returning to him

“Yeah”, you said nodding enthusiastically, “I had no idea you could juggle like that”

“Yeah, well…”, he said, with a proud smile 

“I mean, women, yes, china, no”, you continued, he scratched the back of his neck

“Yeah, I know”, he said with his trademarked smirk, 

“You're always amazing”, you admitted, “but today you were even more so”, he looked at you with a soft smile, a rarity

You were already on the street, and you tried to signal a cab to pull over and take you

“I'll see you in Winterfell soon, okay?”, you said excitedly, as one stopped and you had to say your goodbyes

“Yeah, I'll see you over there”, he muttered, faking a smile, you looked at him with your beautiful eyes, and smiled at him the way you always used to 

“I…”, you started, but you stopped yourself, “I’ll miss you”, you said instead

Aemond’s smile disappeared as you got up in the cab

You didn’t tell him that you loved him like you always did…

As he saw the cab driving away, a hand went to his chest, where an aching pain had him struggling to breathe, he couldn’t breathe

“Hey, are you alright?”, someone asked him, grabbing him by his shoulder

“thank you for picking me up from the hospital”, Aemond muttered as he left his coat on the entrance of his grandfather’s flat.

“Of course son”, muttered Otto, grabbing Aemond on his shoulder reassuringly, “panick attack, uh? that’s new”

“It had never happened to me before”, he whispered, rubbing his temple, “I thought I was having a heart attack”

“Not quite…”, said Otto, serving his grandson a scotch 

“I don’t even know why…”

“I think it’s pretty obvious isn’t it?”, he tried, Aemond looked back at his father figure

“She is marrying someone else”, he admitted, “I've never felt like this before. So hopeless”, he admitted, sitting on one of the designer chairs in the living room, overlooking King’s Landing

“So, tell me again why you agreed to be the maid of honor”, he passed the glass to him, and he took a short si[

“Ah, to be with her”, he said simply, “to make her happy, and to figure out some way to get her off of him”, he admitted shamelessly, he swirl the caramel looking liquor on his gatsby cut glass, “maybe that was all wrong, maybe he's better for her than me”, he admitted, making Otto chuckle, “He's Northerner, he can dunk, he's perfect”

“Nobody's perfect”, he said simply, taking a sip of his own, once he downed the liquid he took the glass in front of his face to look at it better, “Although, I tell you, this whisky comes damn close”.

“It was a gift from Cregan… He made it”, said Aemond downing his own

“Damn he IS good”, said Otto. Aemond sighed loudly, leaving the glass on the side table and rubbing his face with his hands. “I can't go. I can't watch (Y/N) marry this guy, she's moving to Winterfell, I've lost her already”, he lamented, he was throwing his own petty party and he was going to enjoy it. Otto just stopped his movements and looked at him, chuckling again, raising his eyebrows

“Bullshit”, he said, sitting on the other available leather chair

“If you love something, set it free, right?”, muttered Aemond, finally looking at him

“Said by a pussy and used by pussies ever since”, he answered, sipping his drink

“Ah come on, what about Lys? Bogie puts her on the ship”, he said

“Pussy”, Otto said simply, smiling at his grandson

“Bogie's a pussy?”, Aemond said, not believing him

“Big pussy”, he confirmed, “You know, I've only truly been in love once….”, he said, “The most amazing woman in the world, she was my best friend. But I was young, stupid, and I messed it up”, Aemond looked at him wide eye, “my great list of mistakes, that was the greatest”

“Who was it?”, he asked 

“Alyrie”, he said simply, “your grandmother, she was the love of my life, she gave me two beautiful children, your mother and uncle, but I preferred to go higher on the ladder of my company instead of watching over and taking care of my family, when I realized what I had done, it was too late, I had lost her…”, a sad silence was placed before the both of them, “By the way, uh, I'm getting another divorce”

“Oh, pop”, whined Aemond, not shocked at all though

“I will not let what happen to me happen to you too, You will go to that fucking wedding, you are going to stop her from making the worst mistake of her life, and you are going to bring her home, you hear me?”, Aemond nodded, in a decisive manner, his hands tingling with excitement, “Go and get her, you pussy”, Otto said slapping his shoulder

post chapter notes: I have to say it I'M SO SORRY, but I love this movie and I want to finish this, sorry for abandoning it, but I'm here to win it! jeje

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It hasn't even been a week, and Aemond already missed you terribly, he had barely spoken to you, you whined with him about not getting service anywhere, and you were almost always disconnected from him

But he had his weekly meeting with his friends and his brother, and he was ready to play basketball and keep his mind off of things for a while

He met with his brother Aegon, and his friends Criston and Adam Velaryon 

“So, how was the old man’s wedding?”. teased Aegon

“You would have liked it, the bride I mean”, he muttered while tying up his laces of his shoes 

“What was this one? the fifth?”

“Sixth actually”, he said, Aegon chuckled

“For the gods!”, he laughed, “I’m guessing you went with Looooove”, he teased

“Yes, next wedding you go instead please”, he said seriously

“Oh please, you love to find any excuse to take her everywhere”, he mocked, they walk back towards the group and find the guys arguing

“I'm not gonna be able to play today, man. My back”, whined Addam

“If we don't have a fourth, we're gonna end up with Tiny Shorts Guy”, complained Criston

“How's it going?”, Larys Strong appeared with a basketball in his hands, he was known on the court for not being very handy with the ball, and for wearing booty shorts when he played, it was not pretty, “need another?”

“No, our friend Ramsay, with longer shorts, is coming”, said Aemond, he laughed and left, cleary not getting the hint

“No he is not coming!”, remembered Addam, Myranda signed him up for some art-walk thing”

“Art walk? Are you serious? Tell me something, what do you think Myranda did with his balls when she cut them off?”, mocked Criston

“Gods”, mocked Aemond, I go to art walks with (y/n) all the time”, he defended 

“Oh, come on, guys, marriage isn't that bad”, defended Addam

“I agree”, said Criston, playing with the ball in his hand, “without marriage, there'd be no divorce. So, without divorce, I wouldn't have my condo in the Vale”

“There you go”, laughed Aegon, “Good one” 

“I'm serious, man. You're missing out on the best parts of life”, continued the only current married man in the group, now speaking only to Aemond and Aegon, “the most important part of life”

“This coming from the guy whose wife won't let him go to bars”, said Aegon

“Hey, I thought we weren't gonna talk about that, huh?”, he said back, “and besides you are you to talk?”, asked Addam, annoyed, “you are single and you've been single ever since… What was her name, in sophomore year?”

“Um, Cer-, Cerse….Ceresse!” said Criston mockingly, everyone laughed, except for Aegon

“Ceresse, that's it!”, laughed Addam, “Ceresse dumped you for him sophomore year”, he mocked pointing at Aemond

“You've never been the same. You haven't been able to sleep”, mocked Addam

“Scarred”, mocked Criston

“Yeah. You have no idea how nice it is to have someone who's gonna be there for you, no matter what, forever”, concluded Addam

“And you don't know how nice it is to sleep with a different girl every night”, snapped Aemond

“That's true”, said Criston

“Nice rebuttal”, peached in Larys

“You know, you got the best of both worlds, Aemond”, said Criston

“It's true. I can sleep with whoever I want, but I still get to hang with (Y/N) afterwards. It's a perfect setup”, he said with the brightest of smiles, only thinking of you

“Well, maybe not for her”, muttered Addam, Aemond’s smile got wiped out pretty quickly

“What's that supposed to mean?”, he asked

“Come on, Aemond. She's a woman”, continued Aegon

“Yeah, I got that”

“You sure?”, mocked Criston

“Yeah”

“Dude, she's pushing 30. You think her idea of happily ever after is coming home to you and hanging out after you got laid?”, mocked Aegon, Aemond frowned 

“Makes you think, right?”, asked Larys, sneaking into the group

“Yeah”, nodded Addam

It did made him think

You had never shown yourself annoyed when he discussed his conquests with you, you loved hanging out with him on fridays, and… anytime, yes you were annoyed when he asked you to go to his grandfather’s weddings with him, but… anyone would, right?

With a sigh, he picked up the phone, and dialed you

It rang a couple of times, until you picked up

“Hello?”, he asked enthusiastically

“Hey”, you whispered lowly

“What’s going on?”, he asked, “were you sleeping?”, he mocked 

“Its very late here Aem”, you whined 

“How's the weather in White Harbor?”, he asked

“It's great. Only I'm in Winterfell”, he had woken you up, you were exhausted 

“Oh, right. Right”, his smile didn’t waver as he listened to your voice, “So, it's sunny”, he assumed 

“It's 3 in the morning”, you whined

“Oh, right. Sorry. So it's dark”, he said

“Yeah”

“Hey, have you seen the Big black wolf yet?”, he didn’t hear anything back, so he just dropped it, “I know, a terrible joke. Anyway…”

“Is there something important?”, you asked, falling asleep with phone in hand 

“Yeah, you'll never guess what happened”, he said with an enthusiastic tone

“What?”

“They filled in the pothole”, he said matter-of-factly

“The pothole?”, you asked, frowning

“On 83rd”

“Terrific. Hey, Aemond?”

“Yeah?”, he asked

“I'm gonna go back to sleep now”

“Oh, okay. Sure”, he said, finally catching on

“Love you”, you whispered, and Aemond jumped on his seat, it wasn’t the first time you had said it, but clearly it played with his mind

“Good night. Call me Tomorrow”, he said but you were already gone, and he hadn't said it back

He was more confused than before

He loves hearing your voice, and he missed you, but he didn’t know what to think, he didn’t even know what he was hoping for, what he expected with just one phone call, if that could give him more clearance 

It hadn’t

No, he shook his head, he couldn’t, no, he couldn’t

You were his best friend 

But his male friends were right, you… were a girl… a woman, you have had boyfriends before and it's not going to be long before you get another one, maybe one day you’ll get married…

The thought frightened him, he realized with surprise

The thought of being without you scared him to death

So he came to a conclusion…

A bad one…

He invited the last girl in his little black book, to meet her in the vintage store you both liked going to, it had to work… You were going to move on from him, and even though that scared him, he had to be prepared

He was with women all the time, he was going to prove everyone else wrong, he could get girl-friends….

“This stuff's all old”, Jeyne mumbled, looking everywhere, bored out of her mind

“Yeah. That's the point”, he answered, she looked back at him and shoot him a wink and a smirk

“Let's go to Fendi”, she said, perhaps it was a mistake to tell her how much he gained

“Fendi? No. No, no”, he said dismissively

“Yes!”, she shrieked 

“We're here. Let's just stay here”, he said, trying to convinced her

“I'm not into old stuff”, she whined like a little girl

“Why are you talking like a six-year-old?”, he said, immediately regretting his choice 

“I'm not”, she answered sharply

So the next day, he invited Floris to the famous bakery, to try his luck

“This line is too long. Can't we just go somewhere else?”, she asked, anoyyed

“No. This is the best bakery in the world. That's why it's worth waiting in line”, he said simply, but as she looked terribly annoyed, those stilettos she was weaning weren’t making her any favors to stay for two long on her feet, he tried a bit harder

“Come on, we'll play a game. Wanna play a game?”, that seemed to pick her interest

“Yeah, we can play a game”, she said, visibly more engaged

“Okay, good”, he said, now more confident, “Tell me what to order”, he teased

“Why?”, she asked back

“We are playing, that’s the game! you'll see. It'll be fun.Make a suggestion.

“A cookie”, she suggested

“No, no, you have to be specific, like what type of cookie?”, he pushed

“A really big cookie”

Alright this was a bad idea 

“Aemond, your phone's ringing”, said Alys Rivers, the girl he had been seeing every week, he ran back from the bathroom to pick it up, it was you! it had to be you

“Hello?”, he desperately asked into the phone, but there was no answer, only noise, “Hello?”, he asked, but no answer

“What's wrong?”, Alys asked when she say him sighing loudly and desperately

“Missed an important call”

“That's because you're an important person”, she teased. He looked at her, she was gorgeous, he liked having sex with her

“Do you like Yi-ti food?”, he asked curiously 

Half an hour later he was sitting on the same table he used to sit with you, and Alys was right in front of him

The cart was approaching and she smiled widely

“Hey, come to mama”, she giggled, “Uhh, we will have, um, two fried dumplings, two of the wontons, and six of the, uh, fried porky thingies”, she ordered

“Yeah, but that's fried”, he said, annoyed, once her order was on the table, she grabbed a fried piece with her chopsticks 

“Come on”, she teased

“It's not healthy”, he said seriously

“Have some of the fried. It won't hurt you”, she insisted, nearing the fried piece into his mouth. She dropped it, making the piece fall into his pants and staining them

She gasped apologetically

“Sorry…”

“Thank you”, he said, rolling his eyes

This was a bad idea 

It’s been weeks, he had dated, actually taken on dates, many women, and none of them, not one, had made him feel the way you do

He missed you

He realized there was no replacing you, there is no other woman he rather be with… and… that was driving him insane

So today he decided to calculate the hour properly, and call you early, it was nighttime still, but at a  night he knew you were going to be awake 

But it was a glitchy call, he knew it from the beginning

“Hello?”, he tried, rubbing his forehead

“Hey. Hello?”, your voice, so beautiful and melodic, it made Aemond feel like everything was well, like he was at peace, relaxed 

“Hello?”, he repeated, “Love?”

“Hello?”, you asked back

“Hey”, he said, excited of actually being able to talk with you

“Aemond? Aemond, is that you?”, you asked, “Aemond?”

“Hello?”, he asked, annoyed

You could barely hear him, you were on a two day trip to a castle on the outskirts of Winterfell, it started pouring, the road was a mess and you were surrounded by huge cows, they were everywhere

“Hello?”, you asked back, actually, the thought of hearing your best friend right now is just what you needed, but you couldn’t

“You're cutting out. I can't hear anything you've said”, you whined, “I'm stuck in a thunderstorm. I'm surrounded with a herd of cows. Listen, I'll call when I get to the hotel”, you tried to explain

“Love, I can't hear you”

“Aemond?”, you asked, “Hello?”

“Hello? Hello?”, you were interrupted, and hang up when someone knocked on the window of your car, you smiled apologetically, and found yourself in front of the most handsome man you had ever seen

“Oh Hello”

“You lost lass?”

. . .

“Oh, I hate Winterfell”, whined Aemond and threw his phone away to bag, it was basketball day again, and he need to get ready

But his mind was thousand of miles away

As the days passed he realized there was no other like you, you are the only one he liked to hang around with, he loved being with you, he… he loved you 

And the thought scared him

“C’mon C’mon C’mon!”, called Criston, but Aemond was barely able to move before Addam snatched the ball from him 

“We're having a hard time”, mocked Criston, “We're having a hard time”

“Oh, yeah? Want a hand?”, asked aegon, who got the bal and had no problem avoiding Aemond and threw a three pointer from half the court

“Give it up, baby”, he mocked

“Come on, Aemond. Aemond, Aemond”, called Criston, but Addam intercepted him

“Easy”, he mocked, Aemond tried to grab him, tired of failure

“Aemond, foul. That's a foul, Aemond”, called Aegon, “what's the matter with you today??”

“I don't know”, he whined, stopping in the middle of the court, “I think I might have feelings for (y/n)”

“Oh, come on, come on. Let's just play”, mocked Criston, but Aegon and Addam shared concerned looks 

“It's just... without her, something's off”, he explained, like it pained him, “It's got me thinking that, maybe, there's more to life than just sleeping around”

“I don't understand”, said Criston

“I-I'm not following”, muttered Aemond

“Come on, let's just play”, dismissed Aemond 

“I know exactly what you mean, Aemond”, said Addam with a shy smile on his face. Aegon and Criston shared concerned looks and passed the ball to each other

“I'm gonna tell her, when she gets home… I'm gonna tell her that I wanna be with her”, he said with a wide smile, “nothing about marriage, just be together”, Addam’s smile wiped out pretty quickly

“Yeah, that's romantic”, mocked Aegon

From hare, and for the next few weeks he still had ahead of him without you, he could breathe a bit more easy

. . . 

You have one unheard message.

A message from you! Aemond was so excited when he heard it

“Hey, Aem, I'm back. Gods, I cannot wait to see you! I don't care what you're doing tonight, cancel it. We're going to dinner”,  he smiled at the sound of your voice, this was going to be perfect, he knew exactly what he was going to say. “Meet me at that new trendy place next to the small Bravoosi  place we hated that used to be the Mantari-fusion place we loved. Meet me there, at 8 o'clock. I have so much to tell you!”

He had heard the voice message like eight times already while ha changed clothes, he was so so excited, he had his apartment cleaned, his suits pressed, his cologne, - the one you liked- stocked, his hair fixed, tonight, he was going to tell you that he had feeling for you, that he wanted to explore it further

With any luck, he was going to take you back to his palace for the night

You were going to be the first woman even going up there

And he was okay with that 

He entered the new place, it was very nice, as could turn into a date kinda nice, he looked at the flowers he bought on the street for you, and took a long breath as he told your name to the receptionist who led them to the back of the restaurant 

And there you were, gorgeous, like always

He could recognize you everywhere, anywhere 

But as he catched your glance and you smiled at him, you look back to someone else, and there it was, some guy, tall handsome, he hadn't seen him, instead he hugged you and kissed your neck

Fuck no

No no no no

Who was that?

he got so distracted that he didn’t see the waiter coming at him at full speed

They clashed scandalously, plates flew as the flowers and Aemond fell to the ground, not very elegantly, on top of the poor waiter

“AEMOND!”, you called, running to him. He was whining on the floor, “Aemond. You okay?”, you asked sweetly

“I'm all right. Are you all right?”, he asked, turning to the waiter who was moaning and wheezing in pain

“I think I broke a rib”, you helped Aemond up from the floor, and he smiled apologetically at you 

“His rib. I'm fine. I'm fine”, said Aemond, helping the poor waiter up on his feet, he was fine, he hoped 

“Are you okay?”, you asked to Aemond

“I'm so sorry”, muttered Aemond, the manager approached you

“I'm sorry, sir. Here are your flowers”, she said apologetically, trying to grab them front he floor

“Oh, but…”

“You had flowers?”, you asked him

“No, they're not my flowers”, he said dismissively

“They're your flowers. Those are yours”, said the waiter, grabbing his side

“I didn't have flowers”, fought Aemond, grabbing you softly and walking away from the scene. He finally turned to you and smiled

“Hi. It's good to see you”, he purred softly, his eye shining excitedly

“I missed you”, you admitted, hugging him quickly, “there's someone I want you to meet”

Aemond wanted to be the one that broke a rib

“Oh, good”, he said, not expecting you to notice the change in his demeanor 

“Aemond, this is Cregan”, there it was, this tall, handsome, beautiful man

“oh”, they shook hands, and Aemond didn’t know what to think

So fifteen minutes later, with a drink in hand, Aemond was pinching his own leg under the table, because he wanted to scream 

“It started pouring and suddenly it was just me in a field of cows…”, you laughed, Aemond watched in horror the way you were looking at that man, “of course, we're in the North there are no street signs anywhere and it's getting dark…”

“I think she thought she was in some bad werewolf movie”, he chipped in, and Aemond even hated to hear the sound of his voice, "Stay off the moors, lassie.", he continued

He only had eyes for you

“So, anyway, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, Cregan comes riding up on horseback”, your eyes are finally back on him, so he had to muster a weird smile. You laughed excitedly, Aemond had never seen you like that, “Can you believe it?”, you asked him “A horse! And asks me if I need any help”

“Wow!”, he said, faking it, not that you’d notice 

“You were a lady in distress. What was I gonna do?”, he said, Aemond wanted to throw up

Dammit Cregan, we are in a public place! Aemond was sure that if a policeman would have been here he would have arrested him, for public indecency and being a creep

“It was right out of a Valyrian novel”, you said lovingly, you could see that Aemond wasn’t that invested, so you smiled at him, what he had said that you where a “love slut” came back to you, “So, anyway, he shows me to this charming little inn where he proceeds to buy me the most awful dinner I have ever had”, you said, with a bitter taste in your mouth

Probably Aemond thought this was stupid, that you were being silly 

“Right. Okay. Aye. It was pretty bad, even by Northerner standards”, Cregan agreed with you

“Then, we just spent the next month traveling around the country, getting to know each other, and visiting museums. It was…”, you sighed, looking into Cregan’s eyes

“It was perfect”, he said right there with you, looking into yours

“So, when it was time for (y/n)  to leave, I just… I don't know, I just… I couldn't let her go”, Cregan finally found it in himself to look at Aemond

“Ah…”, he muttered

“So, I got down on one knee…”, you smiled widely, showing Aemond your hand, and the huge rock that decorated your ring finger

“And he proposed, and I accepted”, you said excitedly

Aemond was never a man who let himself be controlled by his emotions, that being said, he never thought he even had a nervous breakdown, or a panic attack… until now

He felt his heart beating sot wrongly he thought he was going to pass out 

“Wow, that's just… It's huge, it's…”, he couldn’t stand it, his legs were getting numb

“So, the wedding's coming together very quickly”, you continued

Oh suit fuck, shit, he started looking for the emergency exit, couldn’t find it anywhere 

“Ah, it sounds like it”, he managed to say, his mouth was dry

“We're gonna get married in Winterfell, at Cregan's parents' summer home”, you continued, another nail on his coffin

“It's gonna be a pretty small thing. We can't expect too many people to make the trip overseas in just a fortnight”, Cregan chipped in

“A fortnight”, he said, trying to calm himself

“Right!”, you said

“That's two weeks”, he said seriously

“It's crazy, isn't it?”, you asked him, he seemed to notice how incredibly nervous you were

“Have you ever been to Winterfell, Aemond?”, asked Cregan

“You know, I haven't”, he said, trying to smile, but his cheeks were numb too

“You should see the little church where we're exchanging our vows in”, that smile on your face, Aemond’s heart broke, if he could be the one that caused it, it was so beautiful and bright, filled with love, “It's the same church that Cregan's parents were married in”

“It's pretty spectacular. Just across the loch from our distillery”, of course

“Distillery?”

“Yeah, Cregan's family owns the largest whisky distillery in the North”, you said with a knowing smile

Did you expect him to like this Cregan person?

“Aemond, look…”, oh shit, he thought, “If you were getting married I'd expect to be your best man”, you said surely, and he paled even more, “Aemond… will you be my maid of honor?”, you asked excitedly 

“Your maid of honor?”, he asked, it felt like the knife this Cregan guy had plunged into him, was being twisted, he got up, he needed to get out of this place, he needed to run,t o scream to

He turned and BAM

He crashed against the same waiter, both ended up in the floor covered in some warm soup

“Oh, I'm so sorry”, he whined

“WHAT IS IT WITH YOU MAN?”, he screamed high pitched

taglist!

The parties in Dragonstone University were always crazy, they started diplomatically enough but then they always got out of hand.

The main courtyard of what once was a huge castle was now swarming with students, loud music all over the place, kegs of beer on each five square feet. People dancing, talking, the vibe was good.

A single guy, tall, handsome, opened up his way through the crowd, a single objective in mind

“Oh, yeah, nice to see you”, he greeted the group of freinds of the girl he was after tonight, until he could finally see her, dressed in her female counterpart, dress splotched with fake blood

“Hey, that dress needs dry-cleaning”, he teased, winking, he was not wearing a mask, only a wig, and the girl giggled

“Here you go”, she said, giving him a cup with beer on it

“Thank you kindly, Tyanna”, he played along 

“Tyanna? Tyanna?”, another girl jumped the group, in character as Maegor the cruel pretended to be catched with his mistress to his wife

“Oh, shit, Cyrese!”, Aemond mocked under the wig of Maegor the cruel. He drank his beer as he walked away from the group, the girl had given him the cup with her room number written on it, and with clear instructions of meeting her there in ten minutes, but he liked to be prepared

He dances along the people, specially close to some ladies, and kept opening up his way through the crowd, to find his own group of friends 

“Okay”, he whined, when a girl almost humped him in the middle of the crowd. He found the building pretty quickly, and went up the stairs to the second floor

“Hi, Maegor”, whispered a girl, as he walked through the hallway

“Oh, hey, Snow White”, he smirked, “Where is 11 B?”, he asked the girl, who pointed at a door right next to him

  “Bingo.”, he claimed triumphantly, he tried the door but it was locked, so he looked, on the tip of his toes, the key that was hidden in the upper corner of the door, “Where did she say that thing was?”, he whispered to himself, and then chuckled when he found it 

“Guess it's time for a little action”, he hasn't gotten any “action” since the last party, which was last week, so… it's been a while on this books

“Tyanna?”, he called into the darkness of the dorm room, but no one answered, “It's Maegor”, that is when he noticed the sleeping form on one of the beds, turned towards the wall, “I got some dictation for you, Tyanna”, he teased, getting on the roll of the famous president who had an affair with his secretary. He started to get undressed, he did not get rid of neither the wig or the crown, but of the upper part of his costume, his shoes, and he loosened up his pants, “I got a big secret for you, baby.”, he whispered, “How did you get up here so soon?”

“Tyanna. Tyanna”, he kept calling to no answer, he sneaked under the sheets, he hugged his momentarily partner, but he found no willingness in the embrace, as the girl moved suddenly, trying to push him away, she turned in horror at the strange man hugging her and screamed in terror when she came to look at a bloodied face 

“AH!”, You shrieked in terror at the sight, an “attacker” had tried to grope you in your sleep, you turned quickly to the bedside table and grabbed the first thing you could get your hands on

“Wait!”, he screamed back, but you didn’t listen, you sprayed your perfume on his face until he was screaming

He dropped out of he bed begging for mercy and rubbing his eyes 

“I can't see!”, he cried, “My eyes! My eyes! I can't see!”

“Who let you in?”, you cried

 “What happened? Where's Tyanna?”, he asked, still rubbing his eyes, the fake blood now making a mess, “What happened to Tyanna?”

“How did you get in here?”, you asked again

“She told me where the key was!”, he explained, “I can't see!”

“Did she say it was okay to dry hump her roommate?”, you fought, not being able to not find this funny 

“She said you'd be in the library because you're a geek”

“I am not a geek. Gods!”, you whined, not being able to pretend that didn’t hurt just a little

“Oh, my God”, the intruder was finally able to open his eyes, with difficulty, “What was that, mace?”

"Eternity" by Calvin Klein”, you said triumphantly 

Once he could calm down, you helped him up, taking him to the common bathroom so he could rinse himself, and then, you took him to the common room to give him some coffee to sober him up, is the last thing you could do after you attacked him.

“Oh, I'm gonna be so careful who I get in bed with from now on”. He whined, while he dropped himself into the couch, still rubbing his eyes 

“That'd be a big adjustment for you, wouldn't it?”, you teased, but you couldn’t claim victory as you burnt your hand with the hot coffee cup, “Gods!” you screamed, ”I do that every time”

“I've invented a solution for that”, he offered, “Seriously. It's something that goes around a coffee cup so you don't burn your hand”, you looked at him, annoyed, clearly not buying it, “I'm gonna call it the coffee collar”.

“Brilliant idea”, you said with a mocking smile, you turned to look at him, and he was looking back at you with an intense look in his one good eye. He was terribly handsome, of course you knew who he was, he was Aemond Targaryen, he had lost en eye when he was young, never replaced it, used a leather patch that only added to his appeal

“I know all about you”, you said defiantly, he of course knew how handsome he was, he used it poorly, “I know your whole rap”, you accused, no matter how cute you find him, you couldn’t fell to his charms

“You do?”, he said, clearly interested, he made himself comfortable dropping an arm over the back of the couch, behind you 

“Yeah. You're a senior…”, you started 

“Uh-huh”, he was clearly entertained 

“...who preys on freshmen”, you continued, and his face changed, “You slept with half my floor!”

“Well, half your floor was female”, he said simply 

“Whatever”, you bit back, clearly annoyed, there was nothing else more to him, he was a player, a man who didn’t care what happened after his one night stands, “And you once met Oberyn,

which I suspect is total bullshit”, you laughed, he started shaking his head

“No, it's true. He signed my CD. It's upstairs in my room”, he defended, then the smirk appeared again on his lips, “with my... coffee collar, if you wanna see it”, you almost got choked on your coffee

 “Are you hitting on me?”, you chuckled, you could not believe his audacity but you gotta admit, that it was endearing 

 “No. I'm going off your look”, he defended 

 “My look?”

“Yeah. Your "doggy bowl" look”, you opened your mouth in anger

“Are you calling me a dog?”, you said back, angrily

“No, no, it's a theory I have”, he said dismissively

“Oh, Casanova has a theory”, you mocked

“Yeah. When a girl's attracted to a guy… she has a look. It's her tell, like poker”, he said simply, “It's the same look a dog gets right before you put down the bowl”

“You're offensive” you whined, “And you're crazy”

“No, I'm honest”, he said calmly, “I believe honesty is the best policy”

“All right. You want me to be honest with you?”, you said back, smiling wickedly, he seemed taken aback, but then he raised one of his silver eyebrows

“Sure”

“I'm majoring in Fine Arts”, you said confidently

“Right”, you could tell he was nervous, but fighting to prepare otherwise

“I'm studying the golden proportions of the human face and your nose is bent, and it droops down at the bottom, a feature accentuated by the thinness of your lip”, you said, leaning in and pointing to those in his face, “and your eyes… are too far apart, but they'd have to be to accommodate that bent nose”, he seemed comically indignant, but here came the grand finally, your little vengeance.

“And I feel sorry for you. You have to validate yourself through insatiable, meaningless, ego sport-sex with insecure girls like my roommate”, you completed, “I would never have sex with someone… like you!”, you stood up from the couch, ready to go back o your room

“Wow. Wow!”, he called after you, “Hey, come here!”, he didn’t stop chasing after you until you stopped by the door of the common room, “That was amazing!” , he admired, he wasn’t angry like you expected 

“What was?”, you muttered, bored

“The honesty!”, he said, “That was almost better than sex without the, uh… “

“Without the crying”, you mocked, “Actually, it did feel pretty good”, you admitted

“Yeah, no one's ever been that honest with me before”, he said, marveled by the situation 

 “It's called being a friend”, you clarified 

“I'm Aemond, by the way”, he said, giving you his hand so you could shake it, and you did 

“(Y/N)”, you said back, you had mindlessly walk back to your room, you were tired, you needed some rest, and also, to get rid of this guy, or you might actually go back to his room with him

“Good night”, you greeted, waving at him, he gave you a devastatingly smile back

“Good night”, he purred

“Your hands are  clammy”, you accused when he gave you his to shake

“I can see through your nightgown”, he said back, you looked down at your nightshirt, and it was sort of true, you hugged yourself with a squick, not having really the energy to reprimand him for the chuckle he let out

You opened the door to your room, and to no surprise, you found your roommate Maris drunk out of her mind, sitting on her bed

“Aemond, is that you?”, she whined, trying to sound sexy, but the many shots she drank didn’t help her, “Can I see your Oberyn autograph?”, she asked, you turn to him, to his completely horrorized face 

“She's all yours, friend”, you giggled, walking away, you had another friend you could crush with

“Tyanna, get some sleep”, you hear him say out loud, closing the door behind you. 

You only laughed, looking over your shoulder you found him staring back at you

“I can still see through your nightgown!”

10 years later

“Good morning”, she purred, hugging his shoulders, trying to prevent him from getting dressed and leaving. Aemond only chuckled, turning slightly and kissing her cheek

“I'm late”, he said matter of factly, with a smirk on his lips. He left his female companion on the bed and went to grab his dressing shirt and jacket, putting them on quickly 

“What are you doing tonight?”, she asked sweetly, oh she was cute, enough to have seen her twice already

“I don't do back-to-backs”, he remembered her

“Isn't that what we were doing last night??”, she said, raising one of her perfectly trimmed eyebrows 

“No, that was something different”, he reminded her, “back-to-backs are seeing each other two nights in a row and you know I don't do that”, he reminded her gently. She sighed, covering herself with the sheets

“Couldn't you just break one of your stupid rules?”, she whined

“No”, he said shortly, grabbing his jacket from a chair in the corner of the room

“For me?”, she asked then

“I'm sorry. I don't break the rules”, he said with a soft smile, he did want to see her again, just not like that. “I have a rule about that”, he leaned in and kissed her cheek, “see you next week”. She left her in her bed and exited her apartment

“Gods I’m late”, he muttered, climbing into his classic convertible 

He speed down the street and into the Starbucks that was the nearest to your job, jumped out finding a miracle parking spot and jogged inside

He didn’t have tog et back to work, but you did, so the lunchtime was always a bit speedy, but to no matter, he loved more than anything his lunchtimes with you

“Excuse me”, he called the attention of the barista and shot him a quick hello, “Sorry. Can I get a grande drip, and a decaf, triple grande non-fat, extra-hot, stirred, no-foam Caramel Macchiato?”, he felt proud of how easy he had learned your coffee order, “with whipped cream, extra caramel?”, he continued, “And fill that 70 percent of the way. Thank you!”

He received his order fairly quickly, and moved to the side to sweeten his coffee. He looked to the side and couldn’t help but gaze upon the beautiful woman that stood there, with his coffee in her hand, and hers on the other

“Oh, here. Let me put a coffee collar on that for you”, he whispered sweetly, he grabbed his own invention and placed it around the cup for her

 “Oh, thank you”, she flirted

“I hear the guy that invented that gets a dime for each one used”, he said raising one of his eyebrows

“You're kidding”, she teased

“I am not”, he assured her, giving her a wink, “That could add up”, she smirked, looking at the second coffee she was holding

“Oh, I think I picked up yours by accident”, she whispered seductively. Aemond smirked, receiving the coffee from her, “Sorry about that”, she made sure to touch his fingers and much and as long as she could.

“Oh, that's all right. Thank you”, he said, noticing the number and her name on the collar

 “Anytime”, she flirted 

“Bye-bye”, he said, remembering he needed to rush, he got out of the coffee shop quickly, looking over at the paper cup, "Gloria.", he tasted

He got lucky again when the traffic was smooth on his way to your job 

He found just in front of the crotch of the painting of a man, and the movement you were making made you look like you were… he chuckled, looking up at you, he took his time, and when he spend a couple of minutes staring at your funny pose, he decided to make himself known

“Good morning Love, coffee the way you like it”, you turned around to see your friend standing by the scaffold, smiling up at you, you laughed

“Perfect timing. I just finished working on his balls!”, you giggled, pointing behind you

“That's some balls... Yeah. Good”, he mumbled, embarrassed, “Um, so, I made a reservation”, he finalized with a shy smile

So not even fifteen minutes later, you were having lunch in your favorite chinese place in King’s Landing

“So, uh, which rule is this again?” you asked, sipping on the rests of your coffee

“No back-to-backs”, he said quickly, signaling for the waiter with the cart to pass by your table

“Oh, isn't it the same as the "no more than once a week" rule?”, you asked, entertained 

“No, the "once a week" rule works Monday to Friday…”

“Oh, so, theoretically, you could have a date on Sunday night and then Monday without breaking it”, you said, really impressed

“Exactly, you got it”, you loved it when Aemond smiled like that, pursing even more his curvy lips 

“Of course!”, you teased, “Ah, here we go!”, you chanted when the cart was coming towards you, you were starving, “Good morning”

“Hey, good morning”, Aemond greeted

“Can I get the... steamed buns, uh, the scalloped steamed dumplings and the vegetarian and shrimp steamed dumplings?”, you asked, pointing at all the more healthy options. You caught Aemond staring as the lady served you your food

“Thank you”, he whispered, once the nice lady had left 

“For what?”, you laughed 

 “You know how much I love the fried stuff. You're looking after me”, he said with a soft smile

“Of course!”, you said back with a wide smile, “that is why I’m here for! right?”, you teased, “So, what did she say?” you kept the conversation going about his last conquest 

“Oh, she was hurt, but, you know, at least I was…”

“But you were honest, weren't you?”, you mocked 

“What? I was. I am. Always”, he defended, almost offended

“I know you are, but it's just… shocking how you use it as a shield”, you analyzed

“Maybe I should lie. Be more like Jaime Lannister. Say whatever it takes to get a woman in bed”, he said quickly

“Do not be like Jaime Lannister. He's so gross.”, you said, taking out your tongue in a gesture of disgust

“He only hit on you once”, he said with a smile

“At my father's funeral!”, you replied, “he was his friend!”

“Okay, he's not known for his sensitivity”, he hissed 

 “Oh, God. Anyways…”, you dismissed, he looked at you

“What?”, he asked

“Nothing.”, you answered

“Oh, I know that "nothing".” he said, squinting his eye at you, “It's not nothing, it's something. Anyway...?”

“Anyway, we both know you don't need to lie to get a woman into bed”, you deviated from the subject at hand. Grabbing the cup with the woman’s number on it 

“Gloria”, he called, “I don't wanna lose that.Can I keep it? Thank you”, he said, taking the cup from your hand, he admired the number written there like it was some sort of artwork

You couldn’t help but feel a tinge of… something in your chest, you sometimes asked about his conquests so you get more used to the idea of Aemond being a playboy, and to convince yourself he was never going to change….

“Here's another rule too: 24-hour rule.”, he said, finally leaving the cup on the table, and looking at you, “I can't call her for another 24 hours. Then it appears I'm too desperate”

“Yeah, right. It’s better for her to think that you are some hoarder that would keep a disposable cup of coffee for more than an hour!”, you mocked, he seemed shocked and then he nodded

“Good point”, he chuckled.

When you were done with a healthy lunch, you were ready to splurge, in a good and needed dessert. Of course, like always, the best bakery in town was filled to the brim, almost a block of waiting line, but you didn’t care, as you walked to the end, of course, always talking

“You know, Renly sent me another letter”, you teased him

“Asking you to move to Storm’s End and marry him again?”, he asked, a bit annoyed 

“A slice of apple-crumb pie”, you guessed, ignoring him as you walked by a table that ordered just that

 “No. Got that last time”, he dismissed, “You guys broke up like a year ago” 

“Nineteen months”, you said unimpressed

“You are counting?”, he mocked 

“No, he is. It was in the letter”, you looked at him and he laughed, “Lemon, butter-cream cup”, you guessed again

“Hmm, not feeling the cream cup today”, he said, looking back at you, you coiled your arm with his and lean over his shoulder

“Cranberry-orange muffin?”

“Oh, Love, come on. You're losing”, he twhined, squeezing your arm 

“I know, I know, I know. Okay, okay, okay, okay…”, you said, looking at the showcase with all the desserts in it 

“Come on. You're disappointing me”, he teased 

“I got it. I got it!”, you celebrated squealing in his ear, 

  “Whoa”, he said, leaning away from you but you held onto him tightly 

“Okay, I so have it, I so have it!”, you kept teasing, “Cream-cheese-swirl brownie!”, you guessed, and only when you saw his smile, you knew you got it right 

“Ooh. Mmmm yeah, you're so good”, he said back

“YES!”, you celebrated until everyone in line was watching, “Mmmm I want one too”, you muttered

After you had your delicious desserts on the go, you made your last stop of your lunch break, to a department antique shop, he had brought you along to pick a gift for his grandfather Otto, who was getting married for the sixth? time?

“What do you think of this?”, he asked, showing you a crystal spice rack, “I think we should bring them this”, he muttered, you looked at him seriously

“Aemond, I'm not going to another one of your grandfather's weddings”, you said, annoyed 

“Love? Please”, he purred with that soft voice you enjoyed hearing

“Take one of the girls you've been rubbing against”, you teased, looking away from him

“No weddings or family events”, he remembered you

“Oh, that's right, I forgot that rule!”, you giggled, looking at the strange things this antique shop had to offer, “Leaves the wrong impression”, you mimicked. Aemond continued as you both walked amongst the small shops. You looked at him with a warning in your eyes

“It does”. He agreed as you sighed, you were going to have to attend his grandfather’s wedding… again didn’t you? well the excuse to dress up and eat good free food did sound entertaining

You stopped by a shop who sold leather purses, one with a small alligator attached to it caught your eyes

“Is this made with real alligator?”, you asked the old salesman

“Yes, baby alligator”, he said proudly, you opened your mouth, enraged

“You should be ashamed of yourself!”, you cursed him. Aemond came quickly and grabbed you gently by your upper arms and drag you away before you jumped the man

You kept looking at a small shop of watches and belts, whe Aemond separated from you to crouch at the side of a beautiful Golden Retriever 

“Look at you!”, he cooed with a childish voice, grabbing his face and started petting him. The dog loved it, moving his tail left and right, “Hello, there. Hello, there. Aren't you beautiful? Oh, I love you. Yes, I do, I love you!”, he kept saying, and you raised one of your eyebrows as you looked down at the interaction.

A man as handsome as Aemond, with that shiny platinum blonde hair, and those features, petting one of the sweetest animals on earth… it was an image worth millions, and you understood why he had so much game

“You're beautiful. You're so beautiful. Look at that face! Love you, love you, love you!”, he kept saying, as he finally gave the poor dog a rest and stood up to continue his shopping

“You should try saying that to a human sometime”, you teased 

“What? A human? You don't say that to a human”, he mocked back, he seemed serious, but then he cracked up a smile, “You're sweet. Love you. See? I said it!”, he said softly, you only smiled and kept looking around. “Love, please. Come to the wedding!”, he begged grabbing your arm softly

“No.”, you said softly, “He gets married and I go!”, you whined

“I go because he's my grandfather and I care deeply for the man and everybody knows he doesn't love them..”, he said quietly, “they don't love him. It's pathetic. Breaks my heart. I don't know what to say”, he kept saying, you looked at him squinting your eyes, wondering if he was serious, his face and that movement of his lips on which he pouted shortly and then draw them back told you he was 

“You know, if someone's making a mistake and it's not your place to interfere, you simply say: "I'm happy you're happy.", yous aid with a smile, he look back at you and smiled back

"I'm happy you're happy.", he repeated

“Yeah”, you muttered, coiling your arm with his like you tended to do

“Okay. I'll do that”, he said as he kept looking for something to but, mumbling and repeating those four words

He look back at you with those puppy eyes 

“I promise you, this is the last time I'll ask you to come!”, he said quickly, “And then I'll find somebody else to come for the next few”, the prospect of him getting so close to another that he would ask to his grandfather wedding did not amused you as you thought it would, “Love, please”

“That's cute”, you mocked, and then you sighed, “last time”, you sounded defeated

“Thank you! Thank you!”, he leaned in and kissed your cheek 

. . .

Aemond fixed his tie as he walked up the steps to the front of the chapel, he there could see his grandfather Otto, and his lawyer Erryk talking frantically on the phone

“Right. Okay, okay. You get the house in the Hamptons”, he said to his grandfather, Aemond frowned, looking at his grandad, “She's asking for the apartment in the city and 30 grand a month”

“Thirty?”, he whined, “but…”

“Are you still negotiating the prenup?” Aemond asked alarmed, as soon as he saw him Otto walked towards him to cradle his son’s cheeks

“Now the party starts, my son is here”, he celebrated, hugging him tightly 

“Grandad, please. I can't breathe”, he chuckled, “Grandfather. Please”

“Did you bring the lovely (y/n)?” he asked, finally releasing him

“Yes, I did”, he said with a shy smile

“You know, you don't act on that pretty soon, you know what I'm gonna do?”, he teased

“No”, he whispered, scared

“I'm gonna make her my number six”

“It's seven”, interrupted his lawyer, “This is number six”, they both look at the lawyer and then turned to each other 

“Yeah, that sounds about right”, laughed Otto, he then looked at his grandson.

Aemond was the only one speaking to his grandfather, his mother had cut him out, around his third marriage, so did his brothers, but he couldn’t

“My God, you are pretty…”, he whispered

“Oh, grandad…”

“I used to be that pretty once”, he said with a chuckle, “Eryk, look how pretty my boy is!”, he celebrated, turning to him

“He's beautiful. They won't accept a minimum of five times a week”, he said pointing at the phone on his ear 

“She promised five, I want five”, said Otto

“What did she promise you five times a week?”, asked Aemond, white as paper 

“Four times?”, asked Otto, Eryk shook his head

“Two”, he fought 

“Oh, this is disturbing”, whined Aemond, taking a few steps back, he looked at the marble stair he just climbed and wondered what kind of damage he would get if he just jumped, nothing major, only a few bumps… only to stop hearing this conversation

“Four, and make it a weekly BJ!”, Aemond sighed, rubbing his forehead 

Otto looked at his grandson

“Come on, tell me. Say what you gotta say”, Aemond raised his head to look at him

“Well, I'm happy if you're happy”, he said, smiling when he remembered you and what you told him, but Otto chuckled

"You're too old for her, grandad. She doesn't love you.This is embarrassing. You're gonna rack up your fifth divorce.", he mocked 

“Sixth”, remembered Erryk

“Sixth”, agreed Otto

“Come on, I'm happy if you're happy”, Aemond said, shooting him a calming smile

“Bullshit”, he laughed 

“They'll go for four if you exercise more!”, celebrated Erryk, “She says you can't gain any more weight”

“Take it. Deal!”, Otto cheered, “I told her I weighed 10 pounds more than I do. Ain't love grand?”, he said cheerfully. Erryk finished the call and passed him two blocks of papers

“Sign them both, please”, he said quickly

“What's he signing now?”, asked Aemond, worried 

“The current prenup and his last divorce papers”, said Erryk with a content smile. Aemond’s smile wiped out pretty quickly 

“Ah, that's just great”, he mumbled 

He was part of the marriage courtship, so he didn’t get to see you until the party, that was held a few blocks away from the church 

You were waiting for him with a flute of champagne in hand, and a mashup of “i got a woman” with “gold digger” was blasting the speakers and got everybody dancing on the dancefloor

“Cheers”, you giggled, he took his and clinged his with yours 

“Cheers”

“Did you tell your grandfather you loved him?”, you asked him

“I told him I cared for him”, you sighed 

“You can't even tell your grandfather. I don't get that”, you said, defeated, “you call me love all the time!”

“It's a guy thing”

“No, it's a Aemond thing”, you corrected

“I’m going to need something stronger than this”, he whispered,  “Oh, well, you're an "I love you" slut”, you gasped

“Are you kidding me??”, you asked, the audacity

“You say it all the time, to everybody”

“Only the people that are important to me”, you defended

You were interrupted when the waiter brought you pieces of cake that you ordered

“Oh, this looks so good”, you moaned when he placed in front of you the lemon cake that you ordered, in turn, Aemond ordered the chocolate one

“That does looks good. What is that?”, he asked whispering in your ear leaning over you, he used his fork to steal a piece of cake from your plate and you giggled as he tasted it and moaned with satisfaction, “Lemon. I should've ordered this”

“This looks good”, you said back, stealing a piece of his cake instead

“You always order better than I do”, he said with a smile, ‘It's lemon, right? It's good. I'm ordering that from now on”

“No, you won't”, you fought with a smile

“Why?”, he asked

“I need you to order the chocolate cake so I can have some”, you answered simply, the chocolate was just delicious. He chuckled

“That makes sense”, he said happily

“There's my son!” You almost spilled your drink when you saw Aemond’s new stepmother approaching you, with a very inappropriate low cut dress, she was gorgeous,

“Here we go”, Aemond muttered to turn to her with a smile, “Grandson actually”, he said with a mockingly smile

“Oh very funny!”, she giggled, “isn’t he funny?”, she asked you, you only laughed

“Very much so!”, you quipped 

“Margaery. How are you?”, he asked politely 

“If you're a bad boy, I'm gonna spank you”, she giggled, Aemond looked back at you with scared eyes but a weird smile on his lips

“Yeah. Do you know what I would like to say to you? Is that... Ow!”, you stopped him by pinching his arm

“I want you to listen to me, Aemond”, she said with her big cat-like eyes, gods she was beautiful, she took his hand, and placed it in her chest, you gasps as Aemond was visibly uncomfortable

“Yes”, he encouraged quickly and nervously

“If you need any money… or you need any advice…”, she said slowly 

“Right”, he said uncomfortably, trying to pull away his hand but she would let him

“...or you got girl problems”

“I don't think… it’s a good idea”

“I need you to think of me how you would a real mother”

“Grandmother!”, you pitched in and Aemond snorted 

“Yeah, that's exactly what I…”, Otto showed up, hugging his wife tightly who released Aemond

“Look at this beauty, will you?”, he boasted, his chest filled with pride, “Hello, sweetie”, he greeted you

“Hello Otto, it was a wonderful wedding”

“Thank you my dear” he then turned to his new wife, “Drunk as the night I first met her”, he said with admiration making her giggle

“So romantic”, mumbled Aemond. Then the bartender gave you the shot that Aemond had asked for, but before he could drank it, Margaery snatched it from his hand and drank it quickly 

“Oh, please. By all means”, muttered Aemond rolling his eyes 

“You are a bad influence on her!”, teased Otto, you just eyed Aemond carefully

“Me?”, he asked back

“Last shot, okay?”, Otto warned his wife, who roared to life and giggled, grabbing her new husband’s hand

“I'm stealing you away, let’s dance!”, she laughed, and they walked awy from the both of you

“He does know that he can just date, right?”, you asked Aemond, entertained

“No, I don't think he does”, he whispered, now the bartender finally grace you with two shots, you took one each

“To grandmothers”, he said, defeated 

“To mothers. Cheers”, you giggled back 

You drank down the shot and you hissed when it burned your throats, this was going to be a long night 

Aemond frowned suddenly, and you followed his uneven eyes (he had a glass eye installed). but couldn’t find anything unusual

“Oh, God”, he said suddenly trying to hide behind the bar, “Hide me”, he said, grabbing you and placing you in front of him

“What?”, you asked, confused

“It's my dad's patient coordinator”, he whispered, you looked back to see her, Aemond had told you about her before, but before you could, he grabbed you back, hiding even more 

“Yeah, don't look, don't look. Don't look”

“What’s going on?”, you asked him

“No, no. She's obsessed with me!”, he whispered frantically, “Yeah, she's created a website called AllThingsAemond.org”, you chuckled 

“The psycho blogger?”, you asked him

“Yes” then he grabbed your hand and turned quickly, “Okay, come on. Dance with me. Watch yourself”, he dragged you to the dance floor and took you in his arms. You were finally able to see her, searching for someone, or something frantically

“I think she's cute”, you mocked. She was tall and lean, redhead, and sharp blue eyes

“Oh, stop it”, grunted Aemond

“I'm serious”, you defended

“Just keep dancing woman”, grunted Aemond, and then, he saw her turn to him so he spun you around making you gasp to turn your back to her 

  “Hide me. Up. Neck, neck, neck. Up. Back. Side, side. Go. Over”, he signaling, moving frantically to avoid the woman, “Her last blog was a two-page description of my face”, you laughed, truly entertained, you had never seen him like this

“Where, there is much to describe”, you felt his hand get clammy, he was truly nervous

“You see, she doesn't think my nose is too bent or my lips are too thin”, he mocked, you frowned in confusion

“Who said that?”, you asked

“You did. When we met”, he said 

“Well, I lied”, you said, looking at him in his eyes

“What?”, he asked back

“I thought you were hot”, you confessed, he looked back at you surprised

“Why didn't you say something?”, he asked incredibly surprised, so much he surprised you too 

“Well, you told me I looked like a dog”, you giggled

“That's because I was just trying to sleep with you”, he offered, analyzing your face

“Why haven't you since?”, you asked quietly, he held you tighter against him

“Well, I like having you in my life”, he gave you that smile that makes you think he wasn’t being serious, so you just sighed 

“Funny” you mocked 

“Hi, Aemond”, you both screamed when you were surprised by the blogger/stalker 

“Oh, hi”, greeted your friend grabbing you even more tightly, this time, making you stick to his front

“Did you see the new blog?”, she asked excitedly, she was pretty, you wondered if Aemond ever… slept with her

“Uh, no, we haven't”, he said, you looked back at him at the word he used 

“Who's this?”, she turned hostile towards you

“This?”, he asked, looking at you with a smirk on his lips, well, this is my… My girlfriend”, you raised an eyebrow looking back at him, but well, he was you friend so you were going to play along

“Why didn't you tell me you were seeing someone?”, she asked angrily

“Because I don't know you”, he said back, annoyed, but oh you wanted to play both along

“Look, we have a really really open relationship”, you said, relaxed, winking at her, her face lit up again

“Really?”, she asked excitedly. Aemond squeezed your hand

 “You know, I wanted to talk to you about that, princess”, he said looking at you with urgency

 “Princess...?”, you teased

“I-I-I don't wanna be with anybody but you”, he said quickly, turning to you 

“I don't know if I'm really quite ready to make that commitment”, you said dismissively, moving your shoulders upwards, “you know my rules…”, you chuckled, his face in that moment was very comical

“We're a bit of an emotional retard”, he explained, she now looked terribly angry

“I think I need to start a new blog now”, she threatened, and abandoned you

“That is so scary”, you said

“She's psychotic on top of being… Oh, this is not good”, you looked at her go, pushing with a rare strength everyone of her path, it was kind of comical

“Get out of my way!”, you heard her say

“Okay, good, she's gone”, Aemond released you from his grasp, his body what abandoning you

“Perfect. Let's go” 

“You want to go already?”, you asked him, he nodded, grabbing your hand and taking you of the ballroom, and out of the building 

It had been a quick affair, the sun was setting. and as such, you decided to take a walk through the King’s Landing park

At first you walked in silence, enjoying the beautiful scenery and warmth of the season, but then you remembered you had something to say to Aemond

“Do you remember that ancestral home in Winterfell with those paintings I told you about?”, you asked, he looked back at you and smiled 

“It's all I think about”, he mocked

“Stop it, Aemond”, you giggled, pushing him playfully, “I finally got the board to sign off on making them additions to our permanent collection”

“Really?”, he asked, now truly invested

“But they want me to go to Winterfell for an acquisition trip”, you said shortly 

“When do you go?”, he asked, alarmed

“Couple of days”, you whispered

“Couple of days? For how long?”, now he was alarmed 

“Six weeks”, he opened his eye widely

“That's a long time! more than a month!”, but then when he looked at your face, he softened his, “That's great”, he confessed

“You think?”, you asked, surprised and happy

“Yes, it's a great opportunity for you”, he admired, “You're like the museum maven of the The Keep”

“It's got a good ring to it”, you teased, and then smiled brightly at him, “thank you”, you whispered, looking into his handsome face 

“Congratulations”, he said after a long, pleased sigh, “Six Fridays”, he said then

“That is six fridays”, you agreed

“What am I gonna do without you?”, he asked

“Oh, well. I can just imagine”, thinking about all the free time he was going to have to bang women left and right. He looked at you, and then he climbed onto the railway of the bridge just as you were walking above it

“What are you doing!?”, you asked, trying to grab him

“I'm gonna jump!”, he threatened with a chuckled

“No. Gods. Aemond get down!

 “Six Fridays, how can I live without you!?”, he asked theatrically, grabbing your hands

“Can you not take anything seriously?”, you laughed 

“Yeah, I can”, he defended, just when you thought he was going to take it seriously this time

“Get down”, you demanded, and he grabbed you for stability and jumped back to the bridge, “Let's get you another drink!”, you suggested

“I think I've had too many already”, he whined, “Oh, thanks for coming to the wedding”, he whispered, coiling your arm with his

“It was a ball. I can't wait for number seven”, you giggled 

“It's coming up soon, I have a feeling”, he lamented

“And what do you have to say?”, you whispered

“I’m happy you are happy”, he said back

“That’s my boy”

“I’m going to miss you”, he admitted

“Mee too”

. . .

You were staring at the wallpaper of your phone, it was a picture of you and Aemond, your face next to him, both smiling to the camera

You were going to miss him

He was your very best friend in the entire world, and six weeks was a long time, wasn’t it?

“We also ask at this time that you turn off all your electronic devices. Please leave your cell phones turned off for the full duration of the flight”, you heard through the speakers of the plane. With a last look your turned off your phone

You were so excited for this trip! 

It was going to be huge for your work, and you couldn’t wait to get to Winterfell, you had never been but they say it's beautiful

  Was it weird that you wanted Aemond to be there with you?

Maybe

But he would never go for something like that, you didn’t think

“Maid of honor”

Aemond nodded, looking at some point on the horizon, while his friend and his brother laughed his asses out 

“That's funny stuff, but you're a guy”, laughed Aegon

“Go ahead, just get it out”, he said, finally looking ahead of him as they walk trough one of the main streets of King’s landing

“Oh, my…”, his brother whined rubbing his face

“So... so, what did you say? Did you say "yes"?”, asked Adam

“No”

“No?”, he asked, scandalized 

“I didn't know what to say. I told her I'd think about it”, he said dismissively 

“You need to think about whether or not that dress is gonna make your ass look big”, laughed Aegon

“Give me a break. Come on”, whined Aemond.

He felt like shit

The first time he realized his feelings, the very first time he thought of a woman who he’d like to spend his life with… you pull that on him, he didn't know how to deal

“Okay. All right, let me think'', said Adam, right now, he was the man Aemond trusted the most, “she really into this guy?”, he asked then

“Oh, you should have seen her, staring at him all moony, like he shits unicorns”, he barked, Aegon hissed

“Ohh, that's not good, bro”, his brother muttered

“I'm thinking you're gonna have to do this”, said Adam after a while, “you're gonna have to be the maid of honor”

“What?”, asked Aemond, “no way!”

“I'm serious!”, he answered, “think about it! This would give you an excuse to be around (y/n)  all the time!”, thinking about it, it didn’t sound so bad, “helping her out, being the man behind the curtain... Huh?!”, Adam hit him slightly with his shoulder

“He is right!”, said Aegon

“You'd be her confidant!”, he continued 

“And then you could use that time to point out to (Y/N) that this is really crazy and that she doesn't even know this guy at all!”, snapped Aegon, like he just discovered gunpowder 

“No, no, no. I'm not gonna do that. No way. No”, said Aemond

“What?”

“No”, he sentenced, “I can’t”

“Look. Aemond, I don't know what your other options are, you have a better chance of stopping this wedding from inside than from another country!”, said Adam

“Besides, I don’t see how else you could get close enough to that bozo to poison him otherwise!”, added Aegon

“Ignoring that last part!”, chided Adam, “Come on, man, if you're serious and you really want (Y/N)  back from this guy, you're gonna have to do whatever it takes!”, he said 

That renew Aemond with hope

He was right

“Whatever it takes!”, he said, more confidently, they were passing by a store, and when he looked at the showcase, he saw himself… over a mannequin that was holding a dress like it was fitting him

“Whatever it takes!”, said Addam

“Besides, your maid of honor dress is going to be so beautiful”, giggled Aegon, and they both started laughing again

“Thank you”, Aemond said 

So when he came back home, he called you with the good news

You had a maid of honor

So that had him the next day, right next to you, waiting in the lobby of an hotel

“I am so happy you're gonna do this”, you said, giving him the brightest of smiles, and the tightest of hugs. He placed his big hand by the side of your neck, just like he sussed to do and gave you a big kiss

It wasn’t strange, he used to fo that all the time 

“My love, is my pleasure”, he purred, then he had his arm wrapped around your form, squeezing you by his side, where you belong, he thought, “for this wedding, I am willing to do whatever it takes”, he said, looking down at you, you wrapped your arm around him too and squeezed. He was so familiar to you 

“Oh, I'm so excited”, you giggled

“Yeah, me too”, he said, his eye wouldn’t leave your form

“All right. So, let me tell you who the other bridesmaids you're gonna be”, you said excitedly 

“Okay”, he was truly amused 

“All right, there is Baela…”

“Baela? Great, I like Baela”, he said, content 

“And she loves you”, you said back

“Oh, good”

“And my friend Walda from camp…”

“Walda? I don't know Walda”, he said dismissively

“Walda Frey, she's the best”, you said with a wide smile

“Okay…”

“And Cersei….”

“Oh, no”, he whined

“I had to, Aemond, she's my cousin!”, you said with an apologetic smile 

“No, she hates me”, he said back, 

“Well, you broke her heart…”, you muttered

“She broke my nose”, he said angrily

“That was an accident”, you said dismissively

“She hit me with her fist!”, he answered, chuckling, pointing at his nose, now he was worried, “I was completely honest with her when I said lLook, nothing serious", and she agreed…”

“Well, sometimes our hearts don't match our mouths”, you said lightly

“Oh, that's good. You should put that in the vows”, he hissed, you were still hiding something from him

“And…”, you began

“Yeah?”

“She's wanted to be my maid of honor since we were 5 years old, so now she's really gonna hate you”, you laughed, waving at the group that just go in, “There they are now”, now the Targaryen was truly worried 

“Okay, well, as your maid of honor, I promise to keep the peace”

He did this for you

He did this for you

He did this for you

To win you back

The three of them walked towards them like they were in a a movie, your best friends, your cousin, the family you choose, they were all here because they loved you and cared for you, you were so happy, Aemond was terrified 

Baela he knew, he liked her, she was smart, cunning and sweet all at once, of course he tried to… charm her… but she disarmed him in minutes, he was so impressed he ended up liking her even more

Walda seemed nice, he didn’t know her, but as you hugged her tightly he knew she was as sweet as you.

You were one of the best people you knew, so your friends had to be cut from the same cloth,, he was not going to find allies in them, they were good, kind, sweet

And then there was Cersei Lannister

“There she is!”, exclaimed Walda excitedly, you haven't seen her in a while 

“Hello, good to see you”

“Oh, the bride-to-be!”, said Cersei excitedly, hugging you tightly

“I'm Aemond”, he gritted, offering her hand

“I'm Walda”, she answered, “very nice to meet you”

“Nice to meet you”, he said with a warm smile, “Baela, how are you doing? It's so good to see you too”, Baela was the only one who hugged him, and he hugged her back 

“You too Aemond”

“Are you kidding me?”, barked Cersei, when she was the only one left to greet him

“Look at you, Cersei. How have you been?”, he said politely, she just drew a disgusted face and kept walking like he wasn’t even there

“That went great”, he whispered to you, you only stroked his arm calmly.

You walked inside the restaurant in the hotel, and took your seats around the table, you were looking all around them, excited. You ordered tea and sweet and salty treats, and they were brought to the table quite swiftly 

“So, Aemond, have you met Cregan yet?”, Asked Baela, trying to make conversation

“Yes”, he answered shortly

“Isn't he dreamy?”, she asked back, smiling widely, excited for you

“Oh, absolutely”, he said with a smile so fake it hurted his cheeks

“Could someone please pass me the Splenda?”, Asked Cersei, faking a smile. Aemond went hastily, grabbing the ceramic bowl, “could someone who's not a misogynist pass the Splenda?”, she asked again, with disdain on her look, Aemond just left it there and Baela was the one to pass it to her

Luckily for you, your phone started ringing, you picked it up quickly, to avoid this drama that was being cocked 

“Hello?”

“Thank you, Baela”, muttered Cersei

“It's Cregan, you guys”, you said excitedly, and the table resounded all the comically romantic “aws”

“Hi, babe, one sec”, you stood up from the table and walked away to be able to hear him better

“They're so cute”, Walda said with a smile

“Okay, we only have nine days before we leave for Winterfell, so we have to act quickly”, started Baela

“Exactly. I've been a MOH six times so I'll organize everything that needs to be done”, said Cersei quickly, “even though I'm not officially the MOH here”, she said sipping on her tea, a frown on her face

“What is a MOH?”, asked Aemond, looking at all of them 

“M-O-H”, bit Cersei

“Oh, maid of honor”, said Baela with a calming smile,  “that's you”, she said pointing at Aemond 

“Oh, that's clever”, he said, he was trying, he was, but having Cersei throwing daggers at him wasn’t helping

“So, we've got the bridal shower, the bachelorette, dress fittings, the kilt…”, said Baela who had actually brought pen and paper and was writing everything down

“I'll do the kilts”, said Cersei

“Okay”, nodded Baela, writing this down, “Uh, we also have to go shopping for (Y/N)'s trousseau”, she said with a suggesting tone and moving her eyebrows up and down

“That's gonna be fun”, offered Walda, smiling cheekily 

“Trousseau? What is a trousseau?”, asked Aemond

“It's lingerie”, said Baela, and Aemond coughed roughly, “for her wedding night”

“Oh”, he whined, uncomfortable, while Walda rubbed his back to offer comfort

“How do you expect to be a good MOH if you don't even know that?”, mocked Cersei

“She's talking to me”, admired Aemond

“No, I didn't”, she said back

“You just did”, he said, already losing his patience 

“Oh, I'm sorry, Aemond, did I break a rule?”, she said her unnerving calming demeanor

“Oh, um, how about we focus on the wedding part?”, offered Walda with as sweet smile

“Good idea. Let's do that”, said Aemond

“Okay, I need dress sizes”, muttered Baela, who wanted all hands on deck

“I'm a four”, said Cersei 

“Eight”, muttered Walda, the table was quiet all of a second

“You know, Walda, uh, do you think that maybe you'd just be more... comfortable in, like, a 12?”, asked Baela hiding her face in a cup of tea 

“No, it'll be fine. I'm doing the dr. Riverbed fast”, she said excitedly

“Oh, yeah”, acknowledged Baela

“What is that?”, asked Aemond, starting to get a bit scared 

“Uh, water, peach resin, apple pectin, shark extract and Lawry's seasoning salt”, said Walda, taking out a bottle from her purse

“What about food?”, asked Aemond, horrified

“Look, I am going to look amazing in that dress, I am going to meet a Northerner man and I'm gonna be happy. Write down an 8” , she said decisively 

“Got it”, said Baela, concerned

“You don;t have to do that Walda, you look great…”, started Aemond

“What's your dress size, maid of honor?”, mocked Cersei, interrupting him

“I don't know. What's your jock size, Cersei?”, he bit back

“Okay, guys. That's enough. It's enough!”, snapped Baela, everyone got quiet around the table, “Sorry, but will you guys look at (y/n), please?”, you waved awkwardly when all the eyes of the table were in you, that were still speaking to Cregan on the phone, “Okay, she's happy, finally”, she said then, turning back to them, “so, could you please, (y/n), let's all just get along, hook a smile on our faces and pretend like everything is perfect”

“Okay, fine. Okay”, snapped Cersei. The air around the table was tense, very tense, but as soon as you approached, they all broke into aa nervous, and obviously fave, laughter 

“Oh, my God. That's great”, you said, visibly relaxed 

“What did he say?”, asked Walda, “How's he doing?”

“Oh, he's so sweet”, you said with dreamy eyes and an excited smile on your face 

“Isn't that great…”, muttered Aemond 

“How's it going?”, you asked, nervously

“Great”, said Aemond simply

“Good. Really good”, admitted Baela

“Fantastic. Fantastic”, said Walda sipping on her beverage

“I mean, it is pretty much done”, said Baela, “all organized”

“Perfect”, muttered Cersei, you looked at all of them, doubting them seriously

“Really?”, you asked, amazed, “you guys don't know how much this means to me”, you said smiling widely

The reunion ended shortly after, and, soon you were getting ready to leave, Baela pulled you aside, to speak to you about something important, while Cersei approached Aemond

“Aemond?”, she called, he rolled his eyes but then turned around with a smile, preparing for another round

“Yes”, he said, seeking patience out of unknown places

“Here”, she said, giving him a colorful card with a woman’s name written on it

“What is this?”

“Uh, she does bridal-shower entertainment”, she said dismissively, like this act of “kindness” pained her, “I hired her for Baela's sister's shower, and (y/n) loved it”, she continued with a shy smile, “she reads tarot cards and stuff”

“Oh, that's great”, said Aemond, visibly relieved, “Thank you, Cersei”

“I'm not doing it for you, I'm doing it for (Y/N)”

“Okay”, he accepted that, nodding, they were all here for you, weren’t you?, “thank you, 

for (Y/N)”, he nodded and she rolled her eyes

“It should've been me”, she mumbled as she walked away 

Again, as you were saying his your goodbyes, Aemond wrapped an arm around you, protectively, it felt out of hand but no so strange, he was touchy with you, always has been

“I'll talk to you tomorrow”, promised Baela, “bye, Aemond”

“Goodbye”, he said with a smile

“Bye, Walda”

“See you. Nice meeting you”, she said, smiling widely. Once they left, Aemond turned to you

“I just had a very nice bonding moment with Cersei”, he said with a wide smile

“i’m so glad!”, you answered, surprised, “Can I ask you a favor?”, you asked him with that sweet voice Aemond has no choice but to say…

“Sure”

“My mother and grandmother are coming into town tomorrow and I have so much to plan, I was wondering if you and your boys could entertain Cregan for the day”, you asked excitedly

“Entertain him?”, he asked, frowning, that made you worry, Cregan was to be your husband, and Aemond was your best friend, you wanted them to get along

“Yeah, just kind of get to know him and stuff”, you explained, with hope in your voice

“Sure”, he said simply. You hugged him tightly

“Thank you!”, you finally released him, to Aemond’s dismay, and, looking up at him

“This means so much to me, really, I love him and I wish you both can get along, I mean, I love both of you. It is only natural you get along too, right?”

Love

Love 

Love

Aemond’s chest tightened 

“Yeah”, he tried to smile, and you seemed convinced 

“I need to go, meet him, but, I’ll see you”, you said with a wide smile, “I’m so excited for you! you’ll expand your horizons! in the North!, meet some nice Northerner women”, you teased

“Yeah, I’m not so sure about that, i don’t want to ruin anything”, he said

“Thanks”, you gave him a kiss on the cheek, and you walked away 

This was going to be harder than the both of you ever imagined

“So, from Winterfell, uh? Tell me, are you more proud of Winter cheesecake or frosty butter fingers?, asked Aegon to Cregan

“None of those things are from the North I think”, he answered weirdly, Aegon just pouted comically

“So, wait, you invited this guy to play ball with us?”, asked Criston to Aemond

“Yeah, he's the competition”, explained Aemond, it sounded better on his head, “I need to get to know his strengths and weaknesses”

“That is smart actually”, said Addam approvingly, “Is that… shirt yours?”, asked Addam, awkwardly

“Yeah, it's my shirt”, muttered Aemond, he didn’t want to admit it, but regan wore it best

“That's your shirt?”, asked Criston

“Yeah. Looks good on him, huh?”, he said sadly

“Looks real good”, laughed Criston

“Why don't you play with him?”, asked Aemond, Criston could see he was concerned so he just nodded, understanding that his friend needed to… measure himself against this guy. “thanks”

“Hey, Cregan, have you ever played basketball before?”, asked Addam lightly

“We would call this netball”, his accent fascinated the friends, “Um, back in Winterfell, it's more of a woman's game”, now they didn’t find him as endearing, “so, no, I don't have much experience”, he said, bouncing the ball on his hands 

“I do”, said Larys Strong, “you need one more?”, he asked wiggling his eyebrows

“We're good”, dismissed Criston

“All right”, he adjusted the transparent plastic glasses he used and ran away from them 

The boys placed themselves over the court, everyone looking at each other, 

“All right, boys, you ready?”, asked Aegon, finding this whole ordeal very entertaining 

“Yeah. I am”, so the whistle indicated the start of the game and the five started moving quickly

Now, Addam, Aemond, Aegon and Criston played constantly together, so they moved swiftly, as they started passing the ball between each other with skill, and avoiding the other team swiftly

Cregan immediately was struggling

“Gotta use your hands there”, corrected Addam, as it was too easy for him to steal the ball fro the Northerner, who growled frustrated 

Criston and Aemond were not playing nice either, Aemond was revealing his lack of skill with the ball, and enjoyed taunting him as he passed him. 

“You alright there?”, asked Criston, already losing his mind

He managed to steal the ball from Aegon, and passed it over to Cregan, who tried to pass by Aemond

“I'm open, I'm open!”, said Addam, Cregan attempted to pass the ball onto him, but it was easily intercepted by Aemond, who scored right after

“There we go”, he grunted happily.

Cregan might be handsome, strong, big, rich, may own a distillery, he may have won your love and admiration, may be your fiancé, but Aemond was winning on basketball, a sport Cregan didn’t even play, and he felt so good because of it.

“You gotta hold on to the ball, man”, growled Criston, frustrated 

It was almost too easy 

They kept playing, Criston tried and tried to connect with Cregan, and he was struggling, didn’t get the rhythm, he managed to catch the ball and avoid Aegon, tried to pass it on to Criston but Aemond was there ready to intercept him, and scored himself 

“There you go”, muttered Criston, seeing some improvement, “that was good”

Cregan and Criston got the ball again, actually Cregan managed to pass it on and Criston scored for their team

“Here you go”, Criston grunted, a bit more pleased 

“Okay, back to you! put it in the basket1”, he demanded as they kept playing

Aemond was weirdly quiet, measuring his “enemy”, seeing when to strike and he did it good, he was actually good at this game 

The other team came up strong, retaking the ball and playing Criston and Cregan back up again

“The guy's a chump”, grunted Criston to Aemond, who only smiled widely 

Criston stole the ball from Addam, and looked up to find Cregan standing close tot he zone

“Yo!”, he called, more decisively 

Cregan was just in the zone, and Criston passed the ball, he managed to grab it against his chest firmly, he looked up, but seemed lost as he had an incredible opportunity to score

“Just put it in the basket!”, demanded Criston who was about to start ripping his hair with his own hands

“Go ahead!”, screamed Addam, “put it in the basket!”, Cregan didn’t need to be told again, and in a movement that seemed like he was doing it in slow motion, he jumped, so high they couldn’t believe what they were seeing, and then with both hands, buried the ball in the basket, almost grabbing onto it

The four guys stared with their mouths wide open as Cregan landed easily on the ground, after giving them the greatest dunk they had ever seen en amateur basketball

“Sorry, guys, huh?”, he said, when he didn’t understand why they were so impressed 

“Did you see that!?”, asked Aegon, who wanted to faint 

“Probably not allowed to stuff it in the net”, he said apologetically. He thought he did something wrong as everyone was looking at him amazed and surprised

“He dunks the ball!”, said Criston, he couldn’t believe his eyes 

“Sorry, sorry”, continued Cregan, grabbing the ball again, ready to keep playing

“He dunks the ball!”, said Addam, horrified 

“That was awesome!”, said Criston, as Aemond was throwing daggers at him, “you can dunk!”

“He can dunk”, muttered Aemond, defeated

“That is awesome”, said Criston, looking at Cregan

“Wait, if that's allowed, why don't you guys all do it?”, he asked

“Yeah, if we could, we would. Right?”, mocked Aegon

That is all that Cregan needed to beat them alongside Criston, they ended up playing two against three and they dunked the ball so many times they lost track of the score 

Cregan was happy to be able to keep up with the boys, and sadly for Aemond, all his friends seemed almost charmed with the Northerner, as he was completely horrified

His enemy was even more formidable than he expected

The worst part is?

Cregan is not even competing with him!

the bastard wasn’t even trying!

“Good game, yeah. Good game”, they greeted each other as they went back to the locker rooms. Cregan went straight to take a shower, while Aegon and Addam approached Aemond, who looked like he had seen a ghost 

He's gonna be more competition than he thought.

“I love that guy”, Aegon laughed

“You all right?”, Addam asked, palming Aemond on the back

“Yeah”, he said without any energy left

The approached the open shower, where Cregan was cleaning himself, Aemond was about to get in, getting undressed, he could see that Cregan wasn’t shy, he was there naked in a room with a bunch of guys he had never met before, but when he turned around, Aemond could see why

“Holy…sh-”, he cursed, as he seemed to by looking straight at the sun

He, Criston, Aegon, Addam and even Larys stood there, watching Cregan who was smiling back at them, cleaning himself 

“Look at his meat sausage! ITS HUGE!”, mumbled Larys, Criston, who was by his side, covered his mouth, and the spell seemed to wear off as they all looked away 

Aemond’s hand instinctively went to his lower belly, thinking, horrid, how you probably had sex with him already, shit, did it hurt? How could he compete with that? CREGAN WAS FUCKING PACKING

“We gotta get some dirt on this guy”, said Criston as soon as he got him alone, “I got a guy I use when a spouse suspects infidelity”, he said quickly, speaking about his jobs as a lawyer, “everybody's got skeletons in their closet, nobody's squeaky clean and my guy's the best”, he said firmly

“I don't know, it just seems so cheap”, whispered Aemond

“Don't worry, it won't be. I'll charge double because you're rich”, he said with a smirk 

“I mean, it's a cheap thing to do”, he said seriously 

“He plays cheap”, he answered simply, “you gotta match that”

“How does Cregan play cheap?”, he asked then

“That thing with (y/n), being Northerner, making her fall in love with him in Winterfell…”, he said, frowning, “when she was up there, alone… with his… basketball abilities…”

“That monster thing of his…”, chipped in Larys. Aemond seemed to think about it

“Fine. Get the dirt”, he said simply