just a word: You and Aemond had grown apart over the past few years. But, when he finally rid himself of the shackles of his on again off again relationship with Alys, he shows up at your apartment.
yeah, i said it: You and Aemond have a workplace situationship. It's about time that changes.
dragon rider: You work for the rock band the Valyrians. You steal their things and Aemond knows.
aegon targaryen
in your warmth: Aegon reveals that he has been going to counseling and is committed to getting better and being a better father and husband. You, as always, forgive and forget too easily.
genre. romantic comedy — inspired by 10 things i hate about you and also another movie (can you guess which one? :) ) , college/university au, eventual smut, enemies to lovers (kinda??? their relationship is complicated to explain LOL)
In all the 8 years you’ve known Aemond Targaryen, he has not spoken more than 8 words to you. In total.
So why is he starting now?
warnings. none :)
word count. 7k+
01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05
It’s weird. It’s strange. It’s suspicious.
The way that you’ve been humming love songs all morning, dreamily sighing every other second, and the layers and layers of almond butter you’ve already piled onto your toast… It's all so unlike you.
“Sansa…” Jon whispers from the corner of his mouth to his girlfriend sitting across the kitchen table from him, his gaze wearily on you. “I think we’ve lost her.”
Sansa rolls her eyes, petting Lady softly as the docile direwolf eats a piece of pancake off her palm. “She’s just in a good mood! ___ is always pretty much in a good mood!”
“Yeah… but never like that. ”
Now they’re both staring at you — giggling to yourself as if having a conversation in your head. Clearly on the Seven Heavens.
“Ooooh…” Sansa sucks in a hiss, trying to suppress her own giggles. “She’s got it bad.”
“Terribly bad,” Jon retorts, sharing a smile and laugh with Sansa.
Jon calls your name, and though it doesn’t completely pull you out of your daydreaming, you still manage to answer him with a very airy, “ Mmhmm?”
“How did the date go?” Sansa asks.
“Oh, you know…” You let out another soft sigh. “It was alright…”
“Really?” Jon grins with amusement. “Just alright? ”
His teasing tone has you finally snapping out of it, narrowing your gaze at him, “Yeah, just alright— oh…” when you notice the mountain of almond butter on your burnt toast, that’s when Sansa and Jon start howling with laughter. The face that you made must have been a sight to see.
You pout at them while stuffing the extra almond butter back in the jar. You really can’t afford to spread it so thickly. The jars are like $15 each!
“Come on! Tell us about it!” Sansa prompts as you stomp over to them with your plate and cup of homemade iced coffee, sliding into an empty chair.
You take a big mouth open inhale like you are about to tell them the full story with no minor detail missed – but what you blurt out is, “It was… you know, good.”
The all too cool one shoulder shrug you do was all your best friend needed for his mouth to drop in realization.
“You like him like him,” Jon accuses, not unkindly, just — shocked.
You grimace because it’s the truth. If you spilled your guts out about what you really wanted to say about the date, you would be talking forever. You would not be able to shut up about Aemond and how nice his lips felt on yours.
“Yes,” you hiss at him. “And that’s the problem!”
Sansa laughs, and asks in a clearly incredulous tone, “Why is that a problem?!”
“Because Sansa…” You groan, pressing your fingers on both sides of your temples, eyes wide at the table as if having an existential crisis. “It was only the first date — and I’m already like this!” You gesture at your almond butter covered burnt toast and terrible watered-down iced coffee.
You’re not opposed to having feelings for someone… but this quickly?!
Oh, absolutely not.
“Whoa…” Jon breathes out, still flabbergasted, deflating on his seat.
“I know…” you cry, sniffling that both Ghost and Lady pad over to comfort you, pressing their snout against you.
Sansa looks between you and her boyfriend, and then sighs in exasperation . “You two are so dramatic!” She then turns her attention solely on you, “I think it’s wonderful you like Aemond this much! It looks nice on you — you’re all glowy and cute and happy!”
You flush as your spirit lifts slightly, flattering your lashes at her and leaning into the palm of your hand, preening. “Wait, really? I look glowy and cute?”
“Yes, you do!” Sansa tells you with a little giggle. “That’s why I was thinking… You should invite Aemond to Bachelor night.”
Your eyes widen slightly at that, taken aback at the sudden suggestion. Meanwhile, Jon nods in agreement, “I think that’s a great idea!”
Skeptically, you look between them. “Really? You guys want to meet him?”
“Of course we do!” Sansa exclaims. “I think we all want to meet the guy who is making our best friend all happy and glowy and cute!”
Sansa reaches over to teasingly pinch your cheek after you scrunch up your face in embarrassment causing Jon to laugh.
The real question is though… Are you really at that point in your relationship with Aemond that you feel comfortable enough introducing him to all of your friends?
To everyone else, it might not be a super big deal. You recall Theon bringing girls who he barely even dated to hang out with your friends. Meera too. But still… To you it is important, your friends are that important to you. So it’s the same as introducing a partner to your parents. You can’t even think of a time you brought someone you dated to meet your friends.
Will Aemond be the first?
You mull over it for the rest of the day, and it distracts everything you do.
Somehow though, you are able to act like a professional and clear your head when you check up on Viserys. You go through his numbers and how he is feeling meticulously before sending off the information to Samwell.
“All good,” you let him know with a grin. “Sam said when you visit the hospital on Tuesday, they’ll look at your diet and hopefully they can figure out the cause of the bloating…” You frown in concern, once again asking Viserys a question you had already asked him twice this visit, “You’re sure it’s not bothering you, right?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Viserys waves it off again. When you narrow your gaze at him, skeptical, he repeats it. So you finally let it go, proceeding to pack up your equipment.
“So… How was your date with Aemond?”
You freeze mid zipping up the bag, robotically and slowly turning your head towards Viserys. Your mortified expression meets his sly one. “Wha— How’d you—?”
“His mother told me,” Viserys informs you.
“Oh,” you say, dumbfounded.
“I’ve also been told that he is… smitten with you,” he adds with a teasing tone.
“Oh, Seven Hells,” you mumble, your hand on your cheek to cool the heat that spreads there.
You’re embarrassed, of course, but also… Aemond talked to Alicent? About you?
You know Aemond has a pretty close relationship with his mom so does that mean he actually is smitten with you?
You must have had a dumb, giddy look on your face because Viserys comments, “So I take it the date was good?”
With a narrowed gaze, you don’t answer his question, only threatening mildly, “You better not say anything to my mom.”
Viserys just laughs heartily.
Three days after the date, Aemond finds himself waiting against the wall opposite of the room of your last class of the day.
His foot taps impatiently on the floor as he waits for the class to end. Maybe he is feeling a little bit apprehensive too.
Aemond thought the date had gone really well — better than well!
So why has it been like pulling teeth whenever he tries to make conversation with you through text?
It was easy to see that you weren’t your usual excited and emoji-filled self. Aemond would even say your messages lately have been drier than his.
Did he perhaps do something wrong? He has been replaying the date in his mind, combing through every interaction and conversation but couldn’t find anything he did that would warrant the change in your behavior towards him.
Aemond knows he is not the most socially aware person in the world, but he is not that daft to not be able to figure out if he did something awful. At least, he doesn’t think he is.
The classroom door opens before he can dwell on it again, and he straightens up to seek you out amongst the students that file out. When he finds you, he calls out your name without thinking. It has him holding his breath, watching and waiting for what your reaction will be when you see him.
Confusion sets on your face as you glance around, but when you meet his gaze, you perk up – all bright eyes and a cheerful smile. Awash with sudden relief, Aemond grins as he meets your bouncy steps towards him halfway.
“He—” Aemond cuts off your greeting with his mouth on yours, catching you completely off guard. But it doesn’t take long for your hand to cradle his face to draw him in closer. Aemond’s hum of satisfaction vibrates through you and you brush your nose tenderly against his, smiling into the kiss.
You can’t believe this is you now — or Aemond for that matter. You hadn’t thought you two would be one for PDA, but here you are, caught in an ardent kiss on full display in front of your peers.
You are only a little bit embarrassed when you part, throwing a goofy yet apologetic strained grin at anyone who passed by giving you either an unpleasant or amused look for your public display of affection in the middle of the hall with the Ice Prince of the campus.
When you turn your attention back to Aemond, he is still looking down at you, the soft expression on his face has you feeling warm all over.
There is a small smile on his lips when he asks, “Can I accompany you home?”
With loose intertwined fingers, you are leading Aemond to the bus stop on the west side of the campus. The bus isn’t arriving for another 10 minutes so you weren’t in a hurry, leisurely walking together in comfortable silence.
That is until you decide to bring up what was on your mind.
“So I heard about what you told your mom about me…”
Aemond freezes on the spot, halting the two of you from moving.
“My mother…?” Aemond swallows thickly, a guilty pit in his stomach so he doesn’t even hear the teasing in your tone. The last time he talked to his mother about you was a couple weeks ago… The day after the party.
“Yeah…” you grin at him, twisting around to face him but your hand still in his. You poke at his chest as you sing-song, “Heard you were gushing about our date… and that you like me.”
He heats, face flushing red and completely flustered.
It must have been Helaena that told his mother about how the date went. She’s the only one he told. And then his mother told his father and then he told you — it’s the only logical explanation.
Either way, it is a bit mortifying. But at least it wasn’t what he thought that you might have heard. That wouldn’t have been the worst case scenario.
“I didn’t gush . I don’t do that. You know I don’t,” he insists.
“Uh-huh,” you hum as if you don’t believe him. But just when he is about to defend himself and maybe even come clean with everything — on why his mother would want his father to know how well you and him are getting on — you ask him instead, “Are you free this Wednesday?”
This time, instead of one direwolf bombarding Aemond at the door, they’ve multiplied by three. At least none of them are threatening his life — not even Ghost — all just curiously sniffing the latest to arrive at yours and Jon’s apartment.
“Oh, Targaryen’s here!” The redhead man that opened the door exclaims at the sight of Aemond. With the most charming smile, he steps forward and throws his arm casually around the taller man. “I’m Robb! I’ve heard a lot about you!”
That has Aemond’s brows rising in surprise. What have you told your friends about him? He tries to keep it cool so instead of asking Robb to elaborate, he says instead, “Nice to meet you. You’re the one studying to be a public defendant, right?”
Robb grins and nods while also trying to stop all the direwolves from excitedly and happily tackling Aemond to the ground, especially the biggest of the bunch — a grey one with yellow eyes. “Grey Wind, down!”
“Down!” A woman with the same shade of red hair as the man in front of Aemond commands, and at the sound of her voice, all three wolves sit obediently. She pets all of them, giving extra love to one in particular — the one she murmurs a fond thank you Lady — before she smiles at Aemond. “Hi! I’m Sansa!”
She hugs him too. Are all your friends huggers?
Jon pops up next and even he wraps Aemond in an awkward hug, saying it’s nice to see him again.
Another man bounds to the front door with an extremely goofy grin and Aemond already knows who he is.
“Theon,” he says, trying to be suave and cool, offering his hand towards Aemond. “But you probably heard about me.”
“I have,” Aemond tells him, and leaves it at that. You said Theon is the one who annoys you the most but is also the one that makes you laugh the most, so he at least has that going for him.
But Theon’s eyes brighten, laughing as he pulls Aemond into a tight hug.
So they’re all huggers.
Theon sniffs Aemond noisily. “Dude, you smell really good. What is that? Dior? Tom Ford—“
“I go to the washroom for two seconds and you’re all out here trying to make sure that Aemond wouldn’t want to hang out with any of us ever again?”
At the sight of you over Theon’s shoulder — so breathtakingly gorgeous in a comfy oversized hoodie and tights — Aemond’s lips spread into a smile. You make your way towards him, sweeping a faux look of anger at your friends and the wolves that are wagging their tails.
Theon peels away from Aemond just as you step in between them, waving your hands back and forth to widen the space. “Like please give him room to breathe .”
“Hey, we were just trying to make sure to give your boyfie the warmest welcome!” Theon tells you with a teasing smirk.
Boyfie? That has Aemond furrowing his brows in confusion.
Wait… like…
Boyfriend?
Aemond feels a little lighter. The nervousness he was feeling all day before coming over suddenly vanishes, instead replaced with swelling pride and satisfaction.
Though neither of you have explicitly defined the relationship, the fact that you’ve told your friends that he is your boyfriend has him uncharacteristically hyped up. Like when Daeron gets the Valorant skins he wants in his game’s store and he blows up the Targaryen siblings’ group chat with a video of him yelling, “Let’s fuckin’ gooooooooooooooo!”
“Can you stop calling him that?!” You snap at Theon with a glare. Then you turn to Aemond, pouting. “I promise you he is calling you that all on his own. I told you he’s annoying!”
Both Aemond and Theon outwardly deflate at the same time for different reasons.
“You told him I’m annoying?!” Theon whines petulantly at the new fact. Meanwhile Aemond is a tiny bit (a lot) disappointed that you didn’t tell your friends that he is your boyfriend.
“Cause you are…” you say like it’s a matter of fact, but it is also clear in your cheery tone that you are fond of Theon too.
With your hand around Aemond’s wrist you pull him into your apartment while also shooing your friends away.
While you take his coat and scarf to hang inside the shoe closet, Aemond steps into an open space and notices two brunette women at the kitchen making some sort of alcoholic concoction in a huge pitcher.
The one that is wearing loose streetwear clothes wipes her hands on a towel before reaching over to present her hand to Aemond with a grin, “Hey, I’m Meera.”
The florist and the one who gives the best advice.
After shaking her hand he turns to the other woman — the one with the sly smirk that could rival his signature grin.
“Margaery?” He asks with a quizzical rise of his eyebrow. The three Tyrell brothers’ youngest sister. Aemond was a pretty close acquaintance of Willas before he graduated, they worked on a few projects together.
She hums, nodding with a cool shrug. “The one and only.”
Aemond feels a hand on his back, and he turns slightly to see you smiling up at him.
“Hey,” he murmurs with a warm smile as he faces you fully, his hands resting on your waist.
Your hands come up to touch his chest, feeling the lush cashmere of his sweater. “Hey.”
Then you are on your tiptoes to press a kiss on his lips. He hums in satisfaction, but you pull away just as he leans in for more. Aemond breathes out your name sternly, a demand for you to give him what he wants. Giggling, you give in to him, kissing him harder — but it’s short lived when the television turns on and you hear the opening monologue of the reality TV show you’ve been waiting for months to start again.
Aemond huffs in frustration when your lips leave his again, but this time you walk away with a teasing smirk and a cock of your head to follow.
The two of you grab drinks — the mixed alcoholic drink for you and a bottle of beer for him — before settling on the left side of the couch closely together.
“Have you watched the Bachelor before, Aemond?” Theon asks, squeezing himself in between the two couples on the couch. You just cuddle closer to Aemond, his arm around your shoulder to pull into his chest tighter; but Robb and Margaery try to kick Theon off. They are not successful.
“Uh, no…” Aemond answers. “…is it good?”
“Man, you’re in for a treat,” Robb exclaims jubilantly, but Aemond can not tell if he is being sarcastic or not.
You told him that he’s coming over to watch the season premiere of your friend groups’ favorite show, so he did not imagine it to be a trashy dating show.
“It’s actually really good, believe it or not,” Jon tells him as if reading his mind. “And apparently this is going to be their best season yet because the Bachelor is one of the Martells.”
“If it isn’t Oberyn, I’m gonna riot,” you say, popping a chip in your mouth. “I just want to see his pretty face on my TV again!”
Sansa shakes her head from where her and Jon settled on the floor with their direwolves. “No, I’m telling you it’s going to be Quentyn. They’ve been teasing that the Bachelor is one of the Martell’s for months and yet… nothing has leaked. If it was Oberyn, you know a picture would have surfaced the internet by now. They’re trying to make it seem like it’s him but it’s going to be Quentyn instead.”
“Honestly, I think Oberyn is done with reality TV shows after that last season he was on,” Meera adds. “That whole made up drama the producers tried to cause with his daughters and the paternity tests was all kinds of fucked up. I don’t blame him for not wanting to go back.”
As the discussion goes on, all is lost on Aemond. He knows some of the people mentioned (even met some of them) but he doesn’t really “Keep Up” with the Martells like most of the world does.
All Aemond really takes in is that you are really attracted to Oberyn Martell. He tries to find the similarities between himself and the older man and finds none, causing him to hum in displeasure and his hand on your hip grips tighter in possessiveness.
You don’t notice, too engrossed in the introductions happening on the screen.
Each woman that appears, you and your friends predict if they’ll make it far into the season.
“Who’s your favorite so far, Targaryen?” Theon asks.
“That’s bait, man. Don’t answer it,” Robb said, throwing a grin your way. “___ is a jealous one.”
“I’m not!” You snap at him with a hardened glare. Then you flatter your lashes at Aemond, sweetly cooing, “you can choose a favorite, I don’t mind!”
The show only focused on 13 out of the 26 women competing so far, and even though not all of them has been introduced, Aemond is already getting confused on who is who. So many of them look alike and sound the same.
“I don’t have a favorite,” Aemond answers earnestly. “And I doubt I’d have one.”
“Good answer,” Jon grins at him.
With a grin, you lean in to kiss his cheek. Good answer indeed.
“So the ones that got the minute long introduction… does that mean they’re the finalists?” Aemond whispers to you.
“Oh, you sweet summer child,” you murmur with a frown, patting his chest. He pouts and puts his hand over yours, holds it there against him while you explain, “Some of them do make it far, but it’s usually just the ones that will bring the most drama in the first few episodes. Like that Myranda girl for example, you can tell she’s just a shitstirrer. She’ll probably be gone after the third episode’s group date and…” you trail off, squinting at the screen and tilting your head.
“What is it?” Aemond questions, following your gaze to try to figure out why you seem so distracted all of the sudden.
“I think…” you start, still distracted, checking if your friends have reacted.
Only Robb seems to have seen what you did; he sits up straighter, eyes going wide. But before you can ask him; a handsome, chiseled jawed man with glorious brown hair walks into the living room area where all the women are mingling.
At the sight of him, the women on the show (and all your friends) squeal excitedly.
“Hello girls,” he murmurs in a sultry tone, oozing sex appeal.
“Hi Daario…!” You all call back, equally as flirty (or trying to be), Theon being the loudest and most shrill.
Aemond reads the title that appears at the bottom of the screen — Daario Naharis, Host .
“Welcome to The Bachelor! Thank you, Ladies, for joining us in this beautiful, sunshine paradise that we call Sunspear. This season is a very special season for us. It’s the 30th season and it’s with our most prolific Bachelor yet… So it should be no surprise that we chose the most beautiful, the smartest, and the loveliest women to compete this year…” The women giggle at that, and Daario just blinds them with his million dollar smile. “... And our handsome bachelor…. He is very excited to meet all of you…” He glances around, smirking, “Do you all want to meet him too?”
The contestants cheer, buzzing excitedly when Daario looks towards the door and announces, “Then please give a warm welcome to your bachelor…”
A few of the contestants’ talking heads get edited in, all of them hoping for Oberyn Martell.
So does that mean…?
“They wouldn’t bait us, would they?” Margaery glares at the television. “That would be crazy!”
“Totally unhinged,” Meera tacks on.
“If they want their ratings to tank, maybe,” Robb comments.
You wonder if you should bring up what you saw, but maybe it’s just your eyes playing tricks on you. It could be someone else that looks like her…
“Here he comes!” Theon teeters with giddy anticipation, sliding off the couch to just sit on the floor after Margaery kicked his butt one few many times.
On the screen, it flashes to different cuts of the man about to enter the room – focusing on his traditional Dornish suit, his coiffed brown hair, his narrow shoulders… And it’s over. You all deflate in disappointment. Without even seeing his face, you all knew it wasn’t Oberyn Martell…
It’s not even Quentyn, who is the second hottest man in the Martell family.
But it’s the youngest of them, Trystane Martell, whose only relevance outside of his family name is probably all the fake relationships his mother set up for him. Other than that, he was the most boring of the Martells.
It seems even the contestants weren’t too thrilled with their bachelor, their reception of him is lukewarm when he steps in the room and joins Daario.
“Aww… this is actually kinda sad,” You say with a pout, watching Trystane just standing there, looking beyond awkward with his tight-lipped smile. “He’s cute! But, just, y’know, kinda bland — that’s not a crime!”
“It literally is if your older sister is Arianne Martell,” Theon replies, your friends agreeing with him. “You know, they probably going to mention how he dated—“
“You are probably wondering why Trystane is here,” Daario segues. “When only a month ago, he was happily in a relationship with pop icon, Luvie—“
“There it is!” Theon triumphs, looking around gleefully. “What did I just say?!”
“She even wrote her hit song Nonsense about him —“
“Oh, yikes… they’re never beating the PR relationship allegations,” you murmur, not noticing Aemond’s discomfort beside you, too engrossed at the train wreck happening on the show.
“And I know you all heard the blind items. Luvie only dates guys with huge…” Daario smirks slyly.
“COCKS!” Meera, Theon, Robb, and Margaery all cry out just as Daario says coyly, “… Hearts.”
“I like our answer better,” Meera says with a shrug as your friends laugh.
“Damn, I was really hoping he’d say [BLEEP].”
In an instant, the room was dead silent, everyone staring wide-eyed at the television. Aemond glances around, confused. Why are all of you frozen in place after the woman whose 2 second confessional just played. Aemond didn’t recognize her. Although he is not interested in celebrities and social media stars, he just happens to know the most popular ones. Even the up-and-coming ones… he has been to a party where he met Ice Spice just this past summer.
So who — Aemond tries to recall the name that popped up for the brunette woman whose job was listed as college dropout — is this…
“ ARYA?!”
All your friends shout in varying degrees of volume, all in a spectrum of different kinds of surprise.
Sansa and Robb look towards each other.
“Did you know?!”
“No! Did you?!?”
With both of them shaking their heads, they turn to Jon, screeching at his face at the same time, “Did she tell you?!”
Jon is a bumbling mess, “I don’t think so— I mean, she might have mentioned it, but like, you know, in that Arya way of hers. So I don’t know—!”
Suddenly, cellphones around the room start chiming and vibrating. Jon, Sansa, and Robb check their phones, all occupied with replying with text they’ve gotten — it must be the Stark group chat. You got a text too, from the group chat with your parents, your mom asking if you knew Arya was on the Bachelor right now. You reply you are surprised as them before putting your phone down on the coffee table in front of you and then snuggle right up into Aemond again.
“Her hair!” Margaery awes at Arya who is still on the screen, charming Trystane with that cool Arya way of hers, and Meera nods excitedly with Margaery. The last time you saw Arya, her hair was long. Now it’s a cute pixie cut. “She looks so chic!”
“Badass and adorable,” Meera comments.
“College dropout,” Theon snorts laughing, slapping his knee to show how tickled he is. “Classic Arya!”
“I thought I saw her!” you exclaim with a grin, meeting Aemond’s lost look. “That’s Robb and Sansa’s younger sister!”
“Really?” Aemond questions in a way that says he is having a hard time believing it. “She looks a lot more like…”
Everyone stops to watch where his gaze drifts, all laughing when it lands — except the embarrassed one whose Aemond’s eyes are on and the woman pressed by his side.
“That’s because Jon’s our cousin!” Robb provides.
Aemond looks shocked. “But… doesn’t that mean…”
He tries not to gawk at Jon and Sansa, but he can’t help it. All their friends — including you — are so nonchalant about their relationship so it’s surprising. He watches as Sansa blushes furiously and leans over the arm of the chair she is sharing with Jon to slap her brother’s arm, who is still howling with laughter.
Aemond meets Jon’s eyes and the latter looks like he is going to die, causing Aemond to blurt out, “I’m not judging, my family is no stranger to relationships like yours.”
He sounds so blunt that it makes everyone laugh more. When prompted by Meera about what he means, Aemond gives a brief history of the Targaryen bloodline. By the end of it, both Jon and Sansa look a bit more relieved — especially when he tells them about how his uncle creeped on his older half sister when she was barely legal.
“At least neither of you are like him,” Aemond says with a nonchalant shrug.
“So are they together?”
“No, she’s with this guy named Harwin. Complete opposite of my uncle.”
“And your uncle?”
“He’s, well… uh… with my cousin… who is younger than my half-sister.”
The whole room draws out an ‘ Oh… ’, both weirded out and fascinated.
You’ve met Rhaenyra before a few times, and his uncle Daemon maybe once or twice, but you hadn’t known the history between. Maybe that’s why Viserys has such a strained relationship with his brother.
Finally, the drama on the screen becomes interesting again — particularly because Trystane has asked for a bit of a one-on-one time with Arya in the gardens— so everyone’s attention is on that. While your friends argue whether they think Arya is going to get a rose that night or not, you murmur to Aemond, “Give me a thorough Targaryen history before I meet your family, okay? I don’t wanna… accidentally say the wrong thing. Offend someone, you know?”
He notices you said when , not if , and that has his heart feeling light for some reason.
“Yeah,” he murmurs with a small smile. “Of course.”
The two of you share a soft gaze, only to tear your eyes off each other when—
“What the fuck does that mean?! So you don’t think Arya is pretty enough to get a rose?!”
“Dude, that’s not what I meant!”
“Do tell me, Theon, what did you mean?” It’s Sansa now who is pissed, you hadn’t heard what Theon said but it clearly offended the Stark siblings.
“I just — I don’t think she’s going to get the first rose! That’s all!”
“And why don’t you think she’s going to get a first rose?”
“Now you’re just trying to stir shit, Margaery!”
“You stirred it first!”
“Meera! You’re supposed to be on my side!”
“I’m tired of being on the losing side…”
“DUDE! I DON’T ALWAYS— Okay, fine! But this time, I’m gonna win! My bets on Shae to get the first rose! $10!”
“You’re on, Greyjoy!”
You laugh at your friends' usual antics. And taking a sneaky peek at Aemond, you witness him chuckling too. It makes your heart do a happy little squeeze.
Turns out, Arya does get the first rose of the night. Which means in the next episode, she gets a one-on-one date with Trystane while the other girls have to compete for his attention in a group date.
Theon was teary eyed when he lost $70, giving ten to everyone in the room — even Aemond thought Arya was going to win.
Another argument broke out when Theon sniffed and muttered, “I don’t understand why Shae didn’t get the first rose…”
“So you don’t think Arya deserved it?” Aemond asks with a teasing smirk.
“Aemond, bro… not you too! I just would have picked Shae instead of her, personally!”
“Are you too good for Arya or something?”
“____ NO! THAT’S NOT —“
Aemond feels comfortable now with making his own quips, your friends really made him feel like he is a part of your group. Him and Jon even had a thought provoking conversation together at the kitchen table while grabbing more beer — they found out they enjoy the same podcast. Aemond likes them, your friends. He hopes they like him too because that would mean more time to spend with you.
Aemond does not even realize when it happens, but after that premiere episode and three movies later, everyone save the two of you have fallen asleep. He must have been so preoccupied laughing closely and making little jokes with you that even Theon’s loud snoring did not tear his attention away from you or your clever little commentaries on whatever movie was playing.
Noticing as well, you turn down the volume until it’s almost on mute. You then get up quietly, mouthing to Aemond that you’ll be right back before carefully tiptoeing around where Theon is sprawled on the floor to head to your room.
Aemond starts to clean up while you’re gone, clearing the coffee table of empty cups and bowls of various snacks. He hears you emerge from your room just as he ties up the small garbage bag that he had filled full, and sees you carrying a heavy bundle in your arms of what seems to be blankets.
Heading over to where Jon and Sansa are cuddling together on the velvet green armchair, you shake Jon’s shoulder until he blinks sleepily up at you.
“Go to bed,” you murmur to him, pointing out the awkward position Sansa is laying on him. “Her neck is going to hurt tomorrow if you guys sleep here.”
Groggily, Jon nods slow, heeding your advice and takes himself and Sansa to his room. With the armchair now empty, you drop the blankets in your arms there before taking one to drape over Robb and Margaery.
Next, you go over to Meera at the other armchair, reclining it so it’s more of a bed for her. Then you bend down to peel off Theon’s socks, looking grossed out while doing it — but you get the job done knowing that your friend gets nightmares if he has them on. After, you throw the last two blankets on Meera and the other on Theon.
The whole time, Aemond watches with fondness in his eye. It’s clear to see how much you care about your friends, your sweetness and love for them affecting the beating in his chest.
Perhaps he has always known this about you. Growing up, you’d always find little ways to help brighten up other people’s day. Like helping out Helaena collect bugs in the backyard even though you were terrified of them. Or how you spent a lot of your time listening to Daeron’s storytelling, even though the youngest Targaryen was just rambling gibberish that made no sense most of the time at that age. Not to mention, you shared everything with his siblings. You’d come to his father’s place with things you had made — desserts, beaded bracelets, and anything else you had fancied to be creative with that week. Helaena and Daeron were always so ecstatic when you did, even Aegon sometimes too. Now Aemond wishes he hadn’t turned away all your attempts to befriend him.
He doesn’t even know why he had been so cold to you… Jealousy, maybe? His father treated you like you were his own child when you were just some caretaker’s kid. Meanwhile, Aemond’s time apart from his father due to the divorce had their relationship feeling like they are just strangers. Him and his siblings would stay at his father’s place every summer and holiday break but instead of it feeling like a vacation, he would dread it. Then he would always see you making his father laugh like the clown you were but he can’t even have a proper conversation with him out of resentment. It also didn’t help that his mother would talk down about you and your mother, and her husband — well, boyfriend at the time, Criston — would always imply that your mother was having an affair with his father, so that didn’t help at all at how Aemond saw you and your family.
His previous prejudice about your status, wealth, and home life makes his stomach turn now. Gods, he was such an —-
“Ae?”
Pretty, wide and concerned-filled eyes blinking up at him pull him out of his thoughts. “Are you okay? Was tonight too overwhelming for you?”
He shakes his head, grinning down in an attempt to ease your worry. “I’m alright. I was just spacing out.”
Frowning, you remain unconvinced, so he lifts a hand to caress your cheek, a tender grin on his lips as he tells you, “I had a wonderful night. Your friends are great. I like them a lot.”
A warmth of happiness spreads through you.
“Good,” you say. “But the night is not over yet…”
When he lifts a brow in question, you just answer with a giggle as you take his hand in yours.
The city lights are shining bright when the two of you step foot onto the roof of the apartment complex. It is a bit chilly as well but with your hand in his, Aemond doesn’t feel it all that much.
Aemond looks around, impressed. The rooftop must be a hangout spot for the residents of the building; furnished with seats, a table, and decorated with fairy lights. Cozy and definitely where a group of friends like yours would hang out, as if straight out of a sitcom. He feels like he has been let in on a little secret, that you are allowing him to be a part of your world. Something about that thrills him, but also makes him nervous…
You lead him to a wooden bench, both settling down.
Taking the wool blanket you brought, you laugh with Aemond as he helps you cozily drape it around your backs.
“Thank you,” he murmurs quietly when you hand him one of the little cups of hot chocolate that you poured from the tumbler you prepared before heading up. Sipping the rich and warm drink while enjoying each other's company, Aemond loosely wraps his free arm around your waist to pull you into him. You snuggle up to him closer to overlook traffic on the streets below and the sparse stars above together.
Aemond is not familiar with this part of the city so you point out places that you enjoy — the farmers market that also include stalls for artists, the small family owned grocery where the lovely grandma always gives you fruits for free because she thinks you have a pretty smile, the cafe down the street with the best soy latte you’ve ever had, and the community center with the outdoor pool you like to go to during the summer.
A memory pops up in his head, making him pull a face. It was only for a fraction of a second but you still catch it.
“What was that face?!” You ask with a laugh. “I know it’s a public pool but it’s not gross, I promise!”
He shakes his head. “No, it’s not that! I just remembered the time when I… I pushed you into the pool.”
Your head tips to the side, and instead of just apologizing and moving on, Aemond quickly retells, “it was at the start of one summer and we hadn’t tried out the pool yet. Aegon wanted one of us to check if it was too cold, but neither of us wanted to… then he gave me a signal to just… push you in, so I…” he takes a hard swallow, “...So I did — it was freezing and you ended up sick for a week… I never apologized— I don’t know, pride, maybe? Though stupidity is more likely… so I guess I should apologize now…”
“Damn…” you say, brows drawn together and staring up at the stars. “I forgot about that…” then you flash him your fiercest glare, “NOW I’M MAD ALL OVER AGAIN!”
He shrinks up, “I’m sorry, I was dumb and young and—“
You break, laughing to let him know you weren’t serious. “I’m joking, Aemond!”
“Still…”
Placing your chin on his shoulder, you try to give him an adorable toothy grin, but he just pouts, feeling like shit about how he had treated you. To comfort himself somewhat, he nuzzles his nose against your temple, placing a light kiss between your brows before you both turn and watch the cars below, your head laying on his shoulder.
Silence falls between you for a while. After a few peaceful minutes, you decide to break it with a confession of your own, softly murmuring, “You know… I remember wishing so desperately every time that you visit that you’d finally want to be my friend…”
He frowns at that.
“I was an asshole…”
“You were just a kid,” you shrug, “I don’t hold it against you.”
There’s a tired yet tender smile on your pretty lips aimed at him that has Aemond’s heart aching.
“Hey,” you bump your shoulder against his playfully, “At least I finally got my wish now…” your eyes are big and hopeful as you ask, “We’re friends, right?”
With a smile on his face, Aemond answers, “Yes,” he takes your hand as he leans his face close to yours, “But I hope we’re also more…”
Flushing, you nod a bit before closing the space between the two of you. Aemond kisses you slowly, the feeling of his smile against your mouth has you sighing in both relief and adoration. His hand comes up to cradle your jaw, deepening in the kiss as his tongue gains permission in your mouth.
It is passionate, a bit dizzying, and when Aemond pulls away, there’s something in the way he looks at you… It has you pin to the spot, unable to think or breathe.
Little did you know, Aemond is having the opposite problem. He has a million thoughts in his head, all of you. He is actually falling for you and he knows it. So why does he have two resounding words in his head when he realizes that?
Oh no…
a.t. 💗
🎵 skylight - gabrielle aplin
author's note: aemond went home and listened to labyrinth by taylor swift on repeat, yup :)
