Change Your Mind
“You’re my family too, Sandor.” A high school AU
A gift for @book-pirate for the Sansan Secret Santa in July.
A monster. A freak.
Something the other children like to call me every time they see me. Even those adults who act all good and understanding were no different with them labeling me with wretched names behind my back. Just because of my scarred face.
I hate this place so bad. I hate school. I hate my stupid classmates. I hate the teachers. I fucking hate Gregor for ruining my life. I hate my father for turning a blind eye to the abuse.
I absolutely loathe everything. It’s suffocating me. The looks, the scorns, the whispers, they do.
Should I be judged because of how I look?
It doesn’t matter. Nothing interests me. No friends to call without their parents telling them my life story.
He had nothing…
That was until I met her…
It was her who had changed my mind.
Sandor Clegane was seventeen when he first met Sansa Stark.
She was a new student in his school.
She was a year younger than him but he could not help but hear rumors about her the moment she transferred to his school. Lovely. Beautiful. Kind. Popular. She was everything he wasn’t. And he was confident she was either a naïve little girl or a two-faced bitch. Sandor certainly couldn’t understand her popularity. Maybe it’s the novelty of her being from Winterfell or whatnot. But the boys, no matter what year, would not shut up about the girl.
Compared to him, Sandor was a bulky and awkward looking teen who wore second handed clothes to school every day. His scarred face was hidden by his long hair. And despite constant reprimands from the teacher, he refused to cut his hair short. Added to that, his reputation of being a well-known troublemaker, the teachers either resented him or were finally tired of having to deal with his crap.
He was the Hound, damnit! He was short-tempered and vindictive to anyone. They kept chanting it. They kept looking at him as though they anticipated him to be a rebel from the start… So Sandor became one. He did what they expected him to do.
So how did the ugly hound meet the lovely little bird from Winterfell?
It all took was a single day to establish a connection between them.
Shockingly enough, it was Joffrey Baratheon who was the catalyst of their relationship.
Joffrey the psychopath was a bully. Blond, handsome and stupidly rich was all that mattered especially in a school full of impressionable kids. He was the “King” and at the top of the hierarchy. And it became apparent that he had locked on his sights to the new girl in school.
Sandor was throwing punches in the sand bag when he heard the school gym door shut, “What the f-”
There in front of him was a flustered Sansa Stark blocking the only way out. Her usually braided hair was loose and her school vest gone, leaving her clutching her unbuttoned blouse in an attempt to preserve some sort of modesty. Clicking his tongue in annoyance, he catches the attention of the girl.
Raising her pretty face at the sound, she almost screamed when her gaze fell upon his scarred face. But the sound of rambunctious male laughter made her freeze. Using her other hand, she forced herself to stay quiet.
Frowning, Sandor noted her obvious distress. Listening at the taunting male voice, he immediately identified the Baratheon spawn.
“Oh Sansa~ Why don’t we stop playing hide-and-seek and start our initiation. Don’t you want to be my girlfriend?” Baratheon snickered.
Sansa began to tremble in fear. She squeezed her eyes shut praying for it all to go away.
Sandor paused. Was it worth it to raise the ire of the blond psychopath or not?
“No need to be shy, Sansa! You looked really pretty pinned on the ground.” Baratheon kept spouting his nasty thoughts while making his other peers jeer.
Disgusted at the blond prick, Sandor made a decision. “Little bird, get over here.”
Her stunningly blue eyes made contact with his. He tried to make his face as less threatening as possible but only manage to show her a grimace. She hesitated and nodded as she began to quietly walk towards him.
Sandor pointed at the locker room, “Just stay there and keep quiet if you don’t want to get his attention.”
She wavered to get in the foul smelling room, “How can I trust you, sir?”
Scowling in annoyance, Sandor responded, “Fucking hell, little bird. I’m only a year older than you. And I am certainly no sir.”
Blushing in embarrassment, “Oh. Forgive me-”
Pushing her in the room, Sandor grunted, “Just get in and shut up.”
The moment he closed the locker room, he hears a loud bang from the gym door.
“Oh if it isn’t the Hound!” Baratheon sneered.
Sandor glared, “What the fuck do you want, Baratheon?”
“Nothing really. Just playing a game. Though have you lately seen a pretty red head pass by this room?”
“No.”
“You better not be lying to me, Hound. Or I’ll make your life even more miserable in this school.”
“Do I look like a give a fuck? And no, I did not notice some red-headed chick pass by. I was busy punching this bag to release stress but who knows I may just be tempted to do the same to some egotistical brat and his goons.”
Furious, the blond prick and his goons left after saying, “You’re lucky I’m busy with the girl or else-”
Once he was sure they were gone from the building, Sandor grabbed his school blazer and knocked at the locker room.
When he hears the door open, he shoves his blazer to her face, “Wear this.”
Sandor nearly flushes pink as he felt her fingers make contact with his but her quiet ‘thank you’ kept him controlled.
“My name is Sansa Stark,” she said the moment she felt herself looking decent.
“I know.”
“Oh.”
Awkward silence reined.
“May I know your name then?” she persisted.
“Clegane. Sandor Clegane.”
“Thank you again Sandor.” Despite his clothes almost swallowing her whole, Sansa still manage to look elegant as she offered her hand.
Ignoring her hand, he said instead, “Do I want to know what just happened?”
“I…. I was just waiting for Margaery in the classroom so we could go home together when Joffrey and his friends came in and told me it was time for my initiation….”
“Basically the initiation was him fucking you,” Sandor growled.
She flinched at his tone. Her lips began to quiver as tears fell down, “I just wanted to be friends. And they- he was so nice when we met.”
“Yeah? Well he’s a two-faced bastard, little bird.”
Rubbing her tears off with the sleeves of his blazer, “Yeah. I unfortunately got that a little too late.”
As she tried to compose herself, Sandor murmured, “Do you want me to take you home?”
“What?”
Grabbing his bag and towel, he said louder, “I’m talking you home.”
Blinking curiously, she smiled at him and gently said, “Okay.”
They left the school in silence as they walked side by side. It was unusual for Sandor because despite the silence they did not seem to feel awkward with each other.
That might as well have been a start of their friendship.
Ever since that day the two of them can be seen more or less together for most of their free time.
The first time it happened, it was Sansa who initiated contact.
Sandor was in the cafeteria with the intention to grab lunch when he felt a hand grab his sleeves. His glaring faltered when he saw the person grabbing him.
With her cheeks pink, Sansa greeted, “Hello Sandor. Do you want to eat with me?”
Before Sandor could even think of an excuse to say no, he unconsciously nodded. Seeing his affirmation, Sansa smiled brightly and began to pull him away from the cafeteria, “I made too much food earlier and wanted to share some with you! I hope you don’t mind eating with me in the school garden.”
They two left the cafeteria with the students gaping at their backs.
She didn’t seem to mind his rude and cynical attitude and he learned to tolerate her ridiculously polite manner of speaking to practically every living thing.
While Sandor began to slowly accept their budding relationship, the school reacted otherwise. The teachers looked worried and hesitant about his possible influence on her. The boys were just envious of him having spent more time with Sansa. But Sandor couldn’t really care less what they think.
He’ll be honest, it felt weird having someone constant by his side and when he told Sansa about it two months after the incident, she just looked at him with her usual unbearable understanding self.
“You can get used to it, Sandor. I was actually scared of you at first since you kept glaring at everybody. And the fact that you like to beat the crap out of anyone who looks at you wrong didn’t exactly help with my impression of you. But now, I am really glad to have been your friend. You’ve certainly changed my mind.”
He couldn’t help but grin at her words. “And I thought you would have been a pompous rich little bird but not everything is as it seems.”
Their bond grew even more when they began to spend time outside of school. She told him her interest in sewing and showed him her collection of patterns she made which he actually found impressive but just grunted in agreement at whatever was being said as she kept going on and on about color combination and stuff he could not understand.
On the other hand he brought her to the combat classes he’s been taking near his home. He began teaching her self-defense in hopes of keeping her safe in case he wasn’t be around.
Their interests may not have matched but for some god forsaken reason, they still work out.
One year passed and they were closer than ever. The teachers were now more accepting of their friendship after Sansa proved them wrong about him being a bad influence when she kept her grades up and stayed at the top. And hoping to aggravate them less, Sandor tried to avoid starting fights but will retaliate when provoked. At this point Sansa is the only one who can keep him calm.
As for the students, Joffrey actually tried to molest Sansa once again three months after his first attempt but Sandor had beaten the crap out of him. He was actually about to be expelled but Sansa furiously defended him and even brought her father to school. When Sansa bravely confessed about Joffrey’s harassment to her, her father was furious. The blond prick was forced to transfer after Ned Stark confronted Robert Baratheon of his actions. Sandor ended up having only to spend two weeks in detention.
Plus it seems he was in good graces with her family. Except for the She-Wolf, Sansa’s little sister, who was too fierce, ruthless and rough to actually be her sibling. Sansa claims she’s actually fond of Sandor but he remains cautious around the brat.
Now that Sandor was in his senior year, Sansa had asked him about his plans after high school. He admitted he wanted to join the army just to get away from his family. He also told her the real reason why his face is scarred and Sansa wept for him.
Sandor never wanted anything to do with them after all. His sister was long dead. His brother was still a terrible human being. And his father remained ignorant. He had no family he wanted to acknowledge.
Gently cupping his face, Sansa whispered to him, “Oh Sandor, even after having so many siblings I had no one I could connect with. I always wanted to be the model child to make my parents happy. It was something Arya detested about me. But ever since I met you, you’ve changed my perspective, Sandor. You’ve given me the connection I yearned.”
Her smile turned even radiant as she added, “You may think you have no one but you’re my family too, Sandor.”
Sandor Clegane had always love Sansa Stark ever since she gave him a handmade scarf the same color as her charming blue eyes as thanks for lending her his blazer. So he did not think he could fall even harder in love with his little bird. But in that moment he did.
Gently grabbing her hands from his face and placing it close to his chest, he smiled, “Thank you, little bird.”
Walking side by side, Sandor did not let go of her hand until he brought her safe back home.
One month before his graduation, Sansa confessed.
Sandor had every intention of doing so first but fear got to him. He was scared of losing the only friend that he ever had. After all she was the only person who actually took the time to understand him despite his scarred face and terrible temper. So every time he attempted to say something, he loses his nerve and changes the subject instead.
Apparently since he was taking too long, Sansa took matters into her own hands.
There were spending their lunch in the garden when Sansa said, “Sandor?”
He grunted in response as he kept shoving food in his mouth.
“You know it’s almost two years since we met... And now you’re about to graduate and leave…”
Sandor paused his eating as he tried to finish chewing the food already in his mouth. Glancing back down at her, he noticed her face become more and more pink.
“Sandor I… I-”
Realizing where this was going, Sandor wanted to confess to her first but his plans of swallowing his food too fast ended up in him almost choking which distracted Sansa from her speech as she tried to help him.
Sandor was coughing loudly and tried to get some semblance of control when Sansa gently patted his back and giggled. After a few seconds of silence, Sansa looked at Sandor straight in the face and with confidence finally said, “I love you, Sandor Clegane.”
He stared back at her and tried to control the emotions in his face and to keep cool but in the end, he could not help but grin like a fool, “I love you too, Sansa Stark.”
Three Years Later…
“We’ve been in the same unit for two years, Clegane, and I have yet to see your girlfriend!” Tormund Giantsbane said.
“Fiancée. And I have no fucking intention of letting you meet her and harass her.”
“WHAT?! I would never harm a lady!”
“I meant annoy her with your presence.”
“You wound me, Clegane! At least show me pictures!”
Raising his eyebrow, Sandor responded smugly, “A normal camera couldn’t possibly capture her presence.”
Tormund almost blushed in embarrassment, “You lovesick idiot. I can’t be-” before he could continue his rant, Sandor’s phone rang and the man immediately answered.
“Sansa,” Sandor said reverently. Standing up and leaving the office, Sandor gave Tormund the middle finger when the dwarf began making kissy noises to pester him.
“I miss you, Sandor.”
“I miss you too, little bird.”
“Soon?”
“Two more months and I’ll stationed permanently in Winterfell.”
“And in three more months and you’ll officially be part of my family, Sandor.”
Sandor grinned, “Yes.”
“You sure you don’t want to invite your friends in the army to our wedding?”
“I’d rather not. They’re too annoying.”
“Which means you like them.”
“I’m not changing my mind. I’m their squad leader. They might use the opportunity to act all chummy.”
Sansa chuckled, “Uh-huh. Well I’ve still got few more months to change your mind.”
“See you soon, Sansa.”
“I’ll see you soon, Sandor.”
