Be My Baby [Benjen Stark] Game of Thrones AU

Chapter One

1963

Catelyn, Lysa, and I were squished together in the back seat of our father's station wagon. I suppose it was a good thing that Edmure decided to skip the family vacation this year in favor of visiting his friends, otherwise this would have been even more uncomfortable than it already was. Cat seemed okay, pressed against the opposite door, a pair of headphones covering her ears and her long hair tied up. Lysa looked miserable between us. She hated the middle seat, but she lost our game of odds and evens, so she had the last pick of seats. She was sitting closer to me, pushing her legs into my space, probably because I was the one who beat her in the second round and she wanted me to suffer more than Cat. That left me on the other end, pushing my legs against the door and hanging my hand out the open window. The breeze felt nice on my face as my eyes slipped shut and my fingers continued their dance in the wind. The only sounds in the car was the radio playing softly and the irritated sighs that left Lysa's lips every five minutes. She shoved my shoulder, "Would you close the window, Baby?" Everyone had been calling me Baby for the past 3 weeks and I couldn't bring myself to mind. Turning slightly, I slipped my sunglasses up and looked at my older sister. Her face was turning red as she pushed some of my hair out of her eyes. I guess the wind was strong enough to be pushing my red locks into her face.

"I like the breeze." I turned back to the window which prompted another angry sigh from Lysa before she was suddenly gripping my hair firmly in her fist. I yelped when she tugged it. "Ow! Let go."

She pulled harder, "Close the window."

"No way!" She tugged again, so I grabbed her wrist and attempted to free my hair from her cruelty, but she held tightly. At some point in our struggle we bumped Cat, who pushed her headphones down and sighed at us.

"Would you two cut it out?" We looked over at her frown and while I had the decency to feel somewhat ashamed at the fact that we had upset her, Lysa felt nothing and tugged my hair again. I cried out once more which prompted our mother to get involved.

"That's enough now." Lysa stared at her and released the iron grip she had kept on my hair. I quickly pulled my hair to the opposite shoulder just in case Lysa decided to grab it again when our mother turned around. While she dropped the issue, Cat would not be so easily appealed.

She crossed her arms over her chest and gave us a look that only an older sister was capable of giving, "Honestly, can't you two get along for once? This is supposed to be a nice family vacation." She gestured to our father, "How often does Daddy have time to take a vacation?" She was right about that. Our father's work as a doctor kept him pretty busy and for the first time in I don't even know how long, he took an entire three weeks off to take us up to the mountains for family fun (minus Edmure of course).

I looked over to our father, who seemed completely oblivious, then back to Cat, "Sorry, Cat." Lysa mumbled her own apology and leaned back in her seat. Cat gave me a small smile and pushed her headphones back up to her ears. It was quiet again.

~

As our car pulled to a stop in front of the lodge way up in the Red Mountains, my sisters and us stared up at the sign, Lannister's Mountain Resort. Cat opened her door and stepped out onto the gravel road. I followed her lead and opened my own door, stepping out and closing it again before Lysa could slide over and step out. She glared at me and I stuck out my tongue. She scoffed and slid over to Catelyn's side and stepped out next to our sister. Our mother and father stepped out and were immediately greeted by an older gentleman with blond hair and an arrogant look. "Hoster." He shook our father's hand and embraced our mother quickly. "Glad you finally made it up here. How many times have I sent that invite?"

My father laughed, "You know how it is, Tywin." I stepped around the back of the car and stood next to Cat, watching our parents interact with this stranger.

The stranger looked over in our direction and smiled, "These must be your daughters."

Our father nodded, "Yes, this is Cat, Lysa, and Baby." He gestured to each of us and Tywin nodded. He opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped when a young man with long, dark hair stopped next to him.

Tywin gave the man a tense smile, "Ned, these are the Tullys, very special guests, so treat 'em well." The man, Ned, nodded and let his eyes sweep over our entire family. His eyes stopped on Cat and he smiled. She smiled back, and I pushed my elbow into her side. She slapped my arm, but her gaze never left Ned's. Tywin motioned to the trunk of our car, "Get the bags."

Ned nodded, "Of course, sir." He stepped over to the car and I followed, knowing there was a lot of luggage. He opened the trunk and started pulling bags out. I moved next to him and grabbed two bags, putting them in a line with the others. He looked over at me and chuckled, "Looking for a job?"

I shook my head, "No, just thought I'd help. There's a lot here." I smiled, and he laughed again.

"Well thanks." Cat moved over to us and smiled at Ned as she grabbed one of her bags before stepping over to our father, ready to follow him and Tywin Lannister up to our room. Ned stared after her, frozen in his spot.

I tapped his shoulder, "Alright there?" The trance was broken and he looked at me quickly, seemingly having forgotten I was there.

He nodded, "Fine." He turned his attention back to our bags and I smirked.

Picking up one of my own bags, I took a couple of steps away from the car and called over my shoulder, "She's single." Ned look at me, startled, but I only laughed as I skipped after my retreating family.

~

After dropping our bags off in our cabin, we were convinced to go to the mambo class that was starting in only 10 minutes. With some reluctance, my family filed into the large gazebo where the class would be held. Everyone lingered around, holding small conversations, only being broken up when a beautiful, dark haired woman bounced into the space. She smiled at everyone, "How's everyone doing this fine afternoon?" There were murmurs around the crowd and the instructor's smile widened, "I'm Elia and I'm here to teach everyone the mambo!" She sang out the last word and I laughed. Cat shook her head at me, but I saw the smile on her lips. Elia had everyone form a line and then she started counting out steps as she moved around the floor, telling us all to do the same. As a group, we all moved back and forth trying to keep time with her count.

Elia kept her energy up for the entire lesson, bouncing around the stage and continuing to call the count out for everyone to follow. She faced the crowd, "Alright on the count of three everyone gonna find a partner." She looked around and smiled at us, "One, two, three!" She jumped into the group and grabbed my father's hand, leading him around the floor. Mother and Lysa partnered up and I quickly grabbed Cat before anyone else could. She stared down at her feet as we kept the same count as before.

I smirked, "So what do you think of Ned?" Her head snapped up so fast I thought she might get whiplash and although she tried to act nonchalant, I saw right through her.

"Who's that?"

Rolling my eyes, I swung her around, "You know exactly who I am referring to." I gave her a pointed look and she sighed.

"He's handsome." I smirked again, but she quickly shot me down, "It doesn't mean anything. I just got out of a relationship in case you've forgotten."

I scoffed, "Yeah, why did you even date Petyr to begin with?"

She laughed, "Honestly, I have no idea." I laughed with her and prepared to bring the handsome Ned up again, but she saw my look and shook her head, "Can we let this go?" There was a pleading look in her eyes, so I nodded.

"For now." I spun her out and laughed at the shock on her face.

~

Benjen isn't in this chapter, but he will be in the next one. For now just enjoy some Ned x Cat because I love them and they're going to be sort of featured in this story as well.
Thanks for reading!