Game of Thrones - One Shots/Imagines: Part Two (Completed)

New Years Special: 2019 - Sandor Clegane X Stark!Reader

A/N - This is a very special New Years themed chapter, even though the idea of New Years wouldn't be celebrated in this way in Westeros. This is set a few years after the end of the series. I hope you all enjoy this last post of the decade and I can't wait to see what 2020 brings. L x

Winterfell was packed to the brim with strangers. It always was at this time of year. Festivities would leave the entire place echoing with noise, and you would never quite get used to it. The crowds were bad enough when sober, and then came the alcohol and the music and the pure excitement at the start of a new year.  

In all honesty, you dreaded this time of year. The uncertainty of the future becoming all too real, and the need to better yourself in a way that you knew would never last. Getting slimmer, drinking less, changing yourself entirely. It all seemed like such a stupid tradition, and yet, every year without fail, you watched your friends and family lay out each and every flaw they had noticed that year and their plan to get rid of them. 

The only up side of the crowds were the friends who came to Winterfell. You would only see them once a year, and you would spend the entire time together. You were always most excited for the arrival of Sandor. You had known him since you were a young woman living in the Capital with your father, and he had kept you safe and sane until you were back with your family. You had grown rather close on your travels, and by the time he had delivered you safely to your home you had fallen head over heels for him. But Jon had gone marching off with his new Queen, and Sandor had followed along like the loyal bannerman he had become, leaving you in Winterfell with Sansa.

You were hopeful that when Jon returned, Sandor would come with him. In fact, you were almost certain that he would come to you and confess his love, like the knights in the stories Old Nan had told you when you were a child. But you had been mistaken, and he had returned to his own home to run it as the new Lord, and you had become the Queen in the North, with Sansa as your hand. 

Life had continued on, and you had attempted to force Sandor out of your mind each time your advisors suggested marriage. You knew that someday you would have to give in and take a husband, but whilst you were still young you could keep the men around you at bay. After all, where was the fun in being Queen if you couldn't at least put off your own wedding day?

"Do we really have to host everyone this year?" you uttered softly, glancing over at Sansa with a small frown. "It ends up costing us so much."

"The people look forward to it every year. And besides, people travel for weeks to come, you can't just cancel a week before it's due to take place." Sansa raised an eyebrow at you as you sighed, pouting slightly.

"Fine, but this is the last year," you told her, watching as he smile spread across her face.

"We'll see," she uttered, standing from opposite you to go and close the door, making sure you would be able to speak unheard. "You know, Sandor will be here," she started, coming to sit again and smiling sweetly at you.

Your brow furrowed, and you snorted. "What's your point?"

"You love it when he visits." She was right. Gods, Sansa was always right about everything. "It's incredible that he hasn't noticed yet," she continued, and your face contorted with confusion.

"Noticed what?"

Sansa chuckled slightly, shaking her head. "That you're in love with him."

Your face fell slightly, mouth agape as you started at her. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are. There's no shame in loving someone," she started again, and you shook your head.

"I know there isn't," you spat out, causing her smile to fade slightly as you released a deep sigh. "Sansa, if he had ever loved me back he would have come here as soon as he could and married me. It would be childish for me to think otherwise."