bloodbrothers

Jace considered it for a moment, though Baela wouldn’t want this seen out of the family. Honestly, he doubted she wanted Luke to take the photo at all.

But when he looked up at him, Harwin looked like he was analysing him in some way.

“What?” he asked. “Just some silly stuff from Luke, the girls are at it again.”

Harwin just hummed, as if it’d gone just past his head.

“I was meaning to ask you, I thought you and the girl… the Stark girl,” he spoke, facing the road, clicking his fingers, trying to recall Arya’s name. “I thought you’d broken up.”

Jace’s eyes widened.

Oh, come on.

“I… yeah?” he frowned.

He broke up with Arya in… February? Well, they did hook up after, once. Not that it mattered.

“So it isn’t her?” he asked.

Jace frowned more.

“It’s the family groupchat,” he answered back. “With Luke and the girls.”

Harwin scoffed.

“This whole time?” Harwin pressed. “Like… the whole time. When I hear you at night, when you run to your phone? The whole time?”

Jace kept staring at him.

“What are you talking about?”

His bio father rolled his eyes.

“You’ve been glued to that phone since you were out for that party,” he insisted. “And don’t forget how you almost lost your car privileges with how late you were coming home the couple of weeks after.”

Jace felt his face burning.

“But I haven’t been late in a whole week,” he reminded him. “And my grades are great.”

What? Did he expect him to just tell him he was seeing someone? He hadn’t even told him about Arya, Harwin found out because he actually saw them together when they were out.

Harwin sighed.

“You really don’t have anything to tell me?” he asked. “Anything about a girl? A new friend?”

“I really don’t have anything to tell you,” Jace answered back.

Harwin sighed, moving back to keep driving, stopping the car by the car park.

“Look, I just wanna let you know that you can trust me,” he affirmed. “I know I’m new to this... dad stuff, and we are still… getting used to one another and all, but I wanna be your friend!”

Jace wanted to groan.

“I know, really,” he told Harwin. “It’s fine. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?” Harwin asked, giving him one of mum’s looks, like he was trying to guilt him! “Because-”

“I’m sure,” Jace insisted. “Can I go now?”

He sighed.

“Yeah,” his father told him. “Have a nice day at school.”

Jace jumped out of the car, shivering at the cold and practically shrinking in his hoodie – well, Cregan’s hoodie – as he watched Harwin go, and just as the car turned the street, his phone rang in his pocket with another text.

This time, of course, it was Cregan.

‘Did you fix the car?’

Jace checked both sides before crossing to the pavement, already typing back.

‘Nah, rode with Harwin. He’s gonna have someone checking it for me.’

He rushed into the building, freezing in the snowy outside while people literally just hung around there like it was normal!

Crazy people.

‘You have no idea what he did in the ride.’ Jace added.

‘What?’

‘He cornered me into an interrogation! It was so weird!’ 

Cregan sent him some laughing sticker.

‘Poor pretty boy,’ Cregan answered. ‘If you don’t want him to interrogate you more, maybe I can pick you up after class today?’

Jace paused in the corridor.

Oh?

‘We can watch something and then go out to eat, and I’ll drop you off.’

Then, he sent him a wink.

Oh.

‘Sure,’ Jace texted him back.

And then at two in the afternoon on the dot as Jace stepped out into the parking lot, there Cregan was, with his window rolled down and a cocky look on his face.

“Hey,” he called.

Jace rushed to the car quickly, shivering in cold already,

“Hey,” he greeted him.

“You okay, lizard boy?” Cregan asked as he got into the car.

“Yeah, just freezing,” Jace muttered, rubbing his hands together. “Can I turn up the heat?”

Cregan nodded, pulling out of the lot.

“Go for it. Just don’t forget the seatbelt. Sure you’re alright?”

“It’s just so damn cold,” Jace said, cranking the heater as high as it would go. “How do you survive this?”

Cregan chuckled as the warmth started to fill the car.

“You Southerners are all the same. You trying to roast me alive?”

He rolled his eyes.

“What did you wanna watch, again?” Jace asked back, roaming his backpack for his phone.

It was best to tell Harwin something with details so he wouldn’t annoying it.

But Cregan paused for a moment.

“The… movie about the long night?” he answered, at last.

Jace nodded, texting that to Harwin and telling him he'd be home for dinner.

He’d be on a date in the afternoon anyway, it was fine. Harwin wouldn’t even miss him.

“Alright, all set,” he said, tucking his phone back into his bag and buckling up.

They drove in silence for a bit, the soft hum of the heater filling the car until Cregan cleared his throat.

“So, I’ve got a question,” he said, glancing over.

Jace leaned back in his seat, his eyebrows raised.

“Shoot.”

“Your family,” Cregan started carefully. “You’re… kind of a prince, right?”

He breathed out. Well, that was the first thing people got in their mind when they found out he was a Targaryen.

“Well, not exactly. In 1940, the Targaryen royal family was exiled—”

“Yes,” Cregan agreed. “After they were unsatisfied with the Prince and Princess getting married against the wishes of the Church of the Seven. And then that led to the end of Lordships and republic and all that.”

Just smirked. Yeah… that was a little too incestuous for them.

“But if that hadn’t happened,” Cregan pressed, “you’d be a prince.”

Jace smirked. Well…

“Yes,” he agreed.

“A real prince?” Cregan pressed, eyes full of curiosity. “Or, you know… the son of the nephew of the sister…” he trailed off, tossing the words around without much care.

It made Jace chuckle, how he was just throwing the words mindlessly.

“Well, I would be the heir, yes,” he agreed.

And he kind of was the heir. Their family still had that structure, they still respected seniority when it came to leading their family.

“I’m technically the most senior heir of three lines,” he said thoughtfully. “If you combine all three. It’s… complicated.”

His mother was the most senior heir of two lines, and then dad was the most senior heir through the oldest line if they counted grandma as the head of it.

Cregan looked at him.

“We’ve got time,” he said. “I’m sure it’s not that bad.”

Jace settled on his spot.

“Alright. Prince Jaehaerys and Princess Alysanne had a lot of kids. But only four of them had their own children, and I’m a descendant of three of those lines.”

Cregan raised his brows, impressed. Jace quickly looked away, realising how that sounded. Okay, maybe his family kept things a little too close.

“Their first son, Aemon, was my great-grandfather on my father’s side. He was my grandmother’s father,” Jace began, trying to keep it simple. “Then, there was Baelon, the second son, who was the father of my grandfather and…”

He paused. Okay, maybe this wasn’t the time to say his mother was married to her uncle.

“Anyway,” he said, moving on quickly, “my grandfather was chosen to head the family after his grandfather died. He would’ve been King if the monarchy was ever restored. He married my grandmother, who was the only daughter of Daella, the oldest surviving daughter of the Prince and Princess and the only one to have kids. And my mother is their only child. So when she married my father and they had me, I became the union of those three lines.”

“But you’re not...” Cregan started and paused.

Jace tensed slightly, waiting for Cregan to voice the inevitable question. It was a bit of a filter for people, when they found out he was not conventionally conceived, that he wasn’t a genetic descent of his dad.

“You’re only… distantly related to your dad,” Cregan finally ventured. “But your family still counts you as his heir?”

“No,” Jace told him. “But not because I’m donor conceived.”

Cregan’s frown deepened.

“My grandfather holds this title — Lord of the Tides,” Jace explained. “It’s like, well… Lord Stark or Lord Arryn. It’s more ceremonial now, and it has some involvement with his company.”

“Yes, my uncle is still treated as Lord Stark,” Cregan agreed. “Without the name.”

“Exactly,” Jace agreed. “So, because I’m the oldest child of the heir, the official, my mother, then I’m her heir,” he explained. “So my brother is my father’s heir.”

Cregan hummed a bit for a moment, surprised.

“That makes sense,” he decided. “And it’s just the two of you? You and your brother?”

“Nope,” Jace replied with a slight grin. “My mum and dad had me and two brothers. Luke's fifteen, and Joff is about to turn eight. Then, after they divorced, my mum married my stepfather, and now I have two younger brothers — Eggy is five and Viz is two. Plus, I’ve got two stepsisters my age, Baela and Rhaena.”

He left out that his stepsisters were also his cousins. It was best to keep it simple for now.

“So… six siblings in total, seven with you,” Cregan counted, looking a bit stunned. “That’s got to be a full house. Do you all live together?”

“Yeah,” Jace confirmed with a nod. “We’re all with my mother and stepfather. Well, now I’m here, but you got it.”

Cregan whistled, shaking his head.

“Must be... lively, having that many people around at once."

Jace laughed.

“That is one way to put it. Never a quiet moment, that’s for sure.”

“And your father?” Cregan asked.

“He has us for… about three months of the year, in total?” he recalled. “Every school holiday, every extended time that would allow us to travel down to his house… and he can come over anytime he wants, my mum and my Kepa are fine with hosting him and my uncle.”

“Your uncle?” Cregan asked.

Jace paused. Oh, of course.

“My stepfather from my father’s side,” he exclaimed. “I call him my uncle, since I was a kid. And the other one is my Kepa.”

“Which is Valyrian for...”

“Father or uncle,” Jace told him.

That seemed to surprise him.

“Really?” he asked. “So… all of your uncles-”

“No, it’s more like...” Jace interrupted him, and paused. “Actually, do you really want a High Valyrian lesson now? Because that's a lot of words and technicalities.”

They paused by the gates as they were opened.

“Not really,” Cregan decided. “Well… Christmas must be a nightmare with… five parents and seven kids and… more people?”

Jace laughed.

“It’s a lot,” he agreed. “But it’s nice. Everyone is great.”

He rested on the seat as he drove into Winterfell, looking at Cregan with the corner of his eyes.

“You’d like them,” Jace spoke softly. “I think they would like you.”

Cregan didn’t answer him, looking at him again with his eyes a bit softened.

“You think so?”

Jace nodded. Why wouldn’t they?

“My mother would be all over you, she’s a bit of a… people collector?” he frowned.

Mum adored knowing people and making them into family. Every friend they brought home became family, he was sure a boyfriend of his would be welcomed too.

“And dad would certainly be proud,” he chuckled.

And uncle Joffrey too. Kepa would… be Kepa. He didn’t seem to care about anything but having them be happy and healthy – and out of his hair.

Cregan grinned, taking his hand to Jace’s knee, climbing up and rubbing his thigh, not saying anything, and parked up in front of his building, leaving before Jace could even unbuckle the seatbelt, and he was just picking up his backpack from between his feet when the door opened by his side.

“My prince,” he teased him.

Jace glared at him for a moment.

Not funny.

“Thank you, Lord Stark,” he rolled his eyes.

Cregan just smirked, taking him up and into his flat again, letting Jace go to close the door, and Jace dropped his backpack on the couch.

“I have to check if that movie is available,” Cregan started speaking.

Well, Jace didn’t let him keep talking much, striding quickly to where he was.

“I was a-”

He interrupted Cregan by pushing him against the wall, pressing his body to his.

“Maybe we leave the movie for later?”

Cregan’s lips curled in a smirk and he leaned right into him to kiss him, pushing his hand into his hair and pulling him close.

Next thing Jace knew, they were just kissing and making out, hands working on clothes – his hoodie and shirt were first, then Cregan’s jacket and his shirt – and Jace had just opened the door of the bathroom when Cregan’s hand moved to push his own pants down.

And he tripped.

Fully tripped, if Jace hadn’t stepped out of the way from him. Cregan would have taken them both down as he fell to his knees.

His face was all red when Jace looked down at him, and it was hard to keep himself from laughing when Cregan struggled to move with his trousers halfway down his thighs.

“Oh, your poor thing,” Jace teased him.

He reached for him, picking Cregan up and taking him to the bed, pulling his pants down from his legs.

“Did it hurt?” he asked him, in that voice he used when he wanted to comfort one of the little boys.

There was a moment of silence and Jace could see a flash of a pout on Cregan’s lips before he covered it up with a glare, and it was so adorable.

“Oh, the poor big man,” Jace rubbed his thighs. “You want me to kiss it better?”

He didn’t give him a moment to answer, leaning in between his legs, and caressed his poor thighs as he kissed him over this briefs, finding his cock half-hard under the fabric as Jace ran his lips from the base to the tip, and Cregan leaned back on his elbows slowly to watch him.

Jacaerys was learning – from the best, if he should say it. And Cregan did love teasing him.

He ran his tongue on the way back, teasing the base with his mouth, listening to the little whine from him.

“What are you trying to do?” Cregan groaned. “Drive me fucking insane?”

He took a hand up, stroking him over the cotton fabric slowly.

“Is it working?” Jace raised his eyebrows.

Cregan smirked, shaking his head, pushing his fingers into Jace’s hair and pulling him right up.

“Cock hungry Prince,” he kept him in place. “Strip.”

He pushed Jace away, slipping out his own underwear as Jacaerys discarded his pants and briefs, walking back to the bed, and Cregan kissed him before moving back and laying on the mattress, cock standing straight and hard, shinning at the tip.

“Go on now,” Cregan commanded.

Jace didn’t have the shame to argue back with him, because… well, yeah. It was what he wanted.

The first time they got together, after the shoot, Cregan had blown his mind. He’d taken his whole cock into his mouth and his throat without any fucking effort – and Jace had a considerable cock.

He wanted to learn how to do it and do the same with him, so since that day, the first thing he did when they got together was get to it. And now, he was pretty sure he had learned to fight his gag reflex, and he really wanted to show it to him.

So he settled between his legs and kissed the way up Cregan’s muscular thighs before he wrapped his hand around his cock, stroking it, looking up at him, and Cregan moved to his hand to his head again, gathering his hair and pulling it up.

It surprised Jace when he simply put it up on a ponytail – he didn’t wear it up at all, it wasn’t good for his hair and Jacaerys was very proud to have good hair.

“Perfect, now I get to see that pretty face,” he breathed out, and tilted his head. “You waiting for something else?”

Jace rolled his eyes and moved again, taking the tip of his cock into his lips licking the underneath of it, stroking him with his hand.

“Relax,” Cregan moaned. “Take it slow, I’m not going anywhere.”

He wanted to scoff at him.

“I’m not in a rush,” Jace argued.

“You’re moving like you are.”

Jacaerys stopped, annoyed, and Cregan sighed, holding onto his hair and raising his head up.

“Take the head...” he commanded.

Jace complied, wrapping his lips around his cock, taking the whole head in, and

“Breath deep...” Cregan commanded, doing the same himself. “Relax.”

He inhaled deeply, exhaling as he lowered his head more and more, taking every inch until he’d filled his whole mouth.

“Did you prepare your throat more for me?” Cregan petted the side of his cheek. “Always so ready to put your mouth on my cock whenever you see me.”

Jace’s cheeks warmed up, and Cregan grinned.

“Show me what you’ve been working on these last weeks, then,” he pushed his head down. “Let me fuck that Royal throat.”

He didn’t have it in himself to do more than swallow, breathing through his nose as he felt the tip of the cock in his mouth brushing the back of his throat, inhaling through his nose and pulling back a little.

“It’s okay,” Cregan cooed him. “It’s okay, you can-”

But Jace persisted, taking more of him as he kept breathing through his nose, drooling down his length.

“Fuck, that’s it,” he praised him, chuckling. “Eager little Prince.”

Jace took more of him, feeling completely full as he tried to remember to relax and move slow, until he finally took every little bit of his cock in. All of it.

Was it strange he thought Cregan smelled good when he pressed his nose to his hipbone?

Cause he did, he smelled fucking good.

Jace clenched his hand on his thighs, hearing him groaning under him, and pulled back, letting himself drool all over Cregan’s cock before closing his lips around the head again, sucking on it slowly to fully breathe.

“Good boy,” he grunted. “Good little cocksucker.”

It filled him with warmth and hunger, and Jace took more of him in again, earning a big moan when, this time, he took all of him into his mouth, and he swallowed right around him.

Jace breathed out, looking up at him, expectant. That was right, there?

Cregan’s eyes met his for a moment, and he could see him swallowing down.

“You’re doing great,” he praised, brushing his hair back. “You’re swallowing me so well, my Prince. Such a quick learner.”

He bobbed his head, and Cregan moaned louder.

Jace’s belly filled up with warmth as he focused on moving his head, and looked right up when Cregan tightened his grip on his hair, pulling back, the words leaving his mouth quickly while his brain was still moving through.

“Fuck my face,” he told him.

Cregan raised his eyebrows, and Jace’s face felt hot.

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “Fuck my face.”

It took Cregan a moment before he finally complied, tightening the grip on his hair and pushing his hips up as he moved Jace down, taking his time sweet time to fuck his throat.

He didn’t rush it or was rough with him, but he kept his grip tight and his rhythm, using him while Jace took it fucking happily.

“Good little Prince, begging to get fucked on the face by a big bad wolf,” he grunted. “Just a cock hungry pretty boy, drooling all over me.”

He swallowed more around him, drooling more, putting more effort, the praise climbing to his brain and taking over it, and the sounds of it in his mouth were… insane. Wonderful.

His eyes filled up with little tears in the corners, and Cregan tightened his grip.

“Look at me,” he moaned deeply. “I wanna see my Prince’s face while I fill his royal belly with cum.”

Jace looked right up at him, and gods, his face was a divine sight.

Cregan pushed himself all the way into his mouth, holding Jace’s nose right against his hipbone again, and the moan left his lips almost made Jace pop as well as the thick cum slipped down his throat, rutting against him as he came, and his hand then tugged back on his hair.

“Open your mouth,” he commanded, panting.

Jace complied, the head of his cock resting right on his tongue, still spurting out, and Cregan stared right down at him as the last ropes fell onto it.

“I’m gonna paint that pretty face next,” he decided.

Jace closed his mouth, but Cregan took his free hand down, opening his mouth again.

“Let me see,” he told him. “Gods, you’re messy.”

Cregan pulled him up, licking his chin up from the drool and cum, and then taking his lips, his grip still firm in his hair as he kissed him hungrily, like he’d been starving for it the whole time.

“So dedicated,” he praised, taking a hand down and wrappingit around his cock, jerking him slowly. “Training how to suck cock just to please me.”

Jace moaned, closing his eyes as he felt Cregan’s lips moving down his neck, letting himself be flipped and set on the mattress, his cock throbbing.

“You’re a damn tease,” Jace groaned.

But that just earned him a chuckle as he took his hand up, taking off the hair tie and running his fingers thought his hair, massaging his own scalp, probably messing it up even more as he rested on the pillow once more, looking down at him.

“You like it,” Cregan kissed his chest.

Well. Yes.

Fine.

Jace took his hand to Cregan’s hair, petting it mindlessly as he moved down his belly, running his teeth over his abs.

“Relax,” Cregan caressed his thighs, spreading them to fit in. “Bet you had a long day...”

Jace looked down, his eyes meeting his, and Cregan was smirking right at him.

“Daddy trapped you so he could interrogate you,” he looked up at him. “Asked all about your new boyfriend...”

Cregan’s fingers travelled up and down his thigh, caressing and tickling his skin.

“Cregan,” he groaned, squirming. “You never said you were my boyfriend.”

The fingers ran down his inner thighs again and Jace’s cock twitched.

“I didn’t?” Cregan asked. “How interesting.”

And that was all he said before he wrapped his lips around his cock, sucking the head slowly.

“Poor lizard boy,” Cregan mocked him, licking down his cock.

Jace scoffed.

“Not a lizard,” he moaned.

That was a silly name.

Cregan stuck his tongue out, licking him messily.

“Like you’re not a twink?”

Jace glared at him, pushing his fingers into his hair, holding it up so he would look up at him, and Cregan grinned teasingly.

“Not a lizard,” he decided. “You’re a dragon.”

Jace’s cheeks burnt, and Cregan took his cock in his his mouth again, sucking half of it as he kept his eyes on his as his fingers caressed his balls.

“Fuck,” he gasped, closing his eyes.

Jace could fucking feel as he grinned around his cock, running his teeth very, very, very slightly over his skin.

“Oh, gods!” Jace jumped.

Cregan pulled back.

“It’s Cregan,” he teased him.

Jace glared down at him.

Cocky-

“Relax, pretty boy,” he told him again. “You’ve had enough emotion for a whole day, don’t you think?”

And how could he not, when Cregan took him fully into his mouth, sucking and swallowing around him slowly, touching him with such gentleness, he couldn’t help but melt onto the bed, watching him, trying not to blink.

It was a vision, whenever Cregan set between his legs.

Damn, it was a vision anytime he did anything, he was… fucking incredible. Fascinating.

Jace rested his neck on the pillow when it ached, and turned to the side to keep watching him.

“You could use a mirror,” Jace moaned, still petting his hair. “I could-”

Cregan’s fingers moved to his balls again, caressing them, and his words were interrupted by a moan.

“Fuck-” he bucked his hips. “Watch you suck my cock through it.”

Cregan chuckled, taking his hand up, caressing his torso and pinching one of his nipples before pushing two fingers into his mouth, shutting him up.

Jace sucked onto it while keeping his eyes on his, focusing on it he same way he was focusing on his cock, and couldn’t help whining a little bit when he pulled back, smearing saliva on his lower lip before taking it away again.

Of course, Jace couldn’t say anything else before he bobbed his head, making his mind melt and his grip on control slip.

“Cregan,” he moaned.

Another gentle touch to his balls, and he whined, trembling.

“Fuck, I can’t-” Jace whimpered.

He was gonna fucking cum already.

“Cregan,” he tried to warn him.

And Cregan?

Well, Cregan’s finger went somewhere Jace had been quite curious about in the last few days but didn’t expect to be approached so soon – not that it was unwanted.

He circled his ass slowly, very coy, and he didn’t have enough brain to do more than moan.

Cregan pulled back from his cock slowly, kissing his balls slowly.

“Relax, pretty boy,” he purred. “Just breathe.”

His free hand moved to his cock, stroking him lightly, and Jace felt more saliva on his backside as Cregan caressed it, the feeling quite nice.

“Wanna me to keep going?” Cregan asked, moving his fingertip in circles.

Jace closed his eyes, feeling his cock twitching.

“I’ll kill you if you don’t,” he moaned.

That earned him a laugh and long lick from base to tip.

“Good boy,” Cregan praised him. “Look at all that precum. You must be so happy.”

Jace whimpered, thrusting his hips up, clenching his hands on the sheets.

Cregan took his time sweet time, like the damn tease he was, pushing and pulling, prodding and abandoning.

And then he pushed his finger in, and it was…

“Gods,” Jace arched his hips. “Cregan-”

The sound that left his mouth when Cregan wrapped his lips around his cock again, sucking in the same pace he finger-fucked him was the most obscene thing he had ever produced.

t pushed him over the edge, into a delicious and tight river of pleasure as he touched the sensitive spot inside him and Cregan swallowed him, not letting him go as Jace moaned and squirmed, fucking his mouth, squirming under him, whimpering and tugging on his hair.

But Cregan kept sucking him, pushing his limits hungrily.

“Please, please,” Jace pleaded. “Enough.”

Finally, he let him go, taking mouth and then his finger away slowly, and Jace fell onto the couch, panting and still shaking.

“You’re fucking tease,” he groaned, his voice still trembling.

Cregan moved slowly, tangling their legs as he lied behind him, keeping close to Jace as he tried to recover his breath, and held his hand when he laced his fingers with his, holding him from behind,

“You alright?” Cregan asked, kissing his shoulder.

Jace just let out a mixture of a moan, a groan and whine, trying to remember how to actually formulate phrases.

“Good,” he managed to speak back.

Cregan chuckled, just holding him as Jace let himself slowly get back to his full mind.

“You’re hungry?” he asked.

Jace still had his eyes closed when he felt him moving behind him before he wrapped his arm around Jace, and when he opened his eyes, Cregan was holding his phone in front of him.

“There’s some delivery places down here,” he told him. “Food gets here fast.”

Jace stretched his legs a little, blinking as he roamed the delivery app.

He breathed out, reading over the names.

“You pick,” Jace decided. “I picked it last time.”

It was only fair.

Cregan just hummed against his shoulder, tapping away, and Jace’s mind went right back to Harwin again.

“You think he told everyone already?” he wondered aloud. “Harwin. That he thinks I’m dating someone?”

Jace had never introduced anyone to his family. He only mentioned Arya because… well, he needed some instructions when they were together, and he trusted Kepa enough to ask, and it would be weird not to explain who he was trying to impress.

“They have a group chat, all five of them,” Jace told him. “I saw it on Harwin’s phone.”

His parents, always communicating about every little thing. Of course, he also knew there was one with only dad, mum and Kepa, but he wouldn’t ever tell that to Harwin – it would make him feel excluded.

It felt important, introducing someone to his family.

Hell, everyone treated it like something you needed to think over and over about. Dad had been with uncle Joffrey for gods knew how many years before he and mum sat him and Luke down and told them about the wedding. Mum opened up the talk about Kepa by saying she was gonna marry him – Jace never knew how long she and Kepa had dated in secret like dad and uncle Joffrey before he’d stay over at their house.

A two week relationship without labels wasn’t something his parents needed to know about.

But instead of answering him, Cregan just kissed his shoulder and squeezed him, shushing him.

“Not now,” he rubbed his leg on Jace’s. “Now we relax.”

“You know-”

“I know you overthink too much,” Cregan interrupted him, taking his free hand to the hand on his waist, squeezing it. “So right now, don’t. Look at the food. Think of the food.”

Jacaerys exhaled, watching his phone, and Cregan hovered over some meaty healthy thing he didn’t remember having eaten before.

“Salad?” he chuckled.

Jace snorted.

“Haven’t you tortured me enough for the day?”

Store-bought salad was awful.

“I thought you liked salads,” he poked his belly.

“I like my salads, good salads,” Jace argued back. “Not the tasteless crap people use to stain the name of real salads.”

Cregan just chuckled behind him.

“Fine, you big cook,” he teased him.

They settled for meat and bacon pies, with a side of baked apples and buttery beats.

It was nice.

Forty minutes later, he was wearing his pants and curled around Cregan as they ate on the couch, still half tired.

It was nice, being held. It was one of those things he missed from home. He could run to mum and lay on her on the couch, or sneak to her bed while she was having a moment to read, and just cuddle her, or put his head on her lap when she was doing something else, and she would always take her hand down, not say anything and pet his hair.

Jace was almost her height now, and he was sure that if he wanted to, she would let him climb to her lap and stay there — and she wouldn’t complain one bit.

So yeah, it felt good to be held by someone.

“If I can ask you something,” Cregan spoke up as he chewed.

“Sure,” Jace mumbled, turning to look at his face.

“Why are you here?”

He paused, looking at him, wide eyed for a moment.

Did Cregan want him to leave? He was the one who got the food, who invited him, who pulled him to sit-

“Not here,” he pointed at the couch before cleaning the corner of his own mouth for a moment. “But all the way up North, freezing at every turn and cooking me alive in my car and my house?”

Jace’s face burnt hot both from the heating comment, but also his sudden anxiety.

“I can put on something.”

But Cregan held him.

“It’s fine,” he assured him.

Jace sighed.

Well…

“I... don’t look like my family,” he said simply.

Cregan turned to look at his face fully, raising his eyebrows.

“Have you ever looked into a mirror in your life?” he asked, completely serious.

Jace’s face burned even more, and he pinched his nose, squirming a bit.

“You know what I mean,” he protested, leaving his food aside. “My mum looks every bit a Targaryen, my dad looks every bit a Velaryon, and I… I look like Harwin.”

Which was impossible to ever forget when he was surrounded by people who looked truly Valyrian. With the right eyes, the right hair to match their names.

He looked like a bastard.

“You’re half-Harwin,” Cregan answered back.

Jace looked down. Well, some days he wished he wasn’t. He wished they had chosen someone else’s sperm.

That maybe they had talked to someone in the family – anyone, really, on either side. An uncle, a distant cousin.

They could have gone to a clinic in Valyria and found someone else who wasn’t Harwin! Who didn’t look… who didn’t look like an outsider, and wouldn’t make him look like an outsider.

“And that brought you here?” Cregan asked. “Having the same hair as him? Cause I’ve seen your mother, and you two have the same face, the same expressions, the same eyes… it was weird, seeing her photos after meeting you.”

Jace didn’t answer for a moment.

In truth, he’d come all this way to figure if he was Harwin’s son.

His whole life, everyone was always saying ‘your father and your mother are the people who raise you and the people who love you’.

And he loved his dad – he would never cease to love his dad. He loved Kepa, and in all technicalities he was just his granduncle! But he was his father too!

And maybe he blended visually with Harwin! Maybe people looked at Harwin and thought ‘that’s his kids’ and ‘that’s his father’ but… every time he thought about it for more than two seconds, he felt so stupid.

And he missed them. He missed mum so fucking much, he missed Kepa, and the girls, and Luke, and Joff, and Eggy and Viz, and all of the cats, and all the time he spent with everyone, and his friends from school, and all the noise in his house.

Everything was quiet here.

“Well?” Cregan asked.

Jace turned to look at his face, his question suddenly forgotten.

“Why did you come, then?”

He chewed his lower lip.

“When I was in the car, with my father and Harwin, training how to drive to get my license, a cop stopped us,” Jace told him. “And he pointed at Harwin, and he read my dad’s name on my ID, Laenor.”

He looked at Cregan. He’d never said dad’s name to him before.

“Laenor,” Cregan repeated. “Mr Velaryon, no dash.”

Jace chuckled, nodding.

“And he called Harwin Laenor,” he said. “Because he thought Harwin was my father.”

And that was what got the idea in his mind, yeah.

Cregan kept staring at him, and Jace could just see the thoughts running behind his eyes before he leaned in a kissed his cheek.

“You are so lucky you’re pretty,” he decided, taking more of the buttery beats.

Jace stared, confused as he chewed.

What?

Cregan seemed to notice, because as soon as he swallowed the last bit, he looked at him again.

“Anyone who can’t look beyond your hair and entertain the thought that you are not part of your family is the problem,” he told him simply. “Not the way you were conceived.”

It warmed up his heart and softened Jace all over.

Yeah, that meant a lot.

They finished together quietly, and Jace checked the clock, sighing in disappointment.

“I gotta be home soon,” he told him. “I don’t want Harwin to be hovering over me.”

Cregan hummed, rubbing his knee.

“Of course, I’ll give you a ride,” he told him, and Jace was ready to stand up when he held him in place. “But before we go.”

Jace turned to him.

“I was wondering if we could… start going out?”

It took him a minute to fully get it. Well, they were going out, no? Since the party.

“Like we do now?” Jace asked.

But Cregan shook his head, keeping his face very serious.

“Like dates,” he told him. “Fancy dinners, watch something, go to a skating ring… just… date.”

Jace couldn’t help the smile that cracked on his lips.

“That sounds really nice,” he confessed.

He would love to go on dates with Cregan.

“Yeah,” Jace told him. “I’d really like that.”

They dressed up, and when they got to the lift, Cregan was holding his hand – and he didn’t even move when an older lady stepped in and looked right down their hands before looking up at Cregan.

“Cregan,” she greeted.

“Good afternoon, Mrs Poole.”

Mrs Poole looked at Jace with the corner of her eyes.

“This is Jace,” he told her. “Jace, that’s Mrs Poole.”

Jace’s face was a bit hot when he smiled up at the older woman.

“Good afternoon, Mrs Poole.”

She smiled at them both, squinting a little bit a Cregan before turning around.

Jace moved, a bit uncomfortable.

He knew enough about Winterfell to have figure everyone was in everyone’s business. Everyone knew he was going out with Arya pretty quickly, before he even started picking her up to go to class.

He was half sure there was someone named Poole he’d met. A girl?

“Well, you two kids have fun,” Mrs Poole told them, stepping out of the lift on a lower level.

Somehow, that made Jace blush even more as the door closed, and Cregan pressed his lips together, obviously holding back a grin.

“Yeah, everyone’s gonna know now,” he chuckled.

When Jace looked at him, he didn’t look too worried, so he just chuckled to himself and kept quiet as they made it to the last level and to the car park.

They were still holding hands as Cregan drove off, and Jace pointed him the way home – Harwin didn’t live in Winterfell, obviously, but it wasn’t too far away from it or from school, so it was a calm way out, but a short drive at that, with just some music to fill the silence.

“Nice place,” Cregan spoke up when he stopped by the gates of the private street.

Jace fished for the card Harwin had given him before giving it to Cregan.

“You can put it on the scanner, it’ll open the gates.”

It took Cregan a couple of tries, but he managed to unlock it before passing it back to him, and Jace waved to the security guard as they passed, so he couldn’t stop their car.

“You can stop there,” he pointed to the closest curb. “It’s easier to turn.”

Cregan complied, and Jace unbuckled his seatbelt as they stopped, not even hesitating before going in for a kiss, which was promptly reciprocated.

“You text me the restaurants?” he asked. “And the time?”

“Yeah,” Cregan gave his lips another peck.

“And when you get home,” Jace added. “It’s cold out there.”

That earned him a chuckle, and another kiss.

“Alright. Don’t freeze out there, dragon boy.”

“I won’t.”

At least, he left the car, picking up his backpack and burying his hands into his pockets as he ran off to get inside.

He needed gloves. And a scarf.

How did people live without gloves and a scarf here?

He ran into the house with the cool air biting his face, getting into the garage – where his car already was, right by Harwin – and through the kitchen, but he froze midway thought his step when he reached the open arch of the kitchen and caught sight of the long silver-platinum blonde hair of someone on top of… someone? And his mouth worked way faster than his brain.

“Mum?!” he gasped.

Both the people moved quickly, and the face that looked back at his was absolutely not his mother’s even though the hair was exactly like hers – length, colour and even how pin straight in was – and Jace quickly looked away when she clearly started fumbling with her clothes to cover herself up.

“Oh, gods,” all three of them yelped together,

“I’m so sorry,” Jace spoke up, rushing right back into the kitchen. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know there was someone home.”

Shit.

Why would he think it was mum? Mum and Harwin were never together, they were just friends – close friends, yes, which was why he was chosen as a donor: he was really close friends with both his parents.

Well, they…

“I… I didn’t see anything!” he told them loudly.

And it wasn’t a lie! He hadn’t seen anything, he’d barely even seen her face.

“I’ll just go too my room,” he told them. “And… and I’ll keep my eyes on the wall as I walk past you, you won’t even know I’m home.”

He heard rather then saw Harwin approaching him, breathless and fumbling with his clothes.

“Hey,” he greeted him, his hair a mess. “I didn’t know you... weren’t home!”

Jace grimaced, feeling his face burning.

“Yeah… I was eating with a friend,” he told him, turning to look at Harwin fully. “I’m sorry. I should have knocked.”

“No, no,” Harwin shook his head. “You live here you don’t… you don’t need to knock at your own house.”

Jace nodded quickly, still completely tense.

“I’ll… go,” he told him. “To my room.”

Harwin opened and closed his mouth.

“She’s… a friend,” he told Jace quickly. “A long time friend. Not your mum.”

“I know,” Jace told him. “It was...”

He grimaced. Damn.

“It was stupid of me,” he told him quickly. “Not every blonde out there is my mum.”

Harwin laughed nervously.

“Well… must be a memory,” he tried to joke. “I’m sure you walked in on your mother… once… or twice. We know she and Daemon and… intense.”

Jace’s face burnt. Yeah, intense was a good word for them. But they thankfully kept themselves tame at home, at least as far as Jace knew.

Well, there was that one time he walked in on mum and dad at the kitchen when he was, like... four, and had just woken up in the middle of the night hungry, and they were super weird about it — it was dark, dad had this very weird beige coat on, it was really ugly for a coat, which was probably why he never wore it again — and that was probably enough to teach her?

“I’d… I’d like to introduce you two,” Harwin spoke up quickly. “Cause she’s a good friend. And she might be around more?”

Friend. Yes.

Jace nodded nervously. Okay, yeah. Fine. Yeah.

“I’ll just… check,” Harwin said quickly.

He nodded again. Yeah, checking was good.

Jace waited in the kitchen for what he had to do.

“Come in,” he called, and he complied.

Each step felt like a little bit torturous as Jace took them, and he raised his head to find the blonde blushing as much as he probably was.

Well, for starters, her face absolutely didn’t look like mum’s. Nor did her body – she was too skinny and at least a head shorter than her – or even how she dressed, or her age. She looked to be… 30, maybe? Mum was closer to 40 now.

It was just… the hair. The hair really looked like hers.

“Hello,” he greeted tensely.

“Hi,” she exhaled, sounding as nervous as he was.

“Alyssa,” Harwin cleared his throat. “This is Jacaerys, my kid. My oldest, actually. The one I said was spending the year with me.”

“Jace,” she realised.

“Yep,” Harwin agreed. “Jace, this is Alyssa Snow, my… friend.”

Jace nodded stiffly to her.

“Nice to meet you,” he breathed. “Sorry to interrupt. I really just wanted to go up to my room. To check on my cat.”

Vermax was hating everything about the North, and he was so clingy. He was probably whining right now that Jace was downstairs and hadn’t gone up to get him.

“I fed him,” Harwin told him quickly. “Before our date.”

“Thanks,” Jace told him. “I’ll hope you had a nice date.”

“We did,” she confirmed.

They fell into silence.

“And you don’t look like my mum,” he spoke up quickly. “My mum’s tall. And… uh… she looks like me. I look like her, people say we have the same… face.”

Alyssa’s cheeks went pink and she nodded again, holding the most awkward smile on her face.

“Okay.”

“And she’s just blonde,” Jace added quickly. “And I’m… stupid. Probably need glasses.”

Alyssa nodded more.

“And I’m sure Harwin explain they never...” that they never dated. And it was complicated. And Jace was overthinking. “Anyway. I’ll go. Now. And I’ll leave you be.”

Good, he should shut up.

“Bye,” Harwin mumbled.

He practically dashed out of there, making the way up the stairs and into his room in practically one breath, and he tried not to slam up the door.

Vermax was meowing very loudly from his cat tree when Jace arrived in the room, and he was quickly to run to him and jumped on him from the high spot, complaining loudly as he almost trampled him to the found.

“There, there,” Jace carried him. “You grumpy fat furball.”

He ran his fingers over his red spine, and Vermax nuzzled his neck, trying to push himself into his clothes to protect himself from the cold as if he was just a little kitty and not a massic thing that Jace needed two hands to pick up

Jace checked on the widow to make sure it was still sealed shut before sitting down, roaming his backpack his stuff as he balanced Vermax, sat down, finding his phone, and there was a text from mum with a text and a picture of Joff smiling up at the camera, holding a pillowcase of cartoonish green dragons.

‘Missing you at home. Your brother made you a gift.’

He smiled sadly. Oh, he really missed the kids too.

Jace propped up Vermax, and adjusted them both to the camera. Before he could take a photo, though, his eyes went right to his neck and the big bruise on his skin that had to be from Cregan’s mouth.

Oh, shit. Harwin had probably seen that.

Oh, dear.

Jace sighed, and changed Vermax to his right arm, earning a little protest before his pets made his cat go back into purring.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. I need to show them you haven’t frozen to death yet,” he kissed his head.

His poor ball of fur, forced into the cold.

Jace angled the camera and snapped a picture of them both, adjusting Vermax again into a comfortable position and petting him as he texted mum back.

‘Missing you too. Vermax hates the cold and me equally.’

And send.

He eyed his big cat for a moment. Well, Cregan would have to meet him eventually, right?

Was he a cat person?

He clicked the photo and forwarded it to him as well.

“There we go,” Jace scratched Vermax’ chin. “Let’s see if I got anything to get done with before gym time, hm?”