Chapter Text
"What?" Jojen Reed asked his father, certain that he hadn't heard him correctly. Because surely his father wouldn't be letting an unknown teenage boy come stay in his house, especially not a skateboarder. Howland Reed had always expressed his distaste for the sport. When word got around that the skateboarding world championship would be taking place in their home town, Howland had protested loudly and refused to take part in the foster-a-skate program, no matter how much Meera had begged him to.
So now he was saying he'd completely changed his mind without warning and now some random skater boy was going to come stay with them tomorrow? Jojen was very confused but Meera looked about ready to explode.
"Are you serious?" Meera almost squealed. "Really?"
Howland shot Meera a short glance. "His name is Brandon Stark, he's apparently one of the best people coming out tonight as well as one of the youngest. He's a year younger than Jojen."
Meera's face dropped and Jojen had to bite back a laugh. Of course his sister was hoping that their father was bringing some older, hot shot skateboarding guy into the house, acting as though she didn't know their father at all.
A year younger than Jojen… So this kid was fourteen and competing in a world championship of skateboarding? Jojen would be lying if he said he wasn't impressed. He'd probably was the youngest by a long shot. Which meant he was good… really good.
Howland was giving them some sort of long speech about respecting the boys' privacy but also making sure that he stayed in line and if he did anything delinquent like to tell him right away and he'd make sure that the boy was sent somewhere else right away.
Jojen just tuned him out, getting excited at the prospect of meeting this boy.
xxx
From far away, Brandon Stark was very much what Jojen expected him to look like. Long, shaggy brown hair, short with a thin build and converse sneakers done up with his ripped skinny jeans. On a closer look, Jojen saw things he wouldn't have expected. Brandon Stark didn't have a bunch of piercing, his nose was sprinkled with freckles and his eyes will full of warmth that reminded Jojen of an autumn afternoon.
"Brandon, it's wonderful to meet you." Howland said, reaching out to shake the boy's hand. Brandon's eyes went wide, making it obvious that nobody had ever offered to shake his hand before but he didn't hesistate in shaking back.
"Please, sir. Call me Bran. Only my mom calls me Bran and that's when she's pissed off." Bran told him, smiling. Howland crinkled his nose at the half-assed curse word. Jojen hid a smirk, thinking of how entertaining this was going to be. He doubted that Bran would be able to relearn his entire life just to please Howland.
"These are my children, Meera and Jojen." Howland gestured towards the two Reed siblings and Bran had a contemplating look on his face, as though considering whether he should be shaking their hands. Jojen waved lightly at the boy and watched his face contort with relief.
"Hey." Meera said, still a little bitter than Howland was fostering a boy younger than her but knowing that it wasn't Bran's fault and he was going to give him proper respect. Jojen glanced at him and smiled again, shrugging slightly.
Jojen tried not to think about the fact that Bran's eyes hadn't left his face at all since Howland introduced them. He barely even glanced at Meera when she spoken, which was quite a shock to Jojen. Even from a sibling view point, Jojen knew Meera was very attractive- people said it all the time. With her pretty dark curls and soft features, Jojen supposed they might be right. But Bran didn't even seem to notice her, just smiling at Jojen.
When they got into the car, Bran sat beside Jojen and directed most of his comments and questions towards Jojen. By the end of the car ride, even Meera seemed suspicious. Jojen almost found himself liking the attention, it wasn't very often it was directed at him and not his sister. Plus, Bran seemed nice but it really didn't mean anything.
xxx
They got back to the house in record time, Jojen actually wondered if he father had speeded to get the ride over with. Bran bounced into the house and looked around with wide eyes. Jojen felt himself blushing. He knew that there house was unnecessarily large and pretty for just three people, but Jojen's mother had always been materialistic and Howland had never been able to say no to her. Even nearly six years after her death, Howland still kept the house the exact way it had been when she last redecorated it, with the exception of Meera and Jojen's rooms which they got free rang of.
"Whoa." Bran whispered. "This is way bigger than my house and we have eight people living in it." His eyes were huge and he took in everything from the white walls, walls of windows and hanging chandelier.
Jojen smiled at him, amused by his amazement in the house. He was pretty sure that the Starks were quite wealthy themselves if they could afford for Bran to take these professional lessons for skateboarding. Or maybe they just really cared for their sons happiness, who knows?
Bran smiled back at Jojen and walked further into the place that was going to become his home.