Chapter Text
Theon first met the Starks when he was five years old. The kind lady from Child Protection Services had accompanied him to the front door. It'd been raining steadily through the morning, and puddles had collected in the garden. An ugly gnome with a cherub face and a chipped hat peeked up at him from between the rose bushes. A toad squatted lazily by the portico steps, lolling its tongue for unwary flies. It's disinterested gaze followed him as he shivered in his threadbare jumper, patiently waiting for the family who'd promised to take him in.
The door opened to reveal Mrs. Stark, crouching down to take his suitcases from him. The first thing Theon noticed was her beautiful auburn hair, nut-brown and glossy under the watery porch lights. So different from his own mother's, frizzled and unkempt, greying at the roots. She smiled as she welcomed him in, but Theon couldn't help but notice it lacked the warmth he was used to. A smile fast fading from his memory.
He shuffled into the living room after toeing off his shoes, Yara's hand-me-downs with one of the soles coming off. He'd made sure to tuck them out of sight beneath the cupboard, vaguely ashamed by the mud saturated into the canvas material. A boy around his age stared at him as he huddled closer to the radiator, warming his chapped palms over the heating vents. He was dressed in a pair of grey pyjamas, with a shock of startling red hair curling over his forehead. His blue eyes were watchful as they roved over him, taking in the thin wool of his sweater and the fade of his trousers.
'Hello.' the boy murmured, 'I'm Robb.'
Theon hesitated, wondering how to introduce himself. Luckily he was saved by Mrs. Stark, who'd just finished sending off the CPS officer who'd accompanied him. She pushed him gently towards Robb, and then made them clasp their hands together.
'Robb, this is Theon. He's going to be your new brother from now on.'
Robb grinned, showing off the crooked gap between his teeth. 'I'll look after him, mum.'
Thinking back on it now, it was an awfully grown-up thing to say for a child, but Theon hadn't registered that then. All he'd felt was relief, the feeling so strong it had made him weak-kneed. Robb's hands were warm against his, the grip strong and reassuring, and for the first time in a while, Theon felt he'd found safe harbour.
Robb soon became his best friend. Theon did not understand how someone so bright and cheerful could deign to accept his company, but he cherished it all the same. Robb had many friends and playmates, but none were as special as Theon (or so he said). Theon didn't understand why he'd want to lie, but he appreciated it nonetheless. It was good to be wanted.
School was a daunting prospect, but Robb made everything better. A comment about him being fostered - Robb would be up in arms, insisting they were each other's in everything but blood. An unkind jostle in the locker rooms, a finger poking a bony rib, a sneer, a jape, a laugh - Robb would itch to return the favour in kind. Don't, Theon wanted to murmur, please don't get in trouble because of me. His new friend (brother?) was as hotheaded as they came, still learning to put a lid on his temper. He perceived Theon's ill treatment as an injustice, and sought to rectify it at every turn.
Eventually, Theon settled in his own skin. He discovered the school's swimming team, where he finally felt like he belonged, and joined the local archery club after routing his foster father in yet another round of darts. It was the small things that made him soar - a 90 on a biology quiz, the brown whorls of a Pila shell washed up on the lake shore, breaking a personal best before divisional meets, the smile Jeyne gave him when they stacked books in the library.
He got so caught up in the fanfare of finishing school, he didn't realize Robb's feelings until he was confronted with them.
'You're always going out,' but never with me was unspoken.
'I'm sorry, Robb -'
'-but it's alright. When we're headed to WU, we'll have time then, won't we?'
Theon stared at him, stricken.
'Won't we, Thee?'
He tried to swallow past the painful lump in his throat, gathering his nerves to explain. I've applied to other schools too, he wanted to say. Perhaps, I might even go got back to the Iron Islands.
The words died on his lips. Robb looked back at him as though he knew his half-formed thoughts, and all Theon felt was a sense of wretched despair.
Perhaps it was a good thing then, that he didn't get accepted at all. Still not good enough. But Theon had learnt to reconcile himself with with his lack. Robb had promised to stay with him always, and that was more than he deserved.
(Wasn't it?)