Chapter Text
Monday morning started with Alicent ambushing her at her locker.
"Okay, so don't freak out, but there's a thing going around."
Rhaenyra looked up from her calculus textbook—the homework she'd barely finished at 6 AM. "What thing?"
"Just... okay." Alicent pulled out her phone, pulled up Instagram, showed her a screenshot that was making the rounds in someone's story.
It was from a private account Rhaenyra didn't recognize. @daltontea or something equally stupid. A gossip account. She heard of it but never paid attention.
The post was a blurry photo from Riley's party—the living room, people dancing, and in the background, barely visible: Rhaenyra talking to Alicent on the patio.
The caption: why did rhaenyra targaryen show up to Riley's party just to leave after an hour? girl was literally crying in the bathroom. main character syndrome much? 💀
Rhaenyra's stomach dropped.
"I wasn't crying."
"I know you weren't crying. Everyone knows you weren't crying. It's just Riley's stupid cousin who runs that account and makes shit up for engagement." Alicent locked her phone. "I already DM'd her to take it down."
"How many people saw it?"
"I don't know. A few hundred? It was only up for like an hour before she deleted it."
A few hundred. So basically everyone at school.
"Great."
"It's not a big deal. By tomorrow there'll be some other drama and everyone will forget."
But Rhaenyra could already feel it—the sideways glances from people in the hallway, the whispered conversations that stopped when she walked past. The performance of normalcy that came with being a Targaryen, now disrupted by evidence that she was human enough to have feelings.
First period was fine. Second period, she noticed Leo Chen and his friends looking at her, smirking about something. Third period, someone she barely knew asked if she was "okay" with exaggerated concern that felt more like mockery.
By lunch, she wanted to disappear.
"Ignore them," Alicent said, sitting down across from her with a tray neither of them would eat from. "They're just bored and you're an easy target because you're never around."
"Maybe I should be around more."
"Or maybe they should mind their own business." Alicent stabbed at her salad. "Seriously, who cares if you left early? It's not illegal to have boundaries."
"I wasn't even crying."
"I know. The whole thing is stupid."
But it didn't feel stupid. It felt like confirmation of what Rhaenyra already knew—she didn't belong here. Couldn't do normal teenager things without it becoming A Thing. Was always going to be an outsider in her own life.
By the time school ended, she felt hollowed out.
Criston picked her up in the usual spot. Noticed something was off.
"Bad day?"
"The worst."
He didn't push. Just drove her home in silence while she stared out the window and tried not to think about the gossip account, the whispers, the confirmation that she was exactly as pathetic as she felt.
Back in the penthouse—empty, of course—she dropped her bag and went straight to her room.
Lay on her bed. Stared at her phone.
She shouldn't post about this. Should just let it fade. But the feeling was too big, too overwhelming, and she needed to put it somewhere.
She opened her finsta. Started typing, white text on a black background.
"why is it that trying to be real just makes people think you're broken"
Posted it before she could overthink.
Then waited.
Watched the views tick up. Alicent saw it first, immediately texted: you ok? want me to come over?
Rhaenyra didn't respond.
She was watching for a different notification.
Five minutes. Ten. Fifteen.
@daemontargaryen hadn't viewed it.
Twenty minutes. Thirty.
He still hadn't seen it.
This was the longest he'd gone without viewing one of her stories since Friday. Since they'd started this weird whatever-it-was.
Had he finally realized how pathetic she was? Seen the gossip post somehow and decided she wasn't worth the attention?
An hour passed.
She refreshed obsessively.
Still nothing.
By 6 PM, she felt sick.
He was avoiding her. Had to be. Because yesterday they'd texted until late and he'd liked her story and it had felt like something, and now he was gone and she was just another desperate teenager reading too much into basic human kindness.
At 6:47 PM, @daemontargaryen posted a new story.
She clicked it with shaking hands.
A restaurant. Different from last night, but the same vibe—expensive, intimate, low lighting. And there, partially visible: a woman's profile. Dark hair this time, not blonde. Someone new or someone else from his regular rotation.
The caption: 🍷
Rhaenyra stared at it until her vision blurred.
He was out. Again. With someone. And meanwhile she was home alone, posting vulnerable shit to her finsta that he wasn't even seeing because he was busy living his actual life that had nothing to do with her.
She'd been stupid. So incredibly stupid. Thinking he cared. Thinking their conversations meant something. Thinking she was different from the 847K other people who followed him and watched his stories and read meaning into nothing.
Her fingers moved before her brain caught up.
Posted a new story. A photo of her window at night, the city lights blurred. Caption: learning that people only care when it's convenient for them
Locked her phone. Threw it across the room.
It landed on her bed, screen dark, and she left it there.
Fuck Instagram. Fuck social media. Fuck all of it.
She took a shower—scalding hot, trying to wash off the day. Put on pyjamas even though it was barely 7 PM. Made herself eat something because her body required fuel even when she felt like this.
Her phone was still on the bed where she'd thrown it.
She ignored it.
Did homework. Or tried to. The calculus problems from this morning still didn't make sense, and now she had English reading and a history paper outline due Wednesday.
By 9 PM, she gave up.
Checked her phone.
Forty-three notifications.
Most were from Alicent:
alicent: are you okay?
alicent: seriously text me back
alicent: i'm coming over if you don't respond idc if I have to fight criston
A few were story views and likes from other people.
And there, buried in the middle:
Three messages from Daemon sent at 7:32 PM.
@daemontargaryen What happened?
@daemontargaryen Rhaenyra.
@daemontargaryen Talk to me.
She stared at the messages.
He'd seen her stories. Both of them. The vulnerable one about being broken and the pointed one about people only caring when convenient.
Had understood they were directed at him.
And instead of ignoring it or getting defensive, he'd asked what happened.
But he'd asked two hours ago. And she'd been offline, sulking, convinced he didn't care.
She scrolled up. Saw that he'd viewed her first story at 7:30 PM. Had seen it and immediately messaged her.
Which meant he hadn't been avoiding her. Had just been busy. And the dinner photo had been posted before he'd seen her story, not as a response to it. She'd invented the whole narrative in her head.
Now she had to decide: respond or pretend she hadn't seen it?
Her pride said pretend. Let him wonder. Make him feel a fraction of what she'd felt all afternoon.
But she was tired. And the messages sat there, evidence that maybe she hadn't imagined everything.
@stormpilled bad day at school
The three dots appeared immediately.
@daemontargaryen What kind of bad day?
@stormpilled people are assholes
@daemontargaryen That's not specific.
@stormpilled someone posted something about me. stupid gossip account. saying i was crying at the party friday
@daemontargaryen Were you?
@stormpilled no. but it doesn't matter. everyone thinks i'm pathetic anyway
Longer pause this time.
@daemontargaryen You're not pathetic.
@stormpilled you don't know that
@daemontargaryen I know you didn't cry at that party. I know you handled yourself fine when you were drunk and overwhelmed. I know you left when you needed to instead of staying somewhere you didn't want to be. That's not pathetic. That's smart.
She read the message three times.
@stormpilled how do you know i handled myself fine? you weren't there
The three dots appeared and disappeared several times. Finally:
@daemontargaryen I trust what you say. I was also in the area, I saw you leave.
Her breath caught.
@stormpilled what?
@daemontargaryen I wanted to make sure you got in the car okay.
She stared at the screen, trying to process.
@stormpilled you were watching me?
@daemontargaryen I was making sure you were safe.
@stormpilled that's the same thing
@daemontargaryen It's not.
@stormpilled why didn't you tell me?
@daemontargaryen Because showing up at a party where my drunk sixteen-year-old niece was would have been inappropriate.
@stormpilled but watching from your car wasn't?
Long pause.
@daemontargaryen Probably not.
@stormpilled then why did you?
Even longer pause. The three dots appeared and disappeared multiple times.
@daemontargaryen Because you told me where you were. And you sounded like you wanted to leave. And I wanted to make sure you actually got home safe instead of being forced to stay.
She didn't know what to say to that.
@stormpilled i'm sorry i was weird earlier
@daemontargaryen You weren't weird.
@stormpilled i posted those stories because you didn't see my first one and then you posted that dinner photo and i thought you were avoiding me
@daemontargaryen I was in meetings until 7. I'm not always on my phone.
@stormpilled i know. i just... i don't know
@daemontargaryen You assumed the worst.
@stormpilled yeah
@daemontargaryen Stop doing that.
@stormpilled i'll try
@daemontargaryen Try harder.
Despite everything, she almost smiled.
@stormpilled yes sir
She sent it without thinking. Immediately wanted to take it back. Too flirty. Too suggestive. Too much. Holy shit.
But his response came fast, short, almost frenzied:
@daemontargaryen Don't.
@stormpilled don't what?
@daemontargaryen Don't do that.
@stormpilled do what?
Her face was hot. He didn't respond.
@stormpilled sorry
@daemontargaryen It's fine. Just... be careful.
@stormpilled careful of what?
No response.
She waited.
One minute. Two minutes. Her anxiety crested.
@stormpilled daemon?
Still nothing. Then, finally:
@daemontargaryen Of giving people ammunition.
@stormpilled what does that mean?
@daemontargaryen It means you're sixteen and I'm thirty-one and people will look for reasons to make this into something it's not.
Her stomach twisted.
@stormpilled what is this then?
Long, long pause.
@daemontargaryen I don't know.
Those three words felt heavier than anything else he'd said to her. They also felt true in a way Rhaenyra barely understood. She bit her lip, thinking.
@stormpilled me neither
@daemontargaryen But that's not what people would think if they saw these messages. The truth doesn't matter. The narrative would already be set.
@stormpilled what would they think?
A long pause. She gnaws at her bottom lip again.
@daemontargaryen Get some sleep. Tomorrow will be better.
@stormpilled how do you know?
@daemontargaryen Because tomorrow those idiots at your school will have moved on to someone else's drama. And you'll still be you.
@stormpilled is that supposed to make me feel better?
@daemontargaryen Yes.
@stormpilled it kind of does
@daemontargaryen Good. Now sleep.
@stormpilled goodnight
@daemontargaryen Goodnight, Rhaenyra.
She locked her phone. Set it on the nightstand.
Lay in the dark thinking about what he'd said.
I was nearby.
He'd been at the party. Or near it. Had watched her get in the car with Criston, had made sure she was safe, had cared enough to check on her even though he shouldn't have. She didn’t know what to make of it. Maybe he was just being nice and acting out of obligation. Her dad wouldn’t want her to get hurt.
She fell asleep with her phone next to her pillow, waiting for it to buzz with notifications that might or might not come.
⋆˙⟡♡
Rhaenyra woke to no new messages from Daemon. Their conversation from last night ended with Goodnight, Rhaenyra at 9:47 PM. Nothing since.
She scrolled back up to the yes sir moment. Read his response again. Once, twice, three times. She'd said it reflexively, naturally, and it had been too much. Too revealing.
She wondered why he'd so quickly shut it down. The Don't that came immediately, protective, like he was stopping himself as much as her.
Her face felt hot just thinking about it.
She got up, showered, went through the morning routine on autopilot. The uniform—blazer, skirt, the Dr. Martens that technically violated dress code. Her mother's ring. The necklace tucked under her collar.
Criston was waiting at 7:15.
"Better today?" he asked when she got in the car.
"Maybe. We'll see."
The drive to school felt too short. She wasn't ready to face whatever yesterday had started. Wasn't ready for more sideways glances and whispered conversations and people pretending to care while actually just mining her life for entertainment.
Alicent was waiting at her locker as usual.
"Okay, so bad news."
Rhaenyra's stomach dropped. "What now?"
"The tea account posted again. This morning." Alicent showed her phone.
@daltontea had posted a new story. Multiple slides.
The first was a screenshot of a group chat, names blurred:
“heard rhaenyra only left bc her bodyguard made her"
"no i heard she was literally blackout and embarrassed herself and threw up in rileys bathroom lmfao"
"why does she even come to parties if she's just gonna be weird about it likeeee"
The second slide was another blurry photo from Friday—Rhaenyra in the background, talking to someone, looking uncomfortable.
Caption: main character syndrome or just can't handle not being the center of attention? 👀
The third slide, white text on a black background: also why does she have a private finsta? what's she hiding lmao will give good $$ to anyone who can find it
Rhaenyra felt the blood drain from her face.
"They know about my finsta?"
"They don't know it's yours. They're just speculating. Riley's cousin is a messy bitch who makes shit up." Alicent locked her phone. "But yeah, people are talking about it."
"Talking about what? They don't even know the account name."
"No, but they're wondering. And you know how people are—they'll start looking."
Rhaenyra's mind raced. Her finsta. Where Daemon followed her. Where they'd been... whatever they'd been doing.
If people found it. If they saw he followed her. If they looked at the interactions...
"I need to make it more private," she said.
"It's already private."
"I need to remove followers. Anyone who might tell people."
"That's like half your followers. They're going to notice if you randomly kick them."
"I don't care."
⋆˙⟡♡
First period was torture. She could feel people looking at her, whispering. Sarah asked if she was "doing okay" with that same fake concern. Leo made a comment to his friend about "drama queens" that was clearly directed at her.
By second period, someone had apparently found something.
She was in the hallway between classes when Madison stopped her.
"Hey, random question. Do you have a finsta?"
Rhaenyra's heart stopped. "Why?"
"Just curious. Someone said you might, and I wanted to follow it if you do."
"I don't."
"Oh. Okay." Madison smiled in that way that meant she definitely didn't believe her. "Just thought I'd ask."
She walked away, and Rhaenyra stood frozen in the hallway, trying to calculate the damage.
If Madison was asking, other people were too. And if enough people started digging, they'd find it. Would see @stormpilled with its 53 followers and figure out it was hers.
Would see that Daemon Targaryen—her uncle, the family scandal—followed her private account.
By lunch, she couldn't eat.
"You need to calm down," Alicent said, watching her push food around her tray. "They're not going to find it. Your username isn't obvious. Your bio doesn't have your name. You're fine."
"But if they do—"
"Then you delete it. Or you block them. Or you just say it's for close friends and they're not close enough. You have options."
But she didn't feel like she had options. She felt like she was waiting for something to explode.
By the time school ended, she was exhausted.
Got in Criston's car. Checked her phone.
@daltontea had posted again.
She almost didn't click it. Almost had enough self-preservation to just leave it alone.
But she clicked.
The new post was a screenshot of a finsta story. Not hers—someone else's. But it was talking about her:
"rhaenyra really thought she could have a secret account and nobody would notice 💀 girl we all know"
More slides, names still blurred out:
"imagine being that rich and that desperate for attention you have to hide online to make people care about you. manipulative af"
And another:
"her finsta is probably just her complaining about how hard her life is lmaooo like she’s not handed everything on a platter"
They didn't have her account. But they were close.
Rhaenyra felt sick.
Back at the penthouse, she locked herself in her room. Sat on her bed with her phone, staring at her finsta.
She should delete it. Right now. Before anyone found it.
But deleting it meant losing the connection to Daemon. Meant cutting off the only place they could interact without anyone knowing.
She opened their DM thread. Scrolled through the messages from last night.
They'd already given people reason to look. Just by following each other, by interacting, by existing in each other's digital space. Daemon had liked two of her posts now. Her stomach was in her throat.
If anyone found out...
Her fingers moved before she could think about it.
@stormpilled i think people are looking for my finsta
Sent.
The message sat there, unread. He was probably at work or in meetings or living his actual life.
She waited anyway.
Five minutes. Ten. Twenty.
At 4:47 PM, he came online.
Read the message.
The three dots appeared immediately.
@daemontargaryen Why?
@stormpilled gossip account at school. someone posted about me having a secret account. people are trying to find it
@daemontargaryen Do they know the username?
@stormpilled no. but they're looking
@daemontargaryen Then change it. Change the username and bio. Remove anyone you don't completely trust.
@stormpilled i can't change it too much or people will def know im hiding something
@daemontargaryen Then delete it.
Her stomach dropped.
@stormpilled what?
@daemontargaryen Delete the account. Start fresh. Or don't have one at all.
@stormpilled but then how would...
She didn't finish the sentence. Didn't want to admit that the finsta had become their primary means of communication. That deleting it meant losing him.
He said nothing. She tried again:
@stormpilled i don't want to delete it
@daemontargaryen I know.
@stormpilled but if people find it...
@daemontargaryen I should unfollow you. This was a mistake.
It hurt. She also didn’t know how to reply.
Rhaenyra refreshed her finsta profile once, twice. 53 followers. The count hadn't gone down. Why did it even matter?
Sitting in her empty penthouse, alone like she always was, the idea of deleting the one place where someone actually saw her felt impossible. The one place she could be her authentic self.
@stormpilled ill think about it. about deleting this account. i don’t want the drama.
A long beat. He didn’t respond, just left her on delivered. She tried again:
@stormpilled how was your day?
Subject change. Obvious and desperate. A call for connection. More like a scream.
But he let her do it.
@daemontargaryen Long. Boring meetings. Corporate politics.
@stormpilled sounds terrible
@daemontargaryen It was. How was school beyond the gossip?
@stormpilled also terrible. people kept asking if i was okay in that way that means they want drama not answers
@daemontargaryen Ignore them.
@stormpilled easier said than done
@daemontargaryen I know. You’re stronger than you know.
For some reason, it made her bristle.
@stormpilled did you really mean it? last night. that i'm not pathetic.
@daemontargaryen Yes.
@stormpilled how do you know?
@daemontargaryen Because pathetic people don't walk away when things get uncomfortable. They stay and perform and make themselves smaller. You left. That takes more strength than staying.
She read it three times.
@stormpilled i left because i was having a panic attack about the instagram messages i sent you.
There. It was out in the open. She’s not sure why she’s so honest with him, or why that honesty came so naturally. Like breathing.
@daemontargaryen You left because you were smart enough to recognize you were overwhelmed. That's different.
@stormpilled you always do that
@daemontargaryen Do what?
@stormpilled reframe things so they don't sound as bad as they feel
@daemontargaryen Is that a criticism?
@stormpilled no. i just... i don't know if i believe you. about not being pathetic.
@daemontargaryen You don't have to believe me. But it's still true.
A long pause. She stared out the window, Manhattan at dusk. Everything was still up here in a way that made time feel suspended.
@stormpilled the yes sir thing last night
She sent it before she could stop herself. She was such an idiot.
@daemontargaryen What about it?
She imagined his exasperated sigh on the other side. Wherever he was. Probably the Targaryen Media headquarters.
@stormpilled why did you tell me not to do that?
Very long pause. The three dots appeared and disappeared multiple times. She knew better than to push and yet she couldn't resist.
@daemontargaryen Don’t.
@stormpilled why?
@daemontargaryen Rhaenyra.
Just her name. A warning or a plea or both. Her heart did that complicated thing again that was becoming more frequent when conversing with Daemon.
@stormpilled i'm just asking
The three dots appeared. Disappeared. Appeared again.
@daemontargaryen I need to go. Work thing.
@stormpilled okay
@daemontargaryen Delete your finsta if people get too close.
@stormpilled okay
@daemontargaryen And Rhaenyra?
@stormpilled yeah?
@daemontargaryen Stop trying to get me to say things I shouldn't say.
@stormpilled i'm not trying to do anything
@daemontargaryen You are. And you're good at it. Which is why I need to be careful.
@stormpilled careful of what?
@daemontargaryen Of you.
And then he went offline.
Rhaenyra sat there, staring at the last message.
Of you.
Not "for you." Of you.
Like she was the dangerous one. Like she was the thing he needed to protect himself from.
She didn't know whether to feel powerful or terrified.
Both, maybe.
She looked at her finsta. At the followers list with his name in it. At the messages they'd been sending.
She should delete it. Should end this before it got worse.
But she opened her camera instead. Took a photo of her textbooks and laptop. Posted it to her story with the caption: tuesday hell
Then watched.
Three minutes later: @daemontargaryen viewed your story.
He'd said he needed to go. Work thing. But he was still watching.
Still paying attention.
Still careful of her.
She smiled despite everything.