Game of Thrones: Unwanted Attention

Chapter 1 of my new Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 1

It was the start of yet another day at Winterfell; the ancestral home of one of the most prominent families in the North, the largest state in the land of Westeros. The Stark family; all of whom were currently seated at the dining table, having breakfast. At the head of the table was Eddard Stark, the head of the family, and his wife, Catelyn, formerly of the Tully family.

Both families were well-known and prominent, being major people in the politics of Westeros. Both had appearances that were considered typical for their family; Eddard, or Ned as his wife affectionately called him, had brown hair and grey eyes, as well as a long face. Catelyn, loving called Cat by her husband, had auburn hair and blue eyes, as well as high cheekbones.

Of their five children, most of them had inherited Cat's physical features, such as all three sons, twenty-one year old Robb, fifteen year old Bran and eleven year old Rickon. Of their two daughters, the older one, eighteen year old Sansa was almost considered her mother reborn in terms of appearance.

The last child, sixteen year old Arya, was the only family member to inherit Ned's features; all of them were pale skinned and noted for their varied personalities, some of which even clashed and yet, the family remained as strong together as the parents hoped.

As they sat having breakfast, Arya Stark was lost in thought. It was unusual to see her so contemplative; she was not only the quintessential tomboy, but also know for her wild streak. It used to drive her mother and sister, who was definitely the girly girl, to distraction.

But now they had finally come to accept it. Contrary to what people thought, there had been a time when the Starks were almost fractured, fighting amongst themselves, usually over things like Arya's behaviour and attitude in comparison to Sansa. But with those days behind them, the family preferred not to think about those times, save to remember the lessons learned during it.

Arya's thoughts meanwhile were on a different matter. 'I suppose I better tell them I mean...I don't want them to freak out when I...go to Gendry's...'

She smiled lightly at that, Gendry Waters was Arya's boyfriend. His appearance had been something of a surprise to the family, who thought Arya would never date or find love or anything like that. She had even said so herself. But Gendry defied all expectations, especially Arya's. Arya had been hesitant to introduce him to the family and with good reason, it had been another part of their fights. But now, things were different.

The main difficulties were the fact he was older than her, being the same age as her brother Robb; he was also much taller and more muscular than Arya, who was barely over five foot one, looking back now, Arya supposed she could understand why anyone would think he was dangerous to her.

Then there was the social class issue, not something her family generally cared about but their peers would, Gendry; despite his father being revealed to be Robert Baratheon, President of Westeros and a good friend to Eddard Stark, lived in Flea Bottom, the poorest neighbourhood in King's Landing, the capital of the land.

It was a rough neighbourhood too, plenty of desperate people and even criminal types.

'But it's not Gendry's fault he lives there, my family understand that now at least. Arya reflected. 'He wants to get out of it, he does. He saves as much money as he can from his mechanic job; he also hates owing a debt to anyone, which is why he won't accept offers from dad to just give him to money to leave Flea Bottom.'

Truthfully, that level of self-sufficiency and not wanting to be tied down by debt to anyone was one of Gendry's most frustrating, yet endearing traits.

"Arya, is everything alright?" Her mother suddenly asked.

She started and looked around, her parents and siblings had all finished breakfast and were getting ready to go get ready for school or work.

"Oh yeah, um...I meant to tell you." She replied. "I was, gonna go over to Gendry's, after school."

There was a moment and Arya tensed.

She could see the look between her parents, they hated it when she went to Gendry's. She understood now at least that it was solely due to the danger of the place. It was why they preferred Gendry to come over to theirs.

But finally her father spoke. "Alright Arya, but be careful."

She nodded. "Don't worry, I know."

With that she headed up to get ready for school.

So it was later at school that Arya, smiling lightly despite her surroundings, ended up going her separate ways from her siblings. Robb and Rickon did not attend this school, being too old and too young respectively; but Sansa and Bran had already went off to join their own groups of friends.

Arya was on her way to do the same. Arya again surprised people, this time with her choice in friends. The two boys she approached were part of the school bullies had deemed the 'loser crowd'. Their names were Hot Pie and Lommy and both smiled when they spotted Arya, greeting her.

"Hey guys." She replied. "So, what's up?"

Lommy shrugged. "Ah, nothing much, same old, same old."

Hot Pie nodded. "Yeah, we were just...uh oh?"

Noting Hot Pie's changed in expression, Arya turned and her eyes narrowed. For approaching her was a young man, around Sansa's age, tall with dark hair and eyes, a toned build and the typical features of his family. Arya knew him well enough by now, Kevan Frey.

"What?" She snapped the moment he was close enough.

Kevan smirked. "No need to be rude, Arya. After all, I'm just here to see you."

Arya rolled her eyes, his tone, the look in his eyes, he was so transparent.

"Well you've seen me." She replied blandly. "So, bye now."

Kevan shook his head. "Come on now; no need for that. You know I'm here to offer you your every..."

Arya cut him off. "Heard it all before, my answer hasn't changed, you're trying my patience."

"You can't deny it; why lie to yourself, we..."

She rounded on him, despite the height difference she actually intimidated him.

"Listen, and I'll spell it out, I'm not interested." She snarled. "Besides, I'm already dating someone, now...piss off."

With that she turned and, with Lommy and Hot Pie quickly following, stalked off to her first class.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.