I wrote this for sandyd94 for the axg exchange 2014 on Tumblr. Prompt: something based on the song "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
Gendry was sweating, and not just because it was ninety degrees in the shade, so humid that it felt difficult to breathe and he had no air conditioning in his car. The city traffic always made him nervous. Perhaps Savannah wasn't quite as bustling and chaotic as, say, Atlanta or Jacksonville, but it still felt overwhelmingly large and busy to him. He was more accustomed to driving down the highway and seeing pine tree orchards, woods equally deciduous and coniferous, wetlands and swamplands dotted here and there, great swathes of farmland growing tobacco, onions, cotton and dozens of other crops, and waving, as all southerners do, as every few minutes he'd pass a vehicle headed the opposite direction.
Savannah was a different world entirely. He'd only been here once before, a couple of years ago when he agreed to go with Jon and a few others to River Street for the St. Patrick's Day celebration. He'd never seen so many people in all his life, let alone so many inebriated ones, and he'd sworn to himself that he'd never go again. Thankfully, this wasn't St. Patrick's Day and when he'd agreed to come pick Arya up he'd imagined the city would be less… hectic; and it was, but the one-way streets and drivers that seemed to be in much more of a hurry than he was caused him to grip the steering wheel and hit his brake a little too often for their liking, given the number of honks he'd received thus far.
After a bit of driving around aimlessly, he finally found the parking garage at which she'd told him to leave his car. From there, he descended to the ground floor and out onto the street. Glancing to his right and left for a street sign and squinting in the sunlight, he pulled out his ancient flip-phone and scrolled through her texts to the ones giving directions and, once determining which way to head, he set off on foot. Looking around him as he walked, he couldn't deny the beauty of downtown Savannah. Everything from the myriad architecture to the sprawling oak trees dripping with Spanish moss created a sense that one was in a place like few others, one that almost felt like stepping into some alternate, time-compressed universe.
He wiped a bit of perspiration from his brow and counted himself lucky for wearing a white t-shirt that didn't betray quite how much he was sweating as a gray or blue one might have. It wasn't just the heat or the culture shock that was making him feel ill-at-ease; as he made his way toward Arya's apartment, he was both filled with excitement and terror over seeing her and he wondered if things would be the same as they were before.
Arya's time away from their quiet little town had felt like an eternity. Growing up together on her family's farm was almost like a dream to him with hunting and fishing in the fall, mild winters spent praying for a snow flurry or two and then praying again for rain in the spring, and long summers full of swimming down at the river, late nights talking and laughing around a fire, and days spent doing everything possible to stay cool. As he fondly recalled these memories, he was also reminded of her very noticeable absence these past two years since moving to Savannah. He and Jon had both talked about how things just weren't quite the same without her around and although things were a bit duller, they also took note of how they hadn't been getting into quite as much trouble without her wild, impetuous nature and thirst for adventure. Now even Jon was gone as well, having left last summer to join the Marines and Gendry was the last of their group remaining.
He wondered if she'd be the same or if her time at the Savannah College of Art and Design, often called SCAD for short, had managed to quell her fiery spirit. He also wondered if she'd grown more beautiful than she was when he'd last seen her. This was something he could never bring himself to discuss with Jon, or anyone else for that matter. He'd never mustered up the courage to tell Arya that he fancied her, although he suspected that she knew, and these last two years more than ever he regretted his cowardice. What if she's met someone? he wondered. She always went on about how there weren't any interesting boys back home, but now she's been around people from all over the country. On top of that, they're even interested in the same things as her.
He reached the corner of a block and looked up at the road sign, realizing this was her street. With a deep breath, he turned down it and began looking for her apartment building. It's quaint, he thought to himself, set back a bit from the road and nestled amongst a dozen others. God, what if there's a fire? They'd all burn down. His wondering cast to the side, he proceeded up to the doorway and, with a deep breath, pressed the doorbell. Inside, he could hear a girl's voice shouting to another and a moment later the door flew open, revealing a thin blonde girl resembling the stereotypical southern belle. She blinked at him and he smiled at her. "Hi."
She returned his smile with a blush as she stepped to the side to let him in,]. "Hi, you must be Gendry. I'm Weasel, Arya's roommate." Weasel let out a little laugh as he stepped inside of the small apartment. It was cluttered, but not unkempt. Various bits of art hung on the walls and there were little trinkets from various cultures on every surface, so much so that it felt like a history or art teacher lived here rather than two college students. Immediately before him was a hallway leading towards a living area; their kitchen was just to the right, and to the left was a staircase. He heard footsteps as someone began to bound down them and, with a hop, Arya landed at the bottom. She was smiling widely, her hair back in a ponytail and wearing a white tank top with her bra straps unabashedly showing, a pair of ragged jeans shorts and her feet were bare with her toenails painted a deep shade of pink. "Gendry!" she exclaimed as she threw herself at him, embracing him. He let out a laugh and returned her hug with equal vigor. "God, I've missed you!"
He responded earnestly, "I've missed you too." More than you know, he thought.
She released him and stepped back, beaming. "This is Weasel," she pointed, "my roommate."
"Yeah," Gendry nodded, "we've-"
"We're both dance majors. And I'm so sorry about the apartment. It's a mess!" She continued breathlessly, "It's my turn to clean it and…" her voice trailed off as she broke into another grin. "It's so good to see you, Gendry."
He felt himself blushing, so he looked to the ground and absent-mindedly scratched at the back of his neck. "It's good to see you." he managed, desperately wanting to say something witty or clever but coming up with nothing.
"Well, I'm almost done packing." She stepped back toward the stairs. "You hang out with Weasel while I finish up." With that, she disappeared up the stairs, noisily stomping as she hurried to the top.
Weasel watched her as well and, once Arya was safely out of earshot, turned to Gendry. "She's been talking about you all morning." She started for the living room and motioned for him to follow.
"About me?" he asked.
"Yes," she sat down on a brown leather loveseat and he sat in an antiquated recliner opposite her, "about you, and home, Jon and all that."
"Ahh." He nodded thoughtfully.
"Mostly about you, though." she grinned. Gendry wasn't entirely sure what to make of that. She leaned forward and asked, "Are all the boys back where you're from as cute as you are?"
Gendry looked away, laughing nervously. "I'm cute? Okay, well," he shifted uncomfortably, "haven't heard that much before." He shrugged. "I don't know. I guess Arya would know better than I would."
Weasel looked serious. "I've asked her and she's said that they're all boring and stupid." Gendry recalled quite a few times when Arya had called him "stupid," and Weasel continued, "She said that you and Jon were the only ones worth anything."
He felt his heart warm. "Jon's a cool cat." His words hung in the air as they reached a lull in the conversation. Gendry reverted to small talk. "So, um, how do you like SCAD? Is it everything it's built up to be?"
"You mean, does it feel like I'm attending one of the most prestigious art schools in the nation?" She smirked. "No, not really. It doesn't even feel like school. More like a job, I suppose. But we love it, Arya and I. We're both very fortunate to be able to go there."
He agreed, "Yeah, I can imagine."
A pounding on the stairs announced Arya's return. "Alright, I'm ready!"
Gendry helped Arya carry her bags to his car, chatting along the way about Savannah, SCAD and how she loved it there. When they reached his car, he warned her as he put her bags in the trunk, "The AC's out again, so… prepare to sweat."
She grinned at him as they got in. "It's alright. With the windows down, it'll be fine once we get out of town and onto the highway."
Leaving Savannah proved to be much easier than entering it. Arya directed him on the quickest route out and before long they were on the interstate. On the way to Savannah he'd worried that the two-hour-long drive home might be filled with awkward silence, but he found himself deeply interested in her tales as she seemed to enjoy his. Thankfully, there was plenty to catch up on. Eventually, the conversation turned to a frighteningly interesting topic.
"So," she asked, "have you been seeing anyone?"
"No." he answered honestly. "Not that there haven't been offers, you know," he gave her a sly grin, "but Robb keeps me pretty busy with the farm, so it's not like I've had much time to worry about things like that." To be honest, he frequently worried over it. He worried that he might never have the chance to tell Arya how he felt about her before it was too late.
"How is the farm, anyway?"
"It's good, very good." He nodded. "We've been having some trouble with one of the tractors. It needs a new engine, but so far I've been able to patch it up and keep it running. It needs to last through the fall, at least."
He could hear the smile in her voice. "You've always had a knack for that mechanical shit."
"And what about you?" He looked over at her. "Seeing anyone?"
"Well," he braced himself as she started, "there was this one guy that I was sort of talking to for a while, but…" She sounded uncomfortable. "I don't know, it just didn't really pan out."
"Sorry to hear that." he lied.
Arya nearly mumbled her response, "I think I was only interested in him because he reminded me of someone else, anyway."
He glanced over to her and saw she was staring out the window. Not knowing what to say, he asked, "What was his name?"
"Edric." she answered. "Edric Storm."
"Hmm." He wondered who this fellow might have reminded her of.
"But anyway," she sighed, "I'm just glad to finally be coming back for a while."
He tried to mask the anxiety he felt. "How long do you plan on staying?"
Arya put her feet up on the dash and leaned back, putting her hand out the window and coasting it on the wind. "Oh, I don't know. A couple of weeks, at least. Weasel's taking care of the apartment while I'm gone, so it doesn't really matter." She looked over at him, grinning, and poked him in the ribs. "You could be stuck with me for the whole summer."
He laughed. "Is that a threat?"
"Only if you don't remember how to keep me entertained." She groaned, "God knows there's nothing do."
Gendry couldn't help but disagree with her, but he kept his opinions to himself. "Yeah, well, still." He opined, "There's no place like home."
Arya shifted in her seat. "Well, I mean, sure it's where I grew up and where my house is, but…" She bit her lip. "I feel like I'm home right now."
Gendry furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"
"I feel like 'home' is whenever I'm with you." He looked over to her, his heart skipping lightly at the compliment. "And Jon." she added, smiling sheepishly.
Taking a deep breath to quell the butterflies in his stomach, Gendry replied, "These past two years," he shook his head, "it hasn't been the same without you." He heard her sniff and glanced over to her. If she was crying, she was hiding it well.
"I'm sorry I haven't come back." She cleared her throat. "Ever since Dad died, you know, it's just been easier to stay away."
Gendry had suspected as much. Mr. Ned had passed during Arya's first semester away at school almost a year and a half ago. It had been sudden and unexpected, and it was the last time he'd seen her. He remembered how she hadn't shed a tear the entire time from when she came home, to the wake, the funeral, the burial; even when the rest of the Stark family was broken and in tears Arya remained stoic. However, Gendry had seen the hurt, the pain and the devastation in her eyes. She never smiled once and barely spoke to anyone, himself included, except when absolutely necessary. By the expression on her face, she'd looked simply empty.
Instinctively, he reached a hand over and rested it on her leg, whispering, "It's alright." He heard her whimper and she put her hand atop his, grasping it while she began to softly cry.
"I'm sorry." She smiled and tried to laugh through her tears, turning to look away from him. "Crying is so stupid."
Gendry didn't know what to say to her. He couldn't begin to imagine what it must have been like, what it still must be like, to lose a parent. He never would. The memories of his mother grew fainter as he aged and he'd begun to wonder if they were even real at all or if he'd simply invented them. She'd died when he was only three and he'd never known his father. In a way, he was fortunate for that. You can't lose something that you never had. Surely, he reasoned, there's something that I can say to make her feel better. After a moment, he came to the conclusion that there was truly nothing to say at all. Perhaps simply being there for her was enough.
Arya wiped at her eyes and kept staring out the window. "Do you think we could stop by his grave before we go to the house?"
"Sure." Gendry nodded. "If that's what you want." For the rest of the ride, Gendry did his best to keep her laughing and smiling. He brought up their shenanigans on church trips, cow tipping, scaring small children at their community's haunted house on Halloween year after year and the time Jon "burned the school down," as they often jested, during home economics. However, Arya became quiet once they pulled into the cemetery and the grumbling of the gravel beneath the tires was all that could be heard.
The cemetery was set back from the highway, the gravel path leading between two groves of trees and foliage before opening up into a large clearing. At the center, a marble statue of the Mother stood on a raised platform. The names of many familiar houses could be found on the tombstones; Mormont, Cassel, Reed, Bolton, Dustin and Flint all among them. The Stark plots were at the very back. As he brought the vehicle to a stop, he turned to her. "Would you like for me to stay here?" he asked.
She bit her lip and thought for a moment. "No." she answered simply. Arya got out of the car and he slowly followed suit, trailing not far behind her as she walked up to the grave. She stopped a few feet short of it and he did the same, a pace behind her, and she simply stood, calm as still water. A moment later she turned to him, bleary-eyed and breaking his heart, and reached out her hand. He took it and she pulled him close, hugging him and crying into his chest. He put one arm around her waist and with the other he gently caressed her back, leaning his head down to rest his cheek on the top of her head. She clung to him more tightly and he closed his eyes, wishing he could share her pain and her grief that he might somehow alleviate her suffering.
A moment later, her emotions seemed to settle and she asked if she could have a moment alone. Gendry sat in his car, watching her as she knelt by her father's grave, for how long he couldn't have said. After returning to his car herself, Gendry drove back to the highway and her mood appeared to improve. They talked again about their fond memories from years past. Eventually, she asked him if he'd like to go camping, "just like old times".
"Sure." He smiled.