His band, The Prince that was Promised, had finished playing a half hour ago, and Aegon was packing up. He was in the middle of loading speakers into the back of the van owned by Uncle Jon, his father's closest friend and their makeshift band manager, when Duck called out to him.
"That Stark girl is looking for you back at the bar," Duck smirked. Aegon thought he seemed entirely too pleased by the situation. Aegon took a breath, he had known this was going to happen. He had planned this, but that did not make it any less nerve racking.
Arya always had the ability to rattle him.
"Thanks, I've got one more speaker and then I'll head in to talk to her." More time to prepare, he thought. Aegon turned to get the next speaker and to escape the piercing eyes of Uncle Jon reflected in the rearview mirror. He had been silently glowering at Aegon since he changed their playlist of songs while on stage. Aegon was sure to get an earful on the drive home, but he could handle that later.
"Oh no!" Duck moved himself, putting himself between Aegon and the last speaker, "She is doing that angry glare thing." Duck gave a mocking shiver of fear before placing his hands on Aegon's shoulders and forcibly turning him around back to the bar's door. "For the safety of all you should go see her now."
Aegon tripped a few steps forward from his friends push and headed back inside with a sigh. He didn't like it when he had to deal with an irritated Uncle Jon and an angry Arya. He knew what this was about; it would be the same reason why Uncle Jon was cross. For two people that dislike each other they always get mad at me for the same thing. Aegon was sure that Uncle Jon would actually like Arya if saw Arya and not Stark.
At least he only had to deal with two angry people. If his brother Jon had come to see his show instead of going camping with the Black Brother's Boy Scout Troop, Aegon would have received a punch to the face as soon as he stepped off stage. It always seemed to Aegon that despite Jon being born months after himself, Jon was the one who ended up with the qualities of a 'big brother,' but with no younger siblings of his own, they ended up being directed towards Jon's younger cousin.
It was those qualities that were amplified about two years back when the Aegon's and Arya's casual joking grew into flirting, 'harmless flirting' is what he told Jon it was, and Jon in turn gave him a harmless black eye. But it was more than just flirting, it was the times they caught each other staring, the touches that lingered mere moments longer then they should've, but mostly for him, it was the times they would just get lost in talking to each other about everything. Family, siblings, friends, mistakes, enemies, classes, they had talked about it all over the years. Aegon felt like he knew Arya better than anyone else. Now there she was, leaning against the wall of the hallway glaring at him.
Aegon could feel his heart pound. Being the lead guitarist and singer of a band had made a number of girls set their sights on him, but no matter how pretty they might have been, how short their skirts were, none of them created the reaction in him that Arya did in combat boots, cargo pants, and a black tee that looked like it had been pulled out of the dirty bin.
"What in the seven hells was that earlier?" She demanded as pushed herself off the wall and stomped up to him, the grey ice in her eyes never fading.
He knew exactly what she was talking about.
"What in the seven hells were you doing at a bar?"
Aegon smiled mockingly at her rage. Technically he and Duck were underage as well, but he was in the band and had Uncle Jon as an adult supervisor, but she didn't need to know that. He rarely got time alone with Arya that was not being closely monitored in one way or another by his overprotective half-brother, so Aegon planned to toy with her for as long as he could. It would get her riled up, and he always liked her best when her protective wall of ice crumbled, which would cause her true emotions to come storming out of her like an avalanche.
Arya scowled, "You didn't answer my question."
"Neither did you." He replied flippantly and in return he received a punch in the arm. "Ow! When did your punches get so much more painful?"
"Whenever you started writing that stupid song!" She swung back, aiming for his other arm, but Aegon caught her wrist in time to stop the blow. She tried to remove herself from his grasp, but Aegon held tight. This was close enough to what Aegon had been hoping for since earlier that night on stage, and decided they had spent enough years skidding around this conversation. This was the whole reason why when he saw Arya in the crowd early that night he convinced Duck to add it to their playlist. Not that it took much convincing, Duck had been harassing Aegon about his feelings for Arya for years.
"Which song Arya?" He abandoned his teasings, becoming serious, his violet eyes focused on her face.
"The one that was not on your original list of songs."
Arya spoke slower now and some of the heat had left her voice. she could tell that the situation had shifted. Aegon was silent but he did not look away.
"That last one," She was almost whispering as if ashamed to say it out loud, "She Wolf." Her eyes transferred from his face to the hand that held her wrist.
"What part did you think was stupid?" He asked. She was quiet and bit her lip in thought. "Did you not like the 'They saw the she but not the wolf" line?" Aegon gave a small shrug, "I was worried that was a little cliché, but-"
"No," Arya interrupted with a shake of her head. "I kinda liked that part." She raised her face, but did not meet his, keeping her eye on his shoulder instead. "I did think the 'My heart is yours to devour' was a little much though."
They fell into silence until Arya spoke again.
"Why did you play it?"
Aegon altered his hold on her wrist, letting it slide through his hand until his fingers held hers. "Because I wanted you to hear it." He stated.
"Why would you want that?" She still wasn't looking at him, instead her eyes were on her hand that was being lightly held in his.
His thumb stroked the back of her hand twice before he reached forward with the other to make her meet his gaze. His hand brushed her cheek and she snapped her head back up to him herself. Aegon smiled, She always hates people doing things for her that she can do herself.
"Because I didn't know how to tell you how I felt in person." With that Aegon pulled her towards him, his hand slid to the back of her head where it tangled with her hair while pulling her lips to his.
He thought he heard a growl from her as her hands twined behind his neck and into his hair, but he couldn't be sure. He was far too lost in the warmth of her body against him, the silk of her hair, and the taste of her mouth, still lightly flavored by beer she had been drinking earlier.
Only when they pulled away for oxygen, leaving only a breath of space between their lips did he noticed Arya had pushed him against the wall of the hallway and that the hand that was once holding hers was now under her shirt and pressed against the skin of her waist. He let out air with a smile and rested his forehead against hers while he continued to play with her hair.
"You could have just told me, instead of putting it in a song." She said,breathing heavily. "I am not a girl who swoons over long songs."
"Clearly." He replied and in return got a glare and a thinning of lips Arya, which only made him smile. "And if you think it is so easy to just say, why didn't you ever say anything?"
Her eyes softened and she gave him a sad smile, her fingers still lightly brushing the back of his neck., "I was worried that maybe I was wrong, and I would lose you as a friend if I said anything."
Aegon leaned forward,his lips finding the base of her neck, "I'm happy we were both right." He said between kisses up her throat, causing her to moan.
"Jon is going to kill you when he finds out." She whispered when his mouth had reached her ear.
"Which one?" He asked, causing her to snicker.
"Both of them." She explained with a laugh, "You're going to get killed twice."
"Well," He said with a childlike grin, "at least I have you to protect me from them."
Aegon received another punch in his arm and a kiss that muffled the groan.