A/N: After that last episode and that scene, my heart broke and came up with this. I honestly don't even know how to go on anymore...but here, enjoy.
Title comes from the song, "The Enemy" by Mumford and Sons.
Also, this is loosely tied to my other fic, Promises, in case there is any confusion. :)
"You promised."
"Arya—"
"You promised! You said you'd come with me! You'd said that we'd go home!"
She could feel the tears starting to build but she refused to cry. He looked to the ground and wouldn't meet her eyes.
"I know and I'm sorry."
"You're a liar! You're a traitor and a liar! You said—"
"I KNOW!"
Arya shut her mouth the moment Gendry yelled and finally looked at her.
"I know what I said and I meant it. I did but…"
"But what?" she choked out. "What Gendry?"
He put down the armor and stood to meet her. "These are good men. And they need good men."
"Robb needs good men too. We're leaving tomorrow and—"
"And then what, I'd serve him?"
Arya opened her mouth to say more but he cut her off.
"I've served men my entire life and look where that's got me. I served Master Mott in King's Landing and he sold me to the Night's Watch. I served Tywin Lannister in Harrenhal and I'd wonder every day if I'd be tortured or slaughtered like some animal at any moment. I'm done serving. I am done fearing for my life and wondering if each day may be my last. I can't do it anymore and I'm done."
She was speechless. She didn't know he'd felt that way and she felt guilty for never asking. But she was angry now as well and instead of understanding, she let her anger get the better of her.
"But you'd serve Lord Beric? You just said that you were done serving men."
"I did. But they chose him. They had a choice and they chose him. Not some lord but a knight."
Her eyes were gleaming now and she could feel the tears threatening to fall but she refused to break.
"Have you lost your mind? What are you going to do when the Lannisters find this place, huh? You think they'll spare the smith? They'll cave your head in with your own hammer!"
"At least then, it would have been my choice."
His words were like a slap to the face.
"You don't have to do this."
He walked closer to her. "I want to."
"These men…they're brothers. They're a family."
She turned to walk away when she caught his whisper. "I've never had a family."
Arya twist to face him and this time she couldn't keep from breaking.
"I can be your family." She quivered looking him in the eyes.
"You wouldn't be my family. You'd be 'my lady'." He said with a sad smile.
He wasn't sure who broke the stare first but all he saw were the tears streaming down and betrayal written across her face. He tried to reach for her but she left before he could even touch her and was left with guilt. Gendry walked back to the stool and picked the armor up again. He stared long and hard at it. And then he threw it against the wall of the cave and slumped to the ground, the rough texture digging into his back. All his life, he'd been a bastard with no name and no future. He had grown to understand the way that the world worked and never forgot what he was and what his place was. His eyes were glistening and he threw his head back, willing that none of this was real and that he was back in King's Landing.
But it was and nothing would change that.
He was just about to stand when he heard footsteps. Turning to their direction, he saw Arya coming back. Gone were the tears and replaced with unquelled anger. He only had a moment before she shoved him into the wall.
"I saved your life you stupid boy. I saved you and saved you and you decide to throw your life away?"
He tried to respond but she didn't let him.
"For what? A band of outlaws and some sense of honor? How stupid can you be to believe all that?"
"Arya—"
"No. You're a stupid, stupid, stupid," she said as she punched his chest and let the tears fall, "stupid, stupid boy."
As she finished, he held her close and gripped her tightly. His arms locking around her back and her fisted in his jerkin. Finally, he let himself cry with her. He wanted her to know how much she meant to him and how it pained him to lose her. But there was no other way and they both knew it.
"You don't have to do this."
"I know. I want to." I have to, he thought. Please understand.
She looked up from his chest and brought her eyes to his face. For once, all the mirth and fire from her eyes was gone and it killed him. She deserves better than a lowborn smith. Her breath hitched as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. He closed his eyes and put everything into that kiss. Just as he pulled back to look at her face, she tugged him by the collar and kissed him on the lips. This was no chaste kiss, like the first one, the kiss after the Hound's trial. No, this was a desperate and needy kiss. She wanted to show him all she felt. He lifted her from the floor and flipped their positions.
Arya was pressed against the wall and the rough surface was digging into her back, but she didn't care. She felt no pain, only Gendry's hands on her hips and his lips on hers. Their lips molded together and she could feel something start to burn inside her, wanting more. He felt it as well. A sudden rush of emotions and pleasure started to overcome him and the kisses became more passionate and his lips left hers and went to her neck. His mouth trailed all along her collarbone and she grasped at this thick hair. Gendry had been so lost in the moment that he never felt when Arya had pried his jerkin and tunic off. It wasn't until he felt her taking her clothes off that he stopped. Her eyes flew open and she tugged at him to face her. He refused to meet her look and started putting her down.
"Don't." She wrapped her legs around his waist even more securely.
"We can't."
"Yes we can."
"No, we can't. I shouldn't have done that." His face held nothing but pain and want.
She reached out to cup his face again. "I don't care."
When he finally looked at her, he could see the spark from before start to ignite again. "I care. They would have my head for this. I can't do that to you…I won't do that to you."
No matter how much it hurts, he thought to himself.
"Gendry, for once, I want something to go right…even when it's wrong."
He knew what she meant. She had lost so much already and tomorrow she could either have it all or lose it all over again.
"Just for once."
And just like that, Gendry gave in. For once, I can do something for her.
He laid her gently on the ground and helped her remove her jerkin. Her tunic came undone and she blushed slightly when he took it off. He placed a small kiss on her shoulder and urged her to lie back. He kissed her neck and trailed down to the tops of her chest. He was hunched over her and his hands explored her slender body, tentatively touching her, and getting little sighs in response. Arya's hands traced the curves of his back and the lines on his chest. Moving her tiny hands to the front of his breeches, she unlaced them carefully and slipped her hand inside. Gendry gasped as Arya clumsily stroked him and helped undress the rest of him. Arya looked at him in wonder as he lay above her naked as his name day. She eyed his cock warily and then began to take her breeches off. Once she was bare, she lay back down and softly kissed Gendry.
Repositioning himself above her, he looked her in the eyes and asking the silent question. He could see the insecurity in her steely grey but she nodded and braced herself. Arya in turn could see the conflicting emotions in Gendry's blue eyes, but was surprised when she felt his finger inside her. She let out a small gasp and grasped his shoulders. He pumped his finger slowly and then began to go a bit faster. Arya caught on to the rhythm and moaned softly when she felt another finger join the first. Her hips snapped in time with his hand this time and she started to feel something start to build low in her belly. Another few pumps from his fingers and she felt some sort of pleasurable wave of relief wash over her as a third finger slipped within her and his thumb brushed against her nub.
Her mouth fell open and a whimper escaped her. Gendry pulled his fingers out and placed them over her hip. She reached for his face and trailed her fingers over his features, his nose, her cheeks, his brows, and his temples. He leaned into her touch and kissed her palm. She then parted her legs even wider for him and nudged him with her knee. He hesitated but moved up and slowly pressed his tip inside her. She felt a sharp pinch and she clutched his back firmly.
At first she felt unsure of what to do but as soon as she felt Gendry's lips on hers again, she began to feel like before and the pain was gone. It seemed as if her body knew what to do by instinct as she pushed her hips towards his and met his thrusts. He tried to be as gentle as possible but the way she was matching him and eagerly accepting his kisses and touches, he lost control. He sucked on her pulse point and bit her breasts as she raked her nails over his back. At one point in between his thrust, he stopped to look at her and saw her eyes boring into his. He shifted them enough to fit his hand in between them and rubbed her nub with two fingers before Arya's back arched and cried out throaty whimpers. He was thrust a few more times before grunting and spilling on her belly and rolling off of her.
She hadn't even realized that she was crying until she felt Gendry brush his thumb over her cheeks. He pulled her on top of him and held her close to him. For all that may happen on the morrow, they still had tonight. They still had this night to be Arry the orphan boy and Gendry the smith.
And at that point, nothing else mattered. Highborn or baseborn, it didn't matter. For Arya had Gendry and Gendry had Arya and nothing would ever change that.