A/N: Hey guys! Here I am again, with an update! So sorry for the wait! I wasn't really inspired but now I am so I need to make it up to you! Thank you SO MUCH for your alerts! The more reviews I get, the quicker the update comes! And I decided to make a personal shout out to one reviewer everytime I update, just to let you know I do read your reviews and greatly appreciate them! I was asked by Hanabi's Biggest Fan why Arya was 15 and not 11/12 like in the show. First of all, thanks for reading and I'm sorry that obviously frustrated you but making her this young doesn't sound right to me. Why? Only because I can't picture Robb or any person in Robb's shoes feeling any desire toward a child. At that age, she would have no curves and would pretty much be just a child. By making her older, I wanted her feminity and assurance stand out. She's always had a big temperament but the older she gets, the more confident and comfortable in her own body she is. Hope that makes sense.
Anyway, here's chapter two! Don't forget to let me know what you think of it.
This fic's also posted on AO3 if you want to leave kudos ;)
"Are you sure you'll be alright? I could ask Mrs Mordane to watch over you while I'm gone."
Leaving Arya alone for a week wasn't planned but he had to leave in the South for business. Knowing his little sister though, Robb wasn't convinced it would be safe. Not for her exactly but give Arya one mere hour in the house and she was bound to make one hell of a mess.
"Robb, it's only a week. I don't need our neighbour to babysit me." Rolling her eyes, her brother's unconvinced features only agitated her a bit.
Getting down the remaining steps, she walked past her brother and went to the front door. Still unsure, Robb sighed and gave in.
"Fine. But if you need anything, call her. I'll call you to make sure you didn't destroy the house."
Arya opened the door, more than eager to watch her brother go but still rolled his eyes at that last comment. Okay, so maybe she sort of almost burned the house once and pretended every object in the house was a target, so what?
"You know I was just practicing. The house is still standing, isn't it?"
"For now…" He muttered to himself. "You could have been hurt."
"Every hurt is a lesson and every lesson makes you better." Arya responded automatically.
Robb couldn't help smiling as he watched her sister proudly saying those words she kept saying every time she did something wrong.
"Syrio said, I know. Perhaps I should get you a dancing teacher instead…God knows I wouldn't have to worry about getting back home to only find out said home's on fire."
"It only happened once! Stop complaining about it and go or you'll miss your flight."
"Well, I'm going to miss you too, little sister. Your eagerness to see me gone is very touching." He added quite amused, placing a hand above his heart, only pretending to be offended.
"Shut up."
"Don't forget the rules." He said brushing off what she formerly answered and stepped out of the house.
"What rules?" Arya asked confused.
As long as she could remember, there weren't any rules. Ever since the accident happened, Robb never left her alone long enough to think it wise to make rules. Who followed them anyway? Rules were meant to be broken and Arya had done that just fine.
Admittedly, Robb hadn't thought that far. Shouldn't there be common rules for every teenage girl who was as rebellious as Arya?
"Just don't do anything I…Jon wouldn't do." Out of the two, Jon was clearly the most responsible. If only he could still live with them now…But Jon had a life and a family of his own now. It had been a couple years since he married Ygritte and she gave birth to their son, Benjen.
Jon…Arya missed him so much. He was the only one who truly understood her and even if he had left the house a few years ago, they had managed to keep in touch. Not lately though. No, now he has a new family; other people to take care of. Other more important people than her. Arya couldn't stop herself from having those negative thoughts and often felt bad about it. Instead of acting like a jealous baby looking for attention, she should be happy for her brother. And she was in a way. But another side of her, a bigger side, felt abandoned.
"Alright. Now go. I'll see you in a week."
Robb nodded and wondered for a second if he should do something like hug or kiss her forehead or something. Instead, he waved at her and walked away. He made a mental note to call Jon to have a memo on how to act around Arya Stark without it being awkward or life threatening.
As soon as Robb got in the taxi, Arya closed the door and rushed back to her room. She finished getting prepared for school even though going was the last thing she wanted.
As she arrived to her high school, Arya automatically walked towards her locker without noticing anyone around her. That was usually how it was. Arya was the loner type. If you had to put students in different categories, she'd be in this one. She was not popular, athletic or a geek. She usually hung around alone, ate alone and walked home alone. She had always been this way and wasn't going to change for whatever reason. She didn't really mind if people thought she was strange. She was a junior, if she wanted to make friends; she had plenty of time for that. So, walking around being invisible by all those people around her didn't matter one bit. What she hated though was the fact some bitches or dickheads for the popular teams, usually the cheerleading and football (soccer) teams, would go after those weaker than them.
"Watch where you're going fat arse." A strident voice echoed, which caught Arya's attention.
Shelby Richards, the head cheerleader and bitch of this school. Watching the poor boy on the floor trying to pick up his books, she shook her head enraged by the scene happening before her. It wasn't the first time this happened. The boy would apologize and walk away. But not this time.
Arya quickly walked towards the group and bent down to help the boy pick up the books.
"Come on, this is getting old, don't you think?" Another person said, obviously a boy judging by his deep voice. Surprisingly, he helped them and grabbed the last book before handing it to Arya.
Her eyes meeting his, she slightly let down her guard as she was more than astonished to see who the boy who was helping them was. The captain of the football team, Gendry Waters.
When Arya managed to get over her surprise, she looked up to see a furious Shelby.
"Gendry, what do you think you're doing exactly?"
"Fixing your shit as always." He grumbled as he stood again, glaring his girlfriend's way.
Arya looked down at the boy who finally got up and felt bad for him. He was looking down as if he didn't dare look at the bitch before him.
"Why don't you attack someone your own size next time?" Arya asked defiantly, definitely not as scared as the boy seemed to be.
If Shelby was shocked by Arya's rudeness, she didn't show it. Instead, she smirked and looked her over.
"Are you sure you can handle it, little girl?"
"Bring it on." Arya answered, never looking as confident as in that moment.
"Alright, that's enough. Shelby, I believe you have a cheerleading practice."
If Gendry hadn't interrupted their glaring session, Arya wasn't sure how this would have ended. Perhaps with her fist in that girl's fake nose.
If looks could kill, Gendry would be dead right after Shelby gave him that look and walked away.
"I'm sorry." He genuinely apologized.
"Right…" Arya brushed him off before turning her attention back at the fat boy.
"Are you alright? Why didn't you stand up for yourself? You're stronger than that stick."
"I can't…It's alright. It's happened before."
"What's your name?"
"People call me Hot Pie."
"Hot Pie?" Both Arya and Gendry asked and looked at each other before looking back at Hot Pie.
"Yes, Hot Pie." He said quite proud of it.
"Gendry! Coach is going to flay you alive if you don't get your arse in the field now." One of Gendry's team mates yelled as he jogged towards the field himself.
"Damn Bolton…" He muttered to himself, slightly shrugged and ran away as well.
Arya watched him leave curiously, still wondering why he bothered helping them in the first place but shrugged it off.
"So, Hot Pie. Do you want to be bullied by Shelby again?" She asked as they both walked down the corridor.
"Of course I don't. But look at me. I'm not like Gendry." He frowned, obviously getting uncomfortable.
"Who cares about Gendry? He doesn't care about anyone but himself and his stupid football. I'm talking about you and what you can do to change it."
"He did help today though. He didn't have to but he did. I don't know him but you may be judging him too fast." Talking about Gendry was certainly a good way to avoid talking about him, which was fine by him.
Arya opened her mouth but nothing came out. He had a point. She was judging someone without knowing them and it wasn't fair. But unlike Hot Pie, she didn't have that much faith in mankind.
"I'll teach you how to defend yourself." She stated, leaving a Hot Pie wide eyed, looking at her as if she grew another head.
As soon as Robb and Theon landed, they directly headed to work. This particular group of their company was having trouble with profits and they needed to find something quick before they lost the battle against other companies and closed the branch of the company for good.
After several hours, they seemed to come up with some pretty good ideas they'd dig into first thing in the morning. But first, they needed some sleep. And for Theon and Robb, sleep would only be a result of a good fucking night.
With no surprise, Robb got back to his hotel room with a brunette.
They fucked in the king size bed twice before they headed to the bathroom. They stepped into the shower and quickly turned the water on. Warm water blinding him, his mouth made its way to her neck, leaving hot, wet trails with his tongue. When he moved up and was about to kiss her lips, her brown eyes turned grey. Big grey eyes that weren't unknown to him. Once he realise whose eyes he was staring at, he jumped backwards and looked at the girl's face as if she was unreal. But the face he had before her wasn't hers, it wasn't the one he knew and those eyes went back to honey brown.
"Are you ok?" The girl asked concerned.
Before Robb could mutter a response, he closed his eyes and revived that moment weeks ago. Water running down her small body, covering her generous curves and those images were enough to make him harder than he already was. Opening his eyes again, he sighed either disappointed that the girl before him wasn't the one he was picture seconds ago or annoyed at himself for having such impure thoughts.
Robb stepped out of the shower nearly without a word.
"Sorry."
The girl, left in the bathroom, looked astonished but quickly made her way out of the bathroom and his room.
Robb sighed heavily and lied down, not caring if he was wetting the bed in the process. Grabbing his cell, it took him about ten minutes to decide whether or not he should call her. It was late and she was probably asleep anyway.
Nevertheless, Robb sent Arya a text message.
"Sorry I didn't call. Had tons of work to do. Sleep well."
To his surprise, Arya replied not even a minute later.
"Bloody hell, I forgot you were gone."
Robb cocked an eyebrow, not knowing if he should be relieved or offended.
"Good to know I'm missed…I'll call you tomorrow."
"Talk to you tomorrow then. I'm trying to sleep, stop texting me."
Robb snorted and put down his cell before his little sister tried to kick his arse via his phone. He bet she would have acted differently had it been Jon texting her. For the first time, Robb felt a little jealous of his brother.
The week passed too fast for her liking. Robb would be home soon and Arya just started to really enjoy living by herself. It felt so good that now she began to understand why Sansa was eager to leave home. Throughout the week, Sansa and Arya were able to chit chat and have a well-deserved catch up. As much as the younger girl didn't like to admit it, she missed her big sister. They may be different on many levels, but they were also very much alike.
Hot Pie and Arya became quickly close. At first she told herself that it was only because he was defenceless and he needed someone by his side but it turned out that she genuinely appreciated him and liked him. He was very funny and a caring person. Perhaps he was giving her more than she was giving him.
As they walked towards Hot Pie's locker first, Shelby and her friends were near and already laughing at them.
"Look who we have here. Dumb and Dumber…Get off the way, Shelby" Arya asked as she was blocking the access to Hot Pie's locker.
Shelby had no humour whatsoever. Nor did she have any spunk.
"Watch your mouth, little girl. I am the Queen of this place. You are no one."
Instead of answering her, Arya rolled her eyes and ignored the girl. Her words didn't touch her. At a certain extent…
"I'm going to crush you and you will run to mom and dad. Oh wait…You don't have any parents anymore." Shelby added with nothing but malice in her tone.
Arya clenched her jaw and before she knew it, she turned around to face Shelby and punched her in the face.
Before anyone could react, Shelby's bloody nose only released Arya's anger and she was about to hit her again when she felt a strong pair of arms wrapped around her. She first thought it was Hot Pie who tried to stop her but he was witnessing the scene with glee and shock at the same time. No, the one trying to hold her still was stronger.
"Stop, calm down!" He raised his voice, trying to calm her down vainly.
"Let me go!" Arya screamed as the other girl seemed to breathe fire as well and a fight was about to explode.
"That's enough! You two, stop it! In my office, right now!" The principal, Stannis Baratheon yelled and eventually, Arya and Shelby followed him. The man was so scary that they didn't dare say nor do anything to aggravate their case.
When Arya walked out of the office, she directly walked towards her locker to pick up some books and headed towards the exit.
"Hey!"
Arya barely noticed anyone talking to her until Gendry Waters caught up with her.
"I heard what happened with Shelby. I'm sorry." He said as he kept walking along.
"Not sorry enough to date her apparently."
They both remained silent for a moment until Gendry spoke again.
"You have a mean left hook. That's impressive for a girl…" He admitted, nudging her.
"It felt good." A small smile formed on her lips as she replayed the scene in her mind.
She didn't mean to hit her so hard but god, that was liberating.
"I bet it did. Shelby said she got out with nothing and you're suspended for three days. Doesn't sound really fair to me."
"Technically, I hit her. The principal didn't hear her say anything to me so it's her word against mine."
Gendry stopped as they reached the main entrance.
"I still have practice after school." He somewhat explained, not that she needed any explanation.
"And again, I'm sorry for Shelby." He added, only leaving Arya confused a bit irritated.
When Robb got the call from Arya's school, he was at the hotel bar with Theon. They were going home in a few hours and honestly, Robb couldn't wait to find his own bed.
"Yes Sir. I'll deal with her as soon as I get home. Sorry for the inconvenience." Robb hung up with an exasperate look on his face, which only seemed to amuse Theon.
"What did the little minx do this time?"
"She's literally killing me. She got in a fight and got suspended for three days." He answered getting more and more tired of his sister's bullshit.
"She's a teenager, Robb. And she's Arya. What did you expect?"
"I don't know. I guess I wasn't ready for it."
"Mate, you're so fucked." Theon chuckled, not feeling the slightest bad for his friend.
"Thanks jerk. Maybe I should take Jon up on his offer. He thought it'd be better if Arya came with him but he just got the baby…I thought I could handle Arya but I supposed I was only fooling myself."
Admitting defeat wasn't in Robb's temperament yet he saw no way out with Arya. If only she had Sansa's character, then he would have handled her just fine. But she was her own person and he knew full well he couldn't change her. He didn't want to either if he was being honest with himself. Arya was quite something. He just wished he could understand her better.
"You shouldn't send her away. She'll feel like you're rejecting her." Theon said as he chewed his fries.
"What the fuck are you talking about? I'm not rejecting her. And how do you know how she would feel anyway. You two aren't close or anything. In fact, I think she can't stand your arse." He pointed out and stopped playing with his food. He clearly lost his appetite.
Theon smirked looking up at his friend.
"It's called foreplay, mate."
"Oh fuck off!" Robb looked at Theon in disbelief, stood up and dragged his friend out with him.
"What? I can picture it. Arya and I married, you and I would be brothers, mate!" Theon added mocking Robb who chuckled.
"I'd cut your balls off before your cock goes near my sister."
"I'd rather you let your sister handle my cock."
Before he could add anything else, Robb smacked him on the back of his head.
"Ouch!" Theon patted the sore spot Robb smacked which earned him to be laughed at by the Stark.
"Next time you mention your cock or whatever part of you and Arya in the same sentence, make sure I'm not around to beat you up."
Theon Greyjoy was a fucked up and impossible mate but he knew he had his back and could count on him no matter what. So as usual, Robb brushed if off, knowing his friend's character and took it as a joke. As irritating as it was.
"Come on, let's go home. I know someone who has some explaining to do." Robb ended the conversation as they both made their way out of this shitty place.
