Hi everyone, I'm sorry it's been a while. School has been really hectic but now I'm back with a new chapter. Read and review!

Chapter 4

It had been about a month since Arya and Gendry got engaged. Their planning for the wedding had begun but it was still only the basics, they had decided to get married at her parents' house with a maximum of fifty guests, but the date wasn't decided yet no matter how much Sansa kept nagging Arya that she and Gendry needed to make a plan.

But they weren't in a rush! They loved each other and knew that they wanted to get married. Weddings were expensive and Arya wasn't ready to delve into anything rapidly without a plan and the only people she would let near that plan were her and Gendry. If she let her mom or Sansa near the planning, it would end up in a gala for all of Westeros' socialites. Neither she nor Gendry wanted that.

Arya checked her watch. Half an hour until lunch break, she was starving and had a craving for that Braavosi restaurant a couple of blocks away. They had the most amazing seafood. When Arya first started her career as an architect she had an internship at the original House of Black and White in Braavos, and later when she got a permanent assignment at their Westeros office, this was the only restaurant in Westeros she could find that served food just as good as in Braavos.

As she looked at the background of her phone, a picture of her and Gendry, she thought about the fact that she almost hadn't seen him this week. He had been busy at work, preparing a huge test for his students and Arya was swamped with a project she and Jaqen, her boss, were working on. Of course they saw each other during the morning and evening but it wasn't really same as seeing each other. Sure they lived together but they had rarely spent time together this past week.

Time slowly passed and Arya continued to work on angles for a roof on her computer. Jaqen wanted her to design several different versions. As soon as the clock struck 12:00 she grabbed her purse and jacket and left the building. Arya did have a lunch box but she really wanted to see Gendry and have Braavosi seafood so she figured kidnapping Gendry during his lunch break was a good solution.

Gendry worked at Wintertown High School which was only a ten minute drive from Arya's workplace. Since she had kidnapped him before every now and again during their years of being together, his colleagues and fellow teachers knew who she was by now.

His classroom was located on the second floor so she hiked the stairs up. On her way she ran into Jeyne Heddle, the home make teacher. She was one of Gendry's best friends at the work place.

"Hey, Arya" Jeyne said and gave Arya a careful hug. She was quite plain. Jeyne didn't say much unless the other person started conversation but she was kind and thoughtful to everyone.

"Hello" Arya answered. "How are you?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Congratulations!"

It took a second for Arya to realize what Jeyne was referring to, and then she understood. After understanding, however, came confusion. "How did you know?"

Jeyne smiled at her. "Gendry came to me asking for advice before asking you."

Of course he did! Arya and Jeyne were quite similar in a way. They both liked to keep it simple. Jeyne knew that about Arya and of course she would suggest Gendry make it into a romantic night in. She probably understood Arya would have been flustered at a giant surprise at a restaurant. "Well you did a good job" Arya smiled back. "It really was perfect."

Jeyne smiled at her. "Gendry is in the history room."

Arya said her thanks and walked over to Gendry's classroom. She peeked in through the small window in the door. Gendry half sat on his desk, something he usually did towards the end of his class, when he didn't use the whiteboard anymore. She could see him gesturing towards a student, probably to indicate she had a question. But then his head turned to her direction and their eyes met.

Shit!

She was caught. This had happened before but it was still a bit embarrassing. Gendry, however, smiled at her knowingly. He dismissed the class and the students started to gather their stuff. One of the students lingered as Arya stepped in.

Weasel. Her actual name was Weronica but everyone called her Weasel (except Gendry, he had to refer to his students by their actual name in class), Arya wasn't sure why that was her nickname. Maybe it was because she was very petite? Gendry had talked about here once or twice.

"Hi, miss Stark" she said and waved.

Arya cringed inwardly but smiled. "Miss Stark was my mom thirty years ago. I'm Arya."

"Well soon you'll be Mrs Waters" Gendry teased and winked at her. Arya's cheeks flushed slightly as she saw the understanding wash over Weasel's face.

"Oh my god" Weasel gasped. "Congrats!" She took a quick look at her watch. "I have to go now, but thank you, Mr Waters, for looking at my essay. And congrats again!"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Weronica." When Weasel had left, Gendry pulled Arya towards him by the arm. He wrapped his arms around her waist. "Hello future Mrs Waters."

"Mrs Waters Stark, Gendry" Arya smirked up at him. "I love you, but that won't stop me from keeping the Stark name."

Gendry chuckled at her and kissed her forehead. "I wouldn't expect anything less from you." He hadn't shaved in a couple of days and Arya could feel his scruff against her skin. She wanted to feel that scruff against her inner thighs ton- Nope! Not going there, not here. "I suspect you're here to kidnap me" Gendry said, breaking her out of her thoughts.

"I am" Arya answered. "I'm craving Braavosi from the restaurant around the corner."

"Well then let's go!"

They walked hand in hand to the restaurant. It was very close by and it was a beautiful day with some rare sunshine. Soon enough the topic of their conversation drifted off to the wedding. Mostly the guest list. Fifty guests were really the maximum max, the best would be to have an even lower number. But every person they decided on came with family.

"We have to invite Shireen" Gendry said, no doubt what so ever.

"Of course we're inviting Shireen, and Renly" Arya answered as they were seated. There really wasn't any other choice. Those two almost literally saved Gendry's life.

He was nineteen. His mother had just died and Gendry had to put all his savings into her funeral which had left him as poor as he could possibly be without being homeless yet. He worked both day and night at a small grocery store but that still wasn't enough to cover his bills. After Robert Baratheon's death, shortly after his mother's, Shireen had started to dig into Robert's past. With that, she found Gendry. She immediately sought him out to tell him about his father.

Unsurprisingly, Gendry hadn't really cared about his father's death. The man hadn't bothered to make his presence known during any part of Gendry's life. He had left Gendry and his mom to fend for themselves. Why would he care?

Though it had probably been fait that Shireen had showed up when she did. Gendry had tried to hide the eviction warning in the kitchen when he made them both coffee, Shireen had seen it anyway. She refused to let him stay by himself anymore. Robert Baratheon may not have cared, but she sure as hell did. No cousin of hers was going to stay on the streets. Stannis, of course, refused to let Gendry move in, being the stiff asshole that he is.

Renly was a different story. The next day, Shireen had brought her favorite uncle to see his nephew. He, like Shireen, refused to let Gendry stay in his current situation. Gendry's pride and stubbornness at first wanted to say no to the spare room that Renly offered, but he quickly realized the prospect of his life if he did say no.

With Shireen's help, Gendry moved in with Renly who embraced him like both a son, brother and a nephew. After Gendry let it slip that he secretly wanted to become a teacher, Renly swore to help him through all the years of schooling that would take. Years later, Gendry graduated and became the history teacher he was today. If it hadn't been for Renly and Shireen… Well neither Arya nor Gendry wanted to think about where Gendry would be today.

The couple kept talking about the guest list for a while before the waiter arrived with the menus and the topic immediately became food. Arya loved their spicy shrimp and clam stew. It had been her absolute favorite in Braavos, maybe anywhere.

Actually, nothing could beat her mother's mutton stew with root vegetables and sweet potatoes. She had grown up with the robust, hearty cuisine of northern Westeros, it was what she associated with home. Though she had lived of the spicy, seafood of Braavos for years. Both cuisines had a place in her heart.

"I guess you're going for that clam-shrimp thing" Gendry said from behind his menu. He usually opted for a grilled salmon with lemongrass and garlic.

"Obviously, stupid" Arya smiled cheekily at him. "Do we want wine?"

Gendry shook his head. "I don't, you can order a glass if you want. I don't want to drink before work's over." It was probably best if Arya did the same, her colleagues didn't need to encounter her smelling of alcohol.

As they waited for their lunch, Arya told Gendry about a text she had received from Sansa, nagging them to decide on a date and a colour theme. Attached to the text came several pictures of different colour combinations. All of them had white as a base colour expect two that were pale pink. Arya instantly refused the pink ones, and Gendry couldn't do anything but agree. He had never liked pink either. The one thing they both agreed on from Sansa's suggestions were the base colour white.

Arya had jokingly suggested black as a base colour, only being half serious. Gendry had laughed and said that her mom and Sansa would never forgive them for a black colour theme at a wedding.

"What about blue?" Gendry asked as they ate. "The blue winter rose is your favorite flower after all, we could have that as a theme." A smile lightened up Arya's face. Gendry certainly wasn't stupid all the time, if there hadn't been a table between them, Arya would have kissed him.

"That's perfect, Gendry."

The rest of their lunch break surpassed in peace and Arya was happy. Both to finally have some quality time with her fiancé, but also to finally be able to answer some of Sansa's constant questions about their impending wedding ceremony.

Well there you have it! Leave a review! See you soon!