Gendry finished his work in the forge as fast as he could, eager to talk to Arya. She had been in his thoughts during the whole afternoon, and he was surprised that he managed to avoid hurting himself again, given he had been even more distracted than in the morning. When he was done, he thought it would be a good idea to have a bath in the river before meeting Arya, and that's what he did.
He was nervous. He had never been so nervous for a girl in his entire life… Actually he had never been romantically involved with anyone, and though he had kissed a couple girls back in King's Landing, none of them ever made his heart beat frantically like it was beating for Arya now. He was anxious to resume his conversation with her and tell her about his feelings.
After finishing his bath, he nearly ran to the inn. As soon as he entered the common hall, he noticed Arya was talking to Hannah in one of the tables. They turned to look at him, and Hannah's cheeks immediately got red. Arya seemed to notice it and rolled her eyes, looking annoyed. Gendry had to use all his will power not to chuckle at that. Hannah turned to Arya again and they talked a little bit more, and then she got up and walked towards the kitchens, throwing him a last – and shy – look on her way out.
Gendry walked towards Arya and sat in front of her. Now she looked really displeased, as if she had been hiding it before, when she was still talking to Hannah.
"Are you okay?"
"No..."
"Do you want to talk about it?"
"Not here… Let's go for a walk?"
"Fine by me…"
They left the inn and walked side by side towards the woods. She was silent, and he wasn't sure of what to say. She seemed really displeased, but he didn't know whether it was due to her conversation to Hannah or something else.
When they were far away enough from the inn, she stopped and turned to look at him. She seemed slightly nervous, but determined all the same.
"So… Will you tell me what's wrong?", he asked.
"Did you mean it?", she asked suddenly.
"Did I mean... what?"
"What you said to me earlier... Did you mean it?", she asked, her face serious and somewhat anxious.
"I meant every word," he said, looking deeply into her grey eyes.
She held his gaze for a couple seconds, her expression unreadable, and then she suddenly closed the space between them, grabbed his face and, rising on her tiptoes, pulled him down into a kiss. An overwhelming sensation took over him and he felt as if his heart was about to explode. But then she broke the kiss, just as suddenly as she had started it, and leaned back, looking at him awkwardly.
He stared at her stupidly, and she smirked.
"That's why you brought me that far from the inn? You wanted to take advantage of me?", he asked playfully, causing her to giggle.
"As if you couldn't defend yourself...", she teased.
"You're right, I can defend myself…", he said, stepping closer to her again. "But I don't want to…"
And with that, he leaned down and captured her lips again, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close. She sighed, parting her lips and allowing his pleading tongue to enter her mouth. She placed both hands on each side of his face before moving them slowly to his neck, her fingers entwining in his dark hair while she deepened the kiss.
The kiss was long and full of want, and soon Gendry found himself leading her to a nearby tree, never breaking the kiss. He gently pinned her there, moulding his body against hers, his hands roaming up and down her sides, making her shudder under his touch. His tongue caressed hers slowly, drinking in her taste, and he could stay like this for hours…
But he couldn't. He knew he would need to breathe eventually… Besides, he could feel the fire rising within his body and concentrating right down his stomach, and it wouldn't take long for it to become visible – he wondered if Arya was already feeling it against her.
And then he broke the kiss, breathing heavily as Arya sucked gently his lower lip before letting it go. He stared lovingly into her eyes and stroked her cheek.
"Hannah wouldn't be pleased…", Arya said almost apologetically, with an adorable flush on her face.
"What? Why?"
"Well… She asked me to help her with you… And look what I've done…"
Gendry shrugged.
"She never stood a chance anyway… You've been here much before I even knew her name," he said, pressing her hand against his heart, and she smiled.
"But what am I supposed to do now? I can't just say the truth… She thinks I'm your sister. Everyone thinks we're siblings, and we can't just reveal we're not now. If they knew we've been lying all this time, it would raise suspicions..."
"I know… Don't worry, we'll figure out what to do," he said, leaning down to kiss her again.
They spent the rest of the afternoon sat by the tree, half the time sharing feverish kisses, the other half just talking, with Arya between Gendry's legs and laid back against his chest. She never felt so happy, and she could feel that he felt the same. He caressed her the entire time, sometimes on her cheeks, sometimes on her hair. Although she always knew he had a tender heart, she never expected him to be so affectionate.
Actually, she never expected herself to be so affectionate. In fact, if someone had told her, five years ago, that one day her friendship with Gendry would turn into something else, she would probably have made a very disgusted face. First, because she didn't believe she would ever be romantically involved with anyone; second, he was Gendry, and he was a stupid bullheaded boy.
But now things had changed between them. And she couldn't be happier.
Shortly before the sunset, they made it back to the inn. They walked half the way with their hands linked, and then they parted, to avoid suspicions. Although that simple gesture itself was hardly able to reveal their secret, it wouldn't be very nice if people started to think they were like Cersei and Jamie Lannister...
They arrived at the inn before dinner, and Arya went upstairs to have a bath. She decided to wear her dress again, and while she brushed her hair before the mirror, she couldn't help thinking about Sansa. She would be proud… Me wearing a dress, two days in a row, she thought, realizing how much she missed her sister, in spite of her differences. When she was done, she went back to the main hall.
Once again the singer of the other night was there, and when Arya entered the main hall, he started singing a song:
My featherbed is deep and soft, and there I'll lay you down,
I'll dress you all in yellow silk, and on your head a crown.
For you shall be my lady love, and I shall be your lord.
I'll always keep you warm and safe, and guard you with my sword.
Arya found the table where Gendry was and her heart lurched at the look on his face. She hoped to the seven gods she was not blushing. She sat beside him, trying not to look directly at him but sensing his stare. She didn't think twice before kicking his foot under the table.
"Ouch!" he shouted before he could stop himself. "What was that for?", he whispered, half-offended, half-playfully.
"You know very well… You're making me blush," she whispered back.
"And you're making me stare… You should've known better before wearing this dress…"
This time she punched him in the arm.
And how she smiled and how she laughed, the maiden of the tree.
She spun away and said to him, no featherbed for me.
I'll wear a gown of golden leaves, and bind my hair with grass,
But you can be my forest love, and me your forest lass.
Arya looked down and smiled, and thought it would be a good idea to help serving the dinner. She passed by Hannah a few times, but only smiled at her, never stopping to say anything. She still wasn't sure of what she was going to tell her, and she only hoped Hannah would wait instead of approaching her to ask about Gendry.
When she was done serving the dinner, she sat by Gendry's side again and started eating. That was when she noticed a man staring at them with wide eyes. She bet he was drunk, since he was already drinking when they got back to the inn earlier. Then his eyes suddenly got even wider.
"Gods be good! I think I already had enough beer for one day, I'm even seeing ghosts now!", he shouted exasperatedly. Arya and Gendry looked at each other, confusion written all over their faces, and looked back to the man.
"What ghosts?", Hot Pie asked, just as confused.
"Lyanna Stark and Robert Baratheon, back straight from the dead! Seven hells, who's coming next? Rhaegar Targaryen?"
Arya stiffened on her seat and she was pretty sure all the colours had just drained from her face.
She wanted to hide from her past, but it seemed her past had just found her...
Hey people! Since in this story Arya, Gendry and Hot Pie never met the BwB, the scene in which Tom sings this song never happened. But I thought it would be nice to have it here anyway. ;)
Reviews anyone?
