How did they get to this depressing topic so quickly? Gendry didn't want her to feel bad for him. But it was out now and there was nothing he could do about it except change the topic to a lighter one. "Now that I've depressed us thoroughly let's get back to the game" she smiled at him "When's your birthday?" He already knew this of course, from her file but he wanted her to tell him.

"Just had it last month, April 28th. When's yours"

"December 1st" They were back to more comfortable quick-fire questions which suited Gendry just fine.

"Cool, favourite food?"

"Easy, pizza. Isn't it everyone's favourite food?" he laughed.

Arya joined him, "what a coincidence, it happens to be my favourite too!"

"See, I told you, everyone loves pizza"
As their laughter died down, they caught each other's eyes and the world seemed to go silent as they looked into each other's eyes. Gendry couldn't look away. Her eyes, they're beautiful, a light grey like the sky on a rainy day, but she was the storm. She had been right earlier calling him a liar when he'd said his favourite colour was light grey because until he had met her his favourite colour was blue.

The air sizzled with electricity between them. They couldn't seem to break whatever had roped them together in this moment. Rain started falling slow at first but it was enough for them to drop the moment. "We should head back" Ayra said slowly, she seemed kind of out of it.

"Yeah, sounds good." He was dazed, but they both managed to get up and start walking back to the main house on the estate. "So, are we good?"

"Good?"
"You're not gonna give me too hard a time?"

"Oh. I can't promise that. But, I'll try," she said with a mischievous smile.

"I guess that's the best I'm going to get, isn't it." He said with fake resignation, he was smiling.

She just smiled.

They were out of the woods now, the house in sight. "Okay I don't officially start till the morning, but if you have plans for the night let me know and I'll accompany you. Alright." He paused to make sure the acknowledged what he'd said. "I'm going to be moving in to my room on the grounds"

"Okay." She seemed down suddenly.

"Please don't leave the grounds without me. Okay." He said again. He wanted her to be safe.

"Okay, okay, I won't. Don't get your panties in a twist. I don't have plans tonight I was just going to watch movies and chill at home. Don't worry so much, its only day one." She smiled "well, not even day one. Go get your shit done. I'll see you tomorrow for school. Should be fun."

That last part sounded sarcastic but he didn't get a chance to say anything about it because she turned around and stalked away so he called out a quick "bye, then" to her retreating figure. She raised her right arm and shook her hand a bit in reply.

Gendry smiled as he walked to what would be his new home. The estate had two main buildings, the main house, for the stark family. And the secondary building that was mostly used to house the live-in staff. He would essentially have a studio apartment. He had sent his things ahead of him, not that he had much things to begin with, just a few boxes. He had planned to spend the evening unpacking his things and getting settled in.

He got to his new apartment, set on finishing his tasks. But he spent the next couple of hours thinking about Arya and what they'd talked about in the woods, and her eyes which told him so much about her and trapped him in her gaze. It wasn't very long before he realized he needed to stop thinking about her. She was his charge he needed to protect her at all costs. Even if he had to protect her from himself because it was becoming very clear to him that he felt something for her and it scared him.