'Stupid Sansa," thought Arya weighing the box in her hands.
After weeks of Sansa excitedly awaiting her 1 year anniversary of dating her boyfriend & picking out the perfect present for him, some part of her excitement rubbed off on her and she ended up buying her own anniversary present for Jon. Here she was, waiting in Jon's apartment, staring blankly at the tv waiting for him to get home. The news showed that the rain that started at noon wouldn't let up until the next morning & traffic slowed to a halt. She had biked to his apartment, making much better time than if she had driven, but she had arrived soaked to the bone.
Jon had given her a key as soon as he'd moved in 4 those years ago & the significance of it hadn't really hit her until she happened upon conversations Sansa had with her girlfriends about their boyfriends. They were at the stage where giving their significant others keys to their apartments was a big step. Arya didn't even think of the unassuming way Jon had furnished the apartment's second bedroom for her. It was never going to be rented out to a roommate or used as a guest room; it was simply Arya's room away from her family's mansion.
After slipping out of her wet clothes, she drew herself a hot bath, taking her time in case Jon came home & decided to join her. He never showed, & now here she was, flipping channels trying to find something to watch. Enough time had passed that her hair was now completely dry. She was careful to arrange Jon's hoodie that she wore so that the hood wouldn't soak up any water from her hair. The sweatpants she'd looked for all over at the Stark mansion had been at Jon's all along & now her all black outfit had her practically camouflaged into the black leather couch in the living room.
"Hey Arya, can you open up?"
Arya hopped up & opened the door. Jon still had his motorcycle helmet on & his hands were full trying to keep soaked brown paper bags from completely ripping apart. Letting him pass & closing the door, she carefully followed after him, trying not to step on his wet footprints. He dropped off the bags on the kitchen counter.
"I got you your chow mein & got exactly 8 dim sum so don't finish them all before I finish my shower," he said, taking off his helmet & motorcycle gear.
"How'd you know I was home?" Arya asked, taking her takeout box & chopsticks.
"Just playing the odds."
Arya waited patiently.
"Bran gave me a heads up," he called out, walking towards the bathroom.
Sighing, Arya went at her food, not realize how hungry she was. Sitting at the kitchen counter, she realized she left Jon's present in the middle of the living room coffee table. It hadn't looked as if Jon had noticed, but she quickly snatched it up & kept in her hoodies front pocket. She was so preoccupied with the box & the thought of giving it to him, she didn't notice when he returned from the shower & pulled up a kitchen stool across from her.
"Hey, what did I tell you about finishing all the dim sum?" he asked incredulously, chucking the empty container into the trash.
Without any trace of guilt she said proudly, "I'm a growing girl. I need sustenance."
Jon sighed & took out one last package from the bottom of the soaked paper bags. "Good thing I planned ahead."
She reached out & he kept it away, "You can't have too much of a good thing. Everything in balance." He mimicked her teacher Syrio's accent.
Arya smirked, "He'd never steal someone's quote. Paraphrase, yes, but never direct quote."
He laughed & dug into his food. They ate in companionable silence, resting at their usual spots on the kitchen counter. Jon's dining room was used exclusively for when family dropped by, his or hers, but when they were alone, they ate at the kitchen counter. Jon always took the spot closer to the living room, while Arya sat on the kitchen side. 'A woman's place is in the kitchen' Jon had mused & Arya had responded with 'the kitchen's where all the sharp, pointy things are' but in truth, they shared kitchen duties equally.
"So are you just gonna sit there & not tell me what that box was about," Jon asked, pushing his stash of dim sum across to her.
Defeated, Arya placed the box in front of them. "Happy Anniversary".
"Well you sound happy."
"It was supposed to be a surprise."
Jon took the box, shaking it curiously, "So, what's the anniversary?"
Arya looked incredulously, "Our first date. We went to watch the last James Bond movie on opening night last year."
"That was a whole year ago? Man time flies," Jon mused. He set the box down, "This feels like a Sansa-thing though. I never thought you'd be into celebrating stuff like this."
"Living with some love sick fool rubs off on you to some degree."
"Well, at least you waited a whole year. Don't some girls celebrate the first week, month, 6 months?"
"Ugh," Arya exclaimed, sitting back, "If I ever turned into one of those girls, you have my permission to slap me out of it."
"Spanking?" Jon smirked, "I had no idea you were into that kind of thing."
"You know what I mean."
"Leather belts, outfits & whips."
Arya flung a noodle at him.
"So you're whipping me with a noodle? You're really taking this slow," Jon laughed, "It'll take years before we get to leather at this rate."
"Some relationships fizzle out right after their first anniversary," Arya muttered.
"I think we'll be ok," Jon relented. "But, don't think this is our anniversary date."
"Why not? When?"
"April 22." Jon said simply.
Arya's eyebrows scrunched together in thought, "What's so special about that date?"
Jon leaned forward, resting his elbows on the counter, "A couple of years ago, my aunt & uncle welcomed a baby into the world. With my parents schedules & me at BMX races & practices, we didn't have a chance to visit them until a week later. It turned into another party to celebrate the birth."
Arya leaned forward, captivated by the twinkle in Jon's eyes.
"We visited their house & of course all the parents are congratulating themselves. I've seen babies before- at the time it seemed all our family friends were having kids every couple months. I've seen it all & I was kinda over it. But then I met this one."
Jon offered his hand to Arya, who accepted it and he led her to the living room couch where they sat at the end of the couch opposite the window so they could watch the rain.
"Up till then, the baby had been sleeping, but then it woke up and started crying like all babies do. Aunt Catelyn did the usual things- check if it was hungry, just pooped itself, that kind of thing, but it hadn't. It just cried. My mom's not the type to back down from a challenge, even if it's one only she saw, so she asked if she could hold the little one & see if she could stop it from crying. Unfortunately, the baby kept crying on and on."
"After a few minutes, with Aunt Catelyn looking embarrassed that her baby wouldn't stop crying, she took the baby from my mother & was about to take her upstairs when I asked what was its name. Somehow, with everything going on, I hadn't actually been told much about the baby. No name, not even if it was a girl or boy."
Arya snuggled into Jon's chest, closing her eyes as he continued.
"Aunt Catelyn turned around and knelt in front of me and showed me the baby, 'Arya'. I looked at her & at that moment, she quieted down. It was such a surprise, that everyone's heads turned to see what had happened. Then Arya started cooing, & all the women flocked to this little baby making cute little baby sounds. I backed away to give them room, but Arya started crying. They left & as soon as she saw me again, she stopped crying. It was the strangest thing."
"For a while, it seemed me being around calmed the baby down. Sometimes I hung around the Starks like I was part of the family. I mean, I was, but I was starting to think of myself as a Stark. Eventually, when Robb outgrew his old bed, Uncle Eddard got him a bunk bed. Robb had the top & the bottom became my own personal guest bunk so Arya could come see me whenever she crawled around."
Arya punched Jon in the jaw.
"What was that for?" he asked, rubbing his jaw.
"I made a promise to myself that if any guy made me cry like Joffrey made Sansa, I'd punch them," a tear running down her cheek.
Jon wiped away her tear, "These are happy tears aren't. You need a new reaction."
"Like what?"
"What about kissing?" he leaned in & pressed his lips lightly against hers.
Arya stood up and dragged him to his bedroom, "I got something more strenuous in mind."
When Jon woke, the soothing sound of rain hitting the windows made him want to go right back to sleep. Looking up, he watched as Arya went about gathering up the discarded clothes from last night, dressed in the shirt he'd been wearing.
"Y'know, I didn't even get to open my anniversary present," Jon mused.
Arya paused & left the room, presumably to get the box. Jon's eye quirked when she returned empty handed.
"You can wait a couple months to open it up," Arya decided.
"C'mon, I'm curious."
"You had this last night," Arya flipped his shirt up to flash him, "and you're concerned about a shaving kit?"
Jon tilted his head, waiting.
"Shit!" Arya facepalmed.
Jon lay back in bed, laughing as he adjusted the sheets around him.
"I know a way to make you forget what I just said," Arya stalked towards the bed.
"Really?"
Arya took off his shirt & Jon smirked. At the last moment, Arya twirled the shirt in her hands & whipped Jon in the leg.
"OW damn!" Jon backed up into the headboard, "I thought you weren't into that kind of thing."
"Spanking, no," Arya brandished his shirt, "But whipping has an odd appeal to it."
Jon threw a pillow, which Arya dodged & countered with another whip. It cracked just short of Jon's chest.
"Did you forget yet?" she asked.
"Huh? Forget what?"
Smirking, Arya balled up his shirt and threw it at him. She confidently strode into the bathroom & started the shower.
"What the hell just happened?" Jon asked aloud, slumping against the headboard.
AN: Sorry for the lack of updates. Some of these aren't flowing out as well as I'd like & I'm getting writer's block. How do I deal with i? -start another drabble! So at some point, don't be surprised if I manage to post a bunch at a time. *fingers crossed*