Finally the last chapter is here!
This is dedicated to Lady3jane, who's birthday was yesterday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!), which really made me write my butt off this weekend to get this finished yesterday (which I did, but I took today to proofread it – but I still warn you this is not betaed and I'm not a native English speaker, so there may be some typos).
This is also the fill for the last prompt of Arya and Gendry week (yes, that week back in July – don't judge me…) – Tempted. And since it's Arya and Gendry, it ends with their story, but if there's interest I'll write the story of our other two courageous lovestruck boys, (or other characters/stories from this universe, the ones that been mentioned, or if you ask for the right ones – I do have some ideas, that won't make everyone happy obviously, so that's a risk you can choose to take) – also don't promise when I would get them done.
Enjoy!
They had been travelling for a few days, when they finally arrived to the North, the place was huge and they carefully made it through every city, still planning to stay a few days in the capital – Winterfell.
They were one day from the capital, walking through their last stop, when they heard some weird noise, calling for their attention.
Just ignore it, Gendry wanted to say, since he was tired, but that wasn't like him, someone could need help, someone could be in danger.
Jon took the lead; the sounds got louder each step they took, deeper into the woods. It seemed that something or someone was scratching the trees.
"Are you sure this is safe?" Gendry asked. Really, if I wanted to kill someone, this would be the way to do it.
"I have a good feeling about this," Jon murmured. A feeling – that was what the dream had given Gendry, maybe this was Jon's sign…
…But it wasn't… it couldn't be…
"Jon… that's…" Gendry whispered.
"It's that the one you saw?" Jon asked, moving closer.
"No. The one I saw was grey with golden eyes," Gendry answered, the creature in front of them was all white with astonishing red eyes. "It can be dangerous," Gendry said but it fell to deaf ears, as Jon walked closer and opened his hand just at the reach of its fangs.
"Jon, it'll bite your hand off," Aegon said, while he tried to grab Jon's arm to pull him back, immediately the animal growled at Aegon.
"He's a friend," Jon said, and Gendry wasn't sure if he was talking to the beast or them.
It took awhile but the animal came to rest his muzzle into Jon's hand, and then started licking his fingers.
"See he doesn't want to hurt us. He's friendly," Jon told them, looking over his shoulder.
"What do we do with him?" Aegon asked.
"We keep him," Jon said like it was the most obvious thing. "He means something, guys. He needed me to find him," he told them seriously. "He's a direwolf, they are very rare, mostly live in the wild, north of the wall. By your description, the animal you saw is one too, and he's the best chance of finding his species, and with that Arya." Gendry didn't want to believe, it seemed all to strange to him, but seeing the direwolf looking up when Jon said Arya gave him hope; Jon seemed to have picked it up as well, because he asked. "Do you recognize the name Arya?" The direwolf looked up again, and moved closer to Jon. "So, Gendry, there you have your answer. What do you want to do?"
"Take him," Gendry said, moving out of the woods, followed by Aegon and Jon, with the direwolf right at his feet.
"So what should I call you?" Jon asked the direwolf (or himself), the silence was long, and while Gendry didn't look back, he wondered if his friend had lost it. "Ghost, I think. You're quiet, and you look like one."
They moved back to the car, and got in, giving up looking more in this place, and just make it to the capital. While Gendry drove, and Aegon took the passenger seat, Jon tried to get Ghost into the backseat.
"Please, don't let your pet ruin my backseat."
"His name is Ghost," Jon protested, before relaxing into the backseat.
While Gendry drove, he could see Ghost resting his head in Jon's lap, while Jon looked very pensive, wrapping his hands in the direwolf's fur. They stayed in silent, until their car finally crossed the city limits of Winterfell.
"Guys, we've arrived to Winterfell," Gendry said, rather loud, waking up Aegon and bringing Jon away from his thoughts. "What should we do first?"
"Find a place to sleep," Aegon said. "And then some food. I'm thinking that maybe we get something from a supermarket, and eat at the hotel – we need to get into a good one, if they're letting your dog in."
"Sorry about that," Jon muttered, still enamoured with his new pet.
"I'm rich now. So I don't see a problem," Aegon said grinning, still beyond happy with the reality of having this kind of money.
They drove to the closer supermarket, and while Gendry parked the car, Jon kept going on about getting some dog's food.
"That's a fucking wolf! What do you think dog food will do?!" Aegon asked. "We'll get you some raw meat or something," he said, before both he and Gendry walked into the supermarket.
Aegon immediately made it to the liquor shelves, while Gendry looked at the canned food, looking for something good to eat, and easy to cook.
"Aegon, look at that guy," Gendry said noticing one of the workers, pilling the cans, and pulled on Aegon's shirt, bringing him all the way from the liquor shelves to the food canned.
"For fuck's sake, I don't want to see someone's butt crack," Aegon told him with disgusted look in his face, before turning to look at the canned food as well.
"Not that, looked above it – the name."
"It's rude to read other guy's name. That's like bro code."
"You never had a problem before. Just fucking look," and then he did. "Can you see if it's black or red?"
"I can't say. Sorry, man…"
"No need to be sorry. I'm going to talk to him."
"No… no… you can't," Aegon said pulling him back.
"Why?! Just having a little chat."
"Okay, I'm not going to get involved in that. I'm going to pay, you do whatever you want, just don't get thrown in jail."
"Sure," Gendry said, leaving Aegon to do the rest of the shopping alone, and went to look for the worker with the tattoo, finally finding in by the fruit section, this time with his back covered. "Sorry, could I talk to you?"
"I'm new here, my father works here – so he got me a part-time job. I really don't know where things are yet."
"It's not about that," Gendry admitted. "Do you know the person on your tattoo?"
"What?!" The boy asked, reaching to cover his back.
"I can't see it now, I noticed a few minutes ago. Can you just tell me if you know the girl tattooed on your back?"
"I'm sorry, I'm not sure if it's different from where you come from, but in the North, our tattoos are not a public thing," Gendry couldn't help but feel a bit offended by the way the boy talked to him.
"I agree, and I wouldn't have come to you if it wasn't important," he told him, but continued talking. "But like you said it's private, and I can't talk here," Gendry wasn't sure how he convinced the boy, but he somehow did.
"I hope I don't regret this," he murmured before telling him to follow, taking him behind the butchery, whispering something to the man who controlled this zone, by the similarities Gendry would say it was his dad. "So what do you need?"
"Do you know the girl?"
"Why should I tell you?" Gendry knew he couldn't convince this guy with just his words, so he started unbuttoning the top of his shirt.
"Sorry, if I gave you the wrong idea, but…" the guy said, trying to move away, and Gendry understanding his meaning, laughed and said.
"It's not that, man. Just look," he said pointing to the tattoo, he was the first person besides Jon and Aegon to see it – but he could also be the only chance to find her.
"Ohhh…" the boy murmured, stopping himself from touching Gendry's chest. "You know it can not be the same girl."
"It's an uncommon name," Gendry protested.
"Okay. I guess it's worth a try. Follow me," the boy said, leading him outside. "Also if you're wondering, it's red - my tattoo is red." Gendry was awfully relieved, and feeling a bit dumb by following a guy who could have the same soulmate as him and access to butcher knives.
"I'm Gendry, by the way, I'm from King's Landing."
"Mycah. What brings you this north?"
"My friends and I decided to look for our soulmates."
"That's never good, only brings trouble."
"Superstitions, we wish to believe," Gendry was saying, when Mycah stopped and pointed to the horizon.
"Do you see that house? The giant one. It's hard to miss if you drive by there, it says Starks at the door – that's where she lives," the boy told him, and somehow his look showed pity, and Gendry could suspect why – Arya wasn't like him, she probably came from money. "For the Gods..." Mycah yelled next, and looking over he saw that it was Jon's pet.
"Ohhh... sorry... my friend found him. It doesn't seem that dangerous..."
"It's a direwolf, dangerous to the people he doesn't know, he can kill," Mycah said, while petting the animal, which made everything stranger. "His name is Ice, he's one of the Stark pets. Each of the kids has one, five kids but six direwolves, Ice has always been a bit of outcast – I've no idea why he would look to your friend…" Mycah was saying, until Jon joined them, and a strange look seemed to pass through Mycah's face. "Sorry, who are you?"
"He's Jon Snow, he's a friend of mine from home," Gendry answered his question.
"Ohhh…" Mycah said, before shaking Jon's hand, still looking like he had seen a ghost. "You got a familiar face I suppose. Were you the one who found Ice?"
"Ice?"
"Ghost, Jon."
"Yes, he came to me," Jon said. "Why?"
"He's one of the Starks' direwolves," Gendry said. "And Arya may be a Stark," but before Jon could react, Aegon appeared.
"I hope there a good reason for you two leaving me alone to carry all the groceries alone."
"There is, we have a lead on Arya."
"Oh… the supermarket boy helped, are you sure wise to trust someone with the same soulmate?"
"What?!" Jon exclaimed too.
"Relax, you two. Mycah's is a red mark."
"Arya and I have been friends since childhood," the boy told them. "I can't help you more, I need to get back to work," he said.
"Ahhh… okay… Thank you so much for the help, Mycah."
"You're welcome, Gendry. Treat Arya right,"
"I will do," Gendry said, before each to different directions.
"So you're sure we can trust this guy?" Aegon asked.
"I don't see why not." Gendry answered.
"Why? Maybe because he has her name marked too."
"As a friend, dumbass," Gendry retorted, but Aegon kept pointing out the downsides of Mycah's help all the way to the car, until he asked.
"What do you think, Jon?"
"What?"
"Weren't you listening?" Aegon asked immediately.
"Sorry. What were you asking?"
"If we should trust Mycah, after all he has Arya's name in his skin too. He could be lying."
"Or he could not be," Jon said, holding tighter to Ghost's fur (or Ice's, he wasn't sure now), and Gendry understood Jon's problem, if Mycah was telling the truth Ghost belonged to someone else, and Gendry could see how sad that made him, not knowing how Ghost seemed to put his friend at peace and happier.
"You're being too trusty, this will end badly," Aegon protested again.
"Shut up, you're just jealous we found Arya first. If it was Myrcella, your talk would be completely different," Gendry said, shutting Aegon up.
They packed the things quietly on the car, before they drove back to the hotel, Gendry was still amazed by being in a hotel like this – big and luxurious not made for orphan kids, unless they were the sole heir of one of the richest family in all of Westeros.
"Hey, Jon," Gendry called to his friend, who had been distracted since their talk with Mycah. "You don't need to worry."
"Why did Ghost call for me?" He asked. "I know it sounds stupid but I really felt like he belonged with me," he said, gripping the fur once again not wanting to let go.
"I don't know. Maybe it knew we need to find the Starks."
"But the problem is that it's you who needs, not me."
"Joy could be here."
"I don't think so. We would be too lucky if they were together – and we've never been lucky. And don't you dare mention Aegon's money – he can be better than us with dead parents and no money – but you know he would give everything for his family, especially after finding out what happened."
"I know… And I understand, if you don't want to go, you can stay here with Ghost.
"No, it's not right. They are probably missing him. He deserves to be with his."
"If you're sure."
"I am. Now we should go eat something, and then rest. We have a big day tomorrow."
They did as Jon suggested, but Gendry was laying down and he couldn't sleep, multiple sceneries went through his mind, especially the bad ones, that he would mess up everything to do with her. Somehow he was tempted to deny everything and ignore his need to go, just postpone a few more days, but then he closed his eyes and pictured her, with her dark hair and grey eyes, and he was just tempted to touch her and finally have her.
He finally fell asleep around 4 a.m., after he talked with Aegon who had once again been up because of yet another nightmare about his family.
That following morning neither of them knew what to say, they all trembled with fear of what would happen – Arya was the first soulmate they found, they would know if their crazy and stupid plan actually worked. But even all the nervousness wasn't enough to stop them from asking for directions and get into the car.
The drive to her house was more disconcerting than Gendry had thought. He doubted over and over again if he was doing the right thing, if this wasn't all a big mistake and that he should let fate work his way.
"Relax, Gendry," Aegon said, dropping a hand on his shoulder. "Everything will be okay," but Gendry still didn't believed him.
Finding the house was easier than he thought, even if they didn't have that many points of reference, and neither of them knew the place. The house, which could only be called a mansion, was light grey, with a long entrance path, and fences surrounding the property. On their mail box it read Stark in beautiful cursive writing, it seemed taken from all those 50's suburbs they had seen in movies, and something they had never seen at the capital.
He parked his old beat car, and once again he questioned his decision, especially now that he suspected how much money she must have – she was better for Aegon than him, he had nothing to offer her.
The front entrance was intimidating on its own – luckily when it opened, the door didn't creak, and the feeling of being on a horror movie was no longer present; Ghost/Ice (Gendry wasn't sure on the name yet) ran ahead.
"It seems it really is his home," Jon whispered.
"Maybe so. But cheer up, man. Gendry is gonna meet his lady," Aegon said, before turning to Gendry, finally at the door. "Now rang the bell."
"Maybe…" Gendry said, but seeming to take too long for Aegon's liking, he rang the bell himself – one time, than two, than three. "Maybe no one's home, maybe they're at work."
"Gendry, we didn't travel half a country to give up. Now just knock on the fucking door again."
I'm doing the same to him when it's his turn, Gendry thought before he reached his hand for the door bell, but before he could ring it, the door was opened.
A beautiful girl was on the other side, she was just a bit shorter than him, probably taller than Jon, and around the same height as Aegon, she had long hair, dropping along her breasts – don't look, perv – in the most vivid color of orange or red – he wasn't sure – but it look like autumn leaves.
"How can I help you?" She asked, making the boys turn their eyes to her face, all but Aegon, who was still admiring her legs.
"We… we are looking for…" Gendry started, but he wasn't sure how to express it. "I'm Gendry," he tried another approach. "This is Jon and Aegon."
"Hi," Jon said, before adding. "We found your direwolf, at least we think it's yours." Jon was always the smart one of the three, Aegon was quite good at getting them out off trouble but he was still too mesmerized by the girl.
"Ohhh… you found Ice," she exclaimed happily, and noticing the direwolf, she called for the pet which came running. "Oh… come in," she said opening the door to them. "Can I get you anything to eat?"
"No, thanks."
"But your name would be good," Aegon said, showing her that smile every girl fell head over heels for.
"Ohh… sorry, I'm Sansa." She's not Arya, she's not Arya – Gendry already knew after all he did believe Arya was that girl who appeared in his dreams. "I was making coffee for me, do you mind if I go get it?"
"Of course not. Go, we're the ones who showed up unannounced."
As soon as Sansa left the room, Gendry turned to Aegon and threatened him.
"Don't even think about it, Aegon."
"What?!" He asked in his fake innocent voice.
"Behave, do not sleep with her. You're my friend and you've a soulmate, and she may be mine's something… so don't mess with it."
"Okay… okay…"
"Now, Gendry, I bought you sometime, but you need to make the question – we may even be in the wrong house."
"We're not in the wrong house. And yes, I'll ask it – I just don't want to rush anything."
"Are you sure you're okay and don't want anything?" The girl asked again, coming to the room.
"Thanks, Sansa, we're fine. We ate before we left," Jon said. "Besides Ice, there's another reason for us to be here."
"Really?!" The girl's eyes seemed to lift up. "What is it?"
Jon touched Gendry's shoulder, pushing him forward, and he could do nothing else but take a deep breath and start talking.
"So I turned 18 not that long ago, and as it happened, I got a name… and we've been looking, and it led us here," he said, trying to keep himself from pulling on the couch cloth.
"Okay…" the girl said, trying to keep her voice normal, even if she was excited, he was wondering how she would react when he told her the name wasn't Sansa.
"So we… I want to know if there's anyone called Arya living here?"
"Arya?!" She doubled checked, turning sadder, before recuperating. "Arya! Yes, Arya – she's my younger sister."
"Younger?"
"Yeah, she just turned 15." Fifteen is not that bad, right?!
"Ohh… is she home?"
"No, sorry. It's only my mom and I. She had… something today – sorry can't remember."
"No problem. Do you know when she'll be back?"
"For lunch time, around 1 p.m.," Sansa answered.
"We can go for a ride around the city and come back after lunch," Jon suggested, but before either of them could answer, an older woman entered the room, who could only be Sansa's mother.
"Sansa, Ice is on the back. He must have found his way back. Can you text you siblings? They've been wor-" the lady stopped immediately, looking at them. "Sorry, I didn't know you had visits, Sansa," she said.
"They found Ice, Mom," but the woman didn't answer, she didn't seem to even be listening, her eyes darting between the three of them, like she had just seen a ghost. "Mom! Mom, are you listening to me?!"
"Sorry, sweetheart. What did you say?"
"They found Ice, Mom. What's wrong?" Sansa asked, since her mother's face still looked pale.
"Sorry, can you please just tell me your names?" Jon was the one to step forward, and the lady stepped closer to him almost immediately.
"I'm Jon, this is Gendry, and Aegon."
"Aegon…" Gendry thought he heard her whisper and shared a look with Aegon, before shrugging his shoulders. "Sansa, can you keep them company? I need to make a call."
"We were just leaving…" Gendry tried to say.
"No, please stay," she said before leaving the room.
"Sorry," Sansa apologized. "My mom doesn't usually behave this strangely."
"I hope it's nothing we have done," Jon said.
"No, of course not," she said, before asking and changing the subject – to one much more uncomfortable to Gendry. "So how did you find us? Arya?"
"This will sound crazy," Gendry admitted. "I had a dream… and it kind of led us here, besides a few troubles on the way."
"I hope nothing too bad. Because I do have to warn you that my sister isn't the easiest person," she said, before quickly adding. "Ohh… she's great, she's loyal and really cares for the people dear to her. But the fact that you're her soulmate – romantic, right?" Gendry nodded. "Yeah, she's still a bit in a no dating thingy… So I'm totally not sure how she'll react to you." Gendry didn't know what to say, he had expected a challenge but not about being a girl who didn't like dating, weren't suppose soulmates to touch and everything be fixed, he hoped so…
"Do you have any advices for Gendry?" Aegon asked.
"I don't know, but there must be a reason you're paired – you must have things in common. Just be her friend," Sansa suggested to him, smiling warmly at him.
"Sansa," her mother called, entering the room. "Your father is coming home in a bit."
"So early?!" Sansa exclaimed, it seemed to be a weird thing to have her father home so early.
"Yes, dear. Boys, do you mind if I ask you something?" The woman said sitting down in front of them, after they agreed and she thought for a bit, she asked. "How did you meet?"
"We grew up in an orphanage together in King's Landing," Aegon enlightened.
"Ohhh… I'm sorry for your losses. Did you know your parents?"
"My mom died when I was a child, it's hard for me to remember," Gendry said sadly, it was always hard to remember her blond hair and melodic voice. "Never knew my father."
"I've been in the system since I was a baby, never new anything," Jon said, and Aegon added.
"Me too," not wanting to tell a perfect strange about his recent discoveries.
"This may sound weird, but would you mind staying a bit longer. My husband would like to talk to you." Does she know?! Does her husband know?!
"I'm not sure…"
"It's nothing bad, boys. He just needs to talk to you. You'll be okay," the woman reassured them. "Ohhh… I'm Catelyn Stark, by the way. Would you like something to eat?"
"No, thank you. There's no need," Jon said.
"Can you at least tell us what is it about?" Aegon asked.
"Sorry, but no. I think it's better to wait for my husband. But do you need anything else from us? Can we do anything for you?" And with that Sansa looked at him, forcing to tell the truth, and with that he admitted to Mrs Stark, that her youngest daughter was his soulmate, that this orphan boy from King's Landing belonged to his daughter.
Her mother reacted better that he could have foreseen, even if it was followed by a detailed inquisition, finishing it only when her husband came home, and after introducing himself asked them to follow them to his office.
The office was as intimidating as the house had been when they first arrived, but while the size and its furtinure intimidated, the decoration put them at ease – there were no guns or heads of dead animals, there were only pictures and a ton of drawings, that ranged from doodles of a toddler to amazing portraits in charcoal.
"I'm really sorry if this all seems to weird, and what I'll say next it will be even worse, but you looked familiar to my wife and even more to me, and there may be a possibility that I know who your parents are."
The boys shared a look not knowing what to think of this, but Aegon said.
"It won't be a problem to listen, I suppose."
"You don't mind I talk freely in front of you three," they shook their heads. "And can I call you by your first name?"
"Sure, sir," Gendry said.
"Okay, boys," he said picking up a frame from the table, before going to sit in the armchair next to the couch they had taken their places. "Look at this photo. This my best friend and I back in high school," Mr Stark said giving them the photo, and looking at it, he couldn't believe it and immediately shared a look with Jon.
"We… we… you look… you look like us," Jon mumbled to himself, before asking, scared to hear the answer. "Are you my father?" Mr Stark shoock his head.
"No… that wouldn't be possible. I only… my wife and I only…" he said awkwardly before scratching his head. "No, but I think I may be your uncle."
Gendry could see everything turning inside Jon's mind, and both he and Aegon took hold of his hands at the same time, and Jon took a deep breath before asking.
"So you have siblings?"
"I have one younger brother, he's in the army. But I had two other siblings, a younger sister, called Lyanna, and an older brother, called Brandon."
"Which one do you believe to be Jon's parent?" Aegon asked.
"My brother was a playboy, a notorious playboy, but he died early. When were you born, Jon?" After his friend answered, Mr Stark continued. "Okay, it is possible it's my brother, but I do think you're my sister's son."
"Why?" Jon asked, and before Mr Stark continued he looked carefully at Aegon and then Gendry.
"I think it's better I left that for the end. I should speak to your friends first about the boy on the picture and Aegon's father. They were involved in my sister's story."
"What does my father have to do with this?" Aegon quickly asked, standing up, before Jon pulled him down.
"You know who your parents are? I thought you didn't," Mr Stark said.
"He hasn't known for long, he discovered before we left the orphanage to look for… before we left the orphanage," Gendry said.
"I don't like telling people, it's still too new," Aegon said. "What does my father have to do with Jon's possible mother?"
"Maybe you should let me talk to Jon alone?"
"No, please let them stay," Jon pleaded.
"I'm not sure if Aegon wants to hear this story."
"It can't be worst than the news articles, I stay," Aegon said, so Mr Stark continued.
"Okay, before the story, I just need to tell you who this is, Gendry. You knew your mother, right?"
"Yes, she raised me before she died."
"You lived in King's Landing, right? What did she do?"
"Yes, and she worked as a bartender at night and also provided laundry services."
"Okay. Your father was… is a playboy, and especially after my sister died, he started drinking a lot, and that led to some more sometimes. You're not the only kid he has fathered, more have been found – but he probably didn't know about you, if he did he would have at least contributed with money. His name is Robert Baratheon." Gendry knew who Robert Baratheon was, everyone knew the name of the King, and Gendry didn't want to believe. He had seen the man around the bars a few times, and was notorious for spending more than half his money (hopefully his, and not the country's) in the strip clubs of King's Landing – it was also hard to believe that this Mr Stark, a family man, was best friends with someone like Robert Baratheon.
"Are you sure it's him?"
"Pretty sure. Like I said you're not the first. You have the ideal Baratheon look, and I don't think it would be his brothers. One of them isn't known for any of those types of activities – I don't think he would go to a bar and have a one night stand, sorry for the language, Gendry. And the other brother is gay and also too young to have fathered you, Gendry."
"Are you going to tell him I exist?"
"If you want. I won't do anything about it if you don't want me to. I just thought you should know."
"Thanks for telling me. But can you tell your sister's story now." And so Mr Stark started.
"Can you see the charcoal portraits? They are mostly my sister's, she was very good at it, so good that during one summer when she was barely seventeen, she was invited to take a exclusive course in King's Landing at the Targaryen academy. She accepted it, of course, it was a great experience, so she went – your father thought a class on music, he was known for playing the harp and the piano," he told the last part particularly to Aegon.
"How does my father fit there?" Gendry asked.
"Ohh… yes, Robert had been dating Lyanna at the time," he told Gendry. "The summer went perfectly well, there was no indication that anything was wrong, until we waited for her at the train station at the end of the summer and she didn't come, and then we called and she didn't answer – she had disappeared," he told them, the man in front of them was obviously trying to look neuter and failing miserably. "My brother and father went to talk to the academy, while I stayed at home with Benjen – my youngest brother – it didn't end well for them, they were both killed. And I still knew nothing of my sister, until I suspected something, the papers were publishing news about your father disappearance as well, Aegon."
"My father…"
"If you want to leave, you can," Mr Stark offered once again.
"No I want to hear."
"So I remembered the letters she had sent, she talked so much about professor Targaryen, and then Rhaegar – I didn't even pay attention to the change of how she addressed him. When I told Robert about my suspicions, he was furious and we marched south to look for her and your father – Robert believed your father had kidnapped her, I don't know if it's that or they just ran away together. And I can't tell you even now."
"You think Aegon is my brother?" Jon asked.
"Yes, I believe he's your half brother. If we test your blood, and cross it with mine, and then Aegon's, we can confirm it," Mr Stark suggested, and look of hope crossed around Jon's face.
"Are you saying my father cheated on my mother with a minor? Did Gendry's father kill mine?" Nooo… please not that – he couldn't have Aegon hating him. "And my mother, and sister, and tried to kill me?"
"No. He wanted to kill your father, that's true, but he never once wanted to touch a hair in his family. His problem was with your father, not your mother or their kids," Mr Stark said seriously. "He beat up your father, enough to put him on the hospital, he would have killed him if I hadn't stopped him. Your father died with the rest of his family at their home, and with that there was no knowledge of Lyanna. Only in the next summer we got the news she had died, the causes were troubles giving birth, we couldn't find the baby and were told that the baby could only have survived if there was medical help – while we tried to look, we reached the conclusion that you could only be dead." And that seemed to be the end of the story, neither of them knew how to think, there was this entire past between them that they had never known about, Gendry just hoped that this didn't made them hate him.
"Can we do the test today?" Jon asked immediately.
"I think so. Aegon?"
"Yes, of course. Jon, you know nothing could make me happier than actually be your older brother."
"Thanks, man," Jon said hugging him. "Are you coming with us, Gendry?"
"Could I wait here in the house, Mr Stark?"
"Of course, Gendry," he said, before adding. "And let's see if we have a talk a bit later, shall we? My wife didn't forget to mention the true reason for you to be here."
"Sir,… I…"
"We'll talk later, Gendry," Mr Stark said dropping his hand on his shoulder before passing him to walk with Jon and Aegon. Gendry could hear him ask Jon about Ice, and after hearing how his "nephew" found it, he offered it to Jon if the kids didn't protest too much – it seemed every kid had a direwolf, but being 5 kids and 6 direwolves, Ice was a bit of a loner.
After they left, Gendry was left alone with Sansa, she gave him a tour of the house, and made small conversation with him, until the topic of conversation turned to Arya. She told him multiple stories – and midway to their conversations, Gendry had a bigger and more complete mental image of Arya. He had seen photos around the house, so he already knew, she had dark hair and grey eyes and was short and skinny for her age – he also had figure out that Theon, the boy from the Riverrun College, was a close friends of the Starks, and everything would have been faster if he had just told the boy Arya's name; by Sansa's story, Arya seemed like a very energetic person, who had a hard time being in the same place, who loved the outdoors, who didn't seem to care much about her appearance, much to Sansa's dismay, but most of all he learned that she was easy to be liked and to make friends – which was good news, even if Sansa's warning about Arya's thoughts on love still scared him.
They were back in the living room watching a TV competition, he wasn't sure which one it was, but he could say Sansa was thrilled with it – she was yelling at the TV, and hugging her pillow, trying to keep the tears from falling.
He was distracted by another performance by a fourteen year old kid, when he heard the door, thinking that maybe Jon and Aegon were back he immediately turned his head, and while not seeing anyone yet, he heard a voice.
"Is anyone home?"
"In here," Sansa yelled back, smiling goofy at Gendry, who now knew this was Arya.
"Is there something wrong?" Arya continued yelling, closer every second. "Mycah was acting so weird today. Firstly asking if anyone had come, and then insisting I came home earlier – seriously sometimes I don't know what's wrong with him." And now she was finally in the room, she was jumping in one foot, while trying to take her All Star off. "Ohhh… finally…" she said, before sitting down and starting to work on taking off the other. "Really never let me go to the park to play football with this again, I don't care Mom is washing my good sneakers, I can steal Bran's or something," the girl said standing up with her shoes in hand, and only then did she notice him. "Ohhh… you have visits? Are you Sansa's new boyfriend?" She asked, and before he could answer she added. "Really if you're another jerk lying that you have her name in your skin, I'll fucking end you."
"Arya, language," Arya's mother warned, coming to the living room.
"Sorry, Mom. Hi, Mom!"
"Arya, this is Gendry, and he's definitely not my boyfriend," Sansa said, and Gendry wanted to hide, that smile in her face was just giving too much away.
"Okay. Hi, Gendry – definitely not Sansa's boyfriend," Arya said, obviously thinking all this very weird, especially when her mother joined Sansa in the expectant look.
"Hello, Arya," he finally said, thinking she was amazing – she didn't even reach his shoulder, her hair was cut short, not even reaching her shoulders, and it was completely messy, she was wearing a long t-shirt, and shorts, and she had a few scraps in her knees.
"Man, are you going to shook my hand or not? Because I really want to shower before lunch," and Gendry before even thinking shook her hand, and his chest started to hurt, right where the tattoo was, and by the look on Arya's face she felt it too, she blushed, bit her lip and then ran away, yelling. "Going to shower."
"So that went well," he muttered, sitting down still holding into his chest.
"Are you okay?" Sansa asked worried, before Mrs Stark said.
"Your tattoo is in your chest, right?" He nodded. "That's a normal thing to happen, when you touch your soulmate for the first time it burns – but I promise it's just the first time," she told him.
"Thanks."
"And Arya will be okay, I'm sure. She'll come down for lunch; you can talk to her then. Also Ned has texted – he and your friends are on their way home."
"Thanks, ma'am," he told her, before she went back to the kitchen, and he was left alone with Sansa and her stupid TV show.
The episode actually ended before he heard the water stop running, and Sansa changed to another channel with some comedy show on, but Gendry tried to figure out what was he going to tell Arya. He was so distracted that he didn't notice, Sansa leaving the room and Arya coming downstairs.
"I suppose it's black…"
"What?!
"The tattoo, it's black."
"Yes."
"And was because of you that Mycah was acting weird?"
"Yes."
"Can you say anything other than yes?"
"Yes," he answered, and she smiled sheepishly at him. "Right, sorry. This is just…"
"Weird. Imagine to me. You had at least an idea what was going to happen, I was completely caught by surprise."
"Right," he admitted.
"Come on. I can show you the gardens, what you can tell me what a perv like you is doing here?"
"Wait, I'm not a perv," he said standing up following her through the back door.
"Sure you aren't? You're like 20, and I just turned 15 – you know that's a crime, right?"
"Firstly, I'm only 18. And secondly, it's not a crime, because of the tattoo," he said, falling in pace with her.
"Sure, go right to the point where the law is on your side for us to have sex."
"No… I didn't mean that. I just… I just…"
"You just wanted to make a point that you're not a perv," Arya said, and he confirmed. "See we complete each other sentences already."
"I'm sorry if it bothers that I showed up like this," he honestly said.
"I actually don't know what to say. This is all very weird, I've never dreamed of meeting my soulmate, of having a knight or a prince coming for me," she's comparing me to a prince. "That's always been my sister and her friend Jeyne – not me." That must be Theon's Jeyne.
"I'm not asking you to marry me, Arya. I just got this tattoo, and it has always been just me, Jon and Aegon, and I found out I had someone else for me, so I wanted to look for you."
"Don't feel bad, Gendry, please. Fuck, just start by telling me about you. I'm sure you've been in the house for awhile, and my sister have told you a million things about me," she said. "Start by telling me who are Aegon and Jon?"
"They're my best friends, my roommates at the orphanage in Flea's Bottom. They're here, so you'll get to meet them, they just went with your father for a paternity test."
"Paternity test?!" She asked taking a step back.
"No, not your father as his father," he said immediately, wanting to calm her down. "Uncle, Jon may be your cousin, and Aegon, his brother – it's a bit of a mess, I suppose your parents would prefer to be the ones to explain."
"Just tell me, Gendry," she said, and her voice made him want to melt and just do what she said, but he couldn't start this relationship that way.
"No way, Arya. Tell me about your football team instead," he proposed and she didn't seem to resist the idea.
"So it's a five-a-side football team, you know what that is right?" she started by asking, and he nodded. "And we have a championships, all organized by us – one member of each of the ten teams in the championship. My team is Mycah – you seemed to have met, how?"
"At the supermarket yesterday. Noticed the tattoo and decided to ask him about it."
"Surprised he answered."
"Had to show mine first."
"Hey, you haven't showed it to me?! That's the first thing Mycah did." And with that he started unbuttoning his shirt. "Hey! What are you doing?"
"It's in my chest."
"Yeahh… maybe show me later. So, like I was saying, it's Mycah, Beth, Palla, my brother – Bran – and I. But Bran broke his foot this month so you've been playing either with my other brother, Rickon, who's really young and with certain teams he's not allowed to play yet, or Bran's friend, Jojen, who really sucks at football."
"Ohhh… sorry… I hope it's nothing to bad with your brother."
"No, it was on his climbing club, and he put his foot down wrong, and that happened – and he likes being pampered by Mom," Gendry liked how enthusiastically she talked about football and her family, he was about to make another question, when he heard familiar voices. Jon was trying to hold Aegon back, who was yelling their names and singing Gendry and Arya in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.
"So I guess those are your friends?"
"Yes. The one singing is Aegon, and the other is Jon," they approached his friends, and Arya and Jon immediately stopped and looked at each other, and Aegon said.
"I did say you dreamed of a female version of Jon."
"Shut up, Aegon," the three of them said at the same time."
"Hey! We haven't have even met, you can't tell me to shut up, that's like against the rules," Aegon protested, before dropping to one knee, and asking for her hand. "Gendry never knew how to woo the ladies," and with that Arya instead of giving him her hand to kiss, she slapped him over the head, before turning to Gendry.
"I have to say your friend is a bit stupid."
"Hey," Aegon said standing up, rubbing his head. "That hurt."
"You deserve it. I'm Arya, by the way," she said giving him her hand to shake, and then did the same to Jon.
"Jon."
"You're the one that may be my cousin."
"Yeah…"
"Everything seems like a weird coincidence. But welcome to the family, Jon. Come on a paternity test isn't needed, you look exactly like Dad and I, it's good to not be the only not redhead kid in the family."
"Happy to help," Jon said.
"Okay, now I need you to tell me some embarrassing stories about Gendry," and before he could protest. "Don't bother protesting, I'm sure Sansa already filled your head with some of mine."
"Ohhh… I have good ones," Aegon said.
"Not sure if I should be scared or excited," Arya stated, while Gendry thought exactly the same.
And with that Aegon started telling some of the most embarrassing stories, like that time in elementary school he was caught by some girls in his class eating boogers, and when they accused him, he denied it and said it was a foreign sweet, he ended up feeding the girls is own boogers.
"Firstly, this just shows I'm good thinking on my feet. And really you should question the judgement of the girls who believed me."
"You painted them pink, Gendry, and put it in wrapping paper, you went through all that work just to prove a point – and they didn't believe you, Gendry, you tried to feed it to them and they saw through it."
"Okay… I was booger boy during the entire second grade."
"It only stopped, because you became princess underpants," Aegon said.
"Okay, I think all this reminiscing is enough," Gendry told them.
"Come on, Gendry. I promise I want call you any of that," she promised, before adding. "I can find my own embarrassing name for you." Aegon was probably ready to make another inappropriate comment, when Sansa came outside to call them all for lunch – and Gendry smiled at the thought that since he, Jon and Aegon left they haven't been called for any meals, how things seemed to be so different during that time.
Inside the dining room, the table was perfectly ready and everything smelt like heaven, everyone in the family took their places, leaving them three free places, Gendry noticed another presence at the table, a boy who didn't seem to ignore them either.
"Who are they, Mom?"
"This is Jon, Gendry and Aegon. This is our youngest boy, Rickon."
"What are they doing here?"
"Gendry is Arya's soulmate, and Jon and Aegon are his friends," Sansa said, making both Gendry and Arya blush, the later kicking her sister under the table.
"Another?!" Rickon exclaimed. "And he doesn't have a beard."
"For fu—Pete's sake, Rickon, we have explained to you a million times that every ones mark isn't on their face. You've seen Uncle Robert's, and Mycah's, why can't you stop messing this up," Arya said, clearly exasperated by her brother's comment. "Dad has-"
"Theon told us, we met him at Riverrun's College, we had no idea he was somehow connected to you."
"He's my oldest son's best friend. The boy practically lived here during high school," Mrs Stark said.
The rest of the lunch when peacefully like that, everyone shared the stories they wanted, Arya went into great detail about her football practice, while Rickon told them about the new game he and Shaggydog – his direwolf, ohh… I haven't seen Arya's yet, maybe after lunch, if Mr Stark doesn't steal me away – and Sansa convinced her parents to let her go and sleep at Jeyne's house.
But that, or the food wasn't the most exciting thing, that was the simple looks between Arya and he, maybe it wouldn't be romance at first, but he liked her and he knew she liked him too, or at least didn't hate him – that time before lunch had been enough to convince him of that.
She was Arya and he was Gendry. He was the boy with her name carved in dark paint, and someday he would find his way into her heart, and it all started with an afternoon of playing videogames sitting side by side against her bed.
Thank you for reading! And remember my question in the first note about if there's any interest in Jon and Aegon's story; or any other characters, either mentioned (like Robert; Ned, Catelyn and Brandon; Theon and Jeyne) or not (if you want to check which pairings a particular character would have, before you ask for it, you can.). If this all sucked, and you don't want any more that's valid too (but I do hope you liked it…)