Gendry

As he snuck out of Arya's room four hours later in the early light of dawn Gendry reflected that no other sleeping arrangement had ever taken such a toll on his self-control.

First – after she declared that she was keeping him in her bedroom for his protection – they'd argued. He'd told her she was being ridiculous, and she told him he was stupid and had no idea how insane Cersei could be, and that if he needed verification he could ask Jon later but for now he needed to stay put.

Next – after he'd capitulated to wait for 'a bit while Mrs. Baratheon finishes her phone call' - she'd told him to "turn around and don't look." He'd done as she asked, clenching his eyes shut and trying to think of anything else when the sound of her unzipping her dress right behind him sent tingles running down his spine.

She's Jon's sister.

"You can turn around now."

She had been in a sports tank-top and boxer shorts climbing into bed, pulling her hair tie out and shaking out her brown locks absent mindedly as she laid down to sleep.

She's Jon's sister.

He'd gotten into bed stiffly and Arya had propped herself up on her forearms, looking at him skeptically.

"What?" he'd said self-consciously, trying to take up as little space as possible in the double bed.

"You're going to sleep in your dress slacks and button down?"

"Yeah…"

"With your belt on?"

"It's not exactly kosher for us to be sharing a bed…"

She rolled her eyes at him and turned her head to face the other way muttering 'whatever.' He scowled at her turned back, but did reach under the covers to take off his belt. A few minutes later he gave up on the shirt as well, unbuttoning it and pulling it off in an effort to make himself more comfortable.

She shifted and sighed next to him turning onto her side. With the soft moonlight flooding in through the window, Arya's silhouette was lit up to its best advantage. His hand ached to reach out and caress the dip of her waist, to skim along the flare of her hip…

She's Jon's sister.

Half an hour later she was breathing deeply, clearly asleep, but he was still wide awake hyper aware of her laying there next to him. Every time he got close to dozing off she'd sigh in her sleep or shift towards him. At one point she ended up rolling against him entirely, her side pressed up against his bare chest. He was about to wake her, or at least move her gently back over to her side of the bed, when she'd mumbled "mmm but you promised…" in her sleep, and stretched her arm over his chest, her head nuzzling into his side and her small had forming a tiny fist as it lay between his pecs. He wondered who she was dreaming about. He wondered what they'd promised. But most of all, he wondered what she'd promised in return.

She's Jon's sister.

He'd woken several hours later with her still splayed out on his chest, sleeping peacefully. His position had changed somewhat from the rigid distance he had been trying to keep – his arm had come to wrap around her so that her head was resting on his bicep as he held her to him almost protectively. And his hand… his hand had somehow managed to slip to the spot on her waist where her tank top was riding up, so that his palm was resting against her bare skin. His cock had throbbed painfully as he took in their position, and he'd decided it was time for him to go before he did something stupid,]. So very very carefully he'd begun to extract himself from under her.

When he'd shifted his arm she pouted in her sleep murmuring "no don't…" petulantly while burrowing further into the crook of his arm. His heart had melted a bit at the sight of it, which made him realize that he really needed to go, and so he'd shushed her and said quietly, "it's alright I just have to go downstairs" wondering for the umpteenth time who her dream bedfellow was.

She'd rolled over away from him then, groaning petulantly, but muttering "fine but breakfast" before curling up on her own side of the bed and settling back into sleep. His heart clenched again looking at her all small and curled up, her hair strewn out over the pillows in a fury of curls.

She's Jon's sister.

He'd shaken himself mentally, and turned away from the pleasant sight, pulling his belt back on and putting on his shirt. He'd made sure to button every last button on his shirt even though it was 5:30 on a Sunday and no one would be awake in the house as he crept back to the room he shared with Jon. But still…

So now he was padding down the stairs as quietly as he could, trying to shake the impure thoughts of Arya She's-Jon's-Sister Stark before he got to the back bedroom where his best friend was probably passed out and snoring totally oblivious to the fact that his college roommate had been popping boners to the sound of his little sister whining in her sleep all night. He crossed the house without incident, finally finding the door to his and Jon's room and sliding in quietly. Maybe now he could actually get some rest…

"Look who finally made it back."

Jon's voice shocked him so much he actually jumped before whirling around to see his best friend sitting up in bed. His tone was hard and Gendry, for the first time detected something cold in the way Jon was looking at him. He was used to seeing those looks from Jon, but always directed at others.

"Hey, yeah sorry. Arya said, she said that – uh, well that your aunt would lose it if she saw me? So she told me I needed to stay up there and I passed out on the floor."

For the first time since she'd told him he was supposed to avoid Cersei, Gendry began to wonder if Arya had been wrong about Jon being silently on-board with her little diversion plan. He'd seen his friend's eyes go wide when he'd seen Robert's wife in the kitchen, and he knew Jon had been full of shit when he said his back hurt too much to carry Arya up the stairs after she'd seemingly fainted. Jon would carry that girl over hot coals in his bare feet if she needed something on the other side, so when Arya had said that Jon had intentionally sent him up with her Gendry had believed her…But oh God if she was wrong.

"She said, she said you wanted me to go upstairs," he began weakly, and he was ashamed to say he heard the pleading in his own voice.

Jon's face softened, if only a bit, and Gendry felt a wave of relief wash over him.

"I did, but I didn't think you'd spend the whole fucking night up there!" Jon said, frustratedly. Gendry nodded. Jon was pissed, but not that pissed. Ok.

"I'm sorry bro, I just fell asleep. I didn't know the terms of you and your sister's silent agreements, she said stay so I did."

Jon sighed, running his fingers through his curls in frustration as he was want to do and Gendry couldn't help but feel a little guilty. He'd never lied to Jon before, but seeing anger flash in his friends' eyes he'd just instinctively said that he had slept on the floor. Even though they hadn't done anything, the guilt of it was making him feel uneasy and restless.

"I'm sorry man, I shouldn't have come at you like that. I don't know what got into me. I've been sitting up for hours wondering if I should storm up to her room and get you myself or if I should just wait."

Thank God he hadn't or Gendry was pretty sure he'd be down a best friend and sporting a black eye. The idea of Jon catching him shirtless in bed with Arya's head resting on his chest made him queasy. Jon Snow was the closest thing to home he had, besides being back in cheapside with his mom. He didn't know what to say, but Jon just continued.

"I just don't know what to do with her this summer. Like she is honestly my favorite person in the world – even more than Robb and you know how we can get – but ever since I caught her this past year, and with everything that happened last night I just, I just don't know how to deal with the fact that she's getting into that kind of stuff."

He should have left it. He should've just nodded and given Jon his sympathies and then gotten in fucking bed, but he was an idiot and a curious one at that so instead he pressed on.

"What do you mean 'caught her'?"

"This Winter – I came home and I found her topless in our hot tub straddling some douche friend of hers, who she doesn't even fucking like, sucking face while he felt her up. And then, she sees me, gets out of the tub like it's nothing, and tells me later that she's just trying to lose her virginity before college."

Gendry found himself getting irrationally angry as Jon told him the story, and he realized that his hands had clenched into fists. Jon saw it and took it as a showing of semi-protective brotherly rage and nodded indignantly.

"Right? Like the fuck am I supposed to do with that? When Robb and I wanted to lose our virginities it was funny, it was a challenge, something we were both too chicken shit to really try for for years. But her? I feel like everyone with a cock is a threat. It's ridiculous."

Gendry nodded, feeling for his friend. Jon nodded back, and muttered 'sorry man' one more time before they both made to get back into their beds and sleep for a few more hours. Gendry pulled the covers up, feeling more exhausted but mentally awake than he had in years. Tonight's whatever-it-was could not be repeated. Jon meant to much to him, and to her, for him to risk getting that close to her again. As sleep finally claimed him the same thought, interspersed with memories of how she'd looked curled against his chest, kept flitting through his mind.

She's Jon's sister.

Arya

She woke up feeling more rested than she had in a while. She certainly hadn't expected to feel that light hearted, especially given the boys' idiocy last night and the fiasco with Joffery, but something was just keeping her from feeling too down.

As much as she was still mad at the big lumbering idiot she had to admit that waking up cradled in Gendry Waters arm with her cheek pressed against his muscled chest had felt pretty amazing. He could be stupid sometimes, but he was also nice and caring and totally completely beautiful.

Too bad he clearly thought of her as a surrogate younger sister. His behavior last night had protective big brother written all over it (barring the sleep cuddling – but she'd initiated that and he'd been asleep). The way he'd stuck his foot in his mouth about Aegon and her drinking, Robb couldn't have done it better. He should really be paying Gendry for services rendered in his absence. Arya shuddered at the thought. Knowing her family, Robb might be doing just that.

She packed all her things up, brought them out to the RV and then met the boys and Robert for breakfast. Now that it had been pointed out to her by Aegon she almost couldn't help but stare at the resemblance between Gendry and Robert. Her eyes got Jon's from across the table, and he nodded at her slightly, telling her that he saw it too but indicating that she should be careful with her gazes. She nodded back, also almost unperceptively, and then locked her eyes back on her food for the rest of the meal. They said their goodbyes – Robert pulling her up flush against his chest in a bear hug in a way she thought was a bit much – and they were off again.

It felt good to be back on the road, even if she was still pointedly sharp with her responses to both of her travelling companions. She was excited to get away from the East Coast – away from the big cities – and to get into the woods to do some camping finally. They had to be at Robb's bachelor's party in New Orleans in five days, so they were driving down to Gatlinburg, Tennessee to go camping in the Smoky Mountains for a few days before they hit the big easy. She and Jon were always at home in the mountains, and it would be good to have a breather before heading into the unbridled debauchery that would be Robb Stark's send off to singledom.

It was a ten hour drive, but by the time they stopped somewhere in Virginia Arya was in an excellent mood. Both Jon and Gendry had apologized for their behavior towards Aegon, and, as penance, had agreed to let her control the music selection. Though she was usually a classic rock person like Jon, she was also a teenage American girl, and unashamed of her guilty pleasure love for girl pop. Not only could she stomach the stuff, she could actually get into it. So when Gendry surrendered the iPod connector to her sourly, she had begun her reign of terror with a volume cranked version of Taylor Swift's Today was a Fairy Tale.

Now as they stopped at the rest stop she was practically skipping as she went into the convenience store, humming to herself as she went. She heard Jon's phone ring behind her, but she paid it little mind as she went into the store and began scouring for snacks. When she emerged again, sour gummies and Doritos in hand Jon was still on the phone, his face dark and serious.

"And you're sure that one will work? We could come back if—Oh ok so you're doing it from New York. Yeah. We'll stop there for a night and have them send our results ASAP. No Sans, really thanks for calling. Don't cry, its just a preliminary thing. It's just so we're ready in case—I know. I know it scares me too. Ok I will."

She frowned. Jon never talked to Sansa like this. True they were closer now than they used to be, but they didn't just talk on the regular.

"Alright. No I love you too. I'll tell her. Don't worry."

With that he hung up and his grey eyes flew to hers, stormy with concern.

"We have to make a pit stop Ary. Bran is fine for right now, but the doctors say it's time for us all to get tested to see if we're HLA matches. Apparently there's a one in four chance that you'll match a sibling so that's good news for us right? We're like a one family marrow registry."

She swallowed, feeling the lump in her throat form and her eyes start to sting like they did whenever she thought too much about Bran's leukemia. Jon must have saw it on her face because he pulled her into a hug.

"Hey. Its not such a big deal, come on don't worry. All we need to do for now is go to this hospital in Asheville and get our blood tested. Sansa's having them send down Bran's information so we'll know right away if we're viable donors or not."

She nodded against his chest, wiping the tears away as Gendry emerged from the mini-mart looking confused.

"Everything ok?"

"Yup. Just got to make a pit stop. Don't worry though, it won't change anything."