The Unkindness of Strangers and the Kindness of an Angel

Chapter 7 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, it is pretty sad for Bran, sadly that won't likely come for some time.
Marina Ka-Fai: Yeah; it's pretty sad for the poor guy; that's sweet :)
LostCriesofTime: Yeah, it's pretty sick of him, poor Bran indeed, glad you liked Arya's thoughts; glad you liked my description of the incident.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.


Chapter 7

Bran sighed as he left school with his siblings. After the incident at lunch those unaware how he had been burned began teasing him about his fall in the lunch hall. They seemed to pretend that Joffrey wasn't responsible. He became aware of Arya's gaze; he could guess what she was about to say, sure enough she reacted as he expected.

"Bran, I swear that creep can't get away with this."

He shook his head. "Forget it Arya; you know full well if I say anything Joffrey and his friends will just make things worse for me."

She growled and grabbed his shoulder. "Don't start Bran; that's bull and you know it. We…"

"Enough Arya; just leave it, just leave me alone, and don't say anything for God's sake; I swear, if you say anything I…"

Arya sighed and shook her head. "Alright, alright already, I get it."

Bran scowled and stalked away; Arya groaned. She knew she really should say something to their parents, but if she did Bran would never forgive her, besides, if he didn't say it himself, he'd never be able to move forwards; she wished it could be simpler, but she was afraid that wasn't the case. She was also afraid that things would get drastically out of hand before Bran realized the truth and stood up for himself.

Arya could feel Rickon's eyes on her and turned to him, shaking her head.

"Best not to ask, Rickon; I don't think we can do anything right now."

Rickon scowled. "But Bran is…"

She shook her head again. "Don't Rickon, our only hope until Bran stands up for himself we need to help him by protecting him from those punks. If we do anything else we'll only make Bran angry at us. He'd never forgive us for it, we need to try and help him see that he can stand up for himself, that he's not alone. But we can't do that while he's so wilfully blind to the truth."

Rickon bowed his head; Arya then noted their mother's car approaching.

"There's mom, go ahead, I'll see you guys at home. Don't worry, I'm going straight home today, no need for excuses."

Rickon nodded and headed towards the car. Arya got her motorbike and sighed as she thought forlornly about Bran's situation; at this rate, it would only get worse and, despite her best efforts and wishes, she knew she couldn't protect him forever. She put on her helmet, started up the bike and began driving home, wishing there was something she could do that wouldn't cause Bran to fall out with her.

When they got home Catelyn was worried, she was noticing her children were acting rather strange. Something was bothering them; that much she could tell. However all thoughts and worries were soon pushed out of not only hers but everyone's minds as Ned delivered interesting and joyous news.

"I've just heard, Robb and Sansa are coming home for a few days, they should be there this evening." He stated, smiling.

They all reacted happily to the news and soon they were hard at work; getting ready for their family members visit. So it was that evening that the Stark family all stood in the hallway, waiting for the arrival of Robb and Sansa. Before long they heard the two cars arrive and park and then the knock at the door. Ned answered the door and Robb and Sansa Stark entered. They all smiled and the younger kids greeted their older siblings.

"Hey, it's great to be home." Robb stated as he hugged his younger brothers and sister.

Sansa smiled and also hugged them. "Yeah, it's good to see you all too, we missed you guys."

The others all greeted them joyfully and soon they were all gathered at the dinner table, eating. As they ate however, Bran observed the way his family behaved and, once again, as had been happening recently, doubts had begun to creep into his mind. Specifically, doubts about how his family felt about him.

'What am I to them anyway, look at them all; they're all good at something; except me. Mum and dad like them all better than me too.' He thought sadly. 'Robb's the eldest so he's automatically the family's pride. Sansa's the eldest girl so she's also a favourite. Rickon is a rapidly rising sports star and Arya's the youngest girl so she also gets preferential treatment. I'm the fourth child, nothing special about me.'

He supressed a sigh, he felt this way for a while, ever since the bullying started. It was as if he was nothing more than a hindrance to his family, another mouth for the family to feed.

Throughout the dinner, Robb had noticed Bran's strange behaviour and was worried. He had never seen his younger brother this way before; he certainly hadn't behaved this way the last time he had visited. So, after dinner, with the family all scattered throughout the house, Robb decided to talk to Bran, in the hopes that Bran might reveal something to him. So he headed upstairs; Bran was in his room doing homework. He knocked on the door.

"Yeah, who is it?" Bran called out.

"It's me Bran." Robb remarked.

Bran invited him in and Robb entered the room. Bran sat at his desk; he was smiling but Robb could see the lingering sorrow in his eyes.

"So, what's up?" Bran asked casually. "I must say it's good to see you guys again, things haven't been the same since you and Sansa went to college."

Robb smiled gently and nodded. "Yeah, I guessed that. So, how have you been, anything happening?"

Robb saw it, the moment of doubt. Bran opened his mouth but then stopped, closed it and then started again. "No, nothing really. Just the usual, you know, school, homework, all that."

Robb pondered briefly. Bran had looked at his feet, a sure sign he was lying. But still, Robb was tentative, if he prodded too much, Bran might shut him out. He didn't want to aggravate his brother.

"Are you sure that's all?" He asked gently. "It's not my place to say it Bran but you're acting kind of…well, down."

Bran sighed. "I'm fine Robb, really, just having a tough time at the moment, but I'm okay really, it will pass soon."

Robb knew he wasn't going to get anything else out of Bran so he hesitantly left the room, wondering and worrying about his brother.

Robb wasn't the only one; Sansa had noticed something different too; in her case, she had noticed Arya's behaviour and was curious. It was strange seeing her sister behave this way. There was only one thing on her mind.

'Arya's never been this secretive before; she's hiding something.'

Sansa wondered if she should say something. Eventually she made up her mind and decided to talk to Arya and try and uncover what she could. She found Arya out in the garden and hurried over to her.

"Arya."

Arya turned to face her. "Oh, hey Sansa, what's up?"

Sansa decided to get directly to the point. "I'm just wondering if you're okay, you hiding something, I know it, I just want to know if everything's fine."

Arya tensed at first when Sansa spoke but then smiled and relaxed.

"Oh, it's that all." She said with a laugh. "It's okay Sansa, there's nothing to worry about. I…Look I can't tell you anything, it'll be fine though; it's nothing bad, I promise."

"But Arya…" Sansa began but Arya shook her head.

"But nothing; I promise, there's nothing to worry about, I'm just not…ready to say anything yet okay." She remarked.

Sansa sighed but nodded and agreed before leaving. She guessed all she could do was wait and hope Arya would tell the truth soon enough.


End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.