[8]
Balls and Nightmares
Arya
June
Senior Year
Six Years Ago
"Got a B+ in my math finals," was the text Arya sent to Gendry right after their last period ended that afternoon. She couldn't literally contain her happiness as she tucked her phone back inside the pockets of her school blazer.
If only it was that easy to slip a genuine smile on her face, but knowing that her bullies were just lurking around the corridors, she couldn't just show her real emotions or else they'd use that to their advantage. So, she went about the halls with a neutral face, careful to avoid the places where they'd usually hang out.
She reveled at the fact that it was only a matter of weeks before senior year would officially end, which also signified the end of her days in this godforsaken school. But then her abrupt elation instantly deflated when she unknowingly passed by the bulletin boards where a big poster was taking up the entire space on the largest board and she was suddenly reminded of this one last obstacle prior to being finally free of her ordeal: The Graduation Ball.
She was certain that it wouldn't be complete without all those formalities the upper class had all been used to, thanks to the Disney-princess-wannabe student-organizers who had been planning this event at the beginning of their term. If anything, their inflated egos only just strengthened her theory that they were the worst versions of Cinderella's step-sisters.
These were the kind of girls who practically lived for fairy tales and happily-ever-afters, prince-charmings and the occasional self-entitlement based on their untouchable status. They also happened to be the very same girls who enabled bullies into tormenting students like her.
They were an epitome of obnoxious vanity.
Apparently, being different from the rest was a sin in her school.
She contemplated ditching the ball entirely all because of that reason. But then doing so would greatly affect her grades in homeroom, ergo, the lesser chances for her to be allowed to move out.
She took a large intake of air as she tried to think of how she could endure one night alone with all those people who hated her because she wasn't really planning on bringing along a date, lest her date would find out how she was being treated.
The upcoming event was literally a modern-day trap complete with the whole ball and chain ensemble.
Thankfully, her thoughts were brought back to the present when she felt her phone vibrating.
I'm one hell of an irresistible tutor, that's why. Good chances of memory retention because of my irresistibility. ;) -Gendry
Her eyes found the need to roll up to the tops of her head after reading his cocky response.
There was another text before she could even compose her reply.
Picking you up today. I'll be there in ten. Let's celebrate at Tiffany's with HP. You deserve a treat for being such a good girl. -Gendry
You don't have to treat me. It was imperative that I should pass Math, anyway. -Arya
Would you rather I punish you instead? Because I know a dozen ways how. And you'd still enjoy it. -Gendry
Arya stopped in her tracks the moment she read his last text. Then she could feel her core reacting to his offer, which was nothing short of lascivious. It was another one of their many suggestive yet harmless banters. Harmless, as far as platonic friendships went.
Instead of cowering at his words, a lop-sided grin formed on her face as she replied:
Why don't you show me how good you are at punishment then? -Arya
I don't think you'd be ready for it. -Gendry
Try me. -Arya
We'll see. -Gendry
Bloody coward is what you are. -Arya
In the depths of her subconscious, she badly wanted for that proposition to actualize, but given their still-platonic kind of friendship even after more than a year of knowing each other, she knew that that kind of ideation only dwelled in her fantasies.
Her phone fell silent after her last response.
Gendry
She fell asleep on his bed. And it wasn't even late into the evening yet.
One moment she's finishing the book she was reading on his bed and the next moment she was already sprawled on his sheets with reckless abandon. He was at the kitchen cooking dinner for them when he caught a glimpse of his oversized shirt hiking up to reveal the tops of her thighs.
While it seemed only fitting to see her wearing his clothes, he also couldn't discount the evident weariness on her features. It was only yesterday when she fell asleep as he drove her home after their mini-celebration at Tiffany's with HP. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that the week after her finals was more brutal than the actual finals week itself.
Knowing Arya, he knew that she'd brood for the rest of the time until she could finally her get hands on those final grades. The waiting was more agonizing according to her.
She might look nonchalant about grades and shit, but deep down there's a nerd in her that cared about her actual grades. Nevertheless, he was still proud of her for having achieved outstanding remarks in most of her subjects.
The screaming started in the middle of him preparing their plates on the counter. He abruptly stopped everything when he heard another disturbing sound and rushed toward the source. Which was his room.
On his very bed, Arya was thrashing as if she was fighting against a non-existent enemy. Her face was contorted with palpable fear.
"Please…Stop… please…" Came her broken cries.
He was mortified at the scene playing before his very eyes.
She was having a nightmare.
He didn't waste time in trying to figure how to best deal with it and instead plopped on her side in the attempt to wake her up. But as he tentatively brought his hands on her shoulders, she was slapping him away as if he was the one trying to harm her.
"Arya!" He tried to shake her gently.
Tears were now streaming down her face and she was cold with sweat.
Cupping her cheek with his hand, while the other was carefully threading on her back, he tried to wake her again. "Arya, please. Wake up."
"No! Don't hurt me, please."
Her cries were heart-wrenching. It's as if he was also going to fall apart just looking at her in that condition.
"It's me…" He whispered, drawing his face closer to her so that his breath tickled her lips. "It's only me, Arya." He tried again with more resolve, finally resting his forehead on hers. "Please. Wake up."
She finally relaxed at the sound of his voice and he pulled away when he was sure that her erratic breathing evened out.
Still keeping a short distance, he noticed her eyes flutter open.
Blinking back a few more tears, she finally squinted her eyes and heaved into full consciousness.
"Arya. It's me. You were having a nightmare." Gendry revealed in his most tender voice, wiping away a stray tear.
The grip of her clammy hands on his wrist felt like she was trying to tell herself that she was already back to the here and now.
"Gendry… I…" Her voice was hoarse and feeble.
"It's alright. It was a dream."
"I'm sorry…" She finally said, swallowing back the threat of fresh tears.
He bunched his eyebrows together. "What are you sorry for?"
"I mean, I didn't mean to—I was just reading and then I didn't know that I already fell asleep." She tried to explain, her cheeks flush with embarrassment.
The hand on her back moved to cup the other side of her cheek, his thumb giving a gentle caress on her jaw while the other was absently stroking her lip.
"It's not your fucking fault for falling asleep and having a nightmare, Arya. You were dead tired."
She finally nodded her head as if to internalize what he just said without saying another word before relief washed over her features.
Why she was even apologizing for what had happened was already beyond him. But what bothered him more was the dead giveaway of the consistency of her nightmares whenever she slept tired. He couldn't help but draw a concrete conclusion of all the observations he'd gathered from before.
The dark bags underneath her eyes along with her deteriorating weight finally made sense, added to her obvious avoidance of the subject about her overall health.
He took her silence as a cue to drop the impending questions parking inside his head for now, as he settled for "Come on, dinner is ready."
Fighting the urge to pull her in his arms and creep her out with his undying declaration of protective assurance, he reluctantly pulled away from her and headed back to the kitchen without looking back.
They ate their dinner in contemplative silence with her eyes solely focused on the dish as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.
She was only back to her usual self as she did her part in washing the dishes diligently post dinner, talking about how Anakin Skywalker felt too much to lead himself to the Dark Side, and how he was just misunderstood rather than plain evil.
She was good at hiding her problems like that, easily compartmentalizing what transpired inside his bedroom into that tiny corner of horrors and nightmares inside her head before pushing back the façade of smooth nonchalance.
"You have to talk about it eventually, Arya." He finally had the guts to open up some time after their trip from the elevator to the floor of his parking space.
"It was just some random nightmare, Gendry." She replied dismissively.
"There you go again." His tone was now on the verge of losing all composure.
She gave him a sideways glare before her renewed mask of stoicism.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
He noticed a large breath of air leaving her lungs as he remained silent for a few heartbeats.
They finally reached his car and hopped in. He was in the middle of turning on the ignition when he could no longer hold it back. "See, that's what's wrong with you. You're always in denial, always trying to brush things off just to avoid talking about them."
She snorted in her seat, crossing her arms. "That's really the point, isn't it? Because I really don't want to talk about it hence the avoidance. So why can't you just take a hint?"
He stepped on the brake a little too harshly before he faced her. His left hand gripped the wheel as if his life depended on it, his knuckles turning white. "I can't take a hint because I can't just pretend that there's nothing wrong with you! Not when every fucking thing points out to the obvious signs. And I can't just bloody ignore them because I fucking care about you!"
She flinched at the angry tone of his declaration. It was the first time he was ever this mad in front of her. But he couldn't help it. He was infuriated because he couldn't do anything about it unless she'd willingly share to him what's really been going on with her.
It rendered him helpless and useless.
And he was supposed to be there for her no matter what.
After what felt like centuries, he finally saw a glimpse of reaction from her. Then she swallowed a huge lump on her throat and shook her head stubbornly, practically closing herself off from him again. "Just drive me home, Gendry."
"Fine." He resigned with gritted teeth.
It was an awkward fifteen or so minutes after that, both of them drenched in tendrils of stony silence.
Tiffany's bell gave the usual cacophony of rings as Gendry opened the door and stepped inside the small café that late Friday afternoon. He was going to meet with HP to catch up on things. But then as he took another step inside, he heard a familiar voice calling out his name.
"Gendry?" Came a befuddled Brea who was sitting at a window seat to the left.
"Hey, Brea." Was Gendry's autonomic response, his eyes scanning each of her familiar companions -Pandora, Ned and Mycah before giving them all a brief wave.
Then realization hit his senses as he noted the absence of one particular person. "Where's Arya?" He simply asked.
All of their eyebrows shot up in confusion.
"What do you mean 'Where's Arya?' I thought she was with you?" Pandora piped in the same time that Brea said, "Wait, what?"
Gendry made to move toward their table.
"Arya said she was going to hang out with you tonight, man. That's why she's not with us." Ned explained in a calmer voice, but his expression reflected the same concerned features as his friends.
Gendry shook his head. "No. She told me she's hanging out with you guys tonight at Brea's place, that's why I just decided to come here and catch up with HP."
"So, if she's not hanging out with our gorgeous group, or with your handsome, irresistible face, then where the fuck is our girl?" Mycah added, holding a hand to his heart for effect.
"She's not answering any of my calls because her phone's dead, you guys." Brea inserted as she placed her phone on the table.
Fuck.
Panic crept through Gendry's system at the thought of his best friend suddenly gone missing.
He picked up his own phone and dialed her number, despite knowing the fact that her phone's dead, anyway.
What the fuck was she playing at?
Ned stood up and placed a comforting pat on Gendry's shoulder before offering him a seat. "Come on, man. Sit down with us for a moment while we try to sort things out."
He only nodded appreciatively, somewhat rendered speechless at this whole situation.
It was a few minutes after when he noticed HP finally coming out of the kitchen, still wearing his apron.
"Hey, Gendry! I see that you've already met my lovely visitors for this afternoon." HP smiled, giving Gendry's back a gentle slap before eyeing Brea and the rest warmly.
He might have noticed their sullen mood because he was suddenly asking them, "Why the long faces?"
"We can't seem to find Arya, HP." Pandora supplied for him worriedly.
HP gave Gendry an I-thought-she-wasn't-with-you-because-she's-with-them look, in which Gendry only shot back with a furious glare.
As HP was also one of his smarter friends, he was able to get the implication right away.
"Oh, I see. Well, she doesn't have a boyfriend that she's hiding from you guys, does she?"
"No!—
"We don't know." Gendry and Brea said at the same time, with Gendry's firm "No" resonating all over the small café.
He didn't give a flying fuck what they thought of his blatant response because his fear and worries were already consuming him and slowly fueling his rage.
It wasn't until Pandora spoke again that he felt a bit more relieved.
"I just called their place and asked if Arya was around. And Dorota said that she'd seen Arya heading out of the apartment bringing a weekender bag with her, along with a gown garment bag. Said she was off to some ball or something." Pandora informed them.
"Ball, what fucking ball does she mean?" Gendry snapped.
"Wait—" Mycah suddenly said, frantically scrolling through his phone for something. "Ohmygod! Look at this!" He told them as he pushed his phone toward the center of the table, showing them some photos. "I looked up the Facebook page of Constance and they're posting preparation photos of a Graduation Ball that their seniors are having tonight." His eyes then glinted toward Gendry. "Looks like we've found our missing princess and she's off to the ball tonight."
"Wait, that's tonight already?" Ned exclaimed, suddenly lost in thought. "If that's the case, then my sources were all wrong. They said it's not for another week."
"But the real question here is, why is Arya trying to hide this information from us?" Brea contemplated.
Gendry ran a rough hand through his already ruffled hair. "Simple. She thought it's better to attend that ball without a partner."
"Why is she not bringing a partner with her?" Pandora asked.
Gendry finally rose from his seat with renewed determination. "Well, I guess we're going to find out soon… If you'd excuse me, I have one missing little princess to escort to the ball tonight. Whether she likes it or not." His declaration was humorless, and he was aware that they too could feel his simmering anger brewing on the brink.
Fuck it.
With that, he stormed out of the café to head back to his apartment. He located his most pristine suit and readied himself for tonight's event.
He was so going to punish her tonight.
Arya
Arya was heading back to the ballroom with haste to have a refill of her punch. She'd been staying in a secluded balcony after she had her name listed in the attendance sheet to avoid any encounters from her bullies. Luckily for her, she hadn't been recognized yet.
Maybe the rest of the girls in her year were just busy comparing their outfits with the others, or better yet, criticizing based on who's wearing who. That's practically what greeted her the moment she set foot in the grand ballroom of The Palace Hotel.
Or maybe it had something to do with the fact that she looked like someone else with her dress. She had to admit that it wasn't the kind of dress most people would expect her to wear during formal gatherings as she'd been accustomed to the regular satin dresses that brought out her innocent femininity. Mother always had the final decision as to what kind of dress to wear during those social functions.
But as for this graduation ball, it was in some way special despite her lack of a partner because she had all the liberty to choose the kind of dress to wear that would let her be herself and at the same time make her more comfortable.
As opposed to the conventional wide ball gowns that all the girls were wearing tonight, she instead opted to wear a flowy pastel mint-colored floor-length gown. It was made of layers of sheer fabric with a long slit on the right side to give emphasis to her legs. The upper part of her dress consisted of two panels of soft material to cover her breasts.
Her left arm had a golden arm cuff with a simple leaf design and she was only wearing flat strapped sandals instead of high heels. She wore her hair in a bundle of messy chignon with small wisps decorating the sides of her face.
She completed her look with a soft neutral-brown eye makeup.
The entire ensemble basically gave her that Greek-goddess slash mermaid vibes and she was proud of her work because she'd done it all by herself. She'd never realized how strong her DIY game was until she saw herself in the mirror for the first time that night. And instead of feeling self-conscious about her entire get-up, she felt good about herself, an affirmation she was slowly starting to develop one step at a time.
It felt so empowering all at once.
Just as she was about to head back to her own bubble of comfort that was the balcony, a shadow clouded over to the left side of her proximity.
"It looks to us like you're in the wrong party, Stark. The Whore Convention is over at Slut-Town a million miles away from here." Came the familiar voice of one of her bullies, eyeing her from head to foot disgustedly. The rest of her minions burst into gales of mocking laughter.
"And what's she even wearing? That's just, like, the ugliest effin' dress I've ever seen." Another one chimed in.
"Perhaps sluts like her do not really have style because all she cares about is having as many dicks as she can inside that wide cunt of hers." Their pug-faced companion added.
Arya counted three seconds before facing them indifferently.
Another two more seconds before one side of her lip upturned sinisterly.
"Wow. An entire school year just passed and here you are still acting like uneducated mongrels whose only parting wisdom is to ingratiate yourselves to the social ladder by acting like shallow pre-pubescents." She countered sarcastically. "God, this place has gone to the dogs."
Gone was her fear of facing them as she finally spoke her mind.
That left two of her bullies gaping, while the other one looked like she didn't really understand what mongrel and ingratiate meant.
Pity.
Their expressions right now were an obvious reflection of their piteous ignorance.
"You stupid whore! How dare you talk back to us like that!" Their so-called leader spat. "My parents will hear about this!"
It was Arya's turn to laugh. But there was no humor in it. Rather, it sounded taunting and intimidating.
"Go ahead! Go tell mommy and daddy that their precious little cupcake was called illiterate and ignorant by the Arya Stark, and let's see who they'll believe."
Another series of incredulous gasps followed.
"What makes you think they would believe a single word from you, you filthy slut?"
"Oh, I don't have to confront them to state my defense. Because as far as I recall, you three are at the bottom rung in terms of academic sensibilities." She told them smugly, her smile growing wider and more malicious. "And before you start opening your witless mouths, yes, I've done my research. It's a shame that you had to have your mommies and daddies make a donation for the university you'll be attending all because you failed in every entrance exam you took. It's an absolute pity, really, that they would have to oblige admitting brainless twits like you to their school. And to think that your family businesses are going down. How on earth could mommy and daddy ever pay for every teacher to let you pass?"
"Bitch! You don't know anything about our families! And we happen to belong to one of the upper-class circles in King's Landing! So, you better shut your mouth!" The pug-faced bitch reacted.
"Oh, I know everything. Because unlike you morons, I did my research before firing back. Maybe you should try that sometimes before relying on false assumptions based on idle gossip and then making a big deal about it." She moved an unfaltering step closer to them, "And I don't give a fuck about your upper-class delusions because I can still always buy you, your friends and every family business you own just because I am a Stark. It would do you well to remember your rightful place because I'm so fucking tired of you cunts pathetically harassing every girl in this school whom you think are weak. You don't know our real story, so stop judging us!"
"You think you're so smart just because you threatened to buy all of us, don't you? Well, we could always have our guys have a repeat encore of what they tried to do to you so that they could finally put that smart mouth of yours to use when we'll order them to rape every last piece of your fucking filthy soul just to shut you up!"
Before that familiar fear could register again in her thoughts to remind her of why she'd avoided this kind of confrontation in the first place, a well-recognized voice spoke just right behind her, strong, muscled arms wrapping possessively around her waist as she was drawn to a furnace-like warmth she knew too well.
"Been looking everywhere for you, love." He spoke. Another second more and she could feel his lips kissing her neck tenderly. Heat rushed to her face as she felt the lick of his tongue on her sensitive flesh before he finally faced her tormentors.
She was rendered speechless by his sudden action, and most especially by his very presence.
"You dare threaten my girl in front of everyone in this place? How pathetic could you all get?" Gendry questioned in his deep yet menacing raspy voice that was guaranteed to bring them all to kingdom come.
"Who the hell are you?" Pug-face asked, her voice shaking a little.
The two bimbos flocking her side remained tongue-tied until one of them finally had the courage to say in a whisper-shout tone, "Don't you know him? That's Robert Baratheon's son, Gendry Waters-Baratheon."
Pug-face's mouth fell to the floor after her friend spoke as if his very name could instill fear on their very bones.
Gendry used this to his advantage as he finally replied smoothly, "My apologies. Where are my manners?" Feigning politeness, he continued. "My name is Gendry Baratheon, Arya's date for tonight."
Silence.
Then, "So, you guys are a thing?" The other one asked out of pure curiosity after wiping the drool of her face.
Gendry only held Arya tighter in his arms, her back pressed to his warm front snugly as he replied with brooding confidence, "Oh, yes. She's mine."
Arya prayed to the non-existent gods that Gendry would not feel her heart trying to leap out of her ribcage at his unexpected response.
She's mine.
She's mine.
She's mine.
The words sent shivers all over her body as they rang back inside her head over and over again. Possessive Gendry was making her so hot, she could feel her panties soaking.
But of course, she's also too aware that he was just pretending to be her boyfriend for the sake of saving her ass.
Arya discreetly cleared her throat, and her salacious thoughts in the process, as she finally glared at her bullies. "It's really none of your business if we're a thing or not, so we're not obliged to give you anything at all. Come on, Gendry. Let's not waste our intellect on these daft bimbos." She tugged on his arm.
Before they could start walking away, Gendry gave each of them another scathing look. A familiar terrifying sneer etched on his face as he said, "Threaten her like that again and you will all feel my wrath. And if you so much as breath in her space the next time I see your hideous faces, then I will no longer be responsible for my actions. Do I make myself clear?" They all nodded like obedient little shits. "And it would do you well to learn from my girl here. She's, after all, a lot smarter than all of you combined."
The crowd parted as they traversed through the center of the ballroom, giving them mixed expressions of shock and disbelief after that short scene.
Gendry was holding her hand the entire time until they finally reached the secluded balcony where he suddenly pinned her to the wall. He looked enraged and for the first time in her life, she was afraid of him, not because of what he would do to her, but because of what he could actually do to her bullies after he made his threat clear.
She finally looked up to meet his eyes and realized that he had been giving her that familiar look she could never decipher.
"Gendry?" She managed to ask before her throat closed in on her.
She made a small jump as he slammed his palm on the wall, cursing in seething rage before caging her in between his two strong arms. "Fuck!"
She noticed him breathing heavily in the act of gathering all the strength to control his anger.
What he couldn't express in words, he did so in his actions by slowly drawing closer to her until their foreheads met, his breathing slowly trying to stabilize back to its normal rhythm. Then he moved himself a few inches away to plant the softest kiss on her forehead before his lips travelled to the nook between her neck and shoulder, sucking her skin and nipping her pulse points before laving it with his warm, wet tongue.
Arya realized that the sound she could hear was her own moaning voice in reaction to what Gendry was doing to her.
This was like the garage all over again as he devoured her neck insatiably, moving from one side to the other while he held her in place. She was starting to lose control as she moved her hands to rake the raven strands of his brushed-up hair, disheveling it in the process and tilting her head a little bit more to give him more coverage.
They were on the brink of completely crossing the line between platonic and something more, and Arya wanted nothing more than to give in and finally capture his lips with hers.
But before she could even act on the impulse, they were doused back to the reality when Gendry's familiar ringtone violated their air of heady need.
Gendry gave her neck one final lick before kissing her temple and then backing a huge step away from her intimate space.
He fished his phone out of the pockets of his suit and answered it with renewed calmness. "Yes?"
Arya couldn't comprehend what the person was talking about on the other line, but all she could make out of it was the unmistakable voice of a female.
Before she could instinctively react out of irrational jealousy, Gendry handed his phone to her. "Brea wants to speak with you."
With still slightly shaking hands, she took his phone. "Hey, Brei. What's up?" She asked with fake cheerfulness.
"What's up your ass, you had us all worried, Arya! What the fuck were you thinking?! For one second we all thought that you ran away with some creepy serial killer guy that we clearly do not approve of, or worse been kidnapped by said creepy serial killer and hid your remains somewhere in Atlantis or something. Do you know how livid all of us were?!
"You know, we're all just lucky to have come across a very clueless Gendry this afternoon at Tiffany's with no fucking clue about your whereabouts because he was clearly thinking you're with us the whole time! Like, what the fuck, Arya?!" She winced at Brea's almost bottomless ranting.
She cleared her throat and finally managed a short, "I'm sorry, okay? It won't happen again."
"Damn right it won't because I'll have Gendry tie you to your bed just so that you won't go sneaking around like that again! You fucking gave me a mini-heart attack! What's wrong, Arya? You can always tell us your problem, you know."
She finally sighed in defeat. Now that her secret's out with Gendry witnessing the entirety of the conversation earlier, might as well tell the rest of her friends for their peace of mind. "Fine, I guess I will. After this bloody ball, I'll tell you everything."
A few more of Brea's rantings here and there later, Arya finally gave the phone back to Gendry. He talked to Brea for a few short seconds before he suddenly asked her, "Brea wants to know if you'd like to spill in her place or yours."
She rolled her eyes, the mood finally shifting to a lighter shade. "I booked a room in this hotel. Guess they can come over and slumber party the fuck out of my brains and everything."
Gendry relayed the message back to Brea in which she asked Gendry to inform Arya that Pandora and Mycah would also be coming over.
"Yeah, you guys come over and beat the shit out of my best friend for me please. And tell Ned and HP that we're also having a guys' night out. The booze is on me. You girls can't have all the fun, can you?" Gendry joked, that familiar boyish smile finally forming on his lips.
God, why was he so painfully handsome?
She only just noticed now how good he looked in his black suit.
After the call with Brea finally ended, Gendry shifted his eyes back to her again. This time his gaze bore a lesser weight than its intensity earlier.
"Come here." He commanded her with utmost confident ease before he took her hand and pulled her to him for a lingering embrace.
"Are you alright?" He asked in a gentler tone, all his anger from earlier clearly dissipated.
Arya only replied with a nod as he buried his face on her neck, feeling the warmth of his breath as he inhaled her scent then exhaled deeply. His arms tightened around her small frame while her hands curled around the inside shirt of his crisp suit.
"Are they the reason why you chose to come to this ball alone? Because you don't want any of us to find out about those girls bullying you?" He asked again, one of his hand caressing the smooth expanse of her bare back.
"Yes. I'm sorry for not telling you, Gendry."
"I understand." Was all he said before the song from the ballroom inside changed into a familiar tune that they both loved so much.
It was Bic Runga's magnum opus, Stay.
"Dance with me." It wasn't even a request but a whispered declaration as he pulled away from their embrace only to hold her hand and lead her out of the balcony and back into the ballroom where most of the people were already starting their slow dance.
He lead her to the center, taking both of her arms this time and planting them around his neck before his very own made a possessive grasp on her hips.
Their gazes locked, bringing to the surface that one unspoken truth they still refused to acknowledge.
Her smile conveyed what she couldn't admit in words, reveling in the rhythm of the powerful song ensnaring them both to an alternate universe where only the two of them existed.
Tucking a stray strand of her hair, Gendry suddenly brought his lips to her ear and whispered, "You look ethereal, by the way."
She said a mumbled "Thanks" as she brought her head to rest on his shoulder, the song woefully nearing its end.
They stayed that way, carefully holding each other as another one of their favorite songs began playing. It was another classic 90's favorite this time from Paula Cole.
She closed her eyes, humming the tune of the song to heart as Gendry softly sang the lyrics in her ear. It was the first time she'd ever heard him sing, and the bastard even has a nice voice that gave her all the right shivers.
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over
I want to know right now what will it be
I don't want to wait for our lives to be over
Will it be yes, or will it be sorry?
He pulled his arms around her tighter as he sighed in quiet content, humming the rest of the song away.
For a few short minutes, she pretended that time had stopped for them if only to preserve this moment for when she'd want to look into to the million and one memories she shared with him.
And then finally, she resigned into the temporal limitations of their reality, happy to just have his arms around her in that unforgettable night.
