Episode 4 of Episode 4 – Haven (or I hope you don't get frost bite on your vag...)
November 3rd 1995
The Keymaster
Arya had no time to spare. Gendry had gotten the new Mortal Kombat game for the for his PlayStation and every moment she spent getting home was one less moment she had to burn his ass to the ground.
The fucking asshole thought he was soooo cool because he knew that stupid code and could unlock all the characters. Too bad I am about to have Sonya shove her boot up his ass.
It was Friday around three o'clock in the afternoon. The sun hung in the sky as Arya rushed home. There was a brisk wind that brushed against her face as she practically skipped along the sidewalk. It was thankfully a quick day of school and the promise of graphic violence on a big screen television sent a pulse through her blood.
He is so stupid. I am going to kick the shit out of him and it'll be awesome.
It was also a good day because she had avoided walking home with Sansa. Their mother always asked that they walk home together, but since her sister was heading over to Joffery's that afternoon, she had a gleeful walk home without endless blather or comments on her clothes. Looking forward to her afternoon with Joffery, Sansa had gone to school in the shortest skirt her mother would allow and the cutest top she could find . While walking to school she was constantly complaining about how cold her legs were.
No really? A mini-skirt in Wisconsin, in november, and you're cold? I would have never imagined. I don't hope you get frost bite on your vag but if you do I will laugh.
She neared her house and noticed a man she did not know in front of her door fiddling with the lock, and there was a van parked in the driveway that she did not recognize. Her mother stood to the right of him, peering over his shoulder as she watched him work. It was not until she reached the stoop that she remembered that Robb had lost his car keys the other day, so the front door had to have its locks changed. She remembered hearing her father disagree, saying that was an over-reaction, but her mother would hear nothing of it. The house was not safe while some stranger had the keys to the house and she wouldn't have her children be at risk.
"There you go Mrs. Stark," the man said, standing up from the crouch he sat in. "The deadbolt has been changed."
"Thank you very much. You said you'd bill us?"
"Yep, I'll send you a bill. Have a good day," he said, picking up his tool box and walking towards his truck. In his blue jumpsuit he passed Arya giving her a courtesy nod and she gave him a quick polite wave and approached her mother, who was looking at something in her hand and seemed to be counting.
"Hi, Mom," Arya said, walking towards her. She was in a rush but knew well enough to be polite to her mother to avoid a possible lecture on manners.
"Good afternoon, dear," she said, closing her fist around what appeared to be the new house keys. A stiff breeze came through that chilled her mother who was only wrapped in a blue silk shawl. "Let's go inside," she said, moving for her daughter to get in from the cold.
You let Sansa go out to have her cooch frozen off and I have to go inside because of a gust of wind.
Entering the house Arya slipped off her shoes and kicked them off to the side. "Put them in the right place," her mother said walking towards the kitchen. Arya rolled her eyes and placed her shoes properly next to the others on the floor mat labels "shoes."
Did she stumble across that? Or have it ordered?
Arya vaulted up the stairs and dropped her backpack off in her room. It was heavy with her both her math and history books, and contained more homework than she expected for the weekend. It would have to wait though, as she had some serious ass to kick. But first she had to pee.
After finishing her business in the bathroom she looked at herself in the mirror and fixed her hair a bit. Not able to fix it with her hands she quickly grabbed a comb and ran it through her bangs to put the tousled brown hair into place. She knew Gendry's mother liked it when Arya came over and looked nice. She walked back into the hall and thought for a moment.
Maybe Gendry's mom would like it if I had some lip balm. Gendry mentioned he liked grapes. Maybe his mom would like grape lip balm.
She knew should find some in Sansa's room and luckily she was out with a blond puppy kicker. Her room was painted pink per her sister's begging last summer.
I think the shade was dark Pepto Bismol.
On her sister's dresser was a box of various chap sticks. There was probably some logic to it but Arya did not see it. She rummaged through the box without finding grape.
Watermelon, bubble gum, cherry, root beer? Eww. Where's the grape? It is really important to Gendry...Gendry's mom.
She looked down and found a bizarre cinnamon flavor. She didn't trust it but thought it would do. Applying it to her lips and felt odd. She had only done it a couple of times and tried to mimic what she saw her Mother and Sansa do. The chapstick felt waxy and alien against her lips. She pressed her tongue against her lips and it tasted like waxy cinnamon.
Close enough I guess.
She noticed next to the chapsticks was a box of necklaces. She ran her fingers through the box and the metal was cold against her fingertips. There was a gold chain connected to a ruby heart, a sterling silver chain with a sapphire heart, a white thread connected to a jade heart.
What is with her and hearts?
Then she noticed a black thread connected to a simple blue stone. She picked it up and examined the necklace closely. The blue stone was connected to the black thread and it glistened in the afternoon sun that streamed in through the window.
Gendry likes the color blue. She'd like that.
The necklace was big enough to fit over her head so she slipped it on and she looked in the mirror and was happy with what she saw.
She'll like me. I look okay.
She wandered down the stairs and went to the kitchen to find her mother. She was at the kitchen counter and was placing something on the keys she had laid out in front of her. Arya approached her and noticed that she had rubber key caps of various colors. She had eight keys and numerous caps to go with the keys.
"Hey Mom, I am going to head over to Gendry's, I'll stay over there for dinner," she told her mother moving forward.
Maybe if she noticed the chap stick and the necklace she will think I am like Sansa and let me do whatever the fuck I want.
"Is Gendry's mother home?" she asked, not looking up from the keys in front of her. She reached down and placed a red cap on top of the key.
"Yes, she is home," she responded quickly.
Her mother reached down again to grab another key. "Will his father be there?" she asked. Arya didn't know the answer to that but she knew the correct answer to give.
"No, Gendry said he would be staying late at work," she responded, quickly realizing every moment spent talking to her mother was one less moment ripping Sub-Zero's head off his shoulders.
"Okay, you can stay over for dinner," her mother said handing her a key with a gray cap on it. "You'll need this. The locks have been changed and your old key is useless now."
Arya reached into her pocket and took out her key ring. It only had her house key and a key chain with a plastic name tag labeled 'Arya.'
I was really surprised they had my name.
She took the key out of her mother's hand and gave her the old one. "This key means you can always come home." She said gazing into her daughter's eyes. Arya felt a bit uncomfortable but looked back. Her mother's deep blue eye's had a seriousness to them.
It also means I can sneak out easily and get back in.
She said handing her the new key. Arya looked at it for a moment and placed it on her key chain.
May 16h 2003
The Defiler
Arya didn't want to tell her parents over the phone. It would have given them more warning but Arya need to do this face to face. They had already finalized all the details...the only thing left to do was to tell people about their decision.
Gendry's mother was easy enough. In fact he did over the phone one lazy Saturday after they signed their lease.
Hi, Mom. How are you?
I'm doing okay. How are you?
I'm doing great.
Why's that?
Yeah. I didn't want to tell you earlier before we finalized everything...but...since I have that job lined up next year and Arya is finishing her last year at school...we decided we're going to be moving in together.
Really?! That's great!
Thanks, Mom.
Gendry did not except a similar response from the Starks. He didn't expect a quick 'that's great' and then for the conversation to turn to if the couple needed new sheets. His mom accepted them as a couple and they were going to find out if Ned and Caitlin Stark did as well. Arya was not the best source on her parents, at times she described her parents as basically Amish, but Gendry knew it would be an uphill climb. As he understood Ned and Cat lived apart until they were married, which he found crazy in so many ways.
So you are going to commit to being together forever? Well, you should date for a while and then say you will stay together for ever. What, that sounds weird? You want to try living together to see if you drive each other crazy? No, that isn't needed. You don't take a car for a test drive do you? And you want to fuck first? That is just crazy talk.
It was early morning when Arya and Gendry pulled up to her house and her foot was tapping aggressively on the floor of his Saturn. Her parents believed that Gendry's car was filled with her stuff from college that they would unload for the summer. They also believed that she had a plan of working at the Brown Bowl over the summer and that she would only see Gendry occasionally over the summer.
She'll see me occasionally...in our bedroom and kitchen. Hopefully not too much in the bathroom. I don't want to be in one of those couples that pee in front of each other.
They had gotten into town the night before and stayed at Gendry's. Cat and Ned believed they had just drove back from Madison with all of Arya's belongings...most of which were at their apartment. On Saturday they would be moving all of their belongings still in Grafton to Madison. They knew they would get Gendry's bed, dresser, desk and other assorted furniture. They hoped they would be allowed to take Arya's dresser, desk, and book shelves, but she had mentioned she imagined her mother trying to hold on to her belongings to try to stop Arya. It was a warm day in spring so Arya was without her favorite sweatshirt. She was wearing a blue short-sleeved button up shirt and a pair of beige slacks. She had taken longer than usual to shower this morning and did put her hair up into a ponytail. Gendry assumed she had dressed up for meeting with her parents. They had asked if Ned would be present in the early morning on Friday to help move some of Arya's items back into the house.
Of course I am about to tell him that I am going to be moving in with his youngest daughter so I can defile her more conveniently.
Gendry felt under-dressed in jeans and plain white t-shirt. He had dressed that morning for a day of getting his things together to be moved tomorrow, and not to impress the Starks. He wished that Arya had filled him earlier because he would have gladly thrown on that red polo he had.
They both got out of the car and approached the large white house. They had walked towards the front door dozens of times before – coming home from school, sneaking Arya in after dark, and once for a moderately awkward Christmas day lunch.
Actually that's when Cat gave me that scratchy polo...
This was the first time he noticed that Arya was anxious walking up to the house. Normally, whatever the situation, she strode into the house willing to take on whatever came her way. This time she slowly scuffled her way up the driveway, touching the back of her head to make sure her pony tail looked right. He reached out to her and took her hand, "it's gonna be okay," he said with a smile. She looked back at him with insecure gray eyes but gave him a big smile. "No matter what happens tomorrow we are driving back to Madison to our apartment."
Arya took a large breath and repeated, "our apartment." Gendry thought to mention if her parents disowned her at this moment she would come back with him to his house and they would have a nice Alfredo dinner with his mother tonight, but decided against it. She didn't need to think about that possibility right now. They got to the front door and it was locked as usual. Ever since Gendry could remember the front door to the Stark house was locked, no matter the time of day. Bran had already left for school, and the other children were not expected to be around this morning, so they would have the house empty for just the four of them to chat. Arya pulled out her house key and stared it for a moment. Inhaling like she was about to dive into the deep end of the pool she slid the key into the door and turned on the knob.
The house was silent as they walked in together. It smelled familiar to Gendry in that it did not smell like anything really. It was always a freshly cleaned house that had a crisp scent of fresh linen if there was any scent at all. There was no odor of animals as the family had no pets because of Sansa and Caitlin's allergies, much to the chagrin of Arya. Their new apartment allowed a cat if they paid twenty dollars more a month in rent.
If she can keep her cactus alive over the summer we will talk about a cat.
The place seemed hollow. Photos that hung of the wall seemed terribly outdated as most of the children had aged since then. His favorite was of a young Arya and Ned sitting on the couch together at Christmas long ago. They were hugging each other as Arya held up the new Lego set she had gotten and the wrapping paper that had been torn from it. Unlike most of the other portraits that were taken in front of bland photo studio backdrops this one was real.
My other favorite is Arya's high school freshmen portrait where her mother made her wear her hair in a ridiculous braid and floral top. There is pure murder in her eyes.
"Hello?" Arya yelled into the empty house and it echoed off the pale white walls. Gendry heard some movement in the direction of the kitchen and saw Ned Stark appear around a corner. He was dressed for work in a dark polo shirt and jeans, and Gendry thought it must have been causal Friday at work. He had an curious look in his eyes when he saw Arya and Gendry without any boxes in their hands. "We're in here," he said waving his hand towards the two of them motioning them to join them and returned to the kitchen. Gendry and Arya both took of their shoes, knowing Cat's highly enforced rule of no shoes in the house, and walked down the hallway to the kitchen. Arya's eyes darted back and forth looking at the house for what might be the last time. Feeling apprehension in his girlfriend, he placed his hand on the small of her back, she turned her head and gave him a small smile.
They rounded a corner into the kitchen and saw Cat sitting at the kitchen table sipping some coffee. She had on light blue dress that complimented her eyes. It looked very formal and decorative. It occurred to Gendry at that moment that if they had moved Arya into her room today she would have not helped that much. "Good morning," she said wistfully looking up and down the two. "You look very nice Arya," she said getting up to hug her daughter.
"Thanks," she said embracing her mother. She seemed to enjoy the compliment but didn't truly understand it, like it was in a foreign language.
"Hi, Mrs. Stark," Gendry said giving her a smile.
"Good morning, Gendry. Enjoying post-college life?" She asked, referring to his recent achievement. At first, he didn't know what to say, because he had truthfully not focused on it . Moving in with Arya and starting his first job within a week got most of his attention.
"Yeah, it hasn't really sunk in yet," Gendry said looking around the room. Ned was at the kitchen counter and was currently pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"Coffee?" Ned said raising his mug and gesturing to the pot.
"No thanks..." Gendry said politely, unsure of what to say.
"That sounds good," Arya answered her father and moved towards the kitchen table. Gendry followed suit and joined her at the table across from her mother.
"Where's your stuff?" Ned asked moving towards the table and handing Arya a cup of coffee. His expression was that of curiosity whereas Caitlin gazed at the two with suspicion.
"That's what we wanted to talk to you two about," Arya said taking the coffee mug from her father and giving him a big smile. She wasn't sure what her father was going to say but she wanted him on their side.
Or at least neutral. If Ned could be Switzerland that'd awesome.
With one hand sipping her coffee another went under the table in search of Gendry's thigh. She had done this many times, for usually playful reasons, but he realized she was looking for his hand. He causally moved his hands to his lap, grasped her left hand with his right, and stroked her knuckles with his thumb.
"You know that Gendry found a job in Madison," they both nodded which was a good start.
I may be defiling your daughter, but I have dental.
"So, he moved into an apartment there last week, and...I am going to move in with him," She said staring intently at her mother. Gendry could tell she didn't want to. She wanted to go up to her room and hide under a blanket. Ned looked surprised, but not upset, while Cat continued to give a vacant look. Quiet covered the room; it felt heavy upon Gendry, and he felt awkward pins jab into his side.
"You think that's best?" Ned broke the silence first, after either a couple of seconds or a couple of days, Gendry wasn't sure.
"Yeah," she said, trying to sound relaxed, "The apartment is on the north side of town and I will be able to get everywhere I need. I got a job at Harren's Hall...you know that Mediterranean place we went to a couple times? I'll work there over the summer and then I'll be able to take the bus to classes in the fall." She paused and took a sip of coffee, " and then once I graduate I'll find a job there," she said trying to indirectly tell her parents this was a long term plan...in theory at least.
Cat continue to show no emotion. Either she felt none or choose to bury it under silence. "Why didn't you ask us earlier?" Ned asked.
"I would have, but I didn't want to have this conversation over the phone. We found the place about a month ago and we just signed the lease last week..." Arya looked at Gendry with a grin filled with excitement at what she said next, "...and we are going to get most of my stuff tomorrow."
"You're moving out tomorrow?" Cat sputtered out surprising the group after her initial silence.
Arya's grip on Gendry's hand tightened further. "Gendry will be bringing a U-Haul over tomorrow morning. We'll stop at his house, get his stuff, and then stop here to get the stuff in my room. Everything else is already at our apartment."
"Arya why didn't you ask us earlier?" Ned asked the moment Arya stopped speaking.
She isn't asking...she is telling. Because if she were to ask you'd say no. Rob has been dating Jane for two years and they don't live together because of you and Cat. Jon might be in Canada with a 'roommate' but his 'roommate' is a cute red head named Ygritte. And the only reason Rob doesn't do that is because he lives in driving distance and you might pop in on them.
Gendry remained silent as Arya answered, "I thought about calling but I knew I wanted to tell you face to face. And I am sorry about the short notice...we don't like it either...but we both have work on Monday so it has to be done this weekend."
Stillness followed for a moment but Arya quickly spoke up again, "We know you don't approve and we understand that. But, this makes the most sense, financially for both of us...and..." she squeezed hand once more before bringing them up from the table, "...we love each other."
"We do," Gendry chimed in with an enthusiast nod of his head.
Way to contribute. In fairness, she did say she wanted to do this herself, and I am her for morale.
"Arya," Cat began slowly, clearly picking her words very carefully, "why can't you just stay in the halls? I know Sansa is graduating, but we can still give you the money we did when you roomed with her."
Straight to bribery. Not even trying "oh Jesus wouldn't like it" line. Nice.
Arya was gaining more confidence as she looked into her mother's eyes. "Because I don't want to. Because I want to live with Gendry."
And we have basically been living together for the last year and I assume Sansa hadn't mentioned that to you.
"But, dear, I don't want you making a mistake..." she said, looking away from Gendry as she spoke. She didn't mean offense but she knew that was the effect.
"I am not making a mistake!" Arya exclaimed, losing a bit of her composure. "We've been together since high school and we love each other. This isn't a mistake." She finished and Gendry could tell she was holding in a lot.
"Okay now," Ned said putting his arm out between Arya and Cat. "Let's not yell," Cat was clearly flustered that Arya had raised her voice. Gendry had never seen the usually calm woman with so much fury in her eyes. And he could tell that years worth of shouting was about to spill out of Arya. Ned looked up at the clock, "I have to get going to work in hour. Why don't you two give us some privacy to talk about this."
Arya quickly stood from her seat, her chair roughly skidded against the floor, her hips bumped the table as she popped from her seat. "Okay, we'll go up to my room. We need to pack up anyways," She said, taking her coffee mug to the kitchen. As Gendry rose from the table, Arya briskly walked past him towards the stairs, and Gendry followed behind.
She stomped up the stairs as if she hit the floor hard enough she would change the deeply held beliefs of her parents. He scurried behind trying to keep up with her stampede. They arrived at her room and Arya slammed the door behind them.
Gendry looked around half empty room. With most of her stuff at their apartment all that reminded in the room was her furniture and two books shelves. They would have to take apart her desk and table. Moving the bookshelves would be a pain in the ass. They didn't plan on moving the bed because Gendry's was bigger.
"So, that was keeping calm?" Gendry asked trying to clear the tension in the room. Arya was pacing in front of her bed and glared at him.
"I was calm," she began clearly still holding in a lot of anger, "then she said it was a mistake..." she moved closely to Gendry and hugged him. He was surprised by the move and heard her say, "being with you isn't a mistake." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head.
"It's okay. We knew this would be hard," he said looking around the room. He knew he had to stay focused on the big picture which included having them fully moved into a new apartment by Monday morning. "Let's get started," he said letting her go. Her eyes looked puffy with rage, but she nodded and they began to pack up her room.
About ten minutes later heard someone coming up the stairs. They both stopped and waited until there was a knock on the door. Gendry, being closer, reached for the door and opened it to find Ned standing there. Gendry waved his hand motioning for Ned to come in. He came in and smiled weakly at his daughter who sat on the floor sorting books. Ned moved to the bed and Arya stood to face him as Gendry turned to look on.
"Your mother and I were talking, and...we..." He said in a jerking fashion as if it hurt to say the words. "...we decided that if you two move in together we can no longer financially support you." He said looking up at Arya. She looked to him and Gendry nodded in support of her.
"Okay," Arya said, "I understand that."
"So, you are still going to do it?" Ned asked, surprised that his daughter didn't yield.
"We already did it. We signed the lease and everything. I am moving out tomorrow." She said in the strongest voice she could muster. Rage had left her tone and now melancholy soaked her speech.
"Okay then," Ned said quietly standing up from the bed. "Do you...ummm...need any help tomorrow?" He asked.
"No," Gendry responded. "I will have Eddie to help us out with the heavy stuff. Thanks though." In truth any help would be great, Gendry didn't want to trek up and down the stairs move than was needed, but he could tell that Ned was offering something that his wife would not agree with.
"Okay then," he repeated again, surprised at how Gendry answered the question. Without speaking, Arya moved closer to her father and they hugged. Gendry couldn't tell but it sounded as though Ned whispered "I love you," to her. After a moment they ended their embrace and Ned exited the room, giving Gendry a smile as he left. They stood in silence as they heard him trudge back down the stairs.
Arya looked around the room for a moment and seemed a bit lost. "You okay?" Gendry said moving closer to her and rubbing her shoulder.
"Yeah," she replied, not looking at him immediately. "Hey, you have a lot of packing to do to. Why don't you head home and do that."
"You sure?" he asked. They had planned to help each other pack up and Arya did not seem to be in the best of shape.
"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'll walk over for dinner later tonight. Your mom is making Alfredo right?"
"Yeah, she knew you liked it and wanted to tempt you over I think."
"We'll I'll be over for that. I just..." she said looking around the room, "...I just want some time to say goodbye to this place by myself."
"Okay." Gendry said simply and gave her a tender kiss on the lips.
Walking towards the door he turned back and said, "I love you,"
"I love you too."
"Everything is going to be okay,"
"I know," she said. He walked out of the room and closed the door behind him.
Arya Stark
Arya sat on her bed, alone in her room, and looked at the barren walls. She had removed her diploma. She hated the gaudy ceremony that had given her a high school degree, but the embossed document with her name on it gave her pride. It was proof that she made it through high school without murdering anyone. Also in the box were some movie posters and, in her opinion at least, the only good picture of her and Gendry. She took terrible pictures which wasn't fair since Gendry had such a nice smile. It was of them at last year's Christmas. Gendry in a red polo shirt that was recently given to him and Arya in a matching red sweatshirt. She hated how many pictures her mother took at the holidays but she was glad that she had this one.
Her room was packed up for the most part now with brown boxes scattered around the room. Since her father didn't mention anything she assumed they wouldn't try to hold on to any of the furniture. And she would be leaving the bed anyway. It was nearing noon and Arya felt her pangs of hunger in her stomach. She had not yet left her room since Gendry went home and wasn't sure she wanted to. She expected her mother to come up at some point to talk, or scream, or something, but she had almost three hours of uninterrupted packing. It was bothering her. She wanted her mother to scream at her and to scream back. She wanted to tell her off. She wanted to tell her mother that although they disagreed, she was an adult, and she could make her own choices.
Moving in with Gendry wasn't a mistake.
The last words out of her mother's mother still rattled around her mind. The certainty she had that Arya was making a mistake, that she moving in with Gendry was a mistake, made her skin crawl.
Fuck this. I am starving and want to scream at someone. And unless I am hallucinating I saw a Pizza Hut box in the trash can. With only Mom, Dad, and Bran, there is bound to be some leftovers. And hopefully there won't be mushrooms.
Arya opened the door and checked up and down hall. The house which usually had some noise it, either from Sansa's radio, Jon's TV, or people simply moving around the house, was silent. It was unsettling to the girl as she made her way down the stairs to the kitchen. She expected her mother to be in the kitchen but found it empty. She opened the refrigerator and within found a Tupperware container with two pieces of pizza in it.
Urgh, Sausage. At least no mushrooms.
She took out the two pieces of pizza which were individually wrapped in plastic wrap. Although her mom was crazy anal...the leftovers did keep for a long time. She unwrapped the pieces, grabbed a paper plate from a cabinet, and threw the platter into the microwave. She stood in front of the microwave watching the pizza spin in circles and heard the basement door open and close. Footsteps came down the hall until her mother appeared with a basket of freshly washed laundry in her hands.
She probably planned on doing whatever laundry I brought home. The fact I plan on being a heathen and living in sin probably distracted her from that.
The microwave beeped three times as the pizza stopped spinning and Arya took it out. Her mother paid no notice to Arya, walked through the kitchen into the living room, and placed the basket on the ground, then sat herself on the couch. It was then that Arya noticed that she was washing the red sheets to Arya's bed. She placed the pizza on the kitchen table and plopped on the chair in front of it and began to eat. It was greasy and amazing even with the sausage. In the other room she could see her mother slowly fold the sheets into smaller squares until they were a reasonable size. After each fold she would place the sheet on the couch and smooth out any wrinkles that had appeared. As she sat, her eyes never wandered towards her daughter in the kitchen.
Arya couldn't stand the silence any longer. "Those my sheets?" She asked rhetorically as it was the only think she could muster that did not include the word 'fuck.'
"Yes, the blue sheets on your bed right now haven't been changed in a couple of weeks, so I thought I would change them for you." She answered without looking towards her daughter.
"Thanks," Arya said, trying to hold back contempt in her voice.
"You're welcome," her mother replied finishing the last pillow case. "I remember changing your sheets when you were younger. You had those silly...what were they again?"
"Batman." Arya said taking a bite of pizza.
"Oh, yes. Batman. Those silly Batman sheets. They were quite soft though."
What the fuck am I doing talking about sheets?
"We are going to bring up Gendry's bed since it is a full size mattress. I'll keep mine in my room." Arya said and her mother finally turned her head towards her. "I am not sure how many sets of sheets Gendry has. I think one or two. We might need to buy some more." She said as finished the last bite of pizza. Her mother stared at her a moment with wide unbelieving eyes.
One: if you think I am a virgin you are more naive than Sansa. Two: Did you think we were going to bring both beds up to Madison? What are we? Bert and Ernie?
Cat stood up off the couch and approached Arya. She watched as her mother walked into the kitchen joined her daughter at the kitchen table. "I wish you would reconsider this," she said moving her hand on top of Arya's which lay flat on the table, "I just want what is best for you." Arya looked at her mother and saw sincerity in what she said.
Even if she didn't know what she was talking about.
"This is what's best for me," Arya replied removing her hand from the table. "I know you don't agree," she began.
"And neither does your father. We don't want you to living with a man before you're married," Her mother said, again with sincerity.
"Mom," Arya chuckled, "I was already living with him. You know Gendry had a room to himself this year. Where do you I was most of the time?" Cat looked more surprised than Arya expected.
Hey, Sansa didn't rat me out.
With her mother befuddled Arya continued her case, "Everything is going to be fine. We love each other. And we make good roommates actually." She said trying to calm her mother with logic.
Of course her point of view is based on insane paranoia of terrible things happening to me, Gendry betraying me, me dying, and then going to hell. So I doubt me mentioning that we make good roommates will help.
"Arya," her mom pleaded, "why do you have to be like this? Why do you have to make so many mistakes?" she stammered out.
Mistakes. Mistakes. Mistakes.
"Gendry is not a mistake!" she screamed, raising from her chair. "And, for the record, all of your children have made mistakes. You don't think Rob has sleepovers with Jane? Or that Jon's isn't living with his girlfriend? For fuck's sake, Sansa dated a sadist in high school and fucked in a hot tub! I am not the one making a mistake!" She yelled again, glad that there were no witnesses. She wasn't proud of it, she didn't like it, but it had to be done.
"Don't raise your voice to me like that, young lady!" Her mother belted out.
"I'm not a child any more, I can make my own decisions!" Arya shouted back. "You can't ground me any more!"
"I'm your mother and I am always going to try to protect you! Even if it is from yourself."
"Protect me from myself? What a load of shit! You barely know me! I am not even sure sometimes if you like me! I'm sorry I'm not Sansa, but I never will be." She yelled back and felt the last part of her exclamation get caught in her throat.
"I love you Arya! Her mother yelled back, as a tear came to her eye, "That's why I will always try to protect you."
"Loving and protecting aren't the same as controlling! You can't stand to not be in control! You have pick when we'll be home, what friends we have. Jesus, you gave Sansa the silent treatment for an entire Thanksgiving because she wanted to be a music major!" Arya felt her eyes water up as well but fought through it. "Can't you just trust us! Can't you just trust me?!" As she screamed she approached her mother until they were face to face. She and her mother had fought before but never like this. This was not a fight between mother and daughter but between two women.
"I wish I could," Cat resigned, "but I can't. I love you but I can't trust you." The fact that her mother was telling the truth hurt the most. If she was lying to hurt Arya, and she didn't mean it, Arya could understand. But, her mother didn't trust her.
And maybe she never will.
Without another word Arya walked out of the house and slammed the door behind her.
May 16h 2003
The Mover
The truck drove better than Gendry excepted. He had never driven anything that large before and wasn't sure of his ability. The man at the rental store told him to just take it easy, take his time, and to watch for low overpasses. He looked to his right and saw his sullen girlfriend. She had arrived at his house a little after lunch yesterday afternoon and looked like she had run from her house. She didn't explain what happened but Gendry didn't need to ask. Her gray eyes were swollen and near tears. He took her into his arms and let her know it would be okay.
She calmed down as the day went on and even could laugh a bit at dinner that night with his mother and brother. It was so comfortable that they even told the story of how they decided that they would live together...with some of the details removed. It was in the joy of the evening that Gendry made a mistake in retrospect. When Eddie asked if he could instead go to with Dale's family to the lake for the day, he foolishly said yes, and regretted it now.
We should be okay. The dresser will be a bit of a pain, but we can do it.
Arya sat next to Gendry and had barely spoke that morning. He had not asked what happened yesterday and she had yet to tell him. Whatever happiness she felt last night was wiped away when she awoke in his arms that morning. She was up and showered before Gendry got out of bed which was unusual. The blue shirt and slacks from yesterday were wrinkled on the floor and Arya was dressed in shorts and a green tank-top. She tossed her dirty clothes angrily into her suitcase and grabbed a pair of socks. "Time to get up," she said looking at him as he awoke.
"Five more minutes?" Gendry asked teasingly, using a phrase that Arya had asked him many times before they got out of bed.
"C'mon, let's get this over with." She curtly responded.
Oh good. This will be fun.
Because they had gotten up earlier than excepted they had Eddie's help loading up at his house. He looked into the back of the truck holding many of his possessions and closed the door. He did his best to balance the boxes with his furniture. He gave his mom a hug and told Eddie he could be on his way. Arya stood awkwardly to the side until his mom walked towards her.
"Come here," she said opening her arms up. Surprisingly Arya moved into the embraced and hugged back.
"Take care of my boy," her mom whisper.
"I will," Arya responded simply as they pulled away.
Eddie waved goodbye to Arya as he walked down the street to Dale's and they embarked on they voyage. He had drove through town many times before but this felt different. This felt like the last time he would be doing it. Only before they turned onto Arya's street did he realize what it was.
Madison is my home now. Our apartment is my home.
Pulling up to her house he noticed that her mother's car and Sansa's car were both parked on the on the street allowing him to back into the driveway. After she graduated Sansa returned home and began a job hunt in the area. He drove past the driveway and slowly inched up towards the garage in reverse.
Don't hit the house. Don't hit the house.
Once the car was stopped Arya popped out of the car and stalked into the house. By the time Gendry had went around to the back of the truck and opened it she was already standing next to him with the first box. As the panels raised above her head she vaulted into the back and placed the box on the floor of the van. Gendry began to place the ramp down for the large items as she swiftly went back into the house. Unsure if he should try to calm her at all he walked towards the door.
Entering the house he could hear Arya in the distance loudly going up to her room. He walked down the hall and saw Ned and Cat sitting at the kitchen table in silence. When he sensed his presence Ned raised his head and said, "Hi Gendry," with a miniature smile.
"Hello, Mr. Stark," He responded, walking past them towards the staircase. Cat didn't acknowledge his existence and for the time being he decided it would be best to do the same to her.
Ascending the stair case he saw Sansa peering into Arya's room. Sansa had a fascinated look on her face and Gendry understood why when he saw Arya under he desk, with a torn apart tool bag next to her.
"I am going to take apart my desk," she stated, "get started on the other stuff."
Because if she is up here taking apart her desk then she doesn't have to walk past her mother.
"I'll help," Sansa unexpectedly chimed in.
"Really?" Arya asked from under the desk, but scooted out a second later to look at her sister.
"Yeah," she responded, moving into the room and grabbing a small box.
"Thanks..." Arya responded, sliding back under the desk. Gendry grabbed another box and followed Sansa down the stairs. The look of mild curiosity from Ned, and of awe from Cat, amused Gendry a little as they walked by together.
Reaching the truck Sansa asked, "where should I put this?"
"I have a spot here," Gendry said taking the box in his hand and placing it with a group of similar boxes.
There was a moment of silence between the two as they walked out of the van. "Thanks," Gendry said before they reached the door.
"Of course," Sansa said, sounding a little surprised at being thanked, "You help your family move out."
"Family?" Gendry asked motioning towards himself.
"Yeah, you and Arya have been an old married couple since you were seventeen anyways." She said with a smirk as they walked towards the kitchen. They laughed a little but stopped as they walked past her parents.
And so it went. Up and down, box after box. It was only five or six trips with boxes and then a couple of trips with a dissembled desk. After the desk was taken apart Arya went to work on the bookshelves. Gendry offered to help but Arya shooed him away. She was focused and didn't want a distraction. Sansa and Gendry stood in the room and discussed life after graduation waiting for Arya to finish her task. Sansa wanted to move back to Madison sometime this summer and look for a job there.
Arya took off the first shelf and moved it above her head. Gendry took it as she went back to work. When the shelf was fully apart Sansa and Gendry walked it down to the truck as Arya avoided going downstairs by saying she had to go to the bathroom.
When they returned from the truck only Arya's dresser remained. She was back from the bathroom and stared at it. It was a large oak dresser that went up to Arya's chin. All of the drawers had been removed from it so the weight wasn't the issue, just it was unwieldy. Gendry was big enough to get a grip on it successfully on the top and bottom but Arya was not. They tried once but Arya could not keep the top from tipping.
"Fuck," she said as she almost dropped it placing it back down.
"Okay, you take the bottom and I'll take the top," Sansa suggested.
"Really?" Arya asked again surprised again by her sister.
"Yeah," she said, annoyed this time by her sister's reaction.
"That'd be great," Gendry said moving down to get a grip with one hand and balanced with the other. Arya knelt down with both hands and lifted as Sansa stood back a bit and lightly kept it balanced. They gingerly walked down the hall and Gendry made his way down the stairs. Gendry went first and continued their slow pace. He could hear the sisters grumble at the other side of the dresser but it seemed to be working.
As they walked past the kitchen he could hear both Ned and Cat react. "Okay, put it down," he heard Ned say, and both Sansa and Arya began to lower it without thought. Gendry followed suit and lowered the dresser. He looked back to see Ned walk towards him and get on the other side of the dresser. He lowered his body as did Gendry and said, "one, two, three," as they lifted together.
Yeah, much better.
With ease they moved the dresser into the back of the truck and Ned looked impressed by their packing. "You did well. When I moved out half the load flew to one side at the first turn. I think you two will be okay."
"Thanks," Gendry responded as they exited the U-Haul. Sansa and Arya had followed behind and stood together. Once Ned reached the ground Arya moved to him and hugged him. After the surprise he hugged back and tousled her hair.
After they embraced Arya looked at Gendry and said, "I think we are going to get going."
"Arya, you should at least say goodbye to her." Ned said looking at her daughter. Arya looked up to Sansa and Gendry who both nodded slightly.
She doesn't want to but I know she should.
She sighed and began back into the house. She allowed her father and sister to move in front of her and waited for Gendry at the door. She motioned for his hand and he reached out for her. They walked down the hall behind Sansa and Ned. Cat still sat at the kitchen table, now with a cup of tea in front of her. Gendry, Sansa, and Ned all moved away from the table to give them room although all were still watching.
Arya approached her mother who looked up to her. "We are gonna to get goin'," She said and her mother simply starred at her with no response. Arya rolled her eyes in frustration and asked, "what, am I not your daughter anymore?" The blank face did not respond. "I don't know the next I time am going to come back," Arya said with growing desperation, trying to prompt any response out of her mother.
"Arya, don't do this. This is your home," her mom finally said. Arya looked at her mother for a moment and then reached into her pocket. She took out her key chain and removed a key with a gray top. Her mother stared at the at the key as placed it on the table next to her mother.
Looking a way she said, "Goodbye...Caitlin," and walked towards her father to give him another hug. This one was quick as she pulled away after a moment and did the same with Sansa. Arya motioned her hands down the hall and Gendry knew they that had to go. He gave a quick wave to Sansa and Ned who both starred at to him with astounded expressions. He followed Arya down the hall and saw that Cat had fully begun to weep at the table. He wanted to say something but didn't know what. As he rounded the corner he saw Arya with tears in her eyes looking at the picture of her and her father. She took it off the wall and looked at it for a moment. With the picture still in her left hand, Gendry moved towards her and placed his hand out for her to take. She grabbed it and they walked out the front door.
AN:
I was told my notes are funny...which is a lot of pressure...okay...time to be funny...NOW! Did you find that funny? No? Fuck.
This has probably been the most draining thing I have ever written and now I need a hug or a drink. This was another one the original seven ideas I had for the story. (BTW, if you are curious, my idea for bound would have been a combo of the doctor scenes and then the terrible night they have tonight followed by a better morning.)
The next chapter will be much more fun. I have written the first page of it and Arya is talking about ghost prostitutes. So, don't expect the 'heaviness' of this chapter to be the norm. I'll deal with some heavy stuff in the future but this story is meant to be covered in funny, with a tender center, and to have some smut sauce to the side I go to when needed.
I know Rob's 'girlfriend's name is Jeyne Westerling and not Jane. But I already have a Jeyne and didn't feel like repeating myself.
Huge thanks to thursdaynext88 for being my beta. She actually paid attention in grade school English and, knows the rules of semi-colons, so she is a great help.
I never made a note of it but Rob has yet to do anything in this story and I didn't even include Rickon. Rob will be featured in this story I just haven't gotten there yet.
So, I love this story, and would like it to go on forever. I have seven or eight 'big' ideas left that will probably mean about ten or twelve chapters. If you have any ideas you find interesting that'd you'd like to see me take a whack at let me know and I'll take a look.
Coming up in Beauty– Arya has a hard time at Harren's Hall, not POW bad, but still bad. Arya goes to the bar and makes a lot of good choices in a chapter I already know will be titled (or don't worry about it and swallow). Gendry gets sick, and well trying to take care of him, Arya considers hobbling him. And much more! More vulgarity, some more smut, questions asked about getting oral sex in semi-public places, and writing I would say is as at least mildly funny.