Ned left the following morning, leaving 3 unhappy Starks and an equally unhappy Greyjoy nephew. The 3 Baratheon siblings were looking from afar, giving the siblings time to say goodbye to their father before he got in the car. Gendry noted how glum Arya looked, and was 100% sure that she felt as glum as she looked. His thoughts drifted back to his earlier conversation with the Ned Stark and wished he didn't say or do anything inappropriate. He did remember cringing, though, when Arya was mentioned.

"I see the wolves have taken a liking to you and your brothers," Ned said.

Gendry was in the garage, tinkling with the Impala's engine. He looked over the hood and saw Arya's father slowly walking towards him. He was looking the Impala over, whistling softly in appreciation as he saw how beautiful the restoration work came about.

"Did you do this by yourself?"

Gendry shook his head. "Techinically, no. I would have wanted to, and I had to do research as to what parts to purchase but the real dirty work was done by a friend of mine who runs a shop. Although I made sure I did my share of work and had a say on what I wanted and where it goes."

"You did pretty good, then," Ned replied with a small smile.

"Thanks."

Gendry watched as Ned continued studying the car; moving around and occasionally touching a few parts here and there. He didn't know why, but Gendry was hungry for approval on his work. It's as if a small approval from Ned Stark goes a long way.

And maybe Gendry needs all the approval he can get if it means being with Arya sometime in the future.

Way into the future.

"Are these the original seatbelts?"

"Sadly, no," Gendry answered. "The original owner had an accident and somehow, the belt was pried loose, I don't really know how. But those are chrome lift latch buckles. And these door mirrors here…see the bowtie emblem? They cost me a fortune but I like how awesome they look once installed."

Ned nodded in agreement. He opened the car door and took a seat, looking around the car's interior. "I see these aren't the original sound system."

"Yeah. I wanted to make it at least up to date with technology, so I had this custom autosound stereo installed that's actually iPod compatible. Plus, a CD and DVD system to boot."

Gendry reached over to push a button and out popped a small monitor. Ned laughed in approval before getting out and moving on to the engine.

"See this here? I got this THM 400 aluminum transmission pan at half the price. It was almost a shocking $500, but well worth it."

He pointed out a few more parts, noting that Ned seemed genuinely interested and impressed.

Baratheon, plus 50 points!

They talked a bit more about battery cables, exhaust systems, fuel lines, cylinders and hydraulic pumps.

"Arya's a good girl."

Gendry bumped his head on the car's hood in surprise. The change of topic came as a shock to him that Gendry stood there with an utterly stupid expression on his face.

"Excuse me, sir?"

Ned chuckled. "You heard me, Gendry. There's no need to beat around the bush."

"I...I don't understand what…" Gendry stammered.

Ned's expression turned serious. "Oh, I know you do. There might not be anything official per se, but I do realize this might be going somewhere if not now, in the future."

"I…I mean…clearly, sir…I" Gendry stammered on.

Ned waved his hand in dismissal. "I see my daughter's happier lately than when I last saw her back home in Winterfell. I'm not the only one who's noticed it, and I was told that, ah, you might have something to do with it. Partly, maybe."

"Arya's a good girl," Ned repeated. "She might be stubborn at times and quite opinionated, but she's very good…very loving. I hope you don't take advantage of that."

Gendry could only shake his head.

Ned nodded. "So we understand each other then," he added before walking away.

He stoppeda for a moment, turned to Gendry and said, "If you hurt her…well…I hope you know that Grey Wind, Ghost and Nymeria has a sister named Lady and two more brothers named Summer and Shaggydog."

"Now I know, sir," Gendry replied with a gulp.

"And I trust that this conversation is left between us?"

"You can count on it, sir," Gendry replied meekly.

Ned walked back towards the house. "I'm glad we had this talk, Gendry."

Baratheon, minus 50 points!

That afternoon, the brothers took Jon's newly-repaired car for a spin. Jon paid a fortune at Tobho Mott's, but seeing as he is Gendry's trusted friend and an excellent mechanic, he had no regrets handing over his money.

After 30 minutes of driving around, Jon parked the car in front of Doughnuts of Dorne and looked over to Robb. "You feel like having doughnuts and coffee?"

"And maybe that long overdue talk?" Robb chuckled as he unlatched his seatbelt and got out of the car.

Hot Pie waved at them from the other end of the shop, giving a few instructions to the staff before personally coming over to greet them.

"Hey, guys! How are my favorite Starks?" Hot Pie said, standing beside their booth.

"We're the only Starks you know, Hot Pie," Jon said with a grin. "But I'm pretty sure I remember you telling Arya that, too."

Hot Pie only laughed in response. "Are you guys ordering anything?"

"Actually, no," said Robb. "We just came over to see if we could waste some good clientele space and fuck up your sales for the day," he added while trying to keep a straight space.

"Fuck your Stark sarcasm," Hot Pie said, rolling his eyes. "You Starks are very good with sarcasm, you know."

"I call it Starkasm," Robb replied. He noticed Jon was trying to keep a straight face as well.

Hot Pie furrowed his brows. "A what?"

Jon laughed this time. "Never mind! I'd like some cappuccino and those famous Dornish cheesecakes, please."

"I'll have the same, but make it a caramel macchiato, please," Robb said with a smile.

As soon as Hot Pie left, Robb sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. "Jon Stark, we have a problem."

"We? We have a problem?" Jon asked, his forehead creasing in confusion. "I don't have a problem, Robb. I think you have a problem."

Robb playfully kicked Jon's shin under the table, earning a hiss from the latter. "You're in this whether you like it or not, bro."

"Enlighten me."

"I think Theon's in trouble," Robb said without hesitation. "Or at least, I think it's heading that way."

"What kind of trouble?" Jon asked, concern suddenly etched on his face.

"I think he's gone and befriended the wrong kind of people. Have you noticed how Gen and Joff rarely see Ramsay nowadays?"

Jon looked deep in thought. "I have. Been wondering about that, actually."

Robb shrugged. "I have, too. Until I ran into Ramsay and his no-good friends at the end of Trident Avenue. I made sure I wasn't seen, though."

"What kind of trouble are they in?"

Before Robb could answer, Hot Pie came back with the orders. "This one's on me, guys," he said with a grin. The brothers tried to protest, but Hot Pie said no one should decline offers for food. Except if it was from the rival doughnut shop at the other end of the street. The Starks laughed and happily thanked him for everything.

Robb turned serious again once their friend left. "Drugs," he replied without flinching.

He stared at his brother and saw the different emotions that crossed his face. Surprise to realization to anger. He understood his brother perfectly, because those were the same emotions he felt when he found out what Ramsay and his friends were doing. The first thing he thought of was that these guys will crash and burn, and their cousin will come crashing with them.

"You think Theon's using?" Jon asked quietly.

Robb shook his head. "I don't think so. I went through his room as soon as I found out, but it's either he's not using or he doesn't keep his stash there."

Jon paled at the possibility of their cousin getting into drugs.

Robb nudged Jon with his foot. "Don't worry, I try to check his room at least once a week. There's nothing there, and I don't see anything weird about Theon. Yet."

Jon nodded, slowly taking the words in.

"I tried keeping it to myself but I figured if I don't tell you now, it might be too late," Robb added.

"You did the right thing, bro," Jon said. "We should watch out for Ramsay and his guys. Theon too, in case he starts acting weird. For a while there, I thought it was a girl that's bothering you."

Robb laughed. To which Jon added in a teasing tone, "Or maybe a guy?"

Robb intentionally stomped on his foot this time, getting a string of expletives from Jon.

"No seriously! It crossed my mind, man!"

"I'm not about to pull a Renly, okay. Now shut up and eat your cake."

"Hon, I'm heading out to the office right now for an emergency meeting with Walder Frey. Dad's out for a meeting with Uncle Stannis and Davos Seaworth. I have to go to this meeting."

Cersei strode into the kitchen and went straight to where her eldest son was seated, drinking a glass of orange juice and reading the latest Hot Rod issue.

Gendry nodded. "I assume you'll be home late?"

Cersei kissed her son's forehead, making him feel like he was once again 10 years old. She laughed and playfully smacked his arm when he pretended to gag.

"Yes, Dad and I will be home late," draping her arm around Gendry's broad shoulders. "I'm sorry, hon, you're going to have to pick up Tommen from his guitar lessons. Joff's out with some friends, so are Robb and Jon. Think you could manage that?"

"Of course, Mom," he replied. "For a price."

Cersei laughed. "Spoken like a true businessman. Soon, you'll be taking over the family business and Dad and I will be unemployed."

Gendry pointed to his watch and said, "Meeting, remember? Don't be late."

Cersei muttered a curse under her breath, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket and kissing his cheek this time. "Alright, I have to go! Thanks, honey!"

She quickly walked out of the kitchen, as fast as her 4-inch heels could take her, but she stopped as soon as she remembered something.

"Oh! You might want to take Arya with you," she said, a glint of mischief twinkling in her eyes. "She was in her room before I came to look for you."

She left in a rush, leaving a stunned-looking Gendry staring at her retreating form.

Gendry glanced at his watch and realized they were 30 minutes early. Tommen replied to his text that he'll be out in about 20 more minutes, but for now, "Stop texting me, Gen. I'm trying to nail these barre chords! Later!"

"Is this where Tommen takes guitar lessons?" Arya asked, as Gendry parked the Impala right across the school. She studied the building right up front, where the name Jaqn's House of Music was printed on the glass window. There were guitars, a piano and a drum set on display.

"Is this a music store and school?" she asked.

"Yeah. They have music teachers who teach whatever instrument you want. I think they give voice lessons, too. Nothing big, but they do have the best teachers I've seen and heard out there."

"I tried picking up the guitar once," Arya said, wrinkling her nose. "Not successful!"

Gendry grinned. "Oh yeah? I can play a 9th fret and a major 3rd higher to the 13th fret then a major 3rd higher to the 17th…augmented triad…3 notes on a string…?"

Arya looked at him like he was talking jibberish. "Show off."

He laughed. "I'm sorry. I forget that you can't reach all those strings because your hand is too small, your fingers too short."

Arya twisted in her seat to look at him with disbelieving eyes. "I do not!"

"You do!"

"I'm hurt," she said, looking at her fingers all the same. "My fingers are perfectly normal!"

"No, they're short," Gendry repeated. "Here, hold them up like this."

He held up his right hand and grabbed her right hand with his left. He placed her hand facing his, their palms touching. Her hand obviously came up short compared with his.

It took them a moment to realize that they were skin to skin, and Gendry felt the tips of his fingers tingle with electricity. He swears he could feel it right to the roots of his hair, and he tried his best not to shiver from it. Arya must have felt it too, because her eyes slowly went to his, holding his stare until she felt the need to blink. It took them a few more minutes before they put their hands down.

Problem is, her small hand was still engulfed in his big ones.

Should I let go? Oh my god!, Arya screamed internally.

She heard Gendry clear his throat, but they were both staring straight ahead, not daring to look back into each others eyes.

What the fuuuuuck! He's still holding my hand!

"Your hand is soft," Gendry whispered, turning his head a bit to look at her. He saw Arya's cheeks turn pink that he couldn't help but add, "I like the feeling of it in my hand."

Was that a cool thing to say? Oh my fucking god, I'm holding her hand.

"I like it, too," came her soft reply.

Oh my fucking god. Gendry chanced a glance in her direction and saw that she was smiling, although she was still looking straight ahead. He felt braver at that moment, and threaded his fingers with hers so that their hands fit even better.

Arya laughed, a wondrous sound he hasn't heard in a while. He loved it, loved the sound of it, because he was the reason for it. He felt his chest constrict and he found it hard to breathe. When he felt her fingers squeeze his tightly, he was gone.

Gendry Baratheon's heart just flew right out of his chest and into her hands.

When Tommen finally got inside the car, he sensed something different in the air. Through the rearview mirror, he could see his brother grinning like an idiot, sneaking glances at the beautiful girl sitting shotgun. She was leaning a bit closer to him, grinning the same silly grin his brother was sporting. Tommen's gaze flew lower still and found the reason for it.

Gendry was holding Arya's hand.

(A/N: Nope, I'm hopeless at guitar-playing. I got that one somewhere online, and someone was saying something about that 3 notes on a string. Or whatever. I'm hopeless, remember! Lol.)