Arya
"This is stupid," said Gendry.
"You're stupid," exclaimed Arya. "Now, come on! You said we could go fishing, so go ahead, FISH!"
They decided to stop driving a little bit earlier on in the day, to give both of them time to rest. Finding yet another clearing in the woods, this time near a pond, Arya and Gendry were now holding two sticks that Arya had found to serve as 'fishing spears'.
"You can't possibly think that we'll be able to catch anything with these," said Gendry holding up the stick.
"We'll never know unless we try! And if these don't work out, we can just catch the fish with our hands. Now come on, look how big those fish are!"
Standing on the rocks surrounding the pond, Arya and Gendry began aimlessly darting their sticks into the water. Missing each and every time, after a few minutes Arya got impatient. Taking off her pants, shirt and shoes in three swift movements, Arya jumped into the pond. She had the same luck that she had when she was aiming from the rocks, only now she was neck deep in water. Gendry seemed to take notice of it too, and started laughing.
"You think it's funny don't you? Why don't you try and do it from down here!" she said as she started to pull on Gendry's foot.
Not budging, Gendry took two steps back from the edge of the pond and dropped his 'spear'.
"No, I won't go in!"
"Why not? Scared that the water is too cold?" asked Arya playfully, splashing the water in his direction.
"NO!" he said. "I… I don't know how to swim!"
"What do you mean, you don't?" asked Arya, surprised.
"That's exactly what I mean. I never learned when I was a kid, and when I was older it was way too embarrassing whenever someone invited me to go swimming at the pool or the bay, so I never went, and never learned."
"Awww! Poor baby Gendry, doesn't know how to swim!" teased Arya, sticking out her bottom lip.
"Shut up!" snapped Gendry.
"I'm sorry?"
"I said, shut up!"
"Oh, you're going to regret saying that, Gendry," she said as she got out of the pond and made her way towards him.
Gendry's face had confusion and surprise written all over it as she pushed him into the pond, Arya impressed with her own strength. Gendry's head re-emerging from underneath the water, he was now trying to act angry, but Arya could see his face tensing as he tried to hide his smile. Before he decided to get back out of the water, Arya jumped back in, making a big splash.
"The water doesn't bite, see," said Arya, swimming circles around Gendry.
"No, but the fish might!"
"They won't. I scared them away when I jumped in. Now come on, I'll teach you how to swim."
"You won't," he said, shaking his head.
"I will! And if you won't let me, I'll push you deeper into the pond and then you really won't have a choice but to learn," she said with a conspiring smile spreading across her face.
He laughed.
"You wouldn't do that!" was all said before Arya started to push him towards the middle of the pond. "OKAY! OKAY! Fine, teach me how to swim."
And so she did. Except he wasn't a very good student, only being able to do a few strokes at a time before he'd start to panic and start all over again. It didn't matter to Arya though, she was having the time of her life teaching this bull-headed boy how to swim.
Gendry
After their 'swimming lesson' in the pond, and after changing into dry clothes and putting the wet ones out to dry, him and Arry were now sitting on a log by the fire. Twilight was starting to set as they ate their dinner.
"OH!" exclaimed Arry, jumping off from the log and storming towards his truck. "We can't forget about the marshmallows!"
She was nearly skipping on her way back, the marshmallow bag in one hand, and the two branches that she was sharpening the ends of in the morning, in the other. In that moment she couldn't look anymore like a child. She plopped down next to him, handing him one of the sticks. Ripping the marshmallow bag open, Arry took two marshmallows out and stuck them on the end of her stick.
"A bit greedy, don't you think?" he asked, teasing her.
"Nope!"
As they sat there roasting and eating their marshmallows, Gendry decided to ask Arry something he's been wanting to for a while now.
"Arry," he began. "Do you think that you'll be able to prove that the Lannisters are framing you and your father? Were framing your father," he corrected himself.
Suddenly she stopped eating her marshmallow and looked at him, her face serious.
"Why? You don't think I'm telling the truth?"
"No! That's not what I said!"
"Then why are you questioning me?" she snapped, her face unreadable.
"I'm not, I'm simply wondering if you think the truth will be able to come out. And if people will believe it."
"That's what I am going home for, isn't it? To make sure that the truth does come out. Gendry – you don't understand, I have no other choice but have the truth come out. And it never will if they arrest me just like they arrested my father – you know how that turned out. I am sure I am not the only one who knows of the Lannisters' plot, but others can't be trusted. I must act while I still can. And I can't unless I am in the safety of my own home."
"I understand," was all he was able to say.
"Listen, I don't want to talk or think about all of that tonight. Tonight is our break night, you said so yourself. Let's pretend that my father never died, that you are not helping a fugitive escape, and that we are just two friends on a camping trip."
Two friends on a camping trip. That's all they were. Gendry then thought about their kiss last night. How he wished he could kiss her again, here and now. Just take her face in his two hands, and press his mouth against hers. But no – friends don't kiss. Especially on camping trips. Gendry shouldn't be kissing her anyway. She was Arry – Arya – Stark, of Winterfell. Daughter of the now ex-director of finances of Stag-O-Metal. Kissing her again would just make parting with her later on more difficult. Gendry never wanted to part with her. But he also knew that they could never be together, not in the way that he wanted to anyway. A girl like her would never be allowed to be with a bastard like him. A bastard with no family, no future, or anything to offer. Two friends on a camping trip. That's all they ever will be.
Gendry started to feel a lump in his throat at his sudden realization.
"Gendry," she said with concern in her voice. "Don't look so sad. Two friends on a camping trip, remember? Camping trips are fun! And no one is allowed to be sad."
He knew that those words were meant more for her than they were meant for him. Deciding to play along with her plan, he smiled at her as he stuck a marshmallow onto his stick.
"Alright. And what shall we do after we finish all these marshmallows? Go hunting for some squirrels?" he asked, trying to make a joke.
She laughed.
"Actually, that sounds like a great idea!" she said, her eyes lighting up.
She wasn't like other girls. No, not at all. She was different. She liked to ride motorcycles, didn't care if her hair was cut short, sought adventure everywhere she went, tried to teach him how to swim, wanted to hunt squirrels, and laughed at his bad jokes. She was Arya. Arya Stark.
Gendry wondered how he came to love somebody in such a short amount of time.
A/N: Awww, so Gendry is in love with Arya, well no surprise there, we all knew it was going to happen :P Also, from now on Gendry will start referring to Arya as Arya in his head (as opposed to Arry). I think that makes sense since he now sees her for who she really is. In tomorrow's chapter we will finally be introduced to some new characters!
