Hey beauties! Fair warning that this chapter might not be suitable for everyone, for obvious reasons. I've tried to get this as realistic as possible so we'll just have to see how I did. Again, I'm aware that abortion is a sensitive subject, hence the warning!

Chapter 21

Arya tapped her foot against the scarily shiny floor of the clinic. Other women around her age with what looked like different stories sat around her. There was one girl who looked about fifteen who sat across from her with a woman who could only be her mother. The mother looked pissed, and probably couldn't accept that her young daughter was pregnant or had an STD. And the poor girl looked as if the devil itself was about to come and get her.

A nurse walked into the waiting room but called for a girl with her sheepish looking boyfriend. Arya let out a breath she hadn't realized her had been holding. She knew there was no other way but this. But still… Arya would be lying to herself that the decision didn't affect her at all.

She was nervous as hell and scared that something would go wrong. Like her ending up sterile or something. She had read that it could occur, and even though the last thing she wanted right now was kids, hence this decision, but in the future Arya would at least want the option open.

Gendry sat beside her, flipping through a brochure about puberty with mild interest. His hand rested beside her if she ever needed to cling to something. For now she was fine, but that hand would probably be needed later.

"You know" he started and pointed on a paragraph about voice change. "They make it sound like it's nothing at all, but this shit is actually quite creepy not to mention embarrassing. You should be happy you were far away when it happened to me."

Arya let out a small chuckle and rested her forehead on his shoulder for a moment. Gendry had just enough time to press a kiss to the top of her head. To the other people, it probably looked like they were a couple that forgot the condom and were now half sheepishly dealing with the consequences. It was strange to Arya that she didn't mind people thinking that.

But then again, maybe not so strange. She did have strong feelings for him after all…

"Arya Stark?"

Arya looked up to see a nurse looking from a writing board and then around the waiting room and back to the sheet of paper clipped to her board. On shaky feet, she got up and Gendry immediately followed. The nurse showed them into a room that was just as clinic and white as the waiting room.

"Please, have a seat" the nurse said and gestured towards two chairs near the door. "The doctor will be with you shortly." Arya nodded and the nurse left the room.

The whiteness of the room almost slapped her in the face. Everything was white, except for some furniture and a text someone had written on the wall that said 'We are here to help you'. There was a desk with a matching chair and computer in one corner and a gynecologist chair with a table for supplies.

"Are you okay?" Gendry asked and eyed her as if she was a bomb about to explode.

"I'm fine" Arya reassured him, but it was futile since he could see right through her. He quirked an eyebrow but didn't push her further.

The door opened and a woman clad in a doctor's robe entered. She had long, wavy red hair in a ponytail and glasses, she greeted them both with a kind smile.

"Hello" she said. "My name is Celia Thorne and I'm a gynecologist. You must be Arya?"

"That's me" Arya answered and shook the warm hand she held out. Dr Thorne's kind, doe-like eyes made her feel a lot calmer than before. Next the doctor held her hand out for Gendry who politely shook it.

"Gendry" he said and offered her a smile.

"Hello, Gendry." Dr Thorne sat down on the office chair and crossed her leg over the other. "Are you the father?" she asked Gendry.

Gendry opened his mouth to answer but Arya cut him off. "No" she stated. "He's just a friend. You know, moral support."

"Of course" Dr Thorne smiled. "Now, before we begin, I just want to double check that our stats are correct." She opened a document on the computer and started reading. "Arya Lyanna Stark, born on July 25th 1997, you don't have any illness and you don't take any form of medication?"

"Everything's correct."

"Do you smoke and have you ever taken any form of drugs?"

"I have never done drugs and I quit smoking last year."

"Good." Dr Thorne looked approvingly at her and wrote something down in the document. "And you said during the phone call that you are eight weeks along?" Arya nodded. "Alright, the most normal form of abortion for this early stage is the medicinal one, but it's up to you which one you choose. The medicinal one is gentler towards the body, but if you wish to have the surgical one that it's your body and therefore your choice."

Arya felt Gendry's hand close in on her thigh and giving it a reassuring squeeze. She gave him a slight smile before facing the doctor again. "Whatever you think will work the best. Frankly I just want it over with."

"I understand that" Dr Thorne reassured. "Just one more question if you don't mind? Does the father and your parents know what you are about to do?" Arya stiffened and she felt Gendry do the same. She looked down for a moment. "We won't contact your parents since you're over eighteen but it's not healthy to bottle this up."

"He doesn't want any part in it, the father that it is."

"Stupid prick" Gendry muttered under his breath and Arya surprisingly laughed at his protectiveness over her.

"And no my parents don't know because I know how they will react and I'd rather not go down that road. I have no desire what so ever to spend the rest of my life as a nun." Gendry chuckled beside her.

Dr Thorne nodded. "Well then I say we get started. Today you will take a medicine that starts the abortion. You will probably begin bleeding, as if you had your period at home but it doesn't have to happen. And in two days you will return and that's when we pop you up in the gyn-chair to have a medicine that expels the pregnancy fully."

Arya nodded again, unable to speak at the moment. Her heart was beating furiously in her chest. There was no turning back now. She had started tapping her foot again, a bad habit that always emerged when she was nervous. Gendry was the one who spoke next.

"Will it cause her any pain?" he asked and his hand returned to her thigh.

"It might" Dr Thorne answered, looking sincerely at both him and Arya. "Both during these two days and on Sunday, but it will be bearable, I can assure you that. There's no need to worry." Gendry nodded and Arya let out a breath again. "Are you ready?"

"Not really" Arya choked out. "But there's no turning back."

"I'm going to get you the medicine but you can take all the time you need before you swallow it."

As soon as the doctor was out, Gendry pulled her in for a hug. They were a little constricted by the armrests between them but Gendry's hand caressed her hair in a soothing matter and he rested his face in the crook of her neck. Arya's hands came around his shoulders and she clung to him, relishing in the feeling of his warm, sturdy body.

A minute later, the doctor returned and Arya pulled out of Gendry's embrace to take the small foil package and mug of water. She took a deep breath before popping the pill inside her mouth and swallowed it.

Immediately, the obligatory second thoughts popped up in her head. In her heart, she knew that she had made the right choice, but her mind wondered if maybe, just maybe she could have made the other one. But that baby wouldn't know its father, and most likely not its mother either, and the last thing she would do was to make a child live with that even if he or she had adoptive parents.

"Are you okay?" Gendry asked and put his hand over hers.

Arya tilted her head to the side. "I'm not sure, I think I will be. Eventually…"

"This can be traumatic for everyone involved" Dr Thorne cooed. "So if you want me to set you up with a therapist, then I will."

She shook her head. That was one of many things she refused throughout her life. If she needed to talk, there was always someone at her disposal. Now that her dad didn't know about her soon-to-be not state, Arya had Gendry. He understood and didn't judge her. That meant the most to her.

"I'm fine, I have people I can talk to" Arya responded and shot Gendry a small smile, which he returned.

"Okay. You just need to stay for a little while and then you can be on your way. While the two of you wait, I'm going to print out the time and date for your next visit in two days."

Arya nodded again and Dr Thorne sat down by the computer to print out the paper.

XXX

Two days later, Gendry took her to the clinic for the second time. He respectfully turned around when Arya stripped from the waist down, causing her to playfully state that there was no need for him to be coy since he had already seen all her goods. Dr Thorne shot them a questioning glance but didn't say anything.

He held her hand the entire time she was in the torture-chair. That was at least what it looked like to him, yet she showed no sign of pain when they worked. After that she locked herself in the nearest bathroom and Gendry was left outside. He moved the nearest chair to the bathroom door and sat down to wait.

She spent almost two hours inside, only letting Dr Thorne in when she asked for it. Every now and again, Gendry asked for updates on how she was doing in there, and every time she answered 'fine'.

"Is she really fine?" Gendry asked Dr Thorne the third time she walked out of the bathroom. Arya bluntly refused to let him in and he was worried something was wrong and that she just was too afraid to tell him.

"She is a bit traumatized, but strong" Dr Thorne answered with a kind smile. "I think the only reason she doesn't let you in is because she doesn't want you to see her so vulnerable."

"But doesn't she understand that I could not care less about that? I just want to make sure she feels alright!"

Dr Thorne offered him a gentle smile and a pat on the shoulder. "I understand your frustration, Gendry. However Arya is in a stage where you have to let her decide if she wants company or help. When you leave this clinic, let her decide what she wants, okay?"

Gendry closed his eyes. His stubbornness was getting in the way, but he couldn't let it. Dr Thorne was right. It was Arya who had to pull the strings over the upcoming days. "Okay…"

When Arya emerged from the bathroom it was clear that she had been crying but Gendry didn't say anything about it. They drove back to the dorm in silence. Arya kept her gaze at the town outside but her eyes were glazed as if she didn't really pay attention.

As soon as they were inside, Arya said a quick hello to Hot Pie before she disappeared into her room. Gendry went straight for the fridge to eat or drink the first thing he could get his hands on. He just wanted something to dull his senses that wasn't alcohol.

Arya stayed in her room the rest of the night, saying that she wasn't hungry. It was only when Gendry stopped by to say goodnight that he saw her again.

"I was just saying goodnight" he told her in the doorway.

She nodded and he was just about to leave when she called his name. "Gendry?"

"Yeah?" He turned around.

"I don't want to be alone tonight. Is that okay?" Well aware that he couldn't deny her anything despite the fact that it was wrong for them to share a bed when he still had a girlfriend, Gendry closed the door behind him and crawled under her covers. But then again, they shared affectionate touches that only couples should as well.

Arya settled herself against him and sighed. "Thank you."

Sorry if there are a lot of mistakes. I'm really tired. I'm gonna go to bed now Goodnight! And leave a review!