Game of Thrones: Wars and Hearts

Chapter 25 of my Game of Thrones story; enjoy.

Reviews

Wolfgirl2013: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Marina Ka-Fai: Well, read on and find out.
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it all, well, sadly, it can't last, wait and see.
SweetImagination15: Yup, well, wait and see.
rubini25: Yup, they are; what was it you and Sansa agreed on?

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 25

Catelyn sighed as she drove home from work. It had been a long day; she was finding it harder and harder to concentrate these days, she and Ned still had arguments and struggled to maintain a happy façade for their children. Everything that had happened over the past several months had also been taxing for her and played on her mind constantly. Still she felt some happiness, just yesterday her eldest daughter had graduated from high school. She was proud of her daughter; yet felt sad that it confirmed her daughter was now all grown up. True there had been problems with Sansa over the months, regarding her toxic relationship with Joffrey, but that was over now, much to her relief. The more she pondered on her feelings regarding Sansa's graduation, the more she noticed similarities to how she felt when Robb graduated.

'Just two more years until it's Arya's turn…provided she puts in the effort and gets the necessary grades.' She thought to herself. 'Honestly; Arya's a smart girl, she can do it, if she would just apply herself.'

Catelyn sighed as she stopped her car for a traffic light. While waiting she glanced to her left and suddenly froze. Standing next to a car was Arya; what shocked Catelyn however was a tall, muscular man, clearly the owner of the car and she noted, much older, at least seven years older than Arya. What disturbed her about him, was he and Arya were kissing passionately, in a way that just screamed boyfriend and girlfriend.

The light changed and she drove home, still shocked by what she had seen. She couldn't believe it, Arya, kissing that man, she felt anger; how could he take advantage of her little girl like that? Worse still; Arya seemed to be encouraging him, she couldn't let this stand, for Arya's own good she'd have to intervene. But she had to know more; she had to know how long this had been going on for. When she got home she parked the car and headed inside; there she found Ned and Sansa in the living room.

"Ned, we need to talk, it's urgent." She said.

He looked up. "Cat, what's going on?"

She looked over at Sansa and then looked for the others; she couldn't see them so she asked where they were.

"Up in their rooms, Rickon's doing his homework. I don't know what Bran's doing; he shut the door and locked it." Sansa replied.

Catelyn nodded and, deciding it was now or never; told them about what she had witnessed. Ned looked horrified; he clearly felt the same as her about the situation. However Cat noticed a sudden look of guilt flash across Sansa's face.

"Sansa, you knew?" She asked; stunned that her daughter would keep something like this from her.

Sansa bowed her head. "Yes; I…I saw them at graduation, that's where Arya went when she left the table."

Catelyn was surprised to hear Sansa sounding so miserable. She should've told them right away, for Arya's own good.

Arya smiled as she headed back home. Gendry had to return home to King's Landing but she hoped to hear from him again soon. However as soon as she opened the door she froze, she sensed immediately something was wrong. She saw her parents standing there, looking at her severely while Sansa sat on the couch, looking downcast.

"Arya, sit down." Her father said, gesturing to the other couch.

Arya walked over and sat down; she suddenly felt edgy, her father only ever used that tone when she was in trouble. But she couldn't think of anything she had done wrong.

She shook her head. "What's going on?"

It was then her mother revealed the horrific truth, she had seen her with Gendry, she knew.

"Arya, you cannot see this boy anymore." Her mother stated. "He's leading you astray, taking advantage of you."

Arya was shocked, she couldn't believe it; her mother could do this to her. "No, mum, listen…"

Catelyn shook her head. "That's final; Arya. I'm doing this for you own good, you…"

Hearing that pathetic excuse however told Arya that her mother, once again was acting on her own misguided ideas; not caring about Arya's feelings.

"Mum, you don't understand…I love him…"

Cat frowned. "Arya; no, I told you, it's final, you're not seeing him again, he's just using you, he's far too old for you and…"

Arya however had enough; she wasn't going to take this anymore, despite her efforts to control herself, her temper snapped.

Upstairs Bran was on his computer, skyping with Meera. Suddenly he heard screaming and yelling from downstairs; he recognized the voices as his mother and Arya. They were having another of their arguments, however this sounded worse than their previous arguments.

"I need to go." He told Meera. "Family drama."

She smiled and nodded. "Okay, call me later."

He agreed and ended their chat, unlocked his room and headed downstairs. He wasn't sure what exactly started it, but clearly Arya's temper had snapped and from there it had been a build-up, following that it had escalated. Arya and mum stood screaming at each other. Meanwhile dad stood to the side, ready to separate them if things got too far; Sansa sat on the couch, her face buried in her hands. As Bran listened he realized that all the rage that had accumulated within Arya since Jon had left; was all coming out at once. It also transpired that the reason this all started was because Arya was dating an older man. He frowned; he couldn't see any problem with Arya's relationship, it was the same with him and Meera, but clearly mum disagreed. Bran however felt the need to intervene; before Arya lost it and said something she might really regret.

"Mum, enough, what's the big deal?" He interjected.

Cat turned to him, looking enraged. "She's dating a man seven years older than her; it's…"

Bran cut across her. "It's none of our business, besides, what should it matter; and before you start, I do understand what it's like for Arya. My girlfriend's twenty-two."

He knew he had done it now; he had exposed his relationship; but it was necessary, besides, he knew Meera would understand.

There was a collective gasp as everybody in the room stared at him. Then his mother glared.

"You can't be serious Bran." She said. "You, of all people, I thought…"

Bran shook his head. "If this guy makes Arya happy and treats her right, that's all that should matter."

Catelyn sighed. "Enough Bran, this is not acceptable, I…"

His mother started lecturing him, but Bran was only half listening. With everyone's attention directed at him he glanced over at Arya and raised his eyebrows questioningly. She understood and slipped out of the room. Arya sighed as she entered her room; she knew what she had to do now, she had no other choice. She immediately opened her wardrobe and grabbed her suitcase, she gathered all the clothes she could and quickly packed, she closed the suitcase, zipped it up and; taking a deep breath, pulled out her diary. She then wrote one more short entry in it and grabbed her suitcase. She slipped downstairs; she could still hear her mother lecturing Bran, who stood, making sure their backs were to her. She felt bad for her poor brother, but grateful that he supported her, even understood her, she was amazed he was in a similar relationship. When Bran saw her he did not react, but she quickly mouthed 'thank you' before leaving the house.

Bran remained stoic as his mother continued lecturing her. Finally he shook his head.

"Mum, enough, look, I love this girl; she's amazing, beautiful, funny…"

"She's twenty-two; she's too old for you." Catelyn stated firmly. "She's taking advantage of you; I don't want to hear any more of this; you and Arya need to end this, before it's too late."

Bran shook his head. "Mum, you're impossible, you're being unreasonable."

With that he turned and stalked away, heading back to his room, ignoring his mother calling after him. Later in the night Bran sat on his bed; he had changed into his pyjamas, but couldn't sleep. He had told Meera about everything that had happened; she had indeed understood and didn't feel upset about him exposing their relationship, although she agreed with him, things were likely to become more difficult for them now. He headed down to the kitchen, still unable to sleep. He stopped at the kitchen entrance; frozen. His mother was sitting on the floor, tears falling down her face, some partially dried already. She was clutching a photograph in her hand; going by the open frame that Bran recognized it was the family photograph; almost immediately he felt swallowed by guilt. He didn't want to break up with Meera, in fact, he refused to do so, but in doing so he was hurting his mother; he fled back to his room, wondering if any of the family got any sleep that night. He knew now, mum had realized Arya had run away.

The moment she left the house, Arya hurried to the bus stop. She stopped and pulled out her phone; it rang a few times and then he answered.

"Hey Arry." She felt the tension leave her body as she heard Gendry's voice.

"Gendry, I need your help, I…I…"

She broke down and admitted the whole story; finally she took a deep breath. "I can't stay there Gendry, I…I was wondering if…"

"You want to come stay with me?"

"Yeah, I mean, I know, I'll need to change a lot of things, I'll need to get a job, change my name, I can't let my family know where I am."

Gendry sighed. "Okay Arya, I'll be there to pick you up at the bus stop…What about your brother, Bran, surely you can trust him?"

Arya pondered for a moment. "Yeah, you're right, but Bran is the only one I can trust…I'll see how things go, see you soon."

She hung up and got on the bus. She had run away like this before, but this time, this time, unless her mother changed her mind and accepted that Arya was in love with Gendry…She knew she wouldn't be able to come back. When the bus stopped Arya grabbed her suitcase and headed off the bus; she saw Gendry immediately and hurried over to him. They hugged and she felt better instantly; she knew what lay ahead of her would be hard, but she refused to give up. Unless her mother changed her mind; she had to stay away until she learned that Arya and Gendry truly loved each other, until she accepted them.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.