Episode 26

"Puppets & Masters"

Gossip Spyder

This just in everyone!

The Stark Sisters have been spotted at the Heart of Fire in the company of Sandor Clegane. Okay – the three of you, just WTF is going on? All signs are pointing to Sansa and Sandor now being a couple, and with the three of them being seen together at the Brotherhood Without Banners show, we can only assume that little sis' is totally fine with big sis' hooking up with her ex-boyfriend. If proven to be true, then my opinion of Sandor Clegane will have to be completely re-evaluated – the big guy is more of a heartthrob than I ever thought!

Speaking of heartthrob – the Brotherhood Without Banners have literally lit the Heart of Fire – on fire! LOL! Their one-hour set ended just moments ago and these guys rocked! Frontman Beric Dondarrion performed with his signature dramatic flare, but it was the husky rawness and goosebump inducing voice of "new resident heartthrob" Gendry Waters – to quote Beric Dondarrion's outro – that surprised and blew everyone away! Clips of the show's highlights will be posted shortly!

Tata for now!

Gossip Spyder

Gendry

He watched Arya's back as she left the club. He watched as her tiny frame was swallowed up by the crowd until he could no longer see her and only the back of Sandor's head was visible above everyone else. He hadn't expected to see her that night, and her presence had affected him more than he thought it would. She had come to watch him. It didn't matter how last minute it was, or how she came to be in the audience. She was there, and that's all that mattered.

It had puzzled him for a second to see her with Sansa and Sandor, and the thought that Jaqen H'ghar might be with them – like a double date or something – had occurred to him, so he'd brought Jaqen's name up and was pleased when he learned that the smug bastard was not with her. However, Arya had seemed…defensive, he decided. He didn't want her to feel as though she had to defend, what was essentially her right, to be with Jaqen.

Only a few days had passed since that afternoon he'd driven her home, and while they had reached a kind of truce, it was still too soon for either of them to think that things were back to normal between them. He had been relieved when Arya had declined Allyria's invitation to join them, yet predictably disappointed at the same time.

Gendry sighed, and that was when he noticed the brush of silken hair against his bicep and the soft warmth of the girl sitting in the crook of his arm.

"Are you okay?" Jazmine asked him.

Her interest in him was unmistakable, and he was incredibly flattered, but as much as he enjoyed the attention the truth was he was using her, and he needed to stop it before she got hurt.

"I'm fine," he said, before he shifted her from his arm. "Excuse me."

"Where are you going?" Edric asked him when Gendry stood up from the lounge.

"I need to powder my nose," Gendry replied with a smile before he headed towards the restrooms.

He kept the smile on his face as he walked past groups of well-wishers and fans, but the smile disappeared as soon as he was out of view. He had no intention of dating Jazmine, or anyone else in the foreseeable future, but it was easier to continue convincing his friends that he was fine without Arya when girls like Jazmine were around.

Zipping his fly back up, Gendry washed his hands and splashed water over his face before grabbing a handful of paper towels to wipe away the stickiness left by the perspiration he'd shed under the bright stage lights. He studied his reflection in the mirror, unable to see himself in the same way now that he knew where his looks had come from. The Baratheon men were handsome, and it was thanks to their genetics that girls were now flocking to him. Their looks and their money too, no doubt, he thought.

Sighing again, he went back to the lounge wondering how to discourage Jazmine in the nicest possible way. There were two newcomers standing by their VIP table, and Gendry's face split into a grin when he recognized who they were.

"Yo! Lommy! Teddy!" Gendry called out to them as he approached.

"Gendry!" Lommy and Teddy rushed him, taking turns to man-hug and clap him on the back.

"I can't believe you guys made it tonight." Gendry smiled at them. "Were you here the whole time?"

"Yeah, man," Teddy replied, "we got here just in time, but by then it was standing room only."

"Dude, you guys were awesome!" Lommy greeted the rest of the members of the band before turning back to Gendry. "Hey, was that little Weasel just here? I swear I saw her a moment ago."

"Yeah, she was here." Gendry understood who Lommy was referring to.

"Is she still around?"

"Nah, she had to go."

"What a shame." Lommy clicked his tongue. "I would have liked to say hello. She's a little firecracker, that girl…and speaking of girls, when did you get to be such a babe magnet?" Lommy shot a glance towards Jazmine and Jessika.

"It's not like that," Gendry replied and decided to distance himself from anymore of Jazmine's advances.

He invited Lommy and Teddy to party with them and after introducing them to the group as 'my oldest childhood buddies', he promptly sat between the two guys for the rest of the evening. Jazmine looked disappointed, but Gendry had a feeling she wasn't going to give up so easily.

Melisandre came to sit and chat with them at some point in the evening, but by then Gendry was ready to leave, exhausted not only from performing, but of keeping up the facade he'd been wearing since Arya had left.

It was close to 2 AM when he finally got home, but still he forced himself to shower and change his clothes despite his fatigue, knowing he'd feel disgusting if he allowed himself to fall asleep smelling of sweat and the perfume of the girls who'd pressed themselves against him that night.

"You're fucking crazy, man. You could be getting laid by any of these ladies, but instead you wanna go to sleep? You're fucking insane!" Lommy had crudely pointed out.

As he finally settled under his blanket, he wondered if he was the only seventeen year old guy in the world who would pass up sex in favor of sleeping alone.

It was well past noon when he woke up later that day. He went downstairs to find Tobho arranging his tools in the garage and his foster siblings watching cartoons in the living room. Ellen had gone to the grocery store. It was a perfectly normal Sunday, which was a relaxing contrast to the manic night he'd had before.

"How did it go last night?" Tobho asked him as Gendry searched the fridge for the spaghetti and meatballs that Ellen had put away for him.

"We rocked." Gendry shrugged nonchalantly. "The girls loved me."

"Of course they did." Tobho laughed. "Did your friends come out to see you?"

"Yeah. Hot Pie came in the van with us, then Lommy and Teddy showed up later."

"What about Arya?"

"She was there too, with her sister and her sister's boyfriend."

Tobho gave him a curious look. "It's funny, isn't it? How you met and became friends with the Stark girls…it's almost serendipitous, when you consider who –" Tobho broke off suddenly, and gave him an apologetic smile.

"When I consider who my father turned out to be?" Gendry finished for him. "Yeah, I've thought about that too."

"Sorry to bring it up."

"It's fine." Gendry shrugged, blowing on the spaghetti he'd just removed from the microwave. "Sometimes I think that my life was never totally mine to begin with. It's like there's a puppet-master pulling strings in the background, and that meeting Arya and the Starks was inevitable – maybe it was fate after all?"

"You should get Beric to turn that into a song." Tobho suggested, lightening the mood. "It sounds like the kind of thing he'd sing about."

Gendry laughed. "I'll mention it to him."

After he'd eaten, Gendry spent some time checking messages on his social media accounts, finding himself tagged in a bunch of photos on Facebook, amused when he found even more candid shots when he checked #HeartthrobBWB on Instagram that girls kept mentioning. Beric invited him to a private, post-concert celebration at The Hollow for later in the afternoon, and Gendry texted back with an OK. In the meantime, he caved in to Tabitha's pleading and played Mario Kart with her on the Playstation.

He heard Ellen's car pull into the driveway when she returned home from the grocery store, and as Tobho helped her unload the shopping, Gendry overheard their conversation.

"It's not getting any better," Ellen said, "more and more people are starting to recognize us, and strangers were coming up to me asking if it's true, and whether we knew all along who Gendry's father was."

"Calm down, Ellen."

"I can't calm down," Ellen's voice sounded strained. "They're judging Gendry and our family, I just know it."

"What? How can you say that?"

"Did you know that they sell caviar and truffles at the grocery store here? Real truffles, at ninety-five dollars an ounce. Can you believe that? This is The Forge Estates, Tobho."

"What are you getting at?"

"I mean, we could never afford to live here before, and now everyone knows that we came from Flea Bottom. People are saying that the Baratheons must have paid us to keep quiet about Gendry's paternity."

"Who are you hearing this from?" Tobho wondered.

"The gardener who works for those folks around the corner, and the lady who walks the dog for that old widower across the road, and the hairdresser at the boutique I went to the other day."

"The gardener? Dog walker? Ellen, why would you listen to that kind of gossip?"

"They're people like us, Tobho," Ellen stressed. "Good, hardworking folk from humble roots who have listened and heard these rich folks talk about us and about our son. These rich folks are wondering how Gendry Baratheon has been brought up, and comparing him to Robert's other children who've been raised with proper etiquette and manners and poise –"

"Gendry chews with his mouth closed and doesn't put his elbows on the table," Tobho pointed out. "What else does he need to know?"

"I don't know!" Ellen cried. "That's what I'm saying…I don't know what he's missed out on. I don't know what these rich people teach their children, and I don't know if we can prepare him for the life he has to lead now."

"Gendry's not affected by any of that nonsense, and he's made it clear that he doesn't care about the opinions of strangers."

"He may not care about it now, but he might in five or even ten years from now. Anything can happen between now and then."

"Gendry doesn't have to prove himself to anyone."

"It's easy to say that now," Ellen said sadly, "but, we are not Gendry and we'll never truly understand what he will have to face in the future. In ten years time…I don't want to feel like I've let him down by not being able to give him the tools he might need to deal with those challenges, because he will be compared, Tobho…Gendry will always be compared."

Gendry had given up on Mario Kart by this time, and he told Tabitha to play on her own for a while before he got up and walked into the kitchen.

"Is that how you really feel, Ellen?" he asked from the doorway.

"Oh, Gendry…I didn't intend for you to hear that," Ellen sighed tiredly. "It's just that everyone knows who you are, and people are going to watch everything you do. I'm sure you know by now that Robert Baratheon has some harsh critics out there, and I'm afraid those same people will one day target you just because he is your father."

"I'll never blame you, Ellen." Gendry stated strongly. "Or you, Tobho. You both took me in and raised me like your own son, and I know you're both doing your best with all the changes we've been through these past few months…and you're still doing your best to protect me now. I'll never blame you for anything."

Ellen walked over and hugged him. "You're a sweet boy Gendry, and one day you're going to be a wonderful man. I don't want anyone thinking any less of you because of where you came from and how you grew up. You're as much of a prince as those other Baratheon boys – in fact, you're better. You'll be a king in your own right someday."

Gendry had to smile at Ellen's choice of words. "Thanks, Ellen. That means a lot to me."

"Never forget that, okay?"

"I won't," Gendry assured her. "But, trust me when I say that the only thing remotely princely about Joffrey Baratheon is that he's a giant, royal douche."

"Gendry!" Ellen smacked his arm, but she was smiling.

Tobho snorted while trying to smother his laughter. Gendry laughed at their expressions, but he couldn't help being reminded of something that Executive Assistant Davos Seaworth had told him.

"…You are a Baratheon by blood, young man. You cannot escape this fact, and Stannis would like to help you understand what it means to have this blood in your veins…"

Gendry understood Ellen's concern, because even as he hated to admit it, he knew that he was a marked man. Everything he did, from the way he ate, how he spoke and who he spoke with, how he dressed…everything was open for criticism.

I'm all in, he had once told himself. But, how could he be sure that he was playing the best hand? He'd played enough games of poker to know that sometimes having the best hand was not enough. You also had to know how to play your cards, be able to read your opponents and bluff your way through if necessary, and not give away anything that your opponents could use against you.

However, he wasn't playing high-school boys for loose change anymore. This time the game he was playing had his life and future on the table – and he knew next to nothing about his opponents.

Later that afternoon as he was getting ready to meet up with his friends at The Hollow, Gendry shook out a pair of jeans to empty out the pockets of whatever detritus he'd managed to collect in them during the school week. Two business cards fell out onto the top of his table, and Stannis Baratheon's name caught his eye.

"Give some consideration to what we've discussed," Davos Seaworth had told him.

And give it some consideration he did.

Sandor

Gossip Spyder had pretty much confirmed that he was dating Sansa. That Monday morning when they reached the school parking lot, Sandor did not bat an eyelid when Sansa took his hand as they walked to her locker. He was feeling pretty confident with how things were between them, given that he'd confessed to the lie he'd been keeping from her and yet she was still there, happy for people to see her beside him. He'd 'dated' one Stark girl before, so he assumed he would be prepared for the flak thrown at him this time around.

He was wrong.

While people had been shocked that Arya Stark had 'hooked up' with him, there'd been no real objections to their relationship for two main reasons. Firstly, Arya was not popular like Sansa was, and while many found her attractive, her aggressive demeanor and confrontational personality intimidated most guys from approaching her. Secondly, people just did not take them seriously as a couple, and no one had been surprised when they had 'broken up'.

However, his dating Sansa was completely different. Sansa had many fans and admirers, and just as many guys who thought themselves in love with her. Nobody was willing to believe that the tough and mean Sandor Clegane had somehow attracted the affections of the sweet, beautiful and gentle Sansa Stark.

"If he wasn't good enough for Arya, what makes him think he's good enough for Sansa?"

"He's just going to end up hurting her."

"She's Sansa Stark. She could have anybody. Why did she pick him?"

Sandor could take the shit they said about him, but he couldn't stomach the fact people were questioning Sansa's sanity. They seemed to think Sansa had gone crazy and that breaking up with Joffrey must have affected her on a deeper psychological level.

Joffrey had obviously heard the gossip, and the jerk pounced on him when they passed each other in the hallway. Sandor had been expecting it.

"I knew you'd been acting weird." Joffrey had sneered. "You stopped sitting in the quad with the rest of us and none of the guys had heard from you after you bailed at the championships…Who knew you were busy picking up my leftovers?"

"What do you want?" Sandor had growled.

"You are un-fucking-believable!" Joffrey laughed. "First Arya, now Sansa. Is that your thing, Hound? You have a fetish for fucking sisters? I didn't know you were into kinky shit like that, but good luck if you think Sansa's going to let you fuck her."

"Shut up, and get out of my face, Joff."

"I'm not done speaking." Joffrey continued "Look, I can understand why you want her. She's a fine piece of ass after all, and maybe she'll let you feel up her tits and grab her butt, but her pussy is as dry as an old lady's wrinkled, graying snatch."

Sandor's lip curled. "How would you know that, Joff? You go around feeling up old ladies snatches often?"

Joffrey's mocking face stiffened at the dig, while Trant and Blount who stood behind him tried to cover up their laughter.

"Don't for one minute believe she's really into you, Hound." Joffrey spat. "You're her rebound guy, that's all. Sooner or later, she'll snap out of it and dump your ugly ass. Hell, if I'd known her standards were so low I would have never gone after her."

Joffrey sniggered as he walked away. Trant and Blount followed him, both of them giving Sandor a resigned look that confirmed how they were merely Joffrey's puppets. It angered him to realize that he'd been a puppet too. For years he'd just followed Joffrey around without question…but not anymore. I am nobody's puppet.

Joffrey's words however, had put images into his mind that caused his blood to boil. Sansa had told him that she was still a virgin, and he believed her, but he had seen Joffrey groping her ass in public in the past, and now images of the blonde jerk's slimy hands sliding over Sansa's breasts and snaking into her panties had him seething. Joffrey had meant to rile him up, and the jerk had succeeded gloriously.

Sandor slammed his fist into a bank of lockers as he stalked down the hall – something he hadn't done in a long time – causing everyone around him to scatter out of his way. His dark mood followed him all morning, and by the time lunch rolled around, he was a virtually shaking with pent up energy.

Sansa met him outside the cafeteria as they had agreed, but instead of going to buy food, he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards the opposite direction.

"Sandor?" Sansa asked, concerned by the pressure of his grip. "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer, and instead he barged through a side door into an alley between the cafeteria and the science building.

"Where are we going?" Sansa asked when he led her in through another side door, and into a deserted corridor in the science building.

"Somewhere private," he rasped, leading her to a darkened flight of stairs. "This way."

He tightened his hold on her hand as he pulled her up the stairs, not stopping until they had climbed all four flights. Sandor pushed through the emergency exit door and led her onto the rooftop.

"I didn't know you could come up here," Sansa said when she realized where they were. "You can see the whole school from here."

Sandor had not brought her there for the view. He pulled her into a shadowed corner, pushing her back against the wall as he stood in front of her, barely an inch between them.

"What's going on, Sandor?" Sansa looked up at him questioningly, surprised.

"Don't talk," he said, and dropped his mouth to hers.

He kissed her hard and roughly, forcing her lips apart with the pressure of his own so that he could slide his tongue between her teeth. She inhaled sharply and moaned against his mouth. He wedged a knee between her thighs, trapping her against the hard concrete behind her and the solid wall of his chest. His hands were on her waist, possessively clutching at her hips, and after a moment of fumbling, he'd worked one hand under her sweater so that he could stroke the smooth skin of her back.

Sansa recovered from her surprise and wrapped her arms around his neck so she could pull him closer to her, making him distinctly aware of the heat between her legs that he could feel on the top of his thigh. Sandor wanted more, and he made short work of the clasp on her bra. Once the lacy material had sprung apart, he worked his second hand into her sweater and cupped one breast in the palm of his hand. He squeezed her and stroked her, feeling her shiver and tremble under his touch. First her left breast, then her right, he molded his palm and fingers over her soft flesh so that he had memorized the texture of her skin, their shape, and their weight in his hand by the time he pulled his head back for a breath.

"What's gotten into you?" Sansa managed to say as she too caught her breath.

Instead of answering, he lifted her and pinned her to the wall so that she was left with no other option but to wrap her legs around his waist. Her eyes were wide, with a twinkle of excitement in their blue depths. Sandor's grey eyes locked on her face as he pushed her sweater up over her chest, bunching it under her chin, watching the change in her expressions. Her breasts, when he saw them for the first time, were fuller than he'd first thought, creamy pale and tipped with rosy nipples that were taught from his stimulation. Now, they tightened even further from being exposed to the cool air, and his gaze. He drew his thumb over one pebbled peak, and watched her eyelashes flutter shut before he lowered his mouth over her.

"Oh, gods…" Sansa whispered above his head, reflexively arching her back in response, pushing her breasts into his face.

He hoisted her higher upon the wall so that he could take her other breast into his mouth, and Sansa tightened her legs around his waist and lifted her chest obligingly. He flicked his tongue over her, marveling at the contrast between her soft flesh and turgid nipple. She smelled sweet like oranges and candy, and she was burning up under his hands.

"Sandor…" Sansa's breath had become ragged, and her fingers were tightening reflexively where they clung to his shoulders.

He needed to touch her. He wanted to erase the images of another guy's hands on her body and replace them with images of himself kissing her, caressing her and engulfing her. He wanted to observe her reactions while he did these things to her so that he could imprint these images into his mind knowing that she was sighing because of him and fluttering her eyes and parting her lips because of him. He wanted to memorize the sound of her voice her calling out his name as he devoured and dominated her in the most explicit ways possible.

He eventually ceased his onslaught on her breasts when her nipples became swollen, and he began a new attack along her jaw, the sensitive skin of her neck, and her collarbone. He'd had a hard-on from the moment he'd pinned her to the wall, and he now ground himself against her as he wrapped his arms under her thighs. Sansa responded by grinding back.

"Fuck! Little bird…" he growled into the crook of her neck, "you're mine, right?"

"Yes," she murmured, "I'm all yours."

Sansa turned his head so that she could kiss him on his mouth, before pushing herself into him in an instinctively intimate motion, slowly repeating the movement again and again so that the friction between them became almost too much to bear. He had sought her out with only two things on his mind; possession and lust. He'd taken her to the rooftop to prove to himself that he could – that he now had the privilege of being able to take her into his arms whenever he wanted to, and kiss her as often as he wanted. However, things had escalated faster and further than he'd intended, and now he was worked up almost to the point where he wouldn't be able to turn back.

He broke the kiss reluctantly and grabbed her hips to stop her movement, pressing his forehead against her.

"We have to stop," he rasped.

Sansa placed her palms against his chest, and he knew that she'd be able to feel the rapid beating of his heart.

"Yeah, we should," she whispered, shifting in his arms in a way that brought his attention back to her still bared breasts.

He groaned audibly. "We're at school."

"So we are." She agreed with a smile playing across her lips. "Are you going to put me down?"

"Sorry." Sandor carefully set her back onto the floor.

"I wasn't complaining," Sansa said as she began pulling her clothes into order, reaching behind her to re-clasp her bra. "What is this place anyway?"

"It's the old science wing," Sandor replied, smoothing his jacket down around his waist. "Since the new wing was built this place has been used mostly for storage. Hardly anyone ever comes this way."

"How did you know about this rooftop?"

"Found it by accident when I was a Sophomore." He shrugged. "Teacher asked me to grab some beakers from the store room, and I was on my way back when I heard a door slamming open and shut. I went looking, and found the emergency door unlocked. I figured couples must come up here to make out, and someone had left the door open."

Sansa giggled. "Really? That was the first conclusion you jumped to?"

He shrugged again. "It's as good as any."

"So…have you been here to test out your theory before?"

He gave her a serious look. "I've never brought anyone here but you."

Sansa's expression turned serious then, and she gave him a questioning look. "What was all of that about, Sandor?"

He shook his head, not pretending to misunderstand her. He didn't want to tell her that he'd pinned her to the wall out of a jealousy fuelled lust. He didn't want to tell her that he'd undressed her and touched her in such an explicit way out of some primal need to possess her and mark her as his, to wipe away all trace and thought of anyone who had come before him. He couldn't tell her, because he didn't want to keep bringing up his insecurities. His jealousy was his problem, not hers, and he didn't want her to worry about it while he figured out how to deal with it.

"I…I needed you," he rasped in response.

"You needed me?" she repeated with a raised brow.

"Yeah," he said, because it was the truth. The rage had left him. "I'm calm, aren't I?"

"Okay," she said, "if you're sure?"

Sandor pulled her back into his arms, slowly this time, and gently. "I'm sure."

"You were kind of…insistent, Sandor."

Meaning I was too rough, he realized.

"I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked in alarm.

"No, I'm fine." She was quick to assure him. "I've just never seen you like that, and I…didn't dislike it."

Sandor snorted at her roundabout way of saying she'd been turned on. "Like I told you, little bird, I needed you. I've been holding back, and if you'd kept grinding on me like you were before, I'm not sure I could have held back much longer, just so you know."

"You wouldn't have let yourself lose control like that." Sansa stated. "We're at school and in public."

Sandor gave her his evilest grin, which froze her smile comically. "There's always a first time, little bird. You wanna try pushing my control to the limit? I'm game if you are."

Sansa blushed bright red, and he laughed. It was still hard for him to process that Sansa was there with him, allowing him to do things he'd only fantasized about…and simply just wanting him beside her too.

"Sansa," he said when their laughter had died down.

"Yeah?"

"You're…you're mine, right?" he asked her again.

She looked up into his eyes, clearly trying to find a deeper meaning to his question, but she smiled up at him regardless of what she saw in them.

"Completely," she replied.

Arya

It was nice to finally be back on good terms with her sister, she thought. Their relationship had returned, for the most part, to how things were before they had moved to King's Landing. They were talking candidly and unreservedly with each other as before, but now they had found a new respect for each other, for the first time really seeing each other as individuals. This development had not gone unnoticed within the Stark household.

"I see you've made up with Sansa." Bran observed one evening after dinner.

They were sitting at her desk in her room going through her math homework once again.

"You noticed, huh?"

"Everyone has." He pointed out. "Mother, Father, Jory…Chef Martin even."

"Yeah, okay. I get it."

"So, what happened? You'd both been edgy around each other for weeks."

"Do you really want to know?" Arya narrowed her eyes. "Or is it Mom and Dad that want to know and they've bribed you to find out somehow?"

Bran shrugged tellingly. "A bit of column A, and a bit of column B…"

"Hmm…" Arya considered her options, but gave him an inch in the end. "We just cleared up a few things about what happened with Joffrey and stuff, and we found most of our issues were just misunderstandings."

"That's it?" Bran looked disappointed.

"That's all you're getting." Arya clarified.

"Boring." Bran rolled his eyes before he went back to the math equation she was struggling with.

Arya was on her third equation, finally understanding where she was going wrong, when Bran posed another question for her.

"So, I hear you have a boyfriend now?"

"What?" Arya looked up, her pencil paused in mid-stroke.

"You're dating Jaqen H'ghar, right?" Bran asked her, "Sansa has a new boyfriend too, I heard."

"Who have you been talking to?"

"Mom,"

"What?"

"Mom didn't actually tell me, per se…" Bran grinned. "She was telling Dad."

"WHAT?" Arya exclaimed in shock.

"It's okay," her brother said in a placating tone, "Dad already knew."

"Oh, my god!" Arya dropped her face into her hands.

Bran was openly laughing at her now, enjoying her mortification far too much, Arya thought. It wasn't really that surprising that her parents had found out about their respective boyfriends, as neither Jaqen or Sandor had been discreet when they came to the gates of Chateau Maegor. There was a security camera directly above the pin-pad at the gate after all, and her father's right-hand-man, Jory Cassell, was good at his job.

"What did Mom and Dad say?" Arya demanded, wondering how she would approach the issue if her parents were to ask her about it.

"Well, Mom is a little concerned for you because you've never dated before, and Dad is wondering if you were actually friends with Sansa's new guy, because Jory says he'd seen you being picked up in that Mustang before."

"They know so much!"

"They didn't know about Jaqen being famous though," Bran told her.

"Why, and how did that enter the conversation?"

"Jaqen's dossier apparently only said he was in popular local band, so I showed Dad Jaqen's YouTube videos and his Facebook page and the coverage on the Battle of the Bands."

"Brandon Stark, why would you do that?" Arya threw a stuffed toy at him, which he caught easily, before she began launching more stuffed animals and pillows at him as he laughed and tried to defend himself.

"He was going to find out anyway!" Bran reasoned, dodging a stuffed panda. "At least this way Dad got to hear from me that Jaqen's a nice guy, because I've met him, and that even though he's a rock-star, he seems like a serious and responsible type."

Arya stopped throwing toys at her brother when his words registered. "Oh. You did that for me?"

Bran shrugged. "I did the same for Sansa, too."

"How?"

"I told dad that I'd overheard Robb and Jon talking about Sandor Clegane. You know, about how he was the one who protected Sansa during the riot?"

"Dad didn't know?"

"You knew?" Bran asked curiously.

Arya shrugged, but refused to be drawn into how she came to know about it.

Bran continued regardless. "It looks like Sansa didn't tell anyone because Robb and Jon were surprised that Sansa had stayed quiet about it. They were shocked that they had to hear about it from Renly Baratheon, who was there at the riot, and who was the one who drove Sansa home that day."

"I'm surprised she didn't say anything about Sandor earlier," Arya muttered.

Bran chuckled. "So was Dad!"

"Why would you do this for us, Bran?"

"Oh, I need someone to come with me to this symposium I want to attend."

"Ehh…" Arya grimaced, knowing very well what kind of symposiums Bran liked going to. "Who's the principal speaker this time?"

"Brynden Rivers."

"Is he that guy on TV that people refer to as The Three Eyed Raven? The guy who claims that anyone can awaken their third eye and unlock their mind's full potential?"

"That's him." Bran grinned.

"Ehh…"Arya made a sour face.

"Just think about it, okay?" Bran implored. "The symposium is still a few months away, so work it out between you and Sansa."

"Ehh…"

"At least now you don't have to tip-toe around Mom and Dad when your boyfriend picks you up for dates, or when your phone rings when you're at the table."

"Yeah…there is that." She agreed, looking at the positive.

"Want me to help pick up these toys now?"

"Please."

Sometime later that night after eventually completing her homework, Arya had just returned from her shower and was preparing to get into bed when her phone buzzed on her bedside table. Jaqen's name flashed on the screen along with a text.

"Still awake? Can I call you?"

Arya slid under her duvet and settled back against her pillows, happy to get his text, but also cautious. Their conversation from the previous evening had left a less than sweet note on her palate, as Jaqen had not been pleased to learn that Arya had attended the Brotherhood's show from reading Gossip Spyder's blog.

"Why did you not tell me about it?" he had asked. "You said that you were with your sister."

"I was," Arya had replied. "It was her idea to go, and I couldn't say no. I didn't think I needed to tell you my exact whereabouts."

Jaqen had paused. "Of course not. That is not what I meant, nor how I want you to feel."

"I know." Arya had sighed. "I didn't mean to be on the defensive either. It's just that I know how you feel about Gendry."

There had been a silence then, because both knew that the real issue was the fact he did not like that she'd gone to watch Gendry perform. It did not matter whose idea it was to go.

Arya had felt confused, following the odd behavior that both Sandor had Sansa had claimed she'd displayed that night. She couldn't explain why she'd made a point of introducing herself to Jazmine either. In the days that came after, Arya decided that she would put it down to concern. Gendry was in an emotionally vulnerable state at present, and she didn't like seeing girls potentially using that to get close to him. It's only because I'm worried for him.

"It is not easy for me to see my girlfriend spend time with a guy, who has claimed to have feelings for her," Jaqen had said.

Arya had sighed again. "All we did was watch from the audience, and we didn't stay long afterwards because we had to get back by curfew."

"You do not have to explain, Arya. I know you just wanted to support your friends…Gendry included."

Jaqen had relaxed and had then changed the topic, telling her about his meeting with the producer. However, Arya had remained sensitive to his jealousy since.

Still wary of his jealousy, Arya now texted him back. "Video chat?"

Her phone buzzed mere seconds later, and Jaqen's face soon filled her screen, smiling at her.

"Good evening," he greeted her, his voice husky.

"Good evening, Jaqen." Arya said, relaxing at the sight of his smile and noticing that he was also in bed doing much the same as she was – leaning against his pillows – but somehow he was making it look sexy in a way she knew she never could.

Jaqen's long hair was loose about his shoulders, but had been pushed back away from his face. He was also shirtless, and within the frame of her phone screen she observed the lines of his broad shoulders and toned chest, thinking of the last time they had been together and recalling how she'd ran her hands over that same expanse of skin.

"I miss you," Jaqen murmured in that buttery, molten caramel tone she'd become familiar with. "It has been four days since you were here on my bed, and your scent has almost faded from my pillow."

"I miss you too," she said as memories of what they'd been doing on his bed flashed through her mind, and Arya's cheeks flushed pink.

"When can I see you again?"

"How about Friday?" she suggested, "I can ask my parents to extend my curfew."

"Excellent." Jaqen grinned. "Where should we meet?"

They talked for a while longer, agreeing on a meeting time and place for Friday, before they spoke of each other's day at school. Jaqen, being a senior, was still in the process of deciding which college to attend, but was being asked by his uncle to consider attending the Baelor Conservatorium of Music. Arya told him about her struggles with math and Bran tutoring her, but she chose not to tell Jaqen that her parents were aware of his existence. She was not ready to introduce him to her parents, and she suspected that Jaqen would insist on meeting her father were he to find out about the dossier Jory had compiled on him, just so he could personally assure her father that he was no threat to her.

Arya covered a yawn, and Jaqen mentioned that it was quite late. "Get some sleep, Arya."

"I will," she said tiredly. "You get some sleep too."

"I shall." Jaqen then made a cheeky expression. "Might I ask something of you, lovely girl? So that I might have sweet dreams tonight."

"What's that?"

"What color is the bra you are wearing now?"

Arya managed to look suitably scandalized, before she drew down one side of the loose sleep shirt she was wearing, far enough down her arm to expose one bare shoulder and the curve of her breast.

"I'm not wearing one," she whispered, watching Jaqen's face take on a tortured look.

"What about your panties?"

She gave him a mock-glare. "Goodnight, Jaqen."

Jaqen laughed, suitably chastised. "Why must you be so far away? I do not know that I can wait until Friday!"

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," Arya told him.

"Will you tell me what color panties you will be wearing tomorrow?"

"Maybe I won't wear any…" Arya shrugged. "Maybe I'm not wearing any now."

Jaqen gasped and his eyes widened at her reply. "Lies! You tease too much! How will I sleep now with that image in my head?"

"Goodnight, Jaqen." Arya said again, smothering her laughter.

"All right." Jaqen acquiesced. "Goodnight, my lovely girl."

With a lingering smile on her lips, Arya ended the call and placed her phone back onto her bedside table, switching off her lamp before settling down to sleep as the room was engulfed in darkness. She had barely closed her eyes when her phone buzzed once more, having received a text. Arya smiled again. It was probably Jaqen sending yet another cheeky and altogether cheesy comment, and she reached for the phone in the dark.

Except it wasn't Jaqen, and her smile froze on her lips when she read the name on screen, because the text had come from Gendry. Warily and curiously, she read the message.

"I called Davos Seaworth. I'm going to meet Stannis Baratheon. Can I speak to you tomorrow? I know it's really late. Sorry to wake you if I did."

She frowned. This was a big deal. Gendry would not have messaged her if it wasn't, and replied back to him. "Sure. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight, Gendry."

"Thanks. Goodnight, Arya."

She dreamt of Gendry that night. She dreamt of his muscular arms wrapped around a petite girl with dark hair. The girl was stroking his shoulders and tracing the bull's head tattoo on his bicep with the tips of her fingers. The girl in his arms however, did not have the face of the stunning Asian girl. Instead, the face had been her own.

She woke up frowning the next morning, unnerved by the dream, and despite getting adequate sleep she was still tired. Wondering if she had also just dreamt about Gendry's text message, she picked up her phone and checked her messages, finding that it was real, with the words written there as evidence.

Her phone buzzed in her hand as she was still staring at the words, startling her when a new message from Gendry flashed onto the screen.

"Do you need a ride to school? We can talk then."

She sensed some urgency from him then, because he wouldn't have disturbed her so late at night, or this early in the morning otherwise.

"Okay, I'll be ready in an hour."

"PIN code still the same? I'll come to your door."

"Yep. See you soon."

Trying to shake the memory of the dream from her mind and the discomfiture it had left her with, Arya showered and dressed. She was feeling strangely nervous, wondering why Gendry was seeking her out. She must have been too quiet at breakfast, because even her father was prompted to ask if she was okay.

"You're awfully quiet this morning, Arya. Anything the matter?" he asked.

"Oh, it's nothing really," she replied. "I'm still sleepy, I guess."

"You're not staying up on your phone all night, I hope?"

"No, father,"

"Hmm." He shrugged. "Am I driving you to school this morning?"

"Actually, Gendry is coming to pick me up."

Sansa flashed her a look then, but Arya ignored her.

"How is Gendry?" her father asked, a look of concern on his features. "I worry that he might not be getting the support he needs at this time."

"How do you mean, Ned?" Catelyn asked, her face mirroring Ned's concern. "Is Robert doing nothing?"

"I don't know because Robert refuses to be drawn into it. The Lannisters are furious, as you can imagine, but I had hoped that Robert would put aside his family's anger long enough to do more for Gendry and his foster-family. All this media attention can't be doing them good. I hate to think that Robert's sense of responsibility for the boy was limited only to financial support."

"What can you do about it?" Catelyn prompted him, seeing the cogs working in his mind.

"I'm going to offer him my assistance," Ned replied, "Robert will probably disagree with me, but it seems wrong to leave the poor boy and his foster-family to deal with the fallout all on their own."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Cat's expression had become thoughtful.

"I'm not about to overstep my bounds, Cat." Ned assured her. "I'm just going to extend him my hand and the choice is his to take it, should and when he needs it – Arya, please ask him to come inside for a moment when he gets here."

That's what Arya did. She was waiting for Gendry at the door when he drove up to the house and she quickly jogged to the driver's side window.

Gendry wound it down on her approach. "Hey. What's the matter?"

"Hi," she greeted him, "my father would like to speak with you. If you don't mind, can you come in please?"

"Did he say why?" Gendry asked, even as he parked his car to the side and killed the engine.

"He said he'd like to offer you his assistance," Arya replied, leading him into the foyer just as her father came out to greet him.

"Good morning, Gendry. Good to see you again." Ned held out a hand which Gendry grasped in a firm handshake.

"Good morning, Mr. Stark."

"I was hoping we might speak for a moment." Ned glanced at Arya. "I gather Arya has told you why?"

"Yes, sir. Of course,"

"Good. If you'll follow me to my office…Arya, just wait a while. We won't be long."

Gendry paused to glance at Arya as he followed her father down the hall. Arya sat down on the lowest step of the grand staircase in the foyer, wondering what her father and Gendry were discussing that they couldn't say in front of her. As she waited, the rest of her family began to depart for the day. First, her mother and brothers.

"Do mind the time, Arya." Her mother advised in passing. "Interrupt if need be, and don't be late to school."

Soon after, Arya heard the familiar rumble of Sandor's Mustang, followed shortly by Sansa's soft treads on the staircase behind her.

"Is father still with Gendry?" Sansa asked in hushed tones.

"Yep."

"Why is Gendry picking you up anyway?" Sansa slung her tote bag over her shoulder and gazed at her with undisguised nosiness.

"He said he wanted to talk to me."

"Very cryptic," Sansa said before opening the door to meet Sandor.

Arya glimpsed Sandor's face through the opened door, and on seeing his expression, she gave him the middle finger in response to his raised eyebrow and pointed glances at Gendry's car. Sansa tsked and shut the door.

Ten minutes later her father and Gendry finally returned to the foyer. Arya got up and picked her backpack up from the floor, ready to leave.

"Thank you for your time, Gendry, and please keep in mind what I said."

"I will, and thank you, Mr. Stark. This is unexpected, but greatly appreciated."

"And, about what we discussed, I'm sure Arya will give you her full support…won't you, sweetheart?"

"Sure," Arya agreed obediently.

"Good. Let me know how it goes, Gendry." Ned then excused himself to prepare for work. "Have a nice day, both of you, and take care on your way to school."

Waving at her father, Arya and Gendry set off for school. Arya sensed an excited tension about Gendry, but he did not begin to speak until they were on the Expressway.

"Your father is a good man," he said, "I never expected he'd be so generous towards me, considering he barely knows me. I don't think he offered to help me because I'm his best friend's illegitimate son either."

"Yes. My father is a good man," Arya agreed.

"You're lucky to have him as your father," Gendry said with a sigh. "I guess I can be thankful for one thing about being Robert Baratheon's bastard."

"What's that?"

"He's filthy rich, and he's not stingy about his money," Gendry replied with a wry grin. "I could have been the bastard of some dirt-poor asshole, but somehow I was born to an asshole with money."

"Is that what you call looking at the bright side, Gendry?"

"I have to, don't I?" he laughed hollowly. "You know, I almost gave all the money back at one point? That's how much I didn't want anything to do with them, but I thought about Tobho, Ellen, Toby and Tabitha, and I couldn't make them go back to the life we left in Flea Bottom…so, I'm gonna stick this out, whatever happens."

There was steel in his voice, and Arya wondered what had happened.

"What made you change your mind about meeting Stannis Baratheon?"

"I had a talk with Ellen and Tobho, and I learned of a few things that Ellen was worrying about."

Briefly, Gendry told her about them.

"She's worried about people judging you, and that you won't fit in with other rich people?"

"It's a valid concern Arya." Gendry glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "What is it that you rich kids know, that us Flea Bottom rats don't?"

Arya gaped at him, flabbergasted that he had likened himself to a rat. "I don't know. I mean, how would I know?"

"Exactly," Gendry huffed. "You've been raised doing what all rich kids do, and you don't even realize you do these things. I want to find out what that is."

"It's that important to you?"

"Nah, I don't give a shit about these things, but I'm doing it for Ellen's sake. I don't want her feelings being hurt when she hears how I'm being compared to my pedigreed half-siblings. She's been my mom for seven years, and even after I'm legally emancipated, I'll still think of her like my mom."

"Where does Stannis come into it?"

"I'm hoping to kill two birds with one stone," he replied, "or something like that. I figured that if I'm going to learn to walk and talk like I've been raised by rich folks all my life, I may as well learn it from the folks that would have raised me…my own family, you know? Stannis apparently wants me to learn what it means to be of Baratheon blood, so I'll learn everything I can about my blood. When I'm done, I'll use everything I've learned not to become just like them, but to be better than all of them."

His answer stunned her, not because of what he had said, but because of the many emotions she heard in his voice. There was anger most definitely, but also sadness, bitterness…and a determination she'd never seen in him before. Gendry meant every word he had said.

"Why did you want to talk to me?" she finally asked him.

"Because I wanted to ask a favor from you."

"Which is?"

"Come with me." Gendry looked at her, taking his eye from the road for a second. "When I go to meet Stannis, I really would like it if you came with me. Please?"

"Is this what my father was talking about? This is what he meant when he said I'd support you?"

"It is." Gendry nodded. "I told him about Davos approaching me, and about Stannis, because your father was kind enough to offer me his help, and I realized that I couldn't repay his kindness by dragging his daughter into my business without his knowledge. I meant to talk to you about it before anything else, but your father got to me first."

"You told my father you wanted me to go with you to meet Stannis, and he was okay with that?"

"Ahuh," he confirmed. "It works out better actually. I want you to come with me because I don't want to go alone, and I can't trust anyone else. Your father pointed out that your presence would encourage…would ensure, that Stannis plays it straight."

Arya thought about it for a moment and saw the logic behind her father's thinking.

"Okay," she said, "I'll come with you."

"You will?"

"Yeah, I will."

"That's great! Thank you, Arya."

Arya smiled at the relief she heard in his voice. "When are you going to meet him?"

"Tomorrow," Gendry replied, "Friday evening."

"Friday night, huh?" Arya repeated, a sinking feeling suddenly forming in her stomach.

"Yeah. Is that gonna be a problem?" Gendry shot her a look. A hopeful look. A desperate look.

Arya's stomach sank to the soles of her feet.

"No…it's not a problem."