Chapter 26: Gendry

Gendry found it highly amusing how few people recognized him now that he had a beard. Former students, former classmates, even some former professors, all of their eyes moved past him as though he were just any old student on campus.

It was oddly freeing, especially on days like today, days when he remembered a little too well the sound of his mother's laugh.

She'd been dead for over a month now. Time seemed to have moved so fast. And, what made him feel the worst about it was how easy it was to forget.

As much as he had loved his mother, he had been terrible at keeping in touch with her while he was in Oldtown. His pattern, his habit, rarely incorporated calling her, or shooting her an email and, after his initial horror, his initial pain, it was easy for him to act as he had once. Easy to convince himself that she was still in King's Landing, working at her bar.

Only sudden shocks would make him remember—someone who had the same stride as his mother, or the same color hair. And whenever those sudden shocks happened, he did two things.

The first was text Arya—who would respond as quickly as she could. The second was sit on a bench outside, peoplewatch until he felt calm again, and remind himself how proud he was that he quit smoking when he was a second year undergraduate.

Arya Stark: I have fencing. Will you be home after, or still around campus? I'll find you after.

Gendry Waters: I'll let you know if I leave. I'm sitting on the main quad right now.

He watched the sunset. He liked that the days were noticeably longer now.

"I don't know what she sees in you. But then again, I suppose she'll fuck anyone at this point, the little slut."

"Oh really. She hasn't fucked you."

Gendry glanced up. He recognized Ned Dayne's voice, but had never heard the younger man sound so angry. Indeed, from what he'd been able to gather from Arya and even from Sansa, it would take something of pure evil to raise his temper.

Ned stood face to face with another boy whose face Gendry couldn't quite see. They were nearly the same height, though Ned was slightly thinner and slightly taller. Both had blonde hair, and from what Gendry could see from the other boy's posture, their muscles were both tensed, as though they were about to try and beat the crap out of one another.

"Oh, but she has. And she will again. You think she won't?"

Gendry recognized that voice from the election campaign a few years ago. He was talking to Joffrey Baratheon.

That explained it.

"She has? Lately? After you kicked the shit out of her?"

"I never kicked the shit out of her."

"That's avoiding the question."

"No. Not since. But she will. I'll make her."

"Make her?"

"Oh yes."

Gendry watched as Ned Dayne whirled around. They were about ten feet away from him and he was quite convinced that neither of them had noticed him.

"What do you mean, make her?"

Joffrey sneered. "What do you think I mean? I'm going to make her come back to me, and then I'll fuck her again. Hard too. She'll scream."

"I'm pretty sure," Ned took a step towards Joffrey, "that she doesn't want anything to do with you. I'm pretty sure, actually, that there's nothing you can do to make her go back to you. Short of physical abuse, which will get your ass out of here so fast—" Joffrey's fist flew towards Ned's face, and Ned caught it casually. "Also, I'm a fencer. You think I don't know how to tell when you're going to move your arm? Honestly." Gendry saw Joffrey's eyes widen, and he was pretty sure that Ned's grip had tightened.

"I'll make her come back to me. I'll make her beg to come back to me. You wait and see. And if she doesn't she'll regret it. I'll make her regret it."

"How, stripping her down and beating her again?"

"Worse." Joffrey's voice was black, and Gendry was on his feet without realizing it.

To his surprise, Ned chuckled. He froze.

Joffrey's eyes narrowed. "What?" he demanded.

"Well, my aunt liked to complain about smartphones when they first came onto the market. She didn't like that people could always reach you through email. And who needs a camera all the time? But they have their uses." He dropped Joffrey's fist and casually reached into his pocket. He pulled out his phone and tapped the screen. "Voice memos, for example. Good for recording a lecture you don't want to pay attention to, or someone threatening physical violence. This," he waved the phone casually in Joffrey's face, "syncs automatically to a cloud account. If case the phone disappears, I don't lose the data on it. Useful, I think. Because you could steal this right now, or break it in my hand, and I'd still have everything you've said to me for the past twenty minutes.

"You aren't going to touch Sansa. You're not going to send your goons after her. Or believe me, you will pay."

Gendry moved slowly back to the bench, riveted.

Joffrey's face was ugly with rage.

After a moment, he said, "I see what you're doing."

"Glad you're not an idiot then. Might actually let you finish your education."

"You're going to tell her about this. You're going to tell her that you've saved her and then she'll have to pay you back somehow. You're not betterthan me, or whatever the fuck you think you are. You're trying to manipulate her."

Ned raised his eyebrows, and his voice was so cold that Gendry could scarcely believe that it was him speaking. "Don't you see? It's never been about wanting to fuck her, you vile piece of shit. But you're too blind to see that." Ned turned and said over his shoulder, "Stay the fuck away from her." And he strode away briskly, his hands balled into fists.

Joffrey stood very still for a moment or two, then he spat harshly on the ground and turned in the opposite direction.

Gendry was glued to the bench, his mind reeling.

His immediate reaction was that he needed to tell Arya. Now. So that she could sic the fencing team on Joffrey, just in case he wasn't fully bound by Ned's threats.

But that might put in jeopardy those plans, a possibility that was just as dangerous.

He remembered Sansa's face when he had found her in December, horrified and panicking. And he realized what he had to do.

Gendry Waters: Not staying on campus. Will either be at home or your place.

He grabbed his bicycle and rode as quickly as he could over to the Arya's house. He grabbed the spare key that they had hidden in the sideboards of the porch and let himself in.

"Hello," he called.

"Hi," called Roslin from the kitchen. "Arya's at practice."

"I know that. I'm actually looking for Sansa. Is she here?"

"Upstairs, maybe?"

He took the stairs three at a time and knocked on the door. When Sansa bade him enter, he pushed the door open.

Sansa was sitting on the floor, papers spread around her.

"Hello," she smiled up at him. "Haven't seen you lately. Everything ok?"

"Yeah. I…Can I sit?"

"Sure? What's wrong?"

"I don't really know…I feel I should tell you…" he took a deep breath. "I don't really know if I should be telling you this. Don't freak out on me."

She stared at him blankly, then, hesitatingly, "Spit it out."

He told her everything.

Her face was motionless, and about halfway through she closed her eyes. When he was done telling, she said nothing. She just breathed in and out and in and out, her eyes closed and her face blank.

"So he was planning something then."

"I guess so, yes," replied Gendry, as gently as he could manage.

"And he actually told Ned about it?"

"To some extent, apparently."

Sansa's eyes opened, and, to Gendry's surprise, they were thoughtful. Then, her expression changed and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm not about to go nuts on you again, Gendry. You can stop looking like a concerned chicken."

"Chicken?" sputtered Gendry.

"Well…bearded chicken." She winked. Then her expression grew thoughtful again. "I was just thinking—it's strange how much of a relief this is."

"A relief?" Gendry was astonished. All right, maybe not astonished, but somewhere just short of there.

"Yes. I've been spending so much of the semester trying to distract myself, trying not to think about Joff being back. But he is, and I think I was nervous that he was just pretending like nothing had happened."

"Sound's like he's pretty hung up on it."

"He should be. He's a gross human being. He should be hung up on it."

"I don't think he's hung up on it in that way. I think he's angry to have been caught, Sansa."

"Yes. I know. That's what I mean. He needs to know that he can't get away with that. He needs to know that no one thinks that its ok, and that if he tries it again, anywhere, someone will stand up to him. Even if he thinks they won't, they will.

"He's a bully, Gendry. Bully's only respond to strength."

"I don't think that means he will never do it again."

A shadow passed over her face. "The truth is, he probably will. And he may come after me again, when we're out of here, or something. I don't know. But," she bit her lip, "he knows I am not alone this time. That there are people who will take care of me."

"Didn't Robb take care of you? Theon?" Gendry asked before he could stop himself.

"I didn't tell them until after the fact, so they couldn't. But my family knows now. And Arya'd kill him if he tried to touch me. And…And even if Ned's not there to defend me, I'll always tell other people. I don't want to hide it from them. I did nothing to be ashamed of. Joffrey did. So they should make him ashamed of it."

They sat in silence for a while. Then Sansa spoke again. "Let me tell Arya."

"You got it."

"You know—I wonder…"

"Yes?" prompted Gendry.

And her eyes were light. Gendry didn't think he'd ever seen her eyes light before. It served such a stark contrast from when he had found her last December.

"I…I wonder why he did it. Ned, I mean. I…" and she blushed.

Gendry raised an eyebrow.

"You know, I'm not party to your Girl's Night conversations, nor do I want to be, so either spit it out or keep it in. Don't leave me hanging like this. That's rude."

Sansa rolled her eyes again. "I just wondered if he did it because he liked me, or because he is just my friend."

Gendry shrugged. "I can pretty honestly say I have no idea."

Sansa snorted.

"I suppose that's true."

"Yep."

"You're not as fun to girl-talk with as Roslin, you know."

"Good."

And Sansa burst out laughing. "Sorry," she gasped, choking on laughter, trying to hid her smile behind a hand. "You just had such an Arya expression on your face."

It was Gendry's turn to roll his eyes, and Sansa positively keeled over laughing.

When she settled slightly, Gendry asked, "Are you going to be all right?"

The smile disappeared from her eyes, but her jaw was set in a way that he recognized instantly. It was Arya's stubborn face, and the look that Jon got when he was trying to convince Aurane that pants would really be a good idea.

"Yes." Her voice was even and her expression steely. "And gods save him if I'm not."

Goose bumps erupted over Gendry's forearms.

She took a deep breath and stood up. "I'm going to go for a walk," she announced. "And before you ask if I'll be safe—because I know you are—I'm always safe when I walk alone at night. I know how to do that now."

Gendry followed her out of her room and waved goodbye to her.

He then he walked down the hallway to Arya's room and pushed open the door.

It was a mess. That made him smile. He sat down on her bed and ran his fingers over the bright green comforter. Then he sent her a text.

Gendry Waters: Am at yours.

Then he lay down on the bed that smelled so much like Arya it made his heart race and stared at the ceiling, waiting for her.