Joffrey stared at his cellphone for a few minutes before his brain actually worked. Physically numb by the day's events which involved wall climbing and a round of drinks with the guys afterwards, his mind couldn't properly register the words he just heard from his voicemail.

"We've been contacting you all but couldn't get through. Ramsay Bolton is out of jail. Tell the Starks and Theon. Arya might be in danger. Best not to tell Gendry yet. I'll be the one to tell him."

He knew why his father wanted to be the one to tell his brother and he understood why he wanted to be the one to do it. Gendry was almost always impulsive and illogical where Arya was concerned. Besides, he didn't want to be the one to bring him the bad news. He knows how Gendry gets when it comes to people he loves.

With a deep sigh and a pounding heart, he padded barefoot across his hotel room and walked out of the door without even a thought to what he was wearing. Worn jogging pants, a shirt and sans footwear, he walked towards the room across his and knocked. Hearing Robb's sharp reply, Joffrey turned the knob with slightly shaking hands and stepped in. He was surprised to find both Jon and Theon in the room, too, and was secretly relieved that it would be hitting three birds with one stone.

"So…I got a call from my dad…" Joffrey started.

He got cut off by Robb. "Let me guess…Ramsay?"

Joffrey closed his eyes and muttered a curse. "Oh thank god you already know. I didn't even know how I'd tell you all."

"How is that prick out of jail? He can't be out here after what he almost did to Arya," Theon said in all frustration. "How the fuck did he get out anyway?"

"You do know that he's the son of Roose Bolton, right?" Jon said in reply. "And Roose Bolton has contacts all over. I don't think we even have to ask how or why."

"That's fucked up reasoning," Theon said. "But totally logical, given the circumstances."

"Okay, right now, we need to stop asking the hows or whys of Bolton being out of jail, because we have more pressing matters to think about, like Arya," Robb said, raking his fingers through his dark curls. "I swear to god if he does anything to get back at us…"

"Does Gendry even know about this?" Jon asked Joffrey, who in reply shook his head.

"Dad said he'd do it. Honestly, I was relieved because I didn't want to be the one to do it."

"Good," Jon said. "He's got school stuff to think about and right now, getting him all worked up about Arya won't do him good. Won't do anyone good," Jon said, correcting himself.

"We just need to call Arya so she knows she has to constantly be on her toes," Robb added. "She's at this party with Edric, right?" he said, grabbing his phone and started punching numbers.

They all waited in silence as Robb tried Arya's number. After several failed attempts, Robb chucked his phone on the bed in frustration. "Voicemail. Her battery's probably dead."

"Okay," Joffrey said, rubbing the back of his neck in a distracted manner. "Nobody should panic at this moment. There's still time to tell her tomorrow. It's not as if Ramsay would make an unexpected appearance at the party, right?"

The rest of them nodded half-heartedly, weighing Joffrey's words and finally seeing the logic to it. "Alright," Robb agreed. "Let's get some rest tonight, then I'm calling her again first thing tomorrow."

Arya's heart jumped to her throat when she came face to face with him.

"Sandor! Oh my god, how are you?" she said, giving him an awkward side-hug that surprised him.

Sandor's face was beet red when Arya let go shortly after. "I'm good. I transferred to another university, in case you didn't know."

Arya smiled. "Oh, of course I do. Sansa told me about it."

Sandor's face turned even more red. "Yeah…we've stayed in contact after she went back to the Vale. Well, I'm sure you know about it."

Arya laughed this time. "Of course. Nothing gets past me."

Sandor looked like he wanted to bolt out of there.

Arya's eyes widened. "No! I mean, I didn't mean nothing gets past me in the everything sense. I just meant my sister tells me stuff she wants me to know. No, wait…I mean she'd probably want me to know if you and her are still in contact, but I just meant she doesn't tell me stuff that she…I'm babbling right now, am I?"

Sandor gave out a deep, booming laugh. "It's okay, Arya. I understand what you're trying to say."

Arya smacked her forehead with her palm. "I feel stupid!"

Sandor lightly touched her arm. "It's okay, Arya. No need to feel stupid." Looking around and seeing a whole new set of faces, he said," I've seen these faces before but I don't know them, really. I know two of the guys here, so I'm wondering why you're here without the others?"

Arya figured that by others, he meant her brothers, her cousin and the Baratheons. "They went to The Wall, but Gendry's out of town for a project. They'll be back tomorrow, in case you want to drop by the house."

Sandor nodded. "Yeah, I could do that."

"I'll let the guys know!"

Sandor looked around and raised a hand to his friend from across the room. "I have to go, but I'll drop by tomorrow to see the guys. It was nice running into you."

Arya smiled. "You too, Sandor. Don't be a stranger!"

He turned to leave when he must have remembered something, turning right back around to face her. "Do you have a ride home? I can drive you back to the house in case you need it."

Arya shook her head. "No! Thanks for the offer, though. Gendry lent me his car so I'm good getting home tonight."

Despite the reassurance, he was still sporting a frown. "Will you be okay to drive home? You haven't had a drink, have you?"

Arya put up a hand, her index finger and thumb inches apart as if to show him how little she has had to drink. "I just had a teeny tiny drink but nothing to worry about. I'm good to drive home."

Sandor nodded once again. "Okay, but let me know once you've arrived safely at home. I don't really feel like getting ripped apart by your brothers and your wolves in case something happens to you…"

"Hey! It's all good! If I were incapable of driving myself home, I wouldn't even be standing here talking to you."

Sandor laughed at that. "You have a point there. Okay, I'll see you tomorrow, Arya."

With that he left a second time, but Arya felt good about seeing him there. Sandor is one of the types she wouldn't normally hang out with, but considering he's a friend of her brothers and her boyfriend and now Sansa's he's surpassed all the friendship tests she would have put out for him.

"You're friends with Clegane?" Edric asked, looking from the guy to Arya, a smile spreading across his face.

"Yes. He's friends with my brothers and the Baratheons. He's pretty cool, if you ask me," Arya replied with a grin.

Edric glanced at his watch. "It's almost half past one. Do you want me to follow you home? I could tail your car until you reach home safely."

Arya rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine. It's not as if I haven't driven myself to and from somewhere."

"Okay. But make sure you call me…or text…once you're home. I don't want Gendry chopping my head off for not taking care of you."

Arya sighed in exasperation. "Gendry's not going to be doing anything to anyone because he's not here and he's not the boss of me."

Edric raised both hands in surrender. "I can see that. Alright…drive safely."

It was past 2 am when Sandor got home. Pulling to a stop at his driveway, he turned the engine off and was about to step out when his cellphone rang. Glancing at the unregistered number on the screen, he answered the call warily and was given the surprise of his life.

"I saw you talking to the Stark bitch, you asshole."

Sandor ran his hands across his hair, squeezing his eyes shut as he suddenly felt the panic start to rise.

"Are you spying on me?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Fuck off."

"No, I will fuck your life ten times over, you hear me? You know what they say in prison? That it toughens you up, no matter how long or short your stay was? You will all pay for putting me in there."

"You deserved to be in there. And you still deserve to be in there, bro."

"Don't call me that. You and me? We're not bros. So watch your back, Clegane. I'll fuck your life over, and then Greyjoy's, the Starks and the Baratheons."

"You're not going to get away with this," Sandor said gruffly, although his heart was pounding so hard in his chest.

"No, wait. I'll fuck you over first and then Greyjoy, and then I'll let the Starks and Baratheons watch as I literally fuck that Stark bitch from here to the seven hells. Watch. Your. Back."

The phone line died before Sandor could say anything else. He saved the number on his phone, before getting out of the car quickly. He needed to let his friends know, and they needed to know about this quickly.

Arya woke up to a wet tongue licking the side of her face. With eyes still closed, she blindly reached out to her pet and rubbed behind her ears, hearing her soft growl. With much effort, she rolled over and peered at her bedside clock, groaning when she saw that it was only half past 7. With muttered curse, she buried her head under her pillow and purred as she buried herself deeper into the duvet.

"Good morning, sleepyhead."

Arya sat up immediately, the blood rushing to her head making her cry out in pain. With one eye open, she found Gendry half sitting-half lying beside her on the bed, his arms crossed over his chest and a stupid grin plastered on his face. Arya grabbed one of the pillows and smacked him with it, making him yelp in protest.

"Hey! Watch the face!"

Arya hit him again, not one bit sorry that the pillow went straight to his face.

"Arya!"

"Well you deserve it! You scared the hell out of me, you idiot!"

Gendry rolled his eyes. "Can you just decide whether to call me stupid or an idiot because it can get confusing."

He got another smack for that.

"Okay! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I won't scare you like that ever again!"

"Good!" Arya exclaimed. "Now get out. It's too early to annoy me."

Instead of leaving, his hands went to her waist, pulling her on top of him and nuzzling the side of her neck with kisses.

"Mmm…you smell so good."

"Gen…"

"Sshh. My morning hard-on's very hard right now…" he said as he kept sucking on the skin of her neck, making Arya laugh softly.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

They both froze, their breaths stopping for a moment as they waited in bated breath who comes visiting Arya so early in the morning.

"Arya? Honey, can I come in?"

Arya's instinct was to push Gendry off her bed, making him fall over the edge with a loud thump.

"Hon, are you alright? Can I come in?"

Gendry glared at her as he rubbed his ass. "What did you do that for?" he hissed.

Arya widened her eyes in warning. "It's your mother!" she hissed back. "Get under the bed!"

Gendry glared at her. "I'm not getting in there!"

"Arya? I'm coming in, okay?."

"Under! Now!"

"No!"

The door opened and in comes Cersei, seemingly dressed and ready to go. Without thought, Arya shoved Gendry's head lower, just to make sure he wouldn't be seen. Thankfully, he didn't protest any further and slinked under the bed.

"Good morning, honey," Cersei said, a sad smile on her face. "We just got in this morning, and unfortunately, I bring bad news for everyone."

Arya frowned. "What bad news?"

Cersei sat on the desk chair right across the bed, staring at Arya with sad eyes. "There's a bit of a problem with the Boltons."

"Dad already told us."

"Yes, but it's a whole different kind of problem."

"Should I be scared?"

Cersei chose not to directly answer the question, and instead, went straight on to explaining. "We got word from some contacts that Ramsay Bolton is out and about."

"But the fucker's in jail! How can he be out and about?"

Cersei and Arya were both startled at Gendry's sudden outburst. He emerged from under the bed, his face sporting a dark scowl that looked like he was about to murder someone.

"What are you doing under the bed?" Cersei asked in surprise.

"Stupid!" Arya muttered loud enough for everyone to hear.

Gendry ignored their reactions and went back to demanding an explanation. "Mom, what do you mean Bolton's out and about? When did he get out of jail?"

"Roose has money and contacts powerful enough to get his son out of jail. What are you doing under the bed?"

"Looking for…" Gendry struggled to explain. "Never mind, Mom. What are we going to do about Bolton? I'm going to punch his nose off his face when I see him!"

Cersei frowned. "You'll do no such thing! We're working on the Bolton problem, so all you have to do is to be on guard and stay away. You hear me, Gendry? Don't go looking for trouble, young man."

"He won't get to harm Arya, I'll make sure of that. I'll beat the shit out of him-"

"Don't make me say it again, Gendry! I mean it!" Cersei said, a little angry this time.

With a sigh, Gendry nodded slowly. "Okay."

"Good," Cersei said, turning around to leave but not without adding, "The next time you're going to fool around, make sure the door's locked."

Another month went by and fortunately, nothing unusual has happened in connection with Ramsay. Everyone was busy with finals week, and somehow they were thankful for it because it helped keep their mind off the Ramsay business. The stress and the pressure was starting to take its toll on Arya, though, because lately she'd been irritable and easily angered by the slightest things. Maybe it was the fact that everyone is always on guard and looking out for her that it's starting to annoy the heck out of Arya. She and Gendry would fight over the simplest things, so they end up not hanging out together much lately.

Arya was sitting on the breakfast nook, typing a report on her laptop when Gendry walked in to get water from the fridge. He glanced at Arya and noticed all the books strewn across the table.

Without looking up from her task, Arya said, "Your mom called and she asked if you could run out and fetch Tommen after his guitar lessons."

Gendry took out a bottle of water and slammed the fridge door shut. "I already told her, I can't pick up Tommen at Jaqn's. I have to meet up with my group to finish a report! Why can't Joffrey do it?"

Arya huffed. "Joffrey is at Sandor's for that project he needs help with, remember?"

"How about Theon? Your brothers?"

Arya rolled her eyes. "Tommen's your brother. Why can't you pick him up? Besides, my brothers are neck-deep in their own school work."

Gendry stared at her as she typed furiously on the keyboard. "Well, can you be bothered to pick him up? I have to go now."

Arya slammed her laptop shut and stood abruptly. "You know what, fine. I'll just leave my work here for when I get back because, hey, it'll still be here waiting for me while I run errands that you are supposed to run."

She walked angrily past him, dodging his hand as he tried to grab her by the arm.

"I'm sorry, okay! But I already told Mom that I can't pick up Tommen today because I'm rushing stuff for school and I have to meet the guys, like, ten minutes ago!"

"Then leave, if you have to. I'm picking your brother up because you can't be bothered to do so."

"Fuck it, Arya!" he said, rushing to catch up with her as she grabbed Jon's car keys and started walking towards the door. "What are you doing?"

"Picking someone's brother up because he can't be arsed into doing so!"

"This fight is stupid! Why are we even fighting in the first place?"

"I don't know," she said as she got into the driver's seat. "Um, maybe because you're being an ass?"

Gendry's face grew dark with anger. "You know what? Okay, get out of the car. I'll pick him up myself."

Arya revved the engine up before Gendry could even walk across to where his car was parked. "No, I'm picking him up so you might as well go to your group and do whatever it was you're supposed to do."

Without bothering to hear his response, she drove down the driveway and onto the street, leaving a fuming Gendry behind.

He'd been following them.

He watched as she walked into Jaqn's House of Music and emerged later on with a beaming Tommen by her side. She looked so pretty with her dark hair loose, the loose curls bouncing as she walked. She and the boy were talking, but even if she had a smile on her face, he noticed that it didn't quite reach her eyes. She looked sad and a bit angry, come to think of it.

He took another swig of his beer. How many has he had by now? Three, four cans? It wasn't even dark yet but he's already started his little pity party as he watched the Starks and Baratheons go about their daily business. He's never stalked anyone before, but now that he's sitting here watching the Stark girl, he thought he quite enjoyed watching her from afar and studying her every move. She's something he knew he'd never get his hands on, what with those fucking Starks and that Baratheon boyfriend of hers. They were his friends too, but they've turned their snooty backs to him and put him in jail.

If they think this has a happy ending, they haven't been paying attention.

He watched as Arya drove away from there, and he quickly but discreetly followed a short distance away. What he was doing, he didn't know. He just wanted to watch the Stark girl for a while, that's all.

"Are you okay, Arya?" Tommen asked as he studied her closely.

She decided to drive out to hers and Gendry's favorite spot overlooking the city. She just wanted to clear her head a bit before going back home. It's been a pretty stressful week, and all these plus the Ramsay thing has been taking a toll on them all. Finally realizing that her fight with Gendry earlier was probably stupid and petty, she decided to talk to him tonight and get things sorted out. Maybe they just needed to let off steam, and that argument was probably the trigger point.

"I'm okay," she said, forcing a smile onto her face. She was sitting on one of the old, cement benches when Tommen joined her.

Tommen didn't buy it, though, but he decided to let it go. "Jaqn gave me a new piece to study tonight. I can play it for you."

Arya's smile was genuine this time. "Okay. Let's hear it, bud."

Tommen grinned. "I just need to get the music sheet in the car. I'll be right back."

Arya watched as he walked back to the car, opening the back door and crawled inside to get his bag and guitar. After a few minutes, he emerged with his guitar and a few sheets of white paper that she makes out to be the sheet music.

The wind blew a little, making Tommen lose is grasp on the papers. With a furious cry, he put his guitar down and ran to catch the papers that were now strewn across the area. She was about to stand when she heard tires screeching, and was horrified when she saw the car heading straight towards Tommen.

"Tommen!" she shrieked in horror as she saw the younger boy try to get away from the car and its crazed driver.

It was too late. The driver must have lost control of the wheel because the next thing she knew, she was watching a slow motion of a scene where a lunatic driver hits a boy and sends him flying a few feet away from the area. Except, it wasn't a movie and this was very real.

Arya ran towards Tommen and noticed as the driver stumbled out of the car in his drunken state. The shock Arya felt quickly turned into anger because she was looking right at an equally shocked Ramsay Bolton, who looked intoxicated enough to know what he was doing.

"What did you do?" she screamed all the same, as she checked Tommen's unmoving body. She could see his chest rise and fall, and was thankful that he's alive. With shaking hands, she fished her cellphone out of her pocket and called for help.