(A/N: I lied. I can't seem to stop writing which means I can't stop posting the next chapter. So if this story ends faster than I wanted it to be, I'm sorry. I should probably forget my FFN password so I stop posting the next one. Okay, kidding!

But this might be the last one for a while, so I might finish several chapters before I post the next one.

As usual, thank you for still reading this. Appreciate it lots.

And to the anon, I did get the idea from that. But don't worry, I'm not doing anything from that story. Just the idea. And smile…you'll get your happy ending. *spoiler alert*

Enjoy!)

"No, no, no, no! Goddamnit!"

Jon laughed as Robb knocked his gun on the edge of the machine in frustration. They were at the game room playing on the old arcade machine. Them seemed pretty amused as Jon and Robb tried to shoot and kill, although it was more like amused over Robb.

"You're going down, fucker!" Robb shouted out as he shook his gun to reload. He seemed so engrossed in playing the game that he didn't realize how the rest of the group kept laughing over his enthusiasm.

"Careful, dickface!" Gendry shot back, as he stared at Robb in horror. "You just have to shake the gun to reload! No need to knock the machine with it! That's almost vintage, mind you!"

Jon punched Robb's arm as his brother kept cursing at the game. "If you end up destroying this, you're paying for it!"

"Shut up!" Robb smacked the back of Jon's head, earning a glare from the latter.

Arya only rolled her eyes, muttering "Boys!" under her breath.

Jon looked over to Arya and asked, "You wanna play?"

His sister shook her head. "Nah, I'm good," she said, flipping through TV channels. "You know that I'd only win, and at the rate Robb's going, he's only going to kill himself for real if I end up beating him."

"Ha!" Robb exclaimed smugly. "Not going to happen!"

"Maybe Tommen here can play against you," Arya nudged the boy sitting beside her. "But I doubt you still have a chance to win."

As the bickering kept on, Jon stole glances at Gendry, whom he noticed has been staring at his sister for a while now.

The idiot's so obvious, he thought. He's noticed a few changes recently; like how Gendry refused to be in the same room as his sister. Or the way they both (yes, Arya included) kept sneaking glances at each other when they think no one's watching. He can't exactly pinpoint when or how this came about, but he's guessing it had something to do with Gendry running out of Ramsay's party about 2 months ago. He almost followed him home just to make sure he and Arya won't be doing anything inappropriate, but he convinced himself not to do it because if he does find them in an awkward situation, he wouldn't know what his reaction would be. He neither wanted to physically hurt his friend or his sister.

But not following Gendry home that night didn't mean he didn't want to find out what's going on between these two.

The sudden ringing of Robb's phone broke into his thoughts and he shot his brother a warning glare. "You still haven't changed that stupid ringtone?"

"You still haven't changed your stupid face?" Robb answered back.

"Can you guys stop it? Robb, just answer your phone," Arya huffed.

Jon knew something was bothering Robb recently, but he kept pushing his buttons all the same. He knew he shouldn't be provoking him, but Jon's a little annoyed that his brother's sort of keeping something from him. They used to tell each other anything and everything, but that's not the case as of late. Robb's mind is always elsewhere and Jon should know better than to get on his nerves.

"Hello?" said Robb.

They heard only one side of the conversation, as Robb kept saying, "Yes, okay," "What?!", and "No, it's fine" before ending with "Holy shit."

He turned back to the others as soon as he ended the call. "Guys, you should come see this."

They were all gathered in the living room, waiting for whatever Robb didn't really want to say what. Arya was too puzzled to ask him, but they were all just sitting there waiting for something.

Or someone.

Because the moment the front door opened and in came Robert and Cersei, Someone followed them in. Everyone was too shocked to move.

"Dad!" Arya cried out, running into her father's embrace.

Ned chuckled as he enfolded his youngest daughter in his strong arms, burying his nose in her hair, smelling the all-too familiar scent of Arya that he missed so much. He wasn't sure if his daughter was crying, but her face was pressed onto his chest as if she never wanted to let go.

"Hey! Save some of those hugs for us!" Robb said, as he jokingly pried Arya away from their father. "Cersei called me first, so I should have gotten the first hug."

"There's more where that came from," Ned answered with a laugh. "Come here, Robb."

After giving hugs to Robb and Jon, he motioned to Theon and said, "Are you just going to stand there?"

Theon seemed too happy to see Ned too and quickly hugged his uncle. "It's great to see you, Uncle Ned," Theon said quietly. He's been raised by the Starks ever since he lost both his parents. They took him in and he never felt any different from his cousins. Ned and Catelyn treated him like his own son and Theon tried his best to show how much he appreciates that.

"It's great to see you again, Ned," Robert said, patting his friend's back. "I don't know if you remember my boys, but this here is Tommen."

Tommen gave a small wave and shyly said, "Hello."

Robert pointed to Joffrey next. "Joffrey just got back from the gym," he said, patting his middle son's back. "If you remember, he's the one who kept following Sansa around during summer vacations.

Everyone laughed as Joffrey turned beet red.

"Yes, I remember that pretty well," Ned chuckled.

"And this one here," Robert said, putting an arm around his eldest. "My eldest son, Gendry. I trust you remember this one pretty well."

"Of course," Ned said, his face blank. "The bubble gum incident."

Gendry wanted to die on the spot.

"Dad!" Arya hissed, nudging her father's side.

"Oh, my!" Cersei said, I've totally forgotten about that one!"

"I haven't," Ned said, still looking at Gendry.

The boys were snickering in the background, but Arya nudged her father again. She felt pity for Gendry, even if she was actually on the receiving end of that prank. It's been years since the incident and Arya has long forgiven him for it.

"But all's good," Ned added reluctantly.

Ned Stark looked at all three Baratheon boys and how different they all looked from each other, but he could tell the slight resemblance that would say they were Robert and Cersei's sons. He couldn't help but study Gendry, though. The boy's all grown up, I see, Ned thought. He noticed that the excess weight had been shed and he's sporting a healthier figure. He knew Joffrey had been Sansa's type, and whoever was Sansa's type did not fall under Arya's type.

He wondered if Gendry falls under Arya's type, though.

"You must be tired from your flight," Cersei said, sitting beside Arya on the settee "Chef Baelish prepared something for tonight, so it won't be long before dinner starts."

"Actually, I have one more surprise for these rascals," Ned said, nodding his head towards his children. "You should find the surprise waiting for you out back."

It took the Starks less than 5 minutes to scamper out the back door in search of the surprise. They couldn't find anything immediately until Gendry and Joffrey stood frozen in fright.

"Oh dear god," Joffrey exclaimed, staring straight ahead.

"Well, shit," Gendry muttered before backing slowly. He bumped into Joffrey, who appeared to be slowly backing away too.

Standing a few feet away from them are the Stark's wolves.

"Nymeria!"

Gendry heard Arya call out to her pet. The wolf immediately recognized her owner and vaulted towards Arya. Problem was, Ghost and Grey Wind started running towards Jon and Robb too, who were now sitting on their haunches with their arms outstretched. The Starks were laughing as they were once again reunited with their pets. Even Tommen looked giddy with excitement as he witnessed the reunion.

Only 2 people were not too happy about seeing the huge wolves. Joffrey and Gendry looked about ready to bolt. Before the wolves came any closer, Joffrey finally said, "I'm outta here!" before quickly heading back to the back entrance. Gendry, on the other hand, was not so quick. He was standing there, afraid to move, because Nymeria suddenly found him interesting and crept closer.

Oh God, Oh God, Oh God, Oh God!

Nymeria suddenly started sniffing his shoes. They stared at each other; slowly sizing each other up. Gendry stood there holding his breath. Nymeria, on the other hand, started growling. A low, menacing sound that made the hair on Gendry's nape and arms stand on end.

I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die!

Amidst the blood roaring in his ears, Gendry heard Arya call out, "Nymeria! To me!"

She kept up with the growls, although they were softer this time, but she backed away slowly before jogging back to Arya.

"Don't let her frighten you," Arya said. "She senses your fear."

"That's a fucking wolf, Arya!" Gendry exclaimed. "You think wolves are as cuddly as teddy bears?"

"Gendry! Language!" Robert snapped.

Ned frowned. "I'm sorry," he said to the Baratheons. "I thought everything was fine before you approved of this."

Cersei waved her hand in dismissal. "No! No worries!" She glanced pointedly at Gendry. "They're used to dogs, but not wolves. I bet they'll be used to these babies faster than they think."

Cersei shot her son a warning look, to which he responded with an eye roll.

"It's fine, sir," Gendry told Ned. "I just wasn't expecting them to be this…"

Nymeria started growling again.

"…big." Gendry finished warily.

After a while, Robert and Cersei invited Ned over to Robert's office, taking this opportunity to discuss a few business concerns.

"Hey," Jon said, nodding to Gendry. "You want to come meet Ghost?"

"You fucking come near me with that monster and I'll thrash your car, dude," Gendry warned.

"You just try hurting Nymeria and I'll kick your balls up your throat!" Arya spit out the warning before realizing it was a rude thing to say. The Baratheons allowed their pets to stay, after all, and despite Gendry's threat (which sounds empty, by the way) they still allowed the wolves into their home.

"Sorry," Arya muttered an apology.

Gendry only nodded. "Just…just make sure they don't do any harm to anybody."

Arya figured anybody to be him and Joffrey, but she only nodded in reply.

Gendry took one last look at the wolves before going back to the house.

Gendry couldn't sleep that night. Blaming the 2 mugs of coffee he consumed after dinner time, he dragged himself out of bed and decided to head down to the kitchen for a glass of water and maybe some leftovers he could find in the fridge.

Taking out a bottle of water and placing a slice of cake on a plate, he took a quick detour towards the family room to watch TV for a bit. Ten minutes later, the hair on the back of his nape rose as he heard a low growl somewhere behind him. The sound was getting closer and closer, rendering Gendry petrified.

He thought he was going to faint when the wolf he was guessing to be Nymeria suddenly appeared in front of him, staring him down with those gray eyes much like her owner's.

Oh Lord. Not good.

"It's okay."

He couldn't turn around in fear of the wolf pouncing as soon as he turns his head, but he recognized the soft voice to be Arya's, and somehow, he felt relieved.

"Don't show her you're scared," she continued, her voice like a soothing balm calming his senses. "I know it's hard not to show fear, but Nymeria's not as wild as you think she is."

"Okay, not so much," she said in truth after a beat.

"Not helping!" Gendry growled.

Arya would have laughed if only he didn't look so scared right now. She would have joked that he actually sounded like her pet, but maybe she could tell that joke some other time. Instead, she sat at the end of the couch and called for Nymeria to move closer to her.

"Thanks," she heard Gendry mutter. She shifted to take a good look at his pale face. He seemed to relax a bit, but still not enough to make him release his death grip on the remote.

They were silent for a while. Gendry could feel a headache starting because his eyes were shifting between the TV and Nymeria.

"She's not a pure wolf, you know," Arya said a while later. "Pure wolves cannot be domesticated and should be left running in the wild. They have to be in packs. They survive in packs."

"They're what you call wolfdogs," she continued. "Alaskan malamutes are the most favorable breed to cross with a wolf. Huskies can be another one, but they're more hyper and can be quite a handful. Although many would argue that any breed is acceptable because they believe that these wolves are wild animals and should be left alone."

Gendry seemed to be taking this new information in that Arya found the need to quickly add, "But I'm no expert so I hope you stop looking like you're studying for a test," Arya laughed.

Gendry laughed along, the tension from his body easing a bit. Arya couldn't resist looking over at him. It's been a while since they've hung out alone, and it was a feeling she missed. Thank you, Nymeria!

"I'm sorry," Gendry said in a soft voice. He looked over to Arya and noticed her surprised look. "I didn't mean to be so rude earlier."

She looked down as she mumbled, "I should be the one sorry, you know. It's your home and we've invaded it, our pets tagging along for the ride."

"You know you're always welcome here, Arya," he said. His blue eyes boring into her gray ones and Gendry finds himself coming undone. Again.

Nymeria whined, making both Gendry and Arya jump at the sound.

"So," Gendry said, clearing his throat a bit. "Why are you up at 1 am?"

"Why are you up at 1 am?" she asked in return.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Me too," she admitted lamely, earning another laugh from Gendry.

"Nymeria, is it?" he asked, carefully eyeing the pet.

Arya answered quietly, "Yes."

As if sensing that she was being watched, Nymeria's ears perked at the sound of her name and stared back at Gendry. She tilted her head, somehow sizing him up as to whether he was a friend or a threat.

Suddenly feeling brave, he thought about how Arya summoned her pet earlier and decided to give it a try. He only hoped he'd still have his hand, or worse, his head, afterwards.

"Nymeria," he said, hoping that his voice sounded steady and unaffected as opposed to what he was actually feeling. "To me."

Nymeria gave a small growl and continued to stand there, staring at Gendry and his outstretched hand. Gendry tried his best to keep it as steady as he could, and praying that the wolf does not bite his hand off instead of obeying.

Arya watched them for a long while until her breath caught in her throat and she lost the ability to breathe. Her chest felt constricted, whether from anxiety or excitement, she didn't know. But all those she felt when she watched her pet slowly move towards Gendry and his outstretched hand.

Her beloved pet leapt on the couch and positioned herself in between them before placing her head on Gendry's lap.

Nymeria has found a new friend.