A/N: Just a quick thank you to those who still read this. I'm getting less reviews lately, so I'm not sure if people are still reading this or if you guys are still interested with where this is going. Or I might be doing shitty work & I have no idea I'm messing up my work already. So because of that, I might be cutting this story short soon & just post a couple more chapters until I end it. I've still got ideas for this, but of course if I don't have readers anymore, I might as well put it to an end.
Again, thank you for the follows/likes/favorites. You guys rock :D
Robb opened the door for Grey Wind as they stepped outside the house for their early morning jog. He missed his pet terribly during their time at Highgarden, and he could tell the wolf missed him too by the way he was tackled by the pet to the ground. He was the biggest of all the Stark wolves and Robb was proud to boast so.
"Grey Wind! To me!" he called out to the wolf as they started off down the wide, quiet street. Grey Wind was wandering down the opposite side but quickly trotted to his master's side when he heard the command.
These early morning jogs were important to Robb as it was the only special bonding time he had with his pet before he went about his daily business. They took the familiar route; passing by the neighboring mansions until they arrived at the center of town and on to Red Keep Park. The place was still quite empty, considering the early hour. He ran a few times around the trail, looking to the side to see Grey Wind running at the same pace. He knew that the wolf could run faster than this, but being the ever-loyal pet that he is, opted to run beside his master. Robb grinned at how fiercely loyal his pet is. He rubbed Grey Wind's fur before picking up pace again.
Fifteen minutes into the jog, Grey Wind suddenly ran away from Robb, startling his master at the wolf's sudden excitement. He chased after his pet, calling out his name until he realized that Grey Wind was out there playing with Ghost. If Ghost was there, Jon must be there too. True enough, Jon jogged towards him, a wide grin spreading across his face.
"Didn't know you were here, bro," Jon said as he came to a stop. He leaned his hands on his knees, bending over from the exertion of having to run after Ghost.
"Me, too," Robb replied. "I miss these early morning runs with Grey Wind, though. I haven't taken him for a run since before we left for Highgarden."
"I know. Although I should have brought Nymeria, too. She seems to be a bit out of shape because Arya doesn't seem to be running lately. I wonder why," said Jon with a sneer.
Robb laughed. "Oh, you know perfectly why, Jon."
Jon placed his hands on his hips and exhaled loudly, making Robb laugh harder.
"You feel like having breakfast at Hot Pie's? Haven't seen that kid in a while," Robb said a while later.
"After that jog? Are you serious?" Jon said with raised brows. "I could eat a whole plate of bacon right about now!"
"Dare!" Robb called out.
"Double dare!" Jon responded, giving his brother a playful push.
"Bro," Robb whispered to Jon as he took a sip of his coffee. "Guess who's back in town."
They were sitting in a booth at Doughnuts of Dorne, indulging in a plateful of crispy bacon and blueberry pancakes when Robb noticed someone walk in. Jon turned to look and froze when he saw the familiar face. As if feeling that someone was watching him, the newcomer raised his eyes until they rested on both Stark brothers, who apparently were watching his every move.
"Hey," Jon called out. "Look who's back."
Sandor walked towards their booth, tucking both hands into his pockets as if unsure of what to do. He gave a small nod before taking a seat on the empty space being offered to him.
"Where've you been, Sandor? We weren't sure what happened to you after…you know…" Robb said with a shrug.
"I had to be out of the radar for a while, you know," Sandor replied. "You know how Ramsay gets when he's pissed."
"You did the right thing, man," Jon said with a nod. "If you didn't call the cops, those guys would have done more damage that night than we could have imagined."
"By damage, do you mean Arya Stark?" Sandor asked with a blank expression.
Robb and Jon exchanged glances before nodding. The three guys looked at each other for a while, as if a silent agreement and understanding passed between them.
"They've been trying for a while to make me use…I just can't. It's not something I would do, no matter how fucked up my life is," Sandor explained. "Your cousin would have been neck-deep in Ramsay shit if he didn't realize it early on."
"Yeah," said Robb. "We tried telling him at first, but it wasn't until things sort of got out of hand that he realized what a bunch of crackheads these guys were."
"They tried taking Gendry in, too," Sandor said. "Good thing Baratheon's got a good head on his shoulders."
Jon and Robb were silent, although they nodded their heads in agreement.
"You coming back to Uni this sem?" Jon asked, trying to make the conversation a bit cheerful for a change.
"Yeah," Sandor replied. He was playing with the salt and pepper shakers on the table. "I still have a year to go with that boring shit of a professor in Taxation."
Robb laughed. "I had him last year, seven hells, I think I was asleep in most of his classes!"
"Hey, you wanna get some breakfast?" Jon asked Sandor, signaling to the Morning Specials menu on the board. "Hot Pie's not in this morning, but Robb would gladly treat you to breakfast."
"Hey!" Robb protested.
Sandor and Jon laughed. "I'd be happy to pay for my own breakfast, man," the former said.
"I was kidding," Robb laughed in response. "Go on, get your breakfast. My treat."
"Are you sure?" Sandor asked.
Robb waved his right hand towards the menu board. "Knock yourself out."
"I didn't know this little wolf has a very beautiful voice," Cersei gushed that night, as they gathered together in the family room. They had just had dinner and were enjoying the last few weeks before school starts.
Arya blushed beet red as she looked down in embarrassment. Robb, Jon and Theon grinned proudly, while the Baratheons smiled in genuine amusement at her newly-discovered talent. Gendry was looking at her with shining blue Baratheon eyes and a smirk pasted on his face.
"It's nothing," Arya dismissed their praises with an embarrassed demeanor. "It's just a hobby and not a good one at that!"
"Oh shush, you!" Cersei disagreed with a wave of her long, graceful fingers. "I would have cried more had Gendry and Tommen not pleaded embarrassment because of me! But thank you, my little wolf, for singing my favorite song. You made that night even better than it already was. You too, Joff," she added with a smile.
It was Joffrey's turn to blush, much to the amusement of everyone.
"I noticed you're looking good lately, Joff," Robert commented as he stared at his son's better toned figure. "I assume the new workout program's working for you guys?"
"Yeah, but not as good as how it's working for Joff!" Gendry teased. He ducked when Joffrey threw a pillow straight to his face. "Hey! Watch the face!"
"It's not worth anything anyway!" Joffrey joked in return.
"Oooh!" cooed all the Starks.
"Excuse you," Gendry said as he threw the pillow back to Joffrey, aiming for face too. "My face value shoots ten times higher than yours, which by the way, isn't worth much."
"Just you wait till I get those Drogo man-boobs, bro," Joffrey replied with great confidence. "Those man-boobs will crush you."
"Yuck!" Tommen exclaimed in disgust. "What are Drogo man-boobs? They sound disgusting!"
Robert raised a brow towards his older sons before turning to the youngest. "Don't listen to your brothers. It's not a nice…word."
"Like dickwad?" Tommen innocently asked his father.
Gendry choked back a laugh while Joffrey's face drained of all color. Robert, on the other hand, looked like smoke was about to come out of his ears. He constantly reminded his older sons to watch their language in Tommen's presence because the boy was naturally curious and was always fast to pick up new words. He was about to tell his sons off when a loud ringing suddenly startled them and for a moment, cut the tension off the air.
"Sorry, forgot to put it on silent," Arya mumbled an apology. "Hello?" She turned to look at her brothers and shrugged, as if saying she had no idea who it was. She took a quick look at the phone's screen and confirmed that it was an unregistered number. "Hello?" she repeated, pressing a finger to her other ear so she could hear better. She was silent for a while until they heard her gasp in surprise. "Oh my god!"
Robb, Jon and Theon were immediately on alert. Sensing Arya's tensed state, they tried taking the phone from her, to which she held a finger up to keep them away. She silently mouthed "Ssh!" until she finally let out a bubbly laugh. "Okay! Okay! Calm down! I'll give the phone now to Robb!"
She held the phone out for Robb to take, who in turn grabbed the phone not one second later. That earned him a smack on the arm from Arya.
"Hello?" Robb asked, a puzzled look forming on his face. Just like Arya, he seemed to only be listening for a while until he held the phone further away from his ear, cringing at the high-pitched shrieks coming from the other end of the line and that everyone could now hear.
With a silly grin on his face, Robb announced to the group, "Sansa's taking the last flight out tonight. She's coming over to visit before school starts in a few weeks. And," he turned to Robert and Cersei, who both seemed to be grinning from ear to ear. "You both know about this! She said Dad asked your permission to take in another Stark for the next few weeks."
"The more, the merrier!" Robert's booming laughter echoed throughout the room.
"Oi! Sansa's coming to visit! You hear that, Joff?" Gendry nudged his younger brother.
Joffrey blushed. His usually fair complexion was now as red as Chef Baelish's tomato salad. "Shut it," he muttered.
"A Baratheon for each Stark. How about that?" Robert commented with a chuckle.
"Ah…" Arya cleared her throat to get Joffrey's attention. "I think Sansa's seeing someone…"
"Oh! Now that's what I call nipping it in the bud!" Gendry hooted with laughter. "Come on, bro. Let's see what those Drogo man-boobs can do for you!"
"I cannot believe you just did that!" Arya exclaimed happily.
"What?" Sansa pleaded innocence, staring at her younger sister from the video chat screen while trying to keep a straight face. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You kept that little secret from me! You've known for weeks that you were coming to visit and you did not even say anything? Not even a text?" Arya whined.
"Well," Sansa replied, twisting the ends of her hair to check for split ends. She made a face when she found a few, before turning back to the screen. "If you weren't so busy with loverboy right down the hall, you would have found time to chat with me. Or Bran. Or Rickon."
Arya froze. Holy crap. How does she know? Did Robb and Jon tell her? Were we too loud? Oh my fucking god how could they know Gendry and I are sneaking into-
"Uh, hello? Earth to Arya? You're not even listening to me," Sansa said with a sigh.
Arya jolted out of her trance. "Oh! Sorry! I was just thinking…"
Sansa's brow went up. "Looks to me like you remembered something. Come on. Spill!"
"No."
"Arya! Don't be selfish! You just thought of Gendry!"
"You're stupid! Why does it have to be Gendry all the time?"
"No, you be stupid! You had that look on your face like you're madly in love with-OH MY EFFING GOD! ARYA! Has anything happened between you and Gendry?!"
Arya struggled to turn the speaker's volume down. "Shit, Sansa! Keep it down, will you? It's 11 pm!"
Sansa giggled. How very Sansa that giggle was. "Come on, Arya Lyanna Stark! Have you and Gendry done…it?"
Arya rolled her eyes. "Yes," she mumbled sheepishly.
"HOLY MOTHERFUCKING SHIT! MY SISTER'S NO LONGER A VIRGIN!" Sansa squealed.
"Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck, Sansa!" Arya shout-wispered as she continued to lower the volume more. "If you don't shut your pretty little mouth, I'm going to fucking log out of this chat and make you suffer without telling you the fucking deets!" Arya hissed. "And I didn't even know you could fucking curse like that!"
Sansa clapped her hands to mock Arya. "Ooh! She knows how to talk dirty now! Did Gendry teach you that too?"
Arya rubbed her hands over her face. "Jesus Christ…"
"Fine! I'll shut up," Sansa said. Pointing a finger to the screen, she added, "For now. But you're telling me everything when I get there. Got that?"
Arya was distracted momentarily by an incoming text message. Reaching over for her phone, she grinned upon seeing it was from Gendry.
"I'm happy your sister's coming to visit. You seem really excited."
She tapped her response on the screen and hit send.
"I do miss her, even if she's annoyingly girly girl."
"Oh my god, you need help," Sansa said as she made a face. "Is that him? Tell him I said hi."
Arya tapped in another message and again hit send. She got a response a few seconds later.
"Haha. Tell her I said hi, too."
"He says hi," Arya said as she put her phone back on the desk.
Sansa pouted. "Okay, now I'm sad. I want my own Gendry."
"Absolutely not! There can't be two Gendrys. There only has to be one, and that one's mine. Hey! You can take Joffrey?"
Sansa made a face. "Oh, eew! He used to follow me around like a puppy and he's annoyingly arrogant."
Arya laughed. "Careful! Remember how I used to hate Gumby Gendry back then? Yeah…"
Another incoming text startled them both. Arya read it out loud to Sansa.
"He says, Can't wait to see Joff follow Sansa around like a puppy! LOL! Ok, going to sleep now. I love you."
"Did you have to read that out loud?" Sansa complained.
"Yes, so shut up," Arya replied, her fingers still typing in a response before sending the message back to Gendry.
"I'm guessing you said I love you back, and you guys are ridiculously mushy. And now, I'm going to sleep so goodnight, beyotch!"
"Back at ya," Arya laughed. "I'll see you day after tomorrow?"
"You betcha."