Finally, he had something to offer her. Finally, he was no longer just a bastard. His queen has named him Lord Baratheon of Storm's End.

Elated, Gendry tried to process what had just happened as he turned to toast his fellow northerns. He was no longer Gendry Rivers. He was now Gendry Baratheon. For some reason, those thoughts repeated themselves as Gendry continued to celebrate his new status with the people he had fought with, but still, it felt a little empty.

He needed to tell Arya.

After a while, Gendry excused himself feeling properly tipsy, he went looking for the Bringer of Dawn. He hadn't seen her since the burning of the dead, and he craved her. He needed to see her. Once again, for the millionth time since the Dragon Queen legitimized him, Gendry's mind wandered towards the younger Stark girl.

Would she accept him now that he was a lord? Now that he had a title and lands to give her? Even though he couldn't read, would she stay with him? Would they have bairns together? Perhaps a little girl like her mother with his eyes? Or perhaps a little boy with her eyes that was like him?

He certainly hoped so.

As he went to walk through a hall, an arrow flew by his face into a target just to his left. Flinching backwards, he glanced over to see Arya with another arrow being placed into the bow and he held his hands up in surrender.

"Don't shoot," he says as he walks towards her, smiling in giddiness at finally having found her.

"It's night time, it's freezing, and everyone is celebrating. You should be celebrating with them."

"I am celebrating," she responds, pulling an arrow back."

Gendry shifts back and forth on his feet, excitement and nervousness coursing through his veins. This was about to be the moment of truth for him.

"Yea, I am too," he pauses, shifts again then continues. "I'm not Gendry rivers, I'm Gendry Baratheon, lord of storm's end, by order of the queen."

Arya pauses what she is doing as he speaks to turn to look at him. She has an unreadable face as she congratulates him.

Unable to push it off longer, Gendry grabs her arms, pulling her to him as presses his lips to her, trying to convey all the love he feels for her into kiss.

Pulling away, Gendry is unable to even think about what he's doing and utters everything he's feeling.

"I don't know how to be lord of anything. I hardly know how to use fork. All I know is that you're beautiful and I love you and it won't be anything if you aren't with me. So be with me."

Full speed ahead, Gendry thinks even as he's bending onto one knee.

"Be my wife. Be the lady of storms end."

He sees the look of almost a sad panic cross Arya's face, and then she's kissing him. At first, his heart feels as though it will burst from happiness. He sees the gentle smile on her face, and is ready to rejoice, until she starts to speak and her words wash over him.

"You will be a wonderful lord," she states, her smile slowly disappearing. "And any lady would be lucky to have you but I'm not a lady, I never have been it's not me."

Taking a step back, his emotions plummeting into despair, Gendry does not have a response.

How? Where did things go wrong? How could he convince her to be with him? After all this time? That night, when she took him to bed before the Great War, had it merely been a fuck for her?

From his past, words whispered through his mind.

"I never had one before"

"I can be your family"

"You wouldn't be my family, you would be m'lady."

Stumbling away from her, unable to even look her way as everything he had imagined, had hoped for be ripped away from him so easily.

This was his punishment. His punishment for leaving her all those years ago. For rejecting her when she had tried to make him family then.

It was too late.

Gendry left the hall, the sounds of arrows slamming into its target becoming more distant as the noise from the people celebrating became louder.

Yet, for all the noise surrounding him, for all the joy of being alive around him, Gendry felt like his world had become silent.

Perhaps it would have been better if he hadn't survived the Great War.

I admit that I feel like I couldn't quite grasp the full emotions that swept over Gendry's face as Arya rejected him, but I did try.

In the mean time though, as we wait for the next episode, I hope you enjoyed this. Also, thank you to those that favorited, and commented on my Arya POV. It warmed my heart to know it was so well received 3 Have a great rest of your day!