The week passed by quickly, and Arya only complained a little bit about the party. Except the day she had to go shopping for a dress, that day, she complained a lot. Gendry didn't mind her complaining, in fact he thought she was cute when she was worked up over something. But then he had to chastise himself for thinking things like that, his job was to protect her not ogle her each time she came out of the dressing room in a different dress.

The day of the party was Gendry's day off but he still sent Arya a text telling her if she needed anything to let him know. He didn't want her to do something reckless, at least not without him at her side. She sent him back a rolling eyes emoji and a thank you!

Gendry spent a few hours early in the day, in town running errands he would normally not have a chance to do. On the way back to his apartment on the Stark estate he stopped at the market to get some snacks for his night in. He got back in the late afternoon well before any guests would start arriving for the party.

In his apartment he caught up on some cleaning and then sat down to watch his current tv fixation, Grimm. Sometime after the 4th episode he was surprised to hear a knock on his door.

*That morning- Arya*

Arya woke up dreading the day to come, she groaned as she got out of bed thinking of the torture she would have to go through.

She reached over to her phone and found a text from Gendry:

Good morning! I know it's my day off, but if you need anything just let me know.

That made her smile and she was surprised to realize she was going to miss having him around all day. She sent him back a rolling eyes emoji and a thank you.

She went through the day helping her mother finalize things for the event and then going to get ready for the event. A long time ago this might mean a professional hairstylist and make-up artist might come to 'help' her get ready but she'd managed to convince her mother that she could handle it on her own. At first her mother was reluctant but she could see there was no convincing Arya.

She'd picked up a short black dress that hugged her waist and flowed like water to her mid-thighs. She didn't enjoy dresses generally but this one wasn't so bad, at least she could move/breath in it. In truth she had picked it up because of the look on Gendry's face when he'd seen her in it at the store, she thought she could actually see him drooling and she definitely saw him pick up his jaw from the floor.

She knew he wasn't going to be at the party but she could still see his face from that day when she closed her eyes and it brought her some comfort.

She arrived at the hall and made the usual necessary rounds to say hi to the 'important' guests. An hour in and she was bored out of her mind. She had just paused near the food to grab something to eat when she looked around and realized no one was looking at her, everyone was busy with each other. Would they notice if she left she thought to herself? She'd already made an appearance, she could sneak out of here and pretend she had a stomach ache if anyone noticed. She considered her options. A few more hours of this or she could go do something else, she took one last look around the room and saw her parents engrossed in conversation with some rich southerner and made up her mind.

Now to decide where to go she thought as she exited the hall as stealthily as she could. She contemplated leaving the grounds all together, but she decided against it, if she was caught her parents would kill her and Gendry might actually kill her. Thinking of Gendry gave her an idea though.

She walked the short distance to the staff building, she got to apartment she knew he lived in and knocked, she just hoped he was still awake.

*Gendry*

He opened the door to his apartment and was completely shocked to see Arya standing there, bare foot, in her little black dress, heals in her hand.

"Arya?" he said, still shocked "what are you doing here?"

"I hope I'm not interrupting anything. I got bored at the party, I don't think they'll miss me" she replied, trying to get a peek into his apartment.

"You can't be here."

"Are you saying you don't want me here?" she said, sounding hurt.

"No of course not, I'd love to have you, I just don't want you to get in trouble."

"Let me deal with getting into trouble. Wait. Would you get into trouble?"

"I'm not sure…" he really wasn't sure he knew he probably shouldn't see her outside of their working relationship. But he didn't know if he could get into trouble for her being in his apartment.

"If you do, let me know, I'll deal with it".

"Then by all means, come on in." He said with a sweeping gesture for her to enter the room. "Can I get you anything?"

"I'm fine thanks, what are you up to anyways?"

"I was just watching Grimm actually"

"No way, I love that show I just finished season 4."

He covered his ears dramatically "No spoilers! I've only just started season 3!"

She laughed, "can I watch with you?"

"Of course. Come on." He said, leading her to the couch. "Are you sure I can't get you anything?"

She looked down at her clothes, "Can I…maybe…borrow a shirt? And socks?"

He looked at her outfit, a little black dress that made him a little hot and bothered. But the thought of Arya in his clothes made him nearly pass out. He hardly managed to say "sure."

"Thanks!" she said as he led her into his room. He was glad he'd cleaned up earlier, he wasn't exactly expecting Arya to be in his apartment but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. He went to a chest of drawers, opened the top one and pulled out a plain black shirt, then he opened the second drawer and pulled out a pair of socks. "did you want some pants? I know they'll be huge but…"

"These will be fine, I'm wearing shorts under this dress and your shirt will be more of a dress on me" she said with a laugh.

He laughed nervously, trying not to think of her undressing. She stood still for a minute staring at him expectantly. It took him a minute but it finally clicked, she was waiting for him to leave so she could change, "I'll be right outside" He said, leaving the room.

She came out a minute later in his shirt that reached her mid-thigh and if he thought she looked good in that dress, looking at her in his clothes did things to him that he didn't think he would ever be able to explain.

She walked to the two-seater couch and folded herself on it in the middle, her knee nearly touching his thighs. She got herself comfortable and said "What episode are you on?"

What episode is he on? Oh, the show, they were going to watch the show together. "The one with the mermaid-ish things"

"That's a good one!"

He clicked the play button and the episode resumed. Twenty minutes later he felt Arya slide her head onto his shoulder and snuggle up closer to him. He knew it was inappropriate but whatever this thing with Arya was, he wasn't strong enough to fight it. He slipped his arm around her shoulders and fingers gently played over the bare skin on her arms.

Neither of them spoke, not wanting to break whatever spell had been placed on them, they just watched the show. Together.