Oh shit's about to hit the fan. I'm posting it on the same day as the other chapter just because I wrote it and I feel like it, and technically it's 1 am in the morning, so it's the next day. I do what I want.

Summary: In which Gendry is shocked by a surprise visit from Arya

"How could you?"

It was worse than her nightmares.

Every bad thing that Arya had ever thought could possibly happen, seemed to happen. Ned yelled. Catelyn cried. Jon had to be restrained. Sansa slinked off into her room, looking upset, leaving Arya to sit in the living room while her parents sat her down and gave her a proper talking to. A talking to that lasted hours.

Never before had Arya ever argued so fiercely with her parents. She had never been the source of such anger and disappointment and betrayal. It was as if all her parents repressed fury was suddenly unleashing itself on her in a great, uncontrollable surge.

"What could you have been thinking?" Catelyn asked, looking exhausted. "Arya, I don't understand how you could have used such poor judgement."

"It's really not as bad as it seems," Arya protested feebly. "Mom, Gendry and I... It's not about age, really it isn't. He doesn't have this weird thing for younger girls-"

"Oh I think it's exactly as bad as it seems," Ned snapped, pacing back and forth, looking furious.

"Dad don't be unreasonable-"

"UNREASONABLE?" Ned Stark bellowed, turning to face her. "UNREASONABLE? YOU'RE LUCKY I DON'T PRESS CHARGES!"

"Dad!" Arya shouted, leaping to her feet.

"Arya, how could you use such poor judgement?" Catelyn said, again. "And Gendry as well? He's an adult! He should know better! Don't you know how badly this could go for him? He could get into serious trouble!"

"Yeah but he won't, right Dad?" Arya said desperately. Ned looked like he wanted to break something. "Dad?"

"I won't file charges if you break up with him this instant," Ned snarled, looking so tremendously unforgiving that Arya knew what he threatened was real.

"I won't break up with him!" Arya shouted angrily. "Dad, we're in a relationship, and it's real-"

"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S A BLOODY FANTASY! I WANT YOU TO END IT! NOW!" Ned roared.

"Ned!" Catelyn said reproachfully.

Arya and Ned glared at each other.

"Arya," Catelyn said, "please think about this."

"I am thinking about this," Arya said, blinking back tears of frustration. "I have thought about it. A very long time. It's you that needs to do the thinking!"

Ned balled his hand into a fist, looking like he was trying very hard not to yell obscenities.

"Arya, how could you be so selfish?"

Arya whipped around to see Jon, who appeared to have calmed down quite a bit from his yelling rampage earlier. Now he just looked defeated, and... And extremely disappointed. The look on his face shot ice through her heart, her guilt at the betrayal there making her almost tearful.

She couldn't speak, because she couldn't answer. Angry Jon she could handle, but disappointed Jon? Betrayed Jon? It was something that was so foreign to her that she found herself unable to form words.

"You know what this is going to cost Gendry? His job, and probably the possibility for a job in the future, and much more than that. It could go on his permanent record," Jon said softly, coming into the room.

"Not if Dad doesn't press charges," Arya said in a small voice.

"If he doesn't, Robert Baratheon will," Jon said grimly. "I just got off the phone with him. He's furious."

"You told him?" Arya screeched, unable to believe that Jon would do such a thing.

"No," Jon said honestly. "It was Joeffry."

"Joeffry?" Arya gasped in disbelief. "But how-"

"Apparently he had a picture of you two kissing, in the mall," Jon said, looking disgusted at the very thought. Arya cursed herself internally. Gendry had been right to worry. Apparently there was someone there, lurking in the shadows. The little prick!

"Robert's really angry," Jon continued. "He's threatening to have Gendry fired himself, and to press charges if Dad doesn't."

"But why?" Arya all but cried. "When he was always making sexual jokes about me and Gendry? And he has sex with, like, everyone, all the time! Who is he to talk?"

Jon shrugged.

"You know Jeoffry," he said, looking surprisingly apologetic. "He can make anything look worse than it is."

Arya felt stricken.

"Arya," Jon said softly. "You know you have to end this."

Arya could feel tears bubbling at her eyes and then hastily brushed them away, her face growing hot.

"No," she said in a quivering voice.

"Arya, please," Catelyn pressed softly. "If not for yourself, than for him! Don't let this get more out of hand than it is."

Arya took a deep, shuttering breath. In that moment, she wanted to cry out, 'but I love him!' but also, in that moment, she knew that even though she wanted to, she couldn't. It would just make things worse. They already didn't understand, and she could only imagine the uproar and anger that would ensue if she confessed.

"I... I..." she said, tears beginning to spill from her eyes. "He's my best friend! I can't lose him!"

"Then do it because he's your best friend!" Jon said. "If you don't break it off now, you will lose him. Gendry's not a bad person, he's just used poor judgement, but even though I understand that, other people will not."

Arya sat down, depression starting to set in. There was no alternative. There was no bright side. How could she have been so stupid?

"I won't," she said again, but this time it was feeble and empty.

"I'm really disappointed in you, Arya," Jon said softly. "I thought you had better judgement than this."

And with that he left, shuffling out of the room and leaving a roaring silence in his wake. Arya squeezed her eyes shut, tears spilling out.

"It's only because we want what's best for you," Catelyn said earnestly, laying a hand on Arya's knee. "And this is not it."

Arya pushed her hand off and leapt to her feet, glaring at both her parents through puffy eyes.

"I'll do it," she spat. "Only because it will save Gendry, but I'll not do it for you, and I don't want to hear how happy you are about it, or your excuses. I'll do it, but I never want to talk about it again."

She spun on her heel and ran from the room, tears pouring out of her eyes as she went, head bowed and hand wiping the water away under her eyes, trying to mop up the tiny rivers on her face. Slamming the door behind her, she collapsed on the bed and grabbed her box of Kleenex, drying away the tears.

As she sat there, sniffing, gazing at all the pictures on her desk, cold, hard reason began to sink in. With a sort of crippling finality she knew that if she went to Gendry and told him the truth, that her parents found out, he would never have it. He would be stupidly determined that he could bring them around, refusing to break up. He's go to his Dad, he'd try to talk to Ned, and Jon and Catelyn, but he'd only make it worse. And he wouldn't see the reality of it all, how they just couldn't go on. Not now, not ever. That he would lose everything in the end, including her. If Gendry was one thing, it was stubborn, and he wouldn't give up. Not unless he thought that giving up was what she wanted.

Arya sat there, ripping a Kleenex thoughtlessly, her mind numb, her feelings numb, and knew what she had to do.

And as she got up, as if in a daze, and started taking down all the pictures of her and Gendry, it became more and more clear.

She had to lie.

Oooooooooooooooo

Gendry smiled, staring up at the underside of a car as he let his mind wander, like it always seemed to do these days, back to Arya.

Though they hadn't seen each other since their weekend together, he couldn't help but feel elated just thinking about her. Every time he did, he would grin like an idiot, and more than once Yoren had made a side comment about him looking like a mental patient, but he didn't care. When he was younger, he'd always made fun of all the loony sappy couples he saw. He remembered snickering with Arya while watching Robb and Jeyne as they nuzzled noses and whispered secrets in each others ears. And now he was acting just like them.

He just had such a good feeling about that weekend, and about his relationship with Arya in general. Things were looking up for him. Yoren was talking about a promotion, and he had done well in his exams for the classes he had been taking, and on top of that there was Arya.

He had decided, a few nights ago, in a fit of romantic bravery, that he would tell Arya the next time they went on a date that he loved her. It sounded stupid, just to think about it, because... Well wasn't it obvious? But girls, even Arya, really liked that sort of thing, and though he felt it, it didn't hurt to say it out loud, and she obviously felt the same way, so what was stopping him? Absolutely nothing.

"OI! YOU! BOY!"

Gendry pushed himself out from under the car to see Yoren glaring his usual friendly glare.

"Are you fucking deaf? Your phone has been ringing for ages!"

"I might be, with how loud you play this music," Gendry grumbled, pulling himself up and snatching his phone. It was Arya.

"Hey," he said happily, picking up. "Hold on a moment! I can't hear you over the racket! Let me go outside!"

He practically ran to the parking lot, ignoring Yoren's not-so-quiet insults.

"What's up?"

There was a long pause, and for a moment Gendry thought he had lost her, or the call had been dropped.

"I need to talk to you," she said, and it might have been the connection, but her voice sounded strange.

"Is everything all right?" Gendry asked, concerned. "Is everyone okay?"

"Everyone's fine," Arya said curtly. "I just need to talk to you. Now."

"Well, I'm at work," Gendry said, frowning, confused.

"I'll go there then," Arya said, and the more he talked to her, the more she didn't sound like herself.

"Are you okay?" Gendry asked. "You sound strange."

"I'm fine," Arya snapped, and he was surprised by her harshness. Had he done something to offend her? "I just really need to talk to you. I'm on my way, I'll be there in ten minutes."

And with that, she hung up. Gendry stared at his phone, blinking, his happy mood melting in his chest. Suddenly, he didn't feel so good about everything anymore. But that was silly, Arya never lied. She was probably fine.

Or what if she wasn't fine? What if she was pregnant? Or in some sort of trouble? Gendry felt anxiety burst within him. What would he do if she was? You'd stand by her, you dip shit, he thought to himself. Didn't you say five seconds ago that you loved her?

He took several deep breaths and shook his head. It was probably nothing. She was probably fine. He was just overreacting again.

"Yoren!" He said, walking back into the Forge. "I'm going to finish up and then take my lunch break, all right?"

Yoren just made a weird grumbling noise.

"I'll take that as a yes," Gendry said under his breath, pulling himself back under the car. Even as he worked, he couldn't help but feel a bubble of fear growing in his chest. No amount of brushing it off would make it leave either. It was entirely irrational, and yet...

"Arya's here!" Yoren shouted.

Gendry felt his heart lurch unexpectedly. Gulping, and swallowing his anxiety, he pushed himself out from under the car and brushed himself off, walking to where her car was parked.

It didn't help the sick feeling in his stomach when she didn't look up, or acknowledge his presence.

"Hey," he said, trying for a smile.

"Get in," she said, her expression curiously blank. Stomach churning, he did as he was told.

"What's going on?" Gendry asked, closing the door behind him. "What's wrong? Did something happen to you? Did someone hurt you?"

"No," Arya said, sounding annoyed. "I just..."

"You just...?" Gendry prodded, feeling the suspense pound in his ears.

"I think we need to take a break."

Gendry felt a searing pain of shock hit him, straight in his chest, leaving his blood burning cold and his lungs without air. He could only gape in utter shock, breathless, staring at her as she looked at him, her expression unreadable.

"Are you..." His voice was quivering. "Arya... Are you braking up with me?"

She looked down and sighed.

"Yeah," she said softly. "Yeah, I guess I am."

And just like that, it all shattered. His happiness, which had been building for the past few months, crashed away in an instant, leaving him empty and grasping, unable to fill the huge void that was growing in his chest.

"Why?" He gasped. "Why? I thought... I thought we were happy!"

"We were," she said. "For a time, I guess. But..."

There was a long, excruciating pause.

"I met someone else."

Gendry had thought it was not possible to feel worse. He was wrong.

"Who?" He demanded. "Arya, who?"

"Edric Dayne," she, unable to look at him. "I ran into him on Monday, when we were supposed to hang out, and... We have a lot in common, actually. And he's more age appropriate, and he's smart, too, and comes from a good family."

Each word was a stab. White hot, seeping with blood, so painful it felt like he'd never breathe again.

"Arya please," he said, his throat thick. "Please don't do this. I love you."

She jerked up, and for the first time he saw an emotion flicker across her face. Regret. She felt sorry for him. It hurt more than any blow he had ever received.

"Then I'm really sorry," she said, the mask back on. "But I don't feel the same way."

"So what was I to you then? Just sex?" Gendry snarled.

"No," Arya said, and again she looked sad. "I really care about you Gendry, I do. I just... I don't think I feel the same way about you as you feel about me."

He couldn't speak. If he spoke, he might cry. And he would not, he could not, cry in front of Arya Stark. Not after she basically confessed to him that she thought he was worthless. Not now, and not ever.

"I hope we can still be friends."

Gendry looked up, sure that she was joking. A sick, cruel joke, but a joke non-the-less. And he saw that he was right. Even though she wore an expression of hopeful regret, he saw in her eyes that she knew they would never be friends again.

"I don't think that's possible," Gendry said, anger and hurt bubbling within him. "I'll never trust you again."

"I didn't cheat on you," Arya said, frowning.

"No, but you lied to me," Gendry spat. "You made me feel like you felt the same way as I did, and that's unforgivable."

"When?" Arya demanded, looking suddenly angry. "When did I lie to you? The answer is never! You were just too stupid to see what was right in front of your face!"

Gendry wrenched open the door and ripped himself from the car, slamming the door with all the force he could muster and then charging away, all his emotions raging within him in an uncontrollable battle.

He didn't look back, but if he had, he would have seen that Arya Stark was no stone. He would have seen that, despite the fact that she had appeared so in control, she was not. He would have seen that her head was bent over, shaking in silent sobs.

He would have seen that she was crying.

Ahhh I feel like I'm going to get a lot of unhappiness for this =( but I've planned this from the very beginning, so this was really the way it was always going to go. I have to warn you, in chapters to come, there is going to be more angst than humor. But please don't despair! I really think there is enough tragedy in asoiaf as there is, and I really do want my characters to be happy in the end, so please don't give up on me