I kind of just post this how I want, and I have literally had no life for the past two days. I was going to just wait until tomorrow to post this chapter, but why make you guys wait? It seems silly.

Summary: In which all the Starks form a search party and Gendry thinks he might know where Arya is.

"This is all my fault."

Jon slumped down onto the couch, burying his head in his hands. They had spent the entire morning searching everywhere, looking for Arya, but she was no where to be found. She had left her car in the Forge parking lot, and must have taken the bus somewhere, because they had left no leaf unturned in that area, and no Arya. Once more, she had taken her money and most of her clothes. Unlike Sansa, it appeared that Arya had planned this quite well and had no intention of being found.

Everyone, including Gendry, had decided to split up. They called Sansa, who stayed at her university in case Arya showed up, but when she did not, Sansa decided it was best to come down and look for clues. Robb and Jeyne both went down to King's Landing to ask around, and Bran and Rickon combed the parks and all of Arya's weird hangouts that she had enjoyed going to as a kid, while Catelyn searched the malls and cinemas. Jon and Gendry had joined forces combing the streets and trying to put their heads together to think of new places to look.

It was mid day, and after six hours of searching, they had all regrouped at Winterfell, all with the same result. No Arya.

"No," Gendry sighed, sitting next to him, "this is my fault."

"Yeah, what did happen? We thought she was with you," Bran said, frowning.

Gendry sighed, feeling extremely uncomfortable. His discomfort wasn't hindered by the fact that he had a dozen of angry Starks glaring at him.

"Well, obviously she wasn't," he said, scratching at the back of his head, trying to think of the best way to say, 'yeah, sorry about that, you know, macking on some other girl and breaking your sisters heart.' Somehow, there just seemed like there wasn't a best way.

"I thought Dad said he let her go to that party," Robb said with a frown. "Were you not there?"

Gendry let out a sigh and closed his eyes.

"I was... I was trying to get over her," he said honestly. "I knew though, I knew I never should have kissed that girl."

There was a collective sucking of air from Sansa, Robb, Bran and Jeyne, who all wore different expressions on their faces. Jeyne and Robb looked sympathetically apologetic, while Bran and Sansa looked thoroughly annoyed.

"She must have seen," Gendry said brokenly. "Or else she would have never... Had I only known she was there... She would have never done this if it wasn't for me."

The guilt ached in the pit of his stomach.

"No," Jon said, looking grave. Unlike the rest of his family, he had practically strangled the truth out of Gendry on Gendry's doorstep hours before, and so the news of Gendry kissing some other girl was not a stranger to him. "No, this is my fault. I... I sort of freaked out on her, I think. I said some things I shouldn't have."

"We all said some things we shouldn't have," Ned said kindly. "I more than most."

"Still, that's no excuse for running away," Bran said with a frown.

"You weren't there, when we found out," Jon snapped, leaping to Arya's defense. "You don't know what it was like for her."

"Wait... You found out? What are you talking about?" Gendry demanded, feeling like he was missing something very important. Arya had never mentioned, not once, not even when they broke up, that her family had found out. But now... Well now Jon's violent behavior before made perfect sense. He wasn't angry because he suspected Arya might still have feelings for Gendry, he was angry because he knew she did.

"Well yes," Jon said, looking at Gendry like he was stupid. "Of course we did. That's why she broke up with you."

Gendry felt his head spinning, and he knew that no amount of coffee would cure this sort of headache.

"But... But she told me that she had found someone else," he said stupidly.

"Well then she lied," Robb said in a matter-of-fact voice.

"We should have never forced her," Jon groaned into his hands. "We should have talked it out, or something."

"Wait you forced-"

"I agree," Ned said, putting a hand on Catelyn's shoulder. "We should never have treated Arya the way we did. It wasn't fair."

"She needed me," Jon said feebly. "And I was too proud and too righteous to see it."

"She should have told us!" Sansa spoke up from the other side of the room. "If she had told us, we wouldn't have been so angry!"

"That's what I said," Gendry grumbled.

"And don't you start," Sansa snapped. "How could you be so stupid?"

"How could I be so stupid?" Gendry shot back. "You were the one who told me she had a crush on me!"

"Yes!" Sansa shouted, exasperated. "Because I thought it was cute! I didn't think you'd actually take it seriously!"

"Cute?" Gendry said indignantly. "She's not a little kid."

"Gendry's right," Jon said quietly, cutting off Sansa's retort. "She's not a little kid anymore, she hasn't been for a long time. He's just the one who noticed it first."

There was a long, contemplative silence.

"All I could see was my little sister," Jon sighed. "I couldn't even think of her like that, growing up."

"Neither could I," Robb agreed.

"I should have come down," Sansa said, sounding close to tears. "She was so depressed. I should have come down and tried to help her."

"She was depressed?" Gendry asked, bewildered. Jon, apparently, in his frenzy to find Arya had left a lot out.

Everyone looked grave.

"I've never seen Arya like that," Bran said finally. "She was like a totally different person."

Gendry sat back, in shock. And suddenly, he felt overwhelmingly guilty. Why didn't he fight for her? Why didn't he know something was wrong? He should have called, or at least stayed her friend. How could he have been so selfish?

"We should have stood by her," Jon said softly, staring into his hands, "not drifted away."

"We're a family," Robb said in agreement. "When one wolf is wounded, the pack helps heal the wound, not make it worse."

"Could you be any more cheesier, Robb?" Bran asked. "I'm starting to gag."

Robb made a face likened to someone who had found a bug in their salad.

"Robb's right," Ned said, and for the first time in what seemed like a long time, he looked like he was trying to bite back a smile. "Even if his delivery was a bit overdone."

"I thought it was a good analogy," Robb said, looking sullen.

"It was, dear," Jeyne said with a smile, patting his arm in a reassuring way as she rocked their baby boy in her arms, who was, by some strange miracle, fast asleep.

"Look," Gendry said, pulling in their focus. "I know that each one of us feels bad for what happened, but guilt isn't going to help us find her."

Everyone nodded.

"I just have no idea where she could be," Catelyn said, looking exhausted, her eyes hollow and puffy from crying. "We've searched everywhere."

"Obviously not everywhere," Rickon pointed out. "Or we would have found her by now. She can't really jump off the planet, can she?"

"I wouldn't underestimate her," Ned said with an affectionate and wary sigh.

"What is it with you Stark girls and running away?" Gendry asked. Sansa gave him an annoyed look, but then she sighed, apparently tired of being angry.

"I don't know," she said thoughtfully. "I just wanted to get away I suppose. To clear my head. To go somewhere I'd be safe."

"Safe," Gendry repeated, thinking very hard. "But... Well for Arya there's no place safe anymore, is there?"

"I suppose you're right," Sansa said with a frown. "Well... If there was no place safe... Then I suppose I'd want to go someplace where I felt happy. Someplace that-"

She was cut off my Gendry's gasp as he bolted to his feet, an idea suddenly clicking in his head.

"I think I know where she might be," he said.

"Where?" Jon demanded, leaping to his feet as well. "I'll come with you!"

"No," Gendry said firmly yet gently. "I think I'd better go at this alone."

Jon looked upset, but he seemed to understand. Biting his lip, he nodded.

"I think I'll need your car though," Gendry said. "From what I've experienced, it's probably going to be a long trip."

Ahhh only two more chapters to go! (one plus the epilogue)

Bittersweet? I don't know, but you guys have been amazing! Thank you again for all the lovely reviews