Gendry

Gendry awoke the next morning with his arm draped around a small body curved against his own. He felt a sort of peacefulness as his eyes fluttered open, the feel of someone so close to him. For once in what seemed like such a long time, there was no gaping hole of loneliness gnawing away within his chest. For the first morning in a long time, he woke up fully and utterly content.

But then he had to wake up, and he looked down, and the person that slept within his arms, that was so close he could feel her breath rise and fall, was Arya. And it came all rushing back in the form of a horrible headache. The drinking. Her anger.

He had kissed her.

He sat up on the mattress and squeezed his fingers to his eyes, trying to block out the horrible pounding in his head, but it was no use. He could not undo what he had done, and he had fucked things up royally.

She trusted you, he thought in despair. You're her protector, her guardian, and you've utterly and totally betrayed her trust and abused your power. How could he have been so stupid? How could he have taken advantage of her like that?

He scooted further away from her, terrified that she might awaken and find him so close. His memory of the kiss was muddled, but he had a distinct picture of her eyes, glittering furiously in the dark, and that was enough. He could not imagine what she would be like when she woke up, but the thought of her being frightened of him chilled him more than any cold. How could he have been so stupid?

Should he apologize? He wondered. But that seemed like it would make things horribly worse. And he had no idea what Arya would be like when she woke up, so maybe he should just wait and feel things out with her. But... It was so mucked up, and he had done it and-He felt like punching something. Stupid, worthless bastard.

But why had he done it? Was he really that drunk?

No.

He didn't want to think about it, but a certain panic was seizing up inside him and he got up and went to the bathroom and locked the door, staring at himself in the mirror, trying to tell himself over and over again... But it was no use. He knew, in some place of honesty that could not be ignored, what this all meant and why he had done it, and the drink might have helped things along but it wasn't the cause. He was the cause.

Things were bitterly going from bad to worse, and Gendry tried to splash water on his face and talk himself out of it, but it was folly. Admitting it to himself would create a bitter taste on his tongue and a string of problems that he would never be able to repair, so he did not. He refused for this to be the truth. Maybe if he ignored it, it would go away. He liked this plan.

But what about Arya? It was clear, abundantly clear, that he could not go with her to Riverrun. He did not trust himself anymore, and it was better for her that she should be away from him. She would probably welcome that anyway. Once she was safe with her family, she would want nothing to do with him, and it was better that way. Besides, Gendry didn't know if he wanted to work for Robb Stark anyways. He had seen the horrible things that the mob was doing and he was tired of it. He was tired of the fighting and he wanted to do something good for a change.

The solution came to him in a moment of sweeping revelation. He would join the Brotherhood. Relief expanded in his chest as Gendry realized the perfection of this plan. Lem had already offered for him to join, but he had refused on account of Arya, but now that they were so close to getting her home and she didn't want him anymore, what more of a perfect way to make a clean, appropriate split than to join the Brotherhood? It would solve everything.

There came a knock at the door, and Gendry opened the door to see a buck naked Tom standing there, yawning and rubbing his jaw.

"Time to get going mate," he said sleepily. "Got ourselves a bus outside."

A bus? Brow crinkled in confusion, Gendry went in the main room to see Arya hanging out the window, looking at something. Forgetting himself, Gendry went to join her.

To his surprise there was a bus. A rather big one and the other members of the Brotherhood were loading their supplies onto it and thanking the woman who apparently owned the Peach for having them.

"Where'd they get a bus?" Gendry asked, frowning.

"Him," Arya said, pointing. Gendry squinted.

There was a blonde haired boy, about Arya's age, who had just gotten off the bus, and who Beric was thumping on the back and saying something too. Gendry had never seen him before, but it was apparent that he knew the Brotherhood rather well. Maybe he was even a member.

"Who is he?" He wondered.

"No idea," Arya said curtly, drawing away from him abruptly and folding her arms around herself. Gendry's heart sank into his knees.

"Arya, I-"

"I think we should get going," she said in a rush, cutting across him, and she swiped up her red jacket and left, taking the stairs two at a time before he could say anything else. His apology was left hanging in the air, but maybe it was for the best. She obviously didn't want to hear it, and as for him telling her plan, she probably didn't want to hear that either. Getting his own jacket, Gendry followed her down to the bus.

"Well done Ned," Beric was saying to the blonde boy. "Never did meet a better car thief than this kid, and a whole bus at that?"

He laughed heartily as Ned blushed shyly.

"It was nothing, really," he said, shaking his long hair into his eyes. Gendry and Arya stood awkwardly apart.

"Oh right, introductions," Beric said, as if remembering them. "Edric, this is Arya Stark, you know her, don't you?"

"I've heard of her," Edric said bashfully, chancing a glance at Arya. "Your father was Ned Stark."

Arya didn't say anything, but Gendry could feel the ripple of pain that coursed through her at the mention of her father.

"Edric's like a son to me," Beric said, patting Edric's shoulder. "I've taught him everything he knows. He hasn't been with us, on account of trying to get us some transportation for the lady."

He nodded to Arya.

"Well done Ned." Edric flushed.

"I'm Edric Dayne," he said politely to Arya, extending his hand to hers. She took it and smiled at him. For some reason this settled darkly with Gendry. He shook it off.

"Nice to meet you," she said curtly. They dropped hands, and Edric looked curiously at Gendry. Arya seemed to notice. "This is Gendry," she said flatly. "He's been hired as my protector until I get to Riverrun."

There it was. Her protector. Nothing more, nothing less. Until she got to Riverrun, and then he was useless.

"Hello," Edric said, almost frightened. Gendry was too preoccupied with the emotions surging within him to do anything except grimace.

"The ride to Riverrun's about a day or so from here," Beric told them. "So we'll have to stop off somewhere for the night, but for the most part, we'll get you to your brother soon."

Arya nodded but she didn't say anything else. She was more quiet and withdrawn than usual, and that was Gendry's fault. He hated himself for it.

They all got on the bus, and to Gendry made a point to get on first, and sat down, so that Arya could chose to sit where she liked. She sat towards the front of the bus and away from him. Edric Dayne sat on the seat across from her. A twinge of something boiled within Gendry, and again he tried to shrug it off.

They drove for about an hour or so in silence, but every fifteen minutes or so, Edric Dayne would shoot Arya a shy look from under his hair, and Gendry couldn't help but feel his mood blacken a shade every time he did. It began to rain around noon as they stopped to get a quick lunch and make a bathroom break, and as they all scrambled back to the bus, sandwiches in hand, Edric Dayne sighed.

"I hate the rain," he said to Arya. "My hair always gets in my eyes."

"Then cut it," Gendry snapped before he could stop himself, and then mentally kicked himself for being so stupid. What was wrong with him anyway? He was acting like a two-year-old.

"Ignore him," Arya said as they got back on the bus. "He's an idiot."

Edric smiled, but then caught the look on Gendry's face and gave a squeak of fright. They all took up their old seats. Gendry sat down hard and tried to absorb himself in his sandwich. It was an endeavor of little success.

"I'm from Dorne," Edric piped up.

"Oh that's nice," Arya said. "I've never been there."

"Oh," Edric sighed, sounding slightly dejected. "So then you haven't heard of Starfall mansion then, I take it?"

"No," Arya said through a mouthful of sandwich as Gendry moodily picked at his. "Why?"

"It's my house," Edric said, shy again. "Or it was my house. I mean, it still is, just not until I come of age."

"But I thought you were... You and Beric..." Arya frowned, confused.

"Beric was my Dad's good friend," Edric explained quietly, "Before he died. My parents both died when I was little and I've been in Beric's care until I can claim my inheritance."

"Oh," Arya said. Gendry felt a twinge of sympathy for Edric Dayne, but only just.

"Yeah once I turn eighteen, I'll move back there and take over the family empire," Edric said with pride. Gendry rolled his eyes and snorted.

"Shut it you!" Arya snapped at him, turning around and chucking her apple at him. It hit his head rather painfully.

"Oww!" Gendry grumbled, messaging his head. "What kind of rich man's daughter chucks apple's at people?"

"This kind," Arya said, glaring at him, and she turned back to Edric and listened attentively as he babbled on stupidly.

Gendry tried to ignore it, but it was grating on his nerves. What did he care if Edric Dayne and Arya were friends? Even more than friends? He had already told himself that he and Arya were an inappropriate match, and Arya clearly didn't want anything to with him, so why was Edric bothering him so much? Was it because he was nice? Had everything Gendry didn't? Or was it the way he kept looking at Arya?

It was late in the evening when they pulled into a motel parking lot. Gendry's bones were stiff and cold as he lumbered out of the truck, Edric and Arya still talking. She had slipped so quickly from his fingers, and now he was nothing. The night sky, dark and lacking stars seemed to make him feel even more empty and alone.

There were an odd number of them, but Arya was the only girl, so she had to have a room alone. Beric ordered two others rooms (they couldn't afford more), so it was clear that Gendry would most likely be in for a rough night on the floor. At this point, he didn't care. He was tired, and hungry.

There was a small, cheap diner attached to the hotel, so they all went there for dinner and crowded into a large booth. Arya pulled her hood over her face so that she wouldn't be recognized and Gendry did the same. The last thing they needed was to be so close to Riverrun, and then get caught.

"Tomorrow you'll see your family," Edric said to Arya as they munched on greasy fries. "Are you excited?"

Arya caught Gendry's eye, and he could tell it was so much more than excitement that she was feeling.

"Yes," she said hoarsely.

"And what about you, Gendry?" Edric asked timidly. "What are you going to do when you no longer have to protect Arya?"

"I dunno," Gendry grunted. "I suppose I thought... I thought I might join you lot. You know, if you wanted. I'm not a bad fighter, and I can fix just about anything. I figured I could be of help."

"Of course Gendry," Beric said seriously. "We'd be honored."

Gendry's eyes went around the table, and he saw that the Brotherhood were all nodding their heads and smiling at him. He would be welcome with them.

But then he caught Arya's eyes.

He was floored, absolutely breathless, at the amount of pain that was swelling in her eyes like a tremendous storm about to explode. She looked like she couldn't breathe, and her mouth hung open slightly, tears shimmering... But he had thought she would be happy... He thought she didn't want anything to do with him...

"I'm tired," she said abruptly. "I want to go back to the hotel."

"That seems like a fine idea," Beric said, and they paid for their meal and stood. Gendry tried to catch Arya's eye, but she wouldn't look at him. She practically ran out of the restaurant, and he went after her, not being able to catch up to her until she was already inside the elevator, trying to get the door to close.

He caught it.

She scowled at him as he went inside. The doors closed.

"Arya I'm-"

"If you want to go and get yourself killed," she spat, "being part of some stupid gang, then I really could care less."

"I thought this would be what you wanted-"

"How perceptive of you," she said viciously, but her voice wavered. "Yes this is exactly what I want."

There was a tremendous ringing silence, and then the door to the second floor opened and Edric Dyane was standing there.

"Is everything all right?" he asked.

"Yes," Gendry snarled. "Now piss off."

Edric looked startled.

"I said GO!"

He skirted away, alarmed.

"He's perfectly nice," Arya snapped, rounding on Gendry as Edric went into one of the rooms. "I don't understand why you're being so horrible!"

"Well if you're so in love with him-"

"In love with him?" Arya repeated, cutting across Gendry and looking murderous. "I'm NOT in love with him! I never said I was in love with him! What's wrong with you?"

What was wrong with him? He was acting like a complete lunatic. And he just couldn't seem to stop, because every time Edric Dayne popped into his mind, Gendry felt the rushing urge to reach out his hands and strangle him. A crippling jealousy took over, one that he had never experienced before. It was just... Well he was so much better, wasn't he? Gendry was too old, too base-born and inferior in every way. Uneducated, a messy past. Whether he intended it or not, Edric Dayne represented everything in Gendry that he despised.

"You're rude to him, you never even gave him a chance! What's wrong? Hmm? What's wrong with you?" Arya demanded, crossing her arms.

What was wrong with him was that he had feelings for Arya.

"You know what? I'm done. I'm just going to-"

He grabbed her arm and spun her around and her mouth opened, as though she was going to yell at him some more, but she gave a little squeak of indignation because he leaned in and captured his lips with hers.

She stood still, her body rigid, frozen against his lips and he pulled away.

"I'm sor-"

But she grabbed the back of his neck and crashed her lips against his again, gently wrenching her arm from his grasp and looping it around his neck, drawing him close, his form curved against hers. And just like that, Gendry felt as though his mind had burst into flames.

Her tongue sent sparks to his skin, the hair on his arms and at the back of his neck prickling straight. Her fingers roved through his thick black hair as his slid to the small of her back, the heat of her body tingling under his fingers. He couldn't even think. His head was just a messy swirl of things that were registering at the speed of light. Her lips. Her fingers. Her. Arya. Everything was Arya.

She let go of him, and they stared at each other, flush in the face.

"Why did you apologize you idiot?" She asked breathlessly. "Why did you ever apologize?"

Gendry tried to answer, but he was tongue tied.

"Would you like to come to my room?" She asked boldly, a wild fire in her eyes that he had never seen before.

"I... I... That is if you're sure..." Gendry stuttered out. It felt like a dream. She smiled. A real, radiant smile.

"I wouldn't have asked if I wasn't," she said, linking her fingers with his, and then like he was some sort of drift wood, she dragged him to her room and unlocked the door. He trailed after her inside, and they were surrounded by darkness. Her eyes shimmered at him in the gloom.

Gently, he leaned down, taking her face in his hands and kissed her deeply. The key slipped from her fingers and he felt her hands travel up the cloth of his shirt, ghosting gently against the fabric, and then her fingers were weaving themselves through his hair as she leaned up on tiptoe...

He felt a hunger start at the pit of his stomach and slid his tongue into her mouth, kissing her like a drowning man. He wanted her to be everywhere, and she was, filling up the hole in his chest and he... He realized in that moment that he would never let her go.

She grabbed him by the collar and walked backwards towards the bed, his eyes never leaving hers, and as her knees hit the mattress, and she sank backwards, Gendry felt himself curve towards her, like a magnet, and his lips captured hers right before she lay flat. They kissed... And kissed... Her hand slid its way under his shirt, sending chills rippling over his skin, stopping at his beating heart.

"I want you."

It was so soft, she whispered it against his lips, that he might have dreamt it. But when Gendry pulled back, he saw that he didn't.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." Her voice was raspy.

"Have you ever-"

"No."

He paused for a moment, but she brought her hands to his face and kissed him softly, paused, and then brought herself up, pushing him backwards so that he fell on the bed. His face still in her hands, she kissed him feverishly, her hands on his wrists, draw them up to the place above her breasts, and then they almost fell like gravity, and he felt a tightness in his pants and groaned involuntarily, feeling his face flush. It had been a long time... A long time...

She threw off her jacket, and then wrestled out of her shirt. Her bra was a ratty old thing, probably one from one of the girls that were at Harrenhal, but in the light she never looked more beautiful, and he reached out a gentle hand and let his fingers trace her skin as she closed her eyes, sighing.

It was too slow. Not enough.

As if catching on, her hands were clawing at his shirt, and Gendry yanked it off, feeling a shutter of relief as her hands ran themselves over his skin as he leaned in and kissed the soft skin of her neck, his fingers struggling with the straps of the bra, pushing it off and then finding the tender skin of her breasts, hearing her moan...

They were desperate. Parched. Drowning.

Arya pushed Gendry back and undid the buckle of his pants, her hands moving slowly down, he gasped aloud and jerked, and then he was sitting up, pushing her pants down roughly, flipping her around and then sliding a finger down... Feeling her until she could barely stand it, pulling her underwear off and then, trailing his mouth down until he tasted her, and she gasped and yanked at his hair until she nearly pulled it out, shuttering.

After she was done, he laid his head against her shoulder, just breathing.

"Yes," she whispered in his ear, as if giving him the final permission, and he looked straight into her eyes until they finally came together, and his heart swelled so much it might have burst, and it was on his lips but never quite made it out. I love you... I love you...

ooooOOOOoooo

Arya

It was early in the morning, and Gendry was asleep. His breathing was deep, and the stupid look on his face... Arya let a finger trace from his forehead to his nose. His arms were draped around her, perfectly heavy with sleep. She smiled.

Getting up, she fancied a shower. She was sore down between her legs, but it wasn't a bad kind of sore, and as she rolled away from Gendry's warmth, she smiled again. She hadn't felt this kind of happy in so very long...

The bathroom light barely worked, and it kept flickering, but it didn't matter. The water was warm, and Arya washed her hair and body almost regretfully... It felt too soon, like she was washing away every moment, every touch... She could almost see them, sliding off her body and spiraling down the drain.

But then again, that was what was going to happen? Wasn't it? He was going to leave her. He said so last night. He was going to drop her off with her brother and then become one of the Brotherhood.

Maybe he won't now, a small voice in her head said as she got out of the shower. But that was stupid. She wasn't some naive little girl, and thinking that made her feel like one. He's leaving you, she thought harshly as she exited the bathroom. He' leaving you and that's all there is to it.

Everyone left in the end anyway.

It was with a heavy heart that she put on her clothes, Gendry still sleeping, and she couldn't help but feel her thoughts tangling up in her head. Unable to bare the noise, or the swelling sadness in her chest, grabbed the remote and flicked on the TV, looking for her shoes.

"... In a shocking and horribly violent mass murder now known as the Red Wedding..."

More awful news was it? Maybe she should just turn it off.

"... Robb Stark..."

Arya froze, her blood turning to ice. Suddenly she couldn't breathe.

"... His body was found this morning by authorities, decapitated and thrown in a dumpster. Stark, along with his mother Catelyn, were both tragically killed, her body found an hour later, naked in a river..."

The images were flashing on the screen in a blur, and suddenly everything was crumbling and sliding out of control, and Arya's hands were shaking as reality slid off the world in a great big heap...

"Police are currently looking into who could have done this crime, but for now that remains unknown. The bodies are currently in police custody, and the whereabouts of Sansa Stark are unknown as well... Though she is presumed dead..."

And just like that. Everything shattered into a million pieces.

Don't hate me.