Chapter 40

Sansa Stark POV

I'm painting Arya's nails, it's the day of prom. Myrcella we'll be over soon, and Gendry and Podrick are picking them up from here to go to prom. I feel like I'm more excited than Arya is, she didn't even want to have her nails done. I was able to convince her to let me paint them if they were black like her dress.

"Do I have to wear makeup tonight?" Arya asks me.

"I think you should," I say. "It doesn't have to be much, but it would help you look more put together."

"I don't want to wear makeup," she says. "It feels gross and I don't know why I need it."

"It just enhances the natural beauty that you already have." Arya rolls her eyes at that comment.

"You know, people always say that. I'm starting to believe makeup is actually supposed to hide your flaws more than anything else."

I guess she isn't wrong. "Can you just let me put a little bit on you?" I ask her. "I'll do a very basic look, I promise."

Arya sighs. "Fine," she says. "But I can't promise I won't wipe it off immediately."

I just chuckle. "Deal."

I can tell she wants to look nice, but she doesn't want to be a girl who cares about that sort of stuff. I know Gendry doesn't care, he'd love being with her no matter what she wore. He really is a sweetheart, I hope she hangs onto him.

Myrcella eventually shows up, she seems excited but really nervous. I know she struggles with social anxiety because of the bullying she went through. "Hey," she says, walking into my room. "Hi, Arya. Are you excited for prom?"

"I guess," Arya says. "All this dressing up isn't really my thing. Gendry and I will probably ditch at some point to go smoke."

"Careful," I say. "Don't let mom find out."

"Ugh, she's nuts," Arya says. "She doesn't actually care, she just doesn't want me to get into trouble." I think our mom does care, she just has a weird way of showing it.

"Will you do my makeup when you're done with Arya's?" Myrcella asks me. I'm not sure why she asks me to do that. She isn't bad at it, and it's not like I'm much better.

"Sure," I say. "If you want me to."

I do her makeup and they get dressed. I still kinda wish I was going, it would be fun to get ready and going with them even if I was just being a third wheel.

We're waiting for the guys downstairs when my parents walk down. Great, my mom has a camera. "Hi girls," she says, getting to the bottom of the stairs. "You both look gorgeous."

"Thanks, mom," Arya says. She sees the camera. "Do we have to take pictures."

"Just a couple," my mom says. "A couple of you guys and then a couple with the guys."

Arya begrudgingly agrees. My mom gets her and Myrcella together and takes a couple of pictures of them, then individually of them. A few minutes later, there's a knock at the door. My dad opens it, and Gendry and Podrick are there.

"Hello," my dad says as they walk in. "Hi Gendry, how are you?"

"I'm good," he says. "How are you, Mr. Stark?"

"I'm good," he says. "Arya's mom wants to get a couple pictures before you guys head out."

"Okay," Podrick says. "That sounds good."

They have corsages, which is really sweet. They put them on the girls' wrists, and I can tell Arya is just going with it because she knows it's a sweet gesture. I think Gendry is trying to find ways to be romantic with her that aren't too weird for her, he seems like a romantic at heart.

My parents get pictures of the couples, and then they get ready to head out. "Bye guys," my mom says. "Be home by midnight."

"I know, mom," Arya says. "Bye."

"Be safe," my dad says. "Have fun."

They walk out, and my dad shuts the door. "Do you wish you were going?" My mom asks me.

I shrug. "A little," I say. "But it's okay, I'll go next year."

I go up to my room and try to enjoy my evening. I'm glad Arya and Myrcella are going, but I do wish I was going with them. I'd have to have a date, and I'm wanting to take a break from dating for a while. At least when I actually go to prom, I can focus on just having a good time without relying on a guy.

Myrcella Baratheon POV

The prom is nightime-themed, meaning things are decorated to look like stars and the night sky. I'm very aware that my dress doesn't fit the theme when we walk in, I didn't know the theme when we went shopping. Arya's dress actually fits the theme perfectly, which was unintentional but very lucky for her. She doesn't even care about stuff like that and it still happened.

"I look so out of place," I say to Podrick. "My dress doesn't match the theme at all."

"It's okay," Podrick says. "No one is paying attention to that, unless it's because of how gorgeous you look." He kisses me on the cheek, and my heart flutters.

"You're so sweet," I say. "But you don't have to lie to me."

"I'm not lying," he says. "But for real, no one is paying attention to what anyone else is wearing compared to the theme. There's no reasoning behind it, I promise."

We walk over to where there's a water station and fill up cups. "My last school just had a lot of bullying," I say. "I would've been ripped to shreds for something like this. I'm trying to get over all that."

I know he understands that, he's such a kind person. I never thought I could get any boyfriend at all, let alone one this nice.

Gendry and Arya walk over to us. "What do you guys think?" Gendry asks me and her. "Is it everything you imagined?"

Arya just laughs. "I would have to think about it in in the first place," she says. She sees that Gendry didn't laugh. "It's very nice, student council did a good job."

A slow song comes on, and Podrick leads me out to the dance floor. He holds my hand and I lean on his chest. "You know," he says. "I'm really glad you moved here."

"Me too," I say. "I was so worried this would be just like my last school, and that Joffrey would continue to make my life miserable and no one would care."

"Well, he won't be bothering you if I, Gendry or Sansa have anything to say about it."

"You're still staying in town for college right?" I ask him.

"Definitely," he says. "At least for the first year. That was always the plan."

"Good," I say, looking at him. "I can't have you going off to college and flirting with other girls." He knows I'm joking, but I am really glad he's staying in town.

"Even if I was leaving town," he says. "I'd only have eyes for you. Trust me on that."

"So we're staying together after you graduate?" I was worried he'd break up with me and want to move on.

"Are you kidding?" He asks. "I can't imagine us not staying together, you're literally my favorite person. If that's what you want, that is."

"I do," I say. "I love you."

"Love you more."

We kiss and keep slow dancing until the song is over. I feel very happy and content in this moment, I love Podrick, I have great friends, and my family life is better than it's been in a long time. I never thought I could be this happy, and I'm actually looking forward to what lies ahead.

Gendry Baratheon POV

A slow song comes on, and I really want to slow dance with Arya once tonight. I grab her hand while we're sitting down on a bench. "Do you want to dance?" I ask her.

"This is a slow song," she says. "What's there to dance to?"

"I wanted to do one slow dance with you tonight," I say. "I thought it would be romantic, but only if you want to."

Arya rolls her eyes and nudges me, but she's still smiling. "You're so corny," she says. "But I guess I'll have this dance, my lord." I laugh at her joke. I can tell this isn't her thing, but I'm glad she's here with me.

We go out to the dance floor and I put my hands around her waist, she puts her arms around my neck despite being much shorter than me. "So is this really much different than a school dance?" She asks me.

"I guess not," I say. "Thanks for coming with me, though."

"You're a lot more romantic than I expected," she says. "It's weird to see you like that."

"Really, why?"

"I don't know," she says. "We've just been friends for so long, it's weird to see this side of you."

"Does it make you uncomfortable?"

"No, Gendry," she says. I know I ask her that a lot, but it's important to me and I'm not going to stop asking. "But I do have something I want to tell you."

"Okay," I say. "What is it?"

"I had a really big crush on you in middle school," she says. "When you picked me up that week and you were so sweet when I got my first period, I thought you were so kind and cute."

"I thought maybe that was the case," I say. "But I honestly didn't think about it much."

"Makes sense," she says. "I've never brought it up because it's still embarassing to me, but it meant a lot to me that you didn't make fun of me when I got my period."

"Why would I do that? It's not like it's something you could control."

"I just know a lot of teenage boys would, and I'm glad you didn't."

"I never brought it up because I figured it embarassed you," I say. "But I just wanted to make you feel as comfortable as I could."

"You definitely did," she says. "It meant a lot to me. I bet you had no idea we'd eventually be here."

"Definitely not," I say. "But I'm glad we are."

"Me too," Arya says. "And I'm really glad you're staying in town for trade school."

"I'll actually be doing a year of the community college and then trade school," I say. "But I'll still be in town, there's just a couple prerequisite classes I need to take."

"Oh, okay. That's cool."

"But you want to stay together after I graduate?"

"Definitely," she says. "I'm having a lot of fun with you."

"Me too."

The song ends and we eventually find Myrcella and Podrick. "Hey guys," Podrick says. "Still having fun?"

"I guess," Arya says, shrugging. "I'm a little hungry, though."

"Me too," I say. "Should we go eat."

"I could eat," Podrick says. "What do you think, Myrcella?"

"That sounds good," Myrcella says. "Let's go."

I'm glad they don't feel pressured to stay, and it would be fun to go do something else. I had my romantic moment with Arya, so I'm good.

Arya Stark POV

This night turned out to be more fun than I expected, even staying at prom. I'm glad we're heading out to get a snack, though. I feel like I got everything out of the prom experience that I could've.

We go out to Gendry's car and get in. "Where do you guys want to eat?" He asks.

"I don't know," Podrick says. "What's open this late?"

"A lot of places, actually," I say. "You'd be surprised."

"How about milkshakes?" Gendry asks. "I'm craving one."

"Okay," Podrick says. "Sounds good."

We get some milkshakes to go and smoke a couple cigarettes in the car. Well, Gendry and I smoke a couple cigarettes. Myrcella and Podrick turned it down, which I expected and that's obviously fine.

After we drop Podrick and Myrcella off where there car was parked, then we head back to my place.

"Do you want to go park somewhere?" I ask Gendry.

"What do you mean?"

"You know," I say. "Maybe do some stuff."

"Only if you're sure," he says. "It's getting late, and I don't want you to get in trouble."

"I have until midnight, so I'll be fine."

He smiles at me and we park a few blocks away from my house. We start fooling around, we've never done this much in his car before and it's a little cramped. He goes down on me, and I think I'm ready to try something new.

He comes up to kiss me, and I stop him. "Do you want me to do that to you?" I ask.

"What?" He says. "Go down on me?"

"Yeah, I think I'm ready."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I say. "You've done it so much for me, and I want to learn. I'm about to be 15, and I want to do it."

"Okay," he says. "I won't turn it down, but only if you're sure."

I do it, and we end up having sex in his car. I didn't hate going down on him as much as I expected, and he seemed to enjoy it so I'm glad I did it. I just didn't really know what to do.

He drops me off at home and gives me a kiss goodbye. "Bye," he says. "I had fun tonight."

"Me too."

"I love you," he says. "I'll talk to you tomorrow."

"Talk to you then."

I walk inside and my parents are waiting on the couch. It's 11:45, so I'm not even late. "Did you have fun?" My dad asks.

"Yeah," I say. "It was okay."

"Gendry didn't want to come inside?" My mom asks me.

"No," I say. "He wanted to get home and get to bed."

"You're hair and makeup is a little messed up," my mom says, eyeing me suspiciously.

"Gee, thanks mom," I say. "I was dancing a lot." I roll my eyes and head upstairs to my room.

"How was it?" Sansa asks me when I walk in, I'm surprised she's still up.

"It was fun," I say. "Can you come here?"

We go into the closet and sit down, we haven't talked in here in a while so I think Sansa knows it must be something big.

"Is everything okay?" She asks.

"Yeah," I say. "I went down on Gendry for the first time tonight. It was after prom in his car."

"Wow, how was it?"

"Not as gross as i expected," I say. "We slept together after."

"In the car?"

"Yeah," I say. "Mom said my hair and makeup looked a little messy when I got home."

"It does," Sansa says. "What did you say?"

"I just said I danced a lot, I think she bought it."

"I'm glad you and Gendry are having fun," she says. "Just please let me know if he ever does anything that you don't like or that makes you uncomfortable, I don't want you to go through what I did with Ramsay."

"I'll tell you if that happens," I say. "I promise. But Gendry's a good guy and a very caring and gentle lover, so I don't think it will."

I'm glad I have Sansa, and I'm glad I have Gendry. I just don't want my family to find out about the extent of our relationship, because I think they'd try to get him into trouble and he doesn't deserve that. I'm turning 15 in less than two weeks, so I'm hoping Jon starts to come around after that. If not, then oh well. I just feel like if my parents can accept this, than he can at least try to. We had so much fun tonight, and I love being with him. Gendry's not only my boyfriend, he's one of my best friends.