"Are you excited about graduating early, little wolf," he dad asked. He smiled proudly at her as Arya ate her food.
Not really, she thought to herself. Instead, she said, "It's okay, I guess."
"It's okay, you guess," her mother repeated. Her parents always knew she was on track to graduate early, but it never occurred to Arya when she was at Wholistic Core. She'd taken many advanced and honors classes not realizing that she was ahead by a year. Rather than having a whole year with Gendry and Hot Pie, she'd robbed herself left a year early. "This is exciting news."
For you maybe, she inwardly sighed.
Arya just wanted to spend all of the time left she had with Gendry.
~*~*~*~
Gendry stopped so Hot Pie could catch up to him. Although Hot Pie was getting in shape due to all of the physical activities, he still lagged behind Arya and Gendry. On this occasion, it was just he and Gendry. Several times Gendry had slowed down, but Hot Pie hadn't gotten more and more tired and, consequently, slower.
"Come on, man, we're almost there," Gendry encouraged.
Hot Pie stopped for a moment and heavily leaned on the walking stick Gendry had given him earlier. Seamlessly, Gendry had adapted to life in the wilderness where as Hot Pie was still lost in the woods, figuratively speaking. Life in the wild was interesting and nice, but he missed the comfort and familiarity of the city lights. He knew the way of life there—the culture, where as at Wholistic Core, it was still a learning process. Hot Pie supposed that it was worth it; he was getting his GED and learned skills that he wouldn't have been able to if he never left Flea Bottom. But, still…who enjoyed spending time in the forest with animals, bugs, and shit?
Gendry walked towards Hot Pie when Hot Pie didn't make any signs that he was going move.
"Hey, is everything alright, man?" Gendry placed a supportive hand on Hot Pie's shoulder and looked at him with concern. "You need to sit down?"
"No," Hot Pie exhaled, and then wiped his sweat-covered forehead. Gendry handed him a bottle of water, which Hot Pie quickly demolished. "Thanks…I just needed a little break is all." Hot pie went to a tree and used it to lower himself to the ground.
"Okay." Gendry nodded as concern still covered his face as he sat next to him friend. "But, if you need to stop again, you'll tell me, yeah?"
"Yeah," he confirmed. Silently, Hot Pie tossed pebbles along the path as he caught his breath. Next to him, Gendry appeared to be unfazed by the strenuous challenge. Typically, the camp allowed them to choose their partners, which switched it up so that they wouldn't rely on the same people. Wholistic Core wanted to teach them how to work with others even if they weren't all on the same level. It was about extending yourself to someone or allowing others to help you and putting pride aside on both sides.
In the real world, you couldn't always work with your friends or people who were on the same levels as you and the camp felt it was best to learn now rather than the hard way. Although Gendry and Hot Pie were friends, the camp, as well as everyone in it, knew that Gendry and Arya preferred to work together and were the best out of everyone when they did. So, Hot Pie's and Gendry's pairing wasn't a matter of friendship, but leading, patience, and teaching his partner. Hot Pie was supposed to adapt to Gendry's leadership, learn patience as well, and be opening to learn in real time situations.
Despite, their friendship, the camp was surprised at how well they worked together, which was really due to Gendry's patience and Hot Pie's thinking before acting. It made things so much easier, especially since they knew they'd have to accommodate if they wanted to do well in the challenge.
"I was kissed after the dance," Hot Pie blurted out.
"Really, way to go, man," Gendry said, cheerfully, as he clapped a hand against Hot Pie's back. "How was it?"
Hot Pie bit his lip and looked at the ground. "Awkward, weird…embarrassing."
"Man, don't be hard on yourself," Gendry said in a supportive tone. "A lot of peoples first time kisses are awkward. You just gotta practice at it."
At this, Hot Pie's face turned red. "But, I don't wanna practice at it."
"Then, how else you expect to get better at it," Gendry explained. "If this is the case, are you only going to have sex once if it's awkward?" Gendry laughed as if to indicate Hot Pie was being ridiculous. "Besides, clearly this girl likes you if she kissed you first—I'm quite sure she wants to practice."
Gendry knocked shoulders with Hot Pie to let him know he was overthinking it.
"He," Hot Pie corrected.
Gendry looked at Hot Pie in confusion.
"He," Hot Pie repeated again. "Doug Barnaby kissed me after the dance."
In realization, Gendry eyes widened in surprised and suddenly Hot Pie's weird behavior made sense the past three months. He's been struggling with his sexuality. Hot Pie's first kiss wasn't awkward, weird, and embarrassing because it'd been his first kiss; it was awkward, weird, and embarrassing because it'd been from a boy. Gendry had only known Hot Pie to be attracted to girls and he suspected that his friend had only looked at girls as well. It was then that Gendry noticed Hot Pie hadn't looked at his once since they'd sat down.
His friend was ashamed.
"Umm…how do you feel about it," Gendry asked.
Hot Pie quietly stared at his hands. "I don't know," he chocked out. "I've—I'd never thought of guys like that, you know. But, then he kissed me."
"Have you talked since then?"
At this, Hot Pie nodded. "Yeah. I tried to avoid him, but he cornered me to talk and said he was sorry that he kissed me unexpectedly and that it wouldn't happened again…unless I wanted it to."
"I like girls," he said adamantly. Softly, he added, "But, I liked that too."
"You can like both." Gendry turned his body towards Hot Pie. "It doesn't have to be either or; if it turns out you just like guys, okay." He shrugged. "Or if this was just curiosity, that's fine too. But, if you like both, then you like both. It's like saying you can like only one type of dessert because someone else does. They're not you and you aren't them."
"Thanks…Gendry," Hot Pie said introspectively. "Thanks for being cool about this."
"Why wouldn't I be," he rhetorically asked. "You're my best friend—my brother and I love you." He extended a hand to Hot Pie. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah." He nodded as he took Gendry's hand. As they started walking, Hot Pie asked, "Can we just keep this between us?"
"Uh…sure," he agreed. "But, I was going to tell anyone." Gendry was somewhat offended that Hot Pie would ask such a thing. There was no way in hell he would tell someone's personal info without their knowledge, especially something like same sex feelings. It was a hot topic for many people and who knew what might happen.
"I didn't mean it like that," Hot Pie hurriedly explained. "I know you wouldn't tell anyone, but Arya isn't just anyone."
"You don't want me to tell Arya?" Curiously, Gendry stared at his walking partner. "I wasn't going to because that's not my business to tell, but if you afraid Arya is going to freak out about it, don't be. I'm pretty sure she's doesn't give shit either way."
"It's not that just…" Hot Pie trailed off. "It's not that."
Gendry weighed his options and decided it was better to drop the subject. If Hot Pie didn't want Arya to know, he had to respect that.
As soon as the reach the finish line/camping area, Arya greeted them. Hot Pie said hello before he headed off.
Slightly confused, Arya stared at him as he walked away, and then indulged Gendry in conversation. Hot Pie's greeting was polite, but lacked warmth and familiarity. He didn't exactly do anything wrong, but it felt off at the same time. Gendry was confused himself, but couldn't exactly bring the subject up because he'd have to tell Arya what they were specifically talking about. She didn't like generalities, so she'd prod and prod until he revealed the content of their conversation, which meant breaking his word to Hot Pie. He'd never explicitly lie to Arya and rather her get angry with him not saying anything than her upset about him lying. Truth be told, Gendry didn't honestly believe Hot Pie's odd behavior towards Arya had anything to do with him struggling with his sexuality.
When Gendry really thought about it, Hot Pie had been acting odd towards Arya for a while. Specifically, a few days after they announced that they were dating. For a fact, Gendry knew that Hot Pie didn't have feelings for Arya and he knew she didn't do anything to make it seem as if she did. So, that cancelled out anything on the romantic front. And it couldn't have been an argument or disagreement because Arya wouldn't have been so confused. Regardless of if she was right or nor, Arya was perceptive enough to know why someone would be upset with her or, at the very least, point to the situation.
Gods, they both were baffled and Hot Pie wasn't being exactly forthcoming either.
~*~*~*~*~
Arya was a tall glass of water and he was parched.
Very soon after their lips disconnected, the reconnected again and again and again.
Gendry moaned into her mouth as she eagerly slid up and down on his cock.
He met her thrust for thrust as he jerked his hips upwards and watched her gasp. Arya pushed down harder; Gendry met her intensity. Her gasps were sharper and his groans were deeper.
One of her hands was splayed against the wall as the other dug its nails into his shoulder.
She was getting close.
Arya tended to get more aggressive—both consciously and unconsciously—when she was about to climax.
Without breaking rhythm all that much, the two managed to maneuver themselves so that Gendry was on his back against the bed rather than sitting up. Tightly, his hands gripped her waist as she rocked against him while her hands gripped his chest in her lust-induced daze. Gendry loved her like this: in the zone and slave to the sensation…to the throbbing between her legs. Uninhibited.
As Arya sat up, she took Gendry deeper and his eyes just about rolled to the back of his head. Her hands got tangled in her hair as she bit her lip and her hips summoned her orgasm. She would not be denied. Gendry caressed her breasts, and then leaned forward to suckle on them as he slowly pulled her close and threw his legs off of the edge of the bed. He'd have to get her off since she tired herself out too soon to do it herself. Arya loved making herself cum while riding him, but her pace had slowed, which is when Gendry took over.
They weren't always hard and fast; sometimes they were nice and slow or they simply touched and explored.
Another sharp gasp escaped Arya as Gendry leaned her over the edge and above his lap. She grabbed him tightly to pull him closer and deeper.
"Deeper," he asked.
Gendry felt her head nod affirmative against his cheek and immediately complied.
A few strokes later, Arya muffled her moans into his neck as she finally same. Gendry's released followed after hers by mere seconds as he muffled his own moans into her shoulder.
Contently, Arya lay on Gendry's chest as he wrapped an arm around her. Tenderly, he kissed her forehead as his squeezed her back. She smiled into his chest and traced her fingers along his arm.
"I'm glad we're doing this," he whispered.
Arya softly rubbed his stomach. "What? Having sex?"
Gendry chuckled. "No, dating, but I'm glad that we're doing the other thing too."
"Me too," Arya agreed. She lifted her head and looked at her boyfriend. Although they'd been together for almost three months, Arya was still in disbelief about having a boyfriend.
"I love you," he stated. Arya leaned forward and kissed him.
His nose nuzzled hers and she laughed against his face at the disgusting affection she secretly loved. "I love you too."
If it's been any other guy, Arya would've been scared off using the L word three months in. But, it was Gendry and he was her best friend, so she'd let him get away with saying it one month in. And she did love him. And it wasn't just as her friend. She was in love with him. She was in love with her boyfriend who was also her best friend.
Her smile faltered a bit
That feeling she had after the first time they had sex returned shortly after they began dating. Rather than running away or keeping Gendry at a certain distance, she expressed her fears to him: Arya was afraid of what would become of them once they graduated.
Would they be broken up by then?
Would they still be together?
If so what would they do about the distance?
Did they even want a long-term relationship?
Arya said that she'd try for him, but she didn't feel comfortable with long distance dating and Gendry echoed the same sentiments. Gendry also verbalized the same fears of not wanting their romantic relationship to ruin their friendship if they were to break up, which a long distance relationship might do. They didn't want to risk losing another this time after almost losing one another months ago.
They spitballed doing a trial run after graduation and give it a few months to see what happened, but ultimately, decided against it. In the end, they concluded that it'd be better to break up before they left camp rather than leave it up to chance and not have each other in the end. They enjoyed dating, but Arya and Gendry rather still maintain their friendship than take a chance and lose everything they had.
Although the thought saddened Arya from time to time, she really did agree with the decision they made.
She peppered a few more kisses on his lips before she pulled away and asked, "You know what's going on with Hot Pie? He's been acting weird towards me for the past few weeks."
"I don't have a clue," he admitted. "I don't know what's up with him. I've been thinking about talking to him."
"Me too," Arya agreed. "I just don't know what I could've done to him or what I said that offended him. He's not rude, he's just…"
"Standoff-ish," Gendry provided.
"Yeah," she confirmed. "It's like he keeps me at arms length and I didn't do anything wrong…or, at least, I don't think I have."
"Do you want me to talk to him?" Gendry rubbed her back as he looked at his girlfriend.
Contemplatively, Arya stared him. "I was thinking about that. He'd be more open to talk to you, but his issue is with me, you know? Even if he does talk to you, that doesn't mean he'll talk it out with me or that you'd convince him to."
Gendry nodded at the validity of her assessment.
"I don't know what to do," she said semi-hopelessly.
Although Gendry meant a lot more to Arya than Hot Pie did, it didn't mean that's he didn't care about him and that he was unimportant…that she wouldn't care if there relationship turned sour, which it did.
"We'll figure something out," he promised.
~*~*~*~
It took another month for Arya to narrow down where the problem lay; the possibility occurred to her as she spitballed ideas with Gina.
"Hot Pie's issue with me definitely has to do with my relationship with Gendry," Arya concluded.
Gina thought over Arya's conclusion and said, "We've ruled out jealousy as a possibility and it couldn't be that he feels like a third wheel. If so, Gendry would be getting the same treatment."
"Not if he's afraid to lose both of his best friends," Arya countered.
"True," she agreed. "But, why you and not him? I understand that he is closer to Gendry as a result of similar backgrounds, but Hot Pie has also been honest and direct with you, right? Why would a person who has always been straightforward decide to not only hold you at arms length, but also not explain his problem with you either? His behavior says that this is an issue he has solely with you and not something he simply placed the sole blame on."
"While at the same time being about my relationship with Gendry," Arya murmured. He's not jealous and, now that she thought about it, she didn't think he felt like a third wheel. Arya looked at Gina who had a thoughtful expression on her face. "You know what it is, don't you?"
Gina gave a tight-lipped smile. "I don't know anything," she stated. Correcting Arya, she replied, "But I believe I know what the issue is."
Arya rolled her eyes.
Gina ignored Arya's reaction. "Think about every discussion you've had with Hot Pie about your relationship with Gendry and not just when you two official got together."
Arya took Gina's suggestion, which narrowed it down to one conversation: the night of the dance.
"I lied and said nothing was going on between me and Gendry," she stated. "But, I also apologized to Hot Pie when we told him about us."
"As true as that may be," Gina acknowledged. "Was that enough?" At Arya's confused expression, Gina elaborated. "Would you immediately accept say…Sansa's apology if she ever offered one? And if she did, would 'I'm sorry' alone be sufficient? I don't claim to know everything or even most things, but with everything we've discussed, doesn't this possibility seem highly probable: Hot Pie is mad at you and not Gendry because you lied and he believes you gave an insufficient apology."
It did make sense, but what more did Hot Pie want her to do?
Grovel at his feet?
"That's time." Gina's gaze lingered on her watch before she gathered her things. "I hope to hear that you've made progress with Hot Pie when we meet again."
"I hope so too," Arya mumbled.
~*~*~*~*~
"Arya, if you want my attention, you don't have to play hard to get," a guy named Sean stated. "But, I'm always hard when I think of us together."
"Which is ironic because I always vomit when I think of us," she said drily. "Now, excuse me while I go empty my stomach."
"Ha ha, funny," Sean replied. "Other girls wish they were lucky enough to have me even look at them."
"Well, it appears that my luck has turned bad." Sean's friends chuckled, which made the guy in question glare.
"Oh, I forgot, you've marked your pussy as 'Gendry's only' holding out hope that he'd even sniff it."
Arya shot back, "The same way you're begging to." Before Sean could respond, Arya continued, "Whether or not I want to fuck Gendry, not only is none of your business, it isn't any different from any other girl here and, correct me if I'm wrong, he's not fucking any of them either."
"But, you're best friends with him and you all spend most of your time together and he still isn't interested." Inwardly, Arya laughed. There were pros and cons to keeping their relationship secret. Pro: not being separated. Con: both of them being hit on by other people. But, Arya couldn't help but to feel that this situation was more of a pro than a con as she laughed at his hurt feelings.
"He's not?" Arya mysteriously grinned at Sean to make him doubt his assumption. "Then again, he wasn't interested when Tammy put her hands down his pants, when Fiona stuck her tongue down his throat, or hell, even when guys have hit on him. So, either he's asexual or very private about his sexual escapades. But, maybe you're right; maybe he's not interested in me or anyone else here for that matter. And maybe, just maybe, I turned him down."
As Arya spoke to Sean, she really thought about how people needed to keep their hands, mouths, and other parts to themselves. It's one thing to flirt with someone or see if they're interested and another to force yourself on them, which as happened on Gendry on a few occasions—even more so than her. She wondered how he kept his cool. She barely kept hers when he told her about the incidents. Arya knew they believed he was single, but that still didn't excuse their behavior.
She added that last part in hopes that she didn't reveal too much and so they'd re-analyze their assumptions about her relationship with Gendry. Sure, she was a bit possessive of Gendry. And yes, she wasn't exactly the subtlest about it, BUT that didn't mean Gendry held all of the power or that she didn't have the power to turn him down.
Besides, it was moot anyway: they were fucking. Not just fucking, but also dating—after she asked him out and he agreed.
Later on, after Arya left her last class for the day, she saw that Sean playing football in the Quad. With her luck, if she passed by and he saw her, he'd say something and she really didn't feel like arguing with him. But, as of now, he didn't see her. Arya made a sharp right into Cabin Zone E and decided to take the long way around to get to her cabin area.
As she walked, Arya remembered that her science partner Doug lived in this zone. He was just as smart as her, if not, smarter and she did have a few questions to ask him. She decided that since she was in the area, she might as well ask him his input on her ideas. Usually, she asked first before dropping by unannounced, but Doug did say she could drop by at any time.
Just as Arya knocked on Doug's door, she heard Sean's voice. She turned and saw that he was near, but hadn't seen her. Hoping to not offend Doug for not only coming by unannounced, despite his comments, and then entering his cabin without knocking, Arya took her chances to avoid Sean.
She softly closed the door as to not alert Sean, and then turned around to explain herself to Doug.
Immediately she froze like a deer in headlights.
Quickly, she placed her hands over her eyes as she began to panic and mouth 'Oh my God' over and over and over.
"Arya," she heard Hot Pie's voice exclaimed.
"Oh my God," she said aloud, this time. "Umm…uh—"
Abruptly, Arya left the cabin and briskly walked to her cabin.
In disbelief, she paced back and forth in her room. She wasn't shocked Hot Pie was gay, well, she was shocked, but it wasn't a big deal to her. But, she hadn't planned on walking in on him and Doug or Hot Pie and any guy for that matter. Most importantly, she didn't know If Hot Pie wanted her or anyone else, besides the guy he was involved with, to know true orientation. Like, that was a big deal, especially considering the city he came from, which tended to be very homophobic.
She couldn't pretend like she didn't know; all she could do was be supportive and behave as she always has because there was nothing to change.
She'd just wait for Hot Pie and come to her to talk to her when he was ready.
As soon as the thought crossed her, someone knocked on her door. Due to the urgency of the knocking, Arya assumed it was Hot Pie.
It was.
"Hey," she greeted.
Hot Pie walked around Arya without greeting her back. Firmly, he grabbed her arm, and then shut the door.
"If you're worried about me telling anyone or judging you," Arya began. "Don't be, okay. I'd never tell your business to other people and I don't care if you're gay."
"I'm NOT gay," he spat out. Hot Pie clenched his jaw as he glared at Arya. Arya squinted her eyes at him as she recalled what she just saw: Hot Pie's head between Doug's legs with Doug's cock in his mouth, enthusiastically sucking. "I'm said I'm NOT fucking gay, Arya."
Arya raised her hands. "Okay…I'm—I'm sorry."
"I still like girls, but…I—I—I like boys too," he admitted. "I'm not gay, but I'm not exactly straight either."
"Bi," Arya provided.
Hot Pie shrugged. "I don't know…"
"When did you realize that you liked boys…too?"
Hot Pie looked at Arya, and then took a seat at her desk. Arya sat on her bed across from her.
"After Doug kissed me," he admitted. "I liked it and tried to deny it, but I wanted to do it again and Doug said that if I was interested, we could take it slow."
"Are you two like, you know, dating," Arya asked.
"No," he said adamantly. "We're messing around. I never really thought about dating even before Doug kissed me, I just wanted to have sex and it's so much easier with guys to do…stuff because I don't have to pretend to be interested in order to…you know?"
Inwardly, Arya rolled her eyes. Hot Pie's answer was such a guy answer. It wasn't that he wanted to mess away or even that he was messing around with a guy, but that he didn't understand why some girls made it "harder" to have sex with them where as guys were more carefree about it. Guys may be pressured to have sex, but they aren't judged once they do it or because they gave into the pressure.
Also, Hot Pie was socially awkward so it made sense why he didn't have success messing around with a girl let alone kissing one.
Then there is the 'pretending to be interested.' Ugh…
Arya loved Hot Pie like a brother, but he could be really idiotic as well just like her own brothers.
"Yea," she agreed. She could call him out, but now wasn't the time for that. "But, are you sure that is what he wants?"
Hot Pie looked at her questioningly. "Huh?"
"I'm just asking if he wants to fool around too or if he wants to date to make sure your wires aren't crossed," Arya clarified. "If so, great; if not, then you two need to talk about that."
At this, Hot Pie nodded.
"I'm tired of being mad at you," Hot Pie said suddenly.
"Hot Pie, I've been thinking about it," Arya began. "And I'm sorry I didn't do enough to make it up to you when I lied about me and Gendry being involved."
Abruptly, Hot Pie looked at her. "You think this is about you not doing enough," he asked, incredulously. "Arya, you lied to my face when I flat out asked you if something was going on with you and Gendry. Even though I wasn't completely right, I wasn't completely wrong either. And you tried to make it seem as if it was all in my head."
"I'm sorry, Hot Pie," Arya sincerely apologized.
"I don't care about I'm sorries," Hot Pie said, dismissively. "I care about the fact that you lied to my face and that you didn't trust me enough to tell me the truth! We're supposed to be best friends, but how can I trust you if you aren't honest with me?"
At Hot Pie's accusations, Arya stomach tightened. "I was just trying to figure everything out," she weakly explained.
"And you don't think I fit into that equation?" Arya was confused. Before she could explain herself, Hot Pit continued, "You think I wanted to know if you and Gendry were dating just because it would be so super and awesome? Yea, I think you two would've been good together, but if ever shit blew up with you two what would happen?" Anger radiated off of Hot Pie as he spoke. "I know it was bad for you and Gendry, but what about me? What about the fact that I didn't know why my two best friends weren't talking and I didn't know how to fix it? Or if you two break up and hate each other and either I'm discarded or you make me choose—what do I do then?"
Arya was pissed. "It's quite clear you'd choose Gendry."
"Yeah, because he hasn't fucking lied to me," he shouted. "It's one thing to sneak around and it's another to flat out lie about it when I asked. I don't want to go through that again—I don't want to see you two fighting or feeling like I have to choose a side. I don't want to lose my best friends."
At the sound of Hot Pie's voice cracking, Arya's face softened. She didn't know that her and Gendry, really her, put Hot Pie through hell when they weren't talking back then. Arya had no idea that he took it so hard or that he was afraid that their friendship would fall apart.
"Hot Pie, you don't have to worry about that," she assured. "Gendry and I—we've already talked about that. We're going to break up after graduation so that we don't end up resenting each other because of the distance, so you're not going to lose us."
"You can't promise that," Hot Pie retorted.
"I can," she shot back vehemently.
"Like you promised Gendry that nothing would change after you two had sex?" Arya froze.
"This is different." Arya bit her lip. "Because of what happened back then, I'm going to make damn sure that I don't lose you or Gendry when we break up, okay?"
This time Arya's voice cracked.
"I don't want to go through that again and I don't want there to be anything between us where you have to choose him over me or ignore me." Tears slowly fell from the corners of Arya's eyes. Harshly, she rubbed them away. "Okay?"
"Okay." Hot Pie nodded.
"I know we don't do this much, but bring it in, big guy," Arya said, as she gestured with her hands for him to come to her as she walked to him. She pulled Hot Pie into a hug and squeezed tightly. "I'm sorry for being stupid."
She felt Hot Pie smile against her hair. "One way to know that an Arya Stark apology is sincere is if stupid is included in it."
They both laughed before letting each other go.
"Well, I was," she said. "And I'm sorry I lied to you. You were right to be concerned."
"You're fine." Hot Pie sighed. "This whole being mad at your friend is exhausting—I don't know how you and Gendry did it."
"Well, I wasn't mad at him, he was mad at me," Arya clarified. "But, just like you, he had a valid reason. I was being stupid." Arya was silent for a moment. "Did you keep this Doug…thing a secret from me because you were mad at me?"
"Yeah," Hot Pie admitted. "I felt like if you didn't trust me, why should I trust you?"
"Makes sense," Arya agreed.
"But, I didn't think you'd tell anyone if you knew," he said. "I guess…I just wanted to hurt you by keeping secrets."
"Does Gendry know?"
"Yeah," Hot Pie confirmed. "I talk to him about it sometimes."
"That's good." And it was. She was glad Hot Pie had someone to talk to. "Is everything going to get back to normal now?"
Hot Pie smiled. "Yeah."
"Thank Gods!" Arya smiled back at her best friend. "Gendry's great and all, but it's not the same watching wrestling with him like it is you. He doesn't appreciate it like we do."
"I'm saying," Hot Pie agreed. "Gods, I hate watching wrestling with him. He roots for all of the wrong people and has no enthusiasm. I'm sorry I made you suffer through that."
Arya laughed.
~*~*~*~
"You and Doug are lucky it was Arya that walked in and not anyone else," Gendry said as he chewed on a cookie. "I don't see how you all forgot to lock the door."
"We didn't." Hot Pie tried to take a cookie off of Gendry's plate, but he slapped Hot Pie's hand away.
"You have your own box back in your room," Gendry pointed out.
Hot Pie rolled his eyes. "We didn't forget to lock the door, Arya broke it."
"I did NOT break it!" Arya stole a cookie from Gendry's box.
"Hey!" Hot Pie looked peeved.
Gendry shrugged. "She's my girlfriend and she did make the cookies." Arya leaned down to kiss her boyfriend. Both Arya and Hot Pie sat on opposite sides of the bed as Gendry laid across the bed with his head in Arya's lap.
"Yea, you did," Hot Pie contradicted.
"Doug said it was already broken." Arya faux glared at Hot Pie to which he laughed.
Hot pie waved off her comment. He honestly didn't care either way. His thing with Doug ended a few weeks after Arya caught them. It had nothing to do with Arya and everything to do with Hot Pie not wanting to date. He liked fooling around where as dating had commitments that Hot Pie wasn't ready to keep.
There had been another guy and two girls. Messing around with Doug had really given Hot Pie a confidence booster; he was more assertive and less insecure. After he made out and felt up on a girl, Hot Pie stated that he definitely still liked girls, but that his interest in boys wasn't a phase.
"I always hate it when you leave." It was Thanksgiving Break and Arya was going to visit her family again the next day. Her usually break lasted a week, but during the summer and Christmas breaks, they could last anywhere from 2-4 weeks.
"Well, I'll be back in a week," she said to cheer Hot Pie up.
"And what if you aren't?" Hot Pie looked at his hands.
"Then, I'll be back the week after that," she stated. "But, you know I love you guys and always come back on time to hang out."
"And what about after graduation," he asked.
Oh.
"Whether it's two feet or a thousand miles, we'll always be friends," she promised. "I'm not going to see you guys everyday like I do now, but we'll always be best friends. Always."
~*~*~*~
"I missed going to games so much," Arya groaned. "That game was wild and the crowd was so pumped—it was awesome."
Ned grinned at his daughter's enthusiasm.
Excitedly, Bran and Rickon spoke next to her as they exited the stadium and caught her up on previous big games that she'd missed.
A few weeks before Arya came home, Ned asked her what she wanted to go and, without hesitation, Arya said, 'Go to a basketball game.' She missed seeing the Winterfell Nightwatchers play games live even though she enjoyed watching some games on TV. 'It wasn't the said', she said adamantly and Ned believed her.
"This is our year," Arya proclaimed. "The Kingsguard is too top heavy and their coach is overrated. Braavos is far more of a threat and their team is way more balanced, but we can definitely beat them if we stayed focused."
"And if Dennis stops overplaying his players," Bran remarked.
Arya scoffed. "Why are people so obsessed with minute management—old teams, like the dynasty teams used to play their players the same minutes Dennis does, even more, sometimes. Like, you all seriously need to get over that."
"Yeah," Rickon agreed. "And people only watch to see the stars play."
"I don't," Arya and Bran said at the same time. "But, casual fans are the reason teams make money, so I guess they're important too," Arya said. "But, like I said, winning teams rely on their star players."
"Only during the playoffs not the regular season," Bran countered.
Ned smiled at his kids as they walked to the car waiting for them.
They picked some ice cream and toppings up at the store and went straight home right afterwards. Catelyn joined them as they all decorated their ice cream with various toppings and chose a movie to watch.
Since they went with an action movie and an adventure one before they, they settled on romance for Catelyn and Ned. Ned enjoyed all types of movies, but Catelyn was a romantic at heart. As they watched the movie, Sansa walked in and abruptly stopped once she saw Arya.
"Oh hey, sweetheart," Catelyn said. "You're home early, you watch to watch the movie with us."
Like her mother, Sansa was a romantic at heart as well and based off of Catelyn's response to the movie so far, everyone knew she'd love it too.
"No, I'd much rather go to my room," she said instead.
Catelyn sighed. "Oh, come on Sansa, it's not often we all spend time together," her mother said as she smiled at her oldest daughter.
"Robb and Jon aren't here," Sansa pointed out.
"You know what I mean," Catelyn disregarded. "Go make yourself a bowl of ice cream and come watch the movie with us."
Although Arya and Sansa's relationship was already bad due to, well, everything. It got worse once Catelyn and Ned found out the truth behind the "cunt" incident. Sansa had several privileges taken away since she couldn't adequately punished being at college. Her punishment ended a week before Arya came home. Catelyn and Ned also didn't trust her as much as they used to either, which hurt Sansa a lot. Arya laughed. In her mind, Sansa deserved it for not coming forward about her part in what happened.
Sansa listened to their mother and came back with a small bowl of ice cream topped with fudge and cherries.
Arya tried to ay attention to the movie, but she was bored out of her mind. She had nothing against the romance genre, but most of the movies were so cliché and cheesy that they weren't worth giving a second glance to let alone a first.
"Blergh," Arya gagged as she rolled her eyes as the main characters exchanged love proclamations. "Somebody shoot me now."
"Arya," her mother chastised. "Don't say such a thing."
"What?" Arya shrugged. "I need someone to put me out of my misery…are you, are you crying?"
Her mother wiped her eyes. "Brittney and Luther found their way back to each other after all they've been through." Arya made a face. "Oh hush. You just don't know how to enjoy a good love story."
Arya rolled her eyes. "What's to enjoy: they're generic," she complained. "You have some meet cute scene or a forbidden romance, and then throw in all of the clichés—they're the same exact story just different character names. No complexities, no nuance, or subtext. I don't care that they end up together, but don't insult me by half assing it."
"Arya," her parents chastised at the same time.
"I'm sorry," Arya said without sounding all that apologetic. "Romance is boring because there's no actual risk or danger—not literally, but the stakes. So, I'm bored by it."
"Well, it entertains me," Catelyn said. "And I don't need any complexities, nuance, or subtext to enjoy it."
"Which is why I'll continue to criticize it." Arya smiled at her mother's scoff.
"Mom, Arya doesn't appreciate love stories because she's never been in a relationship or had guys…" Sansa cocked her head to the side as if inspecting Arya. "Or girls interested in her. They've never wanted to hold her hand or even kiss her."
Arya sharply gasped as Gendry's tongue flicked the sensitive flesh between her legs. Her orgasm overtook her as one hand tightly clutched the back of his head and the other tightened its grip on their entwined fingers.
"Oh, Gendry," she gasped as she gulped in deep breaths of air. "Oh…fuck."
Gendry kicked and suckled on her nether lips as her orgasm subsided.
"Oh Gendry…" She sighed.
There was a trail of kissed placed on Arya's body as Gendry made his way up to her mouth and passionately kissed Arya. Their hands remained entwined as he pulled them over her head and placed his other hand behind her head. Arya slipped her tongue and his mouth and groaned as their tongues collided. She refused to break their kiss as he tried to pull away.
"I love you," he said against her lips as his forehead rested on hers.
"I love you too."
Gendry rested on his forearms as he looked at her tenderly and, Gods, did she know it was true.
"Sans—" Catelyn began as Arya interrupted her.
"Love is not defined by whether or not you're relationship, San," Arya mocked. "If you have such an elementary understanding of it, then perhaps you shouldn't be in a relationship, which is apparent to everyone who knows who your boyfriend is."
Ned snapped his neck to look at his younger daughter, "Arya!"
"Did I lie?" Arya looked at her parents.
Catelyn sighed. "That's not the point, Arya."
Arya laughed. "You hear that, San, mom said that's not the point? But, she didn't say that I was wrong." Before either ne of her parents could speak again. "Don't worry, I'm shutting up and going to my room."
Sansa glared at her as she walked away.
~*~*~*~*~
Contently, Arya sighed as Gendry's lips trailed down her jawline to her neck. She moved her neck to the side to give him better access. Gods, his tongue was so warm; Arya grinded against his torso.
Arya grabbed Gendry's head and made him face her. She sucked on his lower lip for a moment, and then deeply kissed him. He moaned into her mouth. They broke apart as Arya disentangled her body from Gendry's.
"Come on," he said. "It's getting late."
The moon sparkled on the lake as Arya and Gendry swam around. They weren't loud as they usually were to avoid being caught. They've been having weekly swims for a few months now and haven't been caught yet. Tonight was different. It was Arya's birthday and she was here with him instead of home with her family due to a snowstorm.
Silently, Arya splashed water at Gendry, which he then retaliated. Then went back and forth for a few minutes. Arya grabbed him and tried to wrestle Gendry, but he was too quick and strong for her. Instead, he tickled Arya.
"Shh," he warned due to her giggles. Gendry choked back a laugh as Arya continued giggling, but inaudibly this time. She tried
"You cheat," she said in a hushed tone.
"Nope," he whispered. "You're just a sore loser."
"We need to get back," Gendry reminded.
As they exited the water, Gendry grabbed her hand and they silently ran back to his room. When they entered the cabin, Gendry threw her a towel and Arya quickly dried herself off. Gendry ran a towel over his head, and then his front and back before he threw on a shirt.
"Sit down," he instructed.
Arya gave him a side eye. "Why?"
"Just sit down," he said softly. "And close your eyes.
Arya did as told and sat on Gendry's bed and felt the bed shift as Gendry sat in front of her.
She smelled something sweet.
"Open your eyes."
Widely, Arya grinned. "You baked me a cake."
Gendry laughed. "Yeah," he said proudly. He cut the slice of cake with a fork, and then brought it to her mouth. "Try it."
Arya ate the cake off of the spoon and her taste buds exploded. "Mmm…"
"You like it," he asked insecurely. "Don't lie to me."
"No, I love it, Gendry," she assured. "It's really good."
There was some frosting on Arya's lip, which Gendry kissed off. "Good."
After Thanksgiving, Gendry told Arya to tell her his favorite cake and he'd bake it. The night before she had to leave, they had an earlier birthday celebration (before they informed that her flight had been cancelled due to a snowstorm) and his first one was a disaster. But, this one was perfect. Warmly, Arya smiled at him.
"Thank you," she said graciously.
"You're welcome." Gendry then pulled out a bracelet from his pocket. It was homemade. He took her wrist and put the bracelet on her. As he tied the ends he said, "I made it for you. It's not much, but I couldn't buy you anything but I wanted to give you something."
"I like it." Arya slowly traced the wooden pieces with her fingers. Direwolves and…
"A bull," Gendry said as he watched her react to it. The bracelet was made up of semi-large beads that had been spray-painted silver, and then Direwolves heads carved on each bead minus one that had a bull's head on it. "I figured it wouldn't be too obvious you know. It's a birthday gift, friendship bracelet, and an anniversary gift of sorts all wrapped into one." He smiled as he touched the bracelet. "People know you love direwolves, so you can say it's a thoughtful gift, but the bull…you can say it's because you're bullheaded at times."
Arya laughed as she pushed Gendry on the chest. "How long did it take you to make this?"
"Two or so months," he answered. He smiled, and then admitted. "A lot of trial and error. I'm getting better a wood carving, but carving on wood beads is a bitch."
Arya and Gendry laughed.
"I'm glad you like it," Gendry said.
"Nah…" Gendry raised an eyebrow. "I love it."
They briefly kissed before Arya snuck out of his window and went back to her own cabin.
~*~*~*~
Arya walked into the dining room and gave her mom and dad a kiss.
"Sorry, I'm late," she apologized.
"It's fine. Just go and wash your hands and sit down with us," her mother replied as she cut her food. Catelyn saw, what she presumed, some clothes draped over Arya's arm. "What's that? Did you go shopping?"
"Oh…" Arya moved her arm. "It's my prom dress."
Sansa choked on her food and hit her chest to clear her airways. "You're going to prom?"
"Uh…yeah." Arya lifted her sunglasses and placed them on her forehead.
"Why didn't you tell us, sweetheart," Catelyn asked. "I could've helped."
"It was a last minute thing," Arya confessed. "Some friends and I just decided to go to prom. No big deal."
"You don't have a date," Catelyn's voice took an incredulous tone.
Arya sighed. "No. I want to go with friends not some stupid boy who can't keep his hands to himself."
Ned and her brothers liked the sound of that.
"Or you weren't asked," Sansa 'innocently' proposed.
Catelyn narrowed her eyes at Sansa. "Can't you two get along for one night?"
"I didn't do anything, mom," Arya pointed out. She then looked at Sansa. "Maybe I wasn't, but then again, my self worth isn't dependent on if a guy likes me or not."
"Arya," Catelyn said her youngest daughter's name in a pleading voice. "Let's go upstairs and look at your dress."
Arya groaned, but complied with her mother's wishes.
Adoringly, Catelyn looked at the dress as she held it up to Arya's body.
"You're going to look so beautiful in this," she cooed "May I see you in it?"
Usually, Arya would argue with her mother, but she knew that Catelyn would only see her wear the dress in pictures and not in person, so Arya relented. It was silver and full length; she even put on the heels for good measure.
Catelyn excitedly clapped her hands together and held them against her chest as she watched Arya walk around her room in the dress.
"You look so beautiful sweetheart." Catelyn was teary eyed as she stared at her daughter.
"I promise to send you lots of picture, okay," Arya promised.
"You better."
They discussed that kind jewelry Arya would wear, if any, how she'd style her hair, and if she was wearing any makeup. Arya informed her that she would wear sparse jewelry, light make up, and would have her hair up and maybe some loose strands hanging.
Despite not wanting to, Arya decided to show her the rest of her family how she looked in the dress. They all complimented Arya and told her she looked beautiful. Inwardly, she blushed profusely, and then rushed upstairs to change.
Although Sansa and her often got into in when she came home, Arya was happy whenever she visited her family. She'd only come home for four days, but it had definitely been worth it.
As Arya finished putting her bag in the car, she noticed that her bracelet was gone. Frantically, Arya searched the car, her room, the family room, and kitchen, but she couldn't find it.
"What are you looking for, Arya," her father asked as Arya searched the couch cushions.
"Have you seen my bracelet?" She then looked under the couch. "It had the silver painted beads with the direwolves on it."
"Did you last see it down here," he asked.
Arya nodded. "I last saw it on my wrist and now it's gone. I don't even know how long it's been missing," she admitted.
"Do you want me to buy you another one?"
Arya frowned. "My best friend made it for me. I just can't believe I lost it."
"We'll find it, Arya, all right." Ned hugged her, and then put a hand on her head. "We have to get going or you'll miss your flight."
Arya looked as if she wanted to cry, but nodded in agreement.
Ned was touched that Arya found a friend that meant so much to her Arya and he could see the impact of that friend on her. He knew Mycah was important to Arya, as evidenced by their discussion a few months prior, but he could tell this was different. Arya cared about her best friend and the presents they gifted to her.
When Arya arrived at Wholistic Core, Gendry was waiting at the drop off area for her. He immediately took her bag out of the trunk and carried it for her. He instantly knew something was off.
"What's wrong?" He looked at Arya in concern.
Arya didn't answer him as she looked at the ground.
"Arya?"
"I lost your bracelet," she admitted apologetically. "I know I didn't take it off and I remember having it on the whole entire time, and then it was just…gone when I was about to leave."
"It's fine," he assured Arya.
Arya looked at Gendry. "It's not. I lost the bracelet you made me."
"Yeah, and I'll make you another," he replied. "I don't like that it's lost, but I'm not going to crucify you because it fell off of your wrist. I'll just make a better clasp next time." Gendry smiled at her, and then bumped Arya with his shoulder.
Against her will, Arya smiled back.
They day Gendry finished Arya's new bracelet, Arya's old one came in the mail. Ned explained that one of the maids found it in the laundry with the dirty towels and that it must've fallen off of Arya's wrist as she dried off. He meant to send it sooner, but it had been hectic at work and her dad sincerely apologized for not sending it sooner.
Arya wore both of them.
~*~*~*~
Arya and Gendry lie tangled in each other's arms as they thought about tomorrow.
Graduation.
Quietly, Arya sniffled as she dug her face into Gendry's chest. Gods, she was going to miss him; his stupid face, his stupid smile, his stupid laughs, his stupid smells, his stupid hugs, and his stupid kisses.
"I'm going to miss you so much," he whispered.
Without warning, Arya cried into his chest.
"Shh…" Gendry rocked her as he rubbed her back. "We're going to keep in touch and visit each other," he guaranteed.
Arya choked back tears.
She wasn't one of those girls who cried over a break up—she didn't get mopey. This was supposed to be a simple and painless break up between her and Gendry. No tears or tightness in the chest or wanting to do takebacks so she wouldn't have to let him go.
There was a knock on her door before someone entered, "Hey, Arya…"
Arya raised herself on her elbow and stared at camp counselor Diego before she lay back on Gendry's chest. What could they do to her—to them? She heard Gendry's heart beat fast at the sight of Diego.
"What," she asked as he voice cracked.
Diego was silent for a moment. "I'll just leave you two alone; we can talk tomorrow."
Arya cried harder into Gendry's chest.
~*~*~*~
"Look excited," Robb encouraged. "You've just graduated."
"I am excited," Arya's voice was monotone.
"Well, you've got me fooled," Jon remarked. Her half brother's been kind of down since his girlfriend—ex-girlfriend—Ygritte broke up with him. Arya really liked Ygritte and the redhead also sent her a graduation gift despite no longer being with Jon.
"Come on, so we make it to the award ceremony on time." Ned hooked his arm with Arya's as they walked towards their destination.
"Why it's not like I'm getting anything; you'll just see other kids rewarded." She leaned on her dad's shoulder
"And we should support them too," Catelyn stated. "As positively as you talk about the Core, I believe every kid earned their award and should be support regardless of relation."
When they reached their seats, Arya joined her peers as her parents sat in the family section.
One by one, various awards were rattled off. Leslie enthusiastically spoke about each recipient before she handed off the awards.
"Our next recipient has shown not only the skill, but the potential to defy the odds," Leslie stated. "When the odds were stack against him he stepped up to the challenged and surpassed the expectations of many and, just to let you know, we have high expectations for everyone here. He volunteers, is one of the top students in his class, and has become a leader to those around him. I present the award for Most Improved to Gendry Waters."
In surprise, Arya looked at Gendry and excitedly jumped in her seat. She stood up and clapped for him and he embarrassedly stood up at the loud applauds, and then hugged Arya and Hot Pie. He quickly walked up to the podium and collected his award and took a picture with Leslie.
"Okay, now we are down to our last award," she said excitedly. "This person has shown model behavior, completed every assignment exceedingly well, and has gone above and beyond for her fellow peers. This person has taught other campers new skills or has helped them practice it. Even went as far as teaching two of her fellow peers reading comprehension." In shock, Arya's head snapped towards Gendry.
"I present the award for Most Outstanding Citizen to Arya Stark."
A round of applause was made for Arya as stood up and hugged both of her best friends, and then accepted the award.
"You didn't think anyone noticed, did you," Leslie asked, as she took her picture with Arya.
Arya looked at the award and said, "I didn't."
"We've noticed," she assured.
Tightly, award held onto to the award. "Honestly, I was just having fun and enjoyed helping other people out when they needed it. I never thought I would get an award for it."
"We should never expect to get rewarded for doing the right thing," Leslie said. "But, it's nice when we are."
Arya nodded, and then headed back to her seat.
"And you thought you weren't going to get anything," Catelyn said as she examined the award. "You got the most important award."
"Mooooooo…" Arya said.
"What, you did," Catelyn said unapologetically.
Jon smiled. "You did. They always save the best for last."
Arya smiled. Her smile became wider when she saw Gendry and Hot Pie. She waved them over to her.
"Hey," she called out.
Gendry and Hot Pie looked for her, and then made their way to her.
"Mom and dad, these are my friends Hot Pie and Gendry that I've told you about," Arya introduced.
Curiously, both of her parents stared at Gendry as if they knew him.
Suddenly, her dad laughed. "You look like a buddy of mine when he was younger. What's your dad's name."
Gendry shrugged. "I don't know."
Immediately, Ned's face dropped. "I apology, Gendry, I meant no offense."
"No offense taken," he promised.
Ned recovered. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you two—we've heard a lot about you."
"Nice to meet you too, sir." Gendry shook Ned's hand, and then Catelyn's hand. "Arya talks a lot about her family."
"Yeah, she does," Hot Pie commented. "She'd promised we'd meet you all one day."
"And these are my brothers: Jon, Robb, Bran, and Rickon," she pointed out each one as she named them. Offhandedly, she said, "And that's Sansa."
Neither boy showed any ill will for Sansa as they all greeted Arya's brothers and sister enthusiastically.
THE NEXT DAY
Reluctantly, they broke apart promising that each time was the last time.
And, once again, they pulled one another into another kiss.
"Come on, Arya, what's taking so long," Bran complained as he knocked on her door.
Arya practically jumped out of her skin as she pushed Gendry away. "I gotta go," she stated the obvious. Her face crumbled as she wiped her eyes.
She was not one of those girls.
"Okay." Gendry hugged her tightly.
"You'll hear from me soon," she promised.
"I know."
"Arya!" Rickon banged on the door.
Gendry placed a kiss on her forehead, and then made his way over to the window. He gave her one last wave, and then climbed out.
Arya opened the door and held on tightly to her backpack straps.
"What was taking you so long," her youngest brother complained.
"I was making sure I didn't forget anything, numbnuts." She ruffled Rickon's hair and he swatted her hand away.
"Well, you should've packed sooner," he chastised. Arya rolled her eyes. Rickon habitually packed late and ALWAYS forgot something.
"I was double checking to make sure." She glared.
When they made it to the car, she threw her bag at Robb who then put it in the trunk of the limo.
As they drove away from Wholistic Core, Arya knew she was going to see Gendry again.
She was going to make sure of it.