Arya

That night Gendry didn't let things get out of hand. The second kiss they shared that night was slower and more passionate than the first. Afterwards Arya changed out of her towel and into the a freshly washed Lannister Gold t-shirt that Gendry gave to her the first night the two of them met. She was about to snuggle up under the covers next to Gendry, wearing nothing else but that t-shirt and underwear.

"You know, it will be really hard for me not to do anything improper to you if you look like that," he said, as she was getting into bed.

"You are the only man I know who thinks that this is sexy," she laughed as she pointed to herself.

"Then you mustn't know many men," he smiled, as he moved closer to her, kissing her yet again.

Arya liked kissing him, a lot. And now that he knew, perhaps they'd always kiss. Arya smiled from underneath his lips at the thought of always kissing Gendry.

"What?" he asked, now smiling at her smile.

"Nothing," she said, not able to get rid of the smile. "I'm… I'm just happy."

And she was. She was genuinely happy. For a brief moment Arya let herself forget of all of her misfortunes that occurred in the past week. Now that Gendry understood that she didn't care about the things he thought she cared about, perhaps the two of them could be together. Arya wasn't really sure what being together meant. But she knew that she was comfortable with Gendry, as comfortable as she was with anyone in her family. Perhaps one day he'll be a part of her family too. Arya blushed at the thought, and looked back at Gendry. It was Gendry's turn to speak.

"As am I, m'lady," he said, smirking. She slapped his arm.

"When will you ever learn?" she couldn't help it, she was still smiling. Arya's cheeks were starting to hurt.

"Perhaps you'll need to teach me," he said as he snuggled up closer to her.

Arya's back was now pressed against Gendry's chest, their legs intertwined underneath the covers. Arya has slept next to Gendry before, but there were always two sleeping bags separating the two of them. Now, with nothing separating them but the thin layers of their clothing, Arya felt closer to Gendry than she ever has before. He put one of his arms underneath her head, as his other hand was softly stroking the outside of her bare leg. Arya moved into his caress, he gave her a gentle kiss on her neck, and the two of them fell asleep.

Waking up to an empty bed the morning after, Arya got dressed and went looking for Gendry. She walked along path by the cottages until she heard voices coming from the driveway that led up to one of them. Making her way there, she saw Gendry talking to Anguy over the open hood of a car.

"I think the problem is with your ignition, the engine wouldn't be making the noises it's been making had it been the breaks," said Gendry, his back turned to Arya.

Anguy noticed her walking towards them, tapped Gendry on the shoulder, and pointed at Arya.

"Morning," said Arya, acknowledging both Anguy and Gendry. Anguy gave her a nod.

"Morning, how did you sleep?" asked Gendry, smiling.

"Well, thank you," she replied, feeling a blush creep up on her face. "I… I didn't see you in bed when I woke up, so I got worried and..."

Anguy gave a suggestive whistle. Now it was Gendry's turn to blush.

"I… yeah. Anguy stopped by the cottage earlier, and asked me to take a look at his car."

"It's been acting up!" said Anguy.

"Alright, well, I'll let you two get back to it then," she said, turning to walk back to the cottage.

"Actually, we're done. Oh, Ar.. Arry, you know, they have a car shop here. I can try fixing your bike."

Arya turned around in an instant.

"You can?" she said happily. "OH GENDRY!" She ran up to him and jumped into his arms, her own wrapped around his neck. "That would be wonderful!"

"Yeah, well I've been thinking about it, and I think I can still fix it up without a new engine. It will need to be replaced eventually though."

"Oh, that's great! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squealed with excitement.

"We'll have to stay here for another day," said Gendry.

"You're most welcome to," said Anguy. "Beric already knows!"

Alright, staying back another day wasn't so bad. Arya could use a day away from the road. She was very tired of travel anyway, and perhaps this is the only break they'll get until they reach Winterfell.

"Sounds wonderful!"

"Thank you for your hospitality," added Gendry.

Arya sat on a bench at the shop where Gendry was repairing her bike. Arya loved watching him work. The concentration upon his face and the slight flexing of the muscles on his arms gave Arya a flashback of the night she first met him. Who knew things were going to turn out the way they did. A week ago he was no more than a stranger to her. Today he was her friend, her protector, and part of her pack. He was Gendry, the man she had unidentifiable feelings for. The man she kissed and slept next to at night.

He must've seen her daze off in thought, because he stopped his work and sat down across from her.

"Does it bother you?" he asked.

"What?"

"That I'm older than you. I mean, I know you said that you don't care about class and where I come from. But I'm five years older, you know. That's a lot."

"Four years older. And no, it doesn't bother me," she replied.

"Four? I thought you said you were seventeen."

"I was. And now I'm eighteen."

"You are?" he asked. "When was your nameday?"

"Actually, I think it's today."

"WHAT?"

"Yeah, I guess it slipped my mind."

"Huh," he said. "Can't say that I'm surprised. Never saw you as the one to get giddy over a nameday. But it's your eighteenth! You are a woman grown now!"

She snickered.

"And what, I wasn't a woman grown yesterday? You didn't seem to mind," she said and she looked down to his groin, and back up at his face.

"ARYA!" he screamed as his face turned a shade of red.

"What?"

"I… I'd like to apologize again, for letting things get that far… yesterday," he said, his face serious and concentrated on hers.

"I've heard your apologies already. And I've told you, there's no need for them. It takes two to kiss Gendry," she said calmly. How was she so calm talking about something like that with someone like Gendry?

"But it only takes one to push somebody into doing something they don't want to. And I don't want to push you, Arya. So if at any point – "

"If at any point what? Things get too heated? If they do I know you'll make sure to stop it, Gendry. It's what you always do. Stop when things are just about to get interesting!"

"It's for your own good. Trust me, it takes more than you'll ever know."

She didn't know how to reply. Arya knew he wanted her just as much as she wanted him. But he just had to be the older one and the responsible one, blah blah blah. Whatever, it didn't matter, there were more important things that needed Arya's attention. Like going back to Winterfell. And making sure the police doesn't catch her. Arya had almost forgotten about everything that was important while she's been caught in this romance with Gendry. Can you even call it a romance? How will things even be between them once they go back to Winterfell? He'll probably go back to King's Landing. And then what? Long-distance relationships don't work. As little as Arya knew about relationships that was the one thing she did know for a fact.

Perhaps he'll stay in Winterfell. Arya imagined falling asleep deep in Gendry's embrace every night. She imagined taking him horseback riding deep in the Wolfswood. Or taking him up to the Wall to meet Jon.

No, she mustn't ask him to leave his life behind for her. Who knows if he'll even want to stay to meet her family once they're in Winterfell. Perhaps she's just someone he likes to kiss in the day, and keep his bed warm at night. Perhaps she's just a fling. Nothing more.

Realizing that she was dazing off again, she brought herself back to her senses and realized that Gendry was once again working on her bike.

Arya uttered a "see you later" before she walked out of the shop.

A/N: A bit of a filler chapter. But if you guys have noticed anything about my writing, it's that I tend to do a filler chapter before something big happens… so yeah, stay tuned for tomorrow's chapter :)