Game of Thrones: Crossroads
Chapter 7 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.
Reviews
Marina Ka-Fai: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, hope you feel better soon.
Boris Yeltsin: Oh trust me, you've not seen anything yet.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks.
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, it's pretty sad for her.
HarryPotterNut94: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; it certainly is, yeah, you're right, especially since we all know Shireen doesn't have much in the way of self-esteem to begin with. BTW, it is revealed in this chapter just what was being said to her by Sansa's friends.
Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.
Chapter 7
Arya groaned as she woke up; the previous night at the club came rushing back to her. Her head was pounding, her mouth was dry and rough and that was just the start of it.
'Ugh, hangover, how much did I drink last night?' She wondered to herself.
She was grateful it was the weekend at least, so she wasn't expected to get up early. Still she cracked an eye open, closing it almost instantly as the sunlight came through the window.
She groaned again and mumbled. "Too bright."
She continued to lie in bed; however doing so caused her mind to wander, specifically to her old friends. They had been there last night, at the same club as her, and she had ignored them. She wanted so badly to go and talk to them, but she couldn't, she had to play her part, keep up appearances; it was the only way.
'I nearly slipped up when Shireen came over.' She remembered; feelings of guilt and shame creeping up in her. 'The look on her face when I told her to leave, then when they came over, started calling her 'Grilled Face'…Oh Gods, I'm so sorry Shireen. I wish it could be different, but I have to do this, for Sansa's sake.'
Finally, realizing that lying around was only going to make her feel even worse than before, Arya managed to get up out of bed. Ignoring the pain from her hangover she managed to get up and get out of the room and head downstairs.
As she reached the bottom of the stairs she stopped and gripped the bannister to steady herself. She then massaged her temples to try and ease the ache in her head; but nothing happened. Finally, frustrated, she hurried to the bathroom. Once there she opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out the aspirin; she checked the instructions and took the required dosage. She just prayed it would work soon enough. She also prayed that her plan would work too, the longer this went on, the worse she felt it would be and the harder it would be. She looked at herself in the mirror.
'Ugh, I look like shit.' She thought as she noted her appearance.
Her hair was a complete haystack, even more messy than usual, there were deep shadows under her eyes and she looked shockingly pale.
She bit her lip; she hoped this wouldn't be a regular thing. 'I have to hurry; this can't go on, especially not like this.'
Finally, taking a deep breath to calm herself, trying hard not to think about her hangover, and trying to act as if everything was normal, she left the bathroom. She began walking towards the kitchen, deciding to have breakfast, hoping that food would at least settle her churning stomach; some coffee wouldn't hurt either. As she approached she heard her two younger brothers talking inside. Now she would really need to keep her act together, if either of them suspected something, especially Rickon, it could ruin everything.
She entered the kitchen, Bran and Rickon sat at the kitchen table; both still in their pyjamas like her. Bran was smiling, talking away to Rickon, his fingers absently drumming on the armrests of his wheelchair. Rickon was also smiling, nodding along to what Bran was saying. However when Arya stepped in Rickon's face immediately went blank. Bran noticed and looked from his younger brother to Arya and back again, confused. Arya however was still dealing with her hangover and didn't notice. All she noticed at first was that Rickon was closest to the coffee machine.
"Rickon, could you please turn the machine on?" She asked.
To her surprise Rickon only scowled and then ignored her. He picked up his cereal bowl and left the kitchen, without even glancing back.
Arya turned to Bran, shocked by this. "What was that about; what's wrong with him?"
Bran shrugged and pushed his glasses back up as they slid down his nose. "Beats me, he was fine until you walked in."
Arya sighed as she turned the coffee machine on; that wasn't like Rickon; she'd need to check on him, see what exactly was wrong. It wasn't like she couldn't guess honestly; Rickon was part of her old group of friends; but this was extreme, even for her temperamental younger brother.
Before she could however Bran turned to face her.
"Seriously, what is going on Arya?" He asked. "You look terrible, you're not acting like yourself; Rickon's mad at you. Something's up, so what is it?"
Arya shook her head. "I can't say Bran; sorry, I-I need to talk to Rickon; see just what's going on."
With that, before Bran could question her further, Arya left the kitchen and went looking for Rickon. She found him in the living room, texting on his phone.
She did her best to smile, hoping that a friendly approach might yield better results. "Hey Rick."
He didn't look up from his phone, he didn't even react; he just kept texting. Arya however could see the anger in his eyes and knew he had heard her. She tried again, this time letting her concern show on the surface for a change.
"Rickon, is something wrong?"
He glared up at her and growled. "Just leave me alone, go shower, you stink of booze and smoke."
With that he returned his attention to his phone. Arya was stunned; she slowly backed out of the living room. She ruefully noted that Rickon was right about the smell. But she was more disturbed by Rickon's outburst.
'He's never been this angry with me before; something's wrong.' She noted to herself. 'This is more than just him being mad at me for ditching my old friends and hanging out with Sansa's.'
Yet not matter how hard she thought, she couldn't think of a reason for any of this; so she headed to the bathroom dejectedly, going to take a shower and try and reason things out later.
Bran meanwhile wheeled his chair into the living room and noted Rickon. He shook his head as he noted his brother was still angry. He couldn't understand this, why was Rickon being so hostile to Arya. He had to try and sort things out, if their parents noticed; Bran didn't want to think what would happen. He rolled over to his brother and then spoke.
"Rickon."
Rickon looked up at him; still glaring although his expression calmed when he saw Bran.
Bran pondered briefly before asking. "What's going on Rickon, tell me."
Rickon shrugged. "What do you…?"
"Don't play dumb Rickon, what was all that about with Arya; why won't you talk to her?"
Rickon scowled again. "I'm not saying a word to her, not until she apologizes for what she's done."
Before Bran could ask what Arya had done Rickon stormed away upstairs. Bran sighed; this was getting too confusing, worse, he couldn't see any way to resolve it. He wondered fearfully if this was the way things were going to be from now on.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.