Game of Thrones: Crossroads

Chapter 16 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy :)

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Marina Ka-Fai: Glad you liked it, it's not all good news however, read on and find out.
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks.

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.

Chapter 16

Gendry groaned softly as he awoke; his head was pounding, his mouth was dry, but he had to admit, compared to some hangovers he had suffered, this one was pretty mild. He was aware that he was naked and memories of last night rushed back to him, he couldn't help but smile. He heard movement in his room and for a moment he feared it was his mother and she would find out. But when he opened his eyes and they adjusted to the darkness, he saw it was Arya. She too was naked and seemed to moving slowly around his room; gazing bleary eyed trying to find something.

'Must be looking for her clothes, why is she doing it in the dark?' He couldn't help but wonder. He sat up and spoke. "I can get the lights for you."

She turned sharply towards him; eyes wide, apparently surprised to find him awake. He couldn't help but be amazed at how unselfconscious she was; she was standing completely naked before him and didn't bother to cover her breasts or anything. Instead she merely shook her head; slowly, carefully.

"No, don't bother, and please don't talk so loud, my head is killing me." She told him; her voice sounded rough.

He bit his lip as he considered, given how much she drank, Arya's hangover would likely be at least ten times worse than his. It soon transpired she didn't need the lights after all, before long she found her light blue underwear and quickly pulled it on before grabbing her other clothes and quickly getting dressed.

By now Gendry was nearly dressed, only needing to pull on a shirt, he walked over to her.

"I could get you something to eat, or we could go out for breakfast."

Arya just looked at him forlornly and shook her head. "It's fine and you don't have to come out with me, I know the way."

Gendry was slightly confused by her strange tone but did his best to smile and spoke up again. "I'll see you at school tomorrow, maybe you could sit with us again. I'm sure I could convince the others…"

Suddenly she rounded on him, glaring. "Do you realize what we did Gendry, do you understand what happened?"

Gendry froze; he thought he had understood it; true they had acted on impulse but surely, deep down, there was some hope for real feeling there. He had hoped they could go back to being friends or maybe something more. But the way Arya reacted told him that wasn't the case. He couldn't believe it, or understand it, what was going on.

"Arya…" He began but she shook her head.

Taking a deep breath she then explained. "We fucked, Gendry, or made love or whatever you wanna call it. It was rather good if I may say so, especially for the first time but…This changes nothing; it was just sex, that's all it was, everything's just the same as it was yesterday."

He was stunned by her words; he found himself almost pleading. "Why Arya, why did you leave us, why won't you…"

But she was already gone, leaving his room and the house, although before leaving he had heard her say it again, 'It's for the best'.

He sank back down on the bed and covered his face with his hands. He couldn't believe it; true he hadn't been thinking; but still, he would've thought that what happened would've meant something to Arya, it definitely meant something to him.

'How could things have become so fucked up?' He bemoaned to himself. 'I know Arya's always been a private person, but this goes beyond that. Why won't she let anyone in, why would she just abandon us…It can't really be that bad can it, I mean, she could surely tell us. We could help her, I would.'

He wasn't sure how long he had been sitting on his bed but in the end he stood up. Once again he was going to be stuck, wrestling this problem for Gods knows how long. Shaking his head he found and pulled on a shirt before finally leaving his room. He headed downstairs, dispirited, and found Mya and Edric sitting at the table already. They both grinned at him and he froze.

'Shit I forgot…Mya was here last night, Edric saw her leave, they know, they know we.'

Edric looked like he was trying hard not to laugh as he asked. "So, are you and Arya dating now?"

Gendry tensed; how could he possibly explain this and make it look good to his siblings. However before he could reply Mya spoke up.

"You guys were pretty loud last night; just be glad mum wasn't home." Gendry groaned at that before Mya then asked. "So, are you guys dating?"

He still couldn't say anything; but the stricken look on his face said it all; both Mya and Edric winced and apologized. Gendry just grunted and began making breakfast.

Sansa sighed as she lay curled up on her bed. Last night had been fun, up until she and Joffrey left the club. Then, as usual, once he got her alone Joffrey began mistreating her. She hated it more than anything but despite desperately wanting to, she couldn't break up with him.

'I can't stand being around him, but if I leave him, Margaery and the other girls will reveal my secret.' She thought sadly; knowing it to be true. 'Then, when that happens they'll all abandon me, everyone; even Arya…I finally have a good relationship with her, but this would ruin it. She can't know, nobody can know about what happened to me, about what I did.'

She sat up, sighing, that was the other thing on her mind, Arya. Where was she, she felt bad leaving Arya at the club; but Arya had not been home when Sansa had returned home. She hoped that maybe Arya had returned sometime after she had fallen asleep. Before she got up however, she checked the drawer of her bedside table. She truly amazed herself by keeping them, especially in such an obvious place. But there they were sitting in front of her, the dreaded documents from the hospital which confirmed everything she had suspected and also what she had done. Deciding she would store them in a better hiding place later Sansa got up and left her room.

Downstairs she could hear her family all talking and smell her mother's cooking. The smell lifted her spirits and made her smile. Before she went downstairs however; she had to be sure of something. So she walked over to Arya's room and, remembering how much Arya drank last night, knocked gently on the door.

"Arya, are you okay?"

There was a soft noise and then Arya's voice. "I'm fine Sansa; I just got up, I'll see you downstairs."

Breathing a sigh of relief Sansa accepted this and headed downstairs herself, ready to join the family for breakfast.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.