Game of Thrones: Crossroads

Chapter 19 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

Reviews

Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it.
Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah it was pretty intense, true.
Marina Ka-Fai: Actually he's only mentioned, the focus for this story is on Arya and Gendry after all.
rubini25: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it, yeah, I suppose in a way it does, I don't have anything planned to directly affect Cersei, but well, wait and see what happens.

Now onto the story.

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

Chapter 19

Arya sighed as she walked up the driveway to the Stark mansion. The past month had been a very busy time. First was the news that Cersei had begun divorce proceedings against Robert; by the time all was said and done, she was living back in Casterly Rock; the Lannister's ancestral home from medieval times, with her children, their surnames had legally been changed to Lannister and Robert had, this time around, been denied visitation. This infuriated Robert and the pressure was starting to show. Yet, Arya cared more about noticing what effect this would have on those most affected. By spying on the old group she had noticed that, while Tommen was upset and confused; he wasn't devastated, thanks to help from Myrcella; who in turn was supported by Trystane, while things weren't perfect for them, they were happy enough to keep moving on with their lives. Joffrey outwardly showed no signs of being affected, but Arya suspected that secretly, he was treating Sansa worse than ever. Not only that but despite the Lannister's efforts, the media coverage seemed to portray Robert as a victim in all this, forced to pay child support to two ex-wives, being denied visitation rights to his children, completely failing to mention his children with Alyssa Waters. Arya shook her head at that, thinking of Alyssa led her quite conveniently to her current problem.

She had once again found herself at the club and once again ended up getting wasted.

'Once again Gendry decides to check up on me, or argue with me, probably both.' She thought to herself, trying to remember through the hazy memories. 'Then anger turns to passion, we go back to his place and have sex.'

She remembered that part all too well; once again, she couldn't deny it had been good, great even. She had nobody to compare too, but she felt like she would be hard pressed to find someone better in bed than Gendry. But despite what he thought, what they did still didn't change anything, she still had something really important to do. If what she suspected about Joffrey and Sansa was true, then she'd have to try and step up her plans, no easy task since one misstep would ruin everything. Shaking her head she remember how, just like last time, she had left the morning after, trying hard to ignore Gendry and his pleading for answers. It pained her, but it was necessary; again she told herself.

'I will do whatever it takes to make it up to him and all the others, but only once Sansa is safe and away from those assholes. If only she had the confidence to stand up for herself, then she could break away easily, I need to give her that confidence somehow. Either that or find some really dirty secret that can't be explained away and expose it, one that would ruin them and let Sansa off completely free.'

She was still pondering this until she reached the door and opened it. She stopped, unlike last time where she managed to sneak in, she found her mother waiting for her.

Catelyn looked intently at Arya as she came in. She noticed her younger daughter was still wearing the clothes she had worn when she went out last night.

"Arya, where have you been?" She asked quickly. "You didn't come home last night, didn't leave a message, a note or anything, didn't call. You had us all worried."

It was at that point Ned came into the hallway. "Arya, at last, you're home, where were you?"

Arya sighed and replied, trying not to give anything away. "I was at a friend's house."

It wasn't a complete lie, or was it, she couldn't be sure. Unlike the rest of the group, her relationship with Gendry could best be described as being 'in limbo' right now.

Her father shook his head. "Yet you didn't call us or tell us anything."

Arya bit her lip and replied honestly.

"Sorry, I forgot."

She could tell her parents were preparing themselves to deliver a big lecture, probably about her recent behaviour and the actions of the others, she couldn't deal with that right now, not with her hangover. So she quickly excused herself and hurried upstairs to get changed; she knew she couldn't avoid the lecture indefinitely, but she'd bought herself time to prepare herself and bluff her way out. She sighed as she considered that now, she was going to have to do a lot of that.

Meanwhile, in King's Landing, Gendry sighed as he got dressed. He had woken up after finding himself repeating that first night he had slept with Arya. Once again however, despite his hopes, she had reacted in exactly the same way. Gendry couldn't help but curse his bad luck; if only there was some way he could convince Arya to change her mind, even if he wouldn't tell them anything, he just wanted to see her back with her old friends again, it hurt seeing her destroy herself like this. That wasn't all that was on his mind; he had seen on the news a couple of nights ago that his father had just suffered a second divorce. He sighed; his feelings on that were mixed; while grateful that Tommen and Myrcella wouldn't have to suffer him anymore, he was worried that this would prompt his father to try and find ways to increase the visitation rights he did have with him and his siblings.

Gendry scowled as he thought of that. 'As if he wasn't bad enough already.'

Shaking his head he cleared his mind and finished getting dressed before heading downstairs. When he came downstairs he was surprise to find only his mother in the kitchen, she looked up and smiled when she saw him.

"Good morning Gendry." She greeted with her usual warmth.

He smiled back. "Morning mum, where are Mya and Edric?"

Alyssa sipped her tea and replied. "Mya's gone out with Lyle, looking for a venue for the wedding and Edric has gone over to Devan's."

Gendry nodded, satisfied, but then he realized from his mother's expression, that she was about to say something; he tensed, waiting.

There was a brief pause and Gendry wondered if he should bring up whatever was bothering his mother when she finally spoke.

"Gendry, I need to talk to you, about last night." She explained. "I heard you, you and the girl."

Gendry froze, he felt his face heat up and knew he was blushing.

"Is she still up there?" Alyssa asked; a strange edge to her voice.

Gendry shook her head. "N-no mum, she left, earlier this morning. I…That wasn't the first time for us either, I just."

He paused and then, leaving some details out, he explained the situation as best as he could to his mother.

He finished by explaining. "I wish I could tell you more, but, it's kinda complicated."

"Is there anything I can do to help with these, complications?"

Gendry blushed again but shook his head. "No mum, it's okay…In case you're worried we are being careful and I don't intend to just forget about her…I'm not like dad."

Alyssa smiled sadly at him. "I know you're not, son."

"Thanks mum, I appreciate you offering to help but; this is something I need to handle on my own."

Alyssa nodded again and Gendry sighed; he began wondering just how much longer he could cope, he needed answers and fast, but so far, was getting nothing.

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