Game of Thrones: Crossroads

Chapter 22 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it :)
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Veridissima: Thanks, glad you enjoyed it; yeah, glad you liked that, thought it would be an interesting twist; glad you liked that scene with Robert :)

Now onto the story.

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

Chapter 22

Gendry sat back on the couch at home, watching TV. Yet his mind wasn't on it; even the terrible visit from his father yesterday wasn't even on his mind. He still couldn't get his mind of Arya, no matter how hard he tried. Luckily the house was mostly empty, which meant less people to ask him about his state of melancholy. Both Alyssa and Mya were out with Lyle, working on further wedding plans. It was just Gendry and Edric in the house; Edric was upstairs.

'Dammit, I swear I'm losing it here.' He thought sadly. 'This can't be healthy, but I still can't stop thinking about her, about these…feelings.'

He couldn't fathom it; his relationship with Arya, until recently, had always been just friends, close friends but friends none the less. Had he truly crossed that line and fallen in love with her; he couldn't deny sex was great but, that was all it had been, at first. But now, now he was certain it meant more to him. He knew however that, even if there wasn't all this tension and the issue with Arya being with Sansa's group. He was afraid that if he acted on his feelings; he'd risk damaging their friendship beyond repair. He was broken out of his thoughts by the phone which he quickly answered.

"Hello?" He answered it.

"Hey Gendry." It was Edric Dayne. "What's up?"

Gendry smiled. "Hey, nothing much."

"I was wondering if you and Edric wanted to come around to mine; I've invited all the guys around, thought we'd have a guy's night, you know."

Gendry pondered briefly and then agreed. He informed Edric and soon, after leaving a note to explain where they were; they headed to Ned Dayne's home.

When they arrived and knocked on the door, they noted that a few others were already there. Having heard he had been invited too, the brothers stopped to pick up Devan Seaworth on the way. Soon the three of them entered and joined Ned Dayne in the living room; Hot Pie and Lommy were already there, as was Trystane Martell. Gendry smiled and greeted them all and sat down.

"So, anyone else coming?" He asked.

Ned Dayne nodded. "Yeah; still waiting for Podrick to show up."

That surprised them; while part of the group, it was clear Podrick was an extremely nervous young man, rarely spoke, stuttered a lot. Yet being with them seemed to be convincing him to open up.

"Well, I'll go get you guys something to drink." Ned stated and headed through to the kitchen.

Gendry couldn't help but muse on another problem regarding his feelings for Arya. Edric Dayne, it was well known that he harboured strong feelings for Arya; which meant that if Gendry followed his feelings, he'd risk losing Edric as a friend. It was then he became aware of the rest of the guys talking; he listened in carefully, in case they asked him something; he didn't want to miss it and look foolish.

The boys laughed and then Lommy spoke up.

"I can't believe this; Ned invited Pod; do you really think he'll show up?" He asked.

Hot Pie smirked. "He may be getting more confident, but this sort of thing is kinda wild for him surely."

Trystane shook his head. "Give a rest you guys, I think he'll show up?"

"How much?" Hot Pie asked. "How much do you bet he'll show up?"

Ned came back with their drinks and soon got the gist of the conversation and soon they all formed the bet. With Hot Pie, Lommy, Ned and Devan betting Podrick wouldn't show up, Trystane, Edric and Gendry however had more faith in Podrick and bet he would show up. Some time passed, with the boys enjoying their drinks and chatting away, then finally, Gendry, Edric and Trystane grinned as they retrieved their bets. Podrick arrived and joined them and they soon continued their guy's night. However as the night went one, Gendry's melancholy returned; he bowed his head and sat quietly, drinking while the others spoke and laughed together. His mind kept wandering to Arya; it left him feeling down, he knew all too well that this Saturday, the second of the month, was the day the Populars went to the club.

Gendry was once again drinking more than he should, he knew that, but he couldn't help it. He felt terrible, knowing that Arya was at some party right now and there was a good chance she was flirting with Aegon. The others noticed his melancholy at last and went quiet.

"Fuck, man, what's wrong with you?" Lommy asked.

"Yeah. Can't you stop sulking for a moment?" Hot Pie said "This is supposed a guy's night."

"I think he's having girl trouble." Devan said, and Gendry sent him an 'I'll kill you' look, so he shut up.

Finally Ned shook his head. "Come on, Gendry. We are your friends, you can tell us."

Gendry growled and shook his head. "For fuck's sakes. Okay…There's this girl I've been seeing - I won't tell you her name - and the sex is great, but she just... doesn't give a damn."

"Ohh... you like her..." Devan said, being the first one to figure it out. "Have you told her?"

"No, she doesn't care."

There was silence for a while after that; then finally, the boys spoke up.

"Maybe you should." Hot Pie suggested, "I never thought the girl from the coffee shop would go out with me, but she went."

He glared and shook his head. "I can't, what if I fuck up this up."

They remained silent after that for a while, clearly thinking.

The boys looked at each other and then finally, Ned spoke up. "Okay, I propose one thing - you have one week to tell her - if not, we make you tell us who it is and we tell her ourselves."

Gendry was shocked by this, they were making a 'bet' about this; giving him a deadline.

"Two weeks." He replied desperately, hoping that things would fall into place for him there.

"One and a half." Devan suggested, and Edric added.

"Final offer. If you don't take it, we get back to one week."

Gendry growled and shook his head. "Fine."

So the deal was made and Gendry was left thinking hard now. This gave him the spark he needed, now he was determined; he would do whatever he had to do, to bring up the truth to Arya and just hope she realized the depth of his feelings.

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