A/N - *coughs* *looks around shadily* *coughs again* *avoids eye contact*
What's that? No. Of course it hasn't been a year and a half since I've updated. I literally have no idea what you're talking about it. You must be crazy. You crazy person.
So…after a year and a half of messages and rereading this story and falling back in love with it, I decided finish it I shall. (or write a couple updates and then abandon it again – let's all pray that's not the case)
Thank you to everyone who continuously asked and begged and threatened for me to update. This continuation would seriously not exist without you.
Enjoy! (Also I'm sure there are typos galore. Sorry about it.)
Arya wakes up in warmth, Gendry curled against her backside and Nymeria curled against her front. After their day at the beach, they came back to Arya's motel room and collapsed exhausted on the bed. It was the best night of sleep Arya had had since she'd left home.
All Arya wants to do now is shut her eyes and fall back asleep, but the sun is streaming through the cheap plastic blinds, and she has a very important meeting to be at. Slowly, hoping not to wake Gendry, she drags herself out of bed, opens the front door, and whistles softly for Nymeria. Her fluffy dog sleepily climbs off the bed and pads out the front door into the sparse surrounding woods.
"What're you doing?" Gendry suddenly mumbles from bed. His eyes are half-closed, and he's naked save for his boxers. Arya bites her lip as images from the previous day flash through her mind. Gendry's lips on her, his tongue inside of her, hands everywhere, fingernails raking.
Stop it, she warns herself. You have more important things to be concentrating on today.
"Go back to sleep," she tells Gendry. "I'm meeting my siblings today, remember? I'm just going to take a shower, and then I'll be out of here."
"Can I come?" Gendry asks.
Arya hesitates. She's promised herself that she'll be more open with Gendry, more trusting. And she has been. But bringing him today would not be a good idea. Jon and Sansa still technically don't know what's going on between her and Gendry, and Robb definitely doesn't know. Their meeting doesn't need to get derailed by an investigation into her sex life.
"Maybe not this time," Arya says, biting her lip with worry. "It's just – today will already be complicated enough. And I haven't seen Robb for a really long time. And well…"
"You don't want your brothers to punch me?"
Arya grins. "Right exactly."
"I understand," Gendry says, and Arya sighs with relief. Maybe this honesty thing isn't so bad after all.
She smiles at him again before turning towards the bathroom. She cranks up the shower, turning it on high heat, muscles already relaxing as steam fills the room. She strips off the t-shirt and underwear she slept in and steps into the shower, savoring the feeling of the hot water beating down on her back.
After a few moments, she reaches for the shampoo, but something stops her mid-gesture. She hears the bathroom door open. Her heart starts racing, and she calls out, "Hello?"
"It's just me," Gendry says. And then he pulls back the shower curtain, his eyes immediately raking over her naked form with lust. "Thought I'd join you so you have something pleasant to think about for the rest of the day."
"Oh," Arya says. And then as he pulls down his boxers, Arya sees that he's already completely hard. A pit of lust swells in her stomach. "Oh."
Like usual, when Arya sees Gendry completely naked, the rest of her brain shuts off. She grabs him by the arm and pulls him into the shower, pressing him against the tiled wall and crashing her lips to his. The mixture of the wet heat and their bodies pressed together is intoxicating, and Arya's arousal is fast growing.
"We should really do this more often," she murmurs against his skin, slipping her lips down his neck and then chest, toying with his nipple between her teeth until he groans her name.
"We really should," Gendry says. "But I had something a bit more specific in mind." He then flips Arya around so that her back is pressed against his chest, and then he quickly grabs a bar of soap and lathers it between his hands. And then – his hands are everywhere. Sliding down her arms, massaging her breasts, stroking her thighs.
Arya moans and leans back into Gendry, feeling his arousal pressed hard against her. "Fuck," she says. "Never washing myself again. Ever." She bites her lips as his slick hands near her entrance, toying with her, teasing her. "Fuck, just touch me already!" she commands.
"No," Gendry growls in her ear, biting the bottom of the lobe. "Touch yourself."
A whole new wave of lust rushes over Arya. Gendry has never been this – demanding. She's usually the dominating factor in their sex life. But this kind of control, well, it's fucking erotic. Her skin feels like it's on fire – she's never been this turned on before.
"Do it," Gendry growls again, this time moving his lips lower to suck harshly on her neck. His hands take hers and guide her fingers towards her opening.
Arya has done this before, of course, but never in front of someone. But whatever hesitation she has evaporates the second she slides a single finger inside herself – just that slight pressure is overwhelming, and Gendry's reaction to it is even better. He yanks her hard against his chest, his erection digging into her bottom, and demands, "More."
So she inserts another finger and then another, and soon enough she's pushing them in and out at a pace so rapid her entire body is shaking with the force of the pleasure. Gendry is breathing heavily in her ear, hands exploring her body, yanking on her hips, rubbing her hard nipples. "Fuck," Arya says as her climax starts to mount. "I'm close. I'm really fucking close."
"Good," Gendry says, and then without warning, he flips her back around and pushes her against the wall, and then he plunges deeply inside of her. Arya explodes with the single thrust, and after a few more pumps, Gendry comes along with her. His lips slide against her moist back, planting kisses down her skin as they breathe heavily together.
"Jesus," Arya says, trying to catch her breath, trying to steady her shaking body. "Jesus fucking Christ. If that's how you clean yourself, we're never taking separate showers ever again."
"Deal," Gendry says, continuing to rest against her worn body. "Deal."
It's completely surreal to be sitting in a room with Sansa, Jon, and Robb. This is the first time they've all been together for over six years. Arya adjusts herself on Jon's couch, pulling her knees to her chest and wrapping her arms around them. She glances out the window and spies Nymeria, Ghost, and Grey Wind chasing each other playfully in the distance. Seeing them all together again fills Arya with warmth. She wishes Lady were here too, but apparently she passed away almost a year ago – Sansa was never clear with the details.
"So," Robb says, breaking the silence. "First of all, it's great to see you guys. I've missed you, and the random text and email doesn't really compare to seeing you all in person. Second of all," he says in a calm voice, standing up and beginning to pace the room. "Can you please explain to me how you all got to be so fucking stupid?!"
Arya notices that Sansa's face pales at this sudden attack, whereas she and Jon simply lean forward, jaws clenched in defense. "Excuse me?" Arya asks. "What are you talking about?"
"Well it's one thing for Sansa to delude herself into thinking sacrificing her fucking happiness and safety for the sake of the family is worth it, but it's a whole other brilliant catastrophe that you or Jon have now known about this bullshit for weeks without doing anything about it! Are you kidding me? Your sister is in the hands of an abusive piece of shit, and what the hell are you doing about it besides racing your stupid cars?"
Arya doesn't take insults well. Especially when they're from her family. And especially when they're undeserved. Jon starts to speak, but Arya interrupts him, "Excuse me," Arya says. "We've done plenty about it. As I've told you, Sansa has learned how to defend herself. Well, kind of. And we have evidence against Baratheon Corporations, and –"
"Enough," Robb says. His voice isn't loud. It's soft and cold and powerful. The voice of a leader. "I understand you want to take the Baratheons and Lannisters down. I understand that you all fear retribution on the entire family if Sansa doesn't marry Joffrey. I understand you're scared for our father. But while you're sitting around and twiddling your thumbs with these schemes, you're putting Sansa's life at risk." Robb pauses and turns to Sansa whose face has gone pure white. "Sansa, you're putting your life in risk. How could you possibly think any of us are okay with that?"
Sansa doesn't answer. Robb seems to have lectured the voice right from her. Thankfully Arya has never had a problem voicing her opinions. She scoots over to Sansa and places a comforting hand on her shoulder, rubbing the smooth skin. "First of all," Arya says. "How dare you attack Sansa! She's been sacrificing herself for all of us for a year now, and you come down here and yell at her? Don't be such a prick, Robb. Second of all –" Arya turns to Sansa, nudges her, and says, "Show him the note."
In their rush to explain the full situation to Robb, they had left out one key element. Now Sansa slowly extracts the folded piece of paper from her purse and hands it over to Robb. He reads it out loud, his tone dripping with hate: "I know what you took, Sansa. Put it back, keep your pretty little mouth shut, marry Joffrey like a good little bird, and your family will stay safe."
Quiet Jon finally joins the conversation. "See Robb, this is what we're dealing with. Obviously we don't like keeping Sansa in Joffrey's hold, but I don't think we should take this threat lightly. Think of Bran. Think of Rickon. We have to protect our family."
"By using Sansa as bait? As a bartering tool? I won't stand for it," Robb says.
"Well as much as you'd like to think you're king of this castle," Arya says, "There are four of us in this room, and you don't get to make any decisions alone."
"Fuck," Robb says shortly, running a hand through his short, curled hair. "I fucking hate these people. Fucking shadows on our whole lives. How did Dad ever do business with them?"
"Apparently Robert wasn't so bad," Sansa says. "When he was younger. Sometimes, when he bothers to show up at company gatherings and has more than a few too many drinks, he'll start reminiscing about the golden days with Dad. Usually Cersei shuts him up. She wouldn't want anyone to think of our father as an honorable figure."
"It's the Lannisters then," Arya says. "Their money is tainted with corruption, and that corruption is only spreading. We have to stop them – not only because they want to hurt our family, but also because they don't mind hurting anyone else. Putting dangerous cars on the market for profit. It's sickening."
"But how do we do it?" Jon asks. "Sansa is supposed to marry Joffrey in less than two weeks. We can't let that happen."
"We'll figure something out," Robb says, sitting back down so that all four siblings are now facing each other in a circle. "Dad used to tell me that children born in the cold are stronger, more resilient. We won't let these southern shits destroy our lives any longer."
"Agreed," Jon says.
Sansa and Arya glance at each other and then say, "Agreed."
Arya decides to leave Nymeria at Jon's for the night. Since Robb is staying with him, she figures the three dogs will enjoy each other's company. Even though it's barely three in the afternoon, she feels completely drained of energy as she drives to Gendry's shop. Her discussion with her siblings was empowering and frightening at the same time. They all have the will and the desire to stop all the threats and corruption, but they have no clue how to do it.
After parking her car out front, Arya enters the mechanic's shop and wanders around, finding Gendry in his office, once again bent over a stack of papers. She loves watching him work – his brow furrowed, his lips wrapped around the nub of an eraser. Memories from earlier this morning spark through her, and she wonders if she'll get a repeat performance tomorrow. Or better yet, tonight.
"Hey," she says softly.
He looks up and smiles at her. "Hey there."
This time he doesn't push his papers away as quickly, so she slowly approaches him and asks, "What are you working on?"
One glance at the papers gives Arya her answer. He's sketching out engine designs. "Holy shit," she says, eyes greedily taking in his comprehensive figures and drawings. "What are you? Some kind of savant?"
Gendry glances up at her, blue eyes amused. "I wish," he says. "Mott taught me a couple things when he was still around, and I took some night classes for the more difficult math portions."
"Gendry," Arya says, truly impressed. "These are amazing. Why aren't these in cars? Why aren't these in my car?"
"Well, I don't have a lot of time to work on them, and you know, you need money for production. A lot of money. An exorbitant amount of money." He glances around the old office. Arya, for the first time, notices the fading paint, the few cracks in the ceiling. "And well, you know, I definitely don't have that kind of cash."
"But couldn't you go work for someone? Or sell your designs?"
Gendry gives her a sly grin. "Let's just say I have a great distrust for those who work in the automobile industry."
"Right," Arya says. "That makes sense."
Arya remembers the first time she met Gendry. She truly thought he was just some dumb mechanic. Sure a hot dumb mechanic, but that was it. Now the more she learns about him, the more impressed she is, the more in lo—
No. She won't let her mind go there. Not when there are so many more important things to be thinking about.
"Come on," Arya says, tugging Gendry's hand. "I'm starving. Let's go back to your place so you can cook me something."
Gendry laughs. "You are the most ridiculous person I've ever met."
Arya grins and leans up on her tiptoes to plant a slow kiss to his lips. "I know, but I'll tell you what – you cook dinner, and I'll provide dessert."
A/N – Hopefully y'all enjoyed the chapter! I'm trying to get back in the groove. I think San/San is next, but not totally sure yet.