Hello! Sorry for the delay in updating, it's been the same with both my stories. Summer + bad internet cnnection is NOT a good combination!

Thank you to all of you who reviewed, favorited and followed! Here's a new chapter!

Enjoy!

Arya stared at Gendry in complete confusion. The bull-headed boy that she had once known, tall and muscular with black of hair and blue eyes had grown to be a fierce looking young man, and much more muscular than before. He wasn't as tall, strong and fierce as the Hound, clearly, but only because that was almost impossible. Gendry's hair had grown a little bit, almost covering his eyes, that were the same blue that Arya remembered.

Everybody had stared at her when she had almost screamed the boy's name, and were looking at her in confussion, specially her brother and Jon. She paid no attention to anyone except Gendry, who was staring at her with a faint smile on his face.

"Arya" he whispered again, and she could hear the happiness and relief in his voice.

"Who are you, Ser?" Bran asked.

"I'm no Ser, m'lord" Gendry replied, lowering his head a little bit. "I'm just a bastard from Flea Bottom, and apprentice armorer. My name is Gendry."

Bran frowned, and so did some of the men that were still in the room.

"And how did you come to know my sister, Gendry?"

"Bran, he was going to the Wall too when I escaped King's Landing" Arya explained, tired of her brother's questioning. "He was with me at Harrenhal too. He's my friend."

Bran said nothing in reply, he just stared at both his sister and the bastard, and Arya looked back at Gendry again. She felt a stinging in her eyes. Where those tears? She fought them back, she never cried.

"I thought you were dead" she said in disbelief, but Gendry shook his head.

"I thought the same of you… M'lady" after he said that last word.

It somehow pained Arya that Gendry called her like that exactly at that moment, because it reminded her of a cruel reality. He was a bastard and a blacksmith, and she was a Lady of Winterfell. They could not be friends like they used to be, they would not be allowed. All because it was not proper. Arya scoffed at the thought, not caring who was looking and who wasn't. And it also pained her because she remembered the last few times that she had been with Gendry. He abandoned her.

He was my friend, and he left me. She thought spitefully. He preferred to be with those outlaws that sold him to that woman.

She remembered the Red Witch now, and how she had taken Gendry away. That's why Arya had thought he was dead.

She said nothing else, and it was her brother who spoke.

"I'm sure you must be tired. Have you travelled from afar?"

"All the way from Dorne, m'lord. When I escaped Dragonstone I sailed to King's Landing, and Dorne seemed to be the safest place to be during the war. Then I travelled the whole South on a horse, and when the poor beast died I had to travel all the way here from the Neck on foot."

"Then you must be tired indeed. Seeing that you are a… friend… of my sister, you are invited to stay here at Winterfell for as long as you please. You say you are a blacksmith? You will have a job as well" Bran said. Gendry's face allowed everyone to see that he was thankful for that. "But I'm afraid that tonight all the rooms are full with our guests. Surely one of the maids will be able to find a place for you to spend the night…"

"There's an empty room in the tower" Arya quickly intervened, practically without thinking. Before her brother said anything, she started walking towards the door to get out of the Great Hall. She gestured for Gendry to go with her, and the lad bowed his head with respect to excuse himself away from the Lord of Winterfell's presence.

He followed Arya in silence through the stairs and the hallways. Away from the noises made by all the drunk men in the Great Hall, the thunder from the storm outside could be heard within the walls of the castle. When they passed next to a window, Arya could see how the rain was falling, so furiously that she could almost see nothing through it. No wonder that Gendry was so soaked. The lad had his arms around himself, trying to keep himself warm inside those wet clothes, but he was freezing cold. Arya was quick to deliver him to the empty bedroom that she had mentioned before. The door was unlocked and they stepped inside.

"You have everything you need here" she said. She was trying to avoid his gaze, and he noticed. Arya was uncomfortable, and she wasn't sure why.

"You've changed a lot" Gendry dared to say then. Arya tried to see if there was some kind of mockery behind his voice, but she found none. She finally raised her head, and her eyes met Gendry's, which where boring into her. "You're… taller. And your hair is longer. You really look like a girl now."

Arya scoffed, but before she could say anything Gendry added:

"A very, very pretty girl."

She blushed against her will. She thanked the gods that it was dark and he couldn't notice, and she felt stupid for it. Most girls blushed, and most girls were idiots. She had always thought so.

"You have changed too" she said, and Gendry raised his eyebrows.

"Really? How?"

"Before, you were a stupid bull-headed boy" she said, and she smiled. "Now you are a stupid bull-headed man."

Gendry laughed, and thunder stroke in the sky, lighting the room. Gendry felt cold again, and he shivered.

"Wait, I'll go and fetch you some clothes" she said, leaving the room and Gendry alone in it.

She walked down the corridor, passing quickly in front of one of the chambers with the locked doors. They were her sister's and Sandor's chambers, and that was their wedding night. Arya covered her ears right after she started hearing moans coming out of that room.

Gross!

She forgot about it quickly enough. As long as the newlywed couple wasn't too loud, things should be fine. Arya returned with a set of dry and clean clothes for Gendry. Because she was holding the pile of clothes, she wasn't ale to cover her ears these time, and she realized horrified that the moans and grunts and other gross sounds were louder than before.

Seven hells! She practically ran away from that part of the corridor until she reached the chambers in which she had left Gendry waiting for her, and she wa horrified that her room was right next to the couple's chambers. That was going to be an awful night for her and everyone staying in that tower.

Gendry smiled at her, unaware of what was going on, and she handed him the clothes.

"These should fit you."

He unfolded the pair of brown breeches and nodded.

"Aye, they are fine. Thank you very much, Arya."

"You're welcome…" she whispered. Gendry walked to the back of the room and took off his tunic, leaving his chest bare. Arya found herself staring at his hard muscles in awe. She wanted to touch them, feel them under Gendry's smooth skin…

She quickly shook her head to send those thoughts away. What the hell was wrong with her!

Gendry turned his head and caught her staring, and she felt embarrassed.

"Why did the witch take you away?" she quickly asked, before Gendry could make any sarcastic comment or remark.

Gendry sighed. Clearly, he didn't have very good memories of those days. She put on a new, dry and clean tunic before replying.

"Magic" was all he said. Arya frowned.

"Magic? Why would she want you to make magic, you are not a warlock or anything."

"No, but… she wanted king's blood, so she got it."

That made even less sense than before.

"King's blood?" she repeated.

Gendry opened his mouth, and he looked like he was about to explain it all to her when he felt silent, because Sansa had started screaming at the other end of the corridor, and she could be heard everywhere. Even Sandor's grunts of pleasure could be heard. Arya felt her face turning a dark red color, her cheeks were burning, while Gendry looked alarmed at the door and then at Arya.

"It's my sister's wedding night" she quietly explained, and Gendry's mouth took the shape of an 'o'.

"I see…" was all he said, and Sansa screamed again, this time alongside Sandor. Arya heard the loud noise of something breaking, many other things falling to the floor, and then she heard something slamming against the wall. Multiple times.

"Oh Sandor! Oh oh oh! OOOOH! SANDOR!"

Even Gendry's face turned bright red then. He looked at Arya, his eyes wide just like hers, and then both of them just burst out laughing. Arya laughed so much, partially because of how disgusted she was and partially because of how ridiculous and embarrassing the whole situation was, that she bent over herself and her knees started shaking. It was enough to make her forget all aout the king's blood.

Gendry was bent over to. Arya tried to stand straight again, but she was laughing so much that she almost tripped and she fell against Gendry, throwing both of them to the bed, were they sat down and kept laughing for a good amount of time, until their bellies ached and their ayes were filled with tears.

"I'm s-so so-sorry" she tried to said, but it was hard. Gendry just shook his head while he tried to control himself.

"It's all right…"

Arya stood up from the bed and went to close the door of the room. That, at least, muffled the screams some. She returned to the bed to sit down next to Gendry.

"I can find you another bedroom if you want to" she said, and again he shook his head.

"It's alright. I can't hear them anymore… Seven hells…"

Arya grinned.

"How long do you plan to stay?" she asked, suddenly serious again. Gendry's face because serious as well.

"For as long as your brother allows me to" he said, not taking his eyes off her. "If you want."

She said nothing. She looked away from those blue eyes.

"Arya, do you want me to stay?" Gendry asked, suddenly a little worried because she had turned her face away from him. But she couldn't look at him because she was angry, and sad.

"You left me" she said.

"Arya, they sold me to her, I didn't leave…"

"You were going to stay with Beric Dondarrion" she clarified, and Gendry fell silent. "You were going to leave me alone. You chose them over me. Why?"

It was a couple of seconds before Gendry decided to speak.

"It was the worst mistake that I've ever made in my life" he said, and Arya looked at him again. Gendry;s face was sad too, but then a small smile appeared on his face, merely a shadow. "And because, as you said, I'm a stupid bull-headed boy."

That made Arya smile, and Gendry's became bigger.

"So, I'm asking you. Do you want me to stay?"

"I don't want you to leave" was all that Arya was able to say. It seemed enough.

"Good" then he yawned. He was exhausted from all the travelling, especially during the storm. Arya was pretty tired herself too.

"Good night" she said softly, and she stood up again from the bed and headed towards the door. She opened it, but she immediately started hearing again the awful screams and moans from the newlyweds. It seemed that it wasn't going to get any better anytime soon. She quickly closed the door again and stared at Gendry in horror. "Seven hells! I can't get out there again! I can't sleep next to that pair of rabbits in heat!"

It was enough to make Gendry start laughing again. Arya, however, was not amused.

"Gendry!"

"Alright alright. You can sleep here with me today if you want, m'lady."

Any other lady would have immediately been alarmed, and would have thought how inappropriate and unladylike it would be to accept that offer. Arya, however, did not such thing. She had slept among boys lots of times while she was on the run, and she was used to sleeping next to Gendry. She walked over to the bed and climbed on it, and laid down on it. Gendry finished changing his clothes in the shadows, and when he climbed to the soft bed next to Arya, he was completely dressed in clean and dry clothes, while his wet ones were dumped on the floor feet away from them. Once he had closed his eyes, Arya picked up the pillow and hit Gendry on the face with it, startling him.

"Bloody hells! Arya!" he exclaimed in disbelief, but also smiling.

"That's for calling me m'lady" she hissed, and then she put the pillow back in place and rested her head on it.

Gendry laughed.

"I had almost forgotten what an unladylike little annoying girl you were" he whispered, looking up at the ceiling. Arya, however, was staring at him.

"I'm not so little anymore" she protested,

He nodded. "You're not so annoying anymore either."

Almost instinctively rather than willing, Arya hugged him, catching him by surprise.

"I missed you" she admitted, with her head buried in his chest. She felt Gendry's arms surrounding him.

"I've missed you too."

And with that and the sound of rain, Arya slowly dozed out to sleep. But not before she heard him whispering very, very softly.

"Good night, m'lady."

I ship them So. Damn. Hard! I just love both of them!

i hope you liked it! If you remember to leave a review, it will e much appreciated! :D