For MONTHS I have wanted to write this chapter, specially one part of it, and FINALLY I was able to do it!
Now, back to my homework! Enjoy, my fellow Gendrya shippers!
Arya tried to drown Gendry a few times before they reached the port again. She would catch him, grab his leg and push his head underwater, but he always managed to break free and go back to the surface laughing. Arya wasn't really trying to kill him, obviously; she was just fooling around with him for the fact that he hadn't told her that he could swim. They swam towards the port and once they reached it, a couple of men helped them up and out of the Blackwater. They took deep and long breaths, realizing just then how tired they were of having been swimming without anywhere to put their feet on. It felt good to be on solid ground again, and Arya relaxed her muscles to get rid of the ache in her legs.
Nymeria approached her and sat by her side, licking her face. Arya laughed and looked at her direwolf, and then she threw her arms around the beast's neck.
"Nymeria!" she exclaimed, happy to be reunited with her pet. She had felt so guilty for leaving her behind...
She let go of Nymeria and then she stared into her eyes, which had an intelligent look to them. Arya caressed Nymeria's soft fur with her hand, and smiled gratefully at her.
"Thank you," she whispered. She was sure that it had been Nymeria who had guided Gendry to King's Landing, to her. It was thanks to Nymeria that Arya hadn't made the biggest mistake of her life.
Gendey stopped resting on the floor and stood up. He walked up to where Arya was and he offered her his hand. She looked at it first, and then she took it and Gendry pulled her up to her feet. Arya shook her head, trying to take her wet hair out of her face. Both she and
Gendry were soaked wet, and it was very cold outside of the water as well. It was winter after all, and the chill air did not feel good on their skin. The fact that their clothes were dripping didn't help.
"Come," Gendry said, moving his hair in direction of the streets that led to another part of King's Landing. He wasn't letting go of Arya's hand, and she did not try to pull it away. "I know an inn where we can rest and change and get foot to warm our bellies. It'll do good to us."
He started walking, leading Arya behind him. He took his horse with his free hand, and Nymeria followed them, which made the people in the streets of King's Landing walk away from them as far as possible and point fingers at them while they murmured things. They didn't care.
Gendry took them to the inn that he had mentioned before. It was in a part of King's Landing that Arya had never been in before, but it seemed like a good place. Gendry and Arya both had some coin with them, and they paid the innkeeper for food, drinks, and a room where they could change their clothes into dry ones and get some rest. The innkeeper's son and daughter found some clothes fitting for Gendry and gave them to him, and they took some coin and left to find clothes for Arya, because they couldn't find any for her. She and Gendry ate their meals while they waited, and the innkeeper's children returned right after they were done with clothes for Arya.
Before they could leave to go to the room, the innkeeper asked Arya to put Nymeria in the stables, with Gendry's horse. She hesitated, not comfortable about doing that.
"I swear no one will do any harm to the beast, Lady Stark," the innkeeper said. Arya wasn't startled by him knowing who she was. Everybody knew that the Starks had direwolves since the war, when tales about Robb and Grey Wind were all over the country. Besides, now there was no war, so Arya knew that she didn't have to be afraid of people knowing her identity.
She looked into the man's eyes. He seemed sincere enough.
"If you try to even touch her, she will bite your arm off," she warned him before agreeing to take Nymeria to the stables. Once that was done, she followed Gendry upstairs to the room they had rented for the day. She was truly exhausted, and by that point she was freezing and shaking because she had spent so much time in those wet, cold clothes that were not appropriate for winter. She was lucky that she hadn't fallen sick during the trip going down South.
There was a privy. Arya decided to go change there, and Gendry could change in the room. She took the clothes that she had been given and entered the privy, locking the door behind her. She took off her wet breeches and tunic, (which had been completely ruined during the trip and were now more rags than clothes) and she put her smallclothes on first. Then she looked at the clothes she had been given. It was a dress, but she didn't complain about it. It was simple and warm, of blue wool. It would be enough to keep her comfortable and warm, and then she could find other clothes more of her liking for the trip back home. She put the dress on, and she found that it was tighter than what she had expected and it enhanced her small curves. It was also somewhat tight around the chest, were she had lately become a little bit more voluptuous. Not only was it tight, but also it was lower cut than the dresses that she used to wear whenever she wore a dress. It reminded her of some of Sansa's dresses, which always were too tight for her figure. Arya decided that for one day only she didn't care how tight her dress was, as long as she was wearing something. She could move well with it, so it didn't really matter.
She looked at her hair. It had finally dried, and it hung in loose curls around her. It didn't look bad at all. After she checked that everything was in order and she put on her boots, she turned around and opened the door to go back into the room.
She found that Gendry was still changing. He had discarded his old clothes on the floor, and he had put his new breeches and boots on, but he still hadn't put on his tunic and he was facing Arya. She stood still, gazing at the hard muscles beneath Gendry's skin and the way that they moved as he moved. His arms, his torso... In her eyes, it was perfection. He looked so strong and powerful in his own way.
She stopped staring at him just as he finished putting on his tunic, and he looked at her. He raised his eyebrows, and an approving smile appeared in the corner of his mouth as he ran his eyes all over her.
Arya felt her cheeks burning red all of a sudden.
"You look... good," Gendry said, nodding his head.
"Good?"
"Very good," he added, and took a step towards her. He locked his deep blue eyes into her grey ones, and he raised his hand to caress her cheek softly with his finger. "But again, you always do."
She hit him in the chest, but not very hard. "Stop it!" she protested, though she smiled. Gendry laughed. Arya hadn't realized until then how much she loved it when Gendry laughed. His laugh was warm and happy, and it made her want to laugh too.
She hugged him then, for no apparent reason. She just wanted to do it. She felt like putting her arms around him and resting her head on his chest and never letting go. Gendry was a little surprised at first and tensed up, but then Arya felt him relax and he out his arms around her. Arya felt protected that way, and she remembered the day when Gendry had arrived in Winterfell and she had fallen asleep with him while they hugged each other. She had felt happy then. So many things had happened after that...
Gendry rested his chin on the top of her head and played with her hair with one of his hands, softly caressing it. He took a deep breath, and Arya felt his chest raising and falling, moving against her cheek. She could hear his heart beating. Bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum... She closed her eyes, feeling his touch and listening to the beating of his heart, and wondered why would she have ever wanted to stay mad at him.
"Does this mean that you forgive me?" he whispered then very softly.
"For everything that I did? Everything that I... said?"
Arya thought about it for a second. Gendry had left her alone when she went to the Twins. She had been very mad because of that, but Gendry had promised that he would never do that ever again, and she wanted to believe him. She didn't want to be mad at him forever for a mistake. Also, he had told her that he believed that he was the cause that her brother was dead... but even if it was true, though she had already thought that the treason had been planned for a long time, she knew that Robb would have ended up dead one way or another. Either way, the past could not be changed. Robb and her mother were dead, the Red Wedding had happened, and they all had to move on. They couldn't be stuck in the past; it wasn't fair for them.
"Yes," she finally said. "I forgive you."
He had promised that he wouldn't hurt her ever again. She was choosing to believe him this time.
She thought that she could feel Gendry smiling, and his embrace around her became tighter, pulling her closer to him. Then, he pressed his lips against the top of her head, kissing her hair. Arya felt a chill run down her spine. It was a very innocent gesture, but it was the most intimate gesture that Gendry had ever dared to do to her. Arya thought that it was very sweet, and while in other times she had believed those kinds of things to be very stupid, now she liked it and she knew how much those little things meant. Life wasn't all about being fierce and strong. Sometimes, it felt very nice to just be a girl, and being happy with feeling what she did right at that moment. Maybe, some aspects of being a lady weren't so bad after all.
"Thank you," Gendry whispered with his lips still pressed against her hair at the top of her head.
"And what happens now?" she asked.
"What do you mean?"
"What happens after all this? What happens once we go back to Winterfell?" Arya asked again, making her question more specific that time. Gendry hesitated, not sure of how to answer.
"I suppose... we live our lives."
"Yes, but how do we do that?" Arya kept asking.
"I'm not sure I know what you mean, Arya..." Gendry murmured, letting go of her then. She took a step back and looked at his face. It was starting to get dark outside, but there was still enough light in the room so that she could see him clearly. The evening light was strong, and it made Gendry's eyes look bluer. It also made the outline of his hair look golden, like if he had around it, and also his eyes shone the same way.
"Don't make me get mad at you again," she said. Her voice had never sounded more serious in her life. She didn't take her eyes away from Gendry's at any moment, not even for a second. "Let's stop acting like fools. You know what I want. I know you want it too."
She could see it in his face. He had even almost confessed it to her earlier, he had said that she was what was most precious to him in the world. What else could that mean if not...?
He wasn't saying anything, but it looked like he wanted to. He was doing that thing with his face that he did everytime that he was thinking too hard.
"Gendry..."
"Arya, I-"
"Many years ago I told you something," she interrupted him, taking a step towards him again to close the distance that had appeared between them since he let her go from his embrace. "I told you that I could be your family. I wasn't lying, it's what I want. I want to be your family, Gendry."
"I'm a bastard," he said, sounding chocked up.
"So?"
"I told you once," he said. He had the same expression that he had had years ago, when he told her the exact same thing that he was about to tell her. It was a sad and pained expression full of regret. "You could never be my family. You'd be m'lady."
Arya was starting to feel furious. She took a deep breath, reminding herself that she must not lose her patience. She gritted her teeth, but finally she came up with an idea. her eyes lit up with a little mischievousness, knowing that she would get what she wanted if she played her cards right.
"And as your lady, you would do anything I commanded?" she wondered, wanting to make sure of it before making her move.
Gendry, obedient as always, nodded.
"Yes, m'lady."
Arya smiled.
"Fine," she said fiercely. "I command you to be my family!"
She had done it. She had adapted to his game, and she had played her cards. Now she only had to wait for the result of the game, and see who had won. There was a heavy silence that fell over them at that moment; only their heavy and slow breathing could be heard. If she listened very carefully, Arya could swear that she could hear her own heart beating anxiously, waiting for Gendry to say something, anything.
Finally, he took a step towards her. There was no space left between them, and Arya could feel Gendry's hot breath on her face when she looked up to stare into his eyes. No one had ever looked at her with such intensity, and devotion, and...
"As m'lady commands," the bull-headed boy murmured, his voice full of tenderness.
It took a moment for Arya to realize what his words meant; that she had won. Gendry could no longer deny what they both felt and what they both wanted, and he could no longer mention obstacles between them. She smiled, feeling an explosion of happiness inside of her chest.
She had never felt that way, but she could not deny that it felt wonderful. She felt a thousand times better than she had ever felt before.
Gendry raised his hand and put it on her nape, bringing her face closer to him. Arya put her hands on his shoulder and felt dizzy and short of breath. For the first time, her eyes wandered away from Gendry's and fell on his lips. Slowly, without realizing it, she parted hers...
Gendry kissed her then. He kissed her with all of his love, all of his desire and all of his passion. He kissed her letting all the emotions and feelings that he had stored inside of him until then pour out of his body, giving them to Arya. His other hand was on her waist, and her pulled her to him, bringing their bodies as close together as they could be. Arya then threw her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss.
It was like no other kiss that she had ever had, nothing could compare to it. Not because of the kiss itself, but because of what she was feeling with it. She felt things that she had never felt before, emotions so strong that she thought that no one was capable of feeling them like that. She felt marvelous. She felt happy; she felt free; she felt passion... And she felt love.
And what was best of it, she realized, was that it was reciprocate.
Not only the emotions of the kiss overwhelmed Arya and Gendry, but the actual kiss itself. It started slow, innocent... maybe even a little bit hesitant and shy. Arya mouth pressed againt Gendry's just as his lips gently caressed hers. They were still holding unto each other with their hands and arms, unwilling to be separated as they explored each other.
Their tongues met then, dancing around each other, and Arya felt her knees trembling like she was about to fall to the floor. She pressed herself even more to Gendry, and as a result, the kiss deepened. Gendry took his hand away from her waist and instead surrounded her entirely with it, locking her in an embrace of which she did not protest. His tongue explored Arya's mouth, curious and tempting. There was a deep noise in the back of Arya's throat, and Gendry smiled as he kissed her. As a response, she kissed him harder.
She pressed her mouth against his more passionately and bit his lower lip, teasingly pulling from it with her front teeth. She let go of it, having a second to catch her breath, and immediatly after Gendry was kissing her again. He took his hand away from her nape and cupped her face. Then he parted from her, and Arya gasped when she felt the loss of contact from him.
She opened her eyes and saw Gedry staring at her. The young man was breathless, and in his face it was obvious that he could not believe what had just happened. But Arya had never seen him so happy. It looked like he was glowing, and she herself could not tame the roaring beast that had awakened inside of her chest. She no longer felt butterflies in her stomach, this was much stronger, much more powerful.
"Will you...?" Gendry tried to ask something, but the words were stuck in his throat and he could not find his voice. He took two deep breaths before trying again, the whole time looking into Arya's eyes, into her very soul. "Will you be m'lady, then?"
She moved her arms from around his neck so that she could cup his face with her hands.
"Only if you'll be m'lord," she answered, half teasing him and half being completelly serious.
"You know I want to," he retorted. "You know I do, I want to be with you, more than anything. But I can't. Your family will never allow it-"
"Jon married a wilding, and he's the Prince," Arya shot back at him, not willing to take a 'no' for an answer. "Sansa had the Hound's bastard son, and she even married him later. And he was not a knight and not a lord, while she was a Princess in the North. I pretty much doubt that my family will have anythig to say against me marrying the former King's bastard son, or even dare to say anything. And if all the nightmares that I have lived in my life have served some purpose, it has been to show me that what matters in this life is love. And family. And I want that with you and no one else."
Gendry looked hesitant at first, but then he looked impressed, and he smiled lovingly.
"You have changed a lot from the little girl that I once knew..."
"Oh, I still have enough of her inside me to give you a good kick in the arse if you need it."
They locked their lips together once again as soon ad Arya finished speaking. She smiled against Gendry's mouth and lowered her arms to put them around his body. She could feel his hard muscles with her arms and hands, and she liked the feeling. She wanted to touch more, explore his body... She didn't know where those thoughts came from, but she didn't mind them.
Gendry's lips separated from her mouth and he started kissing Her jawline until he reached her throat. Arya threw her head back, exposing her neck more, and moaned when Gendry passionately kissed her sensitive skin. Gendry pulled her closer to him and kept kissing her neck a little harder. His very short beard scratched her skin but she liked the feeling, and she moaned even louder when he bit her neck in the same spot that he had been kissing. She felt Gendry hesitating, unsure of whether he was hurting her by doing that, but he soon realized that her moan was a pleassurable one. So Gendry kept biting, and then he sucked on that same spot. It hurt a bit, but that kind of hurting was a bliss!
When he stopped biting and sucking he disn't stay away from Arya for long. He kissed the other side of her neck for a little bit longer and then we went further down. The dress that Arya was wearing was so low cut that it gave him full access to the upper part of her breast, and though they were small, the tightness of the dress made them bigger. Arya moaned softly again when she felt Gendry kissing the top of her breasts, and she brought her hands to her hair and buried them in it. She closed her fists around small locks of his black hair and pulled from it; Gendry groaned in the back if his throat, making Arya smile again. Gendry left her chest alone and raised his head again until his face was at the same level as the girl's, which allowed him to kiss her again.
"Arya..." he whispered in his mouth when they parted their lips, but Arya silenced him with her tongue.
She grabbed his clothes, pulling from them, and she took a few steps back. Gendry let her guide him without protest.
"If we are going to do this..." he gasped in between kisses"... we are going to do it right. I'm not going to put a bastard in you, Arya. We will wait..."
"Yes, whatever you want..." she gasped as well, busy between walking, talking and kissing him. The truth was that he was very fine with the idea of waiting. She needed to be ready,and she wasn't yet.
"But that doesn't mean that we have to stop doing this," Gendry finished saying, capturing her lips again.
Arya hit the bed with the back of her legs and fell on it, making Gendry fall over her as well. He crashed against her, pressing her body between his and the bed; Arya was unable to move under his weight, so Gendry put his arms at her sides and pushed his upper body upward, so that he would not crush her. They became a tangled mass of limbs; their legs intercrossed, and their arms and hands exploring every little inch of each other that they could find without getting to a point where there was no going back. Both Gendry and Arya knew that, unless they had certain limits, they wouldn't be able to stop. Arya felt her heart about to burst out of her chest, and waves of desire going through her veins, warming her blood up and making her feel like she was boiling. It made her want Gendry even more. She tugged at his clothes, still unwilling to let him move even an inch away from her.
Gendry was feeling exactly the same way. He never wanted to stop kissing Arya, he had wanted that for such a long time... And he had been so afraid to lose her. He knew that, had he arrived just a few minutes later, by then Arya would have been gone forever and only the gods knew when he would have seen her again... if he would have ever seen her again. But now there they were. Something, maybe fate, had not wanted them to be apart, had not wanted them to keep being hostile at each other. They had been able to forgive and forget everything, and now there they were, on the bed of the room of that inn in King's Landing, feverishly kissing ad if their lives depended on it. For Gendry ,at least, that was the case. He knew right from that moment that he could never be away from Arya for long. And if she wanted him to be with her for the rest of his life, he would be more than happy to do so. There wasn't anything that he wanted more in the world.
He couldn't stop himself from asking a question out loud, again between kisses.
"Why did this take so long...?"
"Huh?" Arya asked under him. Her hands were caressing his back over his tunic, but it felt just as good as if she were touching his skin directly.
"This, I mean," he said. He didn't mean what they were doing right then, to their kisses and touches, but rather to the fact that they hadn't been able to admit what they felt until that moment. "You and me. Us."
"Well..." Arya took a pause to think. She wasn't kissing his lips, she was kissing his neck teasingly and his jaw. "I thought we ha already figured that it was because you were stubborn and stupid... You still are."
Gendry laughed and then he tickled Arya's tummy, making her squirm.
"You are just as stubborn as I am!" he protested while he laughed watching Arya squirm under him. He didn't know she was that ticklish. Arya had tears in her eyes, and her belly ached from laughing because of the tickles.
"S-stop!" she tried to say. "Gendry! That's an order! I'll hit you, I swear I will!"
He didn't listen to her, so she hit him. She punched her with her small fist in the ribs with enough strength to make him stop torturing her and move away from her.
"Oi!" he exclaimed, more indignant than hurt. He moved from over her and fell to the bed at Arya's side. She used that moment to take it to her advantage and quickly sat herself on top of him. Gendry gasped when she dis that, and then Arya leaned on him and kissed him again.
That kiss was slower than the others they had been sharing. It was more delicate and tender, just their lips brushing together and nothing more.
When they parted, they got lost in each other's eyes.
"Arya..." Gendry murmured. He took her hand in his and kissed it. Even after all the kisses, all the touches they had just shared, that small gesture sent chills down her spine. "Tomorrow we leave this place, and we'll go back to the North. I'll take you back home. Alright?"
She took a deep breath, and nodded. She leaned on him even more and let her chin rest on his chest. Her head raised and fell with the movement of his lungs, and she felt very peaceful.
"Will we be together then?" she asked, suddenly afraid that all of that had just been a dream, an illusion. She wasn't sure that she would be able to face another disappointment. "Will you be my family then?"
Gendry kept his silence for a few seconds. After long moments in which the only thing he did was stare into her eyes, making her feel like he was stripping her with his eyes, he cupped her face with his strong hands and brought their foreheads together, just like back in the Blackwater.
"Always... m'lady."
It was a good enough answer for her, and what was most important, she believed him.
Finally! I have waited so long to write that bit of dialogue from the fic's summary! It's the on thing that I knew that I wanted to write when I started this fic and I had no idea how to do I until now!
I hope you all liked it! Oh, and to answer a guest's review: there are going to be many more chapters to come, and a lot of things have to happen yet!