Author's Note: I'd like to thank the orchestral instrumentals from Les Miserables for giving me some beautiful music to write to, and for making the process of writing this story like 10x more emotional than it should have been because literally nothing that sad even happened and yet I cried so much? Also, thanks to Pacemaker for keeping my ass on track while I struggled to write this story two weeks in advance and not slack off because I kept convincing myself I had time. In true procrastinator fashion, I still only managed to actually finish four chapters in advance, and had to write five, six, and seven over the past few days. Nonetheless, if you guys liked this story, thank you so much, and thank you all for your lovely and kind reviews, you have absolutely no idea how much they mean to me (unless you also write fanfic, which yeah you do have an idea) :)
They talk for two hours. It's not even ten in the morning yet, and Arya is still in her pajamas, but they sit on his couch and they talk. It's awkward at first when they try to get all of their questions out first thing as soon as they sit down, but eventually, they find their own rhythm and work through each of their issues one at a time so they don't get too overwhelmed with anything.
"I missed you," Arya admits at one point. "Like, a lot. Even before we started this whole thing, I missed you when you weren't there. It was like...like I was trying so hard to focus on not missing you because we weren't together but because I was putting all my attention on not missing you, I kept thinking about you, and that just led to me missing you all over again."
"Was that, like, a romantic thing?" Gendry asked. He was sitting on the couch next to her, but they had both turned their bodies so they were facing each other completely.
"I mean." Arya blushed. "Yeah, I think it was."
"For how long?"
She knew what he was asking. Not just how long she missed him, but how long she had kept her feelings to herself. "I think I never really got over my crush on you because I just kind of...pushed it aside when we became friends? So I never let it get in the way, and it didn't. But it was never really...resolved, either. Like, there would be times when you would go on a date with a girl, or I'd see you post a picture with some girl I had never met before, so I would automatically get jealous, like it was a reflex reaction, but I would always just tell myself it wasn't a big deal, that I was just worried you would become better friends with them instead of me."
"And now?" he asked.
Arya considered her answer carefully, biting her lip and curling her toes from inside her socks. She had only taken the time to jam her feet into some sneakers before leaving the house, and she'd kicked them off as soon as she got to Gendry's apartment.
"Now...I still do. Have feelings for you, I mean. They've been rather...prominent since you texted me the first time that night. And I've been trying to get rid of them, but..." She let her sentence trail off and she dropped her shoulders without much enthusiasm.
"Then why—"
"Why did I push you away when you confronted me about your feelings?" she asked.
Gendry nodded wordlessly.
"Because I was so used to putting those feelings away that I never even thought you would actually like me back. And when I first came to you and told you I wanted to end this, it was because I didn't want them to get in the way anymore. But then we started it up again and I made myself a promise to go into it more cautiously this time around. Like, the first time, I just kind of jumped into it without thinking. But then we agreed to keep on going and I decided I would be more careful. And it was working, and then, of course, you had to go and tell me you liked me, and I just...I got scared."
"Why?"
"Because...I was worried that if I did say yes then you wouldn't be as invested as I was, maybe? I'm still not even sure why I decided to react the way I did, because it was awful."
"I'm so sorry," he said.
"Don't be. I was horrible to you that night. I can't even think of how terrible I was to you without wanting to cry, I—"
"I mean for the past few years. I've been so blind to everything you've been thinking, and I..."
"You have nothing to be sorry for," Arya said. "It's not like I was obvious about it or anything."
"No, you really weren't. I wasn't able to tell at all."
"The only person who seemed to know anything was Sansa, of course," Arya said, rolling her eyes. "She told me after we started 'dating' that she knew I had a crush on you the whole time."
Gendry let out his breath in a slow, long exhale, his eyes closing as he leaned back against the couch. "I just...wish that we had known about the other sooner. Made everything so much easier."
"Yeah, well, if we made things easy for each other, we wouldn't be Arya and Gendry, would we?" Arya asked ruefully.
"But you know, they don't have to be," he said carefully. "We don't always have to make things hard for each other every second of the day. We can...let things go and talk about something when it bothers us. We don't have to always be on opposite sides." He opened his eyes again and moved closer to her, leaning forward intently. "Look, I...didn't know that you felt anything for me, which isn't anyone's fault. And then I tried to push you into saying something you clearly weren't ready for, and you reacted in a harsh way. But..."
"But we're back here now and you want to see if we can try and make something work," Arya finished for him when his sentence trailed off, looking up at him with something like hope in her eyes.
"Exactly."
Arya bit her lip as she shook her ankle thoughtfully. "I think if we actually try to talk, then maybe something..."
"But let me guess," he said. "Not right now?"
Arya shook her head. "No. I like you. And you like me, right?" He nodded once, but he didn't look her in the eye, probably still too nervous to actually see what thoughts and emotions were playing across her face. "I think you're right. But I want slow. I want to know we're not rushing into anything. Because you tried to rush into something at the rehearsal dinner and I tried to rush you out of it, and it was just a mess. I don't want that to happen again."
"I can do slow," he offered.
Arya smiled. "Really?"
"Yeah."
The two of them sat back and looked down at the floor, listening to the clock ticking away on the clock.
"Hey, do you think we can get some breakfast?" Arya asked. "Jon rushed me out of the house this morning."
Gendry grinned at her. "I can do breakfast."
( O O O )
Sansa calls her the next day from London at noon. "Hey, so I have a question for you," she says over the crackling static of the phone. Arya can practically hear the grin in her voice when she picks up the phone. "Do you think that everyone will look down at me if I wear a beret in the middle of London? Like, do you think everyone will think I'm just a tourist?" she asked.
"But you are a tourist," Arya pointed out.
"Yeah, but they don't know that."
"Sansa, you don't have an accent."
"They won't know that until I actually speak. And people on the street passing by me won't be speaking to me, so they'll never have to know."
"Then why do you care if they think you're a tourist?"
Sansa sighed heavily as if she was in the middle of speaking to a very small child. "Because," she said firmly. "If they see me walking down the street, I still like to make an impression. And not the kind of impression that turns into two Londoners talking in their posh accents about how I'm just another American trying to pass off as a local by using every stereotype I've ever heard of."
"...You overthink things too much."
Sansa stayed quiet.
Arya sighed. "Don't wear the beret. That's a French thing." She heard Sansa take a breath as she began to speak again, and quickly opened her mouth. "Don't wear a beret when you go to Paris," she said. "It'll be even worse than if you do it in London."
"Noted. So how's life back home?"
Arya bit her lip to keep her smile under control and looked down at her blankets, curling up closer in to her blankets. "Well...it's pretty good here," she said. "I'd say I'm having an even better time in New York than you are on your honeymoon."
"So I take it that you and Gendry worked things out," she stated.
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "How did you even guess?" she asked.
"Are you stupid or what?" Sansa asked. "You barely even try to hide it, and then you're still somehow genuinely surprised when I'm able to figure out whatever it is that you're trying, and failing, to hide from me."
"Am I really that obvious?"
"Can you just tell me what happened with you and Gendry? Start from the beginning."
Arya pursed her lips. "Um, I don't really think starting from the beginning is a viable option, Sansa," she admitted hesitantly.
"So don't," she answered. And it was as simple as that. She didn't ask any more questions and left it as Arya wanted. Arya smiled and leaned back against her pillows piled up behind her as Sansa continued speaking. "I mean, you can tell me what's happened if you want, but I'm not going to force you to go into detail about your love life. It's private."
"Would you be opposed to listening to me talk about our breakfast yesterday?" Arya asked.
"Well, if you're offering," Sansa said meaningfully, and Arya could hear the smile in her voice.
Arya crossed one leg over the other, curling her toes in her thick socks. "How much time do you have?"
( O O O )
"I spoke to Gendry yesterday," Jon piped up.
Arya's head popped up from over the door of his fridge and raised her eyebrows. "Oh?" she asked casually.
"Yeah. He said you guys had a nice talk and then you went out for breakfast the other day." He was sitting on his couch with his feet propped up on the coffee table, looking at her with curiosity.
She nodded and stole one of the cans of Coke stacked on the top shelf of the fridge before walking back to join him on the couch. "Yep. I went over after you practically shoved me out of the door the other day." Arya poked him in the ribs with her elbow teasingly. Jon caught her elbow in his hand and pulled her in to rest against his shoulder while he threw his arm around her affectionately. She rested against him and closed her eyes. "We had a long conversation about our issues, and...other stuff that we were going through."
He looked down at her. "And now?"
"Now...we're trying to work out how we're feeling with each other."
"Are you guys dating?"
"I think so."
"You think so? What, are you not sure?"
"No," she said honestly. "We're just trying to figure out where we stand on the whole thing."
God, she really hated things.
Jon hugged her closer and rested his chin against the top of her head. "Well, I'm sure you're going to figure it all out."
"Get your goddamn feet off the coffee table!"
Arya opened her eyes and looked over to see Ygritte coming out of their bedroom, holding a stack of papers held together with a binder clip in one hand and her phone in the other.
Ygritte used the thick stack of papers to smack Jon's legs off the table and waved her phone at him threateningly. "Here," she said, throwing the papers down on his chest. "There's a list of possible apartments we can get."
"You guys officially started looking for a place?" Arya asked.
Jon nodded, already looking exhausted at the idea of going to all the appointments Ygritte had planned for them. "And we have to actually commit to a date for the wedding."
"An unheard of concept," Arya deadpanned.
Ygritte perched on the arm of the couch next to Jon, who immediately shifted so he could lean into her. Her hands went up to rest on his shoulders automatically like it was a reflex. They were so in sync with each other, so familiar, it made Arya feel a surge of happiness for Jon and yet she also felt an ache in the pit of her stomach.
"So, I heard something about Gendry," Ygritte said. "Have you figured out whatever thing you guys have been going through?"
Arya opened her mouth and then closed it, biting her lip. "Actually, I think I'm going to go see him now," she said, standing up from the couch. "I'll see you later. Good luck with the apartment hunting."
She closed the door behind her to the sound of Jon wishing her good luck and pulled out her phone.
( O O O )
The Chinese place was small.
Walking into the restaurant now, Arya realized she had never actually been inside the place until today. She usually just ordered the food over the phone, and there were times when they would get an order for pickup, but Gendry would always just go inside by himself and come back out with the food in his hands.
The restaurant was incredibly small, and the dim lighting was absolutely terrible. But there was her regular delivery man, standing behind the counter. His name, she'd learned after answering the door to his face more times than she could count, was Josh and he was studying in NYU. He was talking to a pretty girl who was also behind the counter. She had long black hair with a pink ombre effect, and she was smiling shyly at Josh.
When he saw Arya standing in the doorway, his eyes widened. "No way. You actually came inside for once?"
Arya smiled at him and the girl he was speaking to, moving further into the restaurant. "Yep. I'm actually supposed to be meeting Gendry here...have you seen him?" she asked, her voice raising a bit at the end with hope.
Josh nodded eagerly. "Yeah, your boyfriend's waiting for you." The girl's face relaxed just slightly when she heard Josh call Gendry her boyfriend; she must have become a bit paranoid when he recognized Arya and greeted her with such familiarity.
Josh had thought Arya and Gendry had been boyfriend and girlfriend for a few years now, and somehow, every time they tried to correct him, he always forgot. But Arya didn't bother to correct him this time as she followed him past the counter.
The restaurant really was small—there were only five tables set up in the place. It was clearly meant to be just a place to either get some takeout or pickup or pass through for a quick lunch break.
Gendry was waiting for Arya at one of tables nestled against the corner of one of the walls, scrolling through his phone. The table only had two chairs. When he glanced up and saw Josh heading his way with Arya following closely, he smiled widely and stood up.
When Arya got to the table, they stood there awkwardly, neither of them sure what they were supposed to do.
Should she hug him? Kiss his cheek? Just say hello and ask for a menu from Josh? Or should she simply sit down and start up a conversation? There were so many different ways they could start this whole thing off, and every option provided a different way their following conversation could go. Gendry solved the issue for her, settling with dropping a kiss on her cheek. He grinned warmly at her and sat down across from her. Arya quickly followed his lead and sat down in her chair, eagerly taking the menu Josh revealed from behind his back.
"I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order," he said and went back to the counter.
When he left, Arya looked at the laminated menu in front of her as if she didn't already know what she was going to order. "You know, I've never actually been inside this place," she mentioned without looking up from the menu.
"Really?" Gendry asked. He sounded genuinely confused. "What do you do when you're not with me, then? Do you just order containers upon containers of Chinese takeout to your house and sneak them up to your room?"
Arya's eyebrows stitched together in confusion and shook her head. "No, I...I don't really eat from this place without you."
"Really?" he repeated.
"Yeah, it just seems weird to eat without any egg rolls to steal from you."
Gendry huffed out a laugh and set his menu down, tapping his fingers against the surface of the table. "What brought this on?" he asked. "Like, why did you message me asking me to meet you here?"
Arya shrugged and put her menu down as well, folding her hands on top of the table. "I don't know," she confessed. "I guess maybe because I decided it was time we had an actual date? And what better place to have a first date than the place we get food from literally every single week?"
"An actual date?" he asked, a slow smile spreading across his face. Arya nodded in confirmation. "I wouldn't call this our first date, though. We did have breakfast together the other day at the diner. That was fun, wasn't it?"
It had been nice. They'd sat in a booth tucked away in the corner right next to the counter, and despite having complained about not being able to finish her breakfast, Arya had only ordered a vanilla milkshake while Gendry had stolen a few sips of it in between bites of his eggs and bacon.
Their conversation hadn't flowed quite as easy as she was used to, but at least there was a conversation to be had.
At least they were trying to make this work rather than throwing themselves in completely and expecting it all to work out immediately.
"No, that wasn't our first date," Arya said with finality.
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because at that point we had agreed to go slowly until we were both on the same page."
"Concerning?"
He was smirking at her knowingly, the bastard. He was really going to make her say it, wasn't he?
Well, it was time for Arya to stop being so scared all the time. "Concerning us," she said simply.
"Us?"
"Yes, us. As in, when we would officially be dating."
"And this is when we officially begin dating?" he asked.
Arya shook her head. "No. We officially begin dating when we leave."
"Why is that?"
"Because then we've gotten the first real date out of the way. All of the awkwardness can finally go away."
"You really think this one date is going to get rid of the awkwardness?"
"Yes. Do you know why?"
"No, but I guess you're about to tell me, so—"
"Because we've acknowledged it now, so we can just get everything out in the open."
"Are you ready to order?"
Gendry's response was interrupted by Josh returning to their table, beaming at them happily, oblivious as to what they were discussing. As far as he was concerned, they had been dating for the past few years that he'd known them. Arya and Gendry quickly gave him their orders, not changing much from what they usually asked for when they called for takeout.
Josh disappeared once more, this time through the double doors that led to the kitchen. He emerged a few seconds later, right when the girl from the counter was walking towards her. Arya and Gendry watched as she bashfully gave him a soft peck on the lips. "Bye," she whispered and turned on her heel to walk out of the restaurant.
Their eyes followed him as he went back to the counter, a dazed grin still covering his face. "Good for him," Gendry said finally, turning back to face Arya. "He's a good kid."
"He is," she agreed. "I wonder who she is."
"Maybe some pretend girlfriend," Gendry suggested.
Arya snorted and closed her eyes. "I still can't believe we did that."
"I can't believe we thought it was a good idea," Gendry sighed.
"I can't believe that we thought no one would find out!"
"I can't believe that we didn't think anything could possibly go wrong."
Arya groaned and covered her face with her hands. "God, so many things went wrong, didn't they?"
"Definitely the most eventful few weeks of my life, I have to admit to that," he said.
"Yeah, I don't think I'll be entering any more fake relationships for the time being."
Gendry's eyebrows flicked up. "I hope it's not because you're trying to hide feelings for some more of your friends."
Arya bit her lip and shook her head. "No...no, it's definitely because I plan on dating you," she said.
"Is that so?"
"Yes. A shame you don't really have a say in this whole matter."
Gendry sucked his teeth and pursed his lips. "Yes, a shame."
Arya tapped her nails against the side of her empty glass that had been set there. "To shame?" she proposed.
He grinned at her. "To shame."
( O O O )
Arya woke up on Gendry's couch, her cheek pressed against the cracking leather of the arm of the couch that her head had been resting on uncomfortably.
The living room was pitch black. All the heavy room darkening blinds were drawn, blocking out all light from the city thriving outside. Arya couldn't even see her hand if she were to reach it out in front of her.
She straightened, wincing as her neck strained in protest. "Ow," she whimpered, putting a hand to the side of her neck to rub at it. There was a threadbare afghan that had been draped across her body, tangling up in her limbs. Arya absentmindedly shoved it off of her and moved to stand up.
Her legs shifted over the side of the couch, standing up and fumbling blindly on the wall for the light switch. When she finally flicked it on, light flooded the room and nearly blinded her with its suddenness. Arya squinted against the light and blinked a few times, looking around her and realizing where she had fallen asleep.
Arya quietly moved towards the hallway, trying not to make any sudden noise. The door to Gendry's bedroom was wide open. He was laying on his back on his bed, wearing a simple pair of sweats and no shirt. His head was turned to the side, his cheek crushed against his pillow with his eyes squeezed shut. Gendry had never been a peaceful looking sleeper. He slept silently, the sound of his deep and heavy breathing being the only noise he emitted, but he always looked like he was caught in an uncomfortable position, his face contorted with discomfort and pain. But that was just the way he slept. The first time Arya had seen Gendry when he was asleep, she had thought he was having a nightmare and tried to wake him up gently, but all she managed to do was knock his leg off the bed and jerk him awake in a panic.
She wasn't about to wake him up again. Instead, Arya made her way towards the bathroom and shut the door quietly behind her before turning on the light. She found her phone in her pocket and checked the time. Only ten past one in the morning. Arya sighed and tried to remember how she had ended up sleeping on Gendry's couch, but she felt a wave of exhaustion roll over her, slowly giving way to a headache that was sure to morph into something much bigger and much more painful.
Putting her hand to her forehead to try to get the throbbing of her headache, Arya walked back into the living room and shut the lights off again, trying to find her way back to the couch on her unsteady feet in the dark.
She stepped on the afghan when her knees hit the edge of the couch, and Arya leaned down to scoop it up into her hands as she stretched herself back out. She sent a silent but earnest thanks over to Gendry for investing in a long, wide couch that didn't make her feel like she had to suffocate or curl up into a stationary ball to avoid rolling off the couch or feeling too short for it while she slept. Just as she was trying to remember what had happened before she'd fallen asleep, her phone buzzed with a text.
Jon: Heard you guys worked out everything for good. Happy for you.
It was the last thing she saw before the phone slipped out of her grasp and she fell asleep once more.
( O O O )
The next time Arya woke up, it was because Gendry had been shaking her shoulder gently for the past ten minutes. She had gotten herself in a much more comfortable position, sleeping on her side with one leg curled up to her chest while the other was straightened out in front of her. Her hands were tucked under the side of her face as a cushion, her head nestled comfortably right under the armchair and tucked close to her chin. Gendry had come out of his room a few hours later to find Arya still sleeping soundly on his couch, her body rising and falling methodically as she breathed deep and exhaled.
"Arya," he whispered softly, shaking her shoulder with just a bit more force than he had before. Arya's eyes snapped open, her breath hitching as she was shaken awake. The room darkening blinds had been raised just a bit by Gendry when he came out of his room, but the sun clearly hadn't risen all the way yet by the muted light showing through the small cracks in the blinds. Arya rubbed at her eyes tiredly and yawned as she sat up, shoving all of her hair out of her face and flexing her hands. "You can go sleep in my bed," he offered. "I didn't mean for you to fall asleep on the couch but—"
Arya blinked up at Gendry a few more times as she raised herself up on one of her elbows. "Why am I even sleeping on your couch?" she asked. Her voice was a little hoarse, and when she spoke, she felt how raw her throat felt. It felt like she had spent the night screaming. There was a bad taste in her mouth as well, a taste that she had probably been too tired to recognize or acknowledge last night when she had woken up the first time.
Gendry rubbed at his forehead and shifted her legs so he was sitting on the couch with her legs resting on top of his lap. "You don't remember?" he asked. She shook her head, eyes already closing again. "Well, when we got home from the Chinese place, we came back here and opened a bottle of wine."
"Ohhh," she mumbled, nodding a few times as she used the movement to nestle deeper into the couch cushions. "Did I get drunk?" Gendry made a noise that told her she was right. "Did I say anything embarrassing?" she asked.
At this, Gendry didn't answer her right away. Arya opened one eye and picked up her head rather unwillingly. He was looking at her with a strange look on his face, considering and relieved. Hopeful and anxious. Nervous and excited. A whole play of emotions flitted across his face while he gazed at her for a few more moments.
Finally, he opened his mouth to answer her. "You didn't say anything really embarrassing," he amended, and Arya coughed once as a way to give her more of an explanation.
"Well," he continued, "we started off with a bottle of wine that was half full and we finished that one off rather quickly, you know, as we tend to do, so I opened another one. And while we were drinking that one, we both kind of got a little...talkative. I didn't drink that much but you were on a roll and I knew that if I didn't say what I wanted to then, I probably would have lost my nerve. And I wouldn't have wanted that, so I made sure to get all of my thoughts out before you passed out."
Arya sucked in a breath at his last words. "Please tell me I didn't just pass out on your floor and you had to dump me on your couch," she moaned pitifully, turning her head further into the couch cushion in mortification. If she had blacked out from wine in front of Gendry, she would never not hate herself.
Gendry shook her leg to get her to look at him. "No, you didn't pass out on my floor," he reassured her.
"Oh," she said. "So then what did I do if I was so drunk?"
"You weren't so drunk, actually. Just kind of chatty. I get the feeling we were both thinking the same thing, like, why not just let all of the word vomit out while we can use the alcohol as an excuse. You know?"
Arya frowned at him. "That's not what I want, though," she said.
"I know. Me neither. That's why I woke you up. I wanted you to go sleep off the alcohol in an actual bed so that you can be coherent later on today."
"What time is it, exactly?" she asked.
Gendry stayed silent.
Arya sighed and closed her eyes. "Gendry, if it's even a minute earlier than ten in the morning, you're dead."
"It's five in the morning."
"Gendry!"
"Well, I couldn't just carry you into the bed!"
"Why not?"
"Because you probably would have woken up in the middle of me trying to pick you up and tried to attack me."
Arya glared at him but she didn't say anything, which meant she knew he was right.
"Anyway," Gendry said. His hand found her leg again and he began a slow pattern of meaningless shapes and random designs against her bare skin that managed to both soothe and distract Arya as she tried to get her thoughts in order through the haze of her drunken state of mind that hadn't really passed over into a full-on hangover but was no longer a mind-altering phase. "Basically, neither of us were really out of our mind drunk, but we were definitely a bit tipsy last night. I said some stuff. You said some stuff. We both kind of got a few more things out in the open that I don't think either of us would have said if we hadn't opened that second bottle of wine."
Arya shifted so she was laying completely on her back and crossed one ankle over the other. Gendry continued drawing shapeless patterns against her skin, staring off into space like he wasn't even aware that he was doing it. "What did I say?" she asked. "No, wait. Tell me what you said first." She reached out her hand and Gendry took it with his free hand, his fingers intertwining with hers without even looking down at her. It was almost effortless, how natural that one small action was. It filled her with hope.
Hope for whatever relationship they decided to pursue, whether it was a slow and steady build towards something more meaningful or something they decided to make completely casual but still exclusive until they both wanted exactly the same things. The thing was, Arya was beginning to realize how much she wanted what Gendry wanted—she wanted him to sit with her on the couch and draw patterns on her leg like it was such a regular thing to do, and to carry her off into his bed when she was too tipsy to move on her own. She wanted him, and she had finally been able to admit that.
Not just to herself, but to Gendry.
"I said how much I liked you," Gendry said without any trouble. It was like the words were so easy for him to say. She admired that so much, how he could simply make peace with his thoughts and feelings once he had actually figured out what they were. As soon as he knew what he was feeling, he had no difficulty telling her.
Sure, his words didn't always come out right, but then again, when did everyone always get it right?
"And what else?" she asked, smiling under the pleasant weight of his words.
"I said how happy I was that we finally got to this point."
"Hmm," she hummed thoughtfully. "Anything else?"
"That was the basic gist of everything I said. It was really just me rambling on about how sorry I was for not noticing how you were feeling for so long and then acting like a complete idiot when I actually did realize what I was feeling for you."
"Very interesting," Arya said. "And what was it that I said last night?"
Gendry smiled a secret smile to himself, looking down for a second as he remembered their conversation that Arya wanted so badly to be a part of. "You said that you were sorry for always choosing the wrong person."
"What?" she said, sitting up.
She tried to bring her legs back up to her chest, a knee-jerk reaction to protect herself, but Gendry held on to her ankle. Not tightly, or forcefully, but it grounded her. She didn't have anything to protect herself from over here.
"You said that...that you always dated boys you never saw a future with because you didn't want to get hurt by anyone."
"Did drunk Arya give any examples?" Arya asked.
"Of course. She's never been anything but thorough," he said wryly. "You dated that junior guy—what was his name, Mitchell, or something like that—because he was older than you and leaving for college out of state so you guys never really had a chance. And then Daniel because you always knew he'd have a successful career that wouldn't involve you. And then Edric because you never saw a future with him but you saw steadiness, and that's not something you ever had in a relationship before."
"Damn," Arya whistled. "I said all of those words coherently?"
"Well, I had to infer a lot of it," he admitted.
"That's not so embarrassing," she said. "Not as bad as I thought it would be when you woke me up."
"Oh, I'm not finished yet," Gendry said.
"What happened afterward?" Arya asked mournfully.
"This is when it got really embarrassing," he said. "You got really tired and insisted I take you to bed."
"No, I didn't!" Arya gasped in horror. She picked herself up on her elbows and glowered at his laughing face.
"Not in a 'Take me now or I'll never be satisfied again' kind of way," he said through his laughter. "At least, I don't think it was. It was more of a 'Just let me go to sleep now but you have to carry me because I can't even stand on my own two feet' kind of way. Although now that I think about it, you did try to kiss me a few times."
She kicked at him with the leg he wasn't holding, but he just laughed harder.
"So then what else did I do? You know, in case I ever want to think about this when I feel like being embarrassed beyond belief."
Gendry shook his head. "That's it. You tried to get me to take you to bed, and then when I said no because I'm a gentleman, you just stood up, stumbled your way over to the couch, and fell down."
Arya snorted and dropped her elbows, settling back against the couch.
"I tried to get you to wake up so I could bring you to the bed and I would sleep on the couch, but you were dead to the world. Only ten at night and you were literally out cold. Pretty impressive, honestly."
"Yeah, well, those are my talents," Arya said. "Drunken word vomit and passing out effortlessly wherever I lay down."
"Are you really that embarrassed?" Gendry asked.
Arya sighed and sat up again, pulling her legs away from Gendry reluctantly and drawing them up to her chest. "No," she said.
"Then what's wrong?"
"I didn't want to be drunk when I told you all that stuff about my old boyfriends. Oh, and by the way, his name wasn't Mitchell, it was Michael," she reminded him. "Like, I don't really remember it, which sucks, because there were certain things I wanted to say and now I don't know if I already have."
"Hey, I'm sure it's fine. We can always talk about it later."
Arya shrugged, tapping her thumb against the arm of the couch. "So it's five in the morning," she said.
"Yep. Sorry. I woke up and forgot you slept here, but I wanted you to actually sleep in a bed at some point."
"Where do my parents think I am?"
Gendry's eyes widened. "Oh, shit."
( O O O )
"Arya?" Catelyn mumbled into the phone. "Why are you calling at five in the morning?"
"Mom?" She sounded sleepy like Arya had just woken her up. "Are you asleep?" she asked.
Catelyn sighed. Noise crackled through the speaker like she was moving around. "Yes, and I would like to go back to sleep. What's wrong?"
"Nothing's...wrong. I just...don't you want to know where I am?"
"Well, when you didn't come home last night, we texted Jon, and he said you were spending the night at his apartment. Why didn't you tell us?"
Arya blinked. Then she blinked again. Finally, she shook her head and coughed. "Um, yeah, I just didn't know he told you. Sorry, I fell asleep pretty early last night and completely forgot. My fault. I'll be home later today."
"Well, don't wake me up when you get back in the house," Catelyn instructed and promptly hung up the phone.
Arya shut her phone and set it down on the coffee table, staring at it curiously. "Did you...talk to Jon last night at any point?" she asked Gendry, raising her eyebrows with the question.
Gendry furrowed his eyebrows as he thought it over, trying to remember. Suddenly, his face smoothed over in recognition and grabbed for his phone. "Oh, yeah. He called, tried to ask where you were. Said some stuff about how Cat and Ned were asking where you are."
"And you said...?"
"I think I said something about you falling asleep on the couch."
She remembered the text Jon had sent her last night right before she had fallen back asleep on the couch. She smiled to herself. "Anything else?"
"I think I might have said you drool in your sleep."
Arya's leg shot out as she kicked him in the knee. "Asshole."
Gendry chuckled and stood up, stretching his arms high over his head for a long while before he sighed and dropped them. "Do you want some breakfast?" he asked.
Arya grinned. "I can do breakfast."
( O O O )
The diner apparently didn't open until nine, which meant Arya was stuck without a proper breakfast since Gendry refused to buy anything other than toaster waffles. Which would have been fine with her, if he actually bought maple syrup instead of just eating them plain. She wrinkled her nose in disgust when he offered them on their way back to his car after leaving the closed diner.
"As if," she said. "You know, if you want to just eat plain waffles, fine, but you could at least get some maple syrup. Or if you don't want to do that, you could get some of the waffles with chocolate chips in them, or blueberries."
"But then what would you have to be disappointed in and complain about whenever you come over looking for food?"
They ended up driving over to Jon's apartment building. It was six by now, which meant that Ygritte would be up getting ready for work, and Jon would be trying to distract her and convince her to stay in bed for at least another ten minutes. Arya entered the code to get into the building and walked to the elevator, Gendry trailing behind her as she pressed the button to go up.
It was Ygritte who answered the door, her wild red hair clipped up in a messy bun. She was trying to straighten her shirt as she opened the door. "Oh. Hi."
Arya looked pointedly at her crooked shirt. It was obvious that Jon had managed to get Ygritte to stay in bed for a little longer this morning. "Hi," she said brightly.
Ygritte took the clip out of her hair and ran her hand through her curls. "Jon is in the kitchen if you're looking for him. I have to go; I have the first shift at the restaurant and I can't be late."
"Maybe you should focus on actually getting ready in the morning instead of having sex with Jon, then," Arya quipped as Ygritte moved past them and into the hallway.
While she waited for the elevator to come, Ygritte smirked at Arya. "Hey, who covered for you last night while you were shacking up with your new boy toy, Arya? Was it us?" The elevator doors opened and Ygritte winked at her. "I'll see you later."
Gendry scoffed as she disappeared. "Boy toy," he repeated incredulously.
Arya turned to him as they walked into the apartment. "Let it be said right now on record that I have never called you a boy toy in my entire life."
Jon was in fact in the kitchen, looking incredibly sleepy but also very happy as he tried to crack an egg without mixing in the shells.
When he noticed Arya and Gendry walking towards him, he smiled at them and gestured for them to sit down wherever they wanted. Arya lifted herself so she was sitting on the empty kitchen island and crossed her legs in a pretzel shape, her hands going to wrap loosely around Gendry's neck as he took up the space in front of her. "Morning, Jon," Arya greeted.
"Morning," he replied through a yawn. "You saw Ygritte on the way out?" he asked, and they both nodded in reply."You guys hungry? I'm making eggs. Although I don't think that's pretty good hangover food."
Gendry glared at him. "We're not hungover, asshole. We just had some wine last and that's it."
"Then why did Arya end up passed out on your couch? I could practically hear her snoring through the phone," Jon said. But he went to grab more eggs for the two of them, which was nice of him, so Arya didn't give him a snarky retort this time. "I take it you two worked out whatever you were trying to work through last night?" he asked. "Arya was in a frenzy trying to leave yesterday to meet you. Said she wouldn't be able to live with herself if she let you go."
"Okay, that is not what I said," Arya said defensively. "You aren't even trying to make it sound believable, Jon. You're so full of shit sometimes."
"So are you saying you would have been just fine with letting me go, living my life not being your boyfriend?" Gendry asked mockingly.
"That's not what I meant!" Arya said in a high-pitched voice. "I didn't even—Gendry! We were already technically dating by the time we met up yesterday!"
"Not true," he reminded her solemnly, shaking her head. "Remember? You said we were only officially dating after we finished eating last night, which was after you spoke to Jon. Therefore, before we started dating."
She glared at him in accusation. "Traitor," she said.
"Hey, it's nothing compared to what Gendry was spewing about you on the phone last night," Jon continued, happily mixing his eggs in the pan as he went on and on. "He was all, 'No, Jon, like you don't get it. I like her, man.' And I'd be all, 'Yeah, dude, I know. You're dating her. It's kind of obvious.' And then he'd be all, 'No, but like, you don't get it. Like, I really like her.' It was a process just getting him to stop saying how cute you looked when you were drooling all over his couch."
Arya hit him squarely in the chest from her spot behind him, and Gendry let out a breath of air as her palm connected with his chest.
"Ow! Arya! I was drunk—I didn't know what I was saying!"
"How annoying it must be when someone you trust turns their back on you," Arya said pointedly.
"I didn't mean it like that! You know I was only kidding a few minutes ago!"
"Sucks for you," she said, turning back to Jon. "And you." She pointed a finger at him threateningly with steadily narrowing eyes. "You may have covered for me last night, which I appreciate because God knows how Mom and Dad would have reacted if they found out I spent the night over at Gendry's apartment when they still think we're broken up. But—"
"You're welcome," Jon interrupted with a shit-eating grin on his face.
Arya grabbed a stray plastic cup that had been lying next to her on the counter and threw it at him.
"But," she carried on when Jon had dodged the cup, "that doesn't mean you get to go on teasing us. Because I have more than enough information on your relationship with Ygritte, and I don't think you'd care for her to hear all the stuff you've said to me while you were drunk, do you?" Jon shook his head silently like a child being scolded by his parents or a teacher. "Are we clear?"
Another nod.
"Good. Now. When's breakfast? I'm starving."
( O O O )
Two weeks later, Arya was found lying in Gendry's bed with her head resting on his chest, his fingers playing idly in her hair.
"Your hair is growing out again," he observed absentmindedly. His hand continued brushing through the dark strands, watching as they slipped easily through the gaps between his fingers. "That happened rather fast."
She shrugged, using it as an excuse to nestle closer in a more comfortable position. "Do you think I should cut it?" she asked. "I liked it after I first did it."
"It was pretty," he replied. "Your choice, though. I don't think I should be one to make decisions on a girl's hair. I mean, look at mine."
Arya sat up, one elbow digging into the mattress to support her weight while the other one ran through Gendry's hair, messing it up. "No. I like the messy look. It makes you look—"
"Roguish? Dashing? Adventurous?"
"Well, you've just cheated yourself out of a compliment. A caveman. You look like a caveman."
He kissed her, swift and quick. "Thanks."
Arya settled back into his chest and Gendry's arm wrapped around her shoulders again. "When's Sansa coming home?"
"I forgot her flight back home, but soon. She's in Russia now."
"Russia?"
"Yep. Moscow. Staying there till the end of the week. She told me last night that they're going to see the ballet tonight. Swan Lake."
"That must have been nice."
"I would love to go one day."
Gendry yawned and turned his face into Arya's hair. They moved into a spooning position, Arya curling up into a small ball while Gendry practically swallowed her from behind with the height he had on her. "Don't worry," he mumbled as he slowly fell asleep. "I'll take you to Russia. We'll only eat potatoes and drink vodka and go to the ballet and we'll only do those things every single night."
"You just stereotyped the hell out of Russia," she said, her own eyes closing.
Within minutes, they had fallen asleep, and Russia was forgotten by everyone except for Sansa and Willas, settling into their seats as a beautiful woman drifted across the stage on her toes.
( O O O )
"I think you should paint this wall white. And then that wall could be purple. This one could be pink...And then this wall here could be blood orange."
"Blood orange?" Arya repeated in disgust. "Gendry, it's red."
Gendry laughed to himself while Arya repeatedly mouthed Blood orange to herself, pushing her hair back from her face and facing her room.
She had decided that it was time for a change in her room, sick of staring at the walls that had been pale blue for as long as she could remember. Only now was she beginning to realize what a mistake it was to ask Gendry to come over to give her advice on what color she should paint it.
"What do you say we take a break and watch a movie," he suggested, quite literally out of nowhere.
Arya snorted. "Okay, first. We're not even the ones painting my room, so it's not like we have any work to take a break from. Second, even if we were the people who were painting my room, we've gotten literally no work done since I haven't even decided on a color yet. And third, you suggesting we watch a movie is just an excuse for us to make out," she said, raising her eyebrows and daring him to contradict her.
Gendry stared back, unashamed. "What's your point?" he asked.
Arya looked at him for a few more seconds and shrugged. "Yeah, okay. I'll get a movie up on Netflix."
Gendry saw no point in arguing with whatever choice she went with, considering he was planning on kissing Arya before the opening credits even finished. So when she picked Dead Poets Society, he kept his mouth closed and settled comfortably on her bed.
But when he tried to lean towards her ten minutes into the movie, Arya put her hand on his chest.
"Shush, Gendry," she ordered, even though he hadn't opened his mouth. "I'm interested in this kid. Stop whatever you're planning."
Gendry scoffed in astonishment. "But—you said—"
"I've never seen this movie before," Arya said simply without taking her eyes off the screen in front of her. "Hey, isn't this the dad from That '70s Show?" she asked.
"Yeah, I think so."
"Damn. Does he only know how to play asshole dads?"
"Probably."
Arya turned to his wounded face and smiled. "I promise after the movie I'll kiss you as long as you want," she said, patting the top of his head.
Gendry caught her hand in his and kissed the inside of her palm. "Deal."
Two and a half hours later, Arya was still trying to wipe away the tears from her cheeks, sniffling quietly as Gendry blinked back tears of his own, clearing his throat and coughing twice before speaking.
"Um, that was a pretty good movie," he said gruffly.
Arya sniffed one more time and wiped at her cheeks again. "That was a terrible movie," she said passionately. "Terrible."
"You liked it," he said.
"I didn't," she said vehemently.
"You're crying. That means you liked it. It made you feel strong enough to start crying."
Arya looked at him through her slightly red eyes. "I'm not making out with you," she said simply.
Gendry scoffed and turned away. "Good. I don't think I want to make out after watching that movie. Doesn't feel right."
"Hey, what do you say we get some food instead?" Arya asked, sitting up from the bed and swinging her legs over the edge.
"What are you in the mood for?"
Arya thought for a moment, biting her lip, before speaking again. "Pancakes," she said decisively.
Gendry raised one eyebrow. "Pancakes? Arya, it's seven o' clock," he said. "At night. And you want breakfast food?"
She shrugged. "I'm in the mood for pancakes. Come on," she pleaded, reaching out to take his hand in hers. "Breakfast for dinner? What do you say? Please?"
Gendry laughed once and sighed in defeat. "I can do breakfast."