Game of Thrones: Loves Many Trials

Chapter 20 of my Game of Thrones stories, enjoy.

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Now onto the story.

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

Chapter 20

Brian took a deep breath as he began to walk up the driveway to the Stark house. It had been a few days since their date and, as arranged, Sansa had invited him around to meet her family. He knocked on the door and waited, before long Sansa answered it and smiled when she saw him.

"Hey." He greeted, smiling back.

She let him in, replying in kind and briefly kissing him. "C'mon, they're in the living room."

Brian nodded as he began to follow her. "Oh boy..."

"Hmmm?"

"I just...hope your parents like me." He explained.

"It'll be fine." She reassured him, although she did trail off and bite her lip. "Um, we, we've got more company by the way."

"Oh?" He queried.

She just gestured to the living room. "C'mon, you'll see."

Shrugging he followed her into the living room. The first two people he saw, a middle-aged couple, the man with brown hair and grey eyes, the woman with auburn hair and blue eyes, he knew had to her parents, Eddard and Catelyn Stark.

He nodded and smiled to Bran who also did the same. Next to Bran was a boy of eleven with wild auburn hair and blue eyes, tall for his age. Based on what Sansa told him of her family, he guessed this was the youngest Stark child, Rickon Stark.

He noted Arya was curiously absent, then he saw what Sansa meant by 'more company', for also in the room were two other people, both young men in their early twenties; one looking like a younger version of Eddard, the other, like Bran and Rickon, having inherited Catelyn's traits.

He again remembered Sansa telling him of her family. 'Those must be her older brother and cousin...Robb and, Jon.'

This certainly made things interesting, he was meeting more people than he expected. Still he maintained his composure.

"Evening." He greeted them warmly.

They all looked up at him, it was Eddard who replied first.

"Ah, evening, you must be Brian?" He stated. "Sansa did tell us you were coming."

Brian nodded in response. "Yes sir, nice to meet you all."

He shook hands, first with Eddard, then the others, he could tell they were wary, but was relieved they weren't openly suspicious of him.

Sansa created a distraction at that moment as she noticed. "Anyone seen Arya?"

"She...she'll be down soon." Catelyn replied. "She just got home, not too long ago..."

She seemed uneasy, something which made Brian wonder.

"Mrs. Stark?"

He got his answer however when he heard Sansa gasp and turned around to see Arya enter.

However she now looked very different from the last time he had seen her, namely due to the fact that her hair was now cut short and, of all things, dyed blue.

Brian couldn't help himself as he thought. 'Don't mention Life is Strange...'

"Oh Gods..." Sansa muttered; unable to believe what she was seeing.

She had heard Arya talking about doing something about her hair and thought that, finally, Arya was going to make at least one 'girly' concession in her life; but not this.

"Hey." Arya greeted the family with a grin, then saw Brian, recognizing him. "Oh, hiya."

"Uh, hi." He greeted her as warmly as he could; all the while thinking. 'Don't call her Chloe, don't call her Chloe.'

"So what's up?" Arya asked casually.

Robb nodded at that, seemingly recovering from seeing Arya's new look. "Yes, Sansa, why did you say you wanted to talk to us all, what about?"

"To introduce my boyfriend." Sansa replied with a grin, nodding to Brain who grinned back. "A real boyfriend."

"Real...you mean…?" Jon gasped.

"Yup, Brian and I are now dating."

"Wow, so you and Joffrey are…?" Robb replied, eyes wide.

Sansa nodded, the family, Brian noticed seemed relieved by this and all seemed much, warmer, towards him now.

Arya summed it up as she then remarked. "About time."

This drew laughter from everyone and Brian also grinned; relieved.

Later Brian and Sansa found themselves sitting alone out in the back garden, enjoying some peaceful quiet time. While doing so Brian noticed Arya also alone, in another part of the garden, talking quietly on her phone, a strangely wistful expression on her face, she even seemed to be blushing slightly.

"What's up with Arya?"

Sansa looked over and saw her, before smiling. "She must be calling Gendry. She won't admit it but she has a crush on him."

"Who?" Brian asked, perplexed.

Sansa grinned. "Gendry is um...he's the son of Robert Baratheon, you saw him at the pool party, he and Arya were hanging out. He's also a mechanic who works in a nearby garage..."

Brian nodded, vaguely remembering seeing Gendry, although they didn't actually talk at the party.

"Yeah, he and Arya have been friends like...forever." Sansa continued. "And I'm pretty sure they're both feeling...more than friendship, they just, don't seem to make that leap, ya know."

"Wow, I...I see." Brian replied. "Wait I thought you said Arya had a boyfriend, his name was Gendry, back at my first day…?"

Sansa nodded. "Force of habit, I usually tease Arya like that; they're not actually together...yet."

He had to admit, he thought it was rather interesting and from what he could remember; seeing them at the party, they did seem rather close.

Shaking her head as she looked back over to Arya; Sansa sighed.

"Still can't believe Joffrey did that to Arya."

Brian nodded, recalling the incident at school where he had stepped in to help protect Sansa from Joffrey when she broke up with him.

"Yeah...Um, I wasn't there at the start, when I showed up, I just saw Marina and Arya leaving, what exactly did happen?"

Sansa grimaced and told Brian everything about Joffrey's ice cream prank on Arya.

"He did what?!" Brian thundered, outraged. "What an idiot..."

"I know, I know..." Sansa replied. "Still, Arya is alright, that's the main thing."

Brian sighed but calmed down, nodding, he agreed; what mattered was the prank didn't get to Arya and she was alright. Now he just had to ponder this mystery of Arya and Gendry some more.

A few days later, Brian sighed as he drove his car to a nearby garage.

'Damn car, can't believe this.' He thought, frustrated.

His car had been giving him some trouble, so now he had no choice but to get it seen to. Once inside he stepped out and one of the mechanics approached him.

"Can I help you?"

"I hope so..." Brian replied before going on to explain the problem.

As he did so, he observed the mechanic, a young man in his early twenties, shaggy black hair, blue eyes, muscular. He recognized him from Sansa's description, it was Gendry Waters.

So it was, a short while later, Gendry was working on the car, talking to Brian. Brian had introduced himself, explaining his connection with Sansa.

"Wow, I thought I recognized you, you were at the party, right?"

Brian nodded. "Yeah, that's right."

Gendry smiled. "Small world."

As Gendry worked, Brian made small talk before deciding to cut to the heart of the matter.

"So, this is gonna sound a little odd, but..." He began. "Sansa and I were both wondering, how do you feel, about Arya?"

"What?" Gendry spluttered, taken aback.

Brian sighed. "Sansa and I were talking and, well, I was wondering if you...have feelings for, Arya."

Gendry bit his lip; shaking his head. "Oh um, I, well...I suppose I can trust you..."

Brian nodded reassuringly.

"Well, I do like her, no, I love her, but I can't just...tell her that."

"Why?"

He sighed. "She'd be overwhelmed, or she'd think I was making fun of her, besides, she's not like other girls, that sort of thing...doesn't appeal to her. I don't want to risk our friendship. She would get angry at me..."

"No she wouldn't." Brian replied at once. "What if, she felt the same way?"

Gendry was startled but also, Brian noticed, looked hopeful. He smiled, it was a start.

Meanwhile, back in the Stark house, Sansa was with Arya in the living room. She bit her lip as she observed her sister, still not used to the blue hair. Arya was shaking her head, eyes narrowed, they had been talking about Gendry and Arya's apparent crush on him.

Naturally she denied it. "You cannot be serious, why are you even suggesting something like that?"

Sansa rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Gods, I've seen it."

"I'm not..."

"Arya please, just tell the truth." Sansa cut in suddenly. "Can't you just admit it, it won't make you any less of who you are."

Arya groaned. "Fine."

"So?"

She actually blushed before replying. "I...I really like him."

"See..." Sansa said, grinning. "You should tell him."

"I can't, you know why, and before you say anything, it's true." Arya snapped.

Sansa smirked and played her trump card. "What if he felt the same?"

"What?" Arya gasped, looking hopeful, before recovering. "Oh don't be ridiculous."

"I mean it..." She said firmly. "It'll be fine."

Arya bit her lip, unsure. Sansa knew this would be harder than she thought, but the groundwork was laid, they were off to a good start.

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