Game of Thrones: Loves Many Trials
Chapter 24 of my Game of Thrones story, enjoy.
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Marina Ka-Fai: Yes indeed; well, he'll be okay :)
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Now onto the story.
Disclaimer: Game of Thrones belongs to George R.R. Martin.
Chapter 24
Gendry entered the hospital frantically, he had been at work when he got the call and wasn't able to get away. When he approached the ward, he saw Arya's family all seated outside. He still couldn't believe Joffrey's actions.
'Arya did nothing to him, how could he, how could he do that?' He thought in disbelief. 'He's lucky Arya only broke her arm, what if, it could have been worse.'
He had to chase those thoughts out of his mind and approached the Starks. Seeing him arrive they smiled and greeted him.
Sansa was the first to speak. "Glad you could make it Gendry."
Gendry just nodded. "Is, is Arya…?"
"She'll be alright." Catelyn confirmed; to his relief. "She'll have to wear a cast for some time, but she'll make a full recovery."
Gendry nodded; trying to suppress a smirk, he knew Arya wouldn't like the limitations that came with wearing a cast.
"You should go and see her." Sansa said at last, giving him a secret smile.
He was reminded of when Brian had spoken to him and suddenly the pieces fit. Brian and Sansa had both been trying to get Arya and him together. Nevertheless he smiled and nodded before heading into the ward.
Arya was sitting upright in the bed, looking down at her right arm, encased in the cast from her elbow to the end of her hand, only her fingers free.
Looking up as Gendry entered, Arya grinned.
"Hey, there you are." She greeted. "Well, what do you know, another act from the extraordinary dickhead himself."
Gendry was glad she was able to face this with humour, but still felt terrible. "I still can't believe Joffrey; this is beyond forgiveness, he's out of control."
Arya shrugged. "Hey don't, don't get yourself worked up, okay. Besides, I don't wanna talk about that clown."
Laughing slightly, Gendry sat down next to the bed; he wasn't sure how to say it, but, he knew it needed to be said.
"Um, Arry, I..." He hesitated.
She looked at him and he was startled, she looked surprisingly vulnerable. "Can I...guess, Brian and Sansa, they..."
"Yeah they did and they told me, well."
"Same." She replied; chewing her bottom lip, as she always did when nervous.
"Well, it's true Arya, I do...care about you that way, I...I know you don't want me to say it, but it's true." He explained. "I love you."
Arya shook her head. "Oh Gendry, why do you always have to be so...bull-headed, I love you too."
He started but grinned at that.
"So are we…?"
"One one condition." She said; he nodded, listening. "I don't care that I'll still be in this cast. You're coming to the school dance with me."
Gendry was only too happy to agree.
Jojen shifted awkwardly in his seat as Bran sat next to him, the two of them holding hands under the table.
"So, Arya's gonna be alright?" He asked.
Bran nodded, smiling. "Yeah, Joffrey squirmed his way out of trouble again but, Arya doesn't care. She'll be back to school tomorrow, just so long as she takes it easy and doesn't try to do too much with her cast on."
"Cool, that's, great...Is it, also true about her and, Gendry?" Jojen queried with a smile.
Bran nodded enthusiastically, making Jojen laugh; but Bran saw it, the troubled look in Jojen's eyes.
'The rape, the torment he was put through, just for being who he is, it's still there, plaguing his mind.' Bran reflected sadly. 'But there's something else there too, I see it.'
"Bran, there's something I need to tell you." Jojen said finally.
Bran immediately stiffened. "What, what is it?"
"It was the Sparrows, certain members of the Sparrows, the ones who were always giving us trouble." Jojen burst out. "It was only them, none of the others; but they're the ones who attacked me."
Bran immediately embraced his boyfriend. "Jojen, it's alright, I'm here...We won't, we won't let them win."
Jojen nodded, returning the hug. "We won't...I'm ready, we'll tell everyone we need to tell."
Bran nodded, it was time at last to reveal the truth.
Lancel sighed heavily, shocked at the recent events that had happened. Word had spread since Jojen Reed finally opened up about his attack.
'I can't...the people who attacked him were members of the Sparrows; all people I knew...' He thought. 'Part of the same club as me; the same belief system, how could they have gone so horribly wrong? Urgh...the saddest thing is, hearing exactly who attacked him; I'm not the least bit surprised.'
Investigations were being carried out now and those under investigation were outraged; in their words, that the police were wasting time on the words of a worthless fag who was clearly lying for attention. They were going around saying they were the victims, they didn't deny what they had done, but they refused to see anything wrong with it.
Lancel shook his head. 'Just what I'd expect from them, which is why I've distanced myself from them, along with so many others.'
It was true, the more moderate members of the club, like him, had come together and, as they outnumbered the extremists, had voted them out of the club, they were no longer welcome.
What was more, Lancel knew many of his fellow Sparrows had been sending messages of apology to Jojen and his family for how the extremists had treated him. Typical of Jojen, he felt there was no need for their apologies, they weren't the ones who wronged him after all.
He was jolted out of his musings by a familiar voice. One which never failed to make him smile.
"Lancel?" Marina asked. "You alright?"
He nodded. "Yeah, thanks."
He noted briefly, without attaching much importance too it that Marina was in trousers again. She did that, some days she wore her knee length school skirt and ankle socks, other days she wore trousers, it was just the way she did things.
"I was just thinking, about all the crazy stuff that's happened lately. Getting free of Joffrey, this issue with the Sparrows."
Marina bit her lip, knowing Lancel was part of that group and schism that had developed. "Is everything okay, I mean…?"
He nodded. "Yeah, everything's fine now, and Joffrey's on thin ice so he can't do anything. Martyn and Willem are safe."
She grinned relaxing and, hearing the bell that signalled the end of school, they both stood and decided to go hang out, take a look around town for a while.
Meanwhile, Jamie shifted nervously as he followed Meera up the driveway. He briefly noted that, unlike Marina who changed as she pleased, Meera seemed to have happily adopted her new look, wearing a skirt and tights to school, on a permanent basis.
Not that he minded or thought it any of his business, it was just something he noticed.
'Can't think of that right now, this is...' He thought worriedly.
Seeing his expression, Meera grinned. "Jamie, relax, everything will be fine, they'll like you."
He nodded; still nervous; he was coming to meet Meera's family as her boyfriend for the first time. Still he took solace in her reassurance and followed her inside; they had come directly from school, so were both still in their uniforms.
"Mom, dad, I'm home." She called out.
"We're through here." Her mother called out.
They followed the sound of her voice into the living room and saw them both, Howland and Jyana, seated watching an old black and white movie. Jojen wasn't home however as he had gone to spend some time with Bran.
'Probably just what he needs, after all he's been through.' Jamie thought sadly.
He just hoped that this nightmare would pass for poor Jojen and he'd feel better soon.
He quickly focused however as Meera spoke.
"Well, mom, dad, I...You'll remember, that night I went out and, how I've been..." She began.
Jyana smiled. "Yes, we remember well, dear, what is it?"
Meera composed herself and spoke calmly. "I have a boyfriend now, this is Jamie; you um, remember I spoke about him."
Jamie did his best to smile as the Reeds turned to him; they no doubt remembered how he helped Meera find Jojen after that incident after all.
"Um, hi, it's, it's nice to meet you, I..."
They both smiled however and Howland spoke. "Nice to meet you too young man."
Jamie let out a slow sigh of relief as he sat down, things looked like they would actually go well for that he was glad; for he truly wanted to make it work with Meera, to make her happy and if her family approved, it would be so much easier to do so.
End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.
Just a note, starting from the scene with Lancel here, the latter half of this chapter, and the next chapter, plus about the first half of the next chapter all take place on the same day, just to avoid any confusion.