Harwin was sitting at the lobby bar with a beer bottle in his hand, and Lem next to him with a bottle of his own, saying something in Catalan, which was the language that came naturally to Harwin.
Anguy was at the end of the room fidgeting with the buttons of an ancient looking cigarette machine.
"Que pedazo de maquina!" he cursed, kicking the machine.
"Eh tu! Para eso!' the blonde bartender yelled from behind the bar, and Anguy gave it one last kick.
"Me debes un paquete de cigarillos." he told the man as he walked towards his place next to Lem.
At the sight of Arya and Gendry though, he froze.
"Hi." he told Arya, his eyes watching her carefully. Lem and Harwin turned to face them at that.
"Hi." Arya and Gendry both said at the same time.
"Hello." Harwin said to them with a small smile.
Tom was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Tom?" Arya asked as if reading his thoughts.
"Not feeling well. He's resting."
Gendry shot Arya a side glance. There was no way their plan would work. Not with Tom upstairs.
Arya looked away from him quickly, but she knew exactly what he was trying to communicate to her. He could tell from her eyes. She always glanced at the floor for a small moment after reading his eyes, which always meant something...
Right now, what her expression was telling Gendry, was that she was going through with the plan, no matter what.
"I'm not feeling too well either." she said weakly, turning to Gendry. "I should have listened to you and stayed in the room." she said to him with her mouth. But her eyes said, Do as we planned... 10 minutes.
"Feel better!" Anguy called after her, and sat next to Lem.
"How is she?" Harwin asked Gendry.
"Better than one would expect." Gendry answered, and eyed the clock on the wall behind the bar before sitting next to Harwin.
Ten minutes. He had to leave in ten minutes. The men talked amongst themselves a while. Gendry paid them no mind, until Harwin turned to him.
"We're behind schedule. Jaqen phoned as soon as he found out, and asked us to give the girl the time she needed to mourn, but he wanted us to be on a plane as soon as she was able."
"Airlines are working again?" Gendry asked.
"Apparently. There's a small window. Two weeks, the forecast stated. But there is another much heavier storm expected."
"Like day after tomorrow shit." Anguy said leaning forward on the bar so that he could see Gendry.
"Don't be stupid." Lem said, tugging the collar of his jumper, so he would sit up.
Gendry smiled. Anguy seemed to get under Lem's skin, yet they were always together.
His eyes trailed to the clock. Six minutes had already passed.
Unbelievable!
Harwin was talking at his side, and Gendry was pretending to listen, but his eyes kept on glancing over a to the clock, until ten minutes passed.
He swallowed the knot in his throat and slid off the stool.
"I think I need some air." he said, trying to sound the most casual he could.
Harwin nodded once, and turned to his drink, tipping the bottle to take a sip.
Gendry turned for the door, but then the bartender whistled.
He turned, feeling his insides drop.
"For the cold." he said, tossing him a pack of cigarettes.
Gendry caught them.
Lem chortled at Anguy's dropped jaw and Gendry smiled wickedly at the red head before turning for the door.
The air outside was completely still and freezing.
Gendry quickly put his hands in his pocket, a shudder traveling down his body. This was insane. There was no way they would last out here more than an hour.
He had no jacket, and he was already beginning to feel his ears freeze, as well as his toes.
These were not snow boots, and he only had on a pair of socks.
The snow crunched pleasantly underfoot, and under different circumstances, a sight like the one before him was one to stop and gawk at.
He wasn't sure how far they were from Madrid, but this place was deserted, yet beautiful in all it's loneliness.
Gendry quickened his pace, glancing back at the hotel, to make sure no one saw him, and soon he was at the small building Arya had pointed at through the window.
It was a mechanic's shop, and it was closed.
Gendry exhaled sharply, his breath steaming up thickly.
He could see the tip of his nose already turning a bright red.
"Damn it Arya." he whispered, as he clumsily walked around the building, to hide himself from the hotel.
The walk alone had taken him about four minutes. She should have been here by now.
Gendry shuddered again, and his teeth began to chatter.
If something had gone wrong... if she got caught... and he was all the way out here, freezing to death, instead of with her.
This had been such a bad idea.
No.
No. She could do this.
He growled at both the cold and out of frustration. "Come on Arya!" he yelled.
Then a hand grabbed his arm and spun him.
"Shit!" he yelled, but then he saw it was Arya.
She held out his jacket and he took it gratefully, slipping into it quickly.
She had hers on. As well as her scarf and glove set, their bag hanging from her shoulder, which she began to unzip.
"I didn't find our money." she said as she pulled out his scarf, gloves and hat. She sounded upset at herself.
"None of it?" he asked, taking the scarf first and wrapping it around his neck several times. He took the hat next, slipping it over his head so it covered his numb ears.
Arya shook her head, holding open a glove for him to slip his hand in. "I looked through all their stuff. The only money I was able to find was the one inside of Tom's wallet. It's not a lot, but we can steal some later if we need to."
"How did you you deal with Tom?" he asked, taking the second glove from her. He was already beginning to thaw.
"I killed him." she let out coldly.
"What!" Gendry choked out panicked.
Arya merely rolled her eyes at him. "I'm kidding. I knocked him out."
"How?" Gendry asked skeptically.
"I knocked on the door, said I didn't want to be alone and that you were downstairs. He let me in and as soon as he closed the door, I slammed an ashtray against his head.
"And that knocked him out?"
"I am strong Gendry!"
He nodded, " You are, but an ashtray hit in the head won't keep him down for long."
"Then we should start moving." she said, turning towards the road, walking opposite of the direction of the hotel.
"Arya, I don't... this is a bad idea. We're in the middle of nowhere. I hadn't noticed when we arrived from all the snow falling..It's very cold." he said stupidly.
"You have your jacket." she called back at him.
Gendry reached for her arm and spun her so she faced him. "You should..." he mumbled out as he zipped her jacket all the way up and tugged down at her hat so that her ears were covered by it.
Her eyes were on his face the entire time. When he looked into them, he felt a small warmth inside of him.
"Thanks." she whispered.
He smiled, and his eyes trailed to her lips. For a split second, something coiled inside his stomach, and he wanted to kiss her.
"Look!" she shrieked as she pointed behind him.
He turned, half expecting Lem and the rest. But it was only a blue car, driving towards them.
Arya began to wave her gloved hands in the air, jumping up and down.
Then she smacked Gendry on the shoulder.
"Wave, stupid!" she cried, and he began to wave until he was sure the driver had seen them.
The car pulled over ahead of them, and they both ran to the rolled down passenger window. It was a couple in their 40's.
"Estais chalados?" the man cried out in Spanish. "Esta helando afuera. Muchos hombres han muerto en tormentas como estas. Hacia donde os dirigis?" the woman asked them.
"Madrid." Arya answered them, and the man nodded once, unlocking the back door.
"Montaos!" he told them.
She did it! She actually, freaking did it, Gendry thought with a slime as he slipped into the car next to Arya, closing the door behind him.
The car moved forward, and Gendry glanced back, one last time, watching as the hotel shrunk as they moved forward.
He turned to Arya, still smiling. "You did it." he shook his head in awe. "You actually did it."
She elbowed him playfully. "We did it."
xxxxxxxxxx
Renly had been preparing breakfast for them both when they'd heard the knock at the door.
Knowing Jaime, Renly didn't hesitate to ask him inside, but as soon as the front door was closed, Jaime pulled out a gun and hit Renly across the face, knocking him to the floor.
Brienne was on her feet and about to run towards Jaime when he cocked his gun and pointed it at Renly.
"I'd stay put if I were you!" Jaime said to her, and she froze where she stood.
Brienne was strong, but Jaime was all the way on the other side of the room. Her gun was in her closet, and her mobile on the coffee table that sat between her and Jaime.
He pulled out two pairs of handcuffs from his jacket pocket and tossed a pair at Brienne, while he cuffed Renly to the nearby radiator in one quick move.
"What do you want from us?" she demanded. He was the same man that had called and laughed at her back at the station a few days ago.
"Brienne, is it? Cuff yourself. And sit on the floor by the table." Jaime smiled, eying her up and down. She did as he said, cuffing her wrist and tugging at the cuffs to show him they were properly placed
"Gendry Waters." Jaime said to her. "That's why I'm here."
Brienne claimed ignorance to Gendry's whereabouts at first, but that all went to waste when her mobile began to ring and the screen read "Gendry"
Jaime laughed at the sight of it. "This is too perfect."
He picked the phone up and tossed it at Brienne. She caught it between cuffed hands.
"Be credible please. And put it on speaker. For Renly's sake." Jaime told her as he dug the gun into Renly's head.
Brienne answered the phone with nervous fingers, searching quickly for the speaker.
The entire time she spoke to Gendry, her eyes were on Renly. His lips was bleeding from where Jaime hit him, and he looked terrified.
Blood always made him nervous.
Gendry sounded so happy to hear her and it made it twice as hard to do this, but she kept telling herself this was all for Renly. She would deal with Jaime when he least expected it. For now, she had to make sure Ren wasn't hurt.
"How touching!" Jaime said as soon as she'd ended the call.
"What do you want with Gendry?" Brienne demanded.
Jaime ignored her, keeping the gun pointed at Renly as he slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out his mobile.
Brienne shook her head. "I won't allow you to hurt him."
Jaime rolled his eyes and turned to kick Renly in the stomach.
Brienne began to rise on instinct, ready to lunge herself at Jaime, but then he stabbed the barrel into Renly' temple and she stopped herself.
Renly was coiled on the floor coughing.
"Leave him alone!" she spat out.
"What did you do about that? Nothing. What will you do about Gendry... nothing."
"I'm going to kill you." she breathed out furiously.
"Enough. I'm sick of your voice. Stay still and quiet while I make this call." he pressed his thunb into his mobile once before putting the phone against his ear, quietly shushing her. "For Renly." he repeated her earlier thoughts.
Brienne was just waiting. For his hand to tire. For a second of distraction. Anything that gave her a chance to attack. But he kept his arm firm. His eyes on her.
And he was so far. All the way across the living room.
"Cersei." Jaime spoke into the phone.
"No!" Renly gasped out from the floor, turning so he could look at Jaime. "No, it can't be."
Jaime shot a quick glance at Rneny before turning his eyes to Brienne again.
"I found the boy...I need you to meet me. Renly's apartment...I'll explain everything here. Bye."
"It was you." Renly sat up awkwardly against the radiator. "Robert. It was you. You and that bitch." There was tears rolling down his eyes.
"Don't call her that." Jaime said, suddenly serious. "You don't hear me calling your wench names, now do you?" he turned to face her at that.
"My name, is Brienne, you asshole." she told him.
Jaime walked up to the sofa closest to him and sat on it's arm, facing both Brienne and Renly.
"My name, is Jaime, you wench. Now please stop talking, you're giving me a head ache. We have a long day ahead of us. We need to wait for this Gendry to call back. Then this will all be over."
"You mean, then you will kill us." Renly said in a small voice, but neither Jaime or Brienne turned to face him.
"No harm will come over you if you do as you're told. You have my word, and trust me... I'm a man of my word."
Brienne didn't buy this. He knew too well that she would do anything to stop him from hurting Gendry. She had told him so herself.
"Your word means nothing to me." she said, spitting out to her left.
"Ahggh! What a charming beauty!" Jaime remarked sarcastically.
It really is going to be a long day.
xxxxxxxxxx
All the Stark/Baratheon hullaballoo had started to die down at Scotland Yard as the days had passed, leaving only a few agents actively working on the missing Stark children cases.
However, it all resurfaced when Catelyn Stark appeared dead in her Sheffield home.
All the noise, and the crowded halls were giving him a head ache.
He was about to slip out of the cubicle he was using and into his office for a break, when he saw his assistant walking around the people in the halls, towards him.
"Home office on line 5." the beady eyed man told him. "And I need your signature on these Fraud Complaints and this letter for Inspector Williams." he said holding out the papers.
He sat on the chair again and took a pen off the desk, signing the papers.
"I'll take the call in my office." he told the dark skinned man as he stood to walk to his office.
"There you are!" he heard from behind him, and turned to see the green eyed brunnette holding a coffee in one hand and a flash drive on the other.
"Come, come. You have to see this." she said, forcing him into the cubicle once again.
He sat on the desk, as she leaned over him to insert the drive in the computer. He got a whiff of her hair before she pulled it to the other side of her head. It smelled like vanilla.
"They finally rigged the defective bug placed on the security system at Cutler's Hall. We we're able to salvage a few frames. My team is still working on getting the complete footage of that night." she took a sip of her coffee as she waited for the file to open.
"Did you find out who tapped into the system?"
She shook her head. "On it."
The first window opened and it was a frame of the main party hall used that night by the Baratheons. In the shot, half of the hall had emptied out, and only a few men remained by the stage over what appeared to be Robert Baratheon's body. Also a woman in purple was clearly seen running into a door at the far left of the room.
He tapped his finger on the screen twice, over the door the woman seemed to be running towards.
"That goes to a hallway that leads to the door to the basement, where Baratheon's men found and shot Eddard Stark."
"The girl..."
"Is Arya Stark. Everyone said she had been wearing a purple dress, and no one saw her after the incident. Police were at the scene in minutes. No one saw her leave the building, at least not through the front. Now we know why."
"And that hallway leads to where Ned was found?"
The brunette nodded.
"What other shots do you have?"
"Two more." she said closing the window of the first. The second frame was from a camera at the corridor outside the main hall. There was several blurred out people in the frame, but almost everyone seemed identifiable. His eyes went straight to the Stark boy, in the arms of a uniformed woman.
"That's Rickon Stark." he said, recognizing him from the photos.
"Yes. We're lucky enough to get a shot of both him and the woman he's with. She's wearing a server uniform." she told him, as she pulled up the last frame, which had been zoomed into the server's face.
His eyes were glued on the last frame.
"Inspector Mormont." a man called, and they both turned from the computer.
It was his assistant again. "You have the Home Office on hold."
"I'll be just a second." he said as he pulled the flash drive from the computer and rose from the chair, grabbing the brunette's face in his hands. He was so excited, he could kiss her. "Who else knows about this Dany?"
The girl seemed taken aback. "Just my team, and you."
He nodded once. "Let's keep it that way. For now." he said as he headed towards his office.
"What?" she called after him, but he ignored her, heading straight into his office.
He picked up the phone, pressing a button on the receiver. "Yes?" he said looking up as Dany walked into the office and closed the door after her.
"Sir, I need to call you back." he said, setting the phone back in it's place.
"Why do you need to keep this between us? We have been waiting for this for..."
"Dany." he cut her off.
"Jorah!" she cried out.
She was clearly angry. She had so much fire in her, and very little control over, ever since her husband had passed.
"You know I have to report what I've found." she said.
"Then why did you come to me?" he asked.
"I trust you. You're my friend. You're working on the Stark boy's case. But..."
"Then trust me. GIve me just a day. One day. That's all I ask."
"A day for what?"
"Trust me." he begged her, and he could see her beginning to give in.
"One day." she said, and turned furiously for the door.
"Thank you Daenerys." he said as she slammed the door behind her.
He crossed back to his desk with a smile and inserted the flash drive into his computer. He pulled out his mobile from his desk drawer and began punching numbers as he opened the files on the usb drive and attached them onto an e mail he was composing.
The line rang twice, before someone answered.
"Yes?"
"Margaery? I'm sending you an e mail. Check it, then delete it, and get back to me."
"Alright."
"Thanks." he said, and he send the email.
xxxxxxxxxx
Cersei was looking over the numbers Jaime had copied from the call with Gendry.
"Do they mean anything to you?" he asked her.
His twin simply shook her head, turning to Brienne. "At what time is the boy suppose to call you."
The wench didn't even bother looking up at Cersei. "He didn't specify a time." she replied in her deep voice.
Cersei was beginning to grow restless. They had been there all most of the day.
"He might not call at all." Brienne taunted. "He may call until tomorrow. Or perhaps the day after."
"Oh shut her up Jaime." Cersei said, rubbing at her temples and shifting her weight on the sofa, reaching into her jean pocket for her cigarette case and lighter.
Cersei never wore jeans. She rarely wore pants.
She was worrying too much, and it was beginning to show. She was getting sloppy about this entire situation, even her looks.
Jaime could see Renly about to oppose to her smoking, but then re think it.
The minutes dragged on, and no one said a word. They all just sat still. His eyes remained on the wench, but he was growing tired. Tired of her features. Tired of her face. Tired of this small apartment, and this entire situation.
When Cersei had first arrived, she had reprimanded Jaime for not cuffing Brienne to something, but judging from her size and the fact that she was a police officer, he didn't think going anywhere near her was smart, and he had advised Cersei against it when she suggested re cuffing her. So for that reason, he had to keep his eyes on her.
"I need water." Renly broke the silence. But he ignored him.
"Sister dearest." Renly said sourly to Cersei. "Some water for your favorite brother in law." he mocked her.
"Oh, why won't that fucking phone ring already!" she cried, jabbing her cigarette on the surface of the coffee table and cupping her face in her hands.
As if summoned, Brienne's mobile began to ring.
Cersei rose off the couch and took it, tossing it quickly at Brienne. "Remember, Royal Inn, across Victoria Park. Ask him when he can meet you there." she told Brienne.
Brienne answered, putting the phone on speaker. And she did exactly what she was asked to.
Jaime could tell this was difficult for her. There was tears of anger on her eyes as she spoke the words, but her voice never betrayed her true feelings.
When she was done, she ended the call, and threw the phone away from her as if it were some vile thing.
"It's done. Now let us go." she pleaded.
There was something in her voice though. Like if she wasn't expecting to be released. Like she had lost hope.
Cersei picked up the mobile off the floor and turned to face Jaime with a laugh. "You told them we'd let them go?" she asked dryly as she took the gun from his hand and pointed it at Renly head.
Two shots rang in the air, then Brienne's piercing cry.
Cersei's hand moved to point the gun at Brienne.
Jaime reacted a second too late, pushing the gun to try and stray the shot, but he failed.
A shot rang, and Brienne fell back with a groan.
Jaime took his sister by the shoulders shaking her. "What is wrong with you? Bodies are dropping dead everywhere, all around us! You're getting sloppy. What are you thinking?!"
Cersei opened her mouth to speak, but they heard a groan and turned to see Brienne to turning on the floor with a groan. Blood was beginning to pool around her shoulder, which she held her hand against.
"She's alive." Jaime said furiously.
"Renly." Brienne sobbed out, as she looked over the dead body slumping against the radiator. "No! No! Renly!" she wailed out as she tried to sit, before falling back on the floor.
Jaime turned to look into his twin's eyes. There was nothing of the woman he knew in them.
She placed the gun back in his hand. "Clean this mess. Take care of her. I'll see you at home."
And with that she turned for the door and left.
Jaime turned to Brienne, who was weeping on the floor, calling out for Renly. Over and over again.
"He's dead." Jaime told her.
"She leaves you to do all her dirty work." the wench breathed out. "You're her little bitch."
"Shut the fuck up, you wench." he yelled, walking up to her and turning her with his foot, so that she was facing him.
"Kill. Me. Now." she said softly.
Jaime wanted to.
And he didn't. He wasn't sure what part of him wanted to kill Brienne. Perhaps the part that wanted to make Cersei happy.
And the part that didn't want to was a part unknown to him.
Suddenly there was someone knocking on the door.
"Brienne, dear? Renly? I heard gun shots. Are you two alright?" it was an old lady voice, probably a neighbor.
"You leave her alone." Brienne snapped at him.
"I've called the police." the woman called. "Renly?"
Jaime cocked the gun, swallowing down all emotions. "I'm sorry. You can't be alive when the police get here." he told Brienne. "I'm sorry." he repeated, meaning every word.
From a distance, he could already hear the sirens. He pointed the gun at her head about to shoot, but then she slammed her cuffed hands against his legs, knocking him to the ground.
He fell on his side, the gun slipping from his hands.
He was about to reach for it, but Brienne rolled over him and put her bloody hands around his neck, choking him.
"I could kill you." she said with teary eyes.
"Why... don't ... you?" Jaime managed to choke out. He could feel the blood swelling his face.
"What does she want with Gendry?" she asked him.
"To... kill ... him." Jaime breathed out, barely audible.
Brienne loosened the grasp, and he began to cough as he gasped for air. She grabbed his head in her large hands, taking a firm grip of it. The room filled with blue and red light, and the police sirens were right outside the window.
"You have an appointment." she said, as a tear fell from her eye and onto his cheek.
His brows furrowed in confusion, and she leaned in to press her lips against his ear. "The Royal Inn." she said sinisterly, and she lifted his head, slamming it on the floor. And it all went black.
xxxxxxxxx
"We're meeting Brienne and her roommate in London in two days." he told Arya, as hung up the phone and walked to their bag which sat on the dresser of their motel room.
The couple that picked them up was headed for Trujillo, but they dropped them off at a small motel off the main road. They were about a two hour drive from Madrid.
"So he can help us?" Arya asked.
"Yes." Gendry said as he rummaged through their bag, pulling out his pajamas.
Arya had wrapped a pair of guns in his shirt. Harwin and Lem's guns.
"Careful." she called as she pulled a boot off. "There's guns in there."
"Of course there is." Gendry said, not sounding the least bit surprised.
She began moving her toes inside her socks, enjoying the feel of them outside of the boots.
Her feet hurt.
Her whole body hurt.
She was tired. She never thought she'd be this tired at sixteen.
Seventeen, she corrected herself. She would be seventeen in less than a day.
Suddenly, she felt the heaviness of a stare on her, and when Arya looked up at Gendry, he was, in fact, staring at her.
He gave her a small smile. "How are you?" he asked.
Arya didn't have to ask what he meant by it.
"It comes and goes." she admitted, loving the feel of being able to say exactly what she was feeling. Gendry made it easy.
It was something she had only had once before, with Jon.
But even that was different. She had only been ten the last time she had seen him, and she didn't remember having any dark confessions at the age of ten. Mostly just complaints about Sansa, or Bran, or kids at college.
"When I'm doing something, it's almost not there. Just like a small pebble in my shoe. I can almost ignore it..."
"Don't" Gendry snapped at her.
Arya creased her brows, "But... when I'm not doing something, it comes back. Everything. All the images... and memories, and the pain." she let herself fall back on the bed with a sigh, feeling all the tension in her muscles begin to dissolve. "I'm so scared." she confessed to Gendry, who had crossed the room and sat on the bed next to her.
"It feels as if all of my family is slipping through my fingers, and I'm so scared for Robb, Sansa and Bran. And now Rickon... I can see them all. In my head, and they're hurt..."
"Hey." Gendry began to rub her arm softly. "We'll be in London in two days. We'll fix this. We'll get your family together again." he said.
Arya nodded. They would. She knew it.
The Lannisters will pay.
Gendry rose off the bed and walked into the small bathroom to change.
Arya stared at the bathroom door.
He was saying "we".
It sounded nice. We.
She owed him so much already. He had been there for her when she felt the ground beneath her disappear. When she felt it would swallow her up into darkness, he had been there, fighting the battle with her.
Her eyes followed him as he stepped out of the bathroom and walked to the bed.
She slid to one side, making room for him, and he laid next to her.
For the first time since this nightmare had began, she knew exactly where she was headed, what the plan was.
And that was all thanks to Gendry.
She was staring up at his face. His dark hair. His thick brows, and his lips...
When she moved to his eyes, they were on her. She looked into the blue of them for a long moment, feeling something stir within her. There was over a foot between them, but it felt like more.
His brows twitched in what looked like confusion, and she felt her face heat as she realized she was staring, and he had caught her.
She rose off the bed quickly. Sitting with her back to him.
What was happening to her? Why was she being so stupid! It's Gendry. It's just Gendry.
Behind her, she could feel the mattress move as he too sat up.
She turned, about to say something, when he took her face in his hands and she felt his lips press against hers.
It was like lightning. In fact, her insides felt like lighting was traveling all through them.
And just like that it was over, as he pulled away, just a fraction, his eyes searching her face for a reaction.
Arya had no idea exactly was he saw, but she felt shocked. She must have looked like an idiot, eyes wide, mouth dropped, face, no doubt twisted in fear.
He blinked, slightly shaking his head. "i'm sorry" he muttered out.
Arya shook her head. He had misunderstood her reaction. Who wouldn't?
She wanted to tell him it was ok. That he shouldn't be sorry. That he could kiss her all she wanted. That in this whole dark mess. In this hole her life was becoming, she was thankful she had him.
She wanted to tell him all this, but no words came. Her tongue was like lead, and when she parted her lips to speak, no sound came.
He was already beginning to rise from the bed, clearly upset.
Arya gulped down hard, trying to make the words come.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that." he said, walking towards the bathroom. "I need a shower." he said.
"Gendry." Arya managed to stutter out. Finally!
He turned from the door, and he looked so... angry, that it turned her mouth dry.
"Don't open the door for anyone." he said, slipping into the bathroom.
Arya slapped her hands over her face. rubbing hard at her eyes. She felt the tears coming, but she pushed them back.
She didn't need this. Her family was in trouble, and she was here, allowing some boy to mess with her already messed up mind.
She layed back on the bed, trying to sort out her thought until she decided she would deal with her Gendry feelings after all of this was over.
Gendry took longer than usual in the shower, and Arya was beginning to grow hungry.
She realized, they hadn't eaten anything all day.
She rolled jumped off the bed and walked to the bathroom door, knocking softly at the door. "Gendry?"
"Yea?"
"I'm hungry and I saw a vending machine at the end of the parking lot."
"Arya, wait for me, I'm almost done. You can't go out there alone."
"Wait for what, you cant walk outside. You just showered, you'll catch pneumonia."
"Arya, just wait."
He sounded annoyed.
"You want some Crispy Crunchy?"
"Damn it Arya!"
"Ok, I'll bring you some Crispy Crunchy." she said.
"Arya!" he yelled, but she had already grabbed a bill from the bag and was walking towards the door.
After everything they'd been through, he still worried like this about her. She shook her head.
The cold outside felt great against her warm face, and the bluish glow of the lights outside each motel room made Arya remember a trip they all took once, back when Jon was still alive and living with them.
She couldn't remember where they were, or exactly how old she was. Only that it was raining and that they snuck out at night, Robb, Jon, Sansa and her, and had run down along the rooms, knocking on every door, giggling the whole way.
Sansa had tripped, and Jon had picked her up over her shoulder in order for them to make a run for it.
They had gotten in so much trouble for that.
That motel had had lights just like these.
Arya smiled at the memory.
She missed Robb and Sansa so much.
The vending machine had very few items, and no Crispy Crunchy bars.
Arya slipped the bill in, looking over her options.
She was about to press the buttons for a guava juice, when a hand circled her arm and spun her around, pushing her against the vending machine.
"You have no idea how long i've been following you." Sandor rasped out as he held her firmly in place.
"You!" Arya gasped out in shock and genuine horror. "Let go!" she yelled before he slapped a hand over her mouth.
"Shut up, you fucking bitch." he whispered through clenched teeth. "I'm not going to hurt..."
Suddenly he fell forward, and Arya saw Gendry was behind him, wet hair plastered on his wet face, with a large loose chunk of parking stop in his hand.
He slammed it into Sandor's head again, before he could recover, and again.
The large man slipped against the vending machine down to the floor, and Gendry pulled Arya from under him before she was dragged down as well.
"I thought I told you to wait!" he let out angrily.
AN
Translation:
Anguy: Que pedazo de maquina! = Stupid machine!
Bartender: Eh tu! Para eso! = Hey, stop that!
Anguy: Me debes un paquete de cigarillos. = you owe me a pack of cigarettes.
Driving man: Estais chalados? = are you two crazy?
Woman: Esta helando afuera. Muchos hombres han muerto en tormentas como estas. Hacia donde os dirigis? = It's freezing out. Many men have died in storms like this one. Where are you headed to?
Man: Montaos! = Hop on
SO
this wasn't as long as i wanted it to be, but i plan to update again this week.
We have two new character appearances. Jorah and Daenerys.
And they're detectives.
Let me know what you think.
Also, the kiss finally. Not a passionate one, I know, but i think Gendry was being careful, so I settled for a soft peck
This is chapter 20, so i hope we can make the 200 review mark. We're so close, and I want to thank you all for being so wonderful.
Leave me a review, tell me what you think!