(A/N: Thank you for the nice reviews. I'm pretty stoked that people decided to read this and ecstatic even that some of you follow and favorite this. Thank you! Unfortunately, this is the final one, but it's quite long so I hope that makes up for it. I don't know if it's a good enough chapter, but nonetheless, enjoy )

For Arya, two weeks passed by in a blur. Two weeks since the disastrous dinner with the Baratheons. And not once since two weeks ago, has Gendry contacted her. Everything was obscure; like she was on auto pilot. She went to school then went straight back home. Her family made sure they were home in time for dinner because it was the only time they got to see Arya. She was either cooped up in her room or out in the roof, where she and Bran usually lay at night and watch the stars. Even Nymeria was silent for a change; like she felt Arya's sadness and absorbed her owner's misery.

The Starks gave Arya time to think about the recent turn of events, but they made sure she went down for dinner every night. There were no arguments from Arya, thankfully. They were expecting her to refuse and avoid everyone, but there was nothing of that sort. That was it, though. There was nothing from Arya. It was like she was there but not really.

Everyone took turns peeking inside her room when the door's ajar. They'd either see her asleep, reading, watching tv or just lying there, staring at the ceiling. They subtly tried to make conversation, but dead air was what made her family exit the room and leave her be.

Bran missed their nightly meetings on the roof. He knows she goes up there some nights, but she chooses to be alone. He finally decided to ask his sister to come out to the roof with him, even if it means he has to force her and drag her out of her room.

Bran knocked thrice before he heard a soft come in from Arya. He slowly opened the door, seeing as she's lying on her bed, watching an episode of Merlin.

"I will miss Merlin and Arthur together." she said softly, Bran needed to come closer to make sure she really spoke out loud.

He sat on the edge of her bed, careful not to get too close for fear of losing her again. "I miss you, Arya."

She slowly turned to look at Bran and smiled. "I'm here, stupid."

She stopped when she realized she called Bran stupid. Like the word was meant for someone else.

Well, Gendry is stupid. He's the most stupid person I have ever met in my entire life.

Bran scooted closer to her. "I know. But it's like…it's like you're not really here."

Although Arya remained silent, she placed her hand on top of Bran's, giving it a little squeeze.

"I don't even have anyone to catch me when I'm climbing back in from the roof."

Arya laughed this time. Bran grinned, happy that he was able to make her laugh for the first time in two weeks. He crawled next to her, letting her hug his tiny body closer to hers.

"I'm sorry." Arya whispered.

"I'll forgive you if you get back out there with me. The roof can be pretty boring without someone to go star gazing with."

"Okay, little brother."

"I'm not so little anymore, Arya. I've grown up."

"Mm-hmm."

"Rickon's the little one."

"Am not!"

They were surprised to see the youngest Stark peering from outside the room. Arya and Bran both laughed. "Come here, baby brother."

"I'm not a baby anymore, Arya!" Rickon protested.

Arya pulled him in between her and Bran and smoother her hand over his soft curls. "But you are my baby Rickon."

She started teasing him by doing baby talk and baby sounds. Rickon pretended to be annoyed, but he ended up laughing over his sister's silliness. Like Bran, he's happy to have made his sister laugh after weeks of no interaction.

Another knock sounded, and Jon's head appeared in the doorway. "You're alive."

"And you're still a douche." Arya teased back.

Jon gave a little smile before he became serious again. "You have a visitor."

He looked ready to argue in case Arya protested, but she only nodded and said that she'll be down in a few. Jon smiled one last time before leaving the room with Bran and Rickon.

Arya ran into Sansa on her way down. The older sister hugged the younger one. It was totally out of character, but Arya was grateful for Sansa's show of affection. Maybe she underestimated Sansa for being such a Barbie.

"When you're done sulking, I will take you shopping. Broken hearts heal over time and shopping sprees." Sansa said before entering her room.

Seven hells. Forever a Barbie. There is no hope for Sansa Stark.

She walked towards the family room, half-anticipating her boyfriend standing there, hoping for stupid declarations of love and stupidly asking for forgiveness for being stupid.

Arya stood there, staring at a someone who looked like he stepped out of a fashion magazine.

Renly Baratheon.

"Hello, Arya."

"Renly."

"I'm sure you're surprised to see me after…"

He was gesturing with his hands, obviously struggling to come up with the right words to describe the incident. Arya would have laughed but she bit the side of her cheek to keep the laughter in. She figured if she couldn't do it to Gendry, she might as well make one of the Baratheons suffer a bit.

Renly sighed. "Uh, okay. Anyway," he walked closer to Arya and held her hands. "I'd like to apologize for whatever it is my brother started that night. I've had a talk with your parents the following day after the incident and they accepted our sincerest apologies. Although I'm sure only my nephew remains M.I.A. up to now."

"I haven't heard from him since that night. He hasn't returned my calls or my texts, and he looked like he's trying his best to avoid my older brothers in school. Jon said he tried Gendry's apartment but it looks like no one's home. I'm trying to give him time and I know he'll eventually talk to me…when he's ready…"

Arya's voice trailed when Renly rolled his eyes.

He's so much like his stupid nephew.

"Time, time, time! My nephew is just being…how do you usually put it...stupid? It's been two weeks and I've seen how miserable he is. You know how stubborn he could be."

"And stupid."

Renly huffed. "Yes. Stupid, stupid, stupid. You're both being stupid bulls and it's high time you both come to your senses."

Arya protested. "Why me? It's Gendry who's avoiding me!"

Renly went to retrieve his coat and slowly put it on. "Whatever." He opened the front door before turning back to Arya. "Both of you should stop being so stubborn and start being adults. And make it fast, will you. Loras refuses to sleep over at my house unless Gendry goes back to his place."

Arya's eyes widened in surprise. "Gendry's staying at your house?"

"Yes. And he's been devouring everything in my fridge, for fuck's sake."

With that, Renly turned and left as quietly as he came.

It was a long Friday in school for Arya and she was looking forward to shutting herself in her room tonight. There was no family dinner that would require her presence because everyone had stuff to do on their own. Her parents were invited to a dinner meeting with the Freys; Robb, Theon and Jon were out of town for the weekend; Sansa was out with Sandor. It was just Bran, Rickon and Arya tonight. She figured she could drive them all to the greasiest, most unhealthy fast food and enjoy a night bonding with her brothers over burgers, fries and milkshakes. Ironically, the thought of greasy fast food was very comforting.

"I'm home!" Arya called out to no one in particular.

The house was silent. A rarity in the Stark household, actually. When everyone's home, every nook and cranny of the Stark home is noisy. Right now, it was so quiet that Arya could hear her own heartbeat. She walked towards the kitchen and found Miss Mordane setting aside the food the help have prepared.

"Good, you're home. Would you like to have dinner now?" Miss Mordane asked, pausing in her task of putting away the food.

"Ah, nope. I was actually thinking about taking Bran and Rickon out for dinner and a drive. Are they in their room?"

Miss Mordane shook her head. "Your Uncle Edmure dropped by earlier and took the boys for a sleepover at their new house. He told me to make you call him in case you decide to join in their fun," she ended with a chuckle.

Arya smiled. "No, it's okay. I'll just go watch tv then. I'll just get something to eat when I get hungry."

With that, Miss Mordane left for her room, leaving Arya standing in the middle of the spacious kitchen. With a sigh, Arya took a bottle of water out of the fridge and went outside to get some fresh air.

She's been sitting inside the gazebo for twenty mintues now, absent-mindedly rubbing Nymeria's fur. She was so lost in her thoughts that she failed to hear someone approach.

"A penny for your thoughts."

Arya looked up and saw Gendry standing there, looking extremely uncomfortable.

He was wearing faded jeans, dirty sneakers and Arya's favorite blue hoodie of his. He looks so relaxed; the complete opposite of what he was feeling at the moment.

He looks so fucking hot. As always.

"Actually," he said, slowly walking towards her. "if I toss in a penny for your every thought, you'd probably have a few dollars lying on your feet by now."

Arya's brows furrowed. "And if I toss in a penny for your thoughts, you'd still have an empty jar."

Gendry laughed. Arya loved the sound of it. She missed him so much she could listen to his laugh all day.

"I missed you."

Arya's breath caught in her throat. "I missed you too."

He took a seat beside her, rubbing Nymeria between the ears. Nymeria looked like she could fall asleep at any moment. She always loved it when Gendry rubbed her fur.

"What happened, Gendry?"

It was a while before he replied. "I was stupid."

"How shocking."

He laughed again. "Glad to know something about me still shocks you, m'lady."

Arya let his comment pass. At least he's here. He can call me m'lady as long as he wants to.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

Gendry took her hand and threaded his with hers. "Shut up. You weren't the one who walked away."

"Did you just tell me to shut up?" Arya teased.

"Yes. Do you have a problem with that?"

Arya grinned. "Finally grew some balls in the course of two weeks. Brilliant."

"Shut up."

Arya laughed. Gendry held her hand tighter, like he was afraid she would walk away at any moment.

"Is it so hard for you to listen to what I have to say once in a while?"

"Go ahead, Waters."

Gendry cleared his throat. "Um, actually, you can call me Baratheon now."

Arya just stared at him. Gendry nodded slowly, as if he was processing it for himself too. "I finally had a long talk with my dad. It was very…"

"Terrifying?" Arya butted in.

"Liberating."

Arya raised a brow. Gendry rolled his eyes. "Yes, terrifying even."

Gendry's thumb was tracing patterns on the soft skin of Arya's hand. She doubted he was even aware of what he was doing. He seemed lost in thought.

"You know how hard it has been for me without my mom. She was my only source of happiness. And when she died, it felt like I will never be happy again. Zero chance at happiness."

She felt him squeeze her hand tighter. "Until you."

Arya resisted the urge to look at him. She wanted him to continue talking, and once she looks at him, she's afraid she might not be able to stop the tears.

"When Robert fucking Baratheon found me, I was kind of hoping that he would make up for lost time and he'd be someone I could finally look up to. Despite the bad publicity surrounding him, I wanted to give him a chance. From a son to a father, I wanted that for us. I was sorely disappointed."

Gendry took a deep breath and went on. "The time we spend together just feels like a duty. The bond that I see you and your siblings have with your dad? We don't have that. It's as if he was doing it because he had to do it. It never felt like he wanted to do it. And he humiliated me at every chance he got. It was like he looked down on what little I had in life, if there even is any, and he keeps stepping on what little confidence I have until finally, there was none."

"He laughs at my accomplishments. Is it because he has achieved so much in life that whatever others have achieved seemed small and unimportant? But I figured Robert Baratheon just liked making people feel inferior to him. Renly is every bit the successful man society deems him so, but still, my dad finds faults in people to make them feel less of themselves."

He turned his body towards Arya, leaned back on one of the wooden beams and stretched his legs. He pulled her body closer to his, her small back on his chest, his arms encircling her in a tight hug. They both closed their eyes, savoring this rare peaceful moment where there were no drunk fathers to think about, no annoying little brothers nor uncles, and no protective big brothers and cousin who keep close watch on their every move.

Arya finally broke the silence. "I'm sorry for being such a brat. I'm not really a mean person."

Gendry chuckled. "I know that, babe."

"And I don't really mean it when I say that I want Sansa to wake up with bad acne and for her hair to fall off."

"Of course, Arya."

"And I don't really mean it when I call you stupid."

"Mmm-kay…"

"Gendry!" Arya sat up, bumping her head on Gendry's chin. She ignored his glare and went on, "I really don't! You're one of the smartest people I know! And because you're smart enough to fall in love with me…"

Her voice was cut off when Gendry pulled her in for a long, sweet kiss. He pulled away after a while and with a grin, said, "Too bad. I find that I am deeply honored to be called stupid by M'lady Stark."

"That's stupid."

Gendry laughed. "I missed that! Say it again for me."

Arya pulled him in for another kiss instead.