Hello FanFic Friends…

As promised here is the sequel for 'The Strength is in the Pack'. I will be updating every Friday so I hope you'll join me for the ride.

I think it's important to tell you guys that the chapters will have the name of a particular song that inspired me to write it so I urge you to listen to said song before or after you read (or both, whichever works for you). This chapter is named When you were young; a song of The Killers.

Remember there is a three year time jump but don't worry because all will be explained in due time. Also yes; Gendry will have his own POV's.

*AGE: Arya will be 20 years old, originally I messed up with the boys age so bear with me and remember this is make believe land ;) Robb, Jon, Theon will be 24 and Gendry will be 25.

That being said; read on, enjoy and have a great weekend

ARYA POV:

You can take the girl out of the north but you can't get the north out of the girl…

"Miss… please come inside! You'll freeze yourself to death!"—Said a security guard from inside the waiting room. She just shrugged and signaled to the no smoking sign while puffing her cigarette with dramatic flair.

She could tell why the guard was worried about her, I mean the temperature was below zero, she was outside by the sidewalk casually smoking a cigarette wearing denim short shorts, a black tank top covered with an asymmetrical shoulder sweater. She left Braavos completely unaware of the climate change.

After three years Arya Stark was back in Winterfell and it felt damn good.

Gradually she grew accustomed to the island heat but the cold winds of the north? They would never bother her, there was a snow storm brewing and it was as if it was welcoming her home.

After she left for Braavos University she never returned… At first it was because she really was swapped with homework but later well, she didn't see it as something necessary.

She never broke her promise so she talked to her parents and siblings regularly and by siblings she really didn't mean all of them.

She would hear from Robb and Sansa through her mother's phone calls. Robb was finishing on his business degree in Kings Landing and was set to start working with Eddard at Stark Industries not before finally marrying Roslyn Frey; the real reason for her return. Sansa was a sophomore in Kings Landing but she decided to take a break from her studies to spend some time at home; she still dated that little shit Joffrey Baratheon.

It was tough to keep in touch with Jon as he was over at the Wall at military school but Margaery kept her informed on the latest news. Yes; surprisingly those two were still a couple and Marg had actually become a good friend over the years. Filling her by phone on everything Stark or the latest Westeros gossip.

She did keep in direct contact with her younger brothers… Bran didn't follow Arya's footsteps by skipping grades and had just graduated from high school. He was going to study Psychology and was going to attend to college at The Neck so he could be close to his girlfriend Meera. Last but not least Rickon was 12 years old and raising hell, apparently he took over the title of wild child from Arya when she left and loved to play the part but still remained a sweet (a bit hot tempered) kid and liked sports.

Since they were all caught up in their own things nobody had seen Arya for three years although it's not as if Arya was easy to get a hold of.

The free cities were her personal backyard as she shifted around on a daily basis. When she wasn't busy with school she was either on a gravesite or simply scouting for new projects. She purposely avoided social media; she wasn't exactly a social queen so why spend her time reading what people ate or what movie they saw. She nearly killed Edric Dayne one time he posted a photo of her by the beach. Yes it was in the middle of the sunset and you could only see her silhouette but she was pissed, the main thing she learned from the House of Black and White was to preserve her privacy… well, not the main thing but you get the picture.

In the end the only people who had gotten to see Arya over the three year period were her ex boyfriend Edric and her father Eddard. Each came to visit whenever they could on official maters and stayed a little longer so they could spend time with her. Edric was now in full power of the Starfall Conglomerate which was now working hand in hand with Stark Industries handling their communications systems specifically (and thanks to Arya's work over the years) in the Free Cities… and her father? Well her father owned the damned thing and went to see her whenever he wanted.

If you want to ask what happened with Gendry? Nothing! After they said goodbye at the airport they never talked or saw each other again. She heard from him work related. After she left; Gendry went to study mechanical engineering in Storms End and was quite the rising star. Getting good grades and finding a job at Baratheon Corps. He still was a constant at the Stark Manor since he worked very close with her father.

She wondered how she was going to react when she saw him since he was the reason she left. She didn't hold it against him. I mean she was just a little girl with insecurities and borderline depression. Him ignoring her romantically was the best thing that could have happened, it made her go to Braavos, get her degree in archeology and she wouldn't have met her current boyfriend? Ex boyfriend? She didn't know, they were on a break and their relationship status was a little bit difficult right now.

So that is how Arya found herself at Winterfell Airport in the middle of the night.

She purposely said that her flight was canceled at the last minute so she could avoid the whole awkward greeting at the airport her mother had surely arranged. She booked the last flight home but what she didn't count on was the weather, it was the beginning of a snow storm so taxis were unavailable.

She could easily call Edric to pick her up but she didn't want to give him high hopes, the guy still held a torch for her since high school. She was going to have to sleep inside the airport but she didn't care. The airport floor was a 5 star hotel in comparison to some of the places Arya had been.

She decided to light a second cigarette out of boredom, she didn't smoke. It was one of those random things she picked out hanging out with so many different people.

She was lost in thought when a guy came over and asked if she had another cigarette when suddenly she was looking at the bluest eyes she had ever seen in her life: Gendry's.

GENDRY POV:

Shit, shit, shit, shit… I'm late!

I've missed her… again!

Fuck!

Gendry was currently reciting all the curse words he knew because he was two hours late to greet Arya at the airport. There's a storm coming so maybe her flight got delayed; he prayed to anyone who would hear him.

He lost track of time out of nervousness. He couldn't concentrate for more than five seconds knowing that he was going to see Arya today so he decided to help out some of the guys at a construction site over Torrhen's Square so naturally he immerged himself at work, lost track of time and now had passed his third red light speeding over to the airport.

Arya… damn saying her name felt even better now that she was finally coming back home.

He hadn't talked to her since she left for Braavos but he didn't blame her. He treated Arya like shit before she left just because he couldn't figure out his feelings for her. So after she left he only focused on his studies so he could become a man worthy of her. Someone with power, with money and he had done a mighty good job.

He had finished early his studies and was now working for Baratheon Corps surveying all of their work in the North and part of the Riverlands. Robert Baratheon was still a lazy drunk so his brother Stannis and Gendry held the company together. Eddard Stark kept his part of the bargain and Gendry was the liaison between both companies but only reported to him.

To say he was nervous to see Arya was an understatement, that was part of why he was so pissed off. Since he lost track of time he didn't have time to change so he was covered in dirt. In the past Arya never seemed to care when he would show up covered in oil from Tobho's garage but that was the thing! Would it be the same Arya? He highly doubted it.

Thank God!

He just parked his SUV in front of the airport when his cell phone finally charged to life, it died from the many times he checked the clock today. He had a couple of emails work related and a text message from Jon:

Hey Bro! Arya's flight got cancelled; she'll be arriving home tomorrow. Come crash at the house JS*

Great, so I'm going to get a speeding ticket for nothing. Just what I needed. I could really use a smoke; He thought looking around for a cigarette but he didn't have any, his girlfriend a.k.a Hot Pie must have thrown them out. There was a chick smoking near the main gate; maybe he could bum one out.

Gendry got out of his truck cursing the weather. He loved the North, it became his home away from home but the cold? He hated it… As he started getting close to the girl he saw that she was pretty hot! She was a petite little thing, nice body, killer legs and a very smackable ass. I wonder if the face matches the body?

"Hey mind sharing a smoke?" HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!

"Gendry?"—

Of course it had to be Arya, of course she would have left as a cute seventeen year old and returned as a fucking sex kitten. Oh my God, take a look at her lips! I would murder an infant if I was offered to kiss her and were her eyes always this gray? There the exact same shade of gray as the snow stormed sky…How long have I've been staring?

"Arya?!" I need confirmation that this is not my mind playing tricks on me; Gendry thought.

"Hey! Long time no see…"—She replied with the most sexy voice he had ever heard in his life. She still sounded like Arya but more scratchy and deep sending direct waves to his penis.

"Yeah… What are you doing here?" Good boy Waters, keep the talk to a minimal since you can't remember how to form intelligent sentences. A frown covered her face at his question and right then and there Gendry decided that his life mission was to make Arya's face a happy expression zone.

"There's was a mix up with my flight. So I got here on the red eye. What are you doing here?"—She asked back puffing away the remaining of her cigarette. He was going to kiss Hot Pie for throwing out his smokes.

"Well I'm late. My cell phone died so I only just found that everybody left and you weren't supposed to arrive till tomorrow".

To that they both just felt silent. Arya casually is finishing her cigarette and Gendry shamesly gawking.

"So do you need a ride?" He asked as the oxygen went back to his brain. Arya Stark was a total knockout.

"I was just going to crash here for the night but it seems the Old Gods and the New have other plans for me"—

"Then let me take your bags M'lady" She just rolled her eyes at him.

She may be hot as a Victoria Secret's model but inside she's still my Arya. I still got a chance to make things right; Gendry thought feeling hope he hadn't felt in years.

ARYA POV:

I have spent hours in front of temples meditating, achieving the ultimate stage of concentration… but none of it was worth jack shit in front of Gendry Waters; Arya thought.

Of all the people she could have met of course it had to be Gendry!

What was the appropriate etiquette to greet the guy who you lusted after grand part of your life?

As he was loading her bags into his truck she took her time to check him out… it seemed that time only perfected the monument that was his body!

He was still freakishly tall and had ripped arms, his muscles had muscles. His jeans accentuated his toned legs, through his jacket you could admire his massive back and his plain t-shirt made you place a safe bet on a six pack. Let's not forget the face people, can someone call GQ? He had a devilishly sexy manly face currently graced by a two day kind of stubble. His hair was long; he had to constantly keep it out of his eyes that of course were the deal breaker.

"What happened to your truck?" She tried to keep the conversation light since she didn't know what to say.

"That old thing? I think it died the same year you left. I got this puppy with my first paycheck."—It was a big ass GMC Sierra and like every man; he was proud at his toy.

When they got inside Gendry immediately turned on the heater which Arya lamented. She knew it was the beginning of a snow storm but she still liked the weather. Gendry took off his jacket and she took off her sweater trying to act calm as she ogled Gendry's arms, imagining him holding her to sleep. What the…? Snap out of it Stark!

Neither of them said anything but the air was filled with excitement and some other thing she couldn't quite place.

"What?" She asked. Gendry was giving her side glances every now and them.

"Your hair!"—He said while tugging at her long pony tail.

"I don't think I have ever seen you with hair this long"—When she left for Braavos short hair was the best defense for the heat. But as time passed her hair became a reminder of her mother so she hadn't cut it since. That and that she had a mean ass dothraki on her back that would kill her if she cut it.

"I guess I needed a change from the drastic short style"

"Spikehead?"—He chuckled her old nickname.

"Oh my God it's been ages since I heard that!"

"Don't worry… there is no person in all the north that is going to look at you and remember that nickname. Believe me…"—He said but this time he didn't look at her.

They rode in comfortable silence. Gendry decided to put a song that talked about a girl who basically just sat waiting for her prince charming. A bit dramatic in the lyric department for her taste but it was a good song.

They were already at the gate of the house when Arya was debating to barge into the guest house and tackle Jon or go straight to bed for she was pretty tired from her trip. As if reading her thoughts Gendry answered her.

"I think Margaery is there so unless you want a very visual image of your brother and his girlfriend I think it's best to the skip the guest house and see Jon tomorrow"—

She only nodded and stared at her house. Home Sweet Home for the first time in three years. Inside was her family; a very eclectic mix of people that made her who she was.

It was past 1am, everybody was asleep so she made a beeline to her room amazed that everything was intact, exactly the same as the day she left. She felt odd, like in a time capsule. Gendry standing by the door only enhanced the feeling.

"Mixed feeling?"—He asked. God she loved his voice, it was so deep it gave her shivers.

"Sort of… just can't believe that it's been three years since I left. Being in my room, with everything in the exact same place, with you here? It feels like yesterday." She didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad one.

"Well it isn't. No one is the same person as three years ago Arya. You'll get the chance to see it firsthand tomorrow"—Gendry was going to say something else but at the last minute he shook his head, put his hands in his pockets and laughed. "Hey, If I'm still asleep when you get up make sure you wake me up. I don't want to miss the look on everybody's faces when they see you"—

"Am I that ugly?"—She joked with him while getting under the covers. She was too tired to change.

"Fishing for a complement Stark? Ugly…"—He muttered something else but by then he had closed the door and sleep had taken over her.

Tomorrow she would get reacquainted with her entire family. That was going to be interesting.

So? What did you think?

Your opinion and support is always valued so remember to REVIEW – FOLLOW and FAVORITE.

Till next Friday

XOXO

New Girl.