Arya entered the forge as quietly as she could, padding over to the cot in the corner of the room. Clutching a handful of dark green leaves, she knelt beside the sleeping figure in the bed, watching him for a moment. In his sleep, Gendry murmured phrases and words that Arya couldn't hear. A sheen of sweat covered his bottom lip, and his thick black hair was plastered to his forehead. Arya pulled back layers of furs and coverlets to expose his bare chest. She gulped loudly when she saw the wound. It had festered into a greenish black colour. Arya wrinkled her nose at the stench of rotten flesh.

"Gendry." She whispered, placing one hand on his shoulder to wake him. He groaned and slowly opened his eyes to look at her. His eyelids were drooping and his mouth hung slightly open. Arya put four leaves into her mouth and chewed on them. She peeled back all the fabrics that covered Gendry, and leaned over his chest. She spat the chewed up green leaves into her hand, and rubbed them into his wound. Gendry winced, but did not attempt to stop her.

"We need to stop the infection from spreading." She said, pulling the coverlets up to cover him again. "How are you feeling?" As if in response, Gendry shivered.

"One minute it feels like I'm on the fire, and in the next, I'm frozen. And it hurts. It hurts." He slumped his head back, but missed the pillow, and fell back on the straw mattress.

"Here." Arya slid a hand under his head and gently lifted it up and onto the pillow. She reached down to the floor for the bucket of water beside the bed. She wrung the water from the rag inside, and used it to clean Gendry's face. She wiped the sweat from his forehead, and cooled his skin. When her finger brushed his cheek, Arya was shocked by the heat of his skin. It frightened her, but she pushed away the feeling quickly.

"I'm going to make some broth." She said, brushing the damp hair off his forehead. "It will be good for you." She stood up slowly, picking up the bucket and rag.

"Wait." Gendry called feebly. "Arya."

She turned and came back to his bedside, bending down to look at him.

"What is it?" She asked. "What do you need?"

Gendry gazed at her with eyes glazed over with fever and delirium. His eyelashes fluttered for a moment, and Arya thought he was going to faint.

"Kiss me?" He murmured, hardly able to keep his eyes open. Arya couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" She scoffed, even though she had heard him perfectly well.

"For luck." He answered, hardly audible.

Arya sighed and leaned in to press her lips against his. She kissed him very softly, only brushing her lips against his in a flutter. But when she pulled away, Gendry's eyes were closed, a faint smirk of triumph still lingering on his face.

"You should rest for a bit." Arya tucked a thick fur around his body.

Gendry nodded.

"Gendry," Arya whispered cautiously. "You've never told me about your family." She was sitting on the bed beside him, perched on the edge and running a round brush through her hair. Arya's hair had grown from short and spiky to thick and unruly in what felt like overnight. Her hair now fell to almost her shoulders, and had become unmanageable. She could not recall how she had been able to waste so much time attempting to tame it when she was younger. Even now, it seemed like an absurd task.

"What d'you mean?" Gendry asked. "It was only me and my mum."

Arya swept her hair over her shoulder and began to braid it messily.

"I know that." She answered. "But I want to hear about it. What was your mum like?"

Gendry sighed and leaned back on his pillow. "Oh I don't know. I suppose she was like any other-kind, gentle. She was nice. She used to sing to me and she smelled sweet, like flowers." He smiled timidly.

"What was her name?" Asked Arya quietly as she curled up beside him.

"Wylla." He replied. Arya sighed.

"That's a pretty name." She whispered. She leaned over and blew out the candle beside the bed, leaving them in darkness. Arya pulled the coverlets over them and kissed Gendry on the cheek. A few minutes later, Gendry spoke again.

"I remember the day she died." He said.

"What happened?" She chewed on her bottom lip, staring at the ceiling as she lay beside him.

"I knew she was sick, but I was only little. I thought that she would get better, but they sent me out to the back garden and when I came back in, they told me she was dead." He gulped.

"What did you do?" She asked.

"They didn't want me there anymore-said it was no place for a little boy. So I went to Flea Bottom. I don't know how I stayed alive for the first few years. I stole and begged and slept on the streets. Then, I started making things."

"What kind of things?"

"Carvings, crafts. I took anything I could find and turned it into something people could buy. With the money, I could finally eat and live." Gendry continued.

"But you worked in the forge." Arya said.

"That was later. One day, when I was selling on the street, in the gutter, a man with a dark hood and a red cloak started asking me questions. My name, where I came from, who my parents were. I answered him, and when he came to find me the next day, he offered me an apprenticeship."

"And you became a blacksmith." Arya whispered. Gendry nodded.

"And then, I became a blacksmith. That is, until my mentor was tired of me, and sent me to join the Night's Watch. And then, I met you."

Arya leaned her head against his shoulder.

"That's a sad story." She said. Gendry shook his head.

"I don't think so. I've got you now, haven't I?"

It was late when Arya arrived. She hurried through the door and slammed it shut behind her. Gendry sat in bed, his eyes half closed and a candle burning beside his bed.

Arya grinned and dumped her bag on the floor hurriedly. She crawled across the sheets and into his lap, straddling his hips.

"Hello." Gendry laughed, wrapping two hands around her waist. Arya kissed him with a smile in the corner of her mouth. Suddenly, she pulled away and leaned over the side of the bed.

"Wait." She grabbed her bag and dumped it into her lap. "I brought food."

Gendry chuckled again as she reached for a yellow pear, biting into it.

"I don't know what's wrong with me." Juice ran down her chin. "I just can't stop eating. I'm so hungry all the time." Arya offered the pear to Gendry, who took a small bite. He reached up and gently unlaced the front of her tunic.

"Can I see again?" He whispered softly. Arya nodded slowly and pulled the fabric over her head. Gendry sighed quietly and ran one finger down the skin of her bare side. He rested a hand on the small bump of her stomach. With both hands, he encircled it.

"Have you told anyone yet?" He asked. Arya sighed and shook her head reluctantly.

"Why not?" He whispered. "They're going to find out eventually. You can't hide it forever, Arya."

She chewed her lip anxiously and climbed off him to lie on the bed beside him. From the side, Gendry could see the bulge of her stomach even more clearly.

"I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to sound angry." He kissed her bellybutton and felt Arya shiver underneath him as he brushed his lips across her skin from hips to breast. When he turned to look at her, resting his chin on her chest, she smiled and stroked his hair tenderly.

"I only meant it for your sake." Gendry continued. "You should tell them soon, or they'll be angry when they find out" Arya met his gaze and then nodded slowly.

"You're right." She admitted. "I should tell them."