(A/N: Just an idea that wouldn't get out of my head that involves Gendry and alcohol. Haha. Oneshot, modern AU. Might not be my best, but still...ENJOY!)
Gendry Waters learned that Arya Stark has a high tolerance for alcohol. Unfortunately, not the same could be said about him.
"I'm going to die. Your father and brothers are going to kill me. Theon's going to kill me."
Gendry kept going on and on about his impending death caused by Stark men and Arya was getting annoyed by now.
"I told you, everything's going to be fine. Robb already told Jon, Jon told my Dad, and I'm assuming my mother knows about it as well." Arya said.
"I told you it wasn't a good idea to give me head in your brother's room."
"You're no fun sometimes, Waters."
"And look where it got us! I told you, Robb could walk in at any minute. When have you ever listened to me?"
"Okay," Arya sighed. "I know we've just scarred Robb for the rest of his goddamn life, but everybody has sex, for fuck's sake! It's not as if it was a recent discovery!"
"I know! But it's a different thing for the Eddard Stark to find out his little girl's doing it already!"
"I'm not a little girl!"
They were dallying at the front door of the Stark mansion, apparently none of them wanted to go in to meet the family.
"We have to do this at one point, you know. We can't stay out here all night." Arya said, gently tugging Gendry's hand.
They walked in, cautious enough to look around first in case any of the Stark men were at the ready to attack Gendry. Arya looked straight ahead and saw her father, her brothers and her cousin Theon waiting for them at the other end of the room. With a huff, Arya tugged Gendry towards the open bar.
"I need a drink."
They were on their fourth round of tequila shots when Jon finally approached them.
"You're going to have to do this, you know." Jon said, his arms folded across his chest. He looked a bit menacing, although Arya knew it was Robb she should be scared of.
"Hey, Jon!" Arya said, her voice sounding a bit too high even to her own ears.
"Dad's waiting for you both." Jon said, tilting his head to the right to signal where Ned was.
Arya glanced quickly and said, "He doesn't look to happy."
"You think?" Jon asked, raising his brows in question. "He recently found out his daughter's having sex already and you're expecting him to be happy about it?"
"I don't expect him to be, dork. I just want to do this when he's not frowning like that."
"Oh sure, anytime you're ready." Jon said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Shut up," Arya said to Jon before turning to her boyfriend. "You ready?"
Gendry held his hands up to signal a "T" for time out then took another shot of tequila to calm his nerves.
"I'm not. But let's do this."
"Are you drunk?" Robb asked, his face grim.
"I'm not drunk!" Arya replied with a hiss.
"I wasn't talking to you," Robb replied before turning to nudge Gendry's shoulder. "Oi, prat! Are you drunk?"
Gendry turned to look at Robb, his eyes glassy and out of focus. "Of course not!" he said, but Arya winced at how much louder his voice was at the denial.
Robb chuckled despite his annoyance. "I hope you know how much trouble you're in with Dad right now," he said, pointing a finger at his sister.
Arya swatted his hand away. "Yeah, yeah, cry me a river."
Robb pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to lessen the sudden pounding in his head. "Jesus, Arya. I am scarred for life. What were you both thinking?"
"Ah, actually…Arya wasn't thinking." Gendry replied with a smirk, and shaking a finger in her direction. "YOU weren't using your head, young lady" Gendry went on, obviously intoxicated. "Oh, wait! You were giving me head after all, hahahaha!"
Arya punched him in the gut.
Just then, Jon, Theon, Bran and Rickon walked up to them with blank faces. Arya couldn't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but she still wanted to kick Gendry's ass for acting like a stupid drunk right now.
Gendry suddenly jumped up in surprise, tugging Arya's arm towards the bar.
"Come on, babe. I need another drink!"
"It wasn't the first time, you know," Gendry said, taking a seat beside Robb on the couch. Although it was more like he was trying to sit on the floor instead because he couldn't keep his balance. He was even more drunk now than he was earlier, thanks to a couple more shots.
Robb frowned. "Not the first time to what?"
"To fool around in your room!" Gendry answered, raising his hands in the air as if the answer would please the Starks.
Arya could see Robb clench his jaw, as if he was grinding his teeth together to keep from saying anything. And Jon. Jon clenched his fists, lest he does something completely insane-like beat the living daylights out of Gendry Waters. The younger ones seemed to be amused by everything since they kept nudging each other and laughing.
Great. This feels like a fucking circus. And my boyfriend's the master of ceremonies.
"Shut up, stupid. You've not helping." Arya huffed.
If Gendry heard her, he gave no indication. He turned back to Robb and went on. "Dude, I didn't know your tub can fit two people! It's amazing!"
Arya looked absolutely horrified. Unfortunately, Gendry found the need to keep retelling the story. "And the fucking in-tub jet massagers made EVERYTHING FEEL EVEN MORE FANTASTIC! That's a genius thing you bought!"
Robb looked like he's choking in his own vomit. Theon was trying to explain to Bran and Rickon what Gendry meant, much to Jon's horror.
Arya's head was pounding by now. This is not happening to me. This is not happening to me.
"And do you know…" Gendry was in full-on storytelling mode.
"GENDRY! SHUT UP!" Arya shouted, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
And Eddard Stark did hear.
Oh God. Oh God. Oh God. Arya thought, as she saw her father walk slowly towards them.
"What's going on here?" Ned said, his eyes darting quickly to Arya and Gendry.
Arya knew at that moment, her worst nightmare has come to life.
Suddenly overwhelmed by the intimidating presence of the esteemed Stark, Gendry Waters started crying.
"Your boyfriend is quite…clingy," Ned said, turning to his youngest daughter with aN amused expression on his face. "And touchy."
Arya rolled her eyes. "He's drunk, Dad."
Ned chuckled softly.
"Piss drunk, more like it," Arya added, her shoulders hunched.
Ned laughed this time.
Everything settled down as soon as Ned ordered his older sons to carry Gendry up to the guest bedroom. Gendry easily obliged, probably because he was already oblivious to the ruckus he caused. Robb, Jon and Theon were grunting from the effort of carrying their friend. Maybe they would laugh about it later, but right now, what they really wanted to do was to throw him back down the stairs.
"I'm sorry, sir," Gendry sobbed (yes, sobbed). He was clutching the front of Ned's shirt, his face scrunched up in distress.
"I didn't mean to sleep with your daughter," he went on. "No, I did mean to sleep with her, but that's because I love her! I love your daughter. So much."
And then he started crying again. Maybe bawling was a more like it.
After Gendry's ridiculously drunken speech, Arya knew she had to say something to her father; to explain and to apologize. She was quite relieved that her mother and Sansa were not home, or else it would all be blown out of proportion. Arya hated dealing with drama queens.
And after tonight, Gendry has officially joined her list of drama queens.
"I'm sorry, Dad," Arya said softly. She found him standing in the middle of the lawn, hands in his pockets. He seemed lost in thought, and Arya hated feeling like she upset him on a whole new level.
"Hmm," was all Ned could say.
Arya knew this was her chance at explaining. If now's not the right time, then when will it ever come?
"I love him, Dad. I really do. And I'm happy and glad that he feels the same way for me."
Ned remained silent.
"Say something, please."
Ned engulfed his daughter's small form into his arms and held her tightly. He pressed a kiss to her forehead and said, "That's all that matters to me, Arya. I know Gendry's a good man."
"Thank you."
"Go now," her father said, letting go of his daughter. "Take your boyfriend home. He's in no state to drive on his own."
Arya walked back towards the house.
"Arya? You do know that I still have to have that one-on-one talk with him, don't you?"
"Sadly, yes."
"Make sure he's sober."
Arya laughed.
"I messed up, didn't I? Like, messed up big time?" Gendry asked, his voice gruff because of sleep and alcohol.
"Not really," she replied.
She was lying beside him on the bed, her head on his chest. His arms were wound tight to her petite frame, his fingers playing with her hair. Gendry smelled of alcohol and sweat and tears and cologne. She would have smacked his head for acting like an idiot tonight, but right now, she was more relieved that she was able to talk to her father.
"You're an idiot," Arya said with a sigh.
"I know."
"You still have to talk to him eventually," she added. "Don't think because I've already talked to him, that you're not going to do your part."
"Okay."
She disentangled herself from his arms and got off the bed. "Now, get your stupid ass out of bed. I'm driving you home."
"On a scale of 1 to what-the-hell-was-i-thinking embarrassment, where do I stand?"
"Babe, you were at one-way-ticket-to-Narnia."