Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

She watched him walk into the studio – hoodie zipped up, bag strapped over those broad shoulders, apple in one hand, phone in the other. His dark hair was striking against the blue of the hoodie, messy waves flopping over his forehead. He took another bite of his apple, eyes focused on his phone.

He was one of the current lead male dancers for the King's Landing Dance Company – the studio for if you wanted to be recruited to the Westeros Ballet and Opera House, or any other major dance institution in Westeros. It was where everyone came to take class if they wanted to make it in the industry.

She watched as he set his bag down by the mirrors, finishing his apple and tossing it in the trash by the wall. He toed off his shoes and went over to the bar, beginning his stretch. She couldn't help the major angry stare-fest she was indulging in.

He was the type of boy who didn't know the effect he had on people, only that he had one. Most of the time this made her want to punch him in his stupidly nice face.

He was tall now and had grown into his too-broad shoulders from childhood. Everyone talked about how downright sinfully fit he was – with his eternally messy dark hair and ocean colored eyes – which made him seem equal parts approachable and untouchable. His attitude seemed to be what kept people away from his absolute unfair level of attractiveness.

Consensus around the studio? He was kind of a dick.

She could attest to that better than anyone.

He walked around with a sort of sour disposition, eyes narrowed, jaw tight. It made the girls want to fan themselves, but also roll their eyes. He was ungodly hot, but needed to get over himself a little bit – seemed to be the general opinion.

Of course, no one but Lommy really understood her literal hatred of him, but that was just fine in her book.

She continued her glaring as he pulled back on the barre, stretching his back. She watched the fine line of his arch, even with the hoodie she could tell his back was grossly swoon-worthy. He always did have a nice back

Arya leaned back against her own barre, waiting for the rest of the company to sidle on in, and tore her gaze away from Waters. Syrio and Jaqen were speaking in hushed whispers, gesturing down towards the book in Syrio’s hand, erasing and rewriting things as they mumbled.

Lommy suddenly appeared next to her, leaning back and crowding into her space without looking at her. It was something he did often.

“No.” She said before Lommy could even open his mouth.

He looked at her in shock and his mouth hanging open. “What? I didn’t even say anything!”

She turned her head to stare at him. “You didn’t have to say anything. Whatever it is, the answer is still no.”

Lommy rolled his eyes, “You’re so annoying. I wasn’t going to ask you anything.” He sighed and sagged against the barre, looking around at the rest of the company members entering the studio. “What, am I not allowed to hang out with you now?”

“You made your bed, now lie in it.”

Lommy rolled his eyes again, this time extra hard and in her direction. “Oh my god, shut up. You two are so ridiculous, it physically hurts.”

Arya just shrugged. “If you want to hang out with him, fine. But, then you can’t hang out with me.”

“This isn’t fucking West Side Story!” He cried dramatically, gesturing frenetically with his hands. “We’re not dancing down the street with switchblades here, Arya.”

Now it was Arya’s turn to roll her eyes, “I’m aware of that, Lommy.”

“Good. Then we’re hanging out and that’s that.”

Lommy and Arya had been dancing together for a long time. He was actually one of her oldest friends.

Well, frenemies – if she was being honest.

They hated each other when they first met, Gendry had hated him too. It was how all of them were first acquainted, actually.

She’d been taking privates from Syrio at the time, before he went on sabbatical and stopped teaching, and he’d mentioned the preteen and teen companies at Yoren’s studio and suggested she try out in his absence. Lommy and Gendry had been there on scholarship and new, just like her.

Lommy had been a little shit back then. Not that he still wasn’t a little shit, but it was different now. He’d been rude and mean and Gendry had quickly defended her honor when Lommy had disgraced it. Yoren had thought the whole thing was utterly ridiculous and refused to get involved, letting them sort it out for themselves.

It was the two of them against Lommy for a while after that, until he’d stopped them before rehearsal one day with an apology and cookies he had forced his next door neighbor to make for them. They’d forgiven him after that and started regularly hanging out with him and the cookie-neighbor Hot Pie.

Then, of course, Gendry had to go and leave her when she was all emotionally fragile and ignore all the contact she tried to make.

Now that he was back, Lommy and Hot Pie ran between the two of them with weary eyes and tentative conversation.

Just like Gendry to fucking ruin everything.

She knew it was kind of dramatic and just this side of ridiculous, but she wasn’t about to let this grudge die. Not after he had wormed his way into her cold heart after the death of her father only to crush it like glass with this abandonment.

When he had walked in that first day, Arya had honestly thought she was dreaming. Sleepwalking through life. She hadn’t seen him since he was fifteen and suddenly he was in front of her. In front of her looking all older and yet still the same.

It’d been a dick move, in her opinion.

He’d caught her gaze and stopped in his tracks like he’d seen a ghost – which, was valid. It wasn’t like he had tried to find her or stay in contact with her or anything. For all he knew, she could’ve been dead too.

The hallway hadn’t silenced at their staring like in those stupid high school movies. No one knew what was going on or why they’d just… stopped moving. Paid it no mind.

Until she walked over and punched him in the face.

She’d moved towards him without really thinking about it, the closer she got the more his lips parted, like he was trying to figure out what to even say to her. She decked him before he managed to figure it out.

He looked surprised by the force of her punch, that it’d managed to get him on the floor. But, she wasn’t the little preteen he’d known, not anymore.

She walked out before he could say a word and they hadn’t spoken since. They didn’t even really look at each other if they could help it.

They don’t talk about the punch. Or the fact that they hadn’t seen each other in six years. They don’t talk about how he left her alone in the woods, walked out of her life without a second glance back. They don’t talk about a lot of things.

Especially not about the fact that he was apparently dance royalty. But, no one really talked to him about that, it wasn’t just exclusively her like all the other shit.

She’d known him as Gendry Waters – poor, parentless, in on scholarship. Apparently that didn’t apply anymore.

Apparently he did have a family, a father, money – all the things he’d lied to her about.

Lommy and Hot Pie were being all hush-hush about it. She knew they knew, Gendry must’ve asked them not to tell her, the prick.

So now she was on the other side of the studio, ignoring not only him but Lommy as well. Lommy was the go-between and she resented him for it.

For so long Hot Pie and Lommy had been just hers. He’d left all of them behind. But now that he was back, Gendry was stealing her only friends away and the stupid oaf didn’t even care.

“You know, you should probably stop ogling Gendry if you expect me to participate in this little soap opera we’re currently trapped in.”

“Shut up, Lommy.” Arya leaned over and punched him in the arm. “Shouldn’t you be getting warm.”

“Oh, baby, I'm always warm.” The salacious wink and the husky tone of his voice worked in getting a small smile out of her, she still pushed him for it though.

“You’re fucking obnoxious.”

“I know it, babe.”

Arya rolled her eyes in well-practiced disgust and shook her head. Syrio and Jaqen sidled into the studio, promptly on the hour, as always. For Syrio, early was on time and on time was late, it was just known that they were expected to be in the studio and warmed up prior to them walking in exactly on the dot.

“Good afternoon, my darlings.” Syrio set his satchel down against the mirror, turning to them looking more put together than Arya ever had in her whole life, smile on his face. “Partner up for the first combo.”

Arya didn’t move from Lommy, they’d been partnering together since Gendry went and left them. They rotated from time to time on their own, but mostly only for performances when they had duets with other people.

Arya rued the day that Syrio made them switch and put her with Gendry. He’d only been back two months and in that time it’d honestly just been luck that she hadn’t been paired with him. She wasn’t looking forward to it. At all.

Syrio sat in the lone chair in front of the desk with the speakers on it near the door to the studio, Jaqen moving to stand in front of the mirrors as they all got into formation. Arya didn’t look to see where Gendry had ended up.

Jaqen ran through the combo with such speed that most dancers would have too hard of a time attempting to keep up, he did it on purpose. He’d told her once that it was to weed out the weak. Most of them had trained under either Syrio or Jaqen, a few of them like Arya had even trained under both – though, not at the same time until now. They, as a company, were trained to keep up with the fast paced learning, none of them had a hard time.

It wasn’t long after they started that Jaqen moved away from the mirror to stand over by Syrio, watching as they all moved back to the walls and left the center empty.

“First pair, up.” Jaqen called out with crossed arms and critical eyes.

Lommy moved forward instinctually, always out to prove something, he usually made an example out of himself. It wasn’t the healthiest mindset, but Arya could understand it. She started to move with him when Lyra hauled Gendry out into the center and Arya couldn’t help the instinctual roll of her eyes.

Lyra was the poster child for commercial contemporary dance – the kind of girl that had trained as a competition dancer who only ever did lyrical and then started taking classes outside of whatever country studio she’d grown up in and declared herself a contemporary dancer. She was the kind of cornhusk blonde waif that was palpable to the masses. Arya could see the appeal, those types of people wouldn’t be so popular if she couldn’t, but it just wasn’t her cup of tea.

She was definitely biased because of herself, she knew that. She’d been spoiled and had trained with some incredible teachers and choreographers that had molded her into the thing she’d become. She didn’t care if she looked beautiful in the way society deemed her to be, she didn’t care that she’d never play the famous ingénues.

Girls like Lyra did.

It was irrational, especially because of where her emotions for Gendry fell on the spectrum right now, but the way Lyra bit her lip and she smiled up at Gendry while they got into place grinded Arya’s gears.

They all just… swooned for him. It was really fucking annoying.

The two of them got into position and Arya couldn’t help but notice how odd they looked together. Lyra was considerably shorter than him; petite and slim where he was tall and broad. In Arya’s opinion they looked a bit ridiculous partnering together, but Lommy had rolled his eyes at her when she said that out loud.

Gendry and herself had fit that description once. It was easy to forget.

The combo itself had no partner work in it, but both Jaqen and Syrio were a fan of watching them in pairs or groups. Arya knew that was for partnering purposes for their performances.

Lyra moved with her ingrained lyrical grace that made this fusion combo look a tad muddled on her. It called for sharp hits and jazz influences that the blonde was just kind of lacking.

Although she was loath to admit it, the movement sat well in Gendry’s body. But, that was probably mostly from their youth training with Yoren.

Back then, Gendry had been a hip hop dancer who also excelled at jazz-funk combos but only ever did them when one of the other boys was ill or couldn’t make it. Yoren had been fine with that, he’d taught them to hit hard and sharp, to be strong and precise, to flow.

Jaqen and Syrio’s combined strengths left them with choreography that fit well with both Gendry and herself, much to her annoyance.

She tried watching Lyra just keeping up with Gendry’s pace, but she was off his count by a few hairs and it was making Arya itchy, so she switched to watching him.

They ballet trained a lot these days, most of the company did if they wanted to make it into the Annual Showcase ballet pieces that the directors from WBO came to see. Gendry took to that annoyingly well, the ridged technique of the ballet world also seemed to do well with him, but he’d never be half as good at that as he was at this. At least, in her opinion.

But, the dick was ballet dance royalty, so the shit was probably in his blood. He probably didn’t have to work half as hard as the rest of them anymore.

The company clapped as both Gendry and Lyra exited upstage center and Lommy pulled her in. Never one to be outdone, she could see the fire burning in Lommy’s green eyes as he settled himself. It was one of the reasons she loved dancing with him, he always gave it his all.

Syrio and Jaqen would be casting soon for the showcase and she knew that, while glad to have his friend back, Lommy was sort of bummed about being pushed to second place since Gendry’s return.

They started the combo and Arya could feel that they were in sync. It was mostly because they’d been partnering together for so long.

She could feel Gendry’s eyes on her and she pushed herself a little more because of it. She wasn’t the little girl he’d left, she was a great fucking dancer, better for him leaving. She’d show him.

She didn’t need him anymore. She had Lommy for a partner, if the choreo called for it.

They hit the last beat and paused for a moment before walking off back to their spots. Arya ignored Gendry’s gaze. She adjusted her sagging ponytail and tried to remember what she looked like the last time Gendry had seen her in person.

Her hair was longer than it’d been since she was ten years old. She didn’t really care one way or another the length of it, but she realized that the last time he saw her before returning back to the King’s Landing dance community, her hair had been the shortest it ever was.

She’d taken a picture of Audrey Hepburn in Roman Holiday to the stylist and told them to cut it all off.

It’d been in the wake of her father’s death, probably rash and a decision made from the fog of loss and sadness, but she’d been determined to do it.

She realized now that Gendry hadn’t really ever seen her with hair longer than her chin. Why that was worth noting, she wasn’t sure.

The rest of the company ran through the combo, Arya watched with critical eyes. She was sizing up her competition for the Annual Showcase. She knew that she was a favorite amongst both Jaqen and Syrio, that she was already at an advantage, but knowing the strengths of the others couldn’t hurt.

Once Saera and Rhea had finished, Syrio cut the music and looked down at the notebook he’d been writing in with Jaqen. They spoke quietly for a moment, pointing at the book and nodding. Syrio stood from his chair and smiled at them in the way that always unnerved most of the company. Saera complained that it never reached his eyes and had both a calming effect while putting them on edge.

“We’re going to run through this again, but with a slight switch up in the roster.” He held up the notebook and smiled a bit more in their direction. “In the order we call out, please.”

He began going down his list, moving partners around, creating groups of five or three in some cases. And there, right in the middle of the list, Syrio called out her name and she just closed her eyes with a sigh.

“Arya and Gendry. Lommy and Saera…” He continued on.

Lommy snickered beside her and Arya didn’t hesitate to elbow him in the stomach. Syrio finished reading out the list and resumed his seat and set the music back up.

The first grouping of five went out and Arya watched them and ignored the fact that neither her or Gendry had moved from across the room to stand by one another. She knew he was stubborn, she knew that she was as well, but for whatever reason she’d just expected him to give in to her like he had when they were younger.

Clearly that wasn’t going to happen this time.

It didn’t take as long as she would’ve liked for it to get to them. She stepped up without looking at him and got into position as he did the same. It was easier to look at him in the mirror, she found, than looking at him directly.

His tousled dark hair was beginning to curl about his ears. It was lacking any of the usual product she was sure he used on a regular day, but with the amount of sweat they produced in class, there wouldn’t be any point to put it in here. The black long sleeved Henley and fitted track-pants he wore sort of matched her own black sweater and leggings combo.

How annoying that they even look like they fit together when that was the furthest thing from the truth.

The music cued and Arya hit her first beat, then the second, realizing that they were even more in sync than her and Lommy.

And wasn’t that just the icing on the fucking cake.

They hadn’t danced together in literally six years and they were still in sync, they still moved together in a way that spoke of inherent chemistry.

She pulled her gaze away from the mirror and made sure she was on time and fluid, ignoring Gendry once again.

She looked over at Syrio and Jaqen as they walked back to their spots on opposite ends of the room, annoyed to find them looking back at her with narrowed eyes. That look was never good. That was a conspiring look, one that meant she’d piqued their interest.

Fucking hell.

________________________

“Wanna grab a nosh at Mona’s?”

She looked up at Lommy, who hovered over where she sat putting her sneakers on. “Is Hot Pie working?”

Mona’s was good when their friend wasn’t scheduled, but too expensive without the free food factor of when he did work.

“Yup.”

“Is Gendry coming?”

She finished tying her shoes and looked back up when Lommy didn’t answer right away. She raised a brow.

“I mean, I was going to invite him, but I haven’t yet.”

“Great.” Arya stood, tossing her backpack over on shoulder. “Let’s go.”

Lommy just rolled his eyes and followed behind her, stopping to talk to Gendry even when she continued on. She waited outside the studio for him, not that much of a mean girl to go on without him, even though she kind of wanted to.

“Alright, brat, let’s go.” He said as he exited the building and they began walking up the street to the next metro station. They hopped on, waited two stops before getting off and made their way up to Mona’s.

It was chic and kind of upscale. No one famous was really eating there, there wasn’t a line out the door, but it was usually packed and the food was just this side of overpriced. It was damn good though and had the best desserts, so they ended up there more than strictly necessary.

They entered and the hostess sat them near the kitchens, like she always did, so Hot Pie could sneak out to talk to them.

“Here, watch this.” They’d just sat down and ordered drinks when he shoved his phone in front of her face and made her play the video of the two of them dancing.

“I don’t want to watch this, Lommy.”

“Oh, believe me, you’re gonna want to watch that.”

Arya rolled her eyes but looked at the video. The two of them stood farther away from each other than her and Lommy had, but it was annoyingly obvious that her note from earlier was on-point. They did move in-sync, eerily so.

They looked like they’d been dancing together their whole lives. They hadn’t even been doing actual partner work and the chemistry between them was palpable.

“Fuck.” She muttered.

“Yeah.” Lommy nodded, “I told you that you were gonna wanna watch it. If you don’t think Forel and H’ghar are gonna pair you two up now, you’re deluded.”

Arya tossed him his phone back and glared at him as the waiter brought over their drinks. She ordered in a haze and basically ignored Lommy as he chatted up the cute waiter.

Great. Just her luck that they’d still fit so well together even after all this time.

Now she’d actually have to speak words to him instead of just glaring from across the studio.

Hot Pie snuck out from the kitchens, coming to drop their food in front of them and taking a seat between them for a moment.

“Hey.” He said, wiping his sweaty brow and smiling.

“Looks delish, honey-buns.” Lommy winked as he began to eat his pasta in earnest.

Hot Pie poked Arya’s arm, ignoring Lommy’s incessant flirting. “Hello, Earth to Arry.”

She looked up at him and pasted on a smile, picking up her utensils to pretend like nothing was wrong.

“Thanks, Hot Pie.”

“What’s the matter with you?” He asked with furrowed brows.

“Nothing.” She said quickly, but was cut off by Lommy saying – “Gendry.”

Hot Pie rolled his eyes. “What happened this time?”

“Nothing happened.” Arya glared at Lommy. “I’m fine, really, just tired.”

Hot Pie looked to Lommy who narrowed his gaze at Arya before replying. “They danced together for the first time since B.B.”

“B.B.?” He asked with confusion.

Lommy rolled his eyes, “Before Betrayal. Do keep up.”

Hot Pie threw a dinner roll at him from across the table.

“You’re so annoying.” He turned to look at Arya. “You know, what he did was a dick move, but eventually you’re gonna have to talk to him.”

“Not if I can help it.”

“Hot Pie’s right. We keep saying it and you keep ignoring it.”

“I’m not ignoring it.” Arya rolled her eyes, “It’s just not something that’s going to happen anytime soon.”

“He pulled an asshole move, six years ago, and ignored all of us.” Lommy started. “But, it’s been six years, Arya. Don’t you think that you owe it to the both of you to just, like, talk about it?”

“Yeah,” Hot Pie agreed. “And if not for you two, then do it for us. Please, this two friend-group thing is really stressing me out and taking up all my free time.”

Arya threw a roll at him, “Who else do you have to hang out with?”

Hot Pie smiled as he stood from the table, “I’ve got bitches, don’t disrespect.”

Lommy couldn’t contain his squawk of laughter and neither could Arya. Leave it to these buffoons to cheer her up when it’s the last thing she wanted.

Hot Pie covertly flipped them the finger as he went back to the kitchens and Arya’s phone rang as he walked away.

“Hello?” She answered, seeing her sister’s face flash on the screen.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Sansa sounded like she was in the car.

“I’m at Mona’s with Lommy. He says hi.”

“Tell him, hey gurl, for me. Did you guys just get out of class?”

“Yeah.” Arya sighed, picking at her pasta. “Long day.”

“Well, call me on your way home.”

“Will do. Where are you going?”

Sansa yelled something at another car before answering. “I’m just leaving Margaery’s, headed back to the house. Are you going there or the apartment?”

Since both of their parents were dead, it was safe to say that they had inherited an obscene amount of money and a lot of property. The responsibility of handling that money and property, and the kids, went to Robb, and Jon, and Sansa – who were rich as shit in their own right, being popstars and all.

They kept the big house they’d grown up in, and probably would until Rickon was old enough to live on his own. But Robb lived with his girlfriend, and Jon had his own place, and her and Sansa shared an apartment downtown. They had the vacation house on the shore, one by their aunt in the Vale, their Uncle Benjen’s old place super up north by the Wall.

But most of their time was spent at the big house or one of the apartments.

“I’ll meet you at the house.” She decided, picking at her food.

“Alright, see you then.”

“Bye.” Arya hung up and dropped her phone back onto the table, actually digging into the bowl in front of her.

Lommy didn’t say anything, just watched her from over his pasta bowl. She knew that both of her friends were just doing what they thought was best, she got that. She also knew, in the small deep down part of her that wasn’t recognized very often, that they were kind of right.

She would eventually have to talk with Gendry about what happened.

But, it was easy not to when he was giving her space and every time she saw him she had the urge to punch his stupid face.

They ate their food and chatted about menial shit. Lommy flirted with every cute waiter that passed and Hot Pie sent them out some fancy dessert.

It was nice; it was normal.

For years it had been this – the three of them together, attempting to live their lives in the city they all hated. It’d been fine, it had been okay. And when she thought about Gendry, it was usually with sadness and a sort of longing for her old friend.

She had always been mad at him for leaving her. That would never change. But, before his return, before the whispers and rumors about his new life, she hadn’t known anything – where he was, what he was doing, how he was. She had missed him.

Then, he’d sauntered right back in. Not a word, or a text, nothing to prepare her for his arrival back into her life. He hadn’t cared that he’d just left them. Hadn’t cared enough to write back or answer her calls.

She always assumed that when she saw him again it’d be… better.

When it played out in her mind over the years, she’d imagined that she would still be angry, but he would try. He’d try to make things better between them. He’d try to explain.

But, reality was never as easy as daydreams.

It wasn’t easy. He didn’t try. And it fucking ate at her every day.

They finished the, frankly delicious, dessert Hot Pie had made for them and went to pay up front. They walked out together, Arya listening to Lommy ranting about whatever annoying thing he’d overheard Lyra talking about as they got back on the metro.

She made comments and topics changed. It was easy with Lommy in a way it would always be with both him and Hot Pie. She’d never been good at making friends or keeping them, but with the boys there had always just been this easiness.

She was grateful for them, which was why she’d try for them.

They said their goodbyes – which mostly consisted of Lommy enveloping her in a side hug, which she returned, before slapping his ass, which he returned.

She got into her car and called Sansa.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Arya sighed, pulling out of the studio’s parking lot and onto the busy streets of downtown King’s Landing. “I’m just leaving now.”

Sansa groaned in a way that still managed to sound girlish – a talent her older sister possessed. “I’m so tired.”

“What did you do today?” She asked, enjoying listening to Sansa talk about her weird life so Arya didn’t have to think about her own.

“Fittings for the Targaryen gala, rehearsal for that stupid Music Awards show performance I got conned into doing, and negotiations for the new album.”

“Yikes, sounds like a lot.”

“Yeah,” Sansa agreed with a yawn. “But, I remember Mom and Dad complaining about it all too, it’s just part of the biz, you know?”

Ned and Cat had been very famous in their day. A folk duo, both from prominent music families. They had gold records lining the walls of the music studio built in their basement.

It had been her parents’ whole life; and in the end, they’d been killed because of it.

Arya had never wanted to be a public figure the way her parents had, the way most of her family was now. These days, it was from worry. Worry that a stranger would try and kill someone else in her family because of their fame, because of their public lifestyle.

It hadn’t happened yet, but she was always prepared for the day that it would.

“Yeah.” Arya replied. “Are the boys at the house?”

“I know Robb and Bran and Rickon are. Not sure about Jon, though.” She heard Sansa mutter to herself again about traffic and other drivers. “So, how’s it going with the whole Gendry thing?”

Arya felt herself scowl, “We’re not talking about that, remember?”

She could practically see Sansa rolling her eyes. “How could I forget.”

“How’s it going with the Hound?”

“We don’t talk about that,” Sansa said in a harsh tone. “remember?”

Arya snorted and they moved on to other topics, chatting the whole two and half hours it took to drive from King’s Landing to the house up in Winterfell.

__________________________

The rest of the week flew by in a series of classes, later than average dinners, and numerous phone calls from her siblings – but that was pretty normal, actually.

Arya felt like her anxiety about dancing with Gendry was palpable, Lommy kept throwing her glances across the floor. She was tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop, she needed to know if they were pairing the two of them together or not.

Syrio and Jaqen just kept whispering and gesturing, which was supremely annoying and disquieting.

By the end of week, she had managed to shake off the stress in her body and began dancing normally again. Her heartrate didn’t spike at every glance they sent her way, Lommy stopped pinching her during their across-the-floors, thoughts of Gendry filtered back to their normal volume.

It was then, of course, that it happened.

“Arya.”

She looked up at the sound of Syrio calling her name, he gestured for her to come to them. She left Lommy with a side eye and moved away from the group getting warm to where the heads of their company stood.

“Yes?” She asked as she got close enough to stop in front of them.

Syrio gestured down towards the notebook in his other hand. “Sorry, child, but it’s time.”

Arya felt her stomach bottom out.

Yoren hadn't been wrong in putting them together, they were great, or at least, had been a million years ago. She'd been a ballerina last time she'd been choreographed by Syrio, because that's what he'd trained her to be. Yoren had trained her to dance like a boy – aggressive and sharp.

Then Yoren had retired and Gendry had left her in the woods and her mother died and she switched studios again.

Jaqen had helped her master the fluidity that Syrio taught her and morphed the power Yoren had showed her into the beautiful contemporary creature she was now. She was glad to be back with Syrio, ecstatic really. But duets with Gendry were on the bottom of her to-do list. She fucking knew that once he saw the two of them together it'd be all over.

“Toughen up, girl.” Jaqen said with a look in those mysterious eyes of his. She schooled her face to something less emotional and he nodded. “Better.”

“We have the Showcase coming up, we need to put our best foot forward.” Syrio looked down at the notes he’d made in the book. “And according to Yoren, that use to include the two of you. After what I saw a few days ago, I believe it still does. So, you’re partnering until further notice.”

She let out a little annoyed sigh but said nothing. Of fucking course Syrio called Yoren to chat. Hopefully six years away from each other would put a damper on their onstage chemistry and they’d suck, that way she wouldn’t have to look at him anymore. Last time could’ve been a fluke… right?

“Yes, sir.”

She turned to walk back over where Lommy was stopping short to change direction when she realized she wouldn’t be dancing with Lommy anymore. She stomped over to where Gendry stood with his arms crossed over his chest, ignoring Lyra and Saera chattering beside him.

She stopped in front of him, face no longer schooled into something less annoyed. He said nothing, just looked down at her, waiting.

“We’re partnering today.”

His brows raised at her words, his arms slowly uncrossing. His face wasn’t as stormy when she was around, but she pretended not to notice that.

“Okay.” He said quietly with a slight nod.

She got caught up momentarily by the color of his eyes, but shook it off as quickly as it’d come. “Don’t fucking drop me.”

He rolled his eyes and that soft little something he’d been projecting was fading. “It’s insulting that you think I would.”

Arya shrugged turning away from him. “It’s insulting that you lied to me, so I guess we’re even.”

“I never lied to you.” He muttered harshly as he followed her over to where everyone was getting into position.

“I don’t care.”

“My darlings.” Syrio called out to catch their attention, cutting Gendry off from whatever he was about to say. “Saera, you’ll be with Lommy for now. If you haven’t already gotten with your pairings, please do so now.” He paused to let everyone get in formation in front of him before continuing on. “We’re going to be starting to prepare for the Annual Showcase soon, I’d like to make sure our partnering is perfected before we begin actual choreography. Today you’ll be learning some phrases, we’ll also be picking for pieces in these next few classes, so stay sharp!”

Arya just sighed and battled not to cross her arms tightly over her chest.

Jaqen stepped forward from where he’d been leaning casually against the mirrored wall. “We’ll start first with a contemporary combo and then I’ll hand over to Syrio for a bit of ballet before we move on.”

They jumped in quickly, learning the moves just as fast as they usually did. This piece, one of Jaqen’s, involved a lot of touching and trust. Which… was just great.

Arya tried not to get swept up in Gendry’s swoony shoulders and the way his dark hair fell into his too-blue eyes.

This hands were bigger than they were when he was sixteen.

She couldn’t help but notice, as they were plastered all over her body. Though they were bigger, the sturdy firmness they held seemed to have never left. He’d always been a good dance partner in that capacity, she had never truly worried that he’d drop her; his grip never loose or waffling.

Being this close to him, actually being forced to stare at the two of them in the mirrored wall, she began to truly catalogue all the differences between them now. It was annoying, she’d rather not, but it was like she couldn’t help it.

They were both taller than they’d been six years ago. Gendry settling into the height he’d always had in youth, but taller than he’d been even then. The same had happened with both her and Sansa, growing even past puberty. Where she had once looked like the child she’d been standing next to him, now they both just looked like the young-adults they’d become. She hit just under his nose, they were closer in height now than they’d ever been. She wasn’t the little creature that he tossed into the air repeatedly any longer. The thought kind of saddened her a little.

He was a bit broader than he’d been in youth as well, his features more matured and defined. But his stupid dark hair was still a mess and his eyes still too-blue and earnest. His head still bobbled a little as he followed the choreography while being taught. He was still too stubborn for his own good.

She allowed her body to relax into his grasp as he gripped her waist and she leaned back with her arms over her head. The pose hyper-extended her limbs, but it was actually one they’d done a lot in ballet and she felt her body fall into it easily.

Gendry was holding all of her weight in his large hands, his own weight rested on his bent knee, his other leg a straight line behind him, parallel to her own.

She didn’t bother looking at Syrio and Jaqen. She knew they looked good together, knew that the two of them had been watching with critical eyes throughout all of the combos they’d done today.

She could feel Gendry’s breath on her leotard, the heat of it prickling the skin beneath the material as they held the pose. She could feel her nipples – which had been pebbled throughout their partnering – become hard from his panting breaths wafting over her unbound breasts. They were basically in his face; she didn’t look up at him.

Syrio gave a sharp clap and they dropped out of the ending pose of their ballet combo. Gendry hauled her up easily – which, she did not think was hot, at all. They didn’t look at each other.

Jaqen dismissed them and Arya practically fled the studio.

She could feel the rest of the class following her, knew that Lommy was trailing her as he always did, but she didn’t want to look at him. At either of them.

She didn’t want to talk to Gendry, and didn’t want to talk to Lommy about Gendry. She was annoyed that any of this was even still happening.

She pulled her bag out of her cubby and chugged some of the water left in her massive water jug. She barely got dressed – she pulled on her track pants and sweater, not even bothering to take off her leo or tights – and hefted her large bag over her shoulder. She walked out without a word.

Lommy didn’t try and stop her, which was both good and annoying. She watched out of the corner of her eye as he stood by Gendry, just watching her go.

Fine. It was fine.

She knew that she was kind of being a brat about it. Clearly her and Gendry still danced well together, obviously Syrio and Jaqen knew that. The simplest solution to her problem would be to just… get over it all. But she wasn’t sure if she could.

Maybe she could just change her name and move across the sea and pretend none of this ever happened.

Pretend that she still had two alive parents. Pretend that her person hadn’t left her and dropped completely out of her orbit for six years. Pretend that her family was normal and ordinary and didn’t have to hire security to go places.

But, it was the truth. It was her life. She couldn’t really change it now.

She drove to the apartment, not knowing if Sansa would be home or not. She hoped so. All she wanted right now was to dive face-first into her sister’s cushy bed and whine about how unfair her life was right now.

Sansa was a good sister. A little judgmental at times, but, hey, who wasn’t? Sansa would listen, her Tully-blues all sincere and thoughtful as she absently plaited Arya’s hair.

She parked in the garage of their swanky downtown apartment building, smiling back at the sweet doorman that reminded her Pod, and went up to the elevator. They lived in the penthouse, because Popstar and all that.

The elevator doors opened and Arya stepped out into the living room. She dropped her dance bag and toed off her boots as Sansa turned around on the couch to face her.

“Hey.” She smiled. “We were just binging Caliban’s Curiosities. Wanna watch with us?”

Arya slunk over to the couch to see Sandor lounged beside her sister. She honestly couldn’t even muster up enough energy to care that the Hound was in his pajamas watching some shitty SciFi series with her sister.

Sansa and Sandor were a whole bag of drama that Arya couldn’t even get into at the moment. As of now, she was literally the only one that knew about the two of them, not even Margaery or Brienne had a clue. Too much of a scandal, so on the down-low it was.

Arya slid onto the couch, ignoring the Hound in the room, laying her head on Sansa’s lap and sighed.

Sansa just twisted her fingers in Arya’s silky dark hair. “Oh gods, what is it now?”

“The Gendry-thing.” Arya mumbled into Sansa’s cozy leggings.

Sansa sighed, “Why don’t you just talk to him, Arya?”

She snorted, “You sound like Lommy and Hot Pie.”

“Well, clearly your friends are coming to the same conclusion because it’s the sensible one.”

“Maybe I don’t want to be sensible.” She ground out like a stubborn child. “Maybe I want to stay mad at him.”

“Okay,” Sansa said gently, her fingers beginning to braid her hair. “Well, then you can’t complain about it.”

Arya just groaned for a moment before rolling around so she was lying on her back, staring up at her sister.

“We had to partner today. And, I’m pretty sure Syrio is going to pair us for the showcase.”

“How did it go?” Sansa asked plainly, still playing with her hair. “The dancing together?”

Arya petulantly clenched her jaw before responding. “Annoyingly well.”

“Well, at least you know you’ll look good at the showcase.”

“I want to punch him in his face.” Was all Arya could respond with.

Sandor snorted from his position beside Sansa. Arya leaned her head back a little further to look at him, upside down. He raised a brow at her, his long hair pulled back into a small bun, his scarred face stoic.

“He was my best friend and he left me. He told me he was leaving the studio and then proceeded to ignore me for six years, then waltzes back into my life like nothing ever happened. Like it hasn’t been radio silence for years, like he didn’t do anything wrong.”

Sandor listened, then nodded once she was done speaking. He brought a hand forward to rub across his beard. “I’d punch him.”

“Thank you!”

Sansa rolled her eyes. “You already punched him. And nothing’s changed.”

“Ugh.” Arya groaned, throwing an arm over her eyes.

“Stop whinging.”

Arya threw the arm off her eyes and stared at Sandor upside down. “I’m not whinging!”

“Yes you are.” He picked up the remote, ignoring her. “Now figure it out.”

“I don’t know what to do!”

“Yes you do.” He replied, still not looking at her. “So do it. And stop whinging.”

With that, he pressed play and whatever episode they’d been watching came back to life. Arya glared at him from her position in her sister’s lap – which, may have affected the effectiveness of the glare, but whatever. God, her sister’s secret boyfriend was so annoying.

She continued to lie there with them, though. Sansa braiding and re-braiding her hair, over and over again, as they watched the shitty show. Arya thought about her predicament with Gendry and what exactly she wanted to do about it, but eventually the show’s odd plot captured her attention and she was sucked into the old-timey Carnie life that Caliban’s Curiosities offered.

__________________________

A couple days later, Arya found herself at the studio, scrolling through the email that had just pinged on everyone’s phones, reading it quickly, but carefully.

She had been chosen as a lead dancer for the Annual Showcase.

She was also partnered with Gendry. A lot.

She just let out the breath she’d been holding.

Arya had predicted this happening, she wasn’t surprised, though she wasn’t all that happy about it either.

“Hey.” Lommy plopped down next to her, crossing his legs and leaning on Arya’s shoulder to look at his phone. Personal space was not something Lommy took seriously most of the time.

“Hey.” Arya kept reading, ignoring him.

“I see you got the email.” Arya could hear the smirk in his voice. “You and Gendry have a ton of partnering going on.”

“Yeah.” She tried not to choke on the word.

“It’s gonna be like Rudolph all over again!”

“What the fuck?” Saera dropped down on the other side of Arya, chomping on a slice of pizza from the pizzeria next to the studio.

“It was so cute!” Lommy cooed in that annoying way of his. “When we were young and all at the same studio, Arya and Gendry played Rudolph and Hermie one year. It was honestly the funniest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Arya rolled her eyes, “It was not.”

“No, it seriously was.” Lommy laughed to Saera, ignoring her. “I still think about We’re a Couple of Misfits when I’m sad.”

“Gendry!” He looked up, startled, from where he was pulling his bag out of the cubby; shocked that she was even speaking to him. “Tell Lommy to stop spreading slander about us.”

“What?” He asked with confusion written all over those furrowed eyebrows.

Lommy smiled in that specific way when he wanted the bartender to put extra alcohol in his drink but not charge him for it. “I was just telling Saera about Rudolph.”

Gendry just looked even more confused for a few moments before the realization dawned on him. He then gave Lommy the glare that made the junior company cry.

“I’m with Arya, stop spreading lies.”

Arya turned to look at Lommy triumphant. Lose the battle, win the war. She’d talk to Gendry to keep Lommy from spilling state secrets about their past.

Lommy just rolled his eyes with a smirk. “You two are ridiculous and I’m bringing in a video.”

“You certainly are fucking not.”

“Yes I am.” He sing-songed as he quickly floated away from her – he’d learned one too many times that she hit hard and fast.

Arya glared, but ignored him in favor of looking at Gendry.

He stood by the cubbies, going through the black backpack he carried around that had definitely seen better days. One would think having rich secret family members would mean he could upgrade his horrid dance bag.

His black Adidas track pants fit him well, the white t-shirt he wore clung to his body, and the frumpy dark-colored hoodie that was, unfortunately, his signature was hanging off his built frame. She wanted to pat down his ridiculous hair and manhandle him into a cozy position on her couch and make him tell her all the things he’d kept from her in his six-year absence.

But, she also battled the urge to beat him to a bloody pulp, so, there was that.

She got up before she even realized that she was doing it, and made her way over to where he stood sorting out his horrible backpack.

“Hey.”

He looked up in just as much shock as before, both confused and slightly alarmed that she was talking to him. It kind of made her want to laugh, but she tamped down the smile that threatened to play over her lips.

“Hey…?”

“Did you see the list?”

He nodded, his gaze all intense and unwavering. “Yeah, I did.”

“We’re going to be working together a lot. That’s not going to be a problem, is it?”

He looked down for a moment, his eyes hardening slightly at her strictly-business tone. When he looked up again, all traces of the soft boy he was underneath those muscles and wide shoulders was gone. In its place was the harsh coldness that made the younger company afraid of him.

“Not at all.”

Arya nodded, “Good.”

Gendry shook his head, stuffing the last of his things into his shitty backpack and pushing past her. She watched him walk away and ignored the squirmy pit her torso had become as she did.

_____________________________

So far, the whole partnering with Gendry-thing was absolute shit.

They didn’t talk, or really even look at each other; which, as it turns out, in dance is kind of a problem.

The more they worked together and didn’t communicate, the less good they looked.

Arya could see both Syrio and Jaqen getting frustrated with them, but she didn’t know how to fix it without letting go of her anger. And, honestly? She wasn’t ready to do that yet.

They were in a rehearsal with Jaqen, working on one of his pieces for the showcase. Arya waited for the next instruction and tried to ignore Gendry beside her – which was easier said than done.

She should be used to seeing him shirtless by now, but it still felt like every time was the first time. Wide set shoulders, arms toned and defined, strong. He had a trim waist with a horrifying number of stomach muscles easily defined and ridiculous hipbones that cut into than damn v-shape that gave her the urge to lick.

It was, quite honestly, a unique type of torture and she wondered if she’d done something to warrant this horror from Jaqen.

Gendry stood in those stupid basketball shorts and no shirt with his hands on his hips and his chest rapidly rising and falling. A flush had risen over the skin of his neck and the dark waves of his hair were matted around his forehead from sweat.

Arya was certain she’d never seen anything more beautiful in her whole life.

She took a glance at the mirrored wall in front of them to see how she looked. Like shit was the answer.

Her own dark hair was in a sagging slop-trop bun on the top of her head – wisps escaping all over the place. Someone’s t-shirt – she honestly had no idea whose t-shirt it was – just a bit baggy around her frame and dance shorts that kept riding up as they continued to go over the choreography. Her cheeks were unattractively red and she was also heaving.

Jaqen just stared at them. But, she knew that stare. He was thinking of the next moves, letting them catch a breath was just a side effect of that.

It was contemporary – the dance. Which, she was happy about, actually. The downside was just how wrapped up they ended up being.

“Alright.” Jaqen sighed. “I need to see it from the top.”

He moved to the laptop plugged into the speakers on the table in the corner and they took their first positions – back to back.

As the music started up, Arya moved just a step away from Gendry. Precise arm movements and pointed toes facing audience. Then Gendry turned to face her, slinking over to where she’d moved away from him.

It was one of the worst parts and they were only thirty-eight seconds into the three-minute dance.

He turned easily, broad shoulders moving almost unconsciously as walked purposefully over to her. His eyes all intense and could easily take her breath away if she wasn’t careful.

He raised his hands as though to cup her face, but she pushed him down to his knees by those stupid shoulders, his ridiculously intense stare never leaving her face. The lyric made the move seem sexual, which is obviously what Jaqen was intending, but it set her nerve endings on fire.

She looked at him for a beat before easily falling to her own knees and arching back until she was flat on the floor, Gendry slowly crawling over her. Once he was atop her, she flipped him over onto his back, tumble-rolling over his head and both of them flipping onto their stomachs so they were facing each other on the ground.

They started pounding their fists on the marely floor, twisting onto their backs with arching, arms reaching out for something that wasn’t there, and then crawling back on their stomachs.

Gendry pulled her by the thighs towards him where he began to stand and she easily pushed up into a handstand before flipping back to her feet. He grabbed her from behind so they were pressed back to front, from thighs to shoulders. She swung her arms out in the specific movements Jaqen had given her, Gendry grabbed her wrist and threw it down to her side, his other hand came up her body, running up the length of her from her chest to her neck where he held her gently as they swayed.

She jerked out of it, twisting around his body to jump up onto his back, arms extended over his shoulders and reaching out towards the mirror. Gendry kept moving, Arya only holding onto his hips by the grip of her thighs.

He brought his hands up gently, his body leaning forward slowly. She tucked her chin, arms braced on his shoulders as he grabbed her back and she let herself tilt forward as well. There was a low level anxiety about preforming tricks that she always held, but they had done them a lot when they were younger and she did trust him not to drop her.

Her legs went over her head and then her feet planted on the floor as she finished shoulder-rolling over his shoulder. He immediately ran his hands under her arms so they were extended, his fingers finding hers and entwining their hands. They continued to move connected like they were until she broke free and then they were repeating the choreography from before – Gendry pressed up against her back as she swung out her arms and he threw down her wrists before running his large hands up her body to hold her throat as they swayed.

They reached the point where Jaqen had stopped them before and they held position, watching as Jaqen marked what he wanted them to do in the next eight-count.

Arya hadn’t realized, as she was watching Jaqen, that she had unconsciously leaned back into Gendry’s embrace. One of his hands was loosely resting on her clavicle, the other on the top of her stomach just below her breasts. Her whole body was leaned back into his, holding her weight like it was something they did all the time, like it was natural.

She felt herself stiffen slightly once she noticed just how comfortable she’d been for those few moments that she’d seem to forgotten who, exactly, was holding her.

Gendry must’ve noticed her tense, but didn’t move. He didn’t remove his hands, didn’t step back, didn’t do anything. His breathing had finally calmed a little from the deep inhales he’d been taking, and she felt herself wanting to fall back into his embrace once more. She held herself taught, like a bow-string, to keep from doing just that.

Jaqen moved back to the music, pausing it, and coming over to show them what he’d just marked. She’d never been more thankful in her life.

They continued on and Arya tried not to think about just how easily she could fall for Gendry if she let herself.

___________________________

Arya slid into the cozy little booth in the back of the pub, pushing the jacket down her shoulders quickly because of the body heat. Brienne slid in across from her, setting down their beers and sliding one across to her.

Brienne sighed happily as she took the first sip, leaning back and enjoying the noisy atmosphere of their favorite dive.

Brienne had been busy lately, running her own company and all, and Arya had missed her.

She propped her feet up on the bench next to Brienne’s thighs, leaning back into the booth behind her as well, mirroring Brienne.

“God, that’s good.” Arya snorted and smiled. “What? Shut it. This is my first night off in a month.”

Arya scrunched up her nose at the thought. “Fuck that. You’re gonna run yourself ragged. Hire more people.”

Brienne rolled her light blue eyes so aggressively, Arya legitimately feared they were going to pop out of her head. “I run the goddamn company, Arya, it’s not a matter of just hiring more people.”

Arya rolled her own eyes – though, not as forcefully as Brienne managed. “Well, what the fuck do I know?” She took another sip of her beer. “I’m the least exciting and incredibly less successful Stark, I have basically no idea what it takes to run a business.”

Brienne snorted and smiled at Arya in that fond way that only the Starks managed to get out of her.

“Well, that is true.” Arya glared at her and it brought a bark of laughter out of Brienne. “Oh, shut it. You know that just because you’ve kept yourself mostly out of the public eye doesn’t mean you’re any less talented than your siblings.” She took another hearty sip. “Besides, you’re my favorite Stark. So, that should count for something.”

“Oh,” Arya smirked. “Don’t let Sansa hear you say that.”

“I love your sister, I love all of you Starks, but you’re my best friend, so.”

Arya really had no idea how her and Brienne became so close. She was nine years older than Arya, had a real-life job, and they basically had nothing in common. But, Brienne was sharp and witty and soothing and solid. She reminded Arya of Gendry, in a way.

Brienne had once worked in security for Renly Baratheon. The company had been her father’s – Sapphire Security – and as Arya had grown up in the music industry, Brienne had grown up in private security. Under her father’s company, Brienne had personally worked detail for Renly Baratheon.

Apparently, they had become fast friends and after the death of her father, Renly encouraged Brienne to branch out and take over Sapphire Security, heading it instead of just working for it. She had, and she’d turned her father’s successful business into an incredible one.

Under Brienne, Sapphire Security had body guards and detail placed with practically every major celebrity. Mostly, it came from the way she ran the business and the clear-cut nobility in her eyes, a little bit came from Sansa and Robb practically shoving business cards into the hands of everyone they’d ever met.

After she’d taken over her late father’s company, the young Brienne had been employed by Cat Stark.

That was how they’d met Brienne for the first time. She’d only done a few tours and regular detail work for her parents, but it was enough to solidify her place within the Stark family. Even after she was no longer working for Cat, a place for her was set at the table at Holidays and birthday gatherings.

When her Mother died, Brienne took it hard.

She hadn’t even been in the country at the time, but still felt like she’d failed to protect Catelyn.

Post-Gendry, Brienne had become her person. Lommy and Hot Pie were still her best friends, her circle, but Brienne had filled the whole that Gendry had left in her own way.

Arya put a hand over her heart, mockingly. “I’m fucking touched.”

Brienne threw a coaster at her. “Shut up, you slag.”

“So,” Arya started, playing with the glass in her hands. “Any juicy goods you wanna fill me in on?”

Brienne narrowed her eyes. “Absolutely not, since that would be a breach in all the contracts I make everyone I employ sign.”

Arya rolled her eyes, “You’re no fun.”

“I think you mean professional.”

“If that’s what you wanna call it.”

“How is Sandor working out?” Brienne asked, in an obvious change of subject, but Arya could tell she was also genuinely curious. “Sansa’s too polite to really tell me anything.”

Arya knew her poker face was solid and shrugged carelessly in a practiced way. “Fine, I guess?” She took a sip of her beer. “Why?”

The scoop on that story was major scandal, which was why Sansa hadn’t said anything to anyone.

Sandor “The Hound” Clegane was similar to Brienne in the sense that he had also grown up in the world of private security. He’d been in the military in his youth and worked in all manners of security when he came home. His most exclusive detail, prior to her sister, had been Westeros Royalty – so to speak – Joffrey Baratheon.

The Baratheons were – essentially – the Kardashians, if the Kardashians also happened to be Westerosi Dance Royalty.

They had always been known one way or another. Cassana Estermont-Baratheon had been Westeros Ballet’s leading Prima Ballerina and held the record for oldest prima in history. Steffon Baratheon, a well-known real estate mogul, from one of the oldest families in Westeros, fell in love with her during a performance of Giselle. They married within that year, had three sons, all of whom went on to dance for the Westeros Ballet.

Robert, technically the most well-known of the three Baratheon brothers, had famously been in love with Arya’s aunt Lyanna. The ballerina had been briefly engaged to Robert, and in one of the Industry’s most illustrious love triangles, she was also having an affair with Rhaegar Targaryen. No one really knew the truth of the situation, and when Arya was young her dad had never wanted to talk about it. But, eventually, in the scandal of the century, her aunt Lyanna was found dead in her apartment.

Robert had left the ballet world after that, couldn’t stomach it without Lyanna – or so he claimed – following his father’s roots and taking up the family business with Stannis, who had also left the ballet a few years prior when their father had passed and they had no one to run the company. Robert even managed to get himself elected in office for a while, until his death a few years back.

Joffrey, Robert’s oldest son, was quite frankly the living worst. He was an actor, apparently a good one, showing up on all the award buzz radars. He was spoiled, selfish, conceited, and an abuser. Though, that last one was never proven, it was the Industry’s most known and worst kept secret.

Sansa had first met him at a Gala they were all made to go to when their dad was still alive. They hit it off, Sansa swooned, Joffrey charmed, the way the story usually goes. They dated for a while, Joffrey was controlling and manipulative, her parents didn’t like it, but after their father died, Sansa just clung to him with everything she had.

Eventually Joffrey crossed a big enough line that even Sansa saw it was time to go. He’d been hitting her for a while, threatening her. The kicker? It was Sandor who actually convinced her to leave him. Because Sandor had been working Joffrey’s detail at the time.

As soon as he knew Sansa was safe and was gone from Joffrey for good, he quit. He left the private security office he’d been employed through and a day later was recruited by Brienne.

Brienne didn’t know about Sansa and Joffrey – her sister had refused to press charges and it was kept all close circle so the press wouldn’t get wind of it – she had no idea that Sansa and Sandor previously knew each other outside of being Joffrey’s security detail.

When Brienne had recently placed Sandor on Sansa’s detail, Arya hadn’t known either. Sansa only told her because they lived together and there really wouldn’t be a way to hide the body guard in her bed.

Brienne shrugged, “I like to do check-ins every couple months, make sure everyone is sitting right. There’s nothing worse than not trusting the person in charge of handling your safety.”

“I think it’s all good.” Arya said and really had to fight down the urge not to smirk. “Haven’t heard any complaints.”

“Good.” Brienne nodded. “Sandor’s a good guy underneath all that baggage. And he’s one hell of a good shot.”

“Well, clearly, or you wouldn’t entrust the safety of House Stark with him.”

Brienne rolled her eyes at Arya’s ridiculousness. Before she could say anything to counter that, Podrick pushed in, sitting beside Brienne and placing a few baskets of food on the table between them.

“Sorry, it’s packed tonight, the kitchen was slammed.”

“How fucking dare you, Pod.” Arya replied sarcastically, grabbing a few too-hot fries and stuffing them into her mouth.

Pod was Brienne’s assistant and office manager. Poor kid really wanted to be a fighter, but just… wasn’t. She fucking loved Pod and his sweet face and his, frankly, fucking terrible aim. Why he wanted so badly to be in the Bodyguard business was beyond her.

Podrick sighed in fake misery, “I try my best here.” Arya threw a fry a him and that cute smile returned.

“So how’s the dance company?” Brienne asked, snagging a basket of wings and picking the perfect one. “Don’t you have a show coming up?”

Of course Brienne would have that in her calendar. Brienne Tarth, miss a family friend’s engagement? She’d rather be caught dead.

“Soon, yeah. The Annual Donor Showcase for Syrio and Jaqen’s company. Sansa already has your tickets.” A look of relief washed over Brienne. “It’s going alright. I’m in a lot of pieces, which is good.”

“Mmhmm.” Brienne nodded, leaning slightly against the table, hot wing in hand, face mildly disbelieving. “And how’s everything going with Gendry?”

Arya chose that moment to take a long swing of beer.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Pod, picking at some fries, shrugging. “I don’t know, he kinda seems like a nice guy.” Arya turned her glare full force on him. “Or, maybe not?”

“Jesus Christ, Arya, just forgive him already.” Brienne rolled her eyes, aggressively again. “Or, at the very least, try talking to him about what happened. Even if it’s just to yell at him how mad you are, just do it at his face and not mine.”

“But I don’t want to talk to him.” She yelled right back. “I don’t know if I want to forgive him and I feel like I will if I talk to him about it. I’m not ready not to be mad anymore.”

“You know why you feel like that?” Brienne asked, pointing the partially eaten hot wing at her. “Because you still have feelings for him. Your ridiculous crush never went away.”

Arya stared at Brienne, face a mixture of both shock and disgust. “What are you talking about? I never had a crush on him! He was my best friend!”

“Who you had feelings for.”

Arya glared at Brienne. “I did not have feelings for Gendry.” Brienne stared her down for a beat, then another, then another, before Arya’s eyes widened. “Oh my god, did I have feelings for Gendry?”

“There it is.”

Arya slumped back into the booth, eyes unfocused and unseeing as she thought back to her childhood and teen years. Going through every interaction and conversation she could remember having with him.

“I think you broke her.” Podrick staged whispered to Brienne, who snorted and continued to eat.

“What the fuck.” Arya looked up from where she’d been drilling a hole into the table with her gaze. “What the actual fuck.”

Brienne put down her food, grabbing a napkin and wiping her hands, before looking Arya in the eye solemnly. “You, Arya Stark, are a fucking idiot.”

Yeah. She kind of fucking was.

___________________________

She pulled the sweater off and threw it over by the mirror, pushing the hair that had managed to escape her sagging ponytail out of her face. Jaqen stood in front of him, listening to the music blaring from the speakers and making aborted half-movements as he marked the moves before turning to teach it to them.

Gendry stood beside her in fitted track pants, sneakers, and a baggy t-shirt that hid the insanity that was his bare body. His hair was a fucking mess and he unconsciously bobbed along as he watched what Jaqen marked – just like he had in his youth and probably always would.

Lommy was in the line behind them with Saera and Rhea. It was the smallest group number they had so far, outside of duets, and the exclusivity had reached throughout the whole company. It made Arya roll her eyes.

It was contemporary hip hop, she couldn’t image the likes of Lyra, Tahmn, or Quynn attempting to pull it off with the same grace as the five of them.

Jaqen walked over to the speaker and restarted the song. They began the beginning of the dance, stopping once they reached the part where they stopped before. Jaqen yelled over the music, moving quickly as they copied him best they could.

She was just happy that she wasn’t in a leotard. Leggings and a comfy sweater is what she’d started out in, now she was just in her sports bra. The air felt good on her warm, sweaty skin and she was thankful no one gave a shit her midriff was showing.

It’d been a week since her night out with Brienne. She was mostly just pretending that never happened.

How could she have not known that she had feelings for Gendry? Like, how could she not have known?

How did she spend the entirety of their relationship, up until now, thinking she viewed him as just her best friend?

Brienne was right – she was a fucking idiot.

And now, it was all she could think about.

Jaqen turned back toward them and ran through what he’d just created at a breakneck speed. He reset the music and they were off.

It was easier here, easier to forget her anger, her feelings, forget who Gendry was at all. They were getting better at pretending. They still didn’t talk, but they had this sort of silent agreement that they’d somehow settled into. Syrio and Jaqen weren’t sending them glares anymore, they were looking way less strained on stage. They were getting better, even if their relationship wasn’t.

Dance had always been the thing to ease her mind. To help her forget that her parents were dead and all the other things that plagued her when she wasn’t looking. It was a real blow to have that taken away because she couldn’t work with Gendry.

At least now, that was starting to lessen.

Jaqen dismissed them, that dance almost completed. They all went to grab water and the belongings they had thrown by the mirrors. Arya followed Lommy and the rest out of the small studio and into the larger one down the hall where the rest of the company was watching Syrio’s rehearsal with the juniors.

Syrio dismissed them and a flood of ballerinas flew past him, bowing briefly before running out of the studio. Arya waiting until they’d all gone before entering – last time she almost got knocked over by one of the over-eager juniors.

“My darlings,” Syrio sat in front of them, somehow looking regal in a folding chair, Jaqen leaning against the mirrored wall to his right. “Jaqen and I have been discussing with the higher ups and they feel as though our opener is a bit lacking. So, we’ve decided to open the show with Willkommen from Cabaret, which should appease the Industry bureaucrats. We’ll need to hear all of you, you’ve got three days to rehearse something. See you all on Friday.”

With that, Syrio dismissed them, walking out of the studio with Jaqen trailing behind him. Half of the company looked thrilled at the prospect to show off their other talents, the other half looked a little green at the thought.

Arya didn’t really care one way or another. She’d learned long ago that Syrio and Jaqen had their minds made up from the moment the thought entered their brains. It took a lot to change the hidden path they’d already laid out, something really big. They already had this number casted, they were just putting on a show.

She rehearsed anyway – mostly because she wouldn’t be caught dead out of tune in front of people who would mock her for it. She was part of a family legacy, people expected her to sound good.

She helped Lommy pick a song and gently critiqued him when he called for it, helped him control his breathing and such. His voice was alright, nothing special, it would get him where he needed to go but that was all. It was a shame, because Lommy was incredibly talented and if he had a killer voice then nothing could’ve stopped him. She hated the phrase, but Triple Threat was everything in an industry like this. He probably wouldn’t get the MC, but at least he’d sound good singing whatever it was Syrio threw at him.

She wondered briefly what Gendry was singing. She remembered him having a nice voice when they were younger and sang in the car. Maybe he’d grown out of it and he sounded like shit now. Or maybe he’d grown into it and sounded great. She honestly had no idea what to expect when it came to him.

Friday rolled around quicker than anyone would’ve liked.

The company tittered nervously, too anxious than the early morning rehearsal called for. Arya was tired, obviously not a morning person, and leaned back against the mirrored wall with her eyes just barely open as they waited.

Lommy was sitting beside Gendry, whispering to each other and Arya tried not to let it bother her.

When Jaqen began, calling up whoever wanted to go first – like some minor test to see who had the guts – the company all looked at one another, most of them landing on her. But, she wasn’t playing this game. Arya wasn’t about to fall into the trap of going first and looking like the show-off and favorite they all claimed her to be.

Lyra ended up pushing herself forward and going first. Her long blonde hair down and all around her as she stood before them. Her voice was light and beautiful, clear and soothing as she sang some Taylor Swift song. Arya wasn’t sure what she’d been expecting, but the voice was fitting of the girl in front of her.

She couldn’t help glancing over at Gendry and Lommy. She told herself she just wanted to see Lommy’s reaction – which didn’t disappoint as he rolled his eyes because of course Lyra would sound like that – but she really just wanted to see Gendry’s.

Were girls like Lyra his type?

She couldn’t pretend to know what he liked these days – or really ever. They had been young before he left and hadn’t really spoke about girls and boys. He hadn’t ever dated anyone while they were friends and she couldn’t speak towards now.

So, she watched his face, watched his eyes, waiting to see if they slid over the petite frame of the girl in front of them or if there was some type of emotion in his stormy gaze.

There wasn’t – as far as she could tell. He mostly looked bored.

He looked like that for practically everyone that got up to sing. His face only changed when Lommy went up, smiling at him supportively – just as Arya herself had done when Lommy looked her way. The small smile didn’t fade as they listened to their friend sing a fun radio bop that Arya couldn’t for the life of her remember the name of. At least they still had their love of Lommy in common.

Gendry went up not long after, looking all stiff and nervous. He refused to look in the direction where she sat, instead focusing over where Lommy sat near Syrio and Jaqen. He opened his mouth to sing and she was thunderstruck by two things.

The first was his voice. Deep and wonderful and good. Like, actually good.

Second was the song he’d chosen.

It was a Beware! Wolves! song – her brothers’ band – and an older one at that. He was singing I Don’t Want to Get Over You, a boppy breakup song Jon had written as an angsty teen during his first fight with Ygritte. It was one of Arya’s favorite songs in her brothers’ repertoire and Gendry had to remember that.

When she listened to him sing it, she began to forget that it was her brother who’d penned it, that it was about Jon and Ygritte and that it wasn’t about the two of them.

She hadn’t really ever considered it before this moment, the notion literally just flying into her head as she listened to him sing this song and refuse to look her way, but, maybe, Gendry may have had feelings for her as well.

The thought made her stomach seize up in a tight knot. She had no basis to go off of, no evidence to support her claim, but she couldn’t help the little tendrils of hope that floated up in her at the thought.

Well… that was new.

She could feel eyes on her as she watched Gendry and knew they were Lommy’s. She managed to tear her gaze away from Gendry after that. She didn’t need Lommy trying to deduce the looks she’d been giving Gendry and what they meant.

Eventually Gendry finished and sat, Rhea, Saera, and Aisla went, and when there were only a handful of people left, Arya hauled herself up to stand in front of them.

She casually stuffed her hands into the pockets of the black coat she hadn’t taken off and counted mentally herself in. Everyone had sung a cappella, as required by Syrio and Jaqen – who wished to hear them unencumbered.

She sang almost in a daze, her mind still focused on why Gendry had chosen that song and not on the one she was currently singing. It didn’t matter though, not really. She could do this in her sleep. She had sung on stage in front of thousands of people, with her sister, with her brothers, even a few times with her parents when she had been very young. Singing a breezy, a cappella, version of La Vie En Rose – one she’d done a million times in her youth – wasn’t something she’d consider very stressful.

She finished, ignoring the looks of everyone around her, and sat back down. She felt eyes on her as she did so, knowing they were the critical eyes of her peers, the contemplating eyes of Syrio and Jaqen, the loving eyes of Lommy, and even Gendry’s. Though, she wasn’t exactly sure what was teeming in his eyes, since she hadn’t bothered to look.

The last few members of the company went, nothing Arya could really recall if asked, and finally Jaqen set them all to get warmed up so they could finish one of his larger group pieces which had a killer French hip hop track.

Lommy slid past her, running his fingers over her hand, whispering good job as he passed. She smiled over her shoulder at him and caught Gendry’s gaze.

The smile barely slipped from her mouth as she looked at him, eyes and mouth still soft from Lommy. She tried to read whatever he was projecting in his gaze, but she didn’t know him that well anymore and honestly couldn’t tell what he was trying to say. So, she looked away.

________________________________

A few days later, Arya was in the midst of warming up when Syrio beckoned her.

“We’re about to release an email and before we did, I just wanted to make sure you were comfortable.” He looked to Jaqen, who looked like he didn’t much care whether Arya was comfortable or not. “We’d like for you to play the MC. I understand you have reservations about preforming in the manner of your family. I wanted to see if this was still true.”

Arya bit at the inside of her lip, a nervous habit from childhood that Jaqen had all but beat out of her. She stopped herself, not looking up into the eyes of the taller man, knowing that he would have a disapproving glare if she did.

“If that’s what you want, I’ll do it.”

It was true, she did have reservations about singing, but only because everyone instantly associated her with her siblings when she did. She was critiqued for not sounding just like them or prodded by the media as to why she wasn’t in the family business herself. But, if Syrio and Jaqen wanted her for the role, she wasn’t about to say no. Now, all she had to do was deal with the side-eyes and glares from the company as they whispered about unfair favoritism under their breath.

Syrio smiled, “Splendid.” Looking down only briefly to send the email on his phone. “We’ll have to wig you, of course.” He said casually.

She touched the length of her sagging ponytail and considered it. “Would you be mad if I cut my hair?” She shrugged. “I’m not really all that attached to it.”

Syrio looked to Jaqen, considering, before turning back to her. “It’ll be a pain for ballet, but we can work around that.”

Jaqen nodded at her in the proud way of his when she’d answered one of his hidden riddles correctly. They dismissed her after that and she went back to where Lommy was stretching and sitting back down beside him.

She knew that she would be working with Gendry today on some contemporary ballet piece with Syrio, so she was soaking up as much Lommy exposure as she could before she’d be stuck alone without him for hours. At least Syrio was easier to work with than Jaqen, there wouldn’t be prolonged silences where Gendry held her body as Syrio figured out choreo. No, Syrio always has everything preplanned, he’d only stop to tweak if something just wasn’t sitting right.

“What was that all about?”

Arya turned to face him completely, legs in a split, as she held out her arms for him to take. He mirrored her position without question and grabbed her hands, pulling her forward in a seated inner thigh stretch.

“Casting for the Cabaret number.”

“Oh?” Lommy replied, instantly interested as he continued to tug her forward toward him. “And I’m assuming it had to do with you because you’re the MC?”

“Yeah.” Arya sighed. She began to sit back up and pull back, bringing Lommy forward towards her. “They want to wig me, but I think I want to cut my hair.”

“Are you gonna do it? Be the MC.” He clarified.

“Well, yeah, obviously.” What was she not going to do something the heads of their prestigious dance company wanted her to do? “You’re with Jaqen today?”

“Yeah,” He responded, groaning slightly from the stretch before continuing and sitting back up. “My piece with Saera, and then that group jazz number, and my duet with Lyra after you and Gen are done with Syrio.”

Arya sighed dramatically as she laid back on the floor with her knees up. “Don’t remind me.”

Lommy aggressively rolled his eyes, reminding her instantly of Brienne, as he sat up on his knees between her legs and grabbed her right thigh, lifting it and pushing it back slowly in a hamstring stretch.

“The two of you really are the most ridiculous people I’ve ever met.” Arya snorted, but said nothing as Lommy continued to stretch out her hamstring – in what would be considered a vaguely sexual way, she was sure, if not for the fact that Lommy was super gay and the mere thought of doing anything like that with him would be like doing it with her brother who also happened to be gay. “I’m going to Hot Pie’s tonight, if you want to come. He promised cookies.”

Arya felt her stomach grumble at the thought of Hot Pie’s cookies. “Yeah, alright.”

She turned her head as Lommy pushed her thigh back so it was against torso and caught sight of Gendry staring at them from across the room. His eyes were sort of glazed over as he stared at her legs and just how Lommy was managing to contort her.

She couldn’t tell if he seemed angry or not, or confused, or anything really. His stormy face wasn’t giving anything away, but he was staring. Which was… interesting, she supposed.

Jaqen clapped, drawing their attention to him and everyone began gathering to where he stood on the other side of the room. Lommy stood, holding out a hand to help haul her up. She watched him walk over to the forming group and looked over to find Gendry walking out of the studio they were currently in and to one down the hall where their rehearsal with Syrio was scheduled.

She bit back a sigh and gathered her belongings, following behind him.

Syrio sat in a chair by the speaker set up, typing away quickly on his phone as he was prone to do. Arya set her stuff down by the mirrored wall and stood beside Gendry, waiting.

At least he was dressed this time, or, more dressed then their last duet rehearsal.

He stood in those fitted track pants and a basic long sleeved shirt that clung to his ridiculous body. Hair a mess – when was it not – eyes a little tired. She tried not to notice too much.

“Okay, my dears, let’s begin.” Syrio set down his phone, plugging it into the speakers beside him. “You two are doing a take on Sleeping Beauty.”

Arya tried not to sigh too loudly.

Sleeping Beauty was one of Syrio’s favorite ballets, the company hadn’t done a version of it in years and Syrio always said it was because he’d never found the right Aurora. It was a beautiful ballet, but long and a lot of pointe, which wasn’t her favorite. She hoped that this wasn’t her trial run and that they were doing the show for the Summer Season. The last thing she needed was the likes of Lyra and Quynn throwing a fit about not getting the lead and claiming favoritism once again.

“Wipe off the pout, Arya. No pointe shoes for you – this time.” He looked at her meaningfully down his nose and Arya schooled her face into something Jaqen wouldn’t yell at her for, even though he wasn’t even in the room.

“Sorry, sir.”

Syrio waved off her apology in a dismissive gesture. While he was stricter than Jaqen when it came to rehearsal and technique, he was less inclined to care the attitude they held.

“As I was saying, a take on Sleeping Beauty.” Arya didn’t love the gleam in his eye. “Once Upon a Dream. Gendry will be our prince charming and Arya will be asleep.” He smirked and Arya’s brows furrowed. “You’re both adept at tricks, there will be a lot of them in here, so I’m going to need you two to work together on this. Trust is very important, considering Arya will be blindfolded.”

Oh, of fucking course. She’d be blindfolded.

“We’ll start off, of course, without the blindfold.” He stood from the chair, coming to stand before them, ready to begin. “Now, let’s start.”

Arya chanced a look at Gendry, noticing he looked a bit more serious than he had before. His stormy eyes stared deeply into hers, as though he was trying to battle-ram something into her brain just through a look.

Syrio had them starting in the middle of the stage, standing. Arya would be blindfolded – she sighed – and Gendry behind her. Why was he always behind her? Arya would start head down, rising slowly as the music did, swaying as she came forward, walking first, then step-sidling.

Gendry came after her, guiding her about the studio. Another dance that they were extremely physical, just great. His hands were sliding all about her body, gripping her and grabbing her and moving her into position.

Syrio wasn’t lying – there were a ton of tricks.

Gendry was lifting her, over his shoulder, on to his shoulder, beneath his legs, holding her above him in both standard ballet poses and some not so standard. For the most part, he was guiding her about the stage, to the floor, above him. She watched in the mirror as his hands smoothed themselves over her body, slowly and precisely, intimately. It would look quite good onstage, she was sure, even if it left her frustrated now.

At one point, they just waltzed, and that made her feel more awkward than anything else they’d done so far.

On arm clung around his neck, fingers almost toying with the dark curls at the base, her other hand clasped in his, nowhere else to look but into each other’s eyes. It was honestly the living worst.

In the end, Gendry would guide her gently to the floor, lying her out all perfect. Syrio had Gendry propped over her, leaning in as though he was about to kiss her, then pull away. When he did that, Arya would rise forward, chest first, coming after him. Eventually Gendry would move away and dance off stage, leaving her alone to sleep.

She hated this dance. Hated it with everything in her.

It was too intimate. Too private. It felt like they were lovers, and she knew that was the point, but she hated it all the same. Mostly for the feelings it was managing to evoke within her.

She wanted to lean up and capture that stupid, perfect mouth. Kiss him slowly and gently. Her heart pounded with it.

Fuck this ridiculous dance and the way it was making her feel.

When Syrio released them, Arya couldn’t leave soon enough. She shot out of the studio like she was on fire, running to the cubbies and grabbing a water while tossing her stuff inside. She slunk off to the pizza place next door, hiding until it was time for her next rehearsal.

She only had a couple more hours to get through, then she could sit in Hot Pie’s cute patio and eat too many cookies.

The guy working the till shot a look at her annoyed demeanor. She ignored him and focused on the cookies.

______________________________

“So, how was class today?”

Arya snorted, munching on a cookie, feet propped up on the patio chair opposite her. “Ask me literally anything else, please.”

As soon as rehearsals let out, Arya was out of there.

She’d texted Hot Pie to let him know that she was on her way and he responded with a picture of cookies on a cooling rack.

She loved Hot Pie and reminded herself to find him a killer birthday present.

He just raised his hands in a surrender motion. “Never mind, then. I’ll tell you about my day. It started out pretty normal until Hotch – my boss – came in with not one, but two black eyes –”

“Hello!”

Hot Pie was cut off by the sound of Lommy’s voice hollering from inside his apartment. It was small, but nice, and only a few houses down from his mother’s – which, may have been the selling point for Hot Pie. Arya looked out at the woods that lined the backyard as Hot Pie went inside to make sure Lommy didn’t just shove all of the cookies into his backpack and then leave. Which, he had one hundred percent done before.

Gendry had left her in those woods. Her mind whispered to her.

But, they also had a million good memories in them as well. She tried to remember that.

Lommy plopped down next to her, eyes all big and guilty looking. Arya sighed.

“Okay, please don’t be mad.”

Arya narrowed her eyes. “What did you do.”

Hot Pie appeared in the doorway to the patio, pushing out Gendry who was holding a cookie and looking thoroughly confused.

“Surprise.” Hot Pie said with a grimace. “Welcome to your intervention, you too.”

Gendry turned his full glare onto Hot Pie, who just shoved another cookie into his hand.

“Yeah, I’m out.” Arya stood, ready to leave when Gendry spoke.

“I’d actually like to talk to you, if you don’t mind.” His voice was soft, like he was attempting not to spook a caged animal. It made her want to hit him. “About the dance.”

She crossed her arms tightly over her chest, eyes narrowed. “What about it?”

“Well, I mean, you’re going to be blindfolded and I just think –”

“Wait, hold on.” Lommy cut in, looking at Arya. “You’re gonna be blindfolded?”

“Yeah.” Arya replied, still glaring at Gendry.

“In Syrio’s duet?”

“Yes, Lommy.” She practically yelled at him before turning back to Gendry. “It’s fine, Gendry, just drop it.”

With that she turned away, walking out of the patio and into the backyard, away from them.

Gendry, of course, master of not taking a hint, followed after her.

“We have to talk about this, Arya!”

“No,” She said through her teeth. “We don’t.”

“Look,” He grabbed her arm to stop her from walking further away from him – in a striking throwback to six years ago when she’d done a similar thing to him. “If it was just dancing, I still wouldn’t be comfortable, but I’d make it work. I have been making it work. But, this isn’t just dancing, Arya. This is trust, which, right now, we don’t have. I’ll pull out before I let you hurt yourself over this stupid fight.”

She ripped her arm out of his grasp. “This is the exact reason I don’t want to talk to you. It’s not a stupid fight, my feelings aren’t stupid – you are!”

“Enough!” Hot Pie yelled, moving from his spot on the patio and coming to stand between them. “I’m calling it in. Valar Morghulis or whatever.”

Arya looked at him with shock in her narrowed eyes at his outburst. “You’re serious? You’re calling it in for this?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, firm in his decision. “We all get it, Arya. What Gen did was not okay, but it’s been years. Either get over it and move on or Lommy and I are gonna stop hanging out with you two. For real.”

Arya turned to Lommy, who still sat on his seat in the patio with his arms crossed. He looked just as serious as Hot Pie and it hit her then that she hadn’t really cared about how her and Gendry’s stubbornness had affected their friends.

If Gendry – who they’d affectionately called a bull on more than one occasion when they were younger – could get over his stubbornness for her sake and the sake of their friends, well, then so could she.

“Uh, what is he talking about?”

Gendry looked more confused than ever. It made his stupid face look ever stupider.

Lommy rolled his eyes and answered before either Arya or Hot Pie had the chance. “‘Pie helped Sansa out in a pinch and Arya granted him one wish like a genie.”

Arya rolled her own eyes at his words, “It was not like that.” She looked back to Hot Pie. “Are you sure you want to use it on this?”

“Oh, I’m sure.”

Arya sighed, “Fine. Valar Dohaeris.”

Gendry looked between the two of them and the exchange of words he didn’t understand. “What’s happening here, exactly?”

She met his eyes and couldn’t stop her own from hardening on instinct. “It means… we can talk.” The words felt like glass in her mouth. “For the dance.”

His shoulder deflated and he looked at ease all of a sudden, his eyes all soft and gentle like they sometimes were when he looked at her. “Okay.”

“Hot Pie and Lommy – go inside.”

“What!” Lommy cried. “No way I’m missing this.”

Arya turned to send him a glare and Hot Pie rolled his eyes, turning to grab Lommy and drag him inside.

Gendry watched them go, turning back to face her, his mouth opened to speak, but Arya cut him off.

“Why didn’t you call me?” She looked up at him with steel in her eyes and her arms still crossed. “Answer my texts? Emails? Letters?”

Gendry deflated, liked whatever he was about to say, or expected her to say, hadn’t been that. He sighed, tiredly, running a hand through his already tousled hair.

“It was just… easier. Not to.”

Arya narrowed her gaze, both angered and confused by the statement. “What does that even mean?”

Gendry looked away from her, instead looking out into the woods, obviously remembering the significance they held.

“I didn’t mean to leave you like that.” He said, instead of clarifying on his earlier statement and answering her question. “I’m sorry.”

“So, what did you mean to do then, exactly? Because you literally dropped a bombshell on me and then just… walked away.” She was staring at him as he looked out into the woods, glaring intensely until he finally looked her way. “Then, you come waltzing back in like you didn’t ignore us for years. So, what the fuck, Gendry?”

He looked at her with big, sad, puppy eyes. She tried not to let the fact that he was letting his precious hard demeanor drop in front of her affect her glare, but it may have been slipping a little because of it.

“I’m sorry, I just…” He seemed frustrated at his loss of words, annoyed that he couldn’t easily get out what he was trying to say. “I don’t even know where to start.”

“Let’s start with the fact that as soon as Lommy and Hot Pie left us that day, you tell me that you’re switching studios because some lawyer told Tohbo that you suddenly had a mysterious sister willing to take you in. And then you left. Literally.”

“They didn’t give me a choice, Arya!” It was the first time he’d raised his voice to her in years. “You want to know all the secrets, here you go. That lawyer was Tyrion Lannister.” He waited a beat for that to sink in before barreling on. “Apparently Cersei forced him and his P.I. to look into Robert’s philandering and found out about me and Mya. I’m Robert Baratheon’s bastard, Arya.”

“Gendry –” She said softer than she had in years, but he cut her off.

“No, you wanted to know, so I’m letting you know.” His eyes were hard, but emotional, shining in the late afternoon sun, his jaw clenched in anger. “So, according to Tyrion, Cersei lost her shit and paid him to squash what he’d found. But, Tyrion’s got a soft spot for strays and told Renly about us. I guess Renly had already known about Mya, so did Robert, it was just Cersei that had never known. I was the surprise. After Robert died and his assets distributed, Renly sent Tyrion to find me. He’d already taken in Mya, what was one more Baratheon bastard, right?”

Arya didn’t say anything as she watched him angrily move in front of her.

“I didn’t want to go, Arya.” He stood a few paces back from her, too far to touch, eyes all pained and angry. “My mom died when I was a kid, Tohbo and Yoren and you and Hot Pie and Lommy were all I had. But they were my family and they were offering me a chance to know them. How could I not take that?”

“I’m not mad that you went with them, you idiot. I’m mad that you dropped us without a second thought!”

“I had to!” He yelled back. “You were my best friend, you and Lommy and Hot Pie. I knew that I had to go, that I’d never forgive myself if I didn’t, but you made me not want to. Don’t you understand that? You made me want to stay. I couldn’t… I couldn’t talk to you anymore or I’d want to come back.” He shrugged helplessly, eyes pleading. “I missed you as it was, I couldn’t even imagine hearing your voice and listening to you cry for me to come back. I would’ve, if you’d asked. I would’ve come back. And… I couldn’t. Not yet.”

“So you just… ignore us instead? And then waltz back in like nothing ever happened?” She pushed. “Why now?”

“Renly was going on his honeymoon with Loras and wanted me to take his spot in WBO’s upcoming season.” Arya looked at him in awe. Renly Baratheon – lead principal for literal years wanted her Gendry to replace him on the WBO stage? What the actual fuck? “I told him I wasn’t ready to do that, not by a long shot, so he sent me to KLDC while he was gone. Honestly, I didn’t know you’d be there. Last I knew, you were still training with Yoren.”

“He retired.”

“I know – now. But I didn’t when I first came.”

Arya thought back to the surprised look on his face at seeing her. And then remembered the look on his face as she punched him and walked away.

“When you got here, you didn’t even try.”

“You punched me in the face!”

Arya rolled her eyes, “Because I was mad at you, you idiot.”

“Yeah, well, I’m a stubborn asshole, remember? I took you punching me in the face and then ignoring me as a sign that you didn’t want to talk to me. And, honestly, it made me kind of not want to talk to you either.”

“I didn’t even hit you that hard.” She said obstinately.

Gendry snorted, a small smile peeking through. “Yeah, you kind of did.”

“I’m not saying you didn’t deserve it, but… I’m sorry.”

Gendry looked at her meaningfully, “Me too.”

“I don’t know if I can forgive you yet.” She managed to choke out in a small voice.

He nodded, “I get that.” He moved closer, not touching her but enough that she was forced to look up at him anyway. “I am really sorry though. I need you to know that. And I missed you a lot.”

She bit the inside of her lip, staring up at him with hard eyes. “I missed you too.” She ground out eventually.

____________________________

She was blindfolded.

They had been over the choreo a lot prior to this, Syrio had them run it extensively to prove their readiness. Apparently he was eager to perform this piece but not at their expense. Once Arya and Gendry had proven ready, he handed her the blindfold.

She could see just barely. Not much more than muted lights and a blob-like figure that she knew as Gendry. It’d take a second of off-timing and she’d hurt herself for sure.

She let out a breath.

She had to trust Gendry, this wouldn’t work if she didn’t.

She thought back to the words he muttered all those weeks ago when they first started partnering again. Even if you don’t trust me, at least trust that I’m a good enough dancer not to let you fall.

She did trust him – enough for this to work.

It had been two weeks since their forced intervention in Hot Pie’s backyard.

They’d slunk back inside after their talk and Hot Pie cooked them dinner. They still didn’t talk a lot, but it was easier to occupy the same space with each other after that. They were dancing better, too.

She wanted to talk to him. Wanted to tell him things or ask his opinion on something. She just didn’t feel comfortable yet, couldn’t remember how.

She eventually had stolen Lommy’s phone and took Gendry’s new number. She found texting him was easier – not that she even sent him anything extensive, mostly just notes and thoughts about the dances. It was still sort of stilted and awkward, but they were managing.

Currently, Gendry was standing behind her – heat radiating off his body – waiting for Syrio to start the music.

She willed herself not to be nervous, they could do this and it would be fine. Gendry would never drop her, never let her get hurt. That’s what made him such a good partner. Whatever personal shit they were still working through didn’t matter, she trusted him not to let her fall.

The music started – slow and eerie – and then they began to move.

Gendry guided her just as he had in rehearsal, hands confident and strong as they smoothed over her body, lifting her and twisting her to where she needed to go.

Arya breathed in and out, counted in her head, and just moved in time with him. They’d rehearsed this dance to death, and though they had both been nervous to do this with the blindfold, it was easier than either of them had anticipated.

Gendry placed her on the floor, holding himself over her in a push-up like position, leaning in to kiss her. She counted to five in her head, waiting to feel the heat of him leave her, before pushing up after him. She held that reach for a moment before lying back down and turning downstage to face the audience as she curled into a sleeping position.

Syrio cut the music and clapped twice, signaling the end. Arya sat up and pushed the cloth over her eyes up onto her head. Syrio had a pleased expression on his face and she let out a sigh of relief.

They’d done it. Now all they had to do was keep doing it.

_______________________________________

Arya and the class had just trudged out of their warm up with Jaqen when they were being herded into the big studio with Syrio. Normally they were given a five to get water and wipe the sweat off their brow before their class – seeing as Jaqen was a sadist and his warm ups were like death and all. But, today, they were being pushed right in without a moment to spare.

She caught Lommy’s eye and he shrugged, looking to Gendry who walked beside him. But, Gendry was looking at his phone with furrowed brows, not paying attention.

They walked in and stood in formation, waiting, as they’d been trained to do when Syrio had someone observing. Which, he did. He certainly fucking did.

Syrio stood in the front of the room, lounging against the mirrored walls near the speaker set up, chatting casually with Renly fucking Baratheon.

She cut a glance to Gendry who stood a few paces to her left. He looked stormy and annoyed, eyes downcast, shoulders hiked up by his ears – like he was attempting to make himself smaller from the company’s prying eyes.

So, clearly he didn’t have any idea that his famous uncle would be gracing them with his presence today. Maybe that’s what he’d been glaring at his phone about.

“Hello, my darlings. As you can see we have a visitor with us today. Mr. Baratheon has stopped by to see what we’ve been up to for our showcase. He’ll be observing rehearsal, so… make it count.” He winked at them with a smile Arya hated. “We’ll run through the list, set up for the top.”

Arya moved with the company, standing upstage center in the studio, wanting so badly to hear what Lommy and Gendry were furiously whispering about in the back of the group.

She tried to ignore the fact that the current prince of the dance world was watching them – arms crossed over his chest as he leaned back in his chair, a false casualness laying over him like a blanket. She could see through his blasé attitude, he was scouting. Now, whether he was here to see how Gendry had progressed in his absence or to assess the group that would inevitably be auditioning for the Westeros Ballet this summer, Arya couldn’t say. Maybe it was a mix of both. Either way, she tried to pretend he wasn’t there.

The music started and so did Arya. Wilkcommen wasn’t her favorite number, but she understood their decision to have it open the show. It was jazzy and fun, and it didn’t hurt that they managed to rope a Stark into the lead. As much as it made Arya want to heavily roll her eyes, the Stark name had clout in the industry.

They ran through the raunchy choreo and accompanying lyrics with ease – the rest of the company on their A-game with an actual celebrity watching them. They ran down the list pretty quickly, managing to get through it all without any slip-ups.

She noted Jaqen’s pleased expression during his jazzy-hip hop number and Renly’s impressed eyebrows as he tracked both her and Gendry moving across the floor together along with the other three in their group.

The impressed look didn’t leave Renly’s face as she and Gendry completed a few of their partner pieces. The super touchy contemporary piece Jaqen gave them was finally complete and showed off both their athleticism and their modern prowess. It read intimate and emotional, and not only because of all the touching. The way Renly stared at them after that piece made a knot form in her stomach.

Though, that look on Renly’s face was nothing compared to the one that appeared after she’d taken the blindfold off after the Sleeping Beauty dance.

Renly’s face looked awed and excited after watching it. She could blatantly see the wheels turning in his head as he looked at the two of them together. She could tell it bummed Lyra out hard, seeing as Renly’s face hadn’t changed from the passive pleasantness it’d been in during her duet with Gendry.

Gendry, on the other hand, refused to look up fully at his uncle or the other company members. Clearly he was not taking this famous relative thing well.

It was something she wanted to ask him about, because she was dying to know and had been since his return, but she felt like they weren’t close enough yet that she could ask him about it. It felt too personal, and after not speaking to him in the months he’d been back, she felt like maybe that first instinct had been correct. They’d only just started talking to one another without tired sighs and angry retorts; it was still fledging and new, she couldn’t rush their return to friendship by prying into his life no matter how badly she ached to.

After the finale number – a large group jazz-funk fusion piece choreographed by both Jaqen and Syrio with French lyrics – Renly stood and clapped with a large smile on his too-handsome face. They bowed to him, as they were instructed to do, before sitting on the marley floor – out of breath and sweating.

“Wow.” Renly smiled to both Syrio and Jaqen before turning that gaze to them. “Marvelous, truly. I haven’t seen this much raw talent in a company in years. Brava, you all.” He clapped and they all joined in clapping with him. “I truly can’t wait for the showcase.”

“Thank you, Renly for your kind words.” Syrio moved to where Renly stood, gently clapping a hand on his back. “And you, my darlings, are done for the day.”

Syrio then turned his back to them as Jaqen came over to whisper about them to Renly. The company took their time gathering the few things they’d brought into the studio with them, lingering, hoping for a chance to chat with celebrity dancer Renly Baratheon.

Arya was stalling for a different reason.

She didn’t really care about Renly Baratheon. She cared about Gendry, and Gendry looked both a furious storm of emotion and uncomfortable middle schooler.

She was standing beside Lommy, who was standing beside Gendry, who was ignoring the both of them and packing up the backpack he’d brought in with him.

“Dude, are you alright?” Lommy chanced, shooting a look at Arya as he said it, like she’d back him up if it came to blows. “You look like you’re gonna throw up and punch a wall.”

Gendry rolled his eyes, aggressively hauling the duct-taped strap of his shit backpack up onto his shoulder. “I’m fine.” He said in a tone that always indicated that he wasn’t. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

He made to move past them, shoulders to his ears and head bowed. They looked at each other before sighing and following behind him. They didn’t make it far before Renly’s voice stopped them.

“Gen!”

Arya looked over to see Renly politely side-stepping Syrio and Jaqen and making his way over to where they stood. Most of the company had cleared out, finally realizing that they weren’t going to be praised by Renly, though a few stranglers gathered by the studio doors.

“What are you doing here?” Gendry asked as Renly approached with that too-charming smile of his. “Shouldn’t you be in rehearsals?”

Renly waved his hand like that didn’t matter – which, to someone like Renly Baratheon, it probably didn’t.

“I haven’t seen you since Loras and I got back. I missed you.” He smiled dropping a hand to Gendry’s shoulder and squeezing gently. “Besides, I wanted to see how you were doing here. Forel and H’ghar are some of the best, I wanted to see what kind of shape they’d whipped you into.”

Gendry rolled his eyes but didn’t shrug off Renly’s hand. “I’m doing fine, Ren.”

“So Mya tells me.” He turned his gaze to where her and Lommy stood off to the side, not wanting to interrupt their family moment – also not sure of how to, either. “And you two, fantastic work today.”

Lommy flushed under the praise and Arya ducked her head in a modest thank you.

“This is Lommy and… Arya.”

She looked up into the gaze he was avoiding and tried to see if she’d imagined the slight pause he’d taken before her name. By the look Renly shot Gendry – who was looking anywhere but the two of them – she hadn’t.

“So we’re just missing Hot Pie, correct?” He turned to look at them more appraisingly. “You’re Gendry’s childhood friends.”

“Yeah.” Lommy smiled, always the first to respond. “That would be us.”

Renly nodded, eyes travelling both of their faces extensively. “Well, Gendry often spoke about you three. It’s nice to finally meet you in person.”

His gaze had been on her when he finished that sentence, so Arya felt compelled to speak. “It’s nice to meet you too. Although,” Renly raised a brow and both Gendry and Lommy turned to see what she was saying. “I don’t know if I can completely forgive you for taking him away from us.”

She had no idea why she was saying anything about it at all. Her and Gendry hadn’t really even dived into it besides their intervention in Hot Pie’s backyard a few weeks ago. Now he was looking at her with those stupid puppy dog eyes and it made her want to punch him and herself.

Renly barked out a laugh, eyes shining and brow raised at her own raised brow. “Oh, I like you. So like your mother.”

Arya felt like he’d thrown a glass of cold water on her. She knew her face looked the same and she could see Gendry glaring daggers at his uncle out of the corner of her eye. “You knew my mother?”

“Of course I knew your mother. Your aunt was engaged to my brother, remember? I spent a lot of time with your family when I was young.” He smiled at her kindly. “And Sansa is my sister-in-law’s best friend. Though, if I’m being completely honest, no matter how much your sister looks like Cat or acts like she had, you remind me of her the most.”

No one had ever said that to her in her life.

Sansa was Catelyn’s mini-me, always had been. From their red hair and Tully blues, to their prim and proper attitudes – though, Sansa hadn’t really acted like that since she’d been a preteen. Everyone always told her how much she reminded them of Lyanna or even Ned, she’d never been compared to her mother before.

It sort of made her want to cry.

She pushed through that impulse and instead said, “Everyone just always tell me that I remind them of Lyanna. No one’s ever said I remind them of my mom.”

Renly nodded, now sensing that he’d hit a cord and continued on in a gentler tone. “Well, you do obviously remind me of Lyanna. I mean, gods, you look so much like her, but there was a side of Cat from when she was young and in love that you just… have.”

Arya held his gaze until the softness in his blue eyes became too much and she had to pull away.

“Do you want to go grab something to eat?”

Gendry’s voice pulled her out of the moment and when she looked up, she could see that he had directed the question at his uncle. He was clearly uncomfortable with the situation, hands clasped tightly on the broken straps of his ratty backpack.

“I could eat.” Renly supplied with a smile. “Let’s call Loras and Mya on our way, see if they’d like to join us.” He turned back to her and Lommy, “It was a pleasure to meet both of you. I hope to see you again soon.”

“You too.” Lommy smiled all big and wide, waving as Renly turned with Gendry and walked out of the studio.

Arya waiting until they were gone before sighing and letting her shoulders drop. “Well, that wasn’t emotionally draining at all.”

Lommy dropped an arm over her shoulders, “Mona’s?”

Arya just nodded. “Sure.”

_______________________________________

About a week later, Arya got an email.

From Renly Baratheon.

How Renly Baratheon had gotten ahold of her email, Arya didn’t know. Though, on further reflection, she realized from Sansa most likely.

Apparently Loras was filming a new music video and Renly had been so impressed with her performances the day he’d stopped in to watch, and emotionally cripple her, that he was offering her a role in the video.

Well, shit. Okay.

It wasn’t like she’d never been in music videos before. She’d been in more than a few of her parents’ and her brothers’ and Sansa’s. But this was Renly Baratheon who’d seen her dance and plucked her out of the group, not because of her family.

Well, maybe a little bit because of her family, but mostly because of just her.

Four days after the email, Arya found herself at a sound stage downtown. Renly had sent her an I.D. number in the email and a parking pass for the lot, security let her in without question. Hair and makeup call-time was at noon, but because Arya was the daughter and sibling of famous people, she knew to be there prior to the actual call-time.

She was busy perusing the catering spread when Lommy bounded over to her in excitement, a fluffy white robe, and a lot of product in his curly blonde hair. “Arya! Can you even get over how cool this is?”

“Lommy? What the hell are you doing here?” She asked in confusion. “And why do you look so much like Loras Tyrell?”

“Didn’t Gendry tell you?”

Arya sent him a flat look. “Gendry doesn’t tell me anything and I return the favor. We’re still… whatever we are.”

Lommy rolled his eyes, “Right, I forgot that you two were still doing the whole we’re not obsessed with each other bit. We’re in the video.”

Arya ignored his comment and rolled her eyes. “Who’s in the video?”

He looked at her like she was purposefully being obtuse. “We’re in the video. Like the three of us and some other girl.”

Arya sighed, dejectedly picking up a pastry and shoving it in her mouth. “Well, I didn’t know that.”

Lommy rolled his eye again and shoved her shoulder. “Stop being drama. We still got chosen to be in a Loras Tyrell video. Knight of Flowers won a Grammy, Arya. A Grammy.”

“Sometimes I think you forget who I’m related to.”

“You’re not taking this away from me.” Lommy grabbed the pastry out of her hand and stalked away, leaving Arya to stare after him.

“Hey.” She turned to find Gendry, also in a fluffy white robe and a lot of product in his hair.

“You look like Renly.” She couldn’t stop herself from saying as she looked him over – trying really hard not to stare at his exposed collarbones.

He rolled his blue eyes – they looked really blue, was he wearing eyeliner? “I always look like Renly.”

She looked at him skeptically. “Yeah, but not this much.” She grabbed a handful of grapes before turning back to where he was still standing. “So, how come you didn’t mention we’d all be doing this together? I’ve seen you like eight times since Renly emailed me about this.”

He shrugged an unfairly broad shoulder. “It never came up.”

Arya just shook her head at him, a small, miniscule smile playing at her lips. “You’re ridiculous.”

“Stark!” A redheaded P.A. yelled out. “Arya Stark.”

“Guess that’s my cue.” She popped the last of her grapes into her mouth, moving away from the catering table and to where the P.A. stood. “Do we know what we’re doing for this video?”

Gendry shrugged, “Not a clue.”

“You’re so unhelpful.”

“Tell me something I don’t know, Stark.”

Arya smirked at him before turning fully and walking over to the P.A. – Ros – was waiting to take her to hair and makeup.

She eyed the clothing racks – or lack thereof – as she sat in the chair Ros had pointed to. The makeup artist – Genna – began as the hair dresser – Myrah – brushed out her long hair. She’d have to cut it soon, before the showcase, it struck her how little she actually cared about it.

Genna and Myrah were talking to one another, sipping Starbucks and laughing about people and things Arya didn’t know. She just closed her eyes and let them work, moving and turning where they wanted her. They asked her a few questions and included her sometimes, but Arya was content to just sit and listen.

Once they were finished and Arya looked at herself in the mirror, she felt like she had more of an idea of how this video was going to go.

They’d given her a subtle wet smoky-eye that gave her a sexy vibe without it really looking like she was wearing anything at all, her hair was also made to look wet without it actually being wet. And, if what she’d seen hanging on the garment racks was for them, they were to be in underwear and most likely hosed down with oil.

She wandered over to where Gendry and Lommy sat on their phones, hands tucked into the pockets of her black sweatpants.

Lommy looked up first, doing a double take of her ensemble and hair, snorting as she walked closer to them. Gendry looked up at the snort and couldn’t seem to stop running his gaze over her face and hair.

“Wow.” Lommy chuckled. “You’re giving me real 8 Mile vibes right now.”

He gestured toward her sultry hair and makeup and sweatpants and plaid-shirt combo. The plaid shirt was Rickon’s, so it was only slightly bigger than her frame and she’d worn it for the snap buttons. If there was one thing she’d learned about arriving somewhere they were doing your hair and makeup, it was to wear something that didn’t need to be pulled over your head. If it made her look like a hobo, so be it.

“Yeah, yeah, yuck it up all you want, Greenhands, but this thing comes off in a flash.”

She pretended not to notice Gendry’s eyes darken a bit at that. It was only polite.

“You look like you just got off your shift at Littlefinger’s.”

Arya rolled her eyes with an annoyed look. “That’s not even funny.”

“It’s a little funny.” Lommy shrugged.

“Most girls are working in dives like that to pay their rent or feed their kids. It’s not funny.”

“Yeah,” Lommy countered. “And some girls work in dives like that to fuel their drug habit.”

“My mom worked in a dive like that.”

It came out of nowhere and shocked both Lommy and Arya enough that whatever retorts they’d both lined up in this ridiculous conversation died on their tongues. They stared at Gendry, who looked shockingly caviler about the whole thing, especially considering neither of them had ever heard him talk about his mother.

Not ever.

“She did?” Lommy asked, seemingly recovering first and finding his voice.

Gendry shrugged like it was no big deal. “Yeah. She tended bar. Not sure what else she did, but I can guess. Probably how I came to be and all.”

“Wow.” Was all that Lommy seemed to manage, very clearly uncomfortable but trying not to show it.

“You remember that?” Arya asked quietly.

Gendry shrugged a little again, still oddly calm about the whole thing. “Kind of. I was seven when she died and after that Foster Care placed me with Tobho, but I remember a little.”

Arya opened her mouth – she had no idea what she was about to say, literally hadn’t the foggiest – when Lyra appeared next to them with a smug smile and a sharpness in her brown eyes that made Arya keenly aware that she wasn’t as nice as she let on.

“Hey guys! Oh my gosh, isn’t this so exciting?” She smiled that annoyingly beautiful smile and stared up at Gendry instead of her and Lommy.

“Yeah, thrilling.” Lommy rolled his eyes at her lack of interest in the two of them whenever Gendry was around.

Ros appeared next to them, clipboard in hand. “Are you Lyra McKenna?”

“Yes.” Lyra turned that charismatic smile to Ros, who – much to Arya’s silent delight – didn’t return it or look fazed at all.

“Great. You’re wanted in hair and makeup.”

With that Ros turned and trotted back to the little hair and makeup station, Lyra following behind her quickly, long blonde hair flowing in her wake. Arya had the deep urge to cut it all off.

“God, she’s so annoying.” Lommy rolled his eyes and went back to his phone.

Arya turned back to the two of them and nodded. “She makes me want to be really mean.”

Gendry shrugged, “She’s not my favorite, but she’s not the worst.” Both Arya and Lommy sent each other a look that Gendry noticed. “What?”

“That’s because she’s in love with you, you moron.” Arya narrowed her eyes at him, like that might drill in his stupidity.

“No she’s not.”

Lommy put down his phone and turned in his chair to face him. “Babycakes, I love you, but you’re a moron.”

“I am not!” He pouted. “She’s not in love with me, we just partner a lot.”

Lommy patted him on the shoulder sympathetically, like one would a lost cause. Arya leaned forward and ripped the parfait he’d been eating out of his hands.

“Morons don’t get parfait.” She said as she took a bite and sent him an obviously fake apologetic grin.

“You two are assholes.” Gendry crossed his arms over his chest and slumped in his chair.

“Who’s an asshole?”

Loras appeared before them with his handsome face, and charming smile, and ridiculously expensive coat. Gendry pointed at them before anyone else could speak.

“These two.” He lingered his point on Arya. “She stole my parfait.”

Arya rolled her eyes and turned to look at Loras. “Morons don’t get parfaits.”

Loras laughed out loud, eyes crinkling and blonde curls bouncing. “Oh, I’ve missed you Arya.”

He opened his arms for an embrace and she went willingly, letting him smush her and rock her side to side before releasing her. “Yeah, yeah, sure you have.”

“Why don’t you ever come out with the three of us anymore?”

Arya took a spoonful of her stolen parfait. “Um, because you got secret married and then went on an extended honeymoon? Also, every time you guys go out, I have rehearsal or a show, or you’re out of the country and meet up in Vienna or some shit. As much as I love you two and my sister, I’m not flying to Vienna for the night to get trashed with you three and then fly home the next day still drunk.”

Loras scoffed. “We’d have brunch first before flying home, we’re not animals, Arya.”

Lommy looked between them, shaking his head. “What is your life?”

They looked back at the two of them, Loras leaning over to embrace Gendry. “Hey Gen. I miss you, when are you coming to stay with us again? Mya’s over all the time.”

Gendry rolled his eyes and gently pushed Loras off of him. “Stop trying to guilt trip me. I literally saw Renly last week and I saw Mya this morning, because I live with her.”

“You still didn’t answer my question.” Loras looked down at him pointedly, and Arya was struck by how much he looked like Margaery when he did that.

Gendry huffed over dramatically. “Fine, I’ll be by for dinner this week.”

Loras looked instantly pleased, like this was his goal all along. “Fantastic!” He then turned to Lommy and smiled down at him, hand extended. “I’m Loras, it’s nice to meet you in person, Lommy. Gendry’s spoken so much about you over the years. And thank you for being in the video.”

Lommy was up instantly, shaking Loras’ hand and smiling exuberantly. “Hey! It’s no problem at all, excited to be here.”

Loras stepped back and looked between them all for a moment. “Are we missing someone?”

Arya bit the inside of her cheek to keep from cracking an epic smile at that Lyra-based burn.

“Yeah,” Gendry gestured toward the makeup station. “Lyra, but she’s in hair, I think.”

“Alright, let’s relocate over there so I can run through everything with you all about the video.”

They followed him over to the hair and makeup table, watching as he introduced himself to Lyra, watched the stars form in her eyes as she gushed over him and his music, watched Loras politely thank her before moving on.

“Okay, so here’s the deal.” Loras leaned against the table, making sure they were all listening as Genna and Myrah continued on Lyra’s hair and makeup. “I’m actually directing this video, and it was a conscious choice not to be in it. It’s the first video off of the new album and I wanted to do something really… attention grabbing, let’s say.” He bit back a smirk and Arya stuffed more of Gendry’s parfait in her mouth to keep from sighing with dread. “We’ve had problems with hacks in the past, which is why we didn’t email any of you the synopsis. But, Gendry and Lommy, you two are actually representing Renly and I. We’re going to film you both separately a few times, then film you together. Arya and Lyra, you’ll come in and out when we need you. I’ll have Ros come get you in a few to do some test shots.”

With that, Loras pats Gendry on the shoulder before stalking off and leaving them alone.

“Guess that’s why they had us memorize the song all week, yeah?” Lommy shrugged.

“Guess so.” Gendry said as he plucked the parfait out of Arya’s hands and began to eat it again. Arya didn’t react, she just grabbed the water bottle he had placed on the chair and took a sip.

Lyra eyed them and their behavior. “You two seem… close these days.”

Lommy rolled his eyes. “You should’ve seen them in the old days.”

Her brows furrowed, “You two knew each other before Forel’s?”

Gendry nodded at the same time as Arya responded with a bored, “Yup.”

“Oh.” Was Lyra’s response. Genna and Myrah letting her up from the chair and swinging around to dust some translucent powder on Gendry and Lommy’s faces. “I wouldn’t have known.”

Arya shrugged, “Gendry’s not really into the whole public private life and neither am I.”

Ros appeared, herding both her and Lyra over to the racks on, leaving Gendry and Lommy being powdered by Genna.

“Okay…” Ros ran her pretty eyes over the racks, handing them both something from the pile with their names. “Changing room is through there, come back out when you’re done so we can run them by Loras and Finnian. Robes are in there if you’d like them.”

She shooed them into the changing room and talking quickly into her walkie-talkie as she waited for them outside of it. Arya went in and hung the hanger – which had very little clothing on it – on the hook on the wall and pulled the snaps of her plaid shirt easily.

“Oh, that’s smart. I should’ve worn a shirt like that.”

Arya looked over at Lyra, who seemed unsure of how to remove her oversized sweater without ruining her hair. Arya kind of didn’t want to help her, but she wasn’t that much of a bitch, so she went over to see what they could do.

“Yeah, just a trick I learned when I was younger.” She tested the pull of the neck of her sweater and began stretching it over Lyra’s slim shoulders. “You’re probably just going to have to tug this down and step out of it.”

Lyra nodded, helping Arya shimmy her sweater down her small body. “Good thing I didn’t wear some tight t-shirt.”

“Yeah, good thing.” Arya tried to keep the sarcasm out of her voice, but she wasn’t sure if she succeeded or not. She helped Lyra step out of the sweater and then moved back over to her lingerie to get dressed.

“Oh my god.” Lyra gasped. “This is La Perla. This bra is literally six hundred dollars.”

Arya looked at the black bra and matching underwear in her hands. Six hundred dollars seemed a bit excessive for this little fabric.

“Who’d want a six-hundred-dollar bra?”

“I think I might be dead.” Lyra said as she gently stroked the black floral embroidered lace.

Arya just shrugged off her plaid shirt and undid her completely normal twenty-dollar black bra, dropping them on the floor and putting on the uncomfortable, six-hundred-dollar one instead.

It was a v-bra, black trim, and black leavers lace over a flesh-tone cup to give the appearance of her being nude without the fear of her nipples peeking through. The v-bra made her cleavage look insane and she wondered if this was appropriate for a music video. She slipped off her sweats and her own underwear before putting on the black bikini-cuts they’d been given.

She looked at herself in the mirror and was struck by how really naked she looked. It was similar to what she’d wear at the beach, just a tad more revealing, but in this fabric it felt even more… intimate.

Arya turned to find Lyra hooking on her bra, her own bikini-cut underwear already on. Lyra looked like she was supposed to be modeling too-expensive underwear. She had the perfect build for it. Arya, on the other hand, now felt instantly uncomfortable with her body – which, was something she hadn’t been use to in a long time.

Lyra had a similar body to that of her sister, only so much shorter. Sansa was tall and willowy and reminded Arya of old runway models. Her breasts were small but bouncy, her ass just round enough to grab, her body a long plank. Lyra looked like that, all petite and tiny and doll-like.

Arya had been small like that too, when she was young. Although, back then, she hadn’t grown into her beauty and she’d looked like one of her brothers. But puberty and hormones had hit her like a smack in the face. She’d grown to be almost as tall as her sister, with bigger breasts and a bigger ass, lean but strong, and no longer petite and boyish.

Lyra looked her over and Arya was shocked to see her face fall just slightly. Neither of them said anything as they exited the changing room, robes in their hands. Ros gave them a once over, nodding before gesturing them to follow her out of the large room with the hair and makeup station and the catering, and instead through a door that lead to the actual sound stage.

Loras and, who Arya could only assume was Finnian, were talking to Gendry and Lommy, giving them some type of direction. Gendry saw them approach first and his face instantly flushed as his eyes ran over them.

“Hey, here’s the looks you chose. Want me to snap it or have them change?”

Loras and Finnian turned around to inspect them. Finnian was around Loras and Renly’s age and had the look of a fashion designer. He ran an inspective gaze over them, asking them to turn which way and that before nodding to Loras.

“I like it. I think first pick was the best pick, in my opinion.”

Loras nodded, “I agree.” He turned to gesture at Gendry and Lommy. “You two take off your robes and then girls go stand beside them. Arya beside Gendry and Lyra beside Lommy.”

Arya dropped her robe and went to stand beside Gendry, who was dropping his own and showing off his ridiculous body in the smallest, snuggest pair of black boxer-briefs she’d ever seen.

She could feel the heat radiating off of his body and she tried not to let it show on her face how much it was affecting her.

Loras, Finnian, and Ros all looked at them with narrowed eyes for a few moments before ultimately nodding.

He turned back to Ros. “Snap it.”

“Loras,” Arya couldn’t stop herself from pointing out the obvious – something she did when she was uncomfortable. “Are you sure this isn’t going to earn you a triple-x rating?” She jokingly chuckled and gestured to her prominent cleavage.

Loras and Finnian then stared intently at her chest, looking at it, each other, and Lyra’s. Loras shrugged, “I don’t know, you’re asking the wrong sexuality here.” He gestured to both him and Finnian. “But, I think it looks fine? Doesn’t bother me.”

Finnian shrugged, “I mean, it’s ample.” Gendry made a choking sound beside her. “But, I’m not bothered by it.”

Loras turned to Gendry then, a gleam in his eyes that Arya recognized as mischief.  “Gen, you’re straight. Look at Arya and tell us if her cleavage is inappropriate.”

Gendry immediately shook his head. “No, I’m not going to do that. This seems like a trap.”

Loras shrugged, “I think it’s fine. Ros, snap it.”

Ros grabbed a polaroid from the table behind them and began snapping pictures. She took a dozen before placing them and the camera down on the table and speaking quickly into her walkie. A group of people, Genna and Myrah amongst them, began oiling them down.

Of fucking course they were being oiled down. Why not? Now she had to stare at Gendry’s ridiculous muscles gleam under the studio lights.

Arya and Lyra went to sit in folding chairs behind the camera once they were done being slicked down. She didn’t even bother trying to not stare at Gendry. His broad shoulders and abdominals were enough to make even the ladies of Littlefinger’s establishments blush.

The worst part? He seemed sort of unaware of his attractiveness.

It was odd seeing him in an environment like this. Most of the time at dance, it was like Gendry forgot who he was and what he looked like. But here? His shoulders reached his ears and his head ducked down, like he was attempting to make himself smaller somehow.

“Let’s start with Lommy.” Loras gestured Gendry to go sit, so he sidled up and sat in the open chair beside her, not Lyra, and she tried not to feel anything about that. “We’re just gonna run though the song, Lommy. Sing along, look into camera, off camera, do what feels natural. I’ll yell things to you if I need to.”

“Sounds good.” Lommy nodded in a completely professional manner that Syrio and Jaqen had drilled into them but Arya sometimes forgot Lommy had. Mostly because Lommy was the single most dramatic person she’d ever met.

Finnian – who Arya now realized was the other director – yelled for quiet on the set. Ros pulled down the band of his boxer-briefs so low that on camera it would appear that he was naked, once she was done, she stood beside Lommy with a clapboard, marking, then Loras yelled action.

They watched Lommy lip-sing through the song three times, each one a bit more sultry than the last. He looked directly into camera, away from camera, turned his body in a slow circle. Arya had to admit, Lommy looked good. Maybe he should go into modeling if strictly dancing didn’t pan out.

She looked over when she felt Gendry shift beside her sometime during the second take. He’d slumped down in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, making his biceps bulge and making her want to scoop her eyes out with a spoon.

She texted him, as to not disturb the take. you look super murdery. change your face.

He grabbed the vibrating phone from where it sat in the abandoned robe on the floor next to him. He read the text with furrowed brows before making a face at her that perfectly captured the seriously? he would’ve said aloud if they weren’t supposed to be quiet.

Arya just shrugged and turned back to Lommy.

At the end of the last take Finnian yelled cut and they let Lommy switch places with Gendry. He looked even more uncomfortable than he had before, but got up anyway and stood on the same mark Lommy just vacated.

Ros came over and pulled down the band of his underwear the same way she had to Lommy’s, gesturing for Genna to come oil him some more. Which… was even worse to watch a second time.

Arya could tell he was still uncomfortable, as could Lommy, but as soon as Ros marked, before Finnian even yelled action, he suddenly changed.

Gone were the shoulders up to his ears and his downcast eyes. Gendry took in front of the camera literally smoldering. His head was tilted down just so, making him look at the camera through his lashes, his mouth forming lazily around the opening lyrics. Confidence overflowed where once there was discomfort and it was literally making Arya wet.

Like, actually.

And she was one hundred percent certain that literally everyone else in the studio was swooning too. She couldn’t even look away to confirm, but Lommy eventually sighed out – “What the hell.” – and that pretty much summed it up.

Loras did a few takes, though Arya had no idea how he was being so professional when all she wanted to do was rub herself all over Gendry like an animal in heat. Maybe Renly looked at Loras like that enough that the glamour of it had worn off, because he seemed to be the only one unaffected.

Lommy was literally fanning himself and he’d gone on record more than once stating Gendry wasn’t even his type. Lyra was wide-eyed and blushing as she stared at him. Finnan was moving subconsciously along with whatever Gendry was doing, even the seemingly unshakable Ros was nodding along.

If they weren’t careful, the way Gendry was looking at the camera with this too-blue eyes and gently swaying his ridiculous body might incite an actual riot.

After the couple takes of Gendry solo, Loras called Lommy up to stand next to him and for Arya and Lyra to stand just off-stage of the camera. They did look strikingly similar to Loras and Renly. Not enough that Arya could call them doppelgängers, but enough that she was certain people would be able to tell who they were supposed to be interpretations of.

Ros came over and tugged Lommy’s underwear back down so it wouldn’t be seen on camera, as Genna and Myrah double checked her and Lyra’s hair, and Loras listened to Finnian’s whispered notes as he gestured to the paper in his hands.

“Okay, pow-wow moment.” Loras moved from his spot behind the camera, coming toward them. “Because of the message of the song and the content, I’d really like to get some kissing going on, if that’s alright with you all.”

Gendry and Lommy looked at each other, neither looking particularly uncomfortable with that notion, before Gendry snuck a peek at her. “Uh, who, exactly, do you want to kiss?”

“Well, you two.” Loras pointed at him and Lommy. “If you’re comfortable with it. And then you’ll each kiss one of the girls, and then the girls will kiss each other.”

Lyra perked up at the mention of one of the boys kissing her, but then looked a little scandalized when Loras asked for the two of them to kiss. “You want Arya and I to kiss?”

Loras raised a brow at her, “Ideally, yes.”

“It’s fine.” Arya spoke up, not even looking in Lyra’s direction. They were on a job, a real job in the real world, she wasn’t about to let Lyra get comfortable and make a fool of herself. “Right, Lyra?”

The blonde looked at her with wide eyes for a split second before turning to Loras and nodding enthusiastically. “All good!”

“Great.” Loras smiled. “So we’ll run through the song again, you two hold hands but otherwise do what feels natural. I’ll yell for Arya and Lyra to enter, you two will cozy up to your boy, Gen and Lommy will kiss, you’ll kiss your girl, then girls will kiss. After that you’ll grab your boy’s hand and you’ll all stand staring at camera. Got it?” When they all nodded, Loras did as well. “Good.”

Before he could say anything else, Gendry stuck his hand out. “Wait.” Loras turned around to face him, brows raised in question. “Can I just –” He looked to where Arya was still standing next to him and lowered his voice. “Are you okay with this?”

She felt her chest warm a little at his thoughtfulness and the sincerity in his eyes. She had no doubt that if she told him that she wasn’t okay that he’d ask to switch girls. But the thought of Lyra getting her mitts on him made a stab of anger shiver through her.

So, she gently rolled her eyes and looked up at him with the same amount of earnest sincerity he’d given her. “It’s fine.”

He held her gaze for a moment before nodding and turning back to Lommy, who was looking at them with an eyebrow raised in question. “Can I kiss you quick?”

Lommy shrugged all nonchalant, “Sure.”

Gendry snorted, smiling as he leaned in kissing Lommy on the lips. They held it for a moment before pulling apart and now it was Lommy’s turn to give a little chuckle.

“God, you’re so straight.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”

Lommy laid a hand on Gendry’s oiled, and well-defined, bicep. “Oh, baby, you’ll never know how much.”

Gendry rolled his eyes as Loras smirked from where he stood behind the camera with Finnian. “Okay, you fools, let’s get this party going.”

Arya and Lyra moved to their designated spots off camera and watched and Gendry and Lommy moved through the song. They looked great together; playing off each other, singing to one another, eyeing the camera then themselves.

Loras yelled out for her and Lyra to enter the frame. Arya didn’t look at anything but Gendry, ignoring the lights, the camera, Loras and Finnian, even Lyra and Lommy. She stalked forward with only Gendry in her gaze. She tried really hard not to think about how easy it was to do so.

He wasn’t looking at her, instead looking at Lommy. But, as soon as her hands touched his shoulder, her fingers dancing over the smooth skin of his collarbone, his eyes closed and his head tilted back just so.

Finnian called out for Lommy and Gendry to kiss, which they did while Arya and Lyra touched them intimately around their shoulders. The two of them kissed easily and naturally, like people who had done it a million times before.

Then Loras yelled for them to kiss the girls and Arya couldn’t resist; if asked later, she’d say that she didn’t know what had come over her, but even she knew that would be a lie.

She smoothed her hand up his neck, grasping him and turning him away from Lommy and to her. Pulling him down more to her height. There was a moment before he descended fully to claim her mouth that they just stared at each other.

Blue met grey and something unspoken passed between them in that moment.

Arya was notoriously bad at reading the emotion swirling in his eyes, even now she couldn’t seem to comprehend what he was attempting to tell her with his gaze. But, he must’ve been able to find something in hers, because the storm-cloud color of his eyes darkened in a way it hadn’t ever before as they met each other half way.

Her hand was still gripping the back of his neck, thumb tucked around a curl, as their lips met. It didn’t feel like how he’d kissed Lommy, though she couldn’t be certain of how it looked to the camera. It felt… real and powerful, for lack of a better word.

He kissed her like he was coming up for air. Like he was putting on an old beloved sweater for the first time in years. He kissed her like he meant it.

Eventually, Loras called out for the girls to kiss and Arya had to rip herself away from Gendry’s warmth and step in front of him to meet Lyra.

She gripped Lyra quickly and tightly, as to ground her and take control of the situation that clearly slightly unnerved the blonde. She kissed Lyra with intent, one hand in her blonde hair, another on her exposed hip. Lyra ran her hands over Arya’s lower back and hips, leaning into it fully.

Good. Arya thought, proud of her.

Finnian yelled out for them to separate and go back to their spots beside the boys. Arya grasped Gendry’s hand as soon as she stood beside him; she tried to ignore how large his hand felt in hers, how warm. She’d had those hands all over her body before, they’d been partnering for months now, she knew those hands even more than she had before he’d left. There was no reason to get swoony over them now, but the gentle hand holding was doing something to her she couldn’t describe.

Loras yelled cut and Arya dropped Gendry’s hand like it’d burned her. She didn’t look at him.

They had to run the scene three more times before Loras and Finnian seemed to be satisfied.

Kissing Gendry those three more times was a unique type of torture. She was becoming familiar with the way his lips felt pressed against hers, with the tendons in his neck, the slight tremor than ran down his spine when her fingers gripped his hair.

These were things she didn’t expect to know – or, if she was being completely honest with that deep, down, part of herself, they were things she’d hadn’t expected to know yet.

Now, here she was. Aware of the strength in his hands and how gentle they were when they made contact with her body. Now she knew how he’d let her take control of their kisses and how he’d let her move him the way she wanted.

She felt raw, in a way, stripped bare a bit.

She joked and smiled with Loras and Finnian and the crew after he’d pronounced shooting done, the way she’d been taught by Jaqen. Schooled her face and desires and emotions into something professional and smooth.

She wondered if he could see through the mask she wore, but looking at Gendry now would cause a crack that she couldn’t afford, so she didn’t.

She wiped herself down and got redressed in her clothes. She thanked everyone in the crew personally before she left and didn’t say a word to Lommy or Gendry except goodbye.

She didn’t know what to do with all the new information she’d acquired about Gendry. She had no idea where they stood prior to this shoot and after was even more complicated.

She was aware that he probably liked her in that more than a friend sort of way, but the not knowing for sure was too daunting to touch. They were fragile right now, teetering between the frigid anger from months ago and this tightrope of new found friendship. She wouldn’t be the one to cross first, not with the way she’d reacted to his return, not with the way she still felt about his leaving.

So, she’d wait.

_______________________________

She looked at herself in the mirror, the stylist standing behind her, waiting.

Arya reached up to tousle her newly shorn locks. Sansa was chirping to the stylist and Arya couldn’t bring herself to listen.

She’d cut her hair.

She hadn’t cut her hair since before Gendry left.

Shaking it out and watching the way it bounced about her neck and shoulders, she realized that she loved it.

It almost felt like it was easier to breathe now, she felt more herself than she had in a long time.

Sansa cooed about it for the rest of the morning they spent together before Arya’s dress rehearsal. Her sister kept snapping photos and tousling it with her hands. Arya appreciated her sister’s softness and kindness, it made her feel strong and bold and loved, but it was also unnecessary.

She wanted to cut her hair, needed to, she realized. She wasn’t worried about what anyone else thought – especially since she got approval to do so from Syrio and Jaqen. Though she might not be worried about anyone’s reactions, she was still interested to see some of them.

Namely, Gendry’s.

She hadn’t told him she was chopping off her hair. She’d told Lommy, but she doubted he’d tell Gendry in casual conversation.

She left Sansa around lunch time and made her way to the studio. Today was their last rehearsal before the showcase. She wasn’t nervous, not really. She’d been featured in their showcases before, she’d performed in front of crowds much bigger and crowds much smaller but filled with important people. She wasn’t nervous, but she was a little on edge.

Performing like she was with Gendry in front of all the right industry professionals could be dangerous. If they liked what they saw, she could be stuck partnering with Gendry professionally.

Would that be so bad?

That stopped her in her tracks.

Would it? Be so bad to work with Gendry professionally, for a long time?

Not really. Not anymore.

It had been her dream as a child, to dance with him every day on big stages with choreographers that mattered. Why was she bulking at the idea now?

She knew that it had stemmed from her attitude in his absence, but now he was back and they were on the mend and she sort of had these feelings for him. So, why would that be such a bad thing now?

She supposed the feelings where the thing that was holding her back these days.  

Ugh, feelings were the worst.

She sidled into the studio, ignoring the looks that the junior company threw her way and smiling absently at the pleasantries the people in her own company hollered at her down the hall.

She was just about to throw her bag into her cubby and rip off her outer layer of clothing when Lyra bounded up to her – all bouncing blonde hair and excitement.

“Arya!” She gushed, immediately in Arya’s personal space, touching the new length of her hair. “Oh my god, I love it! Did you just get it done today?”

“Uh, yeah.” Arya replied, brows a bit furrowed at Lyra’s closeness and reaction.

“I’m obsessed.” Lyra smiled all bright and perfect – jeez.

“Thanks?”

“Arya fucking Stark.” Lommy stomped over to her with his mouth agape and narrowed eyes, pushing Lyra out of the way. “Why didn’t you send me a picture?”

Arya rolled her eyes and hip-checked Lommy out of her way and began stripping off her sweats. “You’re looking at it right now. I literally just came from the salon.”

Lommy kept fingering her hair; tousling it, bouncing it, messing with it, until Arya pulled away to shuck off her hoodie.

“I’m obsessed.”

“That’s what I said!” Lyra chimed in from where she was leaning against her own cubby.

“Has Gendry seen it yet?” Lommy asked, leaning in a bit closer like it was a secret.

Arya shrugged a shoulder, all nonchalant-like. “No. But I just sent a pic to Hot Pie and Brienne.”

Lommy pulled back, aghast. “Oh, so they get a picture and I don’t? I see how it fucking is.”

“Lommy, you’re literally seeing it, in person, right the fuck now.” Arya laughed out. “Why would I send you a picture when you’re actually staring at it?”

He just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms indignantly. “Whatever.”

Arya shook her head around a laugh as she stuffed her clothing into her cubby and walked away from the two blondes and headed into the studio.

A few others were already in there stretching, one of them was Gendry. He was alone at the barre – big shocker – and she went over.

“Hey.” She said casually, gripping the barre and beginning to stretch.

He turned toward her casually, about to reply when he noticed her hair. She looked at him all casual-like, enjoying the way his shocked gaze ran over.

“You cut your hair.”

“Yup.”

“Do Forel and H’ghar know that you cut your hair?”

Once again, Arya nodded back and replied with, “Yup.”

“Does Lommy know you cut your hair?”

“He just freaked out in the hallway about it, so I’m gonna go with yeah.”

He just stood there, taking her in for a moment, his ocean blue eyes without their usual hardness making him look all… soft. It was doing things to her.

“I like it.” He said gently and genuinely.

“Thanks.” She held his gaze and couldn’t help the small smile that tugged at her lips.

The moment – or, whatever they were currently trapped in – was broken by Lyra appearing beside them at the bar.

“Gendry! Don’t you just love Arya’s new hair?”

“Uh,” Gendry looked at Arya for confirmation as to why Lyra was suddenly in their presence. “Yeah, I do.”

Lyra smiled up at him the same why she had with Arya earlier – bright and sparkly, like she was in a toothpaste add – but, it was different from how she usually looked at Gendry. Less adoration and blushing.

Lommy sidled over to them and rose a brow to Arya at Lyra’s sudden presence within their group and Arya just shrugged. They all began to warm up, listening to Lyra’s chatter and answering whatever questions either she or Lommy threw out to the group.

Eventually the entire company had filled the studio and Syrio and Jaqen spoke quietly to each other over notebooks and boxes of costumes. Syrio ended up calling them forward and began passing out costumes and instructing them on what number each was for.

He banished them to go try them all on, once that was done they would all reconvene in the theatre for the run-through.

Arya’s arms were loaded, she tried not to drop anything as she headed down the hall to the dressing rooms with everyone else. There were three large rooms, each with racks and mirrors and cubbies; technically one was a girls and another for boys, the other was for overflow – or for people who just didn’t care.

Arya was definitely in that last category. She had five siblings, their house growing up had been filled with friends and family – always. She was also a dancer and had been since she was little. She’d learned a long time ago not to care about who saw what while changing.

Lommy followed her into the overflow room, raising a brow once they were in there. “Uh, since when is Lyra our friend?”

Ayra dropped her pile of costumes on the floor and shrugged as she began sorting through them. “I have no idea.”

“I mean, it’s weird though – right? It’s not just me?” Lommy sat beside her and began to do the same thing.

“No, it’s odd.”

Gendry entered with a bin of hangers and made his way over to them.

“Hey.”

Lommy leaned in to look at the bin. “How did you manage to get the good hangers from the girls’ room?”

Gendry began pulling his costumes out of the bin with the hangers, “Lyra just handed them to me as I walked by.”

Lommy turned his gaze on Arya, “See? I told you it was weird.”

“Why are you acting like I denied your claim? I literally agreed with you.”

“What are we talking about?” Gendry asked as he stood to remove his shirt and basketball shorts.

Arya tried really, really, hard not to stare.

Spoiler alert – she did anyway.

Gendry, for all his wanting for people to not look at him, certainly didn’t care if people he was comfortable with looked at him. Which, was good, because Arya couldn’t stop.

He began pulling on his first costume, but Arya was still stuck on the indents of his abs, and his hips, and this thighs, and the way he looked in his nude dance belt. Unfortunately, it was a full-seat dance belt, which meant his insane ass was not currently on display the way she would’ve liked.

She glanced away from his body when Lommy began shedding his own clothes and pulling on a costume at random. Arya picked one of her own and started to do the same. She couldn’t help but notice the slight blush on Gendry’s face when she snuck a glance back at him.

She cleared her throat as she started pulling off her leggings. “Um, we were talking about Lyra suddenly hanging around.”

“Like she’s been our best pal for years.” Lommy supplied, adjusting his unitard in the mirror.

Arya looked at Gendry in the mirror and saw his eyes sweeping over the shape of her bare ass- thongs unfortunately kind of mandatory when in costume – as she bent over to pull her leggings off her ankles. She bit the inside of her cheek and tried not to laugh as she ignored the instant throb in her clit at the sight.

She looked away from the mirror quickly and added, “What do you think about her behavior, Gen?” before looking back up into the mirror.

His gaze met hers in the mirror, the slight blush to his cheeks had worsened a bit. She tried to stamp down the smile that threatened to emerge at the sight.

“Uh, weird. Definitely.”

He finished pulling on his costume and practically fled to go show Syrio. Arya watched him go as she shucked off her shirt and pulled off her sports bra, stepping into the gauzy leo for the Sleeping Beauty number.

Lommy just rose a brow at her and she knew that he’d been aware of their exchange. She rolled her eyes and walked out of the room with him trailing behind her.

She stepped into the studio where Syrio was surrounded by dancers in costumes. Gendry was standing with Lyra and Saera chatting beside him as Syrio looked them over and made adjustments before sending them off to get changed again.

He looked her and Gendry and Lommy over with a critical eye, making notes about hair and makeup and accessories if needed. He sent them away and Arya tried not to look at Gendry’s body any more than strictly necessary.

They went back and forth like that until all of their costumes had been seen by Syrio; then they hung them on the racks in the order they’d need them. They went into the theatre, sitting on the stage as Jaqen sat in the middle of a row close to the stage, clipboard already in hand.

“We’ll be going through the entire show, in order. If there’s a malfunction, this is the time to fix it. Let it happen and keep continuing, do not let it affect you, we will address any issues after the run. Yes?”

They all nodded in return, standing when he gestured for them to change into their first costume.

Arya kept her gazes to a minimum as they changed, or tried to anyway. She wanted Gendry to look, she realized; she wanted to catch him eyeing her.

She pulled on the black men’s trousers that molded tight to her waist, resting above her belly button. She had to have Lommy help her with the binding that went over her breasts; she was wearing what was essentially a nude bandeau beneath the bindings so she wasn’t totally bare in case of a costume malfunction.

Looking in the mirror, Arya realized this would’ve looked better if she’d had a smaller chest. As it looked right now, the white binding pulled tight across her breasts, hiding the nude strapless fabric that covered her; but the tightness was causing a bit of cleavage that she hoped was alright.

She pulled up the suspenders attached to her pants and donned her dance boots. The slick trench coat was last, but only after she’d finished putting on the makeup. Gendry’s eyes stayed glued to her as she walked out of the dressing room.

She sauntered up to him, doing a cheeky little spin and pulling the trench coat down a little, exposing one bare shoulder. “What do you think? MC enough?”

He nodded, “I’d say so.”

Arya ran her eyes over his costume for the Cabaret number – black pants and a white tank top with a snug black vest. Those ridiculous arms of his were on full display, as well as his collarbones. The way that tight white fabric clung to his frame left little to the imagination.

Their stage manager barked out places and Arya was forced to pull away from Gendry’s presence. Weirdly enough, it was something that was getting harder to do herself.

Their dress rehearsal was a blur to Arya. The dancing, the quick changes, all of it old hat by now. She moved almost on autopilot, going through the motions they’d rehearsed so much. By the end, she was throwing on her Sleeping Beauty leotard with the gauzy skirt and practically running backstage to make her cue.

She made it on deck, coming to stand beside Gendry – who was watching the Lommy led group dance.

Gendry was bare chested, which wasn’t really uncommon for male dancers, especially in the competition dance world. Syrio hadn’t wanted them to look “costumed” for this dance, hence the basic leotard she was in and Gendry only in pants that stopped below his knee.

He turned as she approached and it was then she noticed the fabric in his hand. Her blindfold.

“Ready?” He asked gently, holding up the scrap of cloth they’d been using.

She shrugged noncommittally. “Sure.”

He just tilted his head and sent her a look. She just rolled her eyes and turned her back to him.

Arya felt him come up behind her, standing close enough that she could feel his breath on the bare skin below her neck where her newly shorn hair ended. But he was far enough away that she couldn’t feel the heat of his body on her back – something was realized that she desperately wanted. She shook that notion away quickly, now was not the time.

He gently, so gently, placed the fabric over her eyes. She reached up and held it in place as he pulled it around her head and tied it snugly, securing it with two bobby-pins. Where he’d learned to do that, she’d never know. He softly smoothed out her hair around the blindfold and for some reason it made her feel like she wanted to cry. His softness made her ache. She hated it.

Once Gendry had removed his hands, she turned around to face him. Though, back here she couldn’t see much without the aid of the stage lights.

“Is it okay?” He asked quietly, close to her.

With the blindfold on, standing so close to her in the dark of backstage, Arya couldn’t help but feel like they were in their own little world. She use to feel like this with him a lot when she was younger. She hadn’t been sure she’d ever feel this way around him again. Privately, she was glad she could.

“It’s fine.” She muttered back, just as quiet.

The moment hung between them until the loud music ended and the stage manager grabbed Arya’s arm to lead her to the edge of the stage. They got the cue from the stage manager and Gendry gently – still so gently – began to lead her on stage.

They managed to get through Sleeping Beauty perfectly fine, no mishaps or stumbles or accidental deaths. Syrio clapped, then called them all on stage.

Arya began to untie her blindfold, but Gendry’s tender pressure got it undone for her quicker than she would’ve done it herself. She eyed him and muttered a soft thanks as the company began piling on stage.

Syrio and Jaqen called out notes – things to fix, costumes to change, beats that were missed. All in all, it took less time than they expected. Arya was changing back into her clothes within the hour.

Their changing room was quiet as they hung up all their costumes and pulled on their street clothes. Lommy began sighing dramatically, which Arya knew meant that he was hungry.

“Are we going to Mona’s or what?”

Gendry snorted quietly from where he was stuffing things into his horrible backpack. “I mean, I could eat.” He said tentatively.

She knew that he was giving her an out if she didn’t want him to come. But, honestly, she was hungry, she was tired, and she felt like she just might not care as much as she did yesterday.

“Let’s go.” Arya grabbed her bag and made her way towards the door. “Someone text Hot Pie, see if he’s working.”

“On it.” Lommy whipped out his phone as they exited the changing room.

Gendry snorted a bit. “Cool it, Olivia Pope.”

Arya couldn’t help the smile that tugged on her lips, grateful that she was leading the herd so they couldn’t see.

“It’s handled!” Lommy yelled and Arya turned to see him jumping on Gendry as he said it. Gendry laughed, but didn’t push him off and Arya thought – There you are. I didn’t think I’d see you again.

She wasn’t sure if it was Gendry she thought that about, or the friendship. Probably both.

The train to Mona’s found Arya seated next to Lommy and Gendry across from them. Lommy scrolled through Instagram and chatted about one thing or another while Arya couldn’t help but let herself watch Gendry as he watched her.

The small smile that appears when Lommy says something particularly outlandish.

His large hands twisting, playing with the ends of that horrible backpack.

The way he kept eye contact with her through it all.

His eyes just so blue.

Deep and stormy, truly ocean eyes like she’d never seen them before.

She always thought her siblings had the best blue eyes – Tully blues that matched those of her mother. But Gendry’s weren’t Tully blue, they weren’t anything like her mother’s, but they were just as beautiful.

They got off at the right stop and walked to Mona’s. The hostess eyed Gendry in a way Arya was both used to and annoyed at – something she’d been dealing with since he was fourteen and looked basically legal.

She seated them near the kitchen, as usual, and Hot Pie snuck out to talk to them as soon as he could.

Arya didn’t miss the way his eyes widened a bit with his smile at seeing them all together. He threw a quick look to Lommy but moved passed it quickly enough.

It was nice. She’d admit it; the dinner, the company, it was nice.

Catching Gendry’s gaze throughout was nice too.

_______________________________

Arya sat in the dressing room at the makeup table connected to the wall mirrors, scrolling through her phone. The press certainly worked fast; already photos from the carpet outside made their way onto social media.

She saw her sister pose with Margaery, Loras and Renly not far behind. All of her brothers and Theon posed as fans screamed at them.

She never quite managed to forget how she was raised, the way her family and friends so publicly lived their lives. But it was times like these that it really made itself present.

Arya had been in the same situation for her siblings a thousand times – walking red carpets, posing for paparazzi, attending events. She’d done it all time and time again.

It was sort of weird, having her family doing the whole song and dance, this time, for her.

The intercom buzzed in all the backstage rooms, their stage manager’s voice rang out announcing ten to show.

She mumbled a quiet, “Thank you, ten.” to herself, like the good little theatre kid she was trained to be.

“Ready?” Lommy bounded in, Gendry trailing behind him.

“You know it.” She mumbled back noncommittally.

Lommy loomed over her, looking at her phone with her while Gendry plopped himself down on the floor to stretch out his legs.

“Oooh, look how good Margs looks in that dress.”

Arya handed him her phone so he could look his fill and moved to pull on her jazz shoes.

“Hey,” Gendry muttered, catching her attention.

She looked up from where she was tugging on her shoe and met his eye. “Hey.”

They held each other’s gaze for a moment until Lommy loudly gasped.

“Oh my god.” He turned Arya’s screen toward them. “Do you see how fucking stunning your sister looks in this jumpsuit? Are you kidding me? Let me just go kill myself.”

Gendry snorted and shook his head, Arya stood, looking down at him for a moment before offering a hand.

He looked at it for a beat before taking it and allowing himself to be hauled up by her.

It was the first time she’d touched him outside of a dance. The first time she’d initiated anything since his return.

The intercom buzzed again and their stage manager called out five to show. She was so caught up in the look in Gendry’s eyes that she didn’t even mutter a thank you, five. She wasn’t sure what the look meant, what the look even was, but she did know that she’d never seen him look at anyone else quite the way he was looking at her right now.

“Okay, move it or lose it, bitches.” Lommy hip-checked Arya out of the way and pushed passed them.

Gendry just rolled his eyes, that small little smile that always appeared whenever Lommy did something… Lommy-like.

They made it backstage and the stage manager made sure they were all there, talking on her headset to the technical booth. Syrio and Jaqen on stage speaking to the crowd.

Lommy turned to them and raised a brow before bending down low and wiggling his fingers at them.

Arya sighed and bit down a smile, looking from Gendry to Lommy. “Seriously?”

“Hell yeah, seriously! It’s tradition, baby!”

Gendry shrugged a little at her and smiled a little. Arya sighed, but gave in and bent down as Lommy did, Gendry did the same.

It was something they had done at Yoren’s studio before performances. They hadn’t done it after Gendry left.

They wiggled fingers as they slowly rose from their crouched positions, moving closer to one another as they did until eventually their fingers touched and they had risen to their full height.

“Good show.” Lommy whispered as they heard clapping from the audience, signaling the start of the show.

“Good show.” Both Arya and Gendry whispered back one at a time.

Lommy wiggled his fingers at her as he walked away to take his spot on the other side of the stage. Gendry kept her gaze, as he apparently was known to do now, before following Lommy and leaving her to walk out onto the dark stage.

______________________________

The applause started before the lights even fell. She stood in the black and walked herself offstage coolly, but as soon as she hit backstage she ran straight for Gendry and wrapped her arms around him.

He seemed confused by her hug, but tentatively wrapped his arms around her.

“Thank you.” She whispered.

“For what?”

She pulled back just enough that she could look into his eyes. “What we just did out there, it was incredible. Whatever happens now because of it, will be in large part to you. I could’ve danced that with anyone, but it wouldn’t have been the same and we both know it. So, thank you.”

He looked down at her a moment, seemingly processing her words. He opened his mouth to say something but was cut off by the stage manager ushering them out of backstage and to their dressing rooms to change.

She’d almost managed to forget about the mingling she’d have to do in the lobby afterwards while everyone self-congratulated and sipped expensive wine.

Arya rolled her eyes at the thought.

She didn’t say anything to Gendry about what she’d said – or what he hadn’t had the chance to say. She just grabbed her bag and the simple, yet event-appropriate, jumpsuit sitting on her costume rack.

Practically running to the girl’s bathroom, overcrowded in a way the boy’s one would never be, she stripped quickly as she stepped into the communal shower stalls. She did a quick rinse, careful not to wet her hair or makeup, before stepping out and toweling dry. She slipped on her underwear and sticky boobs before quickly pulling on her black jumpsuit and made her way into the party.

The lobby was beautifully decorated for the event and filled with high profile audience members; wait-staff carried around too-small portions of fancy hors d'oeuvres and expensive flutes of champagne. Arya stood there for a moment by the studio door, observing, looking for her family and friends.

“Anything for the lady?”

She turned to her right, suppressing a smile as she looked at Hot Pie. “Not a lady.”

He smiled brightly at her, holding out the tray of tiny, artisan sandwiches. “Whatever you say, Arry. Here, take the ones on the left, I made them with you in mind.”

She let the smile she’d been biting back for the sake of her fake-glare spring forth and a look of relief washed over her.

“Have I mentioned how much I love you lately?” She gushed as she grabbed a handful of the bite sized Arry-approved sandwiches and began stuffing them in her mouth.

Hot Pie smirked, “Definitely not enough, but you can make it up to me when you’re not being all fancy and rich.”

She rolled her eyes, cheeks bulging a little with food. “Yeah, real Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous over here as I stand with you in the corner, avoiding social contact, and stuffing tiny finger food in my gob.”

He snorted, which turned into a full Hot Pie chuckle, which in turn never failed to make her laugh. It was then that her family seemed to realized she had emerged and began to flock over to her.

“Arya!” Sansa squealed as she and Margaery ran over.

“Incredible.” Margaery gushed in that over-dramatic reality tv show way she was prone to do. Her twin wasn’t far behind, Renly totting after his fiancée while talking with Brienne who was dragging Pod behind her.

Arya pulled out of the Sansa-Margaery embrace she’d just been in and looked around for her brothers as Loras, Renly, Brienne and Podrick approached.

“Where are the boys?”

Sansa looked over her shoulder, using her superior height – especially in her towering heels – to find them. “Uh… I see Robb’s curls.” She turned back to the little group they’d created, nabbing a tiny sandwich from Hot Pie’s tray. “They’ve been mobbed.”

Arya rolled her eyes and leaned back against the wall to get comfortable; this would take a while. “Of course they did.”

Renly and Loras took their turns leaning in to kiss her cheek, “Amazing, darling, really.”

“Thanks, Loras.”

“Can I just say,” Renly leaned in and Arya tried not to let herself get too overcome by his star-quality. “You and Gendry together are… otherworldly.”

Loras playfully rolled his eyes and wrapped an arm around Renly’s shoulders. “Ren, come on, the girl just got offstage, at least let her get a drink before you try marrying her off to your nephew.”

Brienne snorted into her drink and Arya glared daggers at her, hoping Renly and Loras wouldn’t notice the exchange.

“It’s fine.” Arya waved him off. “I’ve come to terms with the fact that I’ll probably be dancing with Gendry for a while.”

“Loras showed me some of the new video.” Renly smirked, conspiratorially, over his drink. “Him and Finnian have been slaving away editing the thing, but I managed a glimpse or two. And I just have to say… wow.”

“Wow is right.” Margaery added, eyebrow raised in that way of hers, mouth poised in that perfect smirky-smile. “Also, hot. Very hot.”

Arya rolled her eyes dramatically to push away the flush that threatened to overtake her at those words. “You all are ridiculous. Brienne, Hot Pie, Pod – come on. Let’s go find the boys, they’ll be nicer to me than this crew.”

They all laughed as she stalked away but Brienne caught up to her quickly, putting her freakishly long legs to good use. She slung an arm around Arya’s shoulders and smiled down at her as they walked at a more normal pace now. Podrick and Hot Pie appearing on her other side.

“You were really good, though.” Brienne sent her one of those small, meaningful smiles that she so rarely doled out and Arya felt warm inside. “Thank you for inviting me.”

Arya wrapped her arm around Brienne’s waist and leaned into the older girl as they walked through the after-party. “Of course. You’re the only one that’s going to tell me the truth.” Brienne snorted quietly and then Arya said just as meaningfully, “Thank you for coming, though.”

“Obviously I wouldn’t miss it. I wouldn’t be able to handle your whining if I had.”

Arya pinched her side and looked over to Pod, “Thanks for coming, Pod. I hope it wasn’t too boring for you.”

“Are you kidding? It was great!”

Arya couldn’t help but smile at how earnest and pure Podrick Payne was.

“Arya!”

They’d finally caught sight of her brothers and it seemed as though they’d finally caught sight of her. Rickon called out her name, alerting the rest of the pack that he’d found her, and in turn they all began clapping as she approached them.

They were so ridiculous. She loved them.

She broke free of Brienne and fake-bowed as she got closer to them. Finally, their clapping stopped and she was bum-rushed.

Rickon ran up and attached himself to her, cooing about how wonderful she was. Sometimes he forgot that he was bigger than her now, even though he’d always be her little brother. Bran wheeled up next to her and she bent down to hug him as Robb, Jon, and Theon circled her.

She petted their hair and pulled on their fancy duds, talking about how tame the wolf-pack managed to look.

“Yeah, well, someone’s got to represent.” was Robb’s joke-y reply.

They all ooh-ed at the comment and Theon smirked around a, “Don’t let Lady Sansa hear you say that.”

“It’s true.” Arya nodded, “She’d kill you for insulting her fashion sense.”

“Seriously though,” Jon smiled down at his favorite sister – Arya knows this because she decided it. “You were incredible, Arya. Good job.”

She leaned in to the hug Jon wrapped her up in. “Awe, thanks, Jon.”

It wasn’t long before, Sansa, Loras, Renly, and Margaery made their way over to the family group. Others came in and out, dropping praise briefly before commanding one of her siblings’ attention. It was easy for Arya to slink away without being noticed – she’d been doing it for as long as she could remember.

She moved through the throngs of people in the lobby; some stopped her, some didn’t. She finally found them in the corner of the room, shrouded slightly under the spiral staircase that lead up to the mezzanine.

Gendry leaned against the wall as he listened to Lommy and Hot Pie animatedly talk about one thing or another. He looked so casual, so at-ease, in a way he definitely hadn’t looked when she’d briefly caught sight of him mingling earlier.

He had looked strained and awkward; his face stormy and unapproachable.

But, here? Shrouded in a corner beneath the stairs, surrounded by his closest friends? He looked open and comfortable. It was such a striking contrast.

She approached easily, taking in their appearances. She hadn’t gotten the chance to see them after she fled to get changed. Lommy’s forest green blazer and fitted black trousers looked perfect for the occasion and really brought out the blonde of his hair and green of his eyes.

Gendry, on the other hand, looked like he’d barely put effort into his outfit at all. Which, she knew was ridiculous considering the fact that Renly probably bought him some heinously expensive suit for the occasion; and here he was, in a literal white t-shirt under a navy blazer and matching navy trousers.

“Wow, Gen, really nice of you to dress up for the occasion.” She let slip out as she approached.

They all looked to her as she moseyed into the circle and she caught Gendry’s gaze sweeping her before landing on her eyes – like he always did.

A thought floated across her mind as she held his gaze – I wish we were alone so I could rip that stupid t-shirt off his body. With my teeth.

“Well, we all can’t look so effortless, can we?”

She couldn’t tell if that was a dig or if he was calling her pretty. She smiled. A matching one appeared on his lips at the sight of hers.

“What the fuck are you guys doing over here anyway?” She asked, finally pulling her gaze away from Gendry’s to look at both Lommy and Hot Pie.

Lommy sighed dramatically, as he was prone to do, and leaned his shoulder against the wall next to Gendry. “I was having the time of my life talking to one of the WBO directors when someone,” He gestured toward Gendry, who rolled his eyes. “decided to have an anxiety attack and made me come hide over here with him.”

Hot Pie shrugged, “I saw them over here and decided to see what was happening.”

“For the record, I wasn’t actually having an anxiety attack.” Gendry stated, his face getting all grumpy. She tried not to find it cute.

“Uh, yes you were.” Lommy turned to face Arya. “His face was doing that thing it does when he’s around people he knows and Renly shows up.”

Arya nodded, “Gotcha.”

Gendry looked at both of them appalled, “What are you talking about? My face doesn’t do a thing!”

“Your shoulders go up too.” Arya replied casually as she pulled some food off of Hot Pie’s tray.

“They do not.” Gendry huffed as he slid back against the wall, arms crossed over his chest.

“Yeah they do.” Both Arya, Lommy, and Hot Pie all replied, not looking at him.

“Shut up.”

“It’s okay Gendry,” Hot Pie laid a hand on his tense shoulder. “We can only tell because we know you so well.”

Gendry looked from Hot Pie to Lommy to Arya, “It’s true.” She ended up saying with a little shrug.

A complicated series of looks passed over Gendry’s features before the stormy grumpiness passed and he was back to being open and a little resigned.

She thought about what she’d just implied and wondered if that was why is face got weird for a minute. Because they did know him well, better than anyone in his life – maybe save his new immediate family, but Arya hadn’t ever seen him with them really so she couldn’t say for sure.

It made her feel weird to realize how much she truly did still know him and just how much she didn’t know him at all.

________________________________

It had been about two weeks since the showcase. They were back to their regularly scheduled classes, guest choreographers coming in every week to teach. It was as normal as they were going to get for the time being.

Arya was currently in one of the smaller studios, here early enough that there wouldn’t be anyone else for a couple hours.

She stared at herself in the mirror as she went through the combo she’d created, hoping it’d look as good on Sansa and Rickon as it looked on her.

It had started after the showcase. Loras was regaling her family with stories from his music video shoot, without revealing too much of the top secret project. Rickon had then asked why Arya would be in Loras’ video and not one of theirs. Arya had rolled her eyes and replied that Loras had asked and her brothers hadn’t.

It was then Rickon had decided that he wanted to do a dance video with her and Sansa for one of the new singles he sang lead vocals on. Sansa had cooed in delight on being asked and that left Arya to come up with the rest.

She’d been in the studio for a few hours by this point, waiting for the call that her brother and sister had arrived. She was running through a section with no music when she heard him.

“Hey.” She looked up from where she’d been staring at herself in the mirror to where he was walking into the studio. “What are you doing here so early?”

She dropped her stance, looking at him through the mirror and breathing a little heavy.

“My sister and younger brother are coming in to film a video thing for the band, I’m choreographing.”

“Oh. I don’t want to interrupt.” He made to leave the studio, and her, but she stopped him before he could get far.

“No –” She turned to face him properly instead of talking to him through the mirror. “It’s fine. You’re not interrupting. You can stay – if you want. Maybe…give me some notes.”

He looked surprised – and honestly, she was too. But, she was attempting to keep her word; she would try and include him into her life more, extend the branch and see what fell off when she shook it.

“Oh, uh, yeah. Okay.” He moved to sit on the floor, his back pressed against the mirror in front of her.

She moved her phone from the ground next to the small speaker into his hand. “It’s that weird email track.”

“Got it.”

She moved back and waited for him to play it before jumping into what she’d choreographed so far. She only had a few until her siblings got there, she needed to finish and polish stat. She stopped and he paused the music, nodding.

“I like it.”

She sighed and narrowed her eyes at him. “Really? That’s all you’re going to give me?”

He smiled a little from where he was seated on the floor and gave a little shrug. “I do like it. It moves nice. It reminds me of Yoren.”

“Yeah, well, you can teach a horse new tricks, but it’s still a fucking horse.”

Gendry snorted and let out a laugh, shaking his head as he stood. He reset the music and moved to stand beside her, facing the mirror. He didn’t say anything, didn’t tell her what he was doing, but she got it. It’s what they use to do at the old studio back when Gendry pretended like he wanted to be a choreographer for a hot second.

She started moving through the choreography, he followed her in the mirror, moving with her as he learned it quickly. It wasn’t anything advanced by any means; Sansa could dance, mostly from her being a popstar and all, and Rickon had the innate ability to move the way Arya did, but neither of them were dancers. She wasn’t about to throw something complex at her siblings when they only had a few hours to film the thing.

They moved through the song a few more times; Arya stopping once or twice when Gendry asked her to go over a particular movement or beat. Eventually they were running through it in sync and with ease. It was nice to see it on a male body before her brother got there and, she had to say, her choreography fit very nicely in Gendry’s body.

They stopped as the song ended and she turned to him, waiting to see what he thought. He looked down, in thought, for a moment before his body began to move into s section of her choreography and then changing it.

“What about this for this section here?” He asked, moving through something he’d clearly just seen in his head.

It actually worked so much better than what she’d had and definitely wasn’t too advanced for her siblings. Rickon would look insane doing it and Arya was almost excited for him to try.

“Go back, let’s add it in.”

They ran through the beat before, Gendry doing his new add-in and Arya behind him doing the moves that her and Sansa would be doing.

“I fucking love it.”

Gendry smiled a little bashfully at her praise. Arya realized how much she missed seeing him doing jazz-funk-hip hop. She also realized how much she missed dancing with him.

Obviously they had just danced together extensively two weeks ago and months prior leading up to two weeks ago, but what she meant was different. She missed working in the studio with him; making up dances to show Yoren; hanging out and getting creative.

She’d missed it and she’d missed him.

She could say it now. Say that she missed him and it didn’t really cause her the same sort of heartbreak it did before. Maybe because he was finally standing in front of her and kept acting like he had no intention of leaving her again.

They ran through the whole dance a dozen more times, Gendry making slight changes here and there. They stopped when Arya’s phone rang and Sansa proclaimed they’d be there soon.

She sat on the floor against the mirrored wall, Gendry beside her doing the same.

He was a little sweaty, his dark hair in all sorts of disarray, but that was pretty much his thing, so it didn’t really matter. His basic t-shirt clung to the length of his body, his fitted sweatpants matching her own.

He caught her looking at him and raised a brow in question.

“You look so old.”

He sent her a slightly confused little smile and tilted his head at her comment. “Thanks?”

“No, I just mean…” She looked away from him and at the quiet, empty studio in front of them. “This reminded me so much of being at Yoren’s and being young.” She turned back to him, catching his dark blue gaze. “You just look so old now, compared to then. So different, yet so the same. It’s weird.”

He kept her gaze and nodded a little in agreement. “You’re right. It is.” Those blue eyes traveled the length of her face before moving back to her own. “Somehow you look so different, yet, exactly how I remember you.”

She kept his gaze, the quiet of the studio lulling them into this intimate little cocoon. “I think –” she began to say before cutting herself off and starting again. “Can we… can we be us again?”

Gendry’s shoulder’s visibly sagged and his face was so open, his eyes so clear. “I’d like that. A lot.”

They were looking at each other, sitting almost shoulder to shoulder in the quiet softness of the empty studio. It felt like he was going to kiss her. Or, maybe, she was going to kiss him. It hung between the empty air.

But neither of them moved, they just continued to stare at one another until the tension seemed to slowly leak out like a dying balloon. Eventually he pulled back just slightly, just enough that it was clear the moment was over, and asked if she’d like to run through the dance once more before her siblings go there.

She hauled herself up and followed Gendry to do it once more.

Sansa strolled in with Rickon not long after Gendry proposed they’d run it again. Sansa seemed surprised to see Gendry with her – if her slightly too wide smile and eyes were anything to go by. But, her sister’s impenetrable tact kept her from saying anything aloud with Gendry in the room.

Rickon seemed to be just slightly oblivious to the tension Sansa had created, smiling at Gendry jovially and asking him how he’d been. Rickon had been so young when Gendry left, and he’d never really spent time with him, but he’d heard Arya bitch about him all the time – before and after he’d gone.

“Are you going to be dancing with us?” He asked Gendry, who – bless him – looked so frightened by the mere notion.

“No, Rick, it’s a family thing, remember?” Arya moved in quickly. “But, Gendry helped me choreograph it.”

“Wicked.” Rickon smiled.

“Okay.” Sansa proclaimed, looking at herself in the mirror and perfecting her high pony. “I’m ready to make a fool of myself.”

Arya rolled her eyes. “Shut up. You can dance, you do it all the time on stage during your concerts.”

“That’s not the same, Arya. That’s basic popstar movement. I can’t do what you do.” She smiled brightly with her compliment and tugged playfully at Arya’s short hair.

Rickon snorted, “Yeah, like, there’s no way I’m going to look like Gendry here, or Lommy, but I can rip up the floor when it’s called for.” He elbowed Sansa with a cheeky smile. “It’s in the Stark blood, you’ll be fine, Sans.”

Sansa playfully rolled her eyes and gently shoved their littlest brother off of her. Gendry watched on with a smile.

Arya turned to him fully, catching his gaze. It was becoming easier and easier to do, as his gaze was often traveling to her anyway, now all she had to do was accept it.

“Stay and work the music?” She asked with both a slightly hopeful lilt to her tone and another that was a tad more of a demand.

He nodded and tried to hold back the small smile that threatened to erupt. She pretended not to notice.

She taught the dance to her siblings; Gendry popping in to help Rickon when it seemed like he needed a little guidance. It took almost two hours, but eventually they were able to run the entire thing fluidly without stopping.

It was around then Osha, her brothers’ manager showed up with the small camera crew they’d hired to film it and Sansa’s stylist arrived with garment bags for them to try on.

Gendry moved out of the way and tried to make himself appear less in awe of the situation than he really was. She felt a little bad leaving him with Osha’s aggressive presence, but the little looks of panic he sent her made her laugh and that seemed to help him relax a bit.

They came back to the studio in their new outfits – which, really were just designer brand workout clothes – and let Osha’s camera guys talk to them about staging.

They ran the dance for them once so they could see the best angles and such before jumping right in.

Gendry’s eyes stayed glued to them the whole time, sitting by the speakers and working the music without having to be asked. They filmed the whole thing five times, Rickon lip syncing and looking very cool in the front of their triangle formation.

The whole thing took about three hours and then they were gone.

Arya gave back the designer duds, changed back into her leggings and baggy crop top. She bid her siblings goodbye and was left with Gendry in the empty studio, like none of it had ever happened.

She wondered, not for the first time but definitely more often now that they were speaking again, how he was getting on with the whole Being A Baratheon thing. He seemed so uncomfortable, so out of his element in the face of celebrity and fame, she wondered how he dealt with his own.

It was obvious most people didn’t know, since he was still going by Waters professionally. But, it was bound to come out eventually – especially if he was going on to dance at WBO with Renly.

She wanted to ask, but she didn’t. Not now anyway. Not when things were still so fresh between them and he still seemed to blend himself into the wall when it came up.

Instead, she went and sat across from him in the little lounge by the cubbies, waiting for Syrio, Jaqen, and the rest of the company to arrive.

________________________________

Arya wasn’t sure when they had started texting.

Or, she should say, when they had started texting as though they were friends who text each other again.

It probably had something to do with Lommy or Hot Pie – as most things in their lives did, because their friends were ridiculous. But after her conversation with him the day he’d helped her with the Beware! Wolves! music video she just kind of started… reaching out.

She wasn’t totally positive how they ended up on the train, headed for the beach, but, here they were.

They had the afternoon off, no class or rehearsal, and Gendry had complained about both Hot Pie and Lommy being busy. Arya had kind of said it as a joke, but once it was out of her mouth there was actually nothing more she wanted to do than go to the beach.

When was the last time she’d even seen the water? She couldn’t remember.

So they just sort of… got on a train.

Arya had a backpack full of waters and snacks and towels. Gendry hadn’t brought anything but his camera because he was stupid.

It was a little strained, the being alone together, but they were managing.

They talked about surface things like their favorite of Hot Pie’s recipes or who they wish Lommy would date, silly things like the weather and discontinued ice cream flavors.

It was nice just to be able to talk to him again.

They got off at the very last stop and the smell of the ocean hit them as they exited the train. It was a pleasantly warm day – nothing like she was used to in Winterfell, but she’d spent so much of her time South because of dance that she’d gotten acclimated over time.

The shore was practically empty, the odd jogger or dog walker went past them, but that was it. Arya picked a spot at random and sat down to take off her shoes. The warm sand felt amazing on her toes, the wind from the sea pushing back her hair. She tilted her head back and just basked in it all for a moment.

She heard a snap and opened her eyes to find Gendry with his small, old, but expensive camera aimed at her.

He’d had that thing for years, used to carry it around everywhere with them. She hadn’t thought to ask him about it since they hadn’t actually been talking until recently. But, she had forgotten its existence until now.

Gendry had taken hundreds of photos of her when they were young, it almost felt natural for her to close her eyes again and let him snap away. There was a small part of her that felt slightly awkward by it now, if only because it had been so long.

Neither of them said anything about it and eventually Arya got up from her spot in the sand and moved down to the water.

Gendry followed, coming to stand beside her and gaze out at the ocean. His hands were stuffed casually into his pockets, the wind pushing around his messy dark hair, the water making his blue eyes shine in the sun.

“Is this weird?”

She wasn’t sure why it slipped out, but he just looked so calm standing there beside her and she wanted to know.

“It doesn’t have to be.” He said, still looking out over the rolling waves, turning to her only after he’d said it.

And, he was right.

It didn’t have to be.

They spent several hours on the beach, doing nothing, really. They sat on the sand and dipped their feet in the water, they tried to do silly tricks and record the failures. At one point Arya found some broken fishing rods a few yards away from them and taught Gendry how to fence. She’d taken lessons as a child – something Gendry still playfully rolled his eyes about and muttered, rich people.

Eventually they got a call from Lommy wondering where they were and they made their way back to the train and back into the city. They got off at Lommy’s stop and walked to his apartment. Him and Hot Pie were already drinking and begging the two of them to catch up.

Which they did, gladly.

It was warm in Lommy’s living room, but not unpleasantly so. Arya still smelled of sea-spray and was tingly from the alcohol. They were sitting on the floor, around the coffee table, a lull in the conversation.

Lommy was looking at them in that way of his. People often mistook Lommy’s party-boy persona as fact, when it was nothing more than a mask he wore to further himself in the world. He was undeniably personable, sure, but beneath that was a shocking amount of depth and insight.

Arya hated when Lommy looked at her the way he was right now. It always meant he was about to say something that was going to make her annoyed.

And, as always, her intuition wasn’t wrong.

“You know,” He started, grabbing their attention, still looking at them through slightly narrowed eyes. “I always sort of thought you two would end up together.”

Arya must’ve reacted strongly if Hot Pie’s worried glance to Gendry was anything to go on. She looked up at him and saw he was looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

“What the hell, Lommy.”

“What?” Lommy shrugged like he hadn’t just violated like ten layers of friendship code. “I did.”

“Gendry and I were best friends.” Even as it came out of her mouth, she knew it was a lie. Her conversation with Brienne all those weeks ago came flushing back, as did her recent revelation.

Her feelings for Gendry had never been strictly platonic, but she wasn’t about to say that out loud.

She shifted her gaze back up to his and watched him hesitate before looking back up to Lommy and replying, “Yeah.”

She felt her heart pound off-rhythm in her chest.

Lommy held up his hands in surrender. “Okay, okay. What do I know? I was just saying.”

Hot Pie saved them by changing the topic to Margaery Tyrell’s new movie and if Arya had any insider gossip about the new role.

It was dropped after that, never to be brought up again. They continued to drink and talk about this and that – Hot Pie playing peacekeeper just as he had their entire lives. Bless him.

Eventually, it got late and Hot Pie was dragging himself up off the floor to shuffle himself down the street. Lommy offered for them to stay, but Arya had shit to do in the morning with Sansa and didn’t really feel like sleeping on a sofa with Gendry.

Except, that she totally did, which was probably why she hauled herself up off the ground and made her way outside.

Gendry followed her out and they walked silently to the nearest subway. She sat next to him, sliding down low on the bench so she could rest her head and close her eyes. The lull of the quiet car rocked her booze-addled and sun-soaked brain into a light slumber, one which she only awoke from because Gendry was tapping her knee.

She lifted her head and realized belatedly that she must’ve shifted in her snooze because her head had been on Gendry’s shoulder.

“Your stop’s next.”

She nodded, swiping under her eyes and blinking rapidly to wake herself up.

The car stopped and the doors opened. Arya pushed herself up and walked out, Gendry right behind her. They walked up to street level and he was still beside her.

He was walking her home.

It was… nice.

Odd, but nice.

She shoved her hands into her jean jacket and it was then she realized that she had no idea where he lived.

When Renly had stopped by the studio before the showcase, he’d claimed that he hadn’t seen Gendry since he’d come back from his trip with Loras, which implied that Gendry didn’t live with them. But, then where did he live?

They were coming up on her building and Arya couldn’t help breaking the silence by asking him.

“Where do you live?”

He turned to her as they walked, confusion written all over his features. “Huh?”

“Where do you live?” She asked again. “It occurred to me as we’re walking to where I live, that I don’t actually know where you live. I’m guessing you don’t live with Tohbo anymore.”

Gendry smiled a little at the mention of his former Foster-father, but ultimately shook his head. “I live with my sister, Mya.” He looked forward again, a slew of emotions playing over his face. “God, sometimes it still feels so weird to say that out loud, you know?”

She nodded, “Yeah.”

“We lived with Renly for a while, but then Loras moved in and they got engaged, so Mya and I moved out. Renly got us a place not far from his apartment, but him and Loras spent a lot of time in the country house these days, so we don’t see him much.”

“Your sister, Mya, what’s she like?”

A small smirk spread over his lips, “She reminds me a lot of you, actually.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.” He chuckled. “She’s strong and stubborn, but so funny and kind. You’d like her.”

Arya nodded absently as she gazed at his profile illuminated by street lights. “I’m sure I would.”

They came to a stop in front of her building. She lived in the upscale part of the city out of necessity – famous family and all – it hit her than that Gendry probably did too. He held her gaze for a few moments before it shifted down to the pavement.

“Are you okay to get home?”

She wasn’t sure why she asked. They hadn’t been drunk off their asses, just pleasantly buzzed, but she found the need to ask anyway.

He looked up with a small smile and a softness in his eyes that she was beginning to realize was reserved solely for her.

“I’m good.” He responded, and Arya thought that was all he was going to give her when he spoke again. “I actually don’t live far from here. A couple of blocks down. I’ll be fine.”

She nodded absently, still struck by softness of his dark blue gaze in the night light. “Okay.”

Gendry’s lips quirked up into a slightly bigger grin that made him look so young. “I had fun today.” He said as he began to walk backwards, away from her.

She nodded, hands still trapped in the pockets of her jean jacket. “Me too.”

Gendry stopped suddenly and bowed deeply. “Farewell, M’lady.”

Arya couldn’t help the immediate visceral reaction that was pulled out of her by his words and actions. She rolled her eyes and turned slightly away from him. “Oh my god! Shut up!” She said around a laugh that he managed to pull from her.

He smiled, big and wide, at her reaction, like he’d been waiting for it.

“Goodnight, Arya.” He all but whispered around his smile.

Her own smile, tamed compared to his, but eyes no less sparkly. “Goodnight, Gendry.”

He turned away from her then, properly walking down the street, walking home.

Arya stood there for a while, watching him walk away from her and felt none of the emotions she’d felt the last time he’d left her standing alone. Instead, she felt warm. She’d see him tomorrow, and every day after that for the foreseeable future and that was enough for her.