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Arya Stark and Gendry Waters had been best friends for a decade now, having met when she was nothing but a dirty nine year old girl. He had been thirteen, she had taken Nymeria to the dog park to play, but the big dog had gotten away from her. Luckily, she had just run into Gendry and decided he was going to be her new playmate because he had the bad luck of having a frisbee. Looking back on it now, she couldn’t even really pinpoint exactly how their friendship continued but it had. Now a decade later, she didn’t know what her life would have been like without him. She had an overly friendly personality, always had, but she never felt a true level of connection with anyone besides Gendry. All her others friends were just that, friends, but Gendry was her best friend. Her first year in university, she had finally made another best friend, Meera Reed. It was nice finally having a female friend she could confide in, since she couldn’t trust her sister not to tell Jeyne about it. Jeyne Poole, her sister’s best friend and Arya’s least favorite person in the world.
It meant that Meera was the only other person privy to her deepest secret, she was desperately in love with Gendry. She had first realized that at 15, when Jeyne had mentioned how she would love to ‘climb Gendry like a tree’ and that had Arya seeing red. She of course never mentioned anything to Gendry, he was 4 years her senior, and only saw her as a friend, maybe even as a little sister. It would destroy her to tell him the truth and have him leave her.
Meera assured her that Gendry did not see her like a sister and was probably afraid of the same thing that she was. Arya wanted to believe her but she wasn’t sure if she could take that kind of risk. She couldn’t lose him. He was the one person that knew everything about her and she knew everything about him. Even after he had graduated high school, he still made sure to call or text her every day and they got together on the weekends. He just went to the local trade school, learning to become a welder, so he was never far away.
She was now in her second year of university, she still hadn’t decided on a major, but wasn’t that concerned. She and Meera had moved into a small apartment complex that rented to students a few blocks off campus. Gendry had called and asked if she was free for dinner, so he was coming over with food from the Bravosi takeout place near his job. Meera had a night class so she wouldn’t be home until later.
Arya had cleaned off the dining table of the random stuff that always seemed to acculiate there so they’d have a place to eat. She had even dressed up slightly, meaning she had put on leggings without holes in them and a nice, clean t-shirt. If she had gone any further he would have been suspicious. She had just finished getting out the plates when there was a knock. She yelled out, “It is open Gendry!”
She smiled at him as he came in, “Hey.”
“Hey, how was work today?” She asked, getting out the forks and walking over to the table.
“The plumbers fucked something up yesterday, probably won’t be able to go back to the site for a few days.” He said, fishing the takeout boxes from the bag.
“Do you get some time off then?”
“Yeah, Mott said we’ll get reduced pay, but we can still use the shop for personal projects if we want while we wait for the site to open.” He explained, as he sat down and started dishing food onto his plate, “How are the classes going?”
“Same old, same old.” She said with a shrug, “I still don’t know what to do for my major.”
“You’ll figure out something.” He said with a smile, “Where is Meera?”
“Late night literature class.” She replied before biting into her Bravosi seasoned chicken. She watched as he played around with this food, taking small bites and frowned, “Gendry, are you alright?”
He gulped and didn’t look at her, “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?”
“For one, you are treating your favorite takeout like it has killed your dog and second, you won’t look me in the eye.” She answered, “So, what is wrong?”
“Nothing is wrong.” He said, “I, hmmmmmm, I just….I made you this.”
She watched as he pulled out a small cardboard box from his jacket pocket, it looked the size of something a bracelet would come in. He reached across the table and put it next to her plate. She smiled, “You made me something?”
He nodded, looking away nervously again.
She opened it slowly, it was a necklace, a wolf head pennant on a string. The wolf head was shaped from small wires, bent and welded to make the shape, one similar to that of the House Stark crest. She carefully picked it up, worried she would damage the delicate looking design. It was sturdier than it looked and she loved it. She felt tears pricking at her eyes, it was the most beautiful thing anyone had ever given her. She looked up at him, “Gendry, this is so beautiful.”
“Really?” He asked, his blue eyes finally coming up to look at her.
“I love it.” She promised, and wrapped the cord around her neck, “I’ll need to get a chain for it, then I can wear it all the time.”
Her eyes looked back up, it was looking at where the wolf was resting at her clavicle.
“Were you worried I wouldn’t like it?” She asked and got up to walk over to his side.
“I’ve….” He shook his head.
“Gendry, I had no idea you could make anything like this. Why didn’t you want to share it with me?” She asked, truly amazed that he had hidden such a talent from her.
He shrugged, “I didn’t want you thinking less of me.”
Her eyes widened and she leaned on the table next to him, “I could never think less of you and this, this is nothing to be ashamed of. This is the best gift anyone has ever given me.”
He laughed and finally looked at her, “I just wanted to try something new. Been trying to work on small and delicate things, as a hobby. This was the first one that turned out well enough for me to finally decide to give it to you.”
“How long have you been trying?”
“About a year.” He said with a shrug, “Just wanted to give you something nice.”
She rested her hand on his arm, causing his blue eyes to come up her grey one, “It is more than nice. I will wear it all the time, I swear.”
“You really mean it?” He asked and she couldn’t remember him ever being this uncertain before.
“Of course. You're my best friend Gendry, I’m always here for you.” She promised him and touched the pennant, “This is absolutely beautiful and I will cherish it.”
She hadn’t realized how close they had gotten, his proximity was something that never concerned her, before he leaned forward and captured her lips in a kiss. It was their first kiss and she would be damned if she let it be their last.