Work Text:
Arya's chest was still heaving with the expense of energy she had just used as she laid on the bed. Gendry had gotten up a few moments before to get in a quick shower before he had to head into work. She had another hour before she had to leave, so she always gave him her first crack at it. Her phone dinged on the nightstand and she slowly rolled over to look at it.
Meera: I worry for my own sanity sometimes
Arya: What did my dear brother do now?
Meera: I am literally cooking him breakfast, as we speak, barefoot and pregnant like some cliche and he says “what’s cooking baby?” and i break into tears
Meera: what is wrong with me?!?
Arya: you are just pregnant, the hormones are fucking with you
Arya: just eat that delicious breakfast and everything will be better later
Meera: *sigh* i hope your are right
Meera: hopefully your morning is going better than mine
Arya: I haven’t even left the bed yet but it has certainly been a good one (smirk emoji)
Meera: Good for you. Maybe that is how I should start spending my mornings (smirk emoji)(flame)
Arya: Eww...that is my brother you’re talking about
Meera: You started the sex talk babe, all on you
Arya: True
Arya: I have to get ready for work now. See you there!
Arya placed down her phone, glad that for once her sister-in-law did not try to tell her how bad her sleeping with Gendry was. She frowned, now that she was thinking about it, Meera hadn’t said anything about it for 3 years. Not since they had left college and Arya had actually moved in with Gendry when Meera and Jon got engaged.
“Bathroom is all yours!” Gendry called out from the hallway and she heard his steps heading toward his room.
There was a bed in there, but it was rarely used. Gendry spent most nights in her bed, even on the nights they didn’t engage in sex. His room mostly just stored his clothes and workout equipment.
“Thanks!” She yelled in return before getting out of bed and slipping on her robe, trying not to think too hard about Meera’s lack of comments might really mean.
Ned Dayne was the newest hire to their rescue, he was hired to handle their ever growing social media presence and for general IT work. She and Meera had spent nearly a decade working to make this dream of their come true, having started it as bright eyed 15 year olds. They worked hard in college, Meera had a business degree, while Arya had both an accounting degree and a two-year vet tech degree. They had opened the rescue 3 years ago, started out with just cats and dogs. At first, they could only handle about 20 at a time. The demand however grew, so it went from just 2 of them, to them hiring on 5 extra hands, and now, that number was up to 15 full time staff, 10 part time, and dozens of rotating volunteers. Arya had even bought a small farmhouse and the land on which it stood. Gendry had helped her turn the two barns into kennels for the dogs and had built a smaller barn for the cats. He and Arya lived in the farmhouse on the property, but Gendry was not an official member of the rescue and little to do with the day to day activities. There had been a second, smaller house on the property as well. She assumed it might have been for the farmhands to spend the summer months, it was just a living room/dining room/kitchen, a small bathroom, and two bedrooms with bunk beds in them. Gendry gutted it out, placed a dividing wall between the kitchen space and built on an extra space, doubling the room available. Her and Meera each took a bedroom for their office, turned the living, dining room into the work space for their employees, and as a combination breakroom. The extra space Gendry had built one, was the front office for the rescue. People dropped off the animals they found or they came to fill out applications.
As such, Arya was always the first one in the office before their official opening time of 9 am, but today was an expectation as she walked up to the door to see Ned sitting on the front bench. He had a coffee thermos with the Dornish Snakes logo on it and a bright smile, “Good morning Arya.”
“A little eager today Ned?” She said with a laugh as she unlocked the door.
“The fundraiser is less than a week away. There is so much to do still.” He said, walking right over to his corner desk in the employee room.
Arya sighed, “Yeah, the fundraiser.”
It had been her mother’s idea, a way to help them raise money, since they were a non-profit. She had set the whole thing up for them, sending out the invitations to all the right people. Usually she would refuse any help from her mother, but this was one done purely with her rescue in mind, and she needed to accept her mother knew what she was talking about.
“Things will go great. The tents should arrive later today and we can do a test run with set up.” Ned responded, already in his email box and Arya hadn’t even turned on the light in her office yet.
“Sounds great. Thanks for taking points on this Ned, it isn’t actually your job.” She reminded him.
He smiled, “Part of it was, I had to get the word out.”
She chuckled, and walked over to start the coffee making in the kitchen before heading into her office. She had just started to read over her emails when she heard the door open and Ned say, “Good morning Meera.”
“Hi Ned, how are you today?” She heard Meera respond, her voice sounding tired already.
“Great.” He responded and Arya could imagine his perfectly placed smile in her minds eye.
The light turned on in Meera’s office as she poked her head in through the open half wall between their rooms, “How is he always so cheery?”
Arya laughed, “He isn’t seven months pregnant.”
“Lucky bastard.” Meera replied before Arya watched her head disappear as she sat down.
The rest of the staff filed in not long after and it was time to start their day. Arya got up to go help feed the dogs, their day didn’t end just because she was still confused by her wayward thoughts on her and Gendry’s relationship.
The day ended quickly, just as it always did, and Arya was more than ready to get home and see what Gendry had decided to make for them tonight. He was an excellent cook, she always told him if he ever wanted to quit carpentry, he could be a chef. He never took her seriously but she was always rewarded with good food and great sex whenever she said it. She turned off the light to her office before poking her head into Meera’s, “Ready to go?”
Meera looked up from her desk, “Two minutes, I just need to finish writing this email to a potential adopter.”
“No problem, take your time.” She replied and went out into the main space. Only Ned still remained, “It is time to go Ned.”
His head snapped up, “Oh, is it that time already?”
“It is.” She said, checking that all the kitchen appliances were off.
She heard movement as he turned off his computer and straightened his desk, “What are your plans for tonight Arya?”
She turned quickly, not expecting the question, “Oh, just going to go home for dinner and some Netflix.”
“I was going to head to that Bravosi place in town, give it a try. Would you like to join me?” He asked, his blue eyes sparkling at her with his sweet smile.
She felt an internal panic begin in her chest, was he asking her out on a date? It certainly seemed like he was asking her out. No one had asked her out since college and even that had only happened twice. She was not prepared for this question, assuming it would never be something she would have to deal with. She took a deep breath, “Oh….hmmm… thanks Ned but I really can’t. My boyfriend would have dinner cooking by now.”
“I didn’t know you had a boyfriend.” Ned said, his smile still genuine and it made her feel a stab of guilt for lying to him.
“Yeah, Gendry, we've been together a long time.” She explained, “But that Bravosi place is great, you should check it out for sure.”
Ned nodded, “Thanks, I will. I can’t wait to meet Gendry at the fundraiser. Have a good night.”
“Bye Ned.” Meera said, causing Arya to jump with how close her sister-in-law was as Ned went out the door. Meera turned on her, “Are we finally admitting that Gendry is your boyfriend?”
Arya rolled her eyes, “You know the time of relationship Gendry and I have.”
“It stopped being ‘just sex, no strings attached’ about seven years ago.” Meera replied, one hand on her hip while the other held her bag.
“We’ve only been sleeping together for seven years.” Arya countered.
Meera smirked, “Exactly. Neither of you are fooling anyone, you’ve been in a long-term relationship Arya, admit it.”
“No, we haven’t. We are just friends, who happen to live together, and have sex sometimes.” Arya said turning to leave.
“I already know the answer to these questions but I am going to ask them anyway.” Meera said, moving quicker than Arya though she would be able too and got in front of her, blocking the employee entrance, “When was the last time you actually went on a date with someone who wasn’t Gendry? When was the last time Gendry went on a date with someone else? The answer is, six years. You had a single date with that guy whose name I don’t even remember right now in sophomore year and you came back to our dorm, annoyed, and said things were just easier with Gendry.” Meera took a step forward, “Gendry has always been your boyfriend Arya. He is the only man you’ve ever been with, he is the only man you want to be with. You should both stop fighting it and accept it. You’re too old to still be pretending.”
“He doesn’t want that Meera, he has always said…”
“He has been pretending too. Tell him about what happened here today and bring him to the fundraiser, as your boyfriend, not just your date.” Meera said, giving her a comforting smile and walking out of the office.
Arya sat down on the employee couch, her mind running wild, this day had started out so great, how had it taken this turn?
The smell that greeted her when she walked through the door was delicious and it drew her toward the kitchen. She was greeted to the sight of Gendry in some loose basketball shorts and a t-shirt at the stove.
“Smells great.” She said and took a seat at the counter so she could watch him work.
He turned and smiled at her, “Seafood alfredo tonight. I was feeling the mood for shrimp.”
“No complaints from me.” She said and he started stirring the pasta into the sauce, coating the noodles in a sauce he had perfected over the years. Living with a certified chef before moving in with her hadd certainly taught him well.
He handed her the plates and she spun around to take them to the table. This was routine, he cooked and she set the table. She grabbed the wine glasses and poured them each a glass before taking her seat. He brought the pan over and portioned out the pasta, they smell wafting up and making her mouth water. He put the empty pan in the sink and walked back over with some bread.
He smiled at her as he took his seat, “How was your day? Things are still all good for the fundraiser?”
Everything Meera had said suddenly became crystal clear to her. She and Gendry had become fully domestic, even the little things they had just done proved it. Any fear she felt growing as she walked over from the office disappeared and she smiled back, “Everything is on track. The tents arrived today, we are going to set them up tomorrow. Ned said we’ve had 200 people RSVP, much more than we were hoping for.”
She saw his jaw tick for a moment before he took a bite of the food. He swallowed before saying, “That is great, I am sure it will go wonderfully.”
“I really hope so. This could really help us out getting those expansions we want to do underway.” She replied, biting into the food, “Delicious as always.”
He blushed, “Thanks.”
She asked him about his day in turn, apparently the the hotel wanted to redo their lobby and dining room and asked him for an estimate. Anguy and him were heading over there in the morning to get the measurements.
After dinner had been cleared away and they’d transitioned to the living room she said, “Oh, I forgot to tell you. Ned asked me out on a date today.”
She had purposely sat in the chair instead of on the couch to watch his reaction. He tensed up immediately, his sign of anger, but instead of showing it he said, “What did you tell him?”
“No. I already have a boyfriend. I don’t need two.” She said, glancing down at her phone as if what she said was not something neither of them had acknowledged before.
When he didn’t say anything right away she looked back up but he was no longer on the couch, instead he was standing before her, “Do you mean it?”
She didn’t need to ask for clarification, “Of course I do. There is no one else for me but you Gendry, why should we keep on pretending?”
He leaned down and gave her a deep kiss, “If we are not longer pretending, then I can finally say, I love you Arya Stark.”
She was sure her smile lit up her whole face, “I love you too Gendry Waters.”
Later that night, when she was laying in their bed, with her head resting on her chest, she made a note to herself to thank Meera in the morning. She really had been right and Arya would never be ungrateful for the push she provided. She’d also make sure to introduce Ned and Shireen at the fundraiser, she had a feeling they would get along wonderfully.