Theon Greyjoy stormed through Gendry and Arya's apartment ignoring the warning growl from Nymeria – his adopted sister's larger than average wolf - as he barged through her bedroom door and glared down at her sleeping figure.

Like when she was a kid, she slept on a diagonal, the blankets wrapped around her body like a python, the many pillows she insisted on sleeping with all over the bed. It looked like a bomb site, her bed, and Theon remembered how Sansa use to complain that it was like sleeping with a tornado. Idly he wondered how the hell Gendry got a good night's sleep with her all over the bed like that.

"Oi, brat, wake the fuck up!" he demanded kicking her bed. He watched as she lifted her head to peer at him, before she muttered something unintelligible and pulled the blankets over her head, trying to shut him out.

Fed up, Theon pulled back the covers from the foot of the bed, grabbed her tiny little ankle and pulled her off the bed, causing her to bang her head on the hardwood floor.

"Son of a fucking bitch!" she cursed, kicking out at him.

"You - you little psycho what the hell did you do?" Theon snarled, getting ready to pull the little brats ankle again.

"Nymeria no!" Arya commanded and Theon blinked, so lost in his anger that he forgot all about the scary as shit wolf that crouched, ready to leap at him and tear him apart for daring to touch her mistress.

Shit. Normally he and the mutt got on real well, but all she saw was someone threatening her mistress and her first instinct was to kill first and ask questions later. Just like her damn owner!

"I don't know what you are talking about." Arya huffed pushing her protector to the side and getting to her feet.

Theon had grown up with Arya, watched as she turned from a dirt streak little girl that followed him and her brother's around to the absolutely gorgeous woman in front of him. At nineteen Arya wasn't very tall, probably the shortest of the Starks at 5'5, but she had all these golden limbs and toned muscles that made even him – being that he like men more than women - take notice.

Looking at her now, oversized shirt that belonged to her oversized boyfriend, dark hair messy and silver grey eyes blinking away sleep, Theon could understand why so many men found themselves obsessed with this one tiny little being. Until you got to know her.

She was so fucking frustrating!

"Don't lie to me little girl. I had the cops visit me asking where the hell I was two days ago. What. Did. You. Do?!" he bit out, poking her in the forehead. She swiped at him like an angry kitten.

"You were at the Targaryen Ball two nights ago. Everyone saw you there. What the fuck are they on?" she snapped, throwing her hands up in the air.

"But where were you?" he asked, taking a step towards her and ignoring the warning growl from the angry protector next to her. "You were late." His eyes narrowed as he continued to glare at her. "You and that dog of a protector of yours."

"Don't call him that." She pointed at him, ever so protective of those she considered family. He didn't know when Clegane had been added into the Stark family but now that he was there, the scary as hell bodyguard was there for life. Unfortunately.

There was scary and then there was Clegane. He literally looked at you like he was measuring you up for a body bag. That dark glare and frightening smirk had even him curbing his tongue on occasion. And that was very hard for him to do.

"Robb and Jon knew." He breathed staring at her and ignoring her interruption. "Those fuckers knew what you were up to." His eyes narrowed as he continued to glare at her. "You had it all planned, didn't you, you little psycho. The night of the Targaryen Ball where everyone who was anyone would be at. Showing up at the beginning with Gendry, conveniently disappearing for a few hours, showing back up all sexed up." Theon finished through gritted teeth. "What did you do, Aryy?"

The dark smirk crossed his pseudo baby sister's face scared him. Truly scared him.

"What I had to." She told him.

"Son of a bitch, he could've hurt you!" he shouted at her. "Ramsey Bolton is fucking deranged and he could've fucking hurt you!"

Arya glared at him, stalking towards him, causing Theon to take an initial step back before he blinked at stood his ground. Don't show fear, he thought to himself almost desperately. Wolves can smell fear. No, this was his pseudo baby sister. He will not back down. No matter how much she scared the shit out of him.

"He. Nearly. Killed. You." She growled, the growl sounding almost like Nymeria at that moment that the actual Nymeria raised her head. "He decided to lay his hands on you and hurt you. Did you honestly think I would let that go? Knowing me the way you do, did you honestly think that I would not DO anything?" her voice was so cold and so low.

For anyone who knew Arya, they knew that THIS Arya was the Arya to be wary of. But it was this Arya that worried him. Because this Arya would and could kill no matter the costs.

"Ary –"

"We may not share blood, Theon Greyjoy, but you are my brother. Just like Robb and Jon, and Bran and Rickon." She stalked towards him again causing Theon to back up until his back hit the wall. It must have been a hilarious sight, six foot two Theon backing away from little Arya like she was going to kill him. "You were the one who leaked those photos of Jeyne Poole with her bright pink retainer when she started calling me horse face. You were the one who taught me how to deliver a left hook as well as a right hook, even though Robb told you not to. You have been there for me since I don't know when. You are my brother, and you seriously think I was going to let some deranged psychotic idiot take away the wolf inside you?" again no shouting just low fury. "You were always the baddest fucker I knew, of all my brothers. The one who didn't give a damn about what people thought and how they reacted. And suddenly just because you sexual preference went public and Mister Insano and Insane Squad decided to lay their hands on you I'm supposed to be okay with that?" she snapped so coldly furious, Theon shivered.

Fuck Ramsey Bolton and his band of merry fucking men to the seven hells and back. Fuck them for making his life a living hell and for turning him into the kind of man that broke down at any given moment and made him break out into uncontrollable shakes. Fuck him, fuck him, fuck him.

Waking up in that hospital bed 15 months ago, Theon had wished that he had died. There was pain and then there was agony. And he had been in agony every fucking day for two months. He couldn't move, couldn't eat could barely breathe without the pain blindsiding him.

And then there was the mental anguish. Memories in living color that would have him jerking out of bed at all hours, muffling the screams that rose to his lips. Memories of the pain, the laughter – that fucking laughter that had him scared to go to sleep lest they consume him again and again.

Enter the Stark family and their unwavering love and support. He knew growing up that this family loved him, but he never knew how much until then.

They refused to let him spend a night alone always insisting that one of them would stay with him, no matter how loud he protested. It was usually Robb or Jon and on occasion Sansa and Arya.

But out of all of them it was Arya who he preferred staying with him.

With Robb and Jon there was always this slight undertone of helpless rage that led into awkward silences. There had never been any awkwardness with the three of them. Never. But there had been then and it made Theon angry.

With Sansa there was this – sorrow that made him uncomfortable. He remembered that a few years before it had been her in the hospital bed and him wanting to find Joffrey Baratheon and skin him alive.

But with Arya there was nothing but amused laughter and gentle teasing. Her rage was well hidden, her sorrow, concealed. And Theon felt like he could finally breathe, without the worry and the rage of the family. Without any expectations. And Theon also felt that his best night's sleeps were when Arya was there. With her no expectations and her well concealed rage.

Because he knew his sister. He knew that she would be fucking furious.

"You are supposed to leave it to the fucking cops!" he insisted, poking her in the head again. "Let them deal with the insanity that is Ramsey Bolton. Let them do their fucking job!"

"Their job?!" she snapped, throwing her hands about. "They let him go. Again! His fucking father pulled more strings than Tywin Lannister and had him released. He was walking free. He was fucking lucky I allowed him walk away with his life!"

"Dammit, why couldn't you leave well enough alone? What if they connected you to his being beat up? There is no way in hell he's gonna keep his mouth shut. He's Ramsey fucking Bolton. You should've have left him alone!"

"Fuck you, and fuck that!" she snapped causing him to wince and her foul language. "He stole from you your pride, your belief in who you are. He stole from me my brother!" her voice raised slightly, the rage she tried so hard to control swirling like liquid silver in her eyes. Theon watched as she hauled back the rage, as that infamous iron control of hers kicked in.

"Aryy –"

"Enough!" she made a cutting gesture with her hands, so damn commanding and aggressive he almost listened.

Almost. He wouldn't be Theon Greyjoy if he didn't push the mark somehow. And it wasn't until lately he had started feeling like the old Theon Greyjoy. Sarcastic, cryptic, annoyed.

"You are still a little psycho!" he gritted out, poking her in the forehead. Scowling she slapped at his hands, and he pushed her. She kicked out at him, causing him to grunt and he dove for her, tickling her until she squirmed and cursed him at the same time.

Pausing Theon kissed her forehead, hugging her tightly.

"Thank you." He muttered grumpily, meeting her gaze.

Arya rolled her eyes at him, flicking his ear not saying anything. Grinning Theon grabbed her, hugging her tightly, so tightly she began to struggle as he shook her like a rag doll as she tried scratching his eyes out.

Ahhhh, he did love his family.

:::

It was a strange scene that Gendry Waters walked in on not even 15 minutes later. And any other man would have probably been pissed off to find his girlfriend, legs wrapped tightly around another man's waist from behind, one arm wrapped around the said man's neck as she pulled on his hair.

That is unless that other man was Theon Greyjoy. His girlfriend's adopted brother.

Both brother and sister froze as he stared at them amused before his girlfriend vaulted to the ground but not before she gave a vicious tug on the man's hair again.

"What are you doing?" he sighed, his attention on Theon, the older of the two, as he glared down at Arya while rubbing the spot where she pulled his hair.

"She started it!"

"He started it!" the both said together before getting into another lovely slap fight.

Shaking his head, Gendry placed the coffee cups he had in one hand on the drawer and the muffins beside it. Walking towards the fighting duo with easily picked up the love of his life and threw her on their bed drawing a laugh from her.

Picking up her adopted brother from the back of his neck, Gendry frog-marched him towards the door, shoving him gently on the other side.

"Go away." He told Theon firmly closing the door in his face.

"You're still a psycho little shit, Arya Stark!" Theon yelled from the other side of the door as Gendry shrugged off his jacket. "But thank you, little sister." He whispered softly before Gendry heard him stomp away from their bedroom door and slam out of their apartment.

"Why are you torturing your brother?" he asked his girlfriend as he grabbed the coffees and the muffins and handed them to her.

Arya shrugged, grinning.

"Because I can." She informed him taking a sip from her cup and winking.

"Everything okay?" he asked her.

"Yup." She told him popping the 'p'. "Ramsey fucking Bolton got what he deserved and will not tell a single soul about it, I am slowly getting my brother back and I have coffee!" she cheered raising her cup to him. "What more can a girl want?"

Shaking his head and smirking at her Gendry pulled his shirt over his head watching as her eyes darkened as her gaze travelled over his naked chest.

"I don't know. I'm sure I can think of something."