DISCLAIMER: Gossip Girl and its characters are the property of Cecily von Ziegesar and Warner Bros. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.

Tango in D Minor
By Janine

Part One

"Ugh!" Serena declared sweeping into Eric's room, her face lighting up in a smile a moment later as she beamed at him. "Away with this!" she declared grinning, pushing his food tray away and dumping a crisp white paper bag on his lap. "I brought lunch," she continued plopping onto the bed next to him.

"CocoLuxe?" Eric asked hopefully.

"Of course," Serena responded reaching for the bag and opening it, wafting it in front of Eric's face before he laughed and grabbed the bag from her, reaching inside.

"What about you?" Eric asked as he removed the contents of the bag and realized that there wasn't enough food in it for both of them. "You don't need to watch your figure," he said looking over at her.

Serena laughed and flopped down on the mattress her torso by Eric's feet as her legs dangled over the edge and kicked back and forth lazily.

"I had lunch with Blair," Serena responded turning to face him. "She bought the Cinnamon Knot," she continued nodding towards Eric's desert before closing one of her eyes and extending her hand, pretending to pick up the pastry and poke it in his mouth.

Eric laughed and shook his head, glad to see his sister in such a good mood. She had been in a good mood a lot lately, which he greatly preferred to the melancholy air that had surrounded her when she first came back home.

"You're in a good mood today," Eric commented lightly as he unwrapped his sandwich, his eyes moving over to watch Serena.

"I am," Serena agreed stretching a little. "Aren't I usually?" she asked quirking an eyebrow at him.

"Well, yeah," Eric replied in between bites. "It's just that you seem … extra happy lately," he went on watching her closely again. He thought he might have an idea why she was in such a good mood.

"Why," Serena began pointedly staring at her little brother. "Are you looking at me like that?" she went on reaching out her hands as if she was going to tickle him, only to smile as he automatically pulled his feet back, hugging his sandwich to him and he eyed her wearily.

"Have you seen Dan lately?" Eric asked, surprised when a weary sigh emerged from his sister.

"No," Serena replied finally shifting on the bed, restless. "We're just friends."

"He dumped you?" Eric asked surprised. On a completely aesthetic level he could admit that his sister was stunning, and he knew that boys (and men) were usually falling all over themselves to get even the tiniest bit of attention from her. It made him want to punch a lot of people in the face, but he liked Dan.

"We weren't even going out," Serena responded making a face as she looked at her brother. "Besides, if anyone did any dumping it was me."

"Why?"

Serena had seemed to actually like him.

"It's just not a good time," Serena said sighing turning away from Eric to look out the window. "Besides things were always going wrong. It was probably like a sign from God or something."

"I'm sure that's what He spends his time doing," Eric commented sarcastically, smiling as Serena stuck her tongue out at him.

"I guess you'll have to take care of the Van der Woodsen/Humphrey love connection," Serena teased, biting on her bottom lip as she looked over at Eric, releasing her lip and smiling when she saw him blush.

Eric opened his mouth to respond, but before he could get anything out Serena's cell phone began to ring.

"Saved by the bell," she muttered at him before reaching down for her oversized purse. "Yeah," Serena said into her phone as she lay back down on the bed.

Eric shook his head. Their mother had most certainly taught them better manners than that.

"Hey," Serena said a second later, her face lighting up as she grinned goofily up at the ceiling.

Eric's eyebrow rose.

That was an extra happy smile if he had ever seen one.

"Yeah … totally … no, it's fine. Really … really," Serena said into the phone laughing airily, her feet kicking over the edge of the bed again. "He hasn't eaten it yet. Yeah, I told him. I don't know, I'll ask him," Serena said turning towards Eric who tried to pretend like he hadn't been intently eavesdropping. "Do you …" she began speaking to Eric, "Why not?" she asked a second later talking into the phone once more. She was then silent for a moment listening to the other end before she started to laugh. "I'll see you later," she said a couple seconds after that. "Okay. Come on, stop it. Me too … me too! Okay, bye."

"Who was that?" Eric asked, with what he hoped was complete nonchalance.

"Blair," Serena responded dropping the phone onto the bedspread. "Being an idiot," she added a moment later grinning before flipping onto her stomach. "I put some new songs on my Ipod. If you like them I'll upload them onto yours and bring it back tomorrow," she continued reaching over the edge of the bed to lug her purse onto it.

Eric shook his head. He could have sworn that was an extra happy conversation.

Oh well, maybe she really was just in a good mood and it had absolutely nothing to do with boys.

"Cool, what've you got?" Eric asked reaching for the earphone Serena was holding out to him.

Part Two

A Month Later

Serena breathed in deeply as she heard her mother's voice ring out from the kitchen. Plastering a smile on her face she backtracked until she was standing in the doorway of the kitchen area.

"Yes?" she asked as pleasantly as she could muster.

"Where are you going?" Lily asked wiping her hands on a towel before her cool blue eyes focused intently on her daughter.

"To Blair's," Serena responded still smiling.

Blair had been right, after the Ostroff incident Lily had been quite unimpressed with her and rather critical of Serena when she and Blair had started to spend time together again. But, after Blair's purging of the complimentary bar Lily had begun to warm up to the brunette again.

Serena hadn't particularly wanted to have the conversation with her mother, but when Lily had found the bar empty the only way to avoid World War Three breaking out in the living room was to come clean.

The conversation had actually gone remarkably well, and Serena had to admit that she was rather surprised when Lily had looked hurt instead of smug and condescending when she told her about rehab.

When Serena finished telling her about how Blair had dumped all of the alcohol to preserve her 'new leaf', her mother had simply commented "at least there's someone you trust with these things" and rubbed her arm lightly staring at her before sighing deeply and leaving the room to prepare for a dinner date.

"I feel like I should be paying Eleanor rent money since she seems to be putting you up these days," Lily responded as Serena's smile finally faltered.

"There's no need to be so melodramatic," Serena sighed. Eleanor would have had to have been around to be put out by her presence.

No, she and Blair had there own little domestic paradise during Eleanor's frequent absences. Gabriella confined herself to the kitchen in the morning so she was often unaware of Serena's presence in the house, and by the time she arrived in the evenings Gabriella had usually gone. It was quite a nice set up actually.

"Really?" Lily asked arching a perfectly sculpted, impossibly blonde eyebrow. "Can you even remember the last time you spent three consecutive nights here?"

"Can you?" Serena snapped before she could think better of it.

Lily's eyes narrowed and for a second Serena was sure that she had just sassed herself out of a night with Blair.

"Watch it," Lily said in a deadly calm voice.

"It's just Blair," Serena said in the most penitent tone she could muster. "We're just going to be hanging out at her place. Really, it's totally innocent. It's not a big deal."

"I don't have a problem with you spending time with Blair," Lily responded sighing softly, shifting to lean against the kitchen counter before returning her gaze to Serena. "It's just that … you're my daughter and I would like to see you every so often, perhaps even talk to you for more than five seconds as you fly out the door."

Serena stared at her mother for a long moment taken back by the genuinely wistful look in Lily's eyes. At times like that she thought that she was sometimes too hard on her mother. Lily wasn't always the best at showing her affection but Serena knew that she did care.

"I'll be home for the rest of the week," Serena promised softly, smiling. "Maybe on Saturday we could do brunch or something. Catch up a little."

Lily nodded then added, "Very well. Go play with Blair," before waving towards the penthouse door, the small smile playing at the edges of her lips softening her words.

Serena grinned widely at that and stepped further into the kitchen. Walking over to her mother she then hugged Lily tightly and kissed her cheek before flying out the door.

Lily shook her head and sighed before smiling herself.

Part Three

Waldorf Brownstone

Serena moaned into the skin of Blair's neck as her fingers trailed up the brunette's nude torso roughly, her teeth nipping at the fair skin of Blair's neck while her hand cupped Blair's breast through her bra, massaging the full, soft mound.

"So warm," Serena murmured into Blair's ear, her lips moving to kiss the brunette's cheek as Blair's hand slid over her hips and over her ass, griping and squeezing. "You feel so good," Serena groaned pushing back into Blair's hands before pressing her hips forward, straddling Blair's thigh as her own pressed into the heat at the apex of Blair's legs.

Serena moaned as Blair gasped, covering the smaller girl's lips with her own, breathing in Blair's sigh of pleasure.

Blair's panties were soaked. She could feel the damp slickness against her thigh and it made her head spin.

"You taste so good," Serena said, her tongue flicking against Blair's chin before she began to kiss her way down. "You smell so good," she continued softly, raggedly as she buried her nose in the warm skin of Blair's neck and breathed in deeply, nuzzling, burrowing into Blair.

However, a few moments later Serena pulled back from Blair's skin, golden hair falling in front of her face as she stared down at the flushed and breathless brunette beneath her.

"You're so beautiful," Serena said softly, her eyes locked on Blair. "You break my heart."

Blair's lips parted at that as if she wanted to say something but no words came out. All she could do was take a shuddering breath, her body trembling beneath Serena's and then she surged up, her hand moving to the back of Serena's head, holding the blonde in place as she kissed her with a desperate hunger.

They kissed for long moments, Blair supporting herself on one arm while the other held Serena tightly to her ensuring that the blonde could not take her lips away from her – not that such a thought would ever have occurred to Serena. However, eventually the brunette's arm gave out and she tumbled back down onto the mattress, Serena flowing down with her, her lips never leaving Blair's.

Serena's hand moved over Blair's stomach slowly until her fingers brushed the waistband of the brunette's panties, lingering there for a moment before they slipped underneath the fabric. A moment later, long, tapered fingers were sliding through the moist heat and neatly trimmed hair of Blair's sex.

"Oh god," Blair breathed out, her eyes shut tightly, her hand grasping at Serena's forearm as her face contorted almost as if she were in pain.

Blair's hips jerked, her thighs twitching slightly open before they then pressed together once more, trapping Serena's hand awkwardly between her legs.

"B," Serena said softly, the letter coming out of her mouth as a sigh moments later when Blair's legs still hadn't unclamped. "It's okay," Serena said blowing some hair out of her face. "I'm going to take my hand away," she continued attempting to pull her hand out of Blair's underwear.

A few seconds later the brunette's legs unclamped and Serena was able to pull her hand free.

Ignoring the tantalizing wetness coating her fingers Serena flopped down onto her back on the mattress next to Blair, her eyes fluttering shut as she breathed in deeply and released the air she had taken in before repeating the process in an attempt to calm her body down. Once she felt able to think again, Serena turned her head to the side only to be greeted by Blair's back.

The brunette had curled onto her side facing away from her.

"Hey," Serena said twisting herself so that she was curled behind Blair's back. "What's wrong?"

"Oh nothing," Blair responded her voice choked as she turned her head into her pillow. "I'm just frigid, that's all."

"You're not frigid," Serena responded stroking Blair's arm lightly, though she knew her tone sounded less than convincing. The truth was she was kind of bewildered by Blair's behavior. She knew that Blair was attracted her, that she was sexually excited by her. When she'd had her hand in her panties Blair had been wet, wetter than she was most of the time when she touched herself. And the sounds Blair made when she touched her, the way her body responded to her touch all told Serena that Blair wanted her as much she wanted Blair. And yet …

"You could have at least tried to sound like you meant that," Blair responded curling away from Serena even more, blinking back tears.

She knew that Serena wanted her, and the crazy thing was that even though she kept on stopping them from going all of the way, she wanted Serena too … badly. Even curling away from the blonde, completely mortified and filled with self-loathing, she could still feel the throbbing between her legs.

She wanted to do it, she just couldn't let go, couldn't relax completely. She mentally screamed at her body to relax and unclamp, she tried to will her thighs to part and allow Serena's hand to explore her, but her body was traitorous and would not follow her commands.

Serena kept trying to tell her that it was okay and shifting with unfulfilled need the blonde would hold her and talk with her and laugh with her like nothing was the matter. But Blair knew that she was disappointing Serena, that the blonde was becoming increasingly frustrated with her inability to just do it. Serena denied it, but Blair knew. She knew.

The week before she had awoken in the middle of night and found that Serena was not lying beside her. She tried to go back to sleep, but she missed Serena's presence in the bed and had gotten up and wandered down the hall to find her. Seeing a thin bar of light on the floor by the bathroom door she had walked over to the bathroom, a teasing smile on her lips when a sound from within stopped her in her tracks.

Serena was moaning behind the door and Blair could just detect a faint wet rubbing sound from within the room. Blair knew those moans she had heard them before in her bedroom, and on the couch. They were sounds Serena made when Blair's lips were on her and her hands were under her clothes. After that there had been no doubt in Blair's mind about what Serena was doing in the washroom.

And a few days before, as she made her way back to her bedroom from the shower before she had stopped just in front of her door to rub her towel over her face to remove some water droplets that were raining into her eyes from her hair. And when she did she heard the sound she'd heard the week before from within her room.

She had left the door slightly ajar when she went to the bathroom so Blair looked through the opening. Her bed was clearly visible and she could see Serena lying on her back, her legs drawn up and spread, her right hand moving furious beneath the blanket as she pressed Blair's pillow to her face, her hand moving and her hips pumping until her body froze and she came shaking uncontrollably for a minute before collapsing against the mattress as she struggled for breath.

Blair was convinced. She was frigid. She was disappointing Serena like she disappointed everyone else.

She claimed her virginity as a badge of honor, but the truth was she could take no more credit for it than a snowball could take for being cold. She was totally pathetic and fucked up and couldn't even let go around the one person she loved most in the world and who she knew loved her as well.

She was going to lose Serena. She was sure of it. She lost everyone.

She knew she wasn't good enough, and she was proving it to herself and Serena over and over again. The blonde couldn't be expected to put up with her forever.

"I meant it," Serena said gently, wrapping her arm around Blair, bending her head down to kiss her shoulder. "I mean it. I just …" Serena began making sure to keep her hold on Blair. "I don't understand exactly what … I mean, do you not want me …" Serena continued trailing off at as loss as to how to phrase the question. "We don't have to, I mean if you don't, if I'm doing something you don't want …" she went on awkwardly.

"You're not," Blair said uncurling a bit, the trepidation and worry in Serena's voice drawing her out of her own thoughts. "I do want you, I want this," she said wanting to turn around to look at Serena but her emotions were still too raw for that. "It's just still too much," she continued softly. "Please don't be mad."

"Mad?" Serena repeated as if she had never heard the word before. "Blair, I'm not mad, there's nothing to be mad about. You know you're my favorite," she continued before kissing Blair's shoulder again. "Look at me," Serena requested gently. "Please."

Reluctantly Blair turned around in the circle of Serena's arms until they were face to face. "It's okay, I promise," Serena said softly and then she leaned forward to kiss Blair's lips, sighing contently as the brunette relaxed against her.

Blair turned her head to the side to look at the alarm clock and then looked towards the bedroom door. Serena was taking the longest shower known to man and they were going to be late for school if the blonde didn't hurry up.

Sighing, Blair moved towards the bedroom door and pushed it open walking towards the bathroom. Fist balled up she lifted her hand to bang on the door and harass Serena until she got out of the shower. However, as she prepared to knock on the door she heard a faint moan come from behind the door along with the familiar sound of the shower.

Blair closed her eyes against the sting of tears that suddenly welled in them.

She knew it wasn't okay.

Part Four

Two Weeks Later

Serena put her book down on the table and reached for her coffee, her eyes lifting to scan the world beyond the window, a look of surprise coming across her features a moment later as she reached out to tap the glass, waving at the figure she had spotted walking by.

"Big as it is, Manhattan's actually kind of small," Dan said coming to a stop beside Serena's table once he made it inside the café.

They hadn't really spoken to each other much after the most awkward movie night ever, but he'd had time to deal with the demise of the romance that never was and he was beginning to think that they might actually be able to pull off the friends thing for real.

"Have a seat. The Raisin Cinnamon French Toast is great here, you should totally try it," Serena said kicking back the seat opposite her. "Unless you've been here before and already have a favorite. In that case, disregard all of the above," she went on smiling as he took a seat.

"I've never been, thanks for the recommendation," Dan said relaying the order to a waitress who materialized by the table a few seconds later. "So, you look …" Dan began once he had ordered taking a good look at Serena for the first time. "A little … down," he continued trying to be as diplomatic as possible. The truth was that he had only seen her look better.

"It's just been a rough couple of weeks," Serena said sighing before shrugging a little and smiling.

For days after the night Blair had called herself frigid the brunette had refused to allow Serena to do more than hug her and kiss her. Blair had relented somewhat in the past week but Serena still found herself being hesitant to touch the brunette because tension and anxiety radiated from Blair in waves whenever it seemed like things might get heated between them again. They were still spending as much time together as they had before but there was a strain and self-consciousness to their interactions that was starting to get to Serena. And the worse part about it was that she had absolutely no idea what to do about it.

"You wanna talk about it?" Dan asked seeing a small frown appear on Serena's lips as her gaze momentarily lost focus. Even though his romantic aspirations had fallen through in regards to Serena, there was still a part of him that looked at her and just wanted to try and help put her together again. "Friends, right?"

"I," Serena began forcing a smile onto her face before shaking her head lightly. "Yeah, I do actually, but I probably shouldn't," she continued ruefully.

"Ah," Dan said knowledgably, nodding his head, "Romantic trouble."

Serena looked over at him a bit uncomfortably.

"Don't worry. I'm not being passive aggressive or anything," Dan said a moment later realizing she could have interpreted his comment as a dig after the reason she had given him for not seeing each other. "It's water under the bridge, really. You can date whoever you want," he said making a mockingly grandiose sweeping motion with his hand to try and make his words as un-condescending as possible.

Serena leaned back in her chair regarding him silently for a few seconds, her gaze inscrutable.

"Why are you so certain I'm dating someone?" Serena asked finally looking over him, willing to take his assurance that they were fine at face value. It was one of the things she had always liked about Dan. He didn't play games. He just laid things out there just as it were. "Even Gossip Girl doesn't think I'm dating anyone."

"Okay, feel free to throw your coffee at me and storm out here if I'm wrong, but you are dating someone," Dan responded squaring his shoulders as if he was going into battle. He was confident about the conclusion he had come to after months of surreptitiously watching Serena and trying to figure out what happened between them. Well, he was fairly confident anyway. At the very least he was mostly confident. Okay, he was maybe just pretty confident, but that was still something. "Gossip Girl just hasn't picked up on it because it's not a guy," he continued breathing in deeply as he kept his gaze focused on Serena.

Serena stared at Dan unblinkingly in response.

"Blair," Dan went on somewhat unnerved by the blonde's look, not sure whether she was seconds away from breaking down and confirming his suspicion or taking him up on that offer to bathe him in coffee.

"Why would you," Serena began softly blinking rapidly though her eyes were still on him.

"You were holding hands at the movie," Dan responded simply, shrugging a little.

"Oh, you saw that," Serena muttered softly before a little smile touched the corner of her lips.

It helped explain why he gave up on her so quickly after the movie. The truth was her ego had been a little damaged when he had given up so easily. However, she could understand him not wanting to lose her to girl … twice.

"So do you want to talk about it?" Dan asked again taking her comment as an affirmative response to the 'are you dating Blair' question.

Serena smiled at that, a genuine one that reached her eyes, but shook her head again a second later looking tempted but uncertain. It would be weird to talk about what was going on with her and Blair with the guy she had almost dated, but didn't because she and Blair got together instead.

No matter how much she wanted to talk about it with someone she really shouldn't …

"It's just … I kind of know how guys feel," Serena said glancing up and looking over at Dan.

'Right, so much for the not talking about it thing,' she thought to herself.

Dan's eyebrows shot up at that. That wasn't what he was expecting to hear. He didn't really know what he was expecting her to say, just that it wasn't that.

"How so?"

Serena sighed deeply and leaned back in her chair. "I shouldn't talk about it," she said.

"You obviously want to talk about it, and well, you can trust me," Dan said seriously leaning forward, resting his elbows on the table. "I'm not going to tell anyone. Besides, I'm pretty sure that no one else knows, so I'm kind of your only option," he finished smiling crookedly.

Serena smiled at him and rolled her eyes, her fingers playing with the edge of the table. He was right, she did want to talk about it, and she really didn't have anyone else to talk about it with. She was beginning to drive herself insane going over the same information again and again in her head and maybe if she got an outside opinion she might be able to …

"She won't have sex with me," Serena blurted out, her voice mercifully soft as she said it, her eyes widening when she realized what had just come out of her mouth. She had meant to allude to the situation, to be tactful and coy, not to … well, she supposed it didn't really matter anymore.

Dan blinked rapidly, nodding his head slightly in rapid succession.

"Okay," he said finally, chewing on his bottom lip and staring at Serena with an uncertain smile on his face.

He hadn't expected that either. He thought that maybe she had inadvertently called Blair fat, or had forgotten her birthday, or had worn white after Labor Day or something. But sex … Serena and Blair … and sex … together … or the lack of it. No, he had not expected that.

Serena slumped back in her chair upon seeing Dan's reaction. She knew she shouldn't have said anything.

"Why?" Dan asked seeing Serena begin to shut down. "I mean why won't she … you know," he continued making a vague hand motion to indicate the act he couldn't think about without getting distracted and kind of turned on. He needed to focus, he was being a friend. He was more than his hormones. Or at least he would keep telling himself that.

"I don't know, I think … Blair is very controlled," Serena began softly, thoughtfully, relaxing a bit more with every word, "and it scares her to think about losing that … even with me."

Dan leaned back in his chair, "Well, I'm not exactly Oprah, but maybe …" he began deciding that as long as they didn't talk about make-up or Justin Timberlake that he could possibly handle being Serena's 'girlfriend' for the afternoon.

Part Five

Waldorf Brownstone

//Spotted: Queen B, looking fabulous in Chanel, loaded down with bags on 5^th. What treasure troves of fashion lay inside of those brand name bags? Unfortunately, most of us will never find out.

It's strange to see B out these days without BFF, S. Could there be trouble at Tiffany's? We here at Gossip Girl certainly hope not. The Waldorf-van der Woodsen tag-team warms our cold and jaded little heart, and we wish the two hotties the best of luck. //

Blair sighed and glared at her laptop screen as if she could melt it with the fury in her eyes alone. She had to keep up with her press but often it was a thankless task. She actually didn't mind the first part of the report since she did look very good in that Chanel dress. Her mother had even commented on it which was about as common as seeing a monkey with a pancake on its head. She did not appreciate the speculation about her relationship with Serena however.

Normally she wouldn't let Gossip Girl's ramblings get to her, but her relationship with Serena had been a source of anxiety and panic for her in the past few weeks and she didn't appreciate a complete stranger speculating about it … especially because she was certain that there was trouble at Tiffany's.

She had overreacted when Serena had tried to move things to third base and she hadn't been able to do it, she realized that now. For days after the incident she had barely let Serena touch her fearing what would happen if things got serious again and she couldn't complete the mission.

She had managed to force herself to loosen up a little bit in the last week, but things were still strained between them. Serena seemed to be uncertain what type of touching would be allowed and what would make her shut down and had been very careful and hesitant with her. And even though Blair would have liked a bit more contact, she didn't push it, because how could she risk getting Serena worked up if she knew she couldn't take care of her?

Sighing again Blair scrolled further down the screen to see the next bit of gossip. Hopefully reading about how someone else's life sucked would cheer her up.

//Spotted: S and Lonely Boy sharing a table at Red Flame Coffee Shop. Could it be that our young paramour is lonely no more? Gossip Gawkers report that S and Lonely shared a long and intimate conversation over French toast and coffee. Has S already been taken off of the market again? (And before we even knew she was back on it, naughty girl!)

Only time will tell, but here are some pictures of the biscuties.

L'amour or lunch? You decide.//

Blair stared at the images of Serena and Dan seated opposite each other at the coffee shop. They were intently focused on each other and in many pictures both had their elbows on the table were leaning towards each other as if they were completely riveted by one another. And as if that wasn't bad enough, there was even a picture of Serena eating some French toast off of the plate in front of Dan.

Blair shut her laptop quickly and stood, standing immobile by her desk for a moment before she moved slowly over to her bed and collapsed on it.

She had talked to Serena a couple of hours after she left the coffee shop and all Serena had said to her was, "I ran into Dan".

Blair hugged her pillow to her.

"I ran into Dan" was not an adequate description of what had happened when Serena had in fact had an hour and a half long conversation with Dan that included sharing food items.

"I had coffee with Dan," or "I talked with Dan," would have been vague but somewhat accurate. But "I ran into Dan" did not even begin to cover it.

Blair released her pillow and stared up at the ceiling trying unsuccessfully to blink back tears.

Something needed to be done, she thought as she rolled back onto her side and hugged her pillow again as she curled into the fetal position.

There was no way that she was going to lose Serena, especially not to a 'Fish t-shirt wearing, wanna-be hipster, John Cusack-Woody Allen if they mated, public-transit riding, no trust fund, non-legacy' loser like Dan Humphrey.

Nobody put Blair Waldorf in the corner, nobody.

Blair sniffled and brought her hands up to her face wiping away the tear tracks that had formed.

She was going to fight for her woman.

Part Six

The Palace … four days later

Serena sighed, brushing some stray strands of blonde hair out of her face as she walked in the door of the penthouse, rotating her neck around trying to loosen it up before she headed into the kitchen to grab a bottle of water.

Uncapping the bottle of water, she headed towards the living room to relax in front of the TV for a while before calling Blair to see if she wanted to come over later. However, as she made her way towards the living room she saw something red out of the corner of her eye that seemed to be out of place.

With the mouth of the water bottle still resting on her lips, Serena turned her head to look at the object only to find that she was staring at a rose petal lying on the floor. Drawing the water bottle away from her lips, Serena saw that there was a stream of petals leading all the way to her bedroom.

Absently, Serena rested the bottle of water on a nearby table and followed the flowers.

Music was playing softly in the background when Serena opened the door to her room. The room was lit by candlelight and the rose petals continued past the door leading to her bed where Blair was lying in a black stretch lace chemise with a red ribbon lace-up front and a matching g-string. The brunette's back was resting against the headboard as she stared straight forward at Serena, her index finger resting teasingly against her bottom lip in a coquettish and inviting way.

"B," Serena breathed out softly, her eyes focused on Blair. The blonde bit her bottom lip and began to chew on it.

"Were you expecting someone else?" Blair drawled teasingly, a smile tugging at her painted red lips before she shifted on the bed and swung her legs over the side, standing up gracefully a few seconds later and walking over to Serena.

"Expecting … else?" Serena breathed out not even really aware of what she was saying as Blair walked towards her.

Serena's eyes were locked on the brunette. Blair had on a g-string that covered her below the waist, but her top half had no such protection and as she moved towards the blonde. Serena could see the pale flesh of Blair's breasts and her dusky nipples through the sheer material of the chemise, the creamy mounds swaying hypnotically as Blair moved towards her.

Serena blinked rapidly and breathed in deeply before wetting her lips.

Serena's reaction was unmistakable and Blair smiled softly as she came to a stop in front of the blonde.

Blair lifted her hand to Serena's cheek and softly stroked it with the back of her hands.

She was going to do this. She was not going to lose the blonde. She had skillfully questioned Serena days before to find out what her schedule and Lily's schedule were going to be like so that she could plan her actions in advance. She had lied her way up to the penthouse. She had bought hundreds of dollars worth of rose petals. And, she had spent a small fortune on lingerie.

There was no turning back.

Blair reached around cupping the back of Serena's neck and dragged the blonde's lips down towards her, kissing her soundly. Serena kissed back immediately, her arms wrapping around Blair's waist as she sighed into the brunette's mouth, her hands sliding over the soft, sheer material covering Blair's body.

Slowly, Blair began to walk backwards leading them towards the bed, a smile tugging at her lips when the backs of her knees collided with the mattress.

Kissing Serena once more Blair then allowed herself to tumble back onto the mattress, dragging the blonde along with her.

Serena draped her body along Blair's side, her hand running up and down along her torso and over her stomach as they kissed. She was careful, however, not to touch the brunette's breasts. Dan was right, she needed to let Blair be the one to set the pace and to decide what kind of touching she wanted or didn't want. She would support Blair, and move at her pace until the other girl was comfortable enough to go further.

Blair grasped Serena's roving hand long minutes later and dragged it up to her chest, covering her breast with Serena's hand.

Serena moaned almost immediately and Blair knew that she would not have to give the blonde anymore of a prompt to begin to explore her.

Gently, Serena began to massage Blair's breast, her head tilting to the side exposing her neck as Blair kissed her way across her jaw and down her throat, her teeth nipping lightly at the smooth skin there in a way that always made Serena shudder.

Blair arched up into Serena's body as the blonde pulled away from her lips and began to kiss her neck and down further to her chest, her breath hitching a few moments later as she felt Serena's lips close around her nipple, sucking it into her mouth, rolling her tongue around the hard tip through the sheer material of her chemise.

Blair's squirmed under Serena's mouth, her body twisting, seeking out more of the blonde's warmth, small sounds of pleasure emerging from her throat as Serena shifted her mouth to her other breast, her hands running up and down her thighs, and over her sides as her mouth ravaged Blair's chest.

Slowly, Serena allowed her fingers to brush over the material of Blair's underwear, running over the dark fabric for a few seconds before she pulled back from Blair's skin so that she could see her face.

"Is this okay?" Serena asked softly, not wanting to push Blair. After what happened the last time she didn't want to go any further without making sure that Blair was in the same place as her.

"Yeah," Blair breathed out spreading wider to give Serena better access to the warmth between her legs. "Please."

Serena leaned forward pressing her lips against Blair's kissing her softly, lovingly, as her fingers slipped beneath the dark fabric and very gently began to move along Blair's slit.

Blair was tense, but she kept her legs parted and the hand that she had on Serena's arm was moving up and down encouragingly instead of gripping her tightly as the brunette had in the past.

Serena kept up the slow caress, kissing Blair's lips, and cheeks and neck as she did, waiting for the brunette to relax a bit more before trying anything else. However, minutes later when Blair remained stiff Serena slowly withdrew her hand and began to drag it up Blair's torso towards her breast.

It wasn't time yet.

"No," Blair muttered softly, her voice tinged with frustration as Serena's hand moved back up to cup her breast. "No, no," she continued reaching for Serena's hand dragging it back down between her legs, pressing Serena's palm against her, encouraging the blonde to pick up where she had left off.

Serena allowed her hand to be moved, but didn't begin to stroke Blair again.

"We don't have to," the blonde mumbled softly against Blair's neck. She was wet as hell, and was struggling to stop herself from humping Blair's thigh, but she was close to Blair again and that was enough. Besides, she had gotten used to living with a constant level of sexual frustration and didn't find it as overwhelming as she had at the beginning of their relationship.

She could wait for Blair. She would wait for Blair.

A few seconds after Serena spoke Blair moved her hand towards the blonde, drawing her skirt up her thighs until she could slip her hand between Serena's legs. Serena's hips bucked powerfully at the feeling of Blair's fingers against her panties and before she could stop herself she felt herself pressing into Blair's fingers, humping Blair's hand as her breath came out in short, ragged pants.

"We have to," Blair said softly, her fingers slipping beneath the fabric of Serena's underwear so that she could feel the blonde's warm, flushed flesh. "You need this."

Serena gasped as Blair's fingers moved over her clit, her eyes fluttering closed for a moment as pleasure tore through her body, the brunette's words only registering with her when Blair's fingers moved past the sensitive nub.

"No," Serena said seriously forcing her hips to be still as she looked at Blair. "I need you," she continued looking at Blair until the brunette met her gaze. "I'm not going to lie Blair," Serena went on taking a deep breath. "Just looking at you can get me," Serena moaned softly and bit down on her bottom lip by way of explanation. "But I can wait. I know you need to be comfortable, and that'll take time, I get it," she continued taking Blair's hand away from her underwear and into hers. "I would never forgive myself if you regretted our first time," she went on bringing Blair's hand up to her mouth and kissing it.

"I feel like I'm disappointing you," Blair admitted softly her eyes drifting away from Serena's as she spoke, Serena's kind reassurances making her feel better and ashamed and guilty all at the same time. "I … I've heard you. I've seen you," she continued blinking rapidly trying to fight the tears she could feel welling in her eyes.

"Seen me what?" Serena asked stroking her thumb over the back of Blair's hand.

"Masturbating," Blair whispered softly still refusing to meet Serena's gaze. "I've heard you in the bathroom, and I saw you in my room one morning after I got out of the shower," she went on her voice barely a whisper. "You're doing it because I can't."

"Blair," Serena said firmly. She was somewhat embarrassed that she had been caught touching herself but she knew that she had to get over that and talk to Blair plainly if they wanted to get past this roadblock. She would suffer any humiliation if it was for Blair.

"I've been masturbating since I was like twelve," Serena continued smiling a little bashfully. "I'm not doing it because of what you're not doing. We've just never spent so many nights together and … I mean, I can't do it beside you," she went on her voice lowering as she blushed. "It's not because of you, it's just … a biological urge."

"You wouldn't have the urge if you were being satisfied … if I was," Blair began unable to get past the idea that it was somehow her fault; that it was evidence of her shortcomings and inability to please those she loved.

"I probably would," Serena said softly squeezing Blair's hand. "I mean, married people masturbate too. It's just something people have to do every so often. Like, it's not as if you're going to be around or in the mood every time I feel horny," Serena pointed out logically.

Blair blushed at that but muttered, "I suppose not."

Serena peered at Blair curiously.

"Have you really not … touched yourself since we got together?" Serena asked wonderingly. "I mean, you do, don't you?"

"Yes," Blair replied burying her head in the pillow. "Just not as much as you I guess."

"Right," Serena said chewing on her bottom lip. "I have a fast metabolism," she added a moment later.

Blair was silent for a second then laughed despite herself, shifting a little so that she could look at Serena.

"I don't think your metabolism has anything to do with how much you masturbate."

"It could!" Serena responded automatically before sighing and then smiling a little shyly.

She couldn't believe they were having this conversation.

"I don't even do it that much," Serena mumbled a few seconds later.

"If you say so," Blair replied in a humoring tone knowing that it would get to Serena.

"I don't!" Serena exclaimed pouting a little.

Blair watched Serena closely for a few seconds and then bit down on her bottom lip her gaze turning speculatively. "Do it now?" Blair asked softly.

"What?" Serena asked still pouting, not really paying attention at first. "Wait, you mean …" she let the question trail off as she stared at Blair.

Blair nodded, chewing on her bottom lip. She knew it was a lot to ask, yet the thought of it made her …

"I … no … Blair, I," Serena sputtered blinking over at Blair. She knew that Blair was taking a risk putting her feelings out there like that, but Serena wasn't sure she was that much of an exhibitionist. It was one thing to have stripped in front of Blair, but to masturbate in front of her was something else entirely.

"Really?" she asked a second later watching Blair closely.

"No, you don't have to," Blair said shaking her head, dropping her gaze away from Serena. "I shouldn't have asked."

"Do you want me to?" Serena asked catching Blair's face, stopping her from turning away from her completely. "Because I will if you want."

Blair nodded unable to speak, her lips trembling slightly as she held Serena's gaze.

A few seconds later Serena shifted on the bed lifting her hips so that she could slip her skirt and panties down over her legs. Once she was naked from the waist down, she then settled back on the mattress, breathing heavily, nervous as hell and yet kind of excited.

Her eyes on Blair, Serena then let her hand fall between her legs.

Blair watched Serena closely, her breath hitching as the blonde's hand slipped between her legs and began to move.

Serena was still wet and her fingers moved easily along her slit.

Blair sucked her bottom lip into her mouth again as Serena released a shuddering breath and began to move her fingers with more purpose. The brunette's eyes were between Serena's legs, but she could feel the blonde's gaze on her, and it made her flush with heat.

Blair reached out, her hands moving to rest on Serena's parted thigh.

The blonde shivered at the contact as her fingers moved from circling her clit down to her opening where they paused briefly, teasingly, for a second before she slipped two fingers inside of herself.

A soft whimper fell from Blair's lips as she watched Serena's fingers disappear inside, her eyes fluttering with desire as the sounds Serena's fingers were making as they slid in and out of her reached her ears.

"Blair," Serena gasped her eyes wide as her hips began to push up to meet her fingers.

She was close to the edge. It usually took her longer than that, but with Blair sitting beside her, touching her, watching her, she couldn't hold out for much longer.

"I'm almost," Serena managed to choke out before her eyes squeezed tightly shut and her fingers sped up.

Blair grasped Serena's wrist tightly, her eyes still on the blonde's face, and pulled Serena's hand away from her sex.

Serena moaned as her fingers were unceremoniously removed from inside of her so close to completion, but her moan of surprise and frustration quickly transformed into one of pleasure when Blair's fingers replaced her own.

Blair tentatively moved her fingers along Serena's slick, moist folds, a soft, awestruck smile spreading across her lips as she did.

She couldn't believe how good Serena felt, how warm, and velvety, and inviting. She never wanted to stop touching her. She wanted to make Serena's eyes squeeze shut with pleasure forever. She wanted to make the blonde moan and arch and whimper and drip until they were both too exhausted to move.

As she began to touch Serena more firmly, Blair remembered her previous anxiety but she didn't feel it anymore. As she slowly began to circle Serena's clit with her thumb she felt calm and certain.

Serena's hips arched up into Blair's hand and the brunette's heart seized.

Once again Serena's openness and freedom and love had opened her up. Serena had shared something so beautiful and intimate with her without hesitation or fear. She had asked and that had been enough for Serena. And if the blonde could share that with her, she could share herself with the blonde.

There was nothing to be afraid of with Serena. Serena loved her. Serena would do anything for her. There was no one she loved or could trust more.

"B," Serena breathed out softly, her gaze open and questioning as Blair's dark brown eyes met her cobalt gaze.

Blair smiled and leaned down, pressing her lips against Serena's kissing her softly, tenderly; trying to pour all of the love she felt for the blonde into Serena through her lips.

Blair pulled back so that she could watch Serena's face as her fingers entered the blonde, her head swimming as Serena's eyes widened and her lips parted, her hips jumping … and then Blair realized that Serena was coming. The blonde's inner muscles were clenching at Blair's fingers, holding them inside of her as Serena's eyes snapped shut and her body trembled, Blair's name escaping her mouth again and again in a low, raspy whisper.

Serena collapsed back against the mattress, her eyes staring up at the ceiling as her chest rose and fell rapidly, her head spinning as a wide smile spread across her lips, peels of delighted laughter erupting from her a moments later as she turned on her side and rolled towards Blair's body, her arms wrapping around the brunette holding her tightly.

Blair kissed the top of Serena's head, smiling herself as the other girl shivered against her, Serena's breath on her skin and awed laughter making Blair feel warm and content.

"I didn't mean to do that," Serena said softly against Blair's shoulder once she had begun to calm down. "I wanted it to last longer," she admitted.

She was kind of embarrassed to have come so quickly. Dan had teased her about Blair bringing out her inner teenage boy but she didn't think that premature ejaculation would be one of the characteristics she'd have to deal with. It was just that with Blair touching her, with Blair inside of her she just couldn't stop herself.

"I'm glad you did," Blair said softly smiling down at the blonde. "It was amazing. You're amazing," she continued reverently stroking Serena's hair gently.

Serena ran her fingers down Blair's side tentatively, trailing them over her hipbone before moving to caress Blair's stomach.

She wanted to touch Blair more than ever but she wasn't sure if Blair touching her meant that she could touch Blair.

Blair leaned back on the mattress at Serena's hesitant, questioning touch, giving Serena full access to her body.

It was time. She was ready.

"It's okay," she said softly meeting Serena's gaze. "I'm ready," she continued smiling softly.

Serena kissed Blair's neck softly and then down her collarbone before moving over to the brunette's breasts once more, her hand moving between Blair's parted thighs for the second time that night.

Blair shivered at the touch and gripped Serena's arm tightly, her hips bucking.

"I'm okay," Blair breathed out raggedly almost immediately knowing that Serena would be concerned about the reaction. "I'm ready," Blair continued her head falling back against the pillows. "I need you. Oh god, I need you," she breathed out, her legs spreading even more as Serena began to move her fingers again.

Serena felt Blair relax against the mattress and returned her mouth to Blair's nipple, flicking the tip with her tongue for a few minutes before she then began to kiss her way down Blair's stomach, smiling against the soft pale skin of Blair's abdomen when Blair gasped softly.

Blair propped herself up onto her elbows and Serena tilted her head up so that she could see up the length of Blair's body, their eyes meeting. Blair's lips parted and Serena smiled and then broke the gaze.

"Oh, fucking Jesus!" Blair cried out a second later as Serena's lips wrapped around her clit. She fell back against the mattress at the touch, and her hips uncontrollably pumped up into Serena's mouth.

Serena's eyes closed as she got her first real taste of Blair. One night when she'd snuck away to take care of herself, she'd brought her fingers to her lips and sucked on them. She'd been certain then that she could still taste Blair on them even though it had been hours since they'd been on Blair, she knew she could still smell the brunette on them, but that taste was nothing compared to what she tasted that moment.

"S," Blair whispered, one of her hands moving to tangle in Serena's hair as the other one grasped at the bed sheet. Serena's tongue was playing at her opening, dipping inside tentatively as the blonde's thumb moved against her clit.

"Do it," Blair said breathlessly, wanting to really lose her virginity. Serena's mouth on her was wonderful, but she wanted Serena to go inside of her, to fill her up, to take her. "Your fingers," Blair husked.

Serena moved her mouth back up to cover Blair's clit and began to massage it as she positioned a finger outside of Blair's opening.

Blair tensed for a moment at the feeling of the finger but soon relaxed again.

Serena held off for a little while, stimulating Blair's clit making sure that the brunette was truly relaxed again before slowly slipping her finger inside of Blair.

Serena moaned at the feeling. Blair's channel was tight but the brunette was wet and her finger moved in with relative ease. She could feel Blair all around her finger; warm and velvety. She liked the feeling of her fingers moving inside of herself, but being inside of Blair was something else entirely.

Gently Serena pulled her finger out and pushed it softly inside once again, taking Blair's clit into her mouth once more as she began to move in and out of the brunette.

Blair's eyes were squeezed shut as her body trembled. The first time Serena had pushed inside it had been a bit uncomfortable, but her body was adjusting to the blonde's finger and ripples of pleasure were cascading through her.

Blair's mind was hot and dizzy, and as pleasure thrummed through her all she could think was 'Serena's inside of me. Serena's mouth is on me … licking and sucking …'

Serena was being so gentle and slow, and everything felt so good, and Blair could feel Serena's finger, and feel the roughness of her tongue as it swiped at her clit.

They were making love.

Serena loved her.

Blair arched, a soft exhalation of air escaping from her as her body began to shake and her inner muscles clenched convulsively at Serena's fingers, moisture escaping from her as her eyes flew open and her hands gripped at Serena's hair and the bedspread while her hips jerked and her heart pounded.

Later that night …

Blair stroked Serena's hair lightly, the blonde's golden locks cascading over her stomach as Serena lay with her head resting on her torso. In a way Blair was exhausted, but at the same time her body and mind were still humming. She didn't understand what her body was doing, it was all very bizarre but exciting at the same time.

"Was it okay?" Blair asked softly as Serena shifted against her.

She couldn't stop thinking it about what they had done during the past … she didn't even know how long they had been at it for. As they lay together in post-coital exhaustion there were moments when she was furious with herself for having made them wait so long to be together, but mostly she was just glad that they had waited until the right moment because nothing could have been more perfect. Things hadn't gone exactly as she planned and they had to move past a few road blocks, but everything had come together in the end and it had been … perfect. There just wasn't another word for it.

"It was more than okay," Serena responded a second later, her voice choked as she lifted her head from Blair's stomach and shifted on the bed so that she was lying parallel to the brunette.

Blair reached out automatically her fingers swiping across Serena's cheeks.

She was crying.

"I've never," Serena began shaking her head lightly before leaning into Blair's touch. "I love you so much. I don't even … I just …" she went on before she gave up, unable to articulate the feelings that were coursing through her.

"Me too," Blair said softly awed by the depth of emotion in Serena's eyes and voice.

The restless energy coursing through Blair was momentarily tempered by a powerful wave of affection and love and her own eyes began to burn with tears.

Serena really did love her.

Blair had always known that it in a way but that moment was different. In that moment, as they stared at each other, naked and pressed together bathed in candlelight and surrounded by roses, Blair was finally able to accept Serena's love for her.

Serena arched up, pressing her lips against Blair's softly, feathering impossibly tender kisses across her lips and Blair shivered and wrapped her arms around her.

"I love you," Blair said, her lips still pressed against Serena's.

"I love you too," Serena said smiling, before Blair wiped it off of her face with kisses.

Finally they pulled back from each other, breathing hard, and Blair rested her head on Serena's shoulder, the blonde rubbing her arms softly as they lay together in a companionable silence.

"Do you feel like ice-cream?" Serena asked suddenly.

Blair lifted her head and stared at the blonde for a second. Then a huge smile spread across her face.

"Ice-cream sounds … perfect," Blair replied, her smile growing as the last word left her lips.

Serena turned her head to the side and began to reach for the phone, her other arm still wrapped around Blair when she paused.

"What is it?" Blair asked seeing Serena pause and frown slightly.

"If I order room service, I'm going to have to get up and move when it gets here," Serena replied biting her bottom lip as she looked between the door and Blair. "I'll have to put on clothes and everything. Not to mention the lack of me being in bed, naked with you that it would lead to. Ice-cream might be more of a sacrifice than I'm willing to make."

Blair laughed softly and kissed Serena's shoulder.

"You could answer the door naked," Blair suggested playfully in response. There was no way she'd actually stand for that of course, the wonder of Serena's body was for her eyes alone, but it was fun to joke about what the rest of the world was missing out on. "After that you wouldn't even need to leave a tip," she continued smiling.

"There's still a serious lack of me being in bed with you in that scenario," Serena replied sighing and shaking her head mournfully.

"Well, we could take the blanket and wrap it around ourselves and answer the door together," Blair suggested lifting her head to meet Serena's lips as the blonde inclined her head towards her. "We'd be naked and together, and once again totally wouldn't have to leave a tip."

"Me like. Your brain works good," Serena responded smiling. She knew that there was no way Blair was going to answer the door with her wrapped only in a blanket. She'd never give that type of show to anyone for free. In fact, Blair would probably refuse to leave the bed at all. Not only that, when Serena reached for her robe to just drape it over herself the brunette would probably demand that she get fully dressed and probably put on a jacket or something so that there would absolutely no exhibitionism at all.

Serena smiled at the thought. She liked it when Blair was all protective and cave-woman possessive. She found the idea of Blair being hers and her being Blair's romantic and incredibly hot.

"We should also get some Sparkling Grape Juice. They have some here that comes in champagne-style bottles," Serena continued smiling. "It'll be like celebrating with wine only without the blackouts and reckless hedonism. Well, maybe a little hedonism … but the monogamous, respectful kind," Serena amended running her hand over Blair's bum.

"Good girl," Blair murmured softly. She had become Serena's unofficial sponsor since finding out about the blonde going to rehab. And though she knew that Serena had done a good job staying on the straight and narrow, she liked to see it in action as well. It just made her feel better.

"I have to be. You scare me," Serena said mock shivering before laughing and then squirming as Blair began to pinch at her in retaliation. "Hey," Serena exclaimed still squirming. "It's a compliment! Fear is an aphrodisiac!" she went on as Blair straddled her, still struggling with each other. "Scare me! Scare me! Oh, B, fill me with terror," she moaned as Blair pinned her wrists down on the mattress.

Blair stared down at Serena for a second but she couldn't hold her serious expression for very long in the face of Serena's antics. Serena was just too precious. So instead she slapped the blonde lightly on the shoulder and smiled before rolling off of Serena and back onto the mattress.

"Is it wrong that it kind of turned me on when you did that?" Blair asked turning to look at Serena a naughty grin spreading across her lips.

Serena laughed. "The wrongest kind of right," she replied leaning over to kiss Blair quickly. "I'm going to order that ice-cream now," she continued a second later as she pulled back from Blair. "If I'm going to learn about your other sexual fetishes I'm going to need some sugar," she went on just managing to dodge Blair's palm as it headed towards her shoulder again. "Oh, alright I see," Serena said as she reached for the phone, "rough play. I'll file that away for later."

"I hate you," Blair pouted although her eyes were dancing with amusement.

"Hate to love me maybe," Serena replied drawing 'love' out in a delightfully childish manner as she smiled widely at Blair. "You can try to deny it, but you know you want to kiss me ... you want to hug me ... you want to love me," she went on a moment later doing an impeccable Sandra Bullock impersonation.

"Oh, just order the damn ice-cream," Blair said crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the blonde.

"Yes, dear," Serena replied smiling before actually picking up the phone, a smile spreading across Blair's face as she did.

Serena smiled as well. She had a feeling she was going to get used to saying that a lot and she was really okay with that.

Part Seven

A week later…The Palace

"Stop," Serena said smiling pushing on Blair's shoulders lightly as the brunette kissed her neck, slowly making her way up to Serena's lips. "My mom's going to be home any minute now."

"Why do you have to be here?" Blair mumbled her lips still pressed against Serena's skin. She'd tried to get Serena to come over to her place, but the blonde insisted that she needed to be home.

"I don't know," Serena said relaxing into Blair's touch. She had no will-power when it came to the brunette. She was putty in Blair's soft, beautifully tapered hands. "Lily just insisted that I be here at three," Serena went on shifting slightly a moment later so that she could capture Blair's lips with her own.

Blair's hand moved to rest on Serena's thigh, rubbing the denim surface for a few seconds before she raised her hand higher to slip under Serena's shirt.

Just then they heard a noise at the door and jumped away from each other.

The couch was in full view of the penthouse door and if they hadn't heard Lily playing with her keys they would have been in full view when she came through the door.

Serena glared at Blair.

Blair smiled and shrugged.

Serena found that insanely cute.

A few seconds later the door to the penthouse opened and Lily van der Woodsen appeared in the doorway tall and slim, looking the picture of wasp-y perfection.

Serena stood at the sight of her mother and began to move towards the door when a second figure emerged from behind Lily.

"Eric!" Serena declared happily seeing her brother smiling at her from behind their mother. "Oh my god, Eric!" she exclaimed again rushing towards the door, hugging him immediately. "Why didn't you …" Serena began looking over at their mother who was watching them with a soft smile.

"It was a surprise," Lily responded earning a breathtaking smile from Serena before she found herself wrapped in her daughter's embrace as Eric had been moments before.

Releasing her mother, Serena turned towards Eric again reaching out for his hand happily, her gaze falling past him into the hallway where she saw two large suitcases. That was enough to hold all of Eric's …

"Is this for good?" Serena asked suddenly, a hopeful note in her voice that she couldn't and really didn't want to control.

Lily nodded. "He'll continue to see Dr. Stanton as an out patient."

Serena smiled and hugged Eric all over again, only releasing him when he laughingly wheezed into her ear that he couldn't breathe.

When Serena released him with a sheepish smile, Eric was finally able to see into the penthouse that would be home for the next 6 to 8 weeks. He never thought that he would be so happy to be moving back into a hotel, but he had totally missed the place.

"Hey Blair," Eric said a few seconds later spotting the brunette as he carried out his visual inspection.

If he was surprised to see the brunette it didn't show in his voice. For that matter, Lily looked equally non-pulsed to see Blair hovering at the threshold between the living room and foyer.

The truth was she was more surprised when she found Serena alone in the penthouse these days.

"Hey Eric," Blair said smiling moving forwards until she reached the congregation of van der Woodsen's in the foyer. Once surrounded by the blonds she then reached out and hugged Eric, genuinely glad to see him. She'd known him since he was born and, although she'd never admit it out loud, she kind of thought of him as a little brother as well.

"I should go," Blair said a few seconds later. Despite the fact that she felt quite homey with the van der Woodsen's she thought that it would be best to let them have some time alone.

Serena looked over at Blair at that, her lips parting and Eric knew that she wanted to protest. Her hand twitched and it seemed to him as if Serena was just barely controlling the urge to actually reach out and grab Blair's hand to stop her from going.

"No, stay," said Eric filing his sister's reaction away. He was fairly sure that she was trying to be polite by not telling Blair to stay, but he liked Blair well enough and if it was important to Serena then it was important to him. "Amazingly I'm happy to see you," he continued smirking at Blair, earning a big smile from both girls. "It's fine if she stays, right?" Eric asked turning to look at his mother.

"Of course," Lily responded knowing that it was pointless to argue. Blair had always been a prominent fixture in their lives, and had become even more so in the past couple months. She could as well have just upgraded to the penthouse on the top floor and gotten Blair her own room. "Blair's an honorary van der Woodsen after all," she went on earning a surprised but pleased look from Blair and a bright smile from Serena.

"I hope Ethiopian's alright," Lily continued moving further into the penthouse. It was ridiculous for them all to be standing around the foyer. "Eric insists we order from Meskerem," she continued as Serena rolled her eyes and exchanged a look with Eric before moving into the hallway with him to grab the bags their mother had seemingly forgotten about.

"I absolutely love their qey kik wot," Blair replied as Serena and Eric re-entered the penthouse, smiling as she met Serena's gaze.

"Oh, that's one of my favorites as well," Lily responded as she rested her purse on a nearby table and turned around to watch the children as they joined her in the living room. "Serena doesn't care for it," she continued her brows creasing.

Blair made a face as well and turned to the side to look at Serena with an expression that said 'Really? And I thought I knew you so well'. Lily nodded at this, seemingly pleased to have someone agree with her that Serena's attitude towards the dish was completely bewildering.

Serena looked between Blair and her mother and then plastered her brightest smile across her face.

"I'm going to take this to Eric's room," Serena said looking down at the suitcase on the floor beside her.

One of them she could deal with, but she knew that together they presented an unstoppable force and it was time for her to leave until they forgot to pick on her.

Eric looked over at her and grinned. He had to agree with her though. Running away was the best strategic option available to her.

"Come on then," he said nodding towards his room.

Later that night …

"It's too bad Blair couldn't sleep over," Eric said as he walked into Serena's room and closed the door behind him.

"She's meeting Havilland early tomorrow to go shopping," Serena responded shifting over on the bed to clear a space for him.

The truth was that Blair could have easily stayed and gone to meet Havilland from The Palace. It wasn't like she needed to go home to change because Blair had almost as many clothes at the penthouse as Serena did, but they hadn't been able to keep their hands off of each other since the night they made love and Blair was freaked out by the idea of having sex with Eric in the next room.

Serena had insisted that they didn't have to have sex, but Blair had rolled her eyes and Serena had grinned. With Blair in bed with her it was pretty unlikely that she wouldn't have tried something, and if she didn't the brunette certainly would have.

Eric scanned the room before plopping down on the mattress beside Serena. He could see things scattered all over the place that he knew weren't Serena's.

"Couldn't she have met Havilland from here?" Eric asked looking over at his sister.

Serena shrugged. She knew Eric would see through the excuse, it was paper thin, but she wasn't going to volunteer anything else.

"It's not like she'd be without a change of clothes," Eric continued looking over at the couch in the corner of the room by the closet where some jeans that were too short to be Serena's were flung over the arm.

Serena shrugged again non-committal.

Eric looked at her appraisingly. This was the first time in months that she hadn't talked at length about Blair when given the opportunity. Ever since they had made up, it seemed that every other word out of Serena's mouth was Blair, and when his mother came to visit to him all he heard from her was about how Serena and Blair seemed to be joined at the hip.

"So, what's going on with you two?" he asked a few seconds later.

"Hmm?" Serena asked looking confused.

Eric smiled. He'd lived with Serena long enough to know her expressions and she was faking.

"So," he said drawing out the word. "You finally given into all of that sexual tension, huh?" he asked a second later lifting his eyebrow playfully.

It had taken him a while, but he finally realized that he hadn't been wrong about Serena being extra happy he'd just gotten the source of it wrong. When he finally realized that Blair was the one she was around all of the time, and Blair was the one that brought out that extra happy smile and tone of voice on the phone, he realized why Serena had been in such a good mood.

Serena threw her pillow at him.

"Is that a yes?" Eric asked laughing.

"We do not have sexual tension," Serena declared staring at him.

"Yes, you do. Boatloads of it," Eric responded meeting her gaze unflinchingly.

Serena studied him silently for a few minutes, and relaxed against the headboard.

"Okay, yes," she said grudgingly before a slow smile spread across her lips.

Eric smiled.

"I knew it!" he declared a second later. "You always have this look on your face whenever you talk about her. Blair-face," he went on grinning over at his sister. "Congrats," he added. "She's a looker."

Serena laughed and reached over him taking her pillow back so she could throw it at him again.

Despite the pillow violence she was heaping on him, she was extremely relieved that he was okay with the change in her relationship with Blair. Eric not approving wouldn't have stopped her from seeing Blair, but it would have upset her greatly. She loved him, and his opinion meant a lot to her. In some ways, it had felt like the two of them against the world for a lot of their lives and she didn't want to lose him or have their relationship change because of who she was in love with.

"Do I really have Blair-face?" Serena asked genuinely curious, peering over at her brother a few seconds later.

Eric nodded solemnly.

"What does it look like?" Serena asked.

"Try to imagine the expression on a sentimental 30 year old woman's face as she watched a baby play with a puppy and a kitten under a rainbow. It's pretty much that exactly … except that sometimes you look like you want to have sex with the rainbow," Eric responded thoughtfully, breaking out into a huge grin as Serena glared at him and then groaned.

She'd suspected that it looked something like that (but without the rainbow sex part).

"You know, it's so unfair," Eric said a few seconds later as he looked around the room again shaking his head.

"What?" Serena asked smiling a little, amused by the put-out look on his face.

"Mom would never let my girlfriend practically live in my room," Eric commented overcome with the injustice of it all. The 'bestie' situation gave them the perfect alibi for all of the time they spent together. It was brilliant, but totally unfair.

"You have a girlfriend?" Serena asked her interest peaking as she turned to look at Eric. "Lil' J?" she asked smiling lifting her eyebrow. She hoped so. She knew that Jenny had been visiting him at the center and more than once when she was visiting he'd gotten texts from her.

She was happy to see him making a connection with someone, and getting excited about something. It lit him up in a way that she hadn't seen in a long time.

"You've been spending way too much time with Blair," Eric responded shaking his head. Jenny had told him that only Blair called her 'Lil' J'.

"Yeah, we've already established who I'm spending my time with," Serena replied grinning. "But who's running up your cell bill?"

Eric sighed before beginning to smile a little bit. Fair was fair, it was his turn to spill.

Part Eight

"Where's Blair?" Isabel asked looking around the small curtained alcove they had secured in the club. The brunette had said that she was going to get a drink but that had been ages ago. Even if she was mixing it herself she should have been back a long time ago.

"Yeah, and Serena," Kati said looking around as if to confirm that the blonde really wasn't sitting with them.

"Isn't it pretty much the same question?" Chuck drawled slowly eyeing the girls. "They're never apart. It's been like that for months now, they're just this Blairena entity," Chuck went on taking a sip of his drink.

"What's with that?" Isabel asked sounding confused. They had been close before Serena disappeared, but back then they both seemed to realize that other people occupied the planet with them. For the past couple of months though, it was like impossible to find them apart from each other.

"They're just making up for lost time," Kati replied, though she suspected that spending that much time with Isabel, no matter how much she missed her, would drive her insane.

"Making up or making out?" Chuck asked looking at all of them challengingly as he smiled. "You know you've noticed it too. How they can't keep their hands off of each other," he went on. "I mean, I don't see you to giving each other backrubs … as much as I'd like to," he smarmed looking at Isabel and Kati.

"That doesn't mean anything," Isabel said glaring at Chuck and making a face. She had noticed how tactile they had become though. "They've always been touchy feely."

"Sexual tension," Chuck declared smugly.

"Shut it man," Nate groused from the other side of Kati. He really wasn't it the mood for Chuck's shit.

"Be a little bitch if you want, Nathaniel. It doesn't change the fact that your dream girl is banging your ex," Chuck replied looking over at Nate contemptuously. He knew that Nate had noticed the change in Blair and in Serena too. It was why he had become almost unbearable to be around in the past month. Wallowing in self-pity and seething with jealously was not a good fit on him.

"They're not sleeping together," Nate hissed his lip curling as he stared at Chuck.

"Then who are they sleeping with?" Chuck asked arrogantly. "Serena dumped that charity case months ago and Blair got rid of you around the same time, if I remember correctly. And since then not even a nibble. Even Gossip Girl doesn't have any romantic dirt on them. It's just Blairena all the time … all over each other."

Nate glared at Chuck and turned away picking up his beer without another word.

Chuck smiled victoriously and reached for his spare scotch. It always helped to order two or three extra, just in case.

"Do you really think they're …" Isabel began a few minutes later looking over at Chuck.

"I'm gonna get some air," Nate muttered getting up and moving away from the table before Chuck could respond.

"Oh, I'm absolutely convinced," Chuck responded smiling.

"Was that Nate?" Blair asked drawing the attention of the three remaining people at the table over to her.

"He's getting some fresh air," Chuck replied smirking as Blair and Serena slipped back into the seats they had vacated almost a half hour before. "Is everything alright ladies? We were about to send out a search and rescue team."

Serena's hand was on the small of Blair's back, and they looked flushed and seemed slightly out of breath.

Chuck made sure to catch Isabel and Kati's eyes and wink.

Serena rolled her eyes at him and Blair's lips curled.

"More likely you were thinking of a 'you peeping under stalls in the women's bathroom' solo mission," Blair responded.

"How hurtful," Chuck responded grinning. "Let's not fight," he continued lifting his glass. "To friendship?" he proposed before glancing over at Serena. "I've got an extra," he offered nodding at the glass of Scotch to his left.

"Don't be an asshole, Chuck," Blair responded. They all knew that she and Serena weren't drinking.

"You cannot tell the sun not to shine," Chuck replied philosophically. "Fine, suit yourself," he added a second later. "To beautiful friendships," he toasted smiling, clinking his glass against Isabel's and Kati's happily as Serena slumped against the back of her chair frowning and Blair glared at him.

Well, he thought the night was going well at least.

Part Nine

The Palace

Serena quickly swept the Yale brochures she had been looking at under the couch as she heard the door to the penthouse open. Eric was out with Jenny and she knew that he wouldn't have been back that early which meant that it had to be her mother, and she wasn't exactly ready to broach the subject of Yale with Lily yet.

"That sounds heavy," Serena said as she started to turn around hearing something being lugged into the room. "What the …" Serena exclaimed, trailing off a moment later, her mouth open in shock.

Her mother was standing in the doorway, but Blair was there as well and to Serena's complete dismay the brunette was performing an act of manual labour helping a bellboy drag a large painting into the penthouse.

"Serena," Lily chided frowning slightly.

Serena automatically closed her mouth though she continued to stare in fascination and confusion as Blair's head turned around to look at her, the brunette's hands still wrapped around the wooden frame heaving as the bellboy ho'd.

"A little help S," Blair called out, her tone rising as if it was a question when really it was a command.

Giving her head a little shake Serena moved towards the door to help Blair, only to sigh and shake her head again a few seconds later as the brunette abandoned her post the moment she showed up and moved into the living room to supervise with Lily.

Apparently Blair's work there was done.

Serena sighed and heaved. If Blair weren't so cute she probably would have been annoyed.

"What's going on here?" Serena asked a few minutes later once she and the bellboy managed to get the picture squared away in a corner of the penthouse that was rarely occupied.

Although having the picture resting there was kind of an eye sore, Serena was glad for it since it meant that they day they got to move back into their real home was getting closer and closer. Lily would not have tolerated the picture being left there unless it was going to be on a very short term basis.

"I ran into Blair at the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show," Lily said moving into the kitchen to fix a drink as Blair moved over towards Serena, pushing up onto her toes to kiss the blonde's cheek once Lily was out of sight.

"What were you doing there?" Serena asked quietly pulling Blair into her body as they heard Lily in the kitchen.

"I was passing by after coffee with Kati and I thought that I'd pop in and buy something ridiculously expensive that we didn't need as a welcome home gift for Eleanor," Blair responded relaxing into Serena's embrace.

Serena dipped her head down, her lips brushing against Blair's cheek before she rested her chin on the brunette's shoulder.

It had been a tradition of Blair's to punish Eleanor for leaving her all of the time by buying something expensive and frivolous that she knew neither of them would need or want just before her mother would return home.

The first few times she had done it Serena had tried to stop her thinking that she would get in trouble for it. Lord knew that if she had spent $10,000 on a diamond-encrusted gold brooch of C-3PO that, well, Serena didn't even want to contemplate what Lily would have done to her if she had done that.

Eleanor however seemed to take it as a natural consequence of her absences and never punished Blair for the extravagances.

Some kids would have been thrilled to be able to get away with antics like that, but Serena had seen Blair after she had gotten away with it and there was no joy there.

Serena was certain that Blair wanted Eleanor to punish her. She wanted her mother to take an interest, wanted her to care enough about her to be pissed at her and to want to try and teach her better.

But, as had become the norm in Blair's life, Eleanor continued to disappoint her.

"She was an invaluable eye," Lily called out to the girls from within the kitchen, the silence in the other room not lost on her as she pulled a glass down. "I think I'll have to steal her the next time I go art shopping."

Blair tilted her head back so that she could see Serena's face, her expression happy and smug.

"Blair has excellent taste," Serena said responding to her mother before leaning forward and nipping at the tip of Blair's nose playfully.

Lily could hear the smile and pride in Serena's voice and her lips curved up slightly even as she shook her head.

"Serena, ask Blair if she's thirsty," Lily called out when neither girl added anything after Serena's singing praise of the brunette.

Serena rolled her eyes before looking down at Blair. "Are you thirsty?" she asked smiling.

Blair shook her head. "Actually, I'm drowning … in your eyes," Blair replied batting her eyelashes at Serena as she gazed at her with a dreamy expression.

They held each other's eyes for a few seconds after that and then Blair broke out into a wide grin and they both started to laugh.

Lily emerged from the kitchen to find the two girls huddled together and slightly bent over, laughing so hard that when they looked up at her a moment later both of their faces were red, and Serena had tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Pellegrino?" Lily asked holding up a bottle in Blair's direction.

"I might be thirsty too you know," Serena wheezed though she was finally starting to get her breath under control again.

Lily ignored her, her attention remaining focused on Blair.

"Thank you," Blair said smirking over at Serena before turning her eyes back to Lily, "but I can't stay. My mother's back from Paris in an hour and if I'm not home when she gets back she'll murder me."

Lily nodded and moved back into the kitchen to put the drink away, more to give the girl's time to say goodbye then because she was notoriously concerned with keeping the beverage chilled.

"Lily?"

Lily turned around at the question a few minutes later to find Blair standing in the doorway. Like most of the other parents on the Upper East Side she had insisted that Serena's friends address her using her first name since they were children.

"Yes, Blair," Lily replied smiling at the girl. Lily knew that there was a lioness inside of Blair but at the moment she more resembled a kitten.

"Thanks," Blair said her gaze shifting around the kitchen as she spoke, uncomfortable but forcing herself to speak anyway. "I always have the best time spending other people's money," she continued smiling as she returned her eyes to Lily.

"In that case, we'll have to do it again some time," Lily responded smiling as well.

And then Blair was out of the doorway, out of the kitchen and out of the penthouse.

Serena watched the door for a second after Blair left, already missing the brunette before she made her way back over to the couch, deciding to get rid of the incriminating evidence she had hastily hidden before her mother could stumble upon it.

"What's that you're trying to hide?"

Serena froze at the sound of her mother's voice.

"Nothing," Serena replied plopping down on the couch, lying on top of the pamphlets she had been looking at before smiling over at her mother winsomely.

Lily moved into the living silently until she was standing in front of the young blonde.

"Stand up," Lily said her voice quiet yet firm.

Serena sighed. Discipline wasn't really her mother's strong suit, but if there was one thing Serena could say about Lily it was that her mother could be one of the most single-minded, determined people she had ever met when she wanted to be. And looking up at Lily, Serena could tell that this was one of the times her mother had her mind set on something and that there would be no evading the situation.

"It's nothing, really," Serena said still not moving, a tiny bit of hope still present within her. "It's just some university stuff."

Lily stared at her for a moment and then her eyes narrowed. "Stand up."

Serena sighed and stood up revealing a pamphlet with 'YALE' written in large letters where her ass had been moments ago.

"Yale?" Lily asked arching an eyebrow at Serena. Serena wasn't quite certain how she managed it, but the name came out sounding like a curse word.

"It's a good school," Serena said turning away from Lily's arctic gaze to gather up the papers lying on the couch, clutching them to her once she had scooped them all up. "It has a lot to offer," Serena continued finally looking over at her mother again realizing that she couldn't avoid Lily's gaze forever. "A renowned art gallery and …"

"Blair?" Lily offered a brittle smile touching her lips as Serena blinked at her. "You're taking this a bit far, don't you think?" Lily asked sighing a few seconds later, gracefully lowering herself onto the couch and staring at Serena until her daughter did the same.

"Taking what a bit far?" Serena asked still clutching the papers to her, her tone a bit peevish. "Most parents would be happy their child wanted to go to Yale. You're acting like I just told you I wanted to change my name to Cherry Delicious and go to work at Madam Chasity's."

"You don't want to go to Yale, you want to go to Brown," Lily responded ignoring most of Serena's snippy little rant. "You've always wanted to go to Brown," she continued. "I know that Blair is your best friend, but you can't plan your entire life around her."

"I'm not," Serena responded immediately even though that's exactly what she was doing. "There's nothing wrong with Yale."

Lily considered her daughter for a moment and then shook her head slightly before sighing. "You need to get perspective on this," she softly.

"Get perspective on what?" Serena asked not liking Lily's tone or the knowing way she was looking at her.

"Whatever this thing is you've got with Blair," Lily said seeing Serena's surprised look but going on anyway. "You're young and she's very lovely," Lily continued. "I'm not stupid Serena. I know what you two have been up to," she continued seeing Serena's lips part as if she were about to protest and shaking her head to discourage her daughter from doing so.

"You probably think that you're in love with her or some similarly ridiculous romantic notion, but …" Lily sighed. "The intensity of this thing will fade eventually and when it does you need to have something else in your life, something that's yours. Hormones are not a fair trade for hopes and dreams."

Serena watched Lily for a few seconds in stupefied silence. She couldn't believe that she knew and hadn't said anything, hadn't done anything.

"How long have you known?" Serena sputtered at a loss for what else to say.

"I have eyes," Lily responded. "Also I found a pair of her underwear under my couch," she continued shaking her head a little. She was never as careless as an adolescent. Then again she had a far less understanding mother.

"I love her," Serena said softly her voice rough with intensity as she held Lily's gaze.

Lily's expression softened at Serena's words. Even though she was sure Serena would never believe her, she understood what her daughter was feeling. She had been completely swept away by love as a teenager, and had her heart broken and was convinced she would never love again, until she did and had her heart broken all over again.

It wasn't love she had felt. It was attraction, strong attraction, longing, need, want, but it wasn't love. And when she realized how fruitless her life was, how much of a waste following her heart had been it had been crushing. She had spent years after High School following her heart from one tour to the next, and then one morning she had woken up hung over and on the wrong side of a high in a city she couldn't remember, surrounded by people she barely knew and realized she had no idea what she wanted or who she was.

She was lucky though. With will and single-minded determination she managed to pull herself together and pull herself up, very high up. But despite the fact that she had pulled through she wouldn't see Serena learn the same lesson the hard way if she could do anything about it.

"I know you think you do," Lily replied reaching out and placing her hand on Serena's thigh, feeling the tensed muscle beneath her palm. "You're seventeen. It always seems like love," she continued rubbing Serena's thigh lightly. "You're hardly the first girl to have feelings for your best friend. You and Blair have always been … close, but it's just ..."

"Don't," Serena said warningly, surprising Lily enough that she actually did stop talking. "Do not say that this is just a phase," Serena continued shifting on the couch, Lily's hand falling off of her thigh as she did. "It's not a phase. I know how I feel."

"So you're a lesbian now, is that it?" Lily asked that damnable eyebrow lifting again.

"Probably not," Serena responded honestly. It wasn't that she was no longer attracted to men so much as she was attracted to Blair more than anyone else. "But I'm certainly not straight," she continued not backing down. In addition to Blair, she thought that Emily Blunt and Eva Mendes were totally hot as well. "In any case it doesn't matter what label you want to stick on me. Lesbian or not I love Blair. I want to be with her. We're going to last."

Lily was silent in the face of that. Teenagers were able to work such passion and indignation into their voices. It could be quite moving. She was sure that Serena believed everything she was saying, that at that moment she did love Blair more than anything else in the world. But that moment, that bliss wouldn't last.

"If you love her so much how come you haven't told any of your friends?" Lily asked softly crossing her legs and leaning back into the couch. "How come you didn't tell me until I revealed I already knew?" she continued holding Serena's gaze. "If you're so proud and in love then why have you two been hiding?" she went on challengingly. "Could it be because you don't want it branding you after its inevitable passing?"

Serena gaped at her mother for a second before closing her mouth.

"That's not …" she began, although a part of her had to admit that Lily was right and she had Blair had been trying to hide the change in their relationship (even though apparently they weren't doing a very good job of it).

It wasn't shame though. Serena could never be ashamed of loving Blair. It was more of a preservation instinct. High School was like a shark infested topical sea, all sparkly and light on the surface but full of hidden predators underneath and they couldn't risk letting their peers smell blood. She knew how merciless High School girls could be. Once they made it to college in a year however thing would have been different.

"Only maybe it is, a little," Lily interjected cutting Serena off though she suspected her daughter didn't really have anything to follow up her previous utterance with. "I," Lily began before pausing. "I understand that you have strong feelings for her," she continued kindly. She had seen the intense happiness lighting Serena up earlier when Blair was around. "But you're almost an adult Serena and you can't continue to go through life with your Id leading you around like you're a prize Bison frise.

"I'm not paying for you to go to Yale. We had a plan, a plan that you were on board with up until a few months ago and we're sticking with it. I know I can't stop you from seeing Blair," she continued standing up. "But I'm not going to let you sacrifice your future over this either. If you're right, if it's love, you'll survive four years of seeing each other on weekends and statutory holidays. After all, Brown isn't all that far away from Yale," she concluded.

With that Lily cupped Serena's chin in her hand and looked down at her for a moment before she bent down and kissed her forehead lightly.

"But …" Serena sputtered completely at a loss.

Her utterance swallowed up by the room as her mother disappeared into her bedroom leaving Serena alone of the couch clutching at pamphlets she would no longer need.

Part Ten

Two hours later …

Serena looked up and into the eyes of the man opposite her holding his gaze unflinchingly.

"Vodka tonic," she said a moment later, her tone bored before a weary sigh emerged from her throat a moment later.

He stared at her for a moment longer and Serena placed her elbow on the bar and rested her head in her palm gazing back at him blankly until he nodded his head and went to fetch her drink.

Serena scrubbed her fingers across her face and then pinched the bridge of her nose.

'Get up and leave, get up and leave, get up and leave,' she repeated again and again in her mind willing her body to move but it would not.

She looked up when the bartender returned and placed the drink down in front of her, a wane smile touching her lips before she tossed a few bills down on the bar.

"Rough day?" the bartender asked.

Serena turned her head to glance out the window. "Yeah," Serena muttered smiling up at him though it didn't reach her eyes. "And it's not even close to being over."

"Work?" he asked resting his hip against the bar, settling in.

If she had wanted to be alone Serena would have been annoyed by his presumption but she didn't want to be alone.

"That's always a bitch," Serena responded rolling her eyes and shaking her head a bit. "Guess again?" she offered smirking a little.

"Love life?"

Serena snapped her fingers and shot the bartender the finger guns. "The only thing that can cause that deep down pain that only vodka seems to heal."

"Dumped?" the bartender asked sympathetically.

Serena wondered if she'd be able to get a free drink out of him if she made herself seem pathetic enough.

"Not really," she said using her straw to poke at the lime in her drink. "Let's just say that a third party has entered the picture and it's definitely a crowd," she went on her finger tracing the edge of the glass.

Serena looked up suddenly.

"Why can't people mind their own business?" she asked staring in the direction of the bartender though he didn't really think she was seeing him. "I mean, everything is going fine, it's all sunshine and lollipops, and raining iPhones and then … someone has to take an interest," Serena continued picking up her glass.

"I know me," she said poking her finger in the bartender's direction. "I know what I want. I know who I want," she went on lifting the glass to her lips as if to take a sip before lowering it again. "I mean what the fuck? Why does everything in life have to be so goddamn complicated? Why does my life have to be the sweeps week episode of The O.C.?"

Serena paused then, still for a moment before she blinked, focusing on the bartender once more.

"Could you make this a double?" she asked suddenly.

"A double vodka tonic?" he asked.

"Yeah, you're right, that's stupid," Serena muttered her brows knitting together in thought before she focused on him again. "Just bring me another one with just vodka … and ice."

Serena began to play with the lime in her drink again. All she needed to do was lift the glass up and by the time it was empty all of the tension in her body would gone. And when the bartender brought the next one, all she had to do was lift that to her lips and her mother's self-righteous, hypocritical pronunciations would be nothing but a distant memory.

All she had to do was lift the glass to her lips and take a sip, just one little sip. The first sip would be the hardest but once it was over with, once she felt the burn begin to settle through her and the delightful feeling of lightness in her mind it would be so easy to continue. She knew that for a fact. It had always been so easy to just order another until nothing mattered anymore.

She'd had lots of fun drunk. Alcohol made it so much easier to do everything. Everyone loved her even more a few drinks in.

She was the life of the party.

She'd danced on table tops, and ran in the rain. She'd sung Arabic Karaoke and traipsed barefoot in a fountain in Central Park. She'd made snow angels and slept with Blair's boyfriend …

Blair …

Serena felt her heart clench and straightened up on the bar stool, her eyes wandering around the bar as if she expected to find the brunette glaring at her from a table across the room.

Blair would kill her if she found out that she'd had a drink. In fact she wouldn't just kill her she would make her watch a marathon of A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila and The Flavor of Love just to torture her before killing her.

Serena sighed and shook her head at the thought. The truth was that if Blair found out reality would be far worse than the scenario she had just imagined. Blair wouldn't kill her, she would just be horribly, heartbreakingly disappointed in her, and to Serena that would be far worse than any MTV reality TV marathon.

Serena breathed in deeply.

She really wanted a drink …

She really, really wanted a drink …

Serena looked up as the bartender returned with her drink and then reached into her purse.

A few seconds later Serena pulled out her cell phone and deposited enough bills on the bar for her new drink plus a generous tip. She then stood up, her fingers already dialing her cell as she moved away from the bar.

"B," Serena said stepping out into the evening air.

"Miss me already?" Blair asked. Serena could hear the smile in the brunette's voice and found herself smiling as well.

"Always," Serena responded heading down the street. "Are you and Eleanor bonding?"

"Hardly," Blair responded. "She's not even here."

"I thought her flight got in an hour ago," Serena said wrapping her jacket around herself as she stopped at a crosswalk; the traffic going by too hectic for even a native New Yorker to attempt jaywalking.

"She's taking a later flight. Most likely she found a few more asses to brown her nose in at the last minute," Blair responded dismissively.

"Feel like some company?" Serena asked. She knew she shouldn't be happy that Eleanor was the most unreliable parent on the planet, but she was glad that Blair was alone. "I was thinking Audrey and snuggles."

"I think I can accommodate you," Blair responded happily. "Where are you?"

"About ten minutes away from your place," Serena responded. "Why?"

"No reason," Blair said in a tone that Serena knew meant there absolutely was a reason.

"I know that tone. Should I be scared?" Serena asked laughing lightly.

"I thought you liked being scared? It's an aphrodisiac. Isn't that what you said?" Blair sassed arching an eyebrow Serena couldn't see.

"I hate it when my words come back to haunt me," Serena muttered. "Alright, I continue to walk towards my uncertain fate."

"I'll be waiting," Blair said laughing.

Part Eleven

Waldorf Brownstone … an hour later

Serena sighed against Blair's back, the exhalation jostling her whole body as they lay spooned together on Blair's bed.

Blair jabbed the pause button on her DVD remote and turned around in Serena's arms so that she was facing the blonde.

"What's wrong?" Blair asked her voice gentle but firm, Roman Holliday already a distant memory to her as she focused on Serena. "You've sighed three times in the past five minutes, and this is your favorite part of the movie."

"I know, I'm sorry," Serena responded sighing again, her eyes dropping from Blair's for a second before she looked back over at her with an apologetic expression. "I'm not being very good company tonight."

"No," Blair said shaking her head though a little smile touched her lips. "You're not," she continued before leaning forward and pressing her lips against Serena's softly. "Especially considering I was all domestic for you and everything," Blair went on. When Serena had arrived at her door Blair had greeted her with a plate of warmed chocolate chip cookies because the blonde had sounded a bit down on the phone. "But I still love you … even when you're being mopey and boring."

Serena smiled at that and swayed forward, capturing Blair's lips in a lingering kiss before snuggling herself against the brunette, nuzzling into her neck.

Blair was so much better than a vodka tonic.

"I was looking at Yale pamphlets," Serena murmured against the warm skin of Blair's neck, the brunette's scent and presence helping to relax her a little bit.

She should have done this in the first place. She should have come to talk to Blair, not … it was just that alcohol used to be such a quick, immediate fix. It was so easy to … but she couldn't anymore, she had turned over a new leaf. She had promised, not just to herself, but to Blair as well and she couldn't disappoint the brunette again, she wouldn't.

"You were?" Blair asked happily, a bright smile coming to her lips. The University question had been weighing on her. The idea of going for weeks without seeing Serena greatly depressed her and was a secret source of anxiety for her.

"Yeah," Serena responded smiling against Blair's neck. "Lily wasn't so thrilled about it though."

"What happened?" Blair asked. She had hoped that Serena was just being bashful about telling her she wanted to go to same University, but she knew from the way Serena had been acting all night that it was something much more serious than that.

"She knows about us," Serena said softly. "She said," she continued before pausing momentarily, shifting back so that she could see Blair's face.

Serena stared at Blair intently for a few seconds and then grasped her shoulders.

"I love you," Serena whispered intensely to Blair. "That's real."

Blair looked at Serena for a few moments, completely unnerved by the blonde's desperate look.

"Of course it's real. I love you too," she softly, trying to hold back her own panic, leaning forward to kiss Serena.

Serena held her for a moment longer and then released her, the tension draining from her body as suddenly as it had come upon her and she snuggled against Blair again.

"I'm sorry," the blonde whispered, her arm around Blair's waist. "She just upset me. I don't even know why I listen to her. She's the last person in the world that should be giving relationship advice anyway. Love is a business transaction to her."

Blair stroked her hair tenderly.

"So, no PFLAG t-shirt for Lily then?" she asked softly.

Serena laughed lightly.

"Maybe if it was St. John or Michael Kors," she replied. "The thing is she doesn't even really care. She's just worried about my legacy and how it would look," she went on with a touch of anger in her voice. "She probably slept with women all the time when she was a groupie. She's just pissed because I had the gall to fall in love and mean it."

Blair huffed darkly, "The hypocrisy of adults knows no bounds."

Serena nodded. "She said she wouldn't pay for it if I got into Yale."

Blair looked down. "Do you think she means it?"

Serena shrugged. "Lily's nature is a capricious one. She means it now … in a year who knows."

"You have a trust fund," Blair pointed out.

"I don't get access to it until I'm 21," Serena sighed before she pulled away from Blair's neck again. "I guess I'll just have to move in with you and be your really good looking, no-good, lay-a-bout girlfriend," she continued smiling a little. "I'll cook and do your laundry, and pleasure you sexually after a hard day of learning," Serena went on ducking down to kiss Blair's stomach, making the brunette laugh.

"Brown and Yale are only two hours away. We could see each other every weekend," Blair said when Serena floated back up to share the pillow with her again.

Serena nodded thoughtfully before saying, "I want to see you everyday."

"I know. Who wouldn't?" Blair asked smiling before leaning forward and resting her forehead against Serena's.

"Two hours," Serena sighed before smiling a little. "I guess I can deal with that."

Blair smiled. It wasn't as great a scenario as she and Serena being ensconced away in domestic bliss as roommates, but they could talk everyday over web cam, and as long as she got to see and touch Serena every week, even if it was only for a couple of days, Blair was sure she'd be able to handle it.

"B," Serena said a few seconds later. Her strongest instinct was to not bring up what had nearly happened earlier, but everything she had learned in the program told her that she had to own up to her mistakes and near mistakes if she was truly going to make a lasting change in her life. "I …" Serena continued as Blair stared down at her, the happy, open expression on the brunette's face fading to worry as she registered the blonde's agitation.

"What is it?" Blair asked softly, reaching out to stroke Serena's cheek.

Serena breathed in deeply and released the breath slowly. "When I called you earlier … I was … I was leaving a bar."

Serena bit down on her bottom lip as she watched Blair. The brunette's eyes flashed and her lips parted a small sound that had probably intended to be a word but had been thought better of at the last moment escaping from her lips as her hand twitched at Serena's side.

"Did you …?" Blair asked tightly, trying to control the urge to grab Serena by her shirt and shake her.

She would have been surprised by the aggression of her reaction to the blonde's words, but her heart was pounding, her blood was racing through her veins and Blair recognized that the emotion gripping her was fear. And when she was afraid she always got angry.

Serena shook her head, blinking against the sting of tears in her eyes. "No," she said softly still shaking her head. "I wanted to, I ordered and paid, but I didn't drink. I swear," Serena said. "Not a sip. I just … it's hard sometimes," Serena went on her eyes falling away from Blair's, as she breathed in deeply again, trying to control the urge to cry.

Blair released a ragged breath and lay down on the mattress beside Serena, her hand moving to rest on the blonde's hip as she looked at her.

"You should have called me," Blair said softly, worry and reproach warring in her tone.

"I did," Serena pointed out, her eyes lifting to look over at Blair. Her tone had an element of playfulness in it, but her expression and eyes were serious.

"You're right," Blair acknowledged realizing that things could have been much worse. "But I should have been your first and your last stop," she continued softly, her hand moving to Serena's, entangling their fingers together.

Serena smiled a little and squeezed Blair's hand, glad for the contact. "I know. Blair Waldorf is not a stop along the way. She is a destination," Serena murmured, inching closer to Blair.

"And don't you forget it," Blair murmured before sighing as Serena's lips pressed against her own, kissing her softly for long minutes. "Call me next time," Blair said softly when they pulled back for air, their faces still so close that her lips brushed against Serena's as she spoke. "There's nothing I could be doing that I wouldn't drop like poly-cotton blend for you."

"Nothing?" Serena asked, wrapping her arms around Blair's waist holding the brunette close to her.

"Nothing," Blair confirmed kissing Serena's forehead.

"What about if Stella McCartney was giving away clothes from her new collection and you had just gotten your hands on the cashmere guava pea coat, high-waisted skinny trousers and a pair of Mildred Linus knit booties?" Serena's asked kissing Blair's neck.

"Nothing at all," Blair said firmly in response. Her tone was serious and Serena pulled back so that she could see the brunette's face. She had expected Blair to make a joke of her comment. "You're my favorite," Blair added as Serena looked at her, her lips curving up slightly as she spoke.

Serena leaned forward and kissed Blair gently. "I love you," Serena said softly.

"Show me," Blair said, her voice raspy as she reached for Serena's hand and rested it on her stomach.

"Eleanor?" Serena breathed out softly, her hand already moving over Blair's stomach, softly caressing her.

"We've got time," Blair said leaning up to press her lips against Serena's. "I need you," she continued, the fear that Serena's confession had struck in her still lingering inside of her. She couldn't really understand it, but she needed Serena to stay close to her, she needed to touch her, and taste her, and feel the warmth and solidness of her body against her. She needed to know that Serena was okay.

"You have me," Serena said softly, her hand slipping under Blair's shirt as she leaned down and kissed the brunette, the touch more passionate and forceful then the lazy kisses they had shared minutes before. "I'm yours."

"Mine," Blair murmured softly as Serena's hand moved to cup her breast, breathing in deeply as the blonde's thumb began to tease her nipple through her bra.

"All yours," Serena confirmed kissing along Blair's jaw as she moved to straddle the brunette, slipping her other hand under Blair's shirt so that both of her hands were cradling Blair's breasts. "Every inch of me," she added smiling before leaning down to kiss Blair's lips again.

"S," Blair breathed out against Serena's lips, her chest arching up into the blonde's hands.

"Hmm," Serena murmured, her fingers slipping past the edges of Blair's bra, tugging until the brunette's creamy breasts were freed from its confines.

"Get these clothes off of me," Blair husked squirming beneath Serena impatiently.

She wasn't in the mood for foreplay.

The next few minutes were filled with quick, frantic motions as both girls began to pull of their clothes, shirts, bras, socks, pants and underwear flying haphazardly in every direction, limbs occasionally knocking together as they sought to divest themselves of every article of clothing as quickly as possible.

"I'm thinking very dirty thoughts," Blair whispered raggedly, her hand moving to rest on Serena's stomach as the blonde kicked her jeans off of the end of the bed.

"I love it when you think very dirty thoughts," Serena responded smiling, leaning up to met Blair's lips as the brunette leaned forward to kiss her hungrily. "And I love it even more when you do very dirty things," Serena continued as Blair's hands began to skim restlessly over her body, the movements languid but scattered as if the brunette was having a hard time deciding where to begin.

Blair looked up at Serena at that and smiled, a mischievous, naughty, teasing smile that made Serena shiver because she knew the type of things a smile like that would lead to.

Blair leaned over Serena, rubbing her body along the blonde's deliberately as she did.

"What are you …" Serena began to ask, however as Blair opened the drawer to her bedside table and pulled out a cord with graduated, translucent balls along the length of it the question died on her lips.

"When did you …" Serena breathed out instead, her eyes on the object in Blair's hand as the brunette moved to straddle her waist.

Blair smiled slowly as her fingers moved over the smooth surface of the largest of the knobs attached to the cord.

"I just got it," she responded softly a second later resting the cord on the mattress by her thigh as her hands moved to Serena's stomach and began to run up and down, the backs of her fingers teasing the underside of the blonde's breasts though she avoided touching them fully. "It was supposed to be a post-Audrey, post-cookie surprise, but …" Blair trailed off shrugging.

"I know it's new, but don't worry," she continued her fingers moving to dance along the sides of Serena's breasts though she still refused to take them fully into her hands. "It's perfectly safe," she went on leaning down, brushing her lips against Serena's, as she finally allowed her hands to cup the blonde's breasts. "I tested it out a couple days ago," she continued smiling as Serena sucked in a deep breath, her pale eyelashes fluttering as an image of Blair pleasuring herself with the toy no doubt entered her mind.

Serena made a soft, almost mewling sound a few seconds later and Blair ground her hips into the blonde's pelvis as she allowed her fingers to pinch the blonde's nipples before she rolled them roughly between her fingers causing Serena to shudder beneath her.

"I imagined you were here," Blair said before kissing Serena again, her tongue caressing the blonde's, the kiss long and deep as Blair shifted, one of her hands leaving Serena's breasts to brace herself on the mattress as she moved so that she was straddling Serena's thigh.

"I imagined that you were watching me," Blair continued breathing in deeply as Serena pushed against her thigh, Serena's warmth and wetness pressed against her leg making Blair shiver. "And then I imagined that you were touching yourself too."

Serena lifted her hand drawing it around Blair's neck so that she could tug the brunette's head down towards her, kissing Blair desperately as her hips rocked and she ground herself against Blair's thigh.

"Uh uh," Blair admonished as Serena's other hand moved to her hip, nudging, trying to flip them over so that the blonde would be on top.

Normally she was more than happy to let Serena take the lead, but she had plans for them this time and Serena was going to have to wait until she was through with her to be queen of the castle again.

"Blair," Serena breathed out, longingly with a quality in her voice that could have been interpreted as a whine.

"I know," Blair said tenderly leaning down to kiss Serena again, her own hips moving slightly, riding Serena's thigh as she kissed her softly.

Blair began to kiss her way down Serena's body stopping to pay some attention to her breasts for a few minutes before she continued, her lips trailing over the blonde's taut, firm stomach, before she found herself between Serena's legs.

Closing her eyes, Blair breathed in deeply. No matter how many times she smelled Serena, the scent of the blonde's arousal never failed to make her shiver and clench. The thought that she had done that to Serena; that it was for her fiercely aroused her each and every time.

"Oh fuuuuck, yes," Serena moaned a second later as Blair leaned forward, her lips wrapping around the blonde's clit, sucking it into her mouth as her hands moved up and down Serena's thighs, caressing them as her tongue played against Serena's most sensitive flesh.

"Blair," Serena moaned again, and again, Blair's name falling from her lips like a mantra as Blair's mouth shifted and the flat of her tongue ran roughly along the length of Serena's sex.

"Don't stop!" Serena cried a few moments later, her hand moving to tangle in Blair's hair as she felt the brunette's mouth lift from her center.

"I won't," Blair said softly, one of her hands moving to stroke the arm of the hand that Serena had tangled in her hair. "It's okay," she continued holding Serena's gaze as her free hand searched the mattress for the cord she had dropped on it earlier. "I was just looking for this," she went on holding the orgasm balls up where Serena would be able to see them, a smile playing across her lips before she ducked her head down to the kiss the inside of Serena's thigh.

"Oh," Serena breathed out her hand loosening in Blair's hair as she relaxed against the mattress once more.

"Spread your legs a bit more," Blair said leaning forward to kiss Serena's clit before shifting back a little. "Perfect," Blair breathed out a second later, moving the first of the graduated balls to Serena's opening and pushing it inside.

Serena gasped her hand tightening again and Blair smiled as she pushed the second larger ball inside of Serena and then the last and largest one until only the end of the cord was visible.

"Jesus," Serena breathed out shivering as she felt the balls inside of her, filling her up, her hips twitching uncontrollably as Blair kissed her thigh, smiling against the flesh.

"It's nice, right?" Blair asked a few seconds later, moving up Serena's body, smiling down at the blonde happily as Serena's eye fluttered.

Serena eyes opened at that and focused on Blair. "Yeah," she said laughing a little before she trembled again.

"It gets better," Blair said smiling widely, her hand moving between Serena's legs to grasp the end of the cord, "when they move," she continued tugging the cord gently, shifting the balls inside of Serena, biting down on her lip when the blonde's eyes snapped open and her hips jerked.

"Fuck," Serena moaned slowly.

"Yeah," Blair agreed, that's what they were doing.

And then Blair leaned forward and pressed their lips together, kissing Serena soundly as she continued to manipulate the globes inside of the blonde, her thumb occasionally moving to stroke Serena's clit as she did.

She knew it wouldn't be long until Serena came. The blonde could never hold out long for her first orgasm. She would twist and turn, and moan and buck and whimper almost helplessly until her first climax.

Blair didn't mind though. Making Serena come was one of the greatest pleasures in her life and she was sure that she would never tire of watching Serena's face as orgasm washed over her or of feeling the blonde's inner muscles grasp at her as her body shook and shivered with pleasure.

And once the edge was off and Serena was able to settle down well … Blair moaned against the blonde's lips at the thought.

"B," Serena gasped a few seconds later, her fingers grasping and squeezing at Blair's ass as she wrenched her lips away from the brunette's.

"B," Serena gasped again … and then her body tensed and her eyes squeezed shut, a ragged breath escaping from her lips as her hips twitched and moisture leaked from her coating Blair's fingers as the brunette's thumb moved against Serena's clit, drawing out her orgasm for as long as possible.

Serena blinked slowly, smiling languidly as she stared up at the ceiling before turning her head to the side, happily kissing Blair back as the brunette pressed their lips together.

A few seconds later Serena's hand fell between her legs, reaching for the cord.

She could still feel the orbs inside of her.

Blair's hand moved to cover her own.

"Leave it," Blair said softly, her dark brown eyes alight with desire as she met Serena's eyes. "Trust me," she continued, her lips curving up as she drew Serena's hand up to her chest.

Serena smiled and flipped Blair over so that she was leaning over the brunette.

"Always," Serena murmured softly before bending down to kiss Blair.

It was her turn.

Part Twelve

Constance Billard School for Girls … a week later

Blair flipped her hair, turning her head dramatically to the side to look at Isabel with a thoughtful expression on her face.

"So no matter what I tried I just couldn't get mine as thick and dramatic as what I'd been seeing at Prada, Badgley Mischka, Christopher Kane and Louis Vuitton," Blair said shaking her head a little. "But then it came to me, what I needed to do was expand my wing tips."

"Cat-like or calligraphy style?" Isabel asked looking at Blair with an absolutely rapt expression on her face.

"That's the beauty of it," Blair said with a smile. "It doesn't matter. Liner has a painterly shape this season, like the flick of a watercolour brush. Either way will look flirty, vintage and artful."

The girls around her gasped and nodded. Excited voices chattered away around her for a few moments after that and Blair basked in her own wisdom.

It was good to be queen.

"Daniel," Serena greeted with a smile as Dan sidled up beside her.

"Ms. Van der Woodsen," Dan responded circling his hand in front of his body before bowing regally.

Serena laughed and knocked him in the shoulder.

"So, how are things going with your lady love?" Serena asked as they made their way through the iron gates that opened into Constance Billard and the Nightengale-Bamford School for Boys.

Dan smiled and blushed a little before shrugging his shoulders. "They're … going," Dan said halting before looking over at Serena and smiling self-consciously before shaking his head. "It's strange, it's an adjustment you know," he continued when Serena smiled over at him and rested a hand on his shoulder. "We were best friends, and then she took off for a year and when she suddenly showed back up with no warning it was kind of like …"

Serena laughed airily causing Dan to look over at her.

"It's just … I totally get it," she grinning. Dan could have been describing things between her and Blair when she came back. "But it's good strange right, like 'nobody should be this happy without barbiturates' strange. Or 'I always loved talking to you about weird pretentious books and music that nobody else has ever heard about and now I also get to make-out with you' strange, right?"

"Okay, first of all, I'm totally not agreeing with you on that last point," Dan said pointing a finger at Serena. "Lots of people have heard of 'The Crying of Lot 49'. Thomas Pynchon is like an American legend. And even you've heard of The Misshapes so you don't get to insult my music," Dan continued as Serena put up her hands in surrender. "But yes, it's good strange. And the making-out part is definitely a keeper."

"They are the Edie Sedgwick's of the new millennium," Serena said. Blair hated the Misshapes, but she liked their style and had been inspired more than a few times by them when making her own fashion choices. "Wait til you get to the 'buying expensive gifts for her because she pouts and you're weak' part."

"Not as fun?" Dan asked lifting an eyebrow. He figured for him it would be more tracking down obscure, vintage comics, LPs or lunch boxes but it was basically the same thing.

"Well, the getting rewarded for your thoughtfulness afterward isn't bad," Serena said looking over at him and grinning before facing forward again, a smile still on her lips.

"I think I've still got a way to go before I reap those particular benefits," Dan said shaking his head. Now that he and Serena were firmly friends he didn't find the idea of her and Blair together quite as titillating as he had in the past, but it was still a little titillating. In fact he suspected she knew that and was deliberately torturing him by dropping little hints about all of the fabulous sex they had that he would never see. "We don't all have the infamous van der Woodsen charm."

"There's nothing wrong with the Humphrey charm," Serena said sincerely turning to face him again, before she erupted into a big smile. "It even got you the girl this time."

Dan placed his hand over his heart and made a face, before grinning at her as well.

"So are we still on for the Chocolate Show on the weekend?" Dan asked as they neared the spot where they normally parted ways. "Blair's coming right? Van's been waiting to meet her."

Serena shook her head. "It's horrible how much you're anticipating them hating each other and providing amusement for us for the entire night. The Germans have a word for that you know," Serena responded though she was smiling.

"Schadenfreude," Dan replied, "'Pleasure taken from someone else's misfortune'. It's a word I believe Blair has an intimate knowledge of," he continued pointedly.

"And this is where I say 'adieu'," Serena replied grinning walking backwards away from Dan before he could launch into another Blair rant. "And yes, we're both in."

Dan smirked as he turned towards the Nightengale-Bamford. It was going to be a fun Saturday.

Lunch…

Serena lounged on the large c