Chapter 51

Chapter 51

Serena and Becky were sitting at the Palace Bar having a few early drinks, when suddenly the door opened, and Nate walked in. He caught Serena’s eye, and smiled shyly. Becky glanced at him, and then at Serena, and smirked. She shook her head as she looked down at her drink, stirring it.
“Uh, hey, Serena,” Nate said slowly, walking over to them. Serena looked uncomfortable.
“What do you want, Nate,” she said, trying to sound as pleasant as possible.
“I just… I wanted to talk to you.” Nate tried to make eye contact with her, but she kept turning away. He glanced at Becky.
“You know what?” Becky said quickly, taking a hint. “I actually have to go.” She leaned over to Serena and whispered, “Are you gonna be okay?”
Serena nodded, staring at the bar counter. Becky smiled, and squeezed her friend’s arm before getting up. She waved a few fingers at Nate, then picked up her Burberry purse and left.
Nate sat down in Becky’s place nervously. “I just… I wanted to apologize.” Serena looked up at him. Hurt was in her eyes.
“Sorry doesn’t cut it, Nate,” she said, in that tone that showed her disappointment.
Nate looked down at his hands. “I know. And, I was a real ***. But I just missed you so much. And, I hate being without you.”
“Nate,” Serena said softly. She took his hand gently in hers. “You aren’t without me. We’re friends, remember?”
He looked up at her, his eyes shiny with tears. “I want to be more than friends, Serena. I need us to be more than friends.”
Serena studied his face. “I can’t,” she said quietly. “I… I love Dan.” Nate looked back down at the table. “Besides, Nate, you know we can’t be more. I can’t handle it again.”
“I love you, Serena,” Nate whispered, still not looking at her. “And I was so stupid for doing that whole thing with Vanessa, but, I’ve tried everything else.”
Serena sighed. “You need to understand that we’re just friends, Nate. I do love you, but, just as a friend. And I really need you to be okay with that.”
Nate swallowed hard. “Okay,” he said uncertainly.
“Okay?” Serena said quietly. She smiled softly, and kissed his cheek. Nate forced a little smile in return, and then got up.
“See you tomorrow,” he said, and walked slowly out the bar door. When he got outside, he saw Becky leaning against the wall. She smiled, and sauntered over to him.
“Didn’t go well?” Becky pouted her lips, and bit down on the bottom one gently.
Nate shrugged. “I didn’t really expect it to.”
Becky walked carefully over until she was right in his face. “You don’t need her,” she whispered. She stood on her tiptoes so that their lips were almost touching. “You don’t need anyone… when you have me.”
Nate stared into her icy blue eyes. “I don’t know, Becky…” he said half-heartedly.
Becky licked her lips. “Just… trust me on this one.” A seductive smile spread across her face. She tilted her head back slightly, and brushed his lips with hers. Nate could taste her pomegranate-flavoured lip gloss.
Becky’s eyes stared deep into his. “My hotel room’s empty, and it’s the weekend. I can always cancel drinks with Blair and the girls. It’s not every day a girl can have someone like you.”
A slow smile managed its way onto Nate’s face. Maybe he really didn’t need Serena after all. Becky was just as hot.
“Come on,” she whispered. She fidgeted with his tie. “It’ll be perfect. I promise.” She looked up at him, her eyes almost pleading.
Nate let out a little sigh. “Alright. But no one hears about this.”
“It’ll be our little secret,” Becky said, reaching up to kiss him again.

“So, are you still going out with Blair and the girls tonight?”
Dan pushed a plate stacked high with waffles towards Serena. She stared at them ravenously. They were in the Humphrey loft, pigging out on all the food Rufus had bought earlier that week. Or, at least, Serena was.
“I don’t think so,” Serena said, reaching for the syrup. “Becky called me a while ago and cancelled. She has other plans or something.”
“Are you sure Becky’s the best person to hang out with?” Dan asked slowly. “I mean, she seems kind of… wild.”
“Hey,” Serena scolded, sticking a chunk of waffle in her mouth. “I was wild when you met me, and you accepted me for who I was. And look at where we are now: eating waffles together in the family kitchen, passing around the L Word; it’s like we’re married.”
“Yeah, a sexless marriage,” Dan sighed. “Which doesn’t sound all too great to me.”
“Hey, you said yourself, ‘Sex is meaningful, like art. And you can’t rush art.’” Serena laughed, and took another bite of her waffles.
“I know, but you mean a lot to me, and we’re just so close and everything.” Dan closed the fridge door as he placed a glass of milk on the table.
Serena abruptly threw down her fork and got up. “What, you wanna have sex right now?” she asked, grabbing Dan’s hand and pulling him towards his bedroom. “Fine, let’s have sex, right now.” Dan laughed.
Serena pushed open the bedroom door with her foot, and flopped down on the bed, pulling Dan down on top of her. “Come on, Dan Humphrey. Show me what you got.” She flung her arms and legs out, looking at him expectantly. Dan just laughed again, and rolled off beside her.
“You know what, we can wait,” he said, kissing her ear. “You smell too much like waffles. I’d be thinking of my dad.”
Serena shot up from the bed. “Whoa, yeah, okay, it’s getting creepy now.” S laughed and pulled Dan up.
“But back to what I was originally saying,” Dan said, following her out of the room, “you weren’t all that wild when I met you. At least, that I noticed.” Dan smiled. “I just, I feel like Becky is partying way too hard for your pace.”
“Oh, hush,” Serena said, sitting back down to her waffles. “Becky’s my friend, and we’re really close. Or, we were, and we are now. And I know sometimes she’s a little… insane, but I still love her.” Serena pouted. Dan laughed. “Okay,” he said, kissing her cheek. “Just be careful. I like my Serena good.”
Serena smiled. “I know.”